February is FREE month

Well, another month has gone, so it is time for an update. At the beginning of the month, I got sick with a cold, which is totally backwards. Moms are the last one to get sick, not the first. Of course, everyone else got sick too. The men of the family fared better than the women. Belle got an ear infection and I got a sinus infection (and a small lingering cough too, grrr).

I would like to take this time to show all you new mothers and soon-to-be-mothers, what happens to your house when you are sick in bed for just 24 hours, like I was.




I will admit to the laundry basket and the stepper and one or two other things already being out, but the rest was all the kids. Consider yourselves warned.

After we were feeling better, we visited my Aunt Karen, up in Idaho over Valentines. It was way fun. My mom and sisters were up there as well. We had a great time watching the Olympics and movies with Karen. Also, Belle slept the best she has ever slept. She sleeps in the basement at there house, in a room with no windows and she can't hear people walking around upstairs. She slept from 9:30pm until 10:30am, after taking a 3+hour nap the day before. I have thought about asking if we can move in, just so Belle can get her beauty sleep.

Matt and I also got a nice tax return this year and so we bought a new computer. It is awesome and so fast. We love it.

Something the kids did this month was build a fort in the living room a couple of times. They had a great time watching movies from it.


The last week of February was freebie week. I found out it was National Pancake day on the 23rd, and so we headed on over to IHOP and got us each a stack of free pancakes. They were delicious.

Then, the next day was the last day to go to the Hogle Zoo for free. I guess they do this every year, from November to February, on the last Wednesday of the month. It was really fun, despite the fact that it was the only cold, wet, rainy, snowy day all week. The kids saw the giraffes, tigers, cougars, and a humongous alligator. That thing was probably 7ft long. Beckett could look away from it. That was one of the animals that he was pretty excited to see and then when he realized that they are kind of scary to look at, he got nervous. So nervous that he didn't want to look away. Maybe he was afraid that if he didn't look at it, it would come after him. I was able to distract him from the alligator by watching this hilarious squirrel that was right next door. It was so funny. It would climb up its fake rock wall on one side of the cage, and jump clear across the cage onto a vine that was hanging on the other side. Then it would crawl upside down on the vine to the floor to go climb his wall and do it again. There was quite a crowd gathered to watch it. I even recorded it, but then when Beckett was watching it after we got home, he erased it. Bummer! It was super cute and funny.




Many of the animals that have outdoor cages opted to stay inside, to get out of the cold (I do not blame them one bit). Thankfully, it warmed up a little bit just before we left and a mama elephant and her baby decided to venture out into the cold. The baby put on a little show and ran around and was just super cute.

After we got home from the zoo, Belle discovered a new trick. She can put coins between her toes. I hope you can see the penny she is put in between her toes. I think she had 2 or 3 of them in there. What a silly girl.

The kids have been super nurturing this month. Belle has been carrying her babies and this giant gorilla around everywhere. She will lay them down and put blankies on them and give them kisses. It makes your heart melt to watch her.

Beckett has also started to show his fatherly instincts. One day I was in the kitchen, and heard Beckett talking to something, playing pretend. I decided to take a peek and this is what I found:

I think he was pretending that Belle's doll stroller was sick and they had to put it to bed. I think I even heard him give it a kiss. Belle was helping him. He used my shirt for a pillow and a hand towel for the blanket. Then they decided it needed some real blankets.

And then they decided it needed a good cuddle, cause that makes everyone feel better.

So, new mommies, there are cute things to look forward to as well.

P.S. In case anyone actually reads these updates, no I have not potty trained Belle yet. I think I chickened out. Hopefully this next month. And the Mazada has now been running great since we bought it, almost 2 months now, so that is a very good sign. And we are probably putting our house up for sale at the end of the month.

Update!!

Man has it been crazy. I'm sure you all know what I am talking about. I think we have had something every weekend. I'll prove it.

The first Saturday of November we had a lovely get together with my old roommates from the Maple House. It was the last beautifully warm Saturday of the year. We met up at a park in North Salt Lake and let the kids go crazy on the playground, while we chatted and got caught up. The dads were even kind enough to watch the kids on the playground so we weren't distracted too much. Every one's kids were adorable and getting so big, and they all got along and played well with each other (which is always very nice). We had a wonderful time. (Hey, if any of you roomies want to send me a copy of the pictures we took, I would very much appreciate it)

I also went to a baby shower for a cousin that afternoon. It was so fun to see her all big and pregnant. I don't get to see my dad's family often and so it was so fun to catch up and see everyone. It was day full of catching up.

The next weekend we got out of dodge and visited my grandparents and aunt up in Idaho Falls. We had a wonderful time. The kids didn't break anything and were pretty well behaved. They didn't even break into their treats hidden in the cupboards. I was very pleased with them. We went out to dinner to a place kind of like Chuckie Cheese, only it had a train theme. Obviously, Beckett loved it. We ate burgers and chicken nuggets and fries while we watched a model train go back and forth on a wall. Beckett hardly ate anything. He just wanted to watch the train. When it came time to leave, Beckett disappeared. There was a lot of people around us and we were all distracted by putting on coats and things. I was very scared because it would have been very easy for someone to just pick him up and walk out with him and no one would have noticed. We all started searching frantically. After about 5 minutes, we found him over near the arcade like this:



After we all calmed down, we realized that this is the first place we should have looked for him. We then did what any normal parent would do at a time like this and proceeded to take pictures of the event.



Belle liked the tractor lots more.


We had a wonderful time in Idaho and hated to leave. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa and Karen for being so hospitable and letting us come visit. We love you!

We got our Saab out of the shop the next week and have been driving it since. We are looking to sell it now though. The warning lights are still flashing on and off, so we would like to buy a more reliable car before we have to fix another thing on that car. So it looks like the Saab story is almost over. Hallelujah!

That Saturday, Matt went to the BYU/Air force game. Thankfully, this time he did not come home with the flu. He had a great time and BYU won.

The next week, Beckett and I made something together:



In case you couldn't tell, he is a robot (robok, as Beckett calls it).

Thanksgiving was that week as well. We spent it with my family. It was wonderful, complete with a kids table, fine china, and amazing food. I even learned how to cook a turkey.



The food was so delicious and we had a fun time together. We watched the Gods Must be Crazy and had some good laughs. I had forgotten how good that show is. There is some good stuff in that show. We also saw Blindside. That is such a good movie. I recommend it to anyone. It teaches you what charity and being a christian is all about. Plus it had some good football scenes too.

We came home Thanksgiving night because Matt had to work the next day. It turned out to be a good thing because Beckett got really sick. I am not sure what bug he got (possibly bacon fever), but he had a bad hacking cough and a fever and he just laid there on the couch like a slug. I could hear him breathing from across the room. It was kind of scary. I wasn't sure if I should take him to a doctor or not. When Matt got home from work that day, he and his friend, John, gave him a blessing and his breathing improved dramatically. It was still a little raspy, but I had to sit next to him to hear it. I am so grateful for the power of the priesthood. I know it works miracles.

Beckett was sick for about 4 days. Belle got sick too, but not very bad. She had the cough and runny nose, but was up and running around and playing all day. She only wanted to cuddle with me part of the day. She also cut one of her fangs, as I like to call them. Now we are just trying to get rid of the runny noses left over from whatever that bug was. Oh and getting Beckett to do things for himself again. The little stinker thinks he still needs help to get his blanket out of his bed and to press play for his movies, which are things he was perfectly capable of doing before he got sick.

It was a very full month. Despite all of that, I managed to finish some projects of mine. When I was pregnant with Beckett, I made him a receiving blanket with the crocheted edging. I have been feeling bad that I hadn't made one for Anabelle, so I bought a kit over the summer and finished it last month. Well, technically it isn't finished, I ran out of thread, but there isn't much left once I buy more. Here it is:


Belle got another blanket, a quilt from my mom. She has made a quilt for all of her grandchildren. It turned out so cute. I love it and so does Belle. It has such bright colors. My mom was also really excited because she learned how to do some new stuff when she made this one. She is working on Beckett's right now and I will post pictures of that one when she is finished with it. I can't wait to see it.



I just love the flowers.


Well, I think we are mostly caught up now. I hope you all are ready for the holidays and have a very Merry Christmas.