Quick Trick!!

To start your day off right tomorrow - tonight while your kids are asleep switch beds so they wake up in someone else's bed!! What a great way to start an April Fools morning!
I am totally doing it to Sophie and Nora tonight!

sMiles

I have a few things to post about our little man so here is a pic I took of him this morning:

1. Miles is a morning person! He not only wakes up with a smile, but wakes up LAUGHING!

2. On our vacation we brought the playpen for him to sleep in. He was thrilled when I pulled it out and said, "Me! Baby bed! Me! Baby!" Then he got in it and said, "Me. Baby. Doo goo gaa gaa Mommy!" We all cracked up at that and he's been saying it ever since!

3. Every word he says is it's own sentence. For example he is sitting by me right now handing me computer paper and said, "Here. Mommy. Paper. Two. Them. You."

4. He remembers that we did not take him to Jumping Jax on his birthday and reminds us daily that we need to go. When we say we are going somewhere, or we go get in the car he looks at us with pleading eyes and says, "Dumping. Dax?"

5. His newest word is "actually". I love when kids use this word! A second ago he came in wanting to use my camera and I said I would go get him the pink (kids) camera. He said, "Umm.. Black. Tamera. Actually."

6. He doesn't say his "s" or "sh" sound at the beginning of words. He usually substitutes "r" or just leaves it off. If the "s" is at the end of a word it has a little lisp. So cute!

7. He has mastered doing "click and paint" games on the computer and we now hear him asking to "Watch. 'Mas. Paint!" Meaning he wants us to watch him paint Thomas.

There are lots of good people in the world...

So it's really too bad one of them did not find my phone yesterday! Walking to pick Sophie up from school yesterday I lost my phone between our house and a nearby stoplight - only like two blocks of sidewalk away - I thought I was going to be late picking Sophie up so I figured I'd have the kids help me look for it on the way back, I was gone only like 15 minutes. But the phone was gone. We live in a pretty blocked off neighborhood but there is an apartment complex at the end of our road that sends some pretty shady characters walking by our house every day. I may be wrong but I am pretty sure it was one of them that picked up my phone. So we kept calling my phone from Brian's and eventually someone texted back from my phone saying, "What's up?" So we texted them and said, "Hey, we lost this phone today could you tell us where you are so we can come pick it up?" But we got no answer. Then we texted and offered 20 bucks for its return and they said they'd bring it by and we wouldn't have to pay them. But no one brought it back. Brian checked my minutes and texts on-line and found two numbers the person called from my phone and he called them and they didn't answer. So we called and had the phone cancelled and now I'm phone-less. Boo. Mostly because I just got this phone a few months ago and will have to pay for a new one. At least it wasn't my wallet!

An excuse for a Vacation!

Brian had a conference in Pittsburgh, PA this weekend, and since he had to drive down and stay in a hotel we decided to make a vacation out of it and tag along with him! We left on Friday around noon and got to Pittsburgh around 7pm. The kids were so excited to stay in a hotel, although it didn't have a pool (long story short: we used priceline to book our hotel and didn't know they could "upgrade" you... so we were "upgraded" to a hotel without a pool or a continental breakfast. Grrr.) Friday night we went out to eat at Max & Erma's, which is one of my favorite places out here. I loooove their cheesy tortilla soup. So yummy. Saturday Brian had to do a presentation at the conference, so the kids and I drove him downtown Pittsburgh to the Conference center and I was reminded that I am a Small Town Girl. I hate city driving! But we survived and got back out of the busy city and I took the kids to a park, McDonald's and then to Toys 'R Us. We decided against doing a zoo or a museum and just let the kids each pick something out at the toy store. It was fun to watch them choose. Sophie chose a stuffed kitty that she thought looked very curious and named her Bun Bun. Nora chose an Ariel jewelry set that came with clip on earrings, a bracelet and a singing shell necklace. And Miles chose out a hotwheels Monster Truck (a small one). All together they were less than $16.00! Then we went back to pick Brian up and went to the Duquesne Incline. Which basically is a cable car that runs up and down a mountain and used to hoist coal up and down (I think...) Brian's friend/co-student from MSU who was also at the conference came with us and we all had fun. The high for the kids was the huge turkey we saw on the mountain and the low was when Nora lost her brand new flip flop off the edge of the look-out. Oh, well. At least they were cheap! We grabbed some pizza on the way back to our hotel and all watched Barbie & the 3 Musketeers together. The goal was to have Nora and Miles fall asleep during the movie but it didn't happen... so at 11:14 we all went to bed. Sunday Brian had to go back to the conference for an awards brunch on the presentations that were done - and he won first place and $400! I'm quite proud of him, he works very hard and it's so great to see him accomplish something when I know how hard he works. The kids and I again dropped Brian off at the conference center and then drove about 10 minutes away to attend the last hour of church. It was nice to at least do something to remind the kids that it was still Sunday even though we weren't at home. Although on the way Sophie said, "I'm just a little nervous to go because I'm not sure they are going to be teaching the right things at this church." It was cute and I had to explain that even though it wasn't our church house it was still our church and they believe and teach all the same things we do. After church we picked Brian up and headed north towards Kirtland, Ohio. On the way Miles puked on Sophie's lap twice so that caused for some drama on the drive. We stayed somewhere along the way and had some more drama with the hotel when we went to check in and the pool was CLOSED. We had been telling the kids all along we'd be able to swim at the second hotel since the first one didn't work out. Luckily after Brian did some haggling we were able to cancel and went across the street to a hotel that had a pool and a continental breakfast. We let the kids swim as long as they wanted and they had a great time. That night Miles started running a fever and got so hot - I didn't have a thermometer but I would guess it was near 104 - Brian went to Wal-Mart and bought a thermometer and some Motrin and although it was a long night Miles was feeling much better by morning.. although he had a fever all the next day. Monday we went to the John Johnson farm that is about 45 minutes outside of Kirtland. It was neat to be there (It was my second time - I went with the Youth two summers ago for Youth Conference). The couple missionaries that were there were so great with the kids and since it was a rainy day we were the only ones there so we got a great tour! Afterward we drove up to Kirtland and went by the temple - sadly it wasn't opened for tours - and then headed to the LDS Kirtland Visitors Center and toured the Newel K. Whitney store and home (along with some other buildings we didn't see). A fun surprise when we got there was one of the Sister Missionaries was the little sister of one of my best friends from High School! It was so fun to see her, she has only been there about a month. Next we drove up to the temple quarry site to see where the Saints brought the limestone from the temple. This was the place Nora was the most excited about. Then we had some lunch and headed home. We had a great time spending so much time together as a family.

The pics:

Sophie enjoying lounging around at the hotel in her jammies
Nora and Miles giving morning kisses

This was a picture I took while we were in a traffic jam on the freeway, it made me laugh. Looks like a pretty dangerous overlook. It's obviously not supposed to be used, but wouldn't you think they would just take down the whole thing?Here's us going down the Duquesne Incline.

The kids all loved this!
Pittsburgh...
Walking to the overlook.
Moments before Nora lost her shoe.
Miles loved the cable car ride. He kept saying, "Like. Thomas. Like. Thomas!"
Looking at the city

Playing computer games at the hotel
Heading down to the swimming pool - finally!
The summer kitchen at the John Johnson farm.
The Missionary letting the kids get a closer look at the winter kitchen at the Johnson farm.

The girls in the bedroom that Joseph and Emma used while staying at the Johnson farm from September 1831-September 1832. The room Joseph was pulled from the night he and Emma's adopted twins were sick with the measles, that night he was tarred and feathered with Sidney Rigdon outside the home, but still preached the Sunday sermon the next day.
Their 10 month old son died 5 days later.

The steps of the Johnson home... where Joseph preached on Sundays.
In the back of the house.
Here we are at Kirtland in the Newel K. Whitney store - Sister Connie Owen is on the right!

Up at the Quarry. Those long marks in the rock were made by the workers who would pound stakes into the rock to bring pieces to the temple.

And if you stuck it out to the end of this extra long post here is a picture to make it worth your while! He will never smile normally for a picture (when it's just a picture of him) - and I even warned him it was going on the blog!

We'll miss you.

Last week our dear friend Katy passed away. Brian had been her and her husband Paul's home teacher for a few years and so we were able to get to know them both very well. They have been great friends and Katy was such a sweet person who was always so kind to us and fun to be around. We drove down to Indiana to her funeral today - Brian was speaking at it - and it was a wonderful service. We will miss her!

Paul and Katy at their sealing in the Detroit LDS temple - February 2009

We pulled the kids out of bed at 530am to get on the road, they did great on the long drive!
Here's Sophie:

Miles (aka: Prince Charming)

and Nora (with a rubber band on her head..)

The only downfall of the trip was that poor Nora got sick... she puked at McDonald's right when we went in - luckily I had a diaper and wipes in my hand and caught all the puke in it. But I couldn't resist posting this picture - it is so cute and hilarious and sad all at the same time.

Poor little girl! We thought she was carsick but she puked again when we got home and now has a fever. So hopefully a good nights sleep will get her all better!

More random news & pictures

I can hardly believe I am typing this but our SNOW IS COMPLETELY GONE. I thought for sure we'd have snow until Easter. I am so happy - I'm sure it had something to do with me shoveling half of our snow banks into the road to help them melt faster... well at least it made me feel better! Of course in place of snow we have major MUD PUDDLES. Half of our entire back yard is one giant mud puddle. I've had laundry coming out my ears and at any given time multiple buckets of clothes soaking in oxi-clean. But I can't complain because at least the kids have been playing outside - and loving it.

Miles had his 2 year check up and is in the 30% percentile for height and head size and the 5% for weight. Today someone at church said, "It's so weird to see him walking around because he's so little." And I said, "You should have seen him a year ago, he's two now!" Funny. He is such a happy little guy. His morning habit has changed to waking up at about 630 and coming in to bed with me (Brian gets up when Miles does - he makes a great alarm clock!), he usually falls back asleep until about 7:15, it is so fun to snuggle and laugh with him. And he still asks for chocolate milk but we have found out we can just tell him we're getting it and then he falls back asleep before it comes. And last week he used the potty three times! But since I am a lazy potty trainer it will still be awhile before it's final. Love this boy.

And yes, I already have a baby bump. Well, part of it is the 10 lbs. I gained before getting pregnant bump - but at least now I can call it a baby bump! :) And since this is the 4th time around I'm trying not to be embarrassed about it. Brian took some pictures today and strangely enough the picture I wasn't ready for is the only one that wasn't seriously unflattering (although the lighting is doing something odd to my hair!)

Here's Brian and the girls today after church. No idea what Nora is doing (as usual!)

Sophie requested I post this picture on the blog :) She got tangled in a swing at a friends house while swinging really high and was spinning around and hit her leg on the wooden part of the swing (her words). This picture is when the bruise is much better. It looked a lot worse. Ouch!

I found a camera card that I never downloaded to the computer that had this picture on it. Can you see that baby frog? So cute. Even if you don't like frogs - which I do - you have to admit this teeny tiny frog is sooo adorable! This was when Brian's sister Emily and her family were out visiting and we went on a fun walk through the woods.

Just for the record

Some things we've been doing...

She wasn't really grumpy... just the target while I got the settings on my camera ready.

Playing outside in the puddles of melting snow. When I tell Miles not to go in the big puddle - the end of our driveway is one HUGE puddle - he asks, "baby one?" which means can he go in a small puddle. He identifies everything (like food, toys, snowballs, puddles, etc) small as "baby" and anything big as "daddy" or "mommy". I think it's so cute. He is loving his new rain boots.

Me and the kids snuggled up looking at a Where's Waldo book. Oh, I love these three.

This is a common after school scene... especially in the winter. They do so well sitting there watching each other play computer games. It's been a lifesaver for me because it seems the "morning sickness" tends to hit me the worst from about 3pm on.

Wait a second... isn't it supposed to be me having the weird food cravings?? But Miles really wanted pickles and a popsicle so...
And just for the record this pregnancy has made me particularly fond of Italian food. Yum!

Here comes the SUN!

We've had SUNSHINE here for the past 4 days! This part of Michigan has cloud cover pretty much straight through from November - February. And it usually doesn't bother me that much... except this year! I think it was the combo of being in my first trimester and feeling blah, and having major snowstorms through the whole month of February that really did me in. Which has made the appearance of the sun that much more exciting! The first day it was really sunny I was out running errands with Nora and Miles and my eyes were watering the entire time we were driving around - and Miles kept saying "Too bwight...too bwight!" So although it is an adjustment to have all this sun - I am more than happy to make it! I keep reminding myself that the wonderful Spring, Summer and Fall here make Winters so worth it!

And a picture of our three sunshines. It will be pretty crazy to add another kiddo to this trio - who will be coming sometime around September 10th (most likely 3-4 days after that...) And just for the record Sophie wants a baby girl with curly hair, Nora wants a baby girl with straight hair and Miles wants a brother (although I'm not sure he knows what that is...) And of course Brian and I will be happy either way. But we'll be waiting again until the baby is born to find out what it is. I was thinking about maybe finding out but then I reminded myself how fun and exciting it made labor and delivery and I was no longer tempted. I'm just over 13 weeks now and starting to feel pretty good! Hooray for the 2nd trimester!

New Family Picture

Sophie drew this - pretty cute, huh?

A little bit of Nora

Nora just wrapped up her swimming lessons and waited 6 long weeks to do this at the end:

She likes to layer clothing lately... mainly socks and underwear. This day she had about 20 socks on each foot (nothing else was on her feet!) and was "ice skating" around the house. I was laughing so hard at the size of her feet:

How we love this cute girl and her big imagination!