Valentine's Day 2013

We love valentine's day.

The girls were SO excited. It was almost as good as Christmas. They had their valentine's ready to pass out in preschool and were so excited about our "fancy" dessert we were going to make Daddy. They wanted a valentine from J and I, so I made them a simple one with our pictures and taped them on a little box of chocolates and had them sitting at their breakfast spots in the morning. I love that kids get such a kick out of small things! 

And Jonathan and I have learned that the older we get, the more kids we get, and the longer he is in residency, the more we have to be deliberate in our marriage. So we fed the girls leftover spaghetti, and we put them to bed a little early. (They were so sugared and partied out, they didn't mind a bit!) Then I got our the nice tablecloth, the drink cups from our first date, the candle (that we forgot to light), and had our traditional shrimp/potato dinner that we  have every valentine's day. We talked about how he proposed on valentine's day nine years ago. We talked about how our life is so wonderful, even though it is different than what we thought it would be when we got married. 

We all had a great valentine's day. I really think I will look back on these days as the best years of our lives. (Except residency...I will selectively forget that part.)

Just Chillin

I have had lots of people tell me to enjoy this age of my children, because once school starts, "it's all over." I believe them. I believe that life gets crazier and busier once the kids are in school.

And I love the relaxed, easy days, when our biggest thrill is our daily walk to the mailbox. 

Lucy has been giving me the biggest smiles when I pull out the camera. I love it.

This past week I found some toys that I hadn't seen in a long time. It was fun to wash them up and give them to Lucy. 

But Sami and Janie were just as entertained by their old baby toys as Lucy was.

And I will probably always remember this beloved outfit of Janie's, but I had better blog about it just in case. These clothes were gifted to us by a good friend, and as soon as Janie saw them, it was love at first sight. She has worn, and worn, and worn them. She asks to wear them everyday. And if were are just hanging out at home then I say yes. I have to convince her that they need to be washed every so often. I am glad that they match mostly (the shirt is a Christmas shirt, but I have to agree with Janie that it is cute). I am glad that she feels like a princess in them. 

Rainy Days

The past few days it has rained non-stop. And since it's not a cold rain, I have let the girls play in it. And now all their shoes stink as they are drying, but they have had so much fun. (And they are both love to make silly faces when I pull out the camera, can you tell? In fact tonight they were playing with a toy camera and seeing you could make the silliest faces.)

My sweet, silly Sami.

And Janie just loves the umbrellas. She loves umbrellas when it's not raining, so when it is actually raining, she can barely contain the joy.  

Babies just develop so quickly during the first year. It's amazing how they go from doing nothing but crying and sleeping to having such personality and doing "big people" things. My favorite thing Lucy is doing is feeding herself. I still spoon feed her the cereal and pureed veggies and fruit, but I can put her in her chair with some soft food while I get dinner ready, and she is happy until I have time to feed her. We both love this.

And she has learned how to pull herself up. She loves doing this, although it makes her nervous because she feels stuck not knowing for sure how to get down from things. 

Mostly I love what a happy baby she has become. 

Books I Have Really Liked Lately...

I know I've written before about how much I love to read when the kids are in bed. For me, it is very relaxing because the house is quiet and I can just sit in my pjs and enjoy a story. And because I read for fun and to de-stress, all the books I like are pretty light reads. I don't really want to read about world problems or wars, or anything else depressing, I just want a good, clean, fun story. And so I read a lot of books. Here are a few that I have read these past few months that are really good:

Drops of Gold by Sarah M. Eden

I love this author! But this is one of my favorite by her. If you like Edenbrooke (which of course you do, because everyone likes that book), I think you will like this book. This is a regency book that I had a hard time putting down. I really loved this one. 

A Change of Fortune by Jen Turano

This is a debut novel by a new author. This is a Christian, Regency novel. I was surprised at how charming I found the characters in this book. Definitely a fun read! 

 The Tutor's Daughter by Julie Klassen

This is another Regency book. (I just realized that all of these books are in the Regency era-it's a popular genre right now.) This is also a Christian author, and there is "born again" moment at the end. I like this author and I thought this was one of her better ones. I like reading Christian authors because they are usually so clean. You can actually buy this one at Deseret Book too. 

The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox

Along with reading my scriptures, I like to read a book that helps me understand doctrine better. I find that this enhances my scripture study. This book was a book that I had heard a lot about and for good reason. It really changes the way I view the Atonement. I will probably read this one often. The message is so hopeful.  

So if you come by after 8 pm, you know what I will probably be doing. :)

January

I don't know what it is about these past few weeks, but I have been so tired.

Maybe the excitement of December has caught up with me. 

But after the kids are in bed, I do what I have to do and then pretty much crash. I am blaming the cold front that moved in here.

And our tv died today. That made me really sad!! Not that we have the tv on all the time. In fact, the tv dries me crazy when it has been on for a while. But the tv serves a great purpose, like letting me take a shower, read my scriptures, and make dinner. So we are going tv shopping soon! 

But the big changes have been around Lucy. She can sit up on her own and does so all the time, and she is a very fast crawler. She does the army crawl, where she drags her legs, but man, can she move! 

She loves being mobile too. The swing and excer-saucer are going down soon, because she doesn't like them anymore. Her favorite place to be is wherever her sisters are. 

Best. Day. Ever.

We did some super fun things in December. Sami and Janie had birthdays, we went to the "North Pole," we had Lucy's court date,my parents came twice, and Jonathan matched in a fellowship.

But nothing compares to last Saturday, when we were all in the temple together. We were sealed to Lucy, and it was so beautiful! I LOVED having all my children there. We were blessed to be surrounded by family and friends, and we felt the Lord's goodness and grace. It was truly beautiful. 

The girls gave each other this kiss on the temple grounds.

We did have some stress before the sealing. About an hour before we left for the temple, we pulled out Lucy's final adoption hearing paperwork because we had to show it at the temple so they knew that Lucy is actually ours. When Jonathan pulled it out, we realized half of it was wrong! Our lawyer mixed our case with another case. We were stressing big time. I took all our adoption paperwork and hoped for the best. We had a really sweet lady helping us at the temple and she could use the final paperwork requesting the adoption. Whew! So we learned, just because the lawyer and judge signed it, it may not be right, and we need to read the paperwork. Duh, right? The day of Lucy's hearing was so busy, we just filed the paperwork without reading it. But it's all good now. Our lawyer fixed everything, and apologized. :) So all's well that ends well. 

On the Sunday following the sealing, Lucy was blessed by Jonathan in sacrament meeting. My parents got some of the most beautiful pictures with Lucy. And we got none. After these pictures, Lucy put her bracelet in her mouth and I took it away, and she started crying. Then she calmed down and Janie started crying because Jonathan put her sock monkey on the ground. So no great pictures with us, but I adore these ones with my parents. 

And I love this picture. I took it last week and it shows how we all feel about Lucy. 

Janie thanks me all the time "buying her a baby." She gave me her baby doll tonight and said she brought it home from the airport for me. I will tell her again how babies come, and that most people don't bring babies home from the airport. But it doesn't change how much we love each other. We are sealed together now, and that's the most important thing. How grateful we are for the temple!

Happy Birthday, Janie!

Last night when the girls were going to bed, Janie told Sami, "when we wake up, you can sing Happy Birthday, Janie!" 

We love our Janie. She is so sweet. (Even when she keeps getting out of her chair to give me hugs when I am trying to do sharing time in Primary.)

She is all girl. Her favorite color is pink. She loves wearing dresses. She loves dress-up, princesses and dolls. She does ballet and dances around the house constantly. 

And she is a charmer. She knows how to work it. She winks, tilts her head, and bats those eyes. 

She gives hugs and kisses all the time. She loves to take care of Lucy and hold her. She has great coping mechanisms when in trouble. When she couldn't go to McDonald's with Jonathan and Sami because her good choice chart wasn't full, she said, "that's okay. I don't like McDonalds anyway. I want to stay home with Mommy and Lucy." 

Jonathan is home today and tomorrow. That is an extra special birthday/Christmas treat. 

I love that Janie is such a good sister to Sami and Lucy. She loves being with them and playing with them. Oh, they have their moments, like all siblings do, but I know that they love each other and that is such a blessing.

We love you Janie! We are so glad you came to our family!! Life is better with you in it.