Professional Pictures

Steve's parents came to visit for Zoe's baby blessing and wanted to take the kids to a professional photographer. So we did. Unfortunately, the photographer was kind of weirdly intense and definitely too scary for Alex, who is nervous around strangers to begin with. He picked up Alex to move him into position for the first shot and that was pretty much the end of it for our little two-year-old. After a while Alex refused to even step onto the mat. But still the guy managed to get some good pictures of the kids. I think Daphne (a supermodel in the making) enjoyed the experience, though I could tell from her face she didn't understand why the photographer kept making so many weird noises and laughing like a crazy person to get her to smile. She was especially excited about the ones where she got to hold her baby sister. Zoe was good right up to the end, which was nice. Except then she wanted to scream and cry while we were trying to decide which pictures and how many and what sizes, etc. That was a little distracting. So I had to feed her in the "Dressing Room". Then we all went to Chipotle for lunch and everyone felt a lot better. Anyway, here are a few of our favorites...

The best we could get of all three kids together. Alex would just not sit still long enough.

And in classic Steve style, all the pictures were framed and hung on the wall that same day. We are pretty happy to finally have pictures on our walls, after living here over three years! I guess we're not big decorators...

A funny note on Daphne's hairstyle: I suggested to her that maybe she shouldn't wear a headband for the pictures and she started to cry. I guess I should have known better because Daphne wears a headband 24/7 - literally. She wears one to bed and then she switches to a different one when she wakes up in the morning. At least she is starting to move it back to where a headband should be, instead of right at her hairline.

Introducing: Zoe Lynn!

Zoe was born August 15th at 5:56 in the morning.
She weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and measured 19 inches long.
She came with a full head of hair and darker eyes than her sister and brother, but otherwise she looks a lot like her siblings (in other words, she looks just like Daddy - nothing like Mama - but that's okay, I'm pretty sure she's mine!)

We had to stay an extra day at the hospital because she makes some funny breathing noises when she sleeps and had a possible heart murmur but we are all home now and doing well and fighting over whose turn it is to hold her.

Ear Tubes for Alex

Alex had the most minor of all surgeries yesterday - having tubes put in his ears. It really couldn't have gone any better. When they first suggested it, they were sure to emphasize how simple and quick the procedure would be (about 10 minutes) but they also told me, "you'll have to come two hours before the surgery, and you can expect to be here for half the day". And of course I knew he would have to be under general anesthesia, which is always a bit scary. And then with him having to be fasting and knowing about his separation anxiety, I figured he would be screaming until the anesthesia kicked in, and screaming again as soon as it wore off.

Well, it turns out we only had to be there 90 minutes before surgery, and they started a little early, and it went perfectly, and he woke up pretty much right after they took him to the recovery room, and once they checked him out and gave him some apple juice we got to go home - so we were only there for a little over 2 hours! And he didn't even cry when they wheeled him away into the operating room. Of course he WAS crying like crazy when they brought us back after he woke up, ("Just follow the screaming," Steve said) but he calmed down pretty quickly after I held him. He wanted to be held for a little while after we got home, and then he was ready to play! I don't even know if he was really extra clingy or cranky because he's kind of been clingy and cranky a lot lately - so I'd say he was basically back to normal within an hour of getting home. Not too bad at all! We definitely feel like our prayers were answered.

I Could Not, Would Not (single parenting)

To all the single mothers out there whose kids are still alive - you are amazing! We barely survived the week without Steve. Which is kind of funny when you think about it - because really I'm home alone with them all day every day, but those few hours at the end of the day when Daddy is home make such a big difference! For all of us.

Okay, so "barely survived" might be a bit of an exaggeration, but still, it wasn't easy. And I yelled a lot more than I would like to admit. Especially around bedtime. Unfortunately that was when we got to "face time" (on the iPad) with Steve, so he probably thought I was totally losing it. Really I think I was an acceptable mother most of the day... I hope...

BUT - we did have some fun! And we kind of developed somewhat of a daily routine. I got up before the kids every day to shower, read scriptures, and get a head start on housework type stuff. We went to a park every morning for at least an hour. That was critical. I would have kept them out longer, but it was just too hot this week! And I didn't want to mess with sunscreen.

Afternoons consisted of the kids dancing to Toddler Radio on Pandora while I did chores, reading lots of books together and playing toys. Daphne watched one of her library DVDs (Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake this week) during Alex's naps while I had some quiet time, then we would play a game together, or do a puzzle, and read more books until Alex woke up. We really did read a lot this week. Like 10 books a day. Maybe more.

And the kids played in their little splash pool every evening while I watered the plants in the backyard, and sometimes watered the kids as well (at Daphne's request). Then we would pick and eat blueberries and raspberries. Then they'd have a bath, a late "dinner" (I didn't cook at all this week, unless toasting bread counts), a little playtime in the front yard, then off to bed! Thank goodness for bedtime.

Here are some other highlights of the week:

I've killed about 50 baby spiders in our downstairs bathroom since Monday. I think they may be coming in through the open window in the mornings, but I have yet to find the nest. Gross.

Alex had a check-up with his pediatrician. He is getting tubes in his ears next week. I'm not excited about that, but I guess it will be better than letting him continue to have ear infections and fluid in his ears all the time (which has been affecting his hearing, and therefore his speech development). I'm sure it will be good for him, but it's still SURGERY! And anesthesia. And I know he'll hate being left alone in the operating room. He doesn't even like to be left alone in our living room. Fortunately, we were able to get it scheduled before the baby comes. Well, as long as the baby doesn't come before Tuesday... (don't even think about it young lady!)

Speaking of babies coming, I had a check-up of my own. I gained a pound and a half in a week. The baby is head down and I am one cm dilated, which of course really doesn't mean anything at this point. But good to know she's getting ready!

AND I remembered to check the mail every day! (Steve always does that). Except today. Oops. Oh well. Too dark and scary out there now...

Sorry, no pictures. I was going to photo all the fun things we did while Steve was gone, but I didn't take even one. So if you are a single mother and your kids are alive AND you take pictures of them... wow! That's all I can say.

Daphne Goes to the Dentist

Daphne actually loves to go to the dentist, which is nice. I think we've taken her every six months since she was 18 months old and she's only had one "bad" visit where she wouldn't let the hygienist do anything. Though I think that particular hygienist was not very experienced with little kids. Anyway, when Steve and I had our dentist appointments on Saturday, she was disappointed because she wanted to go too - and waiting until HER appointment the following Tuesday was not easy. So here she is pretty happy to finally be up in the big chair.

She did great, only squirming a little bit during the polishing. But I can't blame her, I hate that gritty texture myself. Even so, with a little coaxing she let the hygienist finish. And she was more than happy at the end to get her new toothbrush and balloon (both green, of course) and a couple little toys from the basket. She made sure to get one of everything for Alex as well. Always looking out for her brother (she asks for stickers for herself AND her brother at grocery store check-outs, or a hand stamp for both of them when we leave Costco).

Alex was supposed to have his first "happy visit" this time, but he is sick (AGAIN) with an ear infection, cough, runny nose - so we decided to wait until he is feeling better. He certainly kept me busy though - only interested in watching Daphne's cleaning for the first few minutes, and then afterward trying to escape in every way possible and find anything and everything that I didn't want him to touch. He's smart like that.

Recent Celebrations

When it comes to holidays, I am pretty much the worst at making them special. I get all kinds of big ideas but then I never follow through. Here are some pictures to prove it.

Easter

For Easter, we had an Easter egg hunt and the kids got some new clothes. I think that was pretty much it. I remember they had fun looking for the eggs though, and Alex was old enough this year to participate, and Daphne was kind enough to let him.

Daphne's Birthday (4)

Here's the perfect example of "not following through". Daphne has been asking for green cupcakes with green frosting and green sprinkles since her birthday LAST YEAR (note: this is also what she had for cake last year). So I knew that would be happening. But then my neighbor offered to make them so I didn't know what else to do. Then, about a week before her birthday she decides she wants an "Elsa party" (from the movie Frozen). I made up a whole Pinterest-board of Frozen Birthday Ideas, but in the end Steve picked up some Frozen-themed paper plates and cups and napkins to eat our pizza and cake with, and that was about as "Elsa" as we got. She was satisfied but I still felt a little lame for not even cutting up a few paper snowflakes. Oh well. There's always next year!

Mother's Day

Here's where we break the mold, probably because Steve took charge. He and Daphne snuck downstairs before I woke up to make me some Mother's Day cards and breakfast in bed. It was totally unexpected and I loved it! Daphne sung with the Primary for the first time so that was fun too. She even knew most of the words.

Escape to Provo

Steve took me on a trip to Utah a couple weeks ago. It was a much needed break! So nice to be together, just the two of us, and do whatever we wanted or nothing at all. We walked around campus (it has changed so much!) and picked out some BYU shirts for the kids and ourselves, ate at all our old favorite restaurants (and realized most of them were not as great as we remembered - except Café Rio, which did NOT disappoint!) Had ice cream at the Creamery a couple times (yum!), hiked the Y (haha NOT REALLY! but we did get our rental car to make it to the trailhead... barely.) and visited with a few friends.

(Bridal Veil Falls)

(inside the Tanner Building, which has almost doubled in size! Steve had most of his classes here.)

(view from the base of the Y-Mountain trail)

(Always fun to see JD!)

(Ashlee!!! I hope you are reading this, like a good blog-stalker would be.)

(We stayed way too late hanging out with Rachael and her husband, but it was just too much fun to leave! Sorry for waking up your kids and depriving you of much-needed sleep...)
Basically, it was awesome! But at the same time, we were both ready to get back home by the end of it all. At least until we got home - then I was ready to be back on vacation! Just kidding... kind of...

The Little Farm

We went to a little local farm this week. They let you feed the animals and ride their horses for a small fee. There were chickens, goats, rabbits, sheep, horses, a pig, and a peacock. I wasn't sure how it was going to go but it ended up a success. Both Daphne and Alex were a bit nervous at first (more like throwing the food at the animals, or dropping it right before they could take a bite) but eventually they warmed up to it and had a lot of fun, and actually waited for the animals to take the food from their hands.

I think Alex's favorite animal was the peacock, which he called a "chee-TAH". He kept wanting to go back and find it. He also liked watching the other animals and was pointing and babbling on about them pretty much nonstop.

Daphne has been asking for a long time now, "When will I be old enough to ride a horse?" So she was pretty excited to finally get her chance. She didn't seem nervous at all!

She also enjoyed getting to hold a couple of the rabbits. I think she named this one "Snowball".

I realized I'm kind of a germaphobe. We took advantage of every bottle of hand sanitizer they had, and I still didn't really want to let the kids eat our lunch there. But everyone else was doing it! Somehow we survived.

Despite their seemingly grumpy-looking faces, they really did have fun! I just can't seem to get a normal, happy, smiling picture of either one of them lately.

Baby #3...

...is a girl!

We all went to the ultrasound today, which was a little risky because it was right during Alex's naptime. Steve handled him pretty well though, and Daphne was entranced with the ultrasound pictures. Right from the start, she was making comments like, "Oh look at that cute baby! It's so cute! Aww, what a cute baby! Oh look there's the head! Look at it's cute little head!" etc. When the ultrasound technician announced that it was a girl she was SO happy. "It's a girl?! Just what I wanted! Daddy! It's a girl! It's a baby girl! I can't believe it! It's a GIRL!" I was trying so hard not to laugh but my belly was shaking a bit anyway.

So far, she looks healthy and properly developed so that's the best news, and we're all excited for another girl to join the family! Well, except for maybe Alex, who probably has no idea what's going on, and will probably have the most adjusting to do when she arrives.

Also, we need to find a name that Daphne and Steve can agree on. The debate on the drive home was not pretty. It ended in tears for one of them. I won't say who.

Yesterday

Want to know what life is like for our family? Here are most of the things that happened around here yesterday.

1. I woke up and put Steve's lunch together.
2. I read scriptures until the kids woke up.
3. We shared a healthy breakfast of Cocoa Pebbles, animal crackers and Nutella. (Don't worry, I gave Daphne a gummy vitamin afterward... and I think Alex had a banana.)
4. We played with dry oats for about an hour. This is a new thing I'm trying. I guess it's called "sensory play" - the kids love it. Last time they played for about an hour as well. Just scooping up the oats with their hands and measuring cups and spoons. Or hiding things in there for me to find. I guess it's kind of a waste of food, but the oats were expired anyway.
5. Swept up the kitchen. The goal is to keep the oats in the container, but nobody's perfect.
6. Then we played with cotton balls for quite a while. I bought these for a snowman craft which we never did, so I just dumped them out to see what the kids would do. First we tossed them all one by one into an empty cardboard box. Then Daphne wanted to have a "snowball" fight. Then we used them for pretend food (sometimes Alex forgot it was just pretend, but I don't think he swallowed any...) and then there was more snowball fighting and THEN they were presents which we stuffed inside bags and gave to each other (in between more snowball fighting). Daphne's pretty creative!
7. Time to vacuum downstairs, because apparently a cotton snowball fight leaves a lot of cotton snowflakes around the house. (Daphne has been asking to "play with cotton" ever since we cleaned up, but I told her we'll have to save it for the next vacuuming day. She doesn't appreciate the logic behind this plan.)
8. Gave the kids a bath. They love bath time and will splash around for as long as I let them, which is why we usually do this during the day. I don't have the patience for this at bedtime.
9. Daphne watched "Mulan" while Alex took a nap and I cleaned the kitchen and then finished the movie with her.
10. Alex woke up and we had scrambled eggs and toast for lunch. ("Lunch" being about 2:00pm on this particular day. We really don't have a regular meal schedule. I need to work on that.)
11. We danced to Pandora's Toddler Radio station for probably an hour, during which Alex also had me read him several books, and Daphne took a few breaks to cut paper. This is one of her new favorite activities.
12. The kids played together while I prepped dinner (which was fairly easy, since it was leftover tacos).
13. We made an emergency trip to the store to get more taco shells.
14. We got home just before Steve and had our taco dinner.
15. Steve and Daphne played Candy Land while I cleaned up dinner and Alex attempted to escape from his high chair and destroy Candy Land.
16. Family Home Evening - which usually involves singing a lot of Primary songs in between an opening and closing prayer. Sometimes there's dessert.
17. Bedtime for Alex! (7:00pm - brush teeth, change diaper, read a book, go to sleep)
18. I read to myself (Little House on the Prairie) next to Daphne on our bed while she finished up playing on the iPad (this is what she does while I put Alex to bed and Steve works on the computer, unless Steve needs the iPad, then she gets to play Starfall on the computer.)
19. Bedtime for Daphne! (8:00pm - family scriptures, family prayer, go to the bathroom, brush teeth, read a book, go to sleep)
20. Steve booked a romantic getaway for us to... Provo, Utah! (Don't laugh, I picked the destination. We haven't been back since I graduated. And yes, it may have been heavily influenced by the fact that I want Café Rio. Hey, I am pregnant after all!)
21. And finally - Bedtime for Mom and Dad! (even Steve gets a bedtime story - right now I am reading to him from the fourth book in the Percy Jackson series. I think we turned the lights out a little after 10:00.)

And... Good night! (except that it wasn't that good, because Alex - who has been doing great lately - woke up THREE TIMES! it's a good thing he's so cute...)

Guess Who's Having a Baby?!

Hint: It's me.

Baby #3 due sometime around August 11th. We'll (hopefully) be finding out the gender at my next month's appointment. I can't believe it's already time for that! (I'm close to 16 weeks.)

We told all our family way back when we first found out and have been casually mentioning it to people in recent weeks, but I realized I haven't announced it on here so the whole world could know. So, now you know!

Snow Day

We don't get a lot of snow here, so we were pretty excited when it started snowing Saturday night. We kept peeking out the windows to see if it was sticking. It was, but only a little by the time the kids went to bed. By the time the parents went to bed, however, there was about 3 inches of snow and we hoped it would last until morning for the kids to see. It did! And church was cancelled, so we bundled up as best we could (we don't really have proper snow clothes) and enjoyed the snow day.

Daphne, who typically wears size 4T, is sporting a 24 month vest and rain boots which are still too big for her. Told you we didn't have proper snow clothes!

And poor Alex had to wear his sister's old hat and mittens. He didn't seem to mind.

As you can see by the fact that neither boy in this picture is wearing a coat, it had significantly warmed up by the second time we went outside! Now it is raining and our snowman will probably be a puddle by tomorrow.

Random Stuff

Sometimes I do "cool mom" things. Like when we had a sudden hail storm and the kids were excitedly watching and I decided to scoop some up and let them play with it in the kitchen. They loved it! Alex of course immediately started dumping it all over the place, so our one towel safety net was promptly expanded to three towels. And it still didn't contain the mess, but I didn't stress too much. It's just water! These pictures were taken at the very beginning of their play. By the end we had all sorts of kitchen utensils involved. And a second container of hail stones.

When I vacuum Daphne usually likes to "help" with her smaller, but real, vacuum. She still thinks it's pretty great to help with chores and I'm hoping that will last. Now she is passing on the passion to Alex. If only I could get them to go in parallel lines across the room!

After I give the kids a bath they like to go in Daphne's room and "read". It's fun to see Alex show more interest in books lately. I'm trying to be better about reading to him now that he'll actually sit still long enough to get through a few (very short) books.