4.12.15

I'm behind. Only by two weeks, but it feels like much longer. I started debating if it was worth it going back to do last week. As far as I can remember, I haven't missed a week since S was born...and some were WAY busier than this, so I have no excuse! Here we go. I'll admit that I had to go through my camera log to see what happened two weeks ago. Thankfully it was a week full of pictures!

We started that Sunday with General Conference. We picked up some markers for S that were washable and made her a station on the piano bench covered with butcher paper to be able to have fun coloring while we listened. Overall it proved fairly successful. She is somewhat obsessed with tracing her hands right now...so you can imagine the mess that became with markers. We have had the "tradition" of getting fun treats to share while we watch conference. It's been fine up to this point with Brett and I, but I thought that she might OD on sugar. We told her (and monitored) one at a time, BUT she chose to swallow gummy bears whole to be able to have another one :)

coloring station

She has really loved this dressup. She has gotten it out multiple times asking for help to put it on. She is now to the point that she'll put it on and walk/run around the house saying "Super S". She brings so much happiness!

We celebrated this day from 9 years ago. It's hard to believe that it's already been that long. Brett was released from being the bishop in our ward about a month ago. He had been bishop for over 1/2 of our marriage at this point. We always remember what a cold day that was. We had over 8 inches of snow that day. I remember that day, and thinking how crazy it was that it was snowing. However, since then I am finding it wasn't so crazy. I feel like we have had snow on our anniversary at least half of the time since then. Thankfully this year was much different and we enjoyed the sunshine :)

Lately I have felt like I have gotten in a rut with the things that I cook for dinner. I subscribed to a few cooking magazines recently, and we've all appreciated them! This dinner, in particular, we loved. Each new meal I made Brett raved about. He has been so grateful that I have made the efforts to make the new, yummy meals. This was a tarragon chicken with veggies. We also did a really yummy pasta with tomatoes and spinach, Cuban pork and black bean stew, and a different kind of taco with a red cabbage slaw. It's been nice to feel things getting a bit back to normal :)

S was looking through recipe books with me one day and saw a kid with ice cream on his face. Brett called on his way home and Scarlett kept telling him, "Dad, face...ice cream on it!" We decided to go for a little outing together that night. She was SO glad...and no, she did not even eat 1/2 of that. But that was the smallest size they did so we went with it :)

enjoying ice cream at the fun ice cream shop at Thanksgiving Point

We still haven't finished putting our half bath back together. We need to caulk, wood fill, and paint. In the mean time S is enjoying playing with the toilet paper holder :)

We were super lucky that grandma had a field trip down to our neck of the woods. Her 5th grade class came down to the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point. We were able to hang out with her most of the time that she was there. We left before she did because S was just done...but we were able to enjoy a lot of things with her before that happened. One of her favorite things that I didn't get a picture of was the huge fish pond that is part of the children's garden there. 

dress ups

being a vet

building blocks with grandma

a teeter-totter :)

Making music outside :)

This kid discovered how to do selfies this week by herself. She kept pushing the button and giggling each time it took a picture! 

She is such a good helper in the kitchen. If Brett or I am making anything she will pull a chair over, climb up on it, and start saying, "Help you! Help you!" She stirred the red cabbage slaw, then pulled out measuring cups and started dishing it up. Yes, it took longer. Yes, it made more of a mess. Yes, I easily could've done it all on my own, but it was all worth it. Do you see how happy it makes her to be a helper?! She brings such light and joy and life!

Our apples tree hasn't produced any apples for the past couple of years. Brett and I were ecstatic to see these blossoms..and there are lots more. Fingers crossed that the late spring snow doesn't ruin everything that has already blossomed...including our nectarine and pear trees :) 

I had an appointment in Pleasant Grove this week, then stopped in Orem to do errands. I can't be that those to Ben and not stop to see him. The store was fairly quiet while we were there, but he had a customer or phone call here or there. S loves Ben, and loves being able to stop by to see him. He is so good with her. If I ever tell her that is where we're going when we get in the car the whole way there I will hear, "Ben...work...Mom! Ben, work!"

We had our anniversary on Monday. We spent time together as a family that evening. We decided to go our Friday night and have a "real date". I'm pretty sure this hasn't happened in the past year...it's been a crazy one, We went out to dinner at Macaroni Grill (thanks to a gift card) and to see Insurgent (also thanks to a gift card). So, we only ended up paying a little here or there and for the baby-sitter. We are lucky to live in an area with such great youth. There is always someone great we can get to watch S while we go out (when that happens) :)

Saturday Brett had chosen to redeem his Christmas gift from me. It was a first flight lesson. We didn't go with him because S had had a rough night and was still sleeping when he needed to leave. He took lots of pictures, but they're on his phone. I'll have to add them later :)

Easter Week

I had big hopes for things this week, but they just didn't pan out. I really wanted to do things each day to teach Scarlett about the real meaning of Easter...but it just didn't happen. Maybe I should start now so I am ready for next year :)

I picked up this "dress up" up for S last week at a warehouse sale that "Little Adventures DressUps" did. It was only $2 :) She LOVES it.  We went for a walk on family night and she insisted on wearing her dress ups. Someone saw her from their deck and called out to us about how cute she looked in her super hero costume.

We are really lucky to live in such a great neighborhood. For the past 10 years there has been a neighborhood Easter egg hunt that one family puts together. You fill as many eggs as you want hidden in your yard, write "Prize last name" on as many eggs as you want your kids to get prizes for that will be distributed to other neighbors so you kids can go get prizes from them as well. S hasn't been old enough to appreciate it until now. The eggs are all hidden in your yard on Friday night. 

S had a rough night Friday night, so doing an Easter Egg hunt on Saturday morning took a bit longer to get to than we had hoped...but it was SO worth it. She loved finding all of the eggs. We had a lot of fun with her too :) Warning: there are lots of photos of this morning...if you're not interested you may want to skip to the bottom.

I'm not sure it this one.... 

or this is my favorite! I love all her crazy expressions.

Mom and Dad both still in jammies while Scarlett hunts for eggs :)

General Conference with a 2 year old. These markers were well worth it. There were a few times I would say "Ssshhhhh" and she would say it right back to me. It made me smile. She can be such an independent little soul. 

It was my sister, Jessica's, birthday this week...Saturday actually. Cami was down from Idaho to see the other side of the family, and Heather and my mom were gone on vacation. We took advatage of it being a birthday to get together for lunch between sessions of Conference on Saturday. I don't see Cami nearly enough since she moved. Thank goodness for facetime. It's been a saving grace for Scarlett to see her cousins too! Don't you love Jessica's crown? Her boys made it for her...along with a bunch of birthday games. "Mom, isn't this your best birthday ever?!" She has some really sweet boys! 

Lunch at Zaxby's

Thank heavens for a great mother in law who allegedly had the egg dying kit in her cupboard. We didn't get to dying them until Sunday evening, but that didn't bother this kid at all. She seriously is such sunshine to our lives. She is such my little buddy. I honestly couldn't imagine life without this kid. She was an answer to years and years of fasting and praying. We are truly blessed! 

Wrong Diagnosis

What we thought was chicken pox was not cured in the amount of time it should've been so we took a trip to the doctor. Our pediatrician's NP said she doesn't think S ever had chicken pox, but an allergic reaction on top of her eczema which then became infected. So, on Tuesday we got to start on 2 creams for her skin as well as an antibiotic. Since her appointment was right before lunch we bought yogurt, and a corndog for her while we shopped and waited for her prescription to be filled. She has been a trooped through it all and rarely complained about anything.

helping mom shop :)

We got to watch a friend's kids for a few hours while she went to the doctor on Wednesday. So, I had 5 kids 8 and under. We had a pretty good time...sugar cookies, playing at the park, and in a teepee we borrowed from Nana that morning. 

swinging

Trying something new. She laughed and laughed while she swung this way.

Turns out the antibiotic that S was prescribed was really strong. For several days (despite us feeding her yogurt) we heard a lot of "tummy owie". Which sometimes resulted in just needing snuggles. I'm not going to complain about that though. It's rare that she wants to just snuggle in and cuddle :)

We had such great weather on Saturday that we couldn't help but get out in the yard and work on our gardening spots. Brett found a worm for S to hold. She was pretty excited about it, and watched with complete contentment while it wound its way back into the ground.

Saturday night I went with my sister to dinner and the General Women's Broadcast. Brett wanted to do something special with S while I was gone. They made pudding to share together after dinner, and had a fun dinner at home. 

Helping stir the pudding

I have been dying for S to wear this dress. It is the one I bought several weeks ago for my brother's wedding. We aren't going to be in church on Easter Sunday because of General Conference so I thought today would be perfect. She loved it, and kept kissing herself in the mirror. She gladly obliged for pictures I wanted to get :)

Our Week

This was the perfect way to start off Monday morning. I love when I get to see views this beautiful of Timpanogos right from our window. I often don't have time to grab a camera that quickly, but made sure to this morning. 

Sometimes it is all I can do to get Scarlett to eat something for breakfast, but other mornings its like she is ready to eat Thanksgiving dinner. This has been one of her favorites for the past little while. She seriously will eat half of this pan herself.

German Pancakes

S had been sick (which we thought was the chicken pox, but later found out isn't) and some friends stopped by with a fun few things for her. She was beyond thrilled to have bubbles, colors (aka coloring book), and fish crackers. It is fun to me how something so small is so fun for little people! 

Once S was better we had an outing to see the dinosaurs. It was all she talked about to Brett when he came home that night. I love that the museum has windows at heights for little people that they can easily see everything.

checking out the dinosaurs

playing in the water table

"petting" the dinosaur

digging for fossils

ice cream at the ice cream shoppe after

We have been working on finishing the wainscoting in the bathroom since the beginning of February. We ran into major problems with the pedestal sink and being unable to get the fittings off so we could put the wainscoting  up. S loves to be part of everything we do, especially projects. However, she hates loud noises...thus sitting on the bathroom floor with dad plugging her ears while we worked :)

Bathroom project...now just to caulk and paint.

We also took time on Saturday to get some outside work done. Our raspberries were more than ready to get pruned. S was completely happy to play and have fun while we worked. I couldn't miss the opportunity to pull out my "real camera" to get some pictures of this cutie pie!

sidewalk chalking

standing on her head while coloring

Life Around Here

S really wanted to play at the park on Monday afternoon. I have a friend who is expecting and has 5 kids, 9 and under. The 9 year old could've cared less about the park, but the rest of them were happy to come with me. S's current favorite loves are slides and swings. She is finally willing to do them all by herself. 

climbing up to the slides

S got up from her nap super happy and wanted to do "big hugs". We had to get a picture of us...even if it is super grainy.

She is beginning to think the park is an everyday thing. She had a fit yesterday about going to the park, and it wasn't worth the tantrum to say no even though I should've been fixing dinner. There was a boy about 3 years older than her who was swinging next to her. She just giggled and giggled at how he was swinging...which caused him to laugh at her too. It was pretty cute.

slides

At the top of the big slide. She kept saying "help you! help you!" Since I couldn't reach her hand she walked all the way back down.

Spontaneous family outing for fried ice cream. Scarlett just kept saying, "Like it! Like it!"

Thursday I got a phone call from my mom in tears that grandma had fallen and had really bad skin tears. I didn't want my mom to have to be there by herself and I was already in the car on errands so I told her I'd come be with her. When I got there they hadn't even let my mom back to be with her yet. Eventually my dad got there and played with S in the waiting area so I could go back with my mom and grandma. I didn't do great. Grandma looked awful and I was instantly queezy. She was purple all the way up her arms. She had 3 skin tears about the size of racket balls all the way up her arm. We were there for a few hours, grabbed some things for grandma from home, then it the road to be able to beat rush hour traffic. You have to love S's dress ups. Who knew errands would turn into a trip to see great-grandma.

playing with grandpa

S decided that she was not going to ride in her stroller on the way to go visit a friend on Friday. I just gave up and ditched it by the mailbox...grateful that we live in a safe neighborhood :)

Despite immunizing Scarlett, she came down with chicken pox. I keep thinking that she is about over it, but then I see a new dot. I'm praying we are over this soon because I am SO over being stuck here. I don't want to contaminate anyone else so it's not like I can even go to the grocery store. Bah!

We had a baby shower for my sister in law on Saturday. She is expecting mid April. It will be fun to have another cousin on Brett's side. The next closest to S on his side is 3 years older than her, but lives in Oregon. Her closest cousin on Brett's side in the state is ten years older than her...and she adores him!

Why I Blog

I have thought a lot about why I blog. I'd say at the moment it is 90%  because of commitments to birth parents. Sunday is my normal blogging day, but was way to full this week to fit any time in to blog.

Often when I sit down to blog I look through the pictures taken during the week to try to decide what to blog about. This week I've been terrible at taking pictures....maybe because of all the gross weather we've had. The snow finally came. Our driveway got plowed for the second time this year. We have really needed the moisture, and  I'm going about to start complaining about it.

We renewed our Thanksgiving Point membership this week and went twice. We love that place! I'm not sure how long we will continue to get a membership there, but we'll enjoy it while it lasts. Both days this week we spent at the Museum of Natural Curiosity. I love all of the fun hands on things that they have for a wide variety of ages to enjoy.

Every time we go she loves the wheelbarrows....along with just about every other kid.

She has fun swishing the "water" around and watching the bubbles in the washer.

We did away with paying for cable close to a year ago. We have recently started watching Cut Throat Kitchen. They had the challenge of making jambalaya with extra challenges thrown in. I have always loved when my mom made it for us, which inspired me to make it for our family this week...even if it meant a special trip to the grocery store.  

new jambalaya recipe

We have a wedding coming up in our family in about 2 1/2 months. There are several colors that they bride has chosen to use. I thought this dress was prefect for Scarlett. I really wanted something with sleeves since we will be outdoors for everything early in the day and late in the evening and wanted her to be warm enough. I sent pictures to my mom and sisters which ended up in me going back to buy for the rest of the nieces. They all would've bought for themselves, but this was a dress that was sold at outlets only...thus me making another trip up to the outlets. I was happy to do it for my sisters!

S's dress for Ben and Holly's wedding

Saturday was a seriously busy day for our family. I hope to not have that many crazy obligations in one day again! We started the day at 7, with me cutting Brett's hair...it was much needed! I have been doing it for years...so if you see spots that are missed you can blame me :/ Then Brett had to be at Stake Baptisms by 9. As soon as he was done he came home and changed so we could go to an adoption open house sponsored by the LDS church and put on by adoption.com They are the most searched site and lots of success for birth parents looking to place their child(ren) for adoption. Now we get to start a large part of this all over again. If I'm being honest I should say that I should be working on it now. Their website has a lot more things for us to add than we previously had on itsaboutlove.org When we came home we needed to go to the youth fundraiser. They did a car wash and had 3 professional photographers from the ward volunteer their time to take family photos. Brett put S down for a nap while I took both cars up to get washed. We had a 5:40 appointment for pictures. It was a very long day to say the least. At least we got some happy faces out of S. That will be something to hopefully update our adoption blog with :)

Brett was having a youth discussion on Sunday and we needed refreshments...so while Brett put S to bed I ran to the grocery store. I hadn't made these in ages, but they are fantastic. We call them monster cookies. They have all the things you love in cookies in them...peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chips, m&ms. Plus, for my gluten free friends, you're set! 

Monster Cookie dough

Laryngitis

I swear, normal spring weather cannot come soon enough. I started to get a cold mid week (if you can say started since the cough hasn't gone away since December). I finally ended in laryngitis today. I guess I really should count my blessings because I used to get it on a regular basis (for a full week annually while teaching school).

I just looked back at pictures from this week. They have something to be desired. Maybe because its' been SO much colder that we've been inside a lot more, and not done as many notable things. Looking back it just seems like Blah!

We went car shopping last Saturday, and somehow the key ended up in Brett's pocket...which meant that I had to take it back to the dealer on Monday in between piano lessons. We grabbed lunch with Brett since we were passing by anyway. We ate at an Asian restaurant. S was obsessed with a cat they had sitting on the counter when we walked in. She kept turning around while we were eating, wave her arm, and say, "Hi, S!" It made us both smile watching her. 

We made dinner for a friend who was sick that  night, and were going to go on a walk. S insisted on this hat, and kept repeating "Grandma made! Grandma made!" She requested to wear it multiple times this week :)

A hat from Grandma :)

One day S got up after a really short nap, and I really wanted a nap. I was beat! So we laid down together...don't let her fool you. She is very much awake!

pretend sleeping

We went over to visit S's aunt one day this week. They have lots of animals (4 I think). S loved their dog, and came home repeatedly calling her dog Meg (their dog's name). She would bring it to me saying, "Mom, touch it. Meg. Soft."

S's "Meg"

I was pretty convinced that S just had a blocked duct. It had been a bit gooey for a few days, but one morning she woke up and it was both eyes. I immediately called for a doctors appointment. Turns out it was pink eye. We have been washing hands lots, and she has had to have drops 4 times a day. Honestly, its been a lot to keep up with. We have to do it for a week. I will be grateful when we're done!  

Entertaining herself while we waited (45 minutes...ARG!?!)

S and I had a little us time while Brett worked on the bathroom Saturday morning. S despises loud noises so it made sense for us to do a little something before nap time. We opted to paint fingernails. She was pretty excited! 

fingernail painting prep

We also spent some good quality time with family on Saturday. It was my dad and nephew's birthdays this week. We went up to my parents. My sister rented a bounce house for the kids, and had a movie going as well. There was something all the kids were happy to do :)