Easter 2013

We had such a great Easter weekend.  We had great weather which made it the perfect spring Easter we were hoping for.  The girls got 2 Easter dresses this year.  We bought them one and their Aunt Margene bought them the other ones.  They wore this one a week early when we celebrated with my family and went to dinner at my parents with an Easter Egg hunt with candy and money.

Friday night I decided we needed to have a practice Egg Hunt since we were going to our neighborhood one the next morning.  I had them watch me put little cookie bites in the egg and then would take it across the room and put it somewhere.  Well this worked once until I took the eggs back to put more cookies in them and they were so mad at me for taking their eggs and we had lots of tears/protesting/mad girls.

But it worked because the next morning we went to our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt and let me tell you we have an awesome neighborhood.  We had over 12 houses that all had over 100 eggs on each lawn.  I would've been happy if the girls got 1 egg each but it ended up they got about 8.  They loved getting them and putting them in.  Although a few times Aria would take one out of the basket and put it back on the grass.  I did have to kind of get after a boy who scooped up an egg right as Siena was bending down to pick it up.  She was literally inches from it and he just scooped it up and kept going.  After telling him that was not very nice of him, he looked at me apologized and put it back,which was very nice of him.  Siena really didn't need another egg but seriously, I couldn't keep my mouth shut either.  At least he was really nice about it and I thanked him.

 The egg hunt must have wore Siena out because I literally turned around and she was sound asleep.  It was so hard to wake her back up, talking to her right in her face and nothing.

That afternoon we went and walked around a little pond here in Draper and fed some ducks.  The girls liked walking around and I'm pretty sure would have gotten into the green yucky water if I hadn't stopped them.  But they were fascinated by the ducks and how close they were when we would throw bread to them.

The Easter bunny brought them some PJ's, a rubber duck, a little toy truck (which seems random but they love wheeling cars around whenever they see them and we have NO cars in our house) and a maget doll board to use with dress up clothes magnets to play with at church.  This was all they were going to get and then the Easter bunny found a sale through her sister for buy one get one free Barbie laptops.  The girls, espeically Siena are obsessed with laptops.  So they got their own laptop and are in love.  So far they only hit the on/off button and it's soooo annoying but it does come with games that hopefully they will learn to play one day.  Siena's face was priceless when she saw her laptop and she looked up at us like...are you serious, this is mine??  We got it on video and it's pretty cute.  She of course then had to check out Aria's just to make sure she didn't have a better/different one.

Sunday we went to church and although I would like to say Sacrament was really nice, it was not.  Our usual 'trap them on a bench they can't get out' seats were gone by the time we got there due to meltdowns before we even left the house which was due to the fact they did NOT want their hair in pig tails...sheesh.  So they thought they were free to run around wherever they wanted, so we ended up pacing the hallway for most of the hour.  I was a little nervous that when we dropped them off at Nursery (in their Easter dresses) that the nursery leaders were setting up to dye eggs with them...seriously?  18 month olds in Easter dresses.  I was a little nervous but we really do have fabulous nursery leaders and they either didn't let my girls touch the dye or they had some good coverups because their dresses stayed clean.  Phew...

That afternoon we had Shane's sister over for dinner and we had our own little Easter Egg hunt.  They loved running around with their baskets and collecting the eggs and even though they only had about 3 M&Ms in each egg, they really didn't care about the candy, just getting the eggs.

 So as you can see from the ton of pictures...we had a great weekend and it was fun celebrating with our girls now that they kind of get what is going on. 

Even though our girls may not understand the true meaning of Easter, I do and I'm so grateful to celebrate Easter and the resurrection and His Atonement for me.  I think of the true meaning of eternal families at times like these and whenever I look into my daughters eyes and am especially grateful we will be a family forever.  I also think about the many people who have gone before me and what a glorious day it will be to be reunited with them one day all because of Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection.

Pregnancy Update - 23 Weeks

I thought I would give a little update on this pregnancy so far.  And really just to sum it up is that I'm just feeling really good at this stage.  If I compare it to my other pregnancy it is a lot easier then before.  I thought the first time I was feeling good...and I was for the most part but my back and hips were already hurting among other things.  Now that I have a single pregnancy to compare it to I can tell that I'm feeling a lot better at this stage.

I have other shirts I wear, I promise...I just realized I'm wearing the same shirt as I was in my last pregnancy update picture with my sister and sister in law.  Speaking of which...we are all having boys!!  So excited that 3 little boys will be born so close together.  They will love running around together.  I can see them all being best cousins.

They tested my thyroid level and I was a little high.  I didn't really think I had any symptoms of that but I had been really tired lately but as I told my doctor, I'm working full time and have 2 toddlers so of course I'm tired.  Well she adjusted my medication and just in the last few days I have started to feel a difference so I'm very happy to not be feeling as run down. 

We had our regular 20 week ultrasound and everything is still looking good.  It's still a boy and he was moving all around.  Everything measured just fine and I was relieved to see him again and get an in-depth ultrasound.  At this point last time I had had many ultrasounds.  The ultrasound tech commented that he has really long feet.  I'm still a little nervous that this baby is going to weigh more then both my girls did put together.

I've been feeling him kick a lot.  Mostly at night and Shane has even felt him kick a couple times.  It feels strange just to have one baby kicking actually.  Usually I could feel one down low where this baby is and then one higher up. 
The hardest part so far is just managing the girls.  Both of them love to climb all over me.  They love to climb up me and stand and sit on my stomach.  I'm used to being able to carry them both if they both want to be picked up and I can't carry both of them very easily anymore due to my stomach and they're just getting bigger as well.  It's hard when they both want to be held at the same time.  Usually it's right when I get home from work and so I try to hurry and sit down and then they can both sit on my lap pretty easily still.

The girls don't really get what is going on but just tonight I taught them to point to my stomach when I ask where baby brother is.  So we're working on little things like that with them.

We don't have any names yet and haven't really started discussing it in any detail yet.

So overall I'm grateful for a good, normal pregnancy and am glad to be experiencing a 'normal' pregnancy and feeling good.

Brush Teeth

We've been trying to teach the girls to brush their teeth (now that they finally have a few teeth) for a while now.  We bought them toothbrushes and they think they're all that and more when I tell them we're going to go brush our teeth.  They brush them with me every morning before I go to work and usually run to the bathroom in excitement signing brush teeth the whole way.

Well obviously they're skills in brushing teeth are a little...ok a lot lacking.  It's usually mostly sucking on the toothbrush.  They will not let me touch their toothbrush.  They think they can do it by their self.  So our pediatrician gave us a great idea of getting a cheap electric toothbrush and that they might let me brush their teeth for them that way.  I really didn't think they would let me but after finding one for $4...I decided to buy it and try it out.

My rule is I don't let them touch this toothbrush.  It is mom's toothbrush.  They can hold their toothbrush but this one is mine.  I lay them down right before bed so I can kind of lock their head between my legs and then brush away.  Because it's electric it goes a little faster then a regular toothbrush as well.

Well the first night I tried it out they were so excited.  And it's been over a week now and they still love it.  In fact they don't even want to drink their milk anymore because they know it's time to brush their teeth.

Siena opens right up and loves the feel of it on her tongue and everything.  She'll let me brush as long as I want.  Since she only has 3 teeth it still doesn't take that long.

Aria is so cute because she gets so excited as well, runs over lays down, puts her arms under my legs and opens her mouth.  But as soon as I put the toothbrush in her mouth she turns away and gets mad and usually starts crying.  Crying only helps me all the more because her mouth is then wide open.  But night after night she runs over in excitement to get her teeth brushed, even when she knows she's going to hate it in the end.

Anyways, just a little tip for any parents out there having a hard time brushing their kids teeth.

3M---15 years later

This week marks the 15 year anniversary of working at 3M.  I never, ever thought when I started that I would still be at 3M 15 years later.  Crazy that I have been going to the same job, same office building and working with essentially the same people for 15 years.

I'm grateful for the good company I work for and the many co-workers, many of which feel like family.  3M is great to work for even if most days I leave my heart back at home wishing I was there.

For my 15 year anniversary I got to choose a small gift and I got a blue topaz ring and a little plaque to put on my desk.