Valentine's Day!

For Valentine's Day this year, Jeff and I both decided we wanted to go low key. We love a good excuse to go eat somewhere fancy, and we're acquiring a good repertoire, but we thought we should take a break from that this time. It was our 4th married Valentine's Day, but sort of our 5th. No, we were not together for the one before our marriage, BUT.... See, that Vday we were all a bunch of singles hanging out at Jeff's place (as we often did,) and my car was the last to leave. As I was heading out the door, Jeff caught me by the shoulder, turned me around, and that boy-who-had-never-before-kissed-anyone laid one on me! It was such a surprise, to the best of our knowledge, I just said "good night" and then left. We didn't immediately get together and get married, but that was the start of the story of a persistent man and a lucky woman. Now, we celebrate Valentine's Day as the anniversary of our first kiss.
So anyway, we secured child care (my sister/parents) and just had a vague plan to see a movie, and go to dinner somewhere we like but not monumental. We ended up going down to my parents', then found a compatible movie time (The Vow - we liked it.... this preg was choked up the whole time) with awesome movie snacks, in which we never indulge. Then, we went to the Olive Garden nearby... an hour and 45 min wait. So we set out to look at our .dream houses right across the street while we waited. (No luck there, BTW.) We headed back after waiting an hour, and as we walked up to the hostess stand, they were just throwing out our name! Lucky catch. We had a completely delicioso meal, then got the kiddies. They had spent the eve with their cousins, so they were in love. They had gotten bags of goodies from Grandma and Papa, plus a little something from the cuz's. (The week before, we had gone to Aunt Mally's when she invited us over to make valentine's - the girls also had a blast there! They especially loved the birdies.)


That morning, we had our traditional breakfast of heart-shaped pancakes with whipped cream and strawberry topping. I also awoke to a lovely rose, and Jeff got me a super soft, super warm pillow/blanket duo - he knows me so well! I got him some jeans (which he traded for ones he liked better, haha!) We gave our girlies each a little seed starter for flowers, which are a hit at our house. (And we knew they'd get plenty of candy anyway.) Grandma Chris also came over to decorate the girls' room with a sign, garland, balloons, new jammies and of course a box of chocolates. They loved it!

Our little lovies are well-loved and well-spoiled.

Alisa Danielle is 2!

Our sweetie Alisa had her 2nd birthday on the 3rd. We spent the day doing things that (we assumed) she liked. When we got up and going, we went to Bounce Around Utah, which is just a big warehouse with numerous bounce houses, slides, a giant bounce pillow, and a huuuuge playplace/jungle gymmy thing. The girls had tons of fun, and Jeff did too. I did, but kept forgetting I shouldn't be jumping like that. After we tired out there, we drove by my work for a second, then went to Godfather's for all you can eat pizza buffet. (I know, what were we thinking, she's lactose intolerant? But it's one of the only restaurants she'll actually eat at... besides the evil McD's of course.) Dad had to head to work after that, so we just played at home doing sissy faves, and making the last goodies for her party.

The next day was her birthday party, and I have to say that as the 5th kid party I've thrown, I finally said to myself "you really don't have to do aaaaallllll that stuff." I like throwing a party, but sometimes they consume my life for weeks ahead of time! I really, really, really didn't want to give Lisie any less than I do to Amie, and I think I did, but I was at peace with the reductions, like no handmade pinata, for example.

We went with an Over the Rainbow theme, and I had fun finding things to do for it. As usual, we went with a non-meal time, so I wouldn't have to make a full meal. We ended up with a rainbow fruit tray, rainbow colored ice and Sprite, white choc covered pretzels and fluffy cloud cupcakes...(with a surprise) and of course, Skittles (taste the rainbow!)





For favors, we gave rainbow licorice bags.


And for activity, we had a make-your-own rainbow necklace station.


One of sis's fave gifts was the big dollhouse she got from Grandma Chris.


Decor included zig zag streamers and a rainbow balloon arch.



Now it's confession time. We still haven't had Alisa's 2 year well check up, so I don't have official stats on how she's doing physically. We just never remembered to schedule it. :/ We did go to the doc a bit ago, though and she then weighed 29 pounds, and at home, her measurement puts her at around 30 inches. I believe she's pretty average for her age, still taller than Amie was at that age.
Right now, Alisa is totally into dolls of all shapes and sizes, and houses. She always has them do the same things, namely say "Hi Belle," kiss and hug. She is very into tricks, meaning she makes mom and dad flip her upside down, swing her, throw her, etc... It gets tiring for us! She knows how to go for what she wants. If she wants you to hold her, she will grab the book out of your hand, put it down, and then climb on your lap. Or, pull you up and all the way to the fridge to pour her the drink she wants. She has also learned to fake cry, and isn't afraid to raise her voice when unhappy. She says lots of very fun/funny things, like "aaalllll done" "aaalllll better" or love you! and lots of "Kanket!" (Blanket - to which, she is very attached.) We love to watch her dance. She and Amie are (almost always) good friends, playing together, and they seem to adore each other... unless the other has the toy they want, of course.

We sure love her, she brings a whole new dimension to our family and we are so very privileged to have her!

A Happy Little Surprise

A little over a month ago, Jeff said we should go down to the Winger's where my sister works for lunch. We did, and my lovely sis Jaimie helped me serve him up a little side...



I thought it was a really fun idea, but he said he saw the baby stuff before. :( I should have warned Jaimie, cause when I passed her the stuff non-chalantly, she couldn't just walk away non-chalantly. It was still fun though.

It was a looooong 4 weeks waiting for our first ultrasound. I know we're not totally out of the woods yet at 10 weeks, but the last time we had an 8wk appointment, it was already very clear that something was wrong, so I felt like if I just saw a heartbeat and our baby actually measured right, I'd be so reassured. We went in for an ultrasound (with a totally new doc again - my old new doc was on maternity leave, boo) Jan 31st. I was just so nervous, and Jeff wasn't until we got there, then he felt nervous too. We were the last appointment, so we had to wait quite awhile in our room, which didn't help.
We talked with our nurse awhile, then the doctor, and then finally went in to look for a baby. When she first started looking, she just kept looking... and looking... and we were starting to get really nervous. Finally, she angled it right and told me that I had a tilted uterus, which was making it hard to see the baby from there, but she found it, and right away we saw the strong heartbeat. She also said the sac looked good, which was one of our indicators of miscarriage before, so it was nice to hear her mention that. It was tough to get a perfect measurement with the positioning right now, but what she got said just shy of 8 wks, so we looked right on track, and kept the due date of Sept. 10th.


Yeah, I had to circle the baby exactly, since it was very hard to see. (If you click the picture, it will enlarge.) We historically get great ultrasounds, but I've read that a formerly normal uterus can tilt after a delivery, so that's what I believe happened after Lisie.

As you may be able to tell, we are still a bit apprehensive, but we are beyond so excited (and terrible at keeping secrets.) We have been trying for this baby for over a year, essentially, and we couldn't be more thrilled. I have been very very very nauseated with this baby, and even threw up, which was a first for me. Plus, I haven't had any back pain like usual, so I have let myself hope for a boy... just a little. 3 girls would be really fun, though, too.
Speaking of nausea, I have still only been losing weight this whole pregnancy, but (the waistband only on) my pants are already getting tighter. It's pretty early, but I guess it all pops out a little more quickly when everything is pre-stretched. It's really strange to see the number on the scale keep falling, and simultaneously having to pack away pants that are too small.
Of course, if you know anything about my former pregnancies, both were almost 2-3 weeks early, and yes, my anniversary just happens to be 12 days before that due date. I'm really (selfishly) hoping for a non-anniversary baby on this one... I'd even be willing to carry a baby for a full 40 weeks! ;) It really puts the kibosh on this year's 5 year anniversary plans, as we have no idea when we'll go. But, seriously, I'm not complaining - we're just glad for the opportunity! We know we are so blessed, and of course I'll keep you posted!

Miscellaneousness

I always think I should update the blog, but when I think what to write, I'm always blank. Now that we've had a few actual events that I want to blog about, all the other little things are popping to mind, so this is just a little catch up of all the little-in-betweeny-thingys we've been up to!

First off, we had at least 3 three solid weeks (but really, probably 4) of rotating illnesses. We're talking round and round of colds, pink eye, sore throats, ear infections, and the flu, between the four of us. Jeff was awesome and took some days off when I was totally beyond help, and I got some days off too. He was so great at stepping in and being Mr. Mom, letting me sleep tons and doing everything for us. I'm so blessed to have him! (Gotta be honest - glad we're out of those woods... it was absolutely miserable.)

Also, this last weekend, we got to attend my cousin Jeff's live endowment session at the Bountiful temple. It was really great! I've never been there, and I love seeing new temples. Also, I love to do sessions with family, and I got to sit with my mom, Aunt Teri, cousin Jenny and cousin/more like an aunt Karen. AND, I got to be there for Jeff's first time. Triple bonus! OK, add a night out just adults, and make that a quadruple bonus. Thanks, Jaimie, for the long night of babysitting!! You rock!

We had Stake conference this past week (we always have it super bowl sunday.) We always set up in the nursery, turn on the speaker, and it's win-win for everyone. I didn't bring our usual church activity bag, cause we never need it there. When we got there, however, the nursery was all locked up... bad news bear. We couldn't even find another kid-friendly place that still had the audio piped in, so we hit the stage, hoping being in the very back would at least reduce the amount of people we bothered. The girls were miraculous! I'm definitely not saying they were all quiet and perfectly behaved, but they did much better than we anticipated. I think we were both ready to take the girls home at the first sign of trouble, but we ended up staying the whole 2 hrs, and I even got to listen to a bit of talk here and there! Thank goodness for snacks and programs to draw on.

Later that day, we went to Grandma Barbie's house out in Grantsville, where they have a big super bowl party every year (we haven't been for a couple years.) There were tons of great food of course, and it was actually a pretty quiet and relaxing night. We love getting together with the family.

Lastly, (except it happened first among these events) I wanted to mention our New Beginnings program. I was sick, but I was speaking, so I just grabbed lotgs of cough drops and stuck it out. I wanted to talk about it because, A) I love love love Young Women's in general and I am enjoying my time in there. But also B) because we did some things that I thought were really fun. Our main theme was light, focusing on this year's theme of "Arise and shine forth that thy light may be a standard for the nations." We had luminaries, gave each of the girls a crystal/prism necklace and at the end, we set off sky lanterns. I've always wanted to do that! We had one scary firey moment, but otherwise, I thought it was magical! I love the program, plus the bonus of all the fun things we get to do.