The Flu & Our Minivan

This past week we have had the flu. None were spared, we all had it. It is a ferocious virus, and we had all the symptoms: fever, aches, coughing, running nose, sore throat. We are just now recovering. After 5 days of watching Barney and Word World (thanks to Netflix), I am looking forward to getting off the couch and cleaning my house.

I think the girls had it the hardest because I couldn't give them any medicine to help them sleep. Not that Nyquil helped me much. One afternoon I walked in to Sami's room and she was standing there crying. When I asked what was wrong, she said that she wanted to take a nappy. But she couldn't get in her bed. Poor thing. But I think we are all recovering. Thank goodness. 

And now to my minivan! Love my minivan. But I didn't at first. Because it stunk, like an animal. I had found the van on Craigslist and it was by Jonathan's work, so he stopped by and test drove on his way home. He loved it, loved the owner, etc, and made a deal. When he took me to pick it up, my nose was overcome with animal smell. I couldn't believe J didn't smell it! But he was congested (the beginning of the ferocious flu) and really couldn't smell it but it was overpowering to me and I got a headache driving it home. Honestly, if I would have test drove it, we would have passed it up. 

But we didn't and first thing on Monday morning, I took it in to get detailed. It was at the shop all day and it was so beautiful when I picked it up! And the smell was gone, thankfully. 

We love several things about it. 1. We love that it was cheap enough to pay for it cash with our tax return and the money we got from our insurance from Jonathan's car. 2. We love that it has rear AC. I have always felt bad for the girls in the back seat on hot summer days. 3. It has a dvd player. This is Sami and Jani's favorite and they want to watch a movie whenever we get in. But we made a rule that they get a show if our destination is more than 15 min. away. Not that they understand that, but it's nice to have a rule :). 

Jonathan worked so hard getting me this van, even when he wasn't feeling good, and I love him for it. It has more miles than we wanted, but that led to the "discounted" price. I think it will work out nicely for our family. I've always wanted to be a minivan mama!  

Happy Valentine's Day!

 I thought it would be fun to have a little Valentine's Day party for the girls. Sami was so excited as we decorated and got ready. She wanted to go to bed early the night before so she could get up and have her party. Having four little girly girls over, decorating cookies, making valentines, playing games, and dancing was a blast! 

 Here we are coloring our valentines. They just sat and colored. (Would boys do this?!)

 Me and my mother-in-law. I ♥ her. 

 We played a game where you match conversation hearts to their colors on the paper. It was fun and easy. (This one reason I love the internet-so many fun ideas out there!)

 Here are the girlies. We were missing Rachel. My friend Kristen set up this picture after she left, but I am so glad I got this picture. Maybe I will photoshop Rachel in :).

 I had so much fun planning this. Did I mention that I got a Silhouette machine for Christmas from my sweetie? I actually bought it for myself off of Craigslist and put it under my bed for 3 months until Christmas. I told Jonathan that he didn't have to worry about Christmas since I bought myself my present. Nice, eh? Well, he was working wards at the ICU in December, so I think he was relieved that he didn't have to worry about my gift. And the Silhouette machine cut out our crowns, our magic wands, our gift bags and our decor. So fun.

 I love my sweeties. Since Sami turned 3, I feel like she has matured so much. She is truly a little girl and I love her little personality. And I love that she has a sunburn in February. Arizona winters are beautiful!

And Janie is still Sami's biggest fan. She is talking so much and is definitely her own little person. 

And I love this man! He is truly the best man I've ever known. He proposed to me on Valentine's Day seven years ago, & I am so, so glad he did! He bought me a minivan yesterday for Valentine's Day-post coming soon!

Have a great, loving Valentine's Day!

What a week!

At exactly 6:45 am on Monday morning, Jonathan called me to say that he had been in a car accident. Gratefully, and most importantly, no one was hurt except a little minor whiplash. I am so grateful that the Lord protected Jonathan and everyone involved (5 cars total). It could have been so bad. But it wasn't & I know it was the Lord's hand. But J's car is totaled & he is still pretty shook up about the whole thing. But since it did happened, I am grateful that it happened as we are getting our tax return. It's good we didn't get our tax return yet or I would have spent some of the money on a fancy, schmancy, dream camera. Now I will get a minivan instead :). A very used minivan, but it's a dream of mine (I've wanted a minivan since Sami came along) & I am grateful that there is a way provided for us to get another car. Because right now I am without a car for a few weeks, and it's not so fun. It's not really that I need a car every day, it just's the knowing that if I wanted the car, I can't have it. But I will have one soon, and I will tell you all aobut it when it happens. :) 

And like everyone else in the country, my kids have been sick. Janie is over the croup, but Sami has had a cold. But I think we're over it, and I pray we are done with illness for the rest of the year! 

Janie keeps me constantly updated on her diaper situation. She is so ready to be potty trained but I just don't have the motivation. Because I know it's an exhausting process, one that once you start you have to see though. Hopefully the motivation will come within the next couple of weeks. Because it would be nice to save money on diapers. But the idea of not having a baby in diapers kind of makes me sad. Just because I then know I don't have a baby anymore. 

I will sign off by showing you my latest favorite movie. It makes me laugh every time. Janie lifts up her shirt, wipes her nose, burps/hiccups (with Sami's accompanying laughter) all while singing most of the ABCs. It's funny to me, because it's so Janie right now.

Growing Up

This week the girls found out they loved my laundry baskets because they make excellent cars. So they sat in their "cars" a lot this week, and I would even hear Sami say "Seatbelts. So we can be safe-"a classic Dora line. And they load up their cars with purses and then start "texting" on their fake cell phones. It is so cute, in a bitter-sweet sort of way. I want them to still be my babies, but they want to grow up.  And they sure are growing fast.

Love Pictures

I love pictures. I love that you can take a moment and capture it to look at forever. Sappy, I know, but it means a lot to me. Like these pictures of us playing in the rain. They were taken July of 2010 but in my mess of pictures, they got lost. Until I started organizing my pictures and found these gems. I love them because they represent the girls so well. Sami was going through a stage where she didn't want her picture taken so I took them on "the sly." (Thankfully she's over that stage). And the girls are painting with the rain. They love to paint. And I love them.

This week we learned Jonathan schedule would change. I have been looking foward to February for a long time. Because J would be doing clinic, which means those nice 8-5 clinic hours, and Jonathan was going to get a whole week off-his first time off since he started his internship. But then his chiefs changed that. He is going to do wards again in February and he will get his week off & clinic in March. I was bummed, to say the least. I had plans! We were going to go to the aquarium, celebrate Valentine's Day, blah, blah, blah. It really isn't a big deal, just a delay (& the fact that wards are brutal!). I was discouraged for a couple of days, until I was reminded at how blessed I really am. These pictures remind me of my blessings. 

This Week...

I feel like Sami and Janie are really starting to become friends. Janie asks Sami to read to her, to play with her. In this picture, Sami is teaching Janie her alphabet flashcards. This past week, Sami was "reading" Go, Dog, Go to Janie and Janie had her arm around Sami as they sat in my recliner. It melted my heart. (Just a side note, 3 people asked me this week if they were twins and a little girl down the street asked me where the twins were when I got the mail without the girls. If I had a dollar for every time someone asked if they were twins, I would have at least $50 ☺.)

My Janie asked to sit on the potty and actually went! So of course I pulled out the big girl undies and thought maybe she had magically potty-trained herself...um, no, she didn't. Ten minutes later we were cleaning up a mess. But, hey! I am so hopeful. She is getting ready and I think potty training will be great. When I get serious about potty training her, that is. 

My Sami is a Sunbeam! How can she be this big?! Last week was her first week in primary because the first week of January I kept the girls home because of runny noses. Sami wasn't thrilled to be go to primary instead of nursery. She loves nursery. Who wouldn't? Puzzles, toys, singing time, coloring time, awesome snacks...it's a hard adjustment. But Brother and Sister Harris just got called to be the Sunbeam teachers and both Sami and Janie love "Harris" as we call them. They sit with me in the pew and help me every Sunday that Jonathan is working. I owe them a lot. The girls love them so I feel that it is a gift from Heavenly Father that they have moved up with Sami. She will love Sunbeams just as much as nursery in a few weeks. 

Girls & Bathrooms

Sami's bathroom habits are of great interest to everyone in the house. Will she do all the steps? Will she need help dressing herself? Or Janie's big question: "How much attention can I get from Sissy while she is stuck on the potty?" Ok, maybe Janie doesn't say that exactly, but that's how she acts.  When Sami says she has to go potty, Janie is right beside her in a race to the toilet. They talk in there. They giggle. They fight over the toilet paper and who gets to shut the door. They almost always want the door closed, which makes me nervous. And Jonathan and I find it interesting that girls gather in the bathroom at such a young age. We knew teenage girls do it, now we know toddler girls do it too.