Wonderful Day!!!

Oh my goodness this was such a great day today!!  I am just so happy that we got to have this day, and that we got to just have fun and relax.

So, in the morning Grace and I had to quickly get ready for the day because the community was having an Easter Egg HUNT!!!  AH!  Grace's two little friends, Kenna and Jaric, came over to go with us since they were going to help her out with getting the eggs.  We left at 9:30 and it started at 10.  There were SO MANY PEOPLE!!  There were sections based off of the ages of the children, and so Grace was in the 2-3 year old section.  There were 8,602 eggs TOTAL for ages 2-12.  Can you believe that there were about 20 eggs right in front of Grace but right when the sirens went off (The fire department came to have fun, too!) those eggs were gone within seconds.  Grace only got TWO eggs.  I couldn't believe it.  But you know what, she had so much fun.  And we went and got some of the empty Easter eggs (they collected them all after), closed them and tossed them around so she could collect some more.  She didn't care there wasn't candy in them, it was just that she liked picking one up, putting it in her basket, running to the next one, and continuing :)  After this we let Grace wander for a while because she was so overwhelmed, over excited, and just really wired.  It was really uncontrollable emotion, so we let her walk wherever she wanted, and then we just followed.  

After this I fed Grace lunch and then she went to bed while the two kids, Ryan, Skyler and I went to Walmart and Broulims so that we could get some groceries for Easter tomorrow.  This was pretty fun even though it was hard for me to leave Grace.  I still have my umbilical cord connected to her, and always feel bad leaving her behind. :)  What a sap, right?

After this we packed up some picnic food, waited to wake Grace until 2:30 pm, and then we all headed to Beaver Dick Park for a bbq/picnic!!  We were there having tons of fun until 5 pm, and it was just great.  Hot dogs, chips, water, the river, dogs, running, dirt, screaming, laughing, Popsicles, swings, and the greatest thing...HORSES!!  While everyone was visiting a couple that was showing us how to play a game, Grace and I went to see the horses that people that had come in were unloading.  We were sitting in the play area and they called us over to pet the horses, but when we got there, the man asked if Grace wanted a ride.  She screamed... "SURE!!!" and so I put her up on the saddle.  We walked her around in a circle and you could tell she was on cloud nine.  Oh, what a great way to end the day.  When we were walking back to the bbq area, she saw Skyler and screamed (and I'm not exaggerating) "SSSSTTTTTTYYYYYYYYYY----YYYYYYYYEEEEEERRRRRRR!!!"  It's not Skyler, it's Sty-yer.  Cute, right?  Anyways, she saw him, screamed at him, and took off running the fastest I've EVER seen.  Her strides were so long, she was swinging her arms more than ever, and they seemed like better strides rather than kick strides.  Oh yeah, and she and Skyler were at the swings FOR-EV-ER.  He was so sweet playing with her :)

When we were leaving, Ryan let Grace help pack the truck, and it was so much fun!  It was really cute, too :)  

Home we went, unpacked, and then I realized I was all alone.  We had left the kids with their family, Ryan had gone home, Skyler went to work, and so I thought it was just Brad, Grace and me.  But they had gone on a walk without me!!!  So I went outside and soaked up the sun and in a little while, there they came around the corner :)

Now Grace is in bed, and she was just so tired :)  Now I just finished some homework, am watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition, and will do some more homework for the upcoming week.  Oh, and the two loaves of banana bread that I just made are cooling on the cooling rack!

Love you family!

Amanda

What a Beautiful Day!

Today was just beautiful, and I enjoyed it absolutely.  Grace didn't go to school this morning because she still had a bit of the heavy breathing, so we got to play extra long together.  She did go to therapy but we didn't meet with Kelly after PT/SP because Grace was getting restless, so we went to BYU-I for an Easter Egg Hunt in the greenhouses.  We didn't find an egg but of course Daddy went back and found one after we had come home.  We played outside, and I got video of Grace riding her ATV!!  

We just got back from Pizza Pie Cafe, and now I'm tired and am going to bed!  Shew!

Amanda

Way Behind

Well, I've missed a day less than a week.  I'm not going to go back and describe except to say we were in Montana visiting Brad's parents and brother over the weekend, and then our week has been the same as usual.  The only difference is that now Grace is sick.  It's her normal trouble breathing, runny nose, harsh cough.  Doctors telling me that "children just get sick a lot at her age" are bogus, and I won't say much more about that just because today has been a not so good day.  Oh, it was cute that while we were in Montana, Grace played a TON with her cousins (Gabe, Tyson and Paisley).  Gabe was so sweet with her.  It was just the cutest thing to see in the whole world.

I love you Miss Grace.  You are so smart.  Remember what I always have you chant with me every morning?

I am kind

I am special

I am important

And you are.

Amanda/Mommy

Busy Day!

Shew, this day flew by! This morning Grace had school and we had all of 10 minutes to get her ready because I slept in!  The fire alarms went off in the house for some reason around 3 am, and so I was so tired.  Goofy things.  Anyways, off Grace went to school and I got some homework done.  After school we played for a little while, but Grace didn't take a nap because we had an appointment at 1:30, and so there was no point in putting her down at 12 for a nap!  So we went to the appointment, then to therapy from 2-3:30 pm, and then we played at home until I left for a Relief Society activity at 6 pm.  It was a Relief Society Birthday Celebration and they had such yummy food!  Beans, rice, pulled pork, lettece, salsa, and a yummy ranch sauce with tortilla strips.  You put then all in a bowl together and have super yumminess!

Grace was still up when I came home around 7:45 pm, but Daddy had put her to bed so I went in to say good-night.  Well, that wasn't a good idea!  She stayed up with us for about another hour, and then was a good girl and went to bed.

It was so cute to see Grace being cozy with Brad on the recliner.  They were rocking together, and it was just the most adorable thing to see.

I love my family!!


Amanda

Just a Day

Nothing too exciting happened today.  It was a snowy/rainy day, gloomy looking outside and not so busy inside.  just hanging out, painting, cleaning and just watching the time pass.  I can't wait for better weather!!  Then we will have more exciting days :)

Amanda

Another Busy Day

I can't believe today went by so fast!!  Grace had preschool today, and as always, she was SO excited to be there!!  While she was there, I got a lot of homework done so that I could have the rest of the day and evening to Grace and Brad.  After Grace had school, we got to clean Mom's room!!  She really enjoyed it because she got to go through all of my stuff, which is something I don't normally let her do.So after we got that done, I had to run to a doctors appointment but was back pretty quick.  I have one mole that I need to have removed and checked to see if it's cancerous.  Anyways, a quick lunch for Grace and then nap time!  While she was napping I was cleaning and working on looking for pinterest ideas for decorating.  I'm getting closer to ideas that I have, and I'm' excited because the small shelves I'm painting for the sewing room have gotten their first coat of sealant (actually, one of them got their second coat).  And the two photo frames that I'm painting have their second coat of white now, and will be getting the sealant if it looks white enough.  

Anyways, once she got up, she had therapy with Kelly, and oh my goodness!!!  We were there when she took her first pushes on her tricycle!!  I am so excited!  I got pictures and video, and I can't wait to upload them :)  I'm so proud of my little bit for being able to ride her tricycle by herself.  I was so close to crying, but I held it together since Kelly was there :)  We also did some coloring with chalk, which of course she is going to enjoy!

After therapy, we had a snack and then organized her room the rest of the way.  It was fun because Grace always like helping, and we play while we work.  We went outside about an hour later to ride the trike some more, and Daddy scooped all the snow off our grass into the road so that we can finally get rid of all of our snow!!  Then we took down the Christmas lights off the house (finally).

Then of course there was dinner....she really wanted cereal for some reason!  So, cereal she had.  It was so cute because she walked right to the kitchen, over to where the cereal was, and when I opened the cupboard, she pointed right to the Kix and said, "dis."  So, there you go Grace!!  After cereal for dinner, she had a bubble bath, and then was tucked into bed!!  Now, I get to do whatever I want since I don't have any homework due until tomorrow :)  I'm watching 19 Kids and Counting right now, but I'm going to see what Brad is doing to see if he wants to play a game or something.

That's all for now!

I was going to load pictures but for some reason our camera makes all the pictures fuzzy and a bit out of focus, dangit!  I'm calling the company tomorrow!

Amanda

What a Busy Day!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!

Well, we sure were busy today.   I am glad we were because it was all stuff that needed to be done.  This morning we got up at around 8:30 am, and Grace and I got right to work cleaning and organizing!  Grace always gets excited when we work together to make the house a mess, which it sure is.  So far, we've cleaned out my closet and can actually see the floor, have TOTALLY reorganized Grace's bedroom, and the linen closet in the hallway, and am working on my sewing room.  I will take pictures tomorrow since she's in her bedroom right now.  Here's what's going on...

For Grace's room, I switched out her old chest of drawers (which will be going in my sewing) with the one we had for Kailyn that she grew out of.  Then Grace still has her crib, which is across the room to the chest of drawers.  I totally gutted Grace's closet, left a few toys up on the top of the shelf that she isn't allowed to use because she's either been too rough with them, or she isn't big enough to use them yet.  I had her socks in a fabric box and then her tights in another fabric box, but this took up SO MUCH ROOM.  So because I switched out her chest of drawers, I had MORE than enough room for all her shirts (2 drawers), socks/tights (1 drawer), shoes (1 cupboard in the chest of drawers), pajamas (1 drawer), thermals/onesies (1 drawer), and then there is an extra cupboard where I put her tutu's.  Her friends LOVE giving her tutu's, so she has three right now!  We also went to Walmart and got her a stereo (that has a CD player in it) and a lava lamp (neon pink).  Those are on her chest of drawers, and I also have a box that my grandma made for me a LONG time ago there as well.  It is made with the plastic sheeting that you sew yarn through to make cute designs.  Anyways, that is holding a bunch of CDs that Grace has gotten from her MeMa, as well as a nursery rhyme book with a CD that her Dado and Papa got her.  She also has two little stuffed animals beside her lava lamp, one that Dado gave ME and one a friend gave us.  Her room is definitely not done.  I have stored all her board books in two tupperware boxes and it's on the side of her closet (on the floor) and I will start storing all her big toys on the floor.  I am also putting a bookshelf in her closet that will hold all sorts of art supplies, puzzles, etc.  My plan?  All the toys/arts/crafts/books/etc will be in her closet, easy to access, and NOT IN MY SEWING ROOM!!!  Then I've got some super cute ideas for her walls that will jazz up her room a bit.  I won't say anything about it though because what I put might change as I go!

So, for my sewing room I plan on having A LOT of organization.  When I get all of Grace's toys out of there, I will bring in the chest of drawers that was just taken out of Grace's room.  I have two tall shelving units that are as wide as a DVD that will go on either side of the chest of drawers.  One of those already has my patterns in it, all of them fitting perfectly.  With my chest of drawers, I will store all my fabric, instead of it all being stuffed in my closet.  This will absolutely clear up the bottom shelf in my closet.  Then I have a bookshelf in there as well that I will pull out, and that will hold my plastic boxes that have everything organized in them.  I will also be making a wall collage of a ton of pictures and quotes, that way I can cover up same paint that had pulled off when the last family had vinyl lettering on the wall.  I'm just really excited about this!  I am painting some shelves, one going on either side of the window, and am also painting two picture frames white, which will hold cute duck quotes for the duck theme bathroom.  After these two rooms are done, then I will probably be out of school by then, and can totally focus on getting all my half finished craft projects done!

After she and I worked so hard cleaning and sorting, we went to Pizza Pie Cafe for Daddy's birthday!!!!  Garon and Mysha took us, and Skyler tagged along :)  After that was Grace's naptime, but she didn't actually fall asleep until about 3:30 pm, and so she wasn't up until 5 pm.  While she was sleeping I did some homework and then...I can't remember what else I did!!  When she woke up we were back to cleaning and organizing, and she would go downstairs every so often to visit Daddy, Skyler, Ryan and Jarik as well.  Around 7:30 pm, we were finally done for the day.

We went to Walmart about 8 pm and that's when we got the Lava Lamp and stereo for Grace's room.  We got home around 9:30 (we like to wander walmart so that we get out and away from "cabin fever").  After I put her to bed, I got online to just play around.  I didn't have any homework that HAD to be done, so I wandered facebook, blogs, and watched Extreme Couponing!  And now, it's 12:06 am, Tuesday early morning.  I should have been in bed 3 hours ago because Grace goes to school at 8:10 am.  

I'm going to the doctor at 11 am today (well, Tuesday).  I have some varicose veins that have been giving me constant excruciating pain, and so I'm going to get it checked.  Surgery is how you fix it, and if that's what it takes, then so be it for sure.  Today, especially, I could barely walk around Walmart from the weight.  So, I'll keep blogland updated on that.  

Now, I better go.  I just remembered that I have a bed FULL of stuff out of our closet.  I better get it all out of the way so I can actually sleep in my bed.

BYE!

Amanda

Slap my Wrists...will you?

I can't believe I've missed so many days of blogging...darnit.  I really wish I could go back and remember everything but I can't.  So I'll try to....

Thursday.  Therapies and preschool.  We didn't meet Sarah today because she was busy doing something else (I think a prenatal appointment) so we went to the library in between therapy sessions.  Grace helped me check out some pretty neat LDS books, so that was fun!

Friday.  I think this was a laid back day.  

Saturday.  Grace and I had a mommy daughter day because the guys went on a hike.  So Grace and I went to feed the ducks at the park near our house.  They were definitely not hungry, but we threw some bread so that if they were hungry later, then they'd have a snack.  It was so cute!  Grace was such a big girl!  I got her out of the car and told her, "Hands on the car" which means that she has to put her two hands on the fender so that she stays close to me and out of the road.  I reached into the car and gave her her jacket, and after it was put on, I reached back in for the bread and she was facing me without her hands on the car.  But I wasn't going to say anything because she was so close that I wasn't going to nitpick.  Anyways, I gave her the bread for the ducks and then I put my own jacket on.  She reached up for my hand and it was just so darn cute to see her carrying the loaf of bread in her arm while she held my hand with the other hand.  She's just growing up so fast!!  We got to the ducks and climbed down a little cliff so that we could actually get the bread to them, and after a few failed attempts at feeding them, Grace thought it would be better that she ate the bread, and so I figured it was time to go.  It took me a while to get back up the cliff because it was slippery, but alas, we made it!  I had to go back to get the bread that I had left halfway up the cliff, so I put Grace far from the side of the dropoff and told her over and over "Stay here, Grace.  Do not move."  She was snacking on a piece of bread and watched me the whole time, but never once moved a muscle.  What a good girl!  So we started walking back to the car and every second there was a "what's dat?"  "what's dat?" which I absolutely love to hear.  So she and I had conversations about what everything was, and as we were passing a stick, she said..."Snake!"  I turned around to be sure it really was a stick, and so I let her know that it looked like a snake, but was really a stick.  She also asked me what was on the grass, and so I let her know that the ice was melting, and so it made water.  Then she said, "Oh, so told (cold)."  After this we went to Idaho Falls, and all the way there we were having a "what's that" conversation.  One thing I found awesome is that (by the way, we always listen to BYU-I music or classical) our classical music on a Christian station had turned to rock Christian, but I hadn't noticed.  So Grace put her hands over her ears and said, "too youd (loud), Mommy.  Too youd."  And so I changed it to classical and she quickly stopped, and was content :)  My little one likes her quiet music!  Then she was hungry and so I asked her, "Do you want an apple or craisins?"  And she said craisins.  I was really worried about giving them to her because she usually dumps the ziploc bag all over.  But this time she just ate, quiet and happy looking out the window, and after a few minutes I looked back and saw her trying to zip up the bag!!!  I asked, "Grace, are you all done?" and she said, "Here, mommy, all done."  And she handed me the bag.  What a good girl!  We had buffet in Idaho Falls (Chuck a Rama) but she wasn't very hungry (This is where I first tried the orange Popsicle floatie and LOVED IT.  We had two.)  After this we went to a friend's house.  She is an older friend that I lived by in our apartment complex.  I really miss her, and feel so bad that we left her there.  Anyways, we went to surprise her and she sure was surprised!  We visited with her for about 45 minutes, but then had to head home because it was way past Grace's bedtime.  So we got home, she went to bed, and we visited with friends.

Sunday.  Not much happened today.  We slept in and so we only went to the last hour of church (sacrament), and then Grace slept for nap and I learned how to crochet a circle and TRIED a flower, but failed.  Then we had dinner, the boys went for a run while I cleaned and organized house for a bit and then Grace and I went on a walk.  After we got back I was making milk on the stove for hot cocoa but it overflowed and burned!  It tasted sort of gross but I didn't want to waste, and so Grace and I drank it anyways.  I just got off Skype with my mom and Grace is downstairs watching Sesame Street, even though it's 8:07 pm.  So I'll go get her into bed and either do some homework or work on some sort of craft.

That's it for us!

Amanda

Super Fast!

Today went by so fast!  This morning we got up at 8 am because we were having a play day over at our house!  I realized that when I got Grace up, she didn't have a very soaked diaper, and so she and I went to try out the potty.  She went potty!!  Congratulations Miss Grace!  I'm so proud of her :)  After that I quickly got her dressed, got myself ready for the day, and then figured out all we had to do to get ready for our playday.  Skyler and Daddy had moved the couch and recliner back for me in the living room so that there would be a wider area for the kids to play, and I'm SO glad that they did!  Around 9 am I was finally ready to start getting the house ready and I realized...oh my goodness!  There's dishes in the sink, Grace's room was a mess, not enough toys were out, and I didn't have any drinks or plastic cutlery/plates!  So after getting the kitchen and Grace's bedroom cleaned, we headed out the door at 9:30 am to get some drinks, plastic plates, and a treat for the potluck play day.  The weather was just GORGEOUS when we went out!  A bit cold at 35 degrees, but beautiful nonetheless.  The air was clear, the sky was blue, and Mr. Sunshine was so bright!  We ran over to Broulims because I didn't think I'd have enough time to go to Walmart, we rushed around and grabbed a dozen donuts, 2 Tampico juices, and the plates and napkins we needed.  Then we rushed home, got there about 9:45 am, and then had just a few minutes to get ready before the first knock on the door at 9:59 am!!  

All in all, the play day went great.  I had 5 women over with 8 kids total (including Grace) and one baby that just stayed in a sling because he was only 6 months.  It was great!  We had donuts, donut holes, strawberries, the juice, sprite and root beer, and cheerio rice crispies.  Of course I forgot plastic cups so we had to use our cups, but that's fine!  The kids were well behaved, well, as well as you can expect from 18 months to almost 5 years.  The time flew, and before I knew it, it was time to clean up!  Grace was so silly because there was a mother that was nursing her daughter and Grace was ALL in their business.  She was so into it she almost had the mother's shirt up and exposing everything!  Gosh, silly girl :)

After everyone helped clean up and left, Grace girl went to bed, and I sat down and forced myself to do my homework.  I got tons done, and at about 3:30 pm, I woke Miss Grace up.  We messed around for a little while, then around 4:30 pm we went to the Family Crisis Center so Daddy could talk to them about some ideas he has to gather some funds for some new refrigerators and a freezer that they need.  He's been volunteering there every week to pass out food, and yesterday at 8 am he was there unloading food, as well as this morning.  Then he went back at 12 to pass out food, and will be back there tomorrow morning to discuss a pamphlet that he wants put together that talks about the needs of the crisis center.  Then we are planning on working with the boy scout troops in our ward and have them all go around and collect funds so that the much needed items can be purchased.  He's really getting into volunteering, which is great because I love doing it as well!

So, after that we went to BYUI so I could pick something up, came home and had a super yummy dinner amde by Daddy, watched Sesame Street, and now it's 8:45 pm and Grace just yelled out "HIIIIII!!" to me from her room!  And now I have a meeting online for one of my classes in 15 minutes, and so I'd better get ready for that.  

Some cute things Grace did today:

Someone had put Grace's magnetic drawing board on her chest of drawers and she couldn't reach it.  I was in the kitchen reading my scriptures.  She came RUNNING to me babbling, and when she got to me she said, "help!  PEEEAS!  Help...dwaw (draw).  Peas help."  She kept pointing to her room so I said, "show me," and she ran to her room, turning around to make sure I was following.  She showed me that her drawing board was on the chest of drawers, and she had been asking me to help her get it down!  Good girl!  

When I gave her the drawing board, she said, "tant you SO much."

When Scooty came in after going potty this morning she saw him and said, "Hi Stotty.  How aw you?"  :)

A naughty thing Grace did today:  Grace was being very sad to the kitty.  She was hitting her while the kitty was on the recliner, and then after Scuffles tried to run away from her, Grace followed and was pulling on her tail.  Poor Scuffles.  She's been in my room the rest of the day hiding from Grace!

Well, I have 10 minutes and my stomach is already saying, "I'M HUNGRY!!"  So I better get something to eat...hopefully it's healthy.

It's 39 degrees right now :)

Amanda

New Blog Header

I love switching out the pictures at the top of Grace's blog.  It keeps the blog fresh, and I'll bet readers just wonder what I'm going to put next!  So...here's the old header...

...and here's the new one...

SO CUTE!!!  I love all her pictures I've ever taken, but I just really love the eyes in this new picture :)

Amanda

So Busy!

I love when our days are full.  It just makes the day go by fast, but then we also have a lot of things going on that are exciting!  Grace had preschool this morning, and so I woke her up at 7:30 am.  That's the first time in a little while I've had to wake her up!  And oh, was it such a cute/beautiful wake up.  I went in and softly rubbed her back and said, "Good morning, sweetie.  You want to go to school?"  She rubbed her eyes for a little and then looked up at me while she was stretching (she was pretty much in a backwards "C") and said, "stool?  Morneen mama."  Oh it was so adorable.  I usually whisper in the morning because I don't want too much noise for her.  I figured it's too much stimulus too early after waking up.  Anyways, After she said that, I rubbed her back again and said, "good morning sweetie!"  I sat beside her and laid my head to the side so we could look at each other the same way, as if I were laying my head on a pillow.  We looked at each other for a few minutes, and then I gave her a smile and asked her if she wanted to go to school to see her friends.  "Stool?  Stool?"  She started standing up and said, "O-TAY."  Then she stood up and I picked him up, and she wrapped her arms around my neck really tight for a hug!  The rest of the morning went this way with her being super nice, kind and full of happiness.  When we got to the school and waiting in the lobby, Grace was so sweet about watching everyone that was coming in to drop their children up.  When her teacher came to pick her up for class, Grace got a HUGE smile on her face and was so excited!  She said "bye Mommy" and slowly walked towards her teacher, making sure she doesn't run into anyone.  Very quickly she found a friend that would hold her hand and walk her into her classroom, and off I went to home.  

After preschool we went to the library!  I thought they would have had reading time but it was tomorrow, so we just went to get to Abraham Lincoln books for me, take a break at the water fountain, and then off to get her some books!  We got a few Eric Carle books so that we could work on repeating words.  We also got the Brown Bear book, and I was so amazed at what Grace said next.  I told her, "Look at the book I got you!  It's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?"  and she said, "bow-n beaw bow-n beaw...do you see."  I was so AMAZED!!!  OH MY GOODNESS!!!!  I could just scream at that moment!

Very quickly, it was lunch and then bedtime because Grace had therapy at 3 pm at Broulims with Kelly.  She did so well shopping with Kelly!!  I made a picture grocery list so that Grace knew exactly what to look for, and when Kelly finished letting Grace know what the rules were for grocery shopping, she turned to me, waved and said, "Bye Mommy!  See you later!"  It was so darn cute!!  I saw them around the store a few times, and heard Grace throw a fit, but she did great!  At one point I was zoning out looking at the yogurt, and then this little voice caught my attention.  Grace and Kelly were behind me, and Grace had been calling for me.  "Hi Mommy!  Hi Mommy!  Mommy?!"  I turned around really quick and she just looked like such a big girl shopping.  She didn't even whine or anything!  What a good girl.  Made me sad that I hadn't heard her and so she had to call for me so many times, and I was also so proud of how she was acting.  They shopped some more, and then I went around with her, and then we went through the check out line.  Grace got to put up every single item we got, and then gave the checker my debit card as if she were paying.  Then off to home!

The rest of the day was normal.  We went to Sams Club and did some shopping, and she was cute as a bug.  She gave me kisses, acted like a cookoo girl, and was just my sweetie!  One part that was really cute was when we saw the outdoor plastic storage house, and we all went inside of it.  She just LOVED IT!!!  She screamed and laughed in it because it echoed, and I just loved the look on her face.  I could see the happiness, and it was just something that I hope I will always remember.  

She is such a great daughter.  I am so thankful I have her.  I am so thankful WE have her! 

 It was a beautiful day today, and right now it's 37 degrees, and it's 10:39 pm!!

Amanda

Crazy Monday

Oh boy is Miss Grace crazy when she doesn't get a nap... grr!!  This morning we got up about 9:40 am, even though I was awake at 7:30 am with my alarm.  There are just times that the bed feels so good that I don't want to get out!  Thankfully, I had put Grace to bed with her footy pajamas on backwards and so she hadn't taken her diaper off.  I brought her back to bed with us for a while, but she did NOT want to be in bed!  We hung out and played, but I didn't put her to bed until 1 pm because she had gotten out of bed so late.  I was out in the living room reading my scriptures and Brad was relaxing on the couch and we were listening to Grace chit chat with herself.  And then we heard the words.....  "EW!!!"  "Yuck"  Brad went in about 1:25 pm to see what was going on, and then I heard the water start!  Bathtime!!  I didn't put the footie pajamas on her because it was just a nap!  So she didn't get a nap.  Then was therapy time, and while she was at therapy I was at the Family History Center checking out some family history.  I am looking up the Parson name to see how much I can find, and do whatever Temple work needs to be done.  There were two older women there that were both missionaries (with their husbands), and they were busy working on their own family history information.  The one that had been sitting behind me became really excited because she had found some information she'd been looking for for a very long time, and so the other older woman came over.  After a few minutes of looking at all the family trees and discussing names, they realized they were related to each other!!  WOW!  How amazing that two women, sent to the same family history center, would be related!  I thought that was such a great blessing for them.  And then there was another woman that found over 100 names that needed Temple Work done.  I was going to ask her if she wanted me to do any of it, but I decided not to say anything.  

After therapy, Grace and I went home and started making dinner.  We were making it for a new couple that moved in down the street.  They are just moving from around the block, but had to because the person wants to sell the house they were living in.  They were going to rent the house right in front of us but the owner wanted a lot more rent money...$1,400 a month!!  So they saw this cute 3 bed 3 bath house down in the end of the court and told the realtor "we'll put $$$$ down if you give us the keys right now" because they had just a couple days to get completely out of the house they were in.  So they got the house!!  They are an older couple, and have daughters (one married, one getting married in two weeks) and they are so sweet!  Their names are Shawna and Jay.  She is the stake relief society president at the eldery home in town, which I think is SUCH a great calling.  I haven't visited the elderly home but once with Grace.  I really need to get there more often.  I'll bet they would all appreciate some visitors.

Anyways, I made them (and us) keilbasa/hot and spicy polish dogs in gravy over egg noodles with biscuits and chocolate cupcakes for dessert.  We had it, too, since there was so much left over.  And then Skyler and Jarik went on a walk while we took the food over to their house.  After, Grace, Brad and I went on a walk down the street and around a corner, taking pictures of Miss Grace and each other on the way, but it got cold so we came back home.  It was a VERY nice day today!  It's 42 degrees right now, and so I figured since it was such a nice day that we can get some fresh air.  Grace absolutely loved it!  She was so cute with her little pink nose and rosy cheeks.  We got some super cute pictures!    A FLOOD OF PICTURES!!

 There's our beautiful girl :) 

 She's yelling at Scotty to come back because she didn't like that he was so far away.  See him between the two tiny hills of snow?

 SO CUTE!!  Grace just loves her Dad so much.

 There's the beautiful girl.  She gave me such great opportunities to take cute pictures of her, so why not?

 Mom and Grace!!  Silly girl :)  See how red her hands are?  That shows us it's time to go in!

 Daddy wanted to share his much with Miss Grace!

 And then she shared with him!  Sweet Grace :)

 Getting a ride from Mommy.  Actually, it was getting cold quick so I wanted to get Grace inside as quick as possible.

 

 Grace got herself stuck between huge mounds of snow!!!!!  I'm just teasing...but still, she was SO scared!!

This is her SUPER FAKE cry/whine.  Brad ended up helping her out of the snow, even though I tried to make her do it herself.

Once we got home, Brad, Skyler and Jarik went on a jog, and so I shared a chocolate cupcake with Grace and then she had a shower.  She didn't get to play in the bath tonight because she was being SO SO SO out of control because of being so tired. 

All in all, a great day.  Now everyone is done working out, Brad is putting away dinner, and I'm done with the blog post.  Maybe I'm going to do homework, maybe I will go watch TV or play a dice game with the guys.  I'm not really sure!

Amanda

Darnit, missed another day

Well, dangit, I missed another day!  I do have a good excuse, though!  Our family (Brad's older brother and his family) came to stay the night as they were on their way to the airport in Idaho Falls.  We went out to Pizza Pie Cafe and then visited with them until about 1 am!  It was a great visit, and I was excited to see them.  Then today it was a beautifully sunny day.  Brad had a lot of trouble sleeping and so he stayed home from church, and Grace and I only make it 2.5 hours.  She went CRAZY in sacrament...and her throwing her colored pencils was the last straw for me!  Off to home we went, as fast as a flash.  Then Grace went to bed but didn't fall asleep quite yet, had some visitors, and then I had a feeling that I should check on her while the visitors were here.  Well, I'm glad I did..it was bathtime.  If you know what I mean...  After bath time Brad and Skyler left to go on a drive/hike, and lets just say that they went farther than they should have!  They called me and told me they were STUUUUUUU-----UCK!!!!!!  So I called our friends, we left at 7, and 3 hours later, we were finally home!  It was a crazy, freezing, and NOT fun time!  But now it's 11:55 pm, and I'm pooped.  Grace is sleeping in her crib without a sheet or pillow, I'm craving something, and really don't want to go to bed but know I need to!

Amanda

Friday at Last!

Well, right now we should be in Montana, but I'll move past that.  Brad and I both woke up this morning with scratchy throats, and so I'm so glad that we didn't go.  I would not want anyone in the family getting sick because of us.  So, anyways...

We got up about 9:40, but let me tell you why.  Someone....BRAD...thought it would be okay to play with the cat, on our bed, at 4:40 am in the morning.  Do you know what it feels like to be in a ship in the crashing waves?  Well, that's what my bed felt like!  So instead of getting up at 6 am and going to the temple like I wanted to I slept in.  Then when I went to get Grace up, were were even more lazy.  I would lay on her floor snuggling with her huge caterpillar pillow (it's longer than me), and she would bend down and whisper in my face, "tet up."  And when that didn't work, she get up and YELL IT!!  "TET UP!  NOW!!"  It was so darn cute that I had to have her do it just a few more times before I actually got up.  Then we went into Mommy's room and drew for a while while listening to the BYU station on the radio.  After, I figured that I'd better feed Grace, so it was cereal for breakfast!

Nap time can quickly, and before she went down for nap, I left for the Family History Center so that I could find more names!  It was so cute!  I would give Grace a kiss goodnight and then she'd ask for a high 5.  And then she ran to the door and tried to open it for me.  She is getting used to me leaving and doesn't always whine when I'm leaving.  It's sad but it's ok, too.  That just means that she's having so much fun with Daddy and Skyler!  So I was there until 5 pm, and then came home, gabbed with everyone for a while, and then we went to Gringo's Mexican Restaurant!  We had left about 6 pm, and so when we came home it was around 8:15 pm.  We like to gab and visit while we are eating.  So I tucked her into bed...wait...back track.  It was so cute!  She ran to her room and I kept asking her to take off this and that.  She did so GREAT!!!  She took off her shoes and socks, and when I asked her to put them under her crib (after a bit of persuasion) she put them right under her crib to be used tomorrow!  And her shirt was a bit difficult because it was a tight one (she's growing!), but she was able to take off her pants.  Then, little stinker as she is, she pulled the buttons apart on her onesie!!  She looked at me the whole time, and you could just see the smirk of "Ha ha mommy, I know how to take off my Onesie!!"  Well, the rest of the "get ready for bed" went fine, and then I got the rest of my homework done.  And now, it's 10:13 pm, and the guys are up here to play dice!  So I better get going :)

I'll have to write about my Family History Center experience tomorrow!  I found TONS of names, pictures, letters and journal entries.

Amanda

Thursday was Temple Day!

Well, I had good reason that I didn't write on Grace's blog on Thursday!  I went to the ward temple night, and did the work for Loa May Porter, my ancestor!  It was a really nice night.  I went early, about 1/5 hours early, and was able to get 10 initiatiories done before I headed up to wait for my ward.  It was a beautiful session, and I can't wait to work on some mroe family names.  My goal is to go to the temple every day until I have completed the names that I've found.  I feel like this will bless my life so much, as well as my families life.  The temple opens at 6 am for initiatories and 7 for baptisms, and so I will be able to get these finished slowly as Grace is still in bed!  The endowments are what's going to be harder because I don't want to be away from her for so long, but once school is out, I will go to the endowment sessions at 8 pm so that I won't miss any time with her!

Anyways, back to Miss Grace.  She woke in the morning still sick, but not nearly as bad as she was.  The morning went by quickly, same as always.  We didn't go to therapy today because I didn't want her getting exposed to children that might already be sick, and I also didn't want her to get kids sick.  I was actually going to take her to school but decided against it because I didn't want to be one of those parents!  So we just hung out at home.  We played in my sewing room and colored some more, had homemade mac and cheese for lunch, and while she slept for nap I did some homework.  I love school and all, but I can't wait for my break.  I've NEVER taken my off track time as off track.  I've always been doing online classes through my off track.  So this April-August, I will NOT be taking classes.  Don't get me wrong, I've gone to the sign up page online about 30 times, clicked the classes I wanted, and have almost pressed add, but I MUST give myself a break.  I definitely need it.  So I will not be taking classes this time!

Anyways, back to Miss Grace.  So we didn't go to PT/Speech, and then Kelly was going to meet us at Walmart to work on staying by the cart, but the person I called to tell her to come to our house instead didn't tell her until 15 minutes after we were supposed to meet!  I was so upset because she had driven to Walmart and waited for us!!  But we got all that figured out, and then the rest of the day went by super fast because I was waiting for temple night.  

While I was at the temple Grace had TONS of fun with the boys.  They totally wore her out to where she was panting, and so she went down to bed REAL easy for them.  I got home about 10 pm, checked my email, but then I had a headache and so I went to bed.  The end!!

Amanda

Family

Well, we were supposed to go see family this weekend...a whole bunch of them.  12 at least.  Everything was going great but darnit, someone had to get my little one sick.  Whether it was preschool or Sunbeams, I don't care, it's just that it's SO UPSETTING.  People really need to have some consideration for others.  If your child is sick, don't take them out in public where there are other children.  Which is now what I have to do.  We aren't going to be able to go see family, and I'm not happy about it at all.  It's not Grace's fault, not at all.  And I feel so bad for her because she's always sick, and I can't do anything but sit beside her and hope that I can figure out what she needs, when she needs it.  I 'm hoping and praying that this will stop happening.  I'm hoping and praying that as she gets older, the frequency of her getting sick will decrease, and our chances of seeing family will increase tremendously.  It's not fair to her that other people are inconsiderate.  Dangit.  I'm so sorry sweet girl that you are always getting sick.  I'm sorry I can't keep you from those people that are getting you sick.  And I wish we could have gone to see family this weekend.  You love them all so much, as do we.  

Darn it.

Amanda

A Better Day, But Still Sick

Grace woke up early as usual, which means that she slept well.  That's good!  She still had a horribly runny nose and nasty wet cough, but she was nice, and she was in a good mood, which is AWESOME!!!  We all snuggled in bed for a bit, but after a while her tummy was begging for some food!  She ate three bowls of cereal so obviously she's got her appetite back.  Today we pretty much hung out since we are NOT going outside.  We are on strike against the snow and cold.  The only time we did go out is to take Daddy and Skyler to the food bank because they serve there for an hour passing out food.  But other than that, she and I were inside playing.  Nap time went well for her, and her fast breathing has all but disappeared.  I can't believe how much of an improvement there has been in her health.  After nap time there was an insane amount of snow.  I mean, INSANE!!  The snowflakes were as big as quarters, and it looked like we were going to be snowed in.  It was thick, and it was oh so beautiful.  But just as fast as it came on, it was gone.  It was kinda eery, really.  But Grace loved watching it out the window, and so anything that she loves is worth seeing.  

The rest of the day went rather quickly.  Ryan came over and visited for a while, and Grace followed him around until he gave in and gave her some of the bread stick he was eating.  It was so adorable because right when he came over, he started playing with Grace.  She was rolling around all over the floor and he was down there really quick rolling around with her.  It was so CUTE!

Grace had a bubble bath after dinner, which she absolutely enjoyed.  Then it was into bed and time for homework for mommy.  Now it's 11 pm and I'm exhausted and hungry.  Goodnight!

Amanda

Horrible Day

Grace woke in the morning with a nasty cough.  At first, it was hear and there.  I contemplated taking her to school, so much that she was actually dressed and we were headed to the door.  But then the cough, which I kept telling myself was just a tiny thing caught in her throat, became a horrible wet cough.  One nasty enough to alert the red flags in my head that say, "SHE'S SICK."  That was NO FUN.  The day pretty much spiraled out of control, health wise.  It was pretty surprising, really, to see how fast it went downhill.  Wet cough, to wet nose, to an open faucet nose, to a VERY CRANKY DAUGHTER.  She wasn't hungry, which is normal with her when she gets sick.  I'm glad she was drinking, and so I wasn't too worried, but by naptime, her breathing became extremely fast, and she had the worst wheezing I've heard from her in...forever.  After nap she seemed to get better and so I didn't take any drastic action, but at 4:55 I called the doctor because her chest was retracting, the breathing was so rapid that she sounded like a panting dog, and the nose was nonstop running.  The doctor said it was too late (they close at 5) and so I took her to the emergency room.  Finally, at 8:30 pm, we got out of there.  No RSV, a double dose breathing treatment that really cleared up her breathing issue, steroids and motrin.  She did as well as can be expected for a three year old, but she really did NOT like the sticky O2 monitor on her finger. 

It was pretty sad because right when she was set on the table, she went to the pillow and laid down.  The nurse that was there said, "Wow, she sure knows what to do.  Good girl."  And the doctor said, "That's not a good thing."  He is SO right.  I hate that she knows what to do, but I'm glad that she knows what to do so that I don't have to tussle with her as much as normal children.  

She's 36 inches tall and 26 pounds.  She's been 36 inches for forever, but I'll have to check up on the weight to see if she's gained more.  I think she's gained two pounds, which is so exciting!!

All in all, I'm glad it's over.  She went right to bed, slept like a baby, and I got to eat dinner at 10 pm.

Amanda

Play Date

We had some friends over to play today!  It was my visiting teaching companion and her two children.  Grace had so much fun playing with the kids!  The little boy was a couple months older than she is, and the little girl was 20 months old.  I was so happy to see how much Grace was involved with her friends.  She would even go so far as to scream at them... "Tum EERRREEE! (come here)."  They just had an absolute great time, Grace would talk with the kids (even though most of the time you couldn't understand her) and even though she had some trouble with sharing, it's something that I loved to see.  Kids her age are supposed to have trouble sharing!

We had some lunch with her friends.  It was grilled cheese, craisins, and cheese sandwich crackers.  Grace ate really well, but the two other kids were picky (their mom told me!).  But that's ok.  Kids are like that.  All in all, it was great fun, and I'm so glad they came over.  

After this was nap time, and then therapy.  Grace did great at therapy, as usual.  We are starting to hear "How are you?" and "....... so much (I love you so much)."  We are hearing more three word sentences, which is fabulous, and every blue moon we are hearing a four word sentence!!

The rest of the day went well.  There wasn't too much to share, and nothing exciting.  It was a long day with having the friends over and then therapy and all, so we were pretty much hanging out the rest of the evening.

Amanda

Super Sweet Sunday

Today was such a windy day!  Oh it was so horrible how windy it was!  But we still got up and got going, and Grace's sweet spirit kept me in good spirits as well.  We went to church today and she was so excited to go to her Sunbeams class.  I love that she enjoys it so much.  It was Fast Sunday today, and I was especially interested in being able to focus on a desire to read the scriptures.  I am starting to read the Old Testament and then will just keep right on going all the way through the scriptures.  I am almost on Chapter 4, but I just started.  I would have gotten farther but my companion and I went to visit two of our sisters for the month of March.  I figured we better get it done early because the months tend to get hectic as they tick on. 

Brad, Skyler and I all shared our testimonies in church today.  I was the first one and sat up on the stage with my friend Shannon while two children went.  She and I were both nervous, but that's only because we are having to start at about 60-70 people!  I'll bet it's more than that.  I shared about genealogy and family history, and how thankful I am that I was found online by my third cousin and given such wonderful information about my 30 generations, as well as the connection to Abraham Lincoln.  Skyler shared about how the struggles in his life have taught him that he hasn't been listening to Heavenly Father, and that your struggles are what makes you stronger and closer to Heavenly Father.  He got our friend Janica bawling, and her mom told us she NEVER cries in testimony sharing and so that's amazing that she did.  The Spirit must have really touched her heart today.  Brad shared as well about trials and struggles, and about how you must remain on the righteous path if you want to succeed in life, and to be near Heavenly Father.  I loved that all three of us shared today.  It was beautiful.  And Grace went and sat with a family in the pew behind us.  Their names are Skidmore, and they have 1 girl and two boys, one of which is a year older than Grace.  He wasn't very polite but the couple just loved having Grace visit them.  While Skyler was sharing his testimony Grace cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled "STY-YER!!!!!"  It was so beautiful and funny and not embarrassing one bit!  She sure loves her brother. 

I had went to peek in on Grace while she was in Jr. Primary, and she was up front begging for chocolate, the little stinker.  The lady holding it was asking her to go sit down but she was whining, and so she gave up and gave Grace a piece of chocolate.  Silly girl!  She knows how to get what she wants!  She was coming out the door to me and dropped her picture that she had colored and so I said, "uh, oh, you dropped your paper.  Pick it up!"  And so she went back and got it.  She was so excited about her chocolate that she bit through the foil, which kinda freaked her out because we all know how foil tastes when we bite into it, and what it does to our teeth.  So I had to dig around her mouth for awhile (yuck) but in the end I got it out :)

The rest of the day went as normal.  Grace went down for a nap and I went to do some visiting teaching with my companion, Stina Veselka.  After this Grace woke up and so I fed her some lunch.  Then the next thing is so cute!  I got really tired and really wanted to take a nap.  I used Grace's pillow that was out in the living room and laid down on the couch, and of course she came to bug me.  But I asked her if I could nap, and so she patted the pillow and said "nigh nigh" and then went down to where my feet were with her drawing board and drew pictures while I rested.  Then she went to her room and played by herself for about 10 minutes.  She heard Daddy in the kitchen and so she went running in there, and he had given her a roll.  What did she do next?  Broke it into a million pieces and shoved it into my neck and shirt collar!  AH!  But the funny part was that she had kept a piece to put by my mouth to see if I wanted to eat it.  So there was no way I could be mad!  Then I told Brad, "Oh my gosh!  She just broke her roll into a million pieces and shoved it down my neck!" and he laughed so hard that I couldn't be mad for sure.  My daughter is so sweet, kind, and important.  Then a hug and a kiss was offered, and so I obliged. 

After my nap she and I went into my sewing room to color a picture for Grandpa Hildreth for his birthday, and while she sat coloring, I updated her toddler memory book.  It was so lovely for me to be sitting there with my daughter, occasionally helping her with a marker lid, but otherwise, we were both content there sitting side by side on our own activities.  She colored and played with stickers for about 10 minutes, but then she couldn't handle anything else!  I talked with her about some family history that I had been looking at, and I tried so hard to tell her all about the people I'd found, but I guess it's kinda boring to little ones.  That's ok!  I asked her if she knew where the Azores was, and she said, "yes" and so I said, "You do?!!  Where?"  And she pointed at her coloring book.  "WOW!  It's right there, Grace?  Thank you SO much for showing me!"  Gosh I love this kid.

Finally it got to around dinner time and so I went and heated up some chili over toast.  She was so excited and ready to eat!!  I stuck her in her high chair and she and I ate together, me spooning her food to her.  She also had banana nut bread yogurt, and a sippy cup of milk.  Anyways, she would point to what she wanted, and so she's usually go one bite of the bean/bread and one of the yogurt.  She was being so adorable.  I could just eat this little girl up!  Then every so often she'd spread her arms out as wide as she possibly could to give me a hug, and would sneak in a kiss.  The most special kiss was during a hug, and she said in her super sweet, loving voice "tiss?"  and I said, "ok."  She pulled back enough to look into my eyes and softly put her hands on my cheeks and said, "aw, wub oo so much."  And then she kissed me ever so softly on the cheek.  It was as if a butterfly had tickled my cheek. 

After this beautiful moment, she went back to her rambunctious self.  These are the moments that I would miss were I not always watching for them.  These are the moments that a lot of other parents miss because they allow the daily hassles to get in the way of the connection with their children.  I long for these connections, and when they are there, I grab at them.  99% of the time, I accept every hug and kiss.  Even if it means that a teacher has to open the classroom door back open so I can kneel down and kiss her, or if the therapist has to stop walking downstairs with her because we hear the "mm...mmm...tiss...tiss!" I don't care.  My child loves me, and right now, she wants to show it, so I'll stop the world if I have to so I can share that moment with her.

Well, I could tell Grace was getting agitated about having such a long dinner time, so I got her down from her chair and asked her to go to the bathroom for bubbles (a bath) and take her pants off.  Now, first of all, this is an EXTREMELY new concept for her.  There are the times where she won't take off anything for me, no matter how many times I ask.  But then there are those times that you go into her bedroom in the morning...and...you find a girly that wants you to know she can undress herself completely.  Anyways, back to the story.

So, I asked her to take her pants off and had unbuttoned them for her because she can't do that.  Well, she went into the kitchen and held on to the counter while she "walked her pants off." That's where she somehow drags her foot down the opposite leg, which pushes the pant leg down, and vice versa until they are off....then...

"Grace, please take your pants to your room."  Off she goes, pants hugged between her arms and "so heaby" every so often.

I head to the bathroom and meet her at the door.

"Grace, please take your shirt off and put it in your room."  Off she runs and just a second later, she's back, giggling and so happy to be getting the chance to take bubbles!

I went in and moved the shower curtain and was going to sit down on the toilet, but she softly pushed me on my bum and said, "minute."  I looked behind me to see what she was doing and she was pushing the toilet seat down and stopping me from sitting down right into the toilet!  How stinking sweet!  After she'd made sure it was down all the way she patted the lid and said, "Mommy, sit.  Bubbles."  I sat down and she jumped up and down, giggling and so excited!  I turned the water on and poured the bubble soap in and then unsnapped her onesie.  Now, I know she can do this herself, but no WAY am I going to encourage it!!  So she ran off and came back, once again within seconds, ready to get in.  The water was way hot and so I told her she had to wait, and she was just about to run off but then I said, "What about your toys?" and tapped the bottom drawer where we keep her water toys.  As I filled the tub the rest of the way she went one at a time, throwing one toy in and saying a number..."one, five, sits (6), weben (11), TIN!"  AH I LOVE THIS DAUGHTER OF MINE!

That was the super cute bathroom story.  At the end I asked her to pull the drain so the water can go bye-bye and she did.  My smart girly. 

Well, the night for her came to an end.  I love putting her to bed because it's fun to pretend like I'm going to drop her into the bed but then I don't let her drop.  She squeals and laughs and looks at me.  I can just tell her eyes are beckoning for more!  Then I grab her up and fight her for a kiss!  Finally, the little one is tucked in with her "who, who (owl from sissy)" and Dora doll.  I say goodnight but I know I can't leave because we haven't kissed through the crib bars yet!  "TISS!  TISS! MMM...MMM..."  "Ok, one more kiss Sweet Pea."  Then she and I get SO CLOSE to reaching one another through the bars and then one of us cracks up, and then we both laugh for a few seconds before trying to compose ourselves.  Ok, we'll get the kiss this time....NOPE!!!  Mommy misses and starts laughing, which then makes Grace have a laugh attack.  Ok, try again.......Well, you get the idea.  Finally we kiss, and then it's lights out for Miss Grace.

See how awesome my life is?  And my family?  And my daughter?  I can't ask for anything better, ad I would NEVER ask for ANYTHING to be different.  NOTHING.

I love you baby girl.

I love you Brad.

I love you life.

Amanda

Cleaning Day

This morning has gone by pretty quick.  It's 2:11 pm right now and Grace is deep in sleep in her room.  She helped me out so much today with cleaning and organizing!  This morning we got up around 9:00 this morning and Grace got to go in the bathtub with Daddy!  While she was in there I worked on some homework, and after the bath, Grace had a granola bar for breakfast.  She and I did some laundry, cleaned out and organized the linen closet by her bedroom, and she helped me move my bookshelf around.  It was cute to see her helping me push that big 'ol bookshelf around!  I just love how much she wants to help me with so much stuff.  I think she likes showing me that she's a big girl and has big muscles!  After a little while she went off and played on her own, and so I was able to fold some laundry, put away some extra towels and sheets that we never use, and get lunch ready.  She and I had leftover corn chowder with cheese, and she just gobbled it all down!  By around 12:10 pm she was SO tired!  She kept laying her head in her high chair and saying, "nigh nigh."  So of course it was bedtime.  I just love this next part...

I asked her to go to her room and take her shoes off, and off she went!  It took her a long time to learn how to take off the velcro on her shoes, but it was so awesome to see her do it today.  It took her a few minutes for each shoe, but gosh darnit she did it.  After she took her shoes off she laid right down for me to change her diaper, and at that point it was definitely obvious that she was ready for bed.  She laid right down and went to sleep within minutes, and so that's when I got to work with my homework.

Now I'm taking a break from everything that I was doing.  I have Grace's laundry to put away, and some fabric to fold that I washed for quilt making.  I'm watching a movie called, "The Help," and Daddy is downstairs watching a movie after having worked out for so long!  

It's kind of foggy outside but there is still some sunshine peeking through.  I haven't been out completely to know if it's cold, but I did open the door to toss some diapers in the pail out front and I got a chill really quick.

I was hoping to make something yummy for dinner tonight but we have so many leftovers that have to be eaten that I can't make anything.  I'm hoping that I can make something really good for dinner tomorrow, but I'm going to have to look through some recipe books to see what sounds good.  I need to go grocery shopping, but I don't know if I want to go today.

I was thinking about decorating Grace's room, as well as my sewing room.  I'm thinking about doing pink and black in Grace's room.  Black on the trim and pink everywhere else.  I'm only doing this because she has a black zebra picture holder in her room, as well as a black and pink heart corner stuffed animal holder, so I'll see what I can do.  I saw a really cute design with multiple different picture frames, some with pictures in them and some with quotes, and then a G in the middle or to the side for her name.  I'm planning on doing this for her.  Then in the sewing room, I'm thinking about making curtains and putting some shelves up on the wall to hold my supplies.  I'm hoping to move my books down to Ryan's old room and put up a peg board where my sewing table is so that it can hold some buckets.  I'm going to put all sorts of different supplies in the buckets, that way my closest can be cleaned up a bit.  I'm also hoping to put up some cute decorations in there so that it's not so plain.  Then comes the bedroom.  I just can't believe how hard it is to make room look cute and not so plain, and that's not forgetting the living room.  Oh, boy.  But definitely going to take a lot of time and not rush.  

I'm planning on making a list of things that I hope to get done over the months that I'm out of school, and maybe this will help keep me busy while Grace is napping or in bed.  I'm also hoping to get al ot of temple work done, even though I'll still be doing some now.  

Well, that's all for now.  It's 2:30 pm and I'm going to find something to nibble on. 

It's 10 pm now and I figured I'd write about the rest of the day.  Not much happened.  We went to Walmart so we could buy something special for Grandpa Hildreth's birthday, and then Grace and I watched a movie together (The Rainbow Camp), while the guys were upstairs hanging out.  Then Sky and Ryan came down and played Just Dance, Grace went to bed, and then the three guys went to Walmart while I finished this!

Grace was having so much fun dancing with the boys.  She would follow their moves, and then she and I danced together along with their music while Daddy sat on the couch watching.  It was SO MUCH FUN!  SHe absolutely loved dancing together with me.

I love you Grace!

 

Amanda

Date Friday

Today went by really fast!  This morning I was lazy getting up, and so around 9:30 I went in to get Grace out of the crib and then brought her to bed with us.  We played, she jumped on the bed and this and that.  After a while it was breakfast time and while she ate a banana, I whipped us up some oatmeal!  Grace was super hungry and ate the whole banana!  After breakfast we just hung out, played, and I put together dinner to put it in the Wonder Oven.  After this Grace and I hung out in the sewing room for a bit while I wrote down some projects that I hope to get done through the spring and summer, and when she went to take a nap I just messed around, watched a movie, and got some laundry going.  Dad had Garon over so they could work out, and so of course Kenna and Jaric followed.  The rest of the evening we were with them playing and having fun, and then at 7:45 Brad and I went to a "Battle of the Dances."  It was so fun!  A lot of great dances, a huge audience, and lots of excitement!

And now here I am, watching a movie (The Lucky One).  It's a romance movie, which I like to watch!

So, not much happened today.  It was a nice day.  In the beginning of the day it was really cloudy, but it cleared up to a pretty sunny day.  But it's weird because the clouds came back in and and there was a mist in the evening.  

We had sloppy joes for dinner.  Well, actually, Grace and I had homemade macaroni and cheese.  It was the best macaroni and cheese I've had in...like...forever!  Here was my recipe for sloppy joes:

1 can of corn

1 can of kidney beans

1 can of black beans

1 can of sloppy joe sauce

2 tb ketchup

1 package sloppy joe seasoning

1/4 c dehydrated carrots

1 pound ground beef

black pepper

tons of: dehydrated spinach powder, flaxseed, wheat, and barley.

Brown your ground beef, add it to your chili, boil it for 3 minutes, and then put the pot lid on and stick it in your Wonder Oven.  Nice and hot for dinner!  We ate this with wheat rolls as the "buns" since we didn't have any real buns.

Well, that's it for us!  We don't have any plans for tomorrow, so we'll see what the day brings!  Grandpa Hildreth's birthday is on the 10th and so we will be going to Montana next weekend to celebrate!  

Amanda

Shew...Mama's Tired

Wow, what a day.  It's not like we did a lot of extra things, but it was still a tiring day!  This morning was preschool, and we got there late so I got to walk you back to your class.  You wore your pink cheetah footie pajamas since it was pajama day at school, and Miss Brittany said your pajamas were the best.  After class, you stayed a little while behind so you could work on stamping animals on construction paper with Jeff, your OT.  We went home after this and mom had SUCH a hard time deciding whether we would go out to eat, or if we would stay home and eat.  Finally, at 11:30, we went to Pizza Pie Cafe together!  I had a $5 coupon and you were free, so it was a pretty cheap lunch!  It was so fun to go.  There was an older couple in line in front of us and he was talking and saying hi to Grace while his wife was paying.  Grace clicked with them really fast!  Then we got our pizza, and we prayed before we ate :)  You did such a great job eating your pizza all by yourself.  I had to push you away from the table a few times because you kept putting your hand under the tablecloth, and so you were pushed back for 3 minutes each time.  After about 5 times, you understood that if your hands went under the tablecloth, then you would have to lose your chance to eat.  After a while, we both got so full!  Here's what we had:

Pepperoni Pizza (I think 3 pieces between the two of us)

Chicken Alfredo Pizza (2 pieces between the two of us)

Potato Pizza (you, one piece)

Pasta (bowtie and one that I can't say...it looks like little wheels)  This had spicy sausage sauce and red pepper sauce mixed together and it was SO GOOD!  That's the two sauces that Daddy likes to mix together.

Brown sugar and sugar pizza with frosting for dessert.  The pieces we ate were...small!  We were both so full.

Salad for me, and you had: cubed turkey and ham, sliced olives, broccolli (I WAS SO SURPRISED!), goldfish crackers, sliced cheese, and croutons.  

All in all it was a great lunch with mom and daughter.  The couple that I had talked about earlier were getting up to leave and stopped by our table.  He shook Grace's hand and tickled her a bit, and his wife came to ma, put her hand on my shoulder and said, "You are doing so well teaching your daughter."  It was so sweet!  I told her that I try, and then she said, "You teaching her to bless the food, how wonderful."  Then they were leaving after I told them thank you, and he gave Grace a kiss on the back of her hand.  She just loved them so much!  Kept saying "bye bye ga-ma (grandma) gam-pa (grandpa).  They just thought she was so adorable, and I really liked them as well.  

There was also another woman there that really caught Grace's attention.  She was a grandma, with her daughter, and her grand-daughter.  The grandma was obviously special, and grunted continuously all the time.  It really caught Grace's attention, and she kept staring.  After I tried to keep her from watching, I realized that there was no way I was going to stop her, and so I just didn't make a big deal about it.  When the group was leaving, the grandma was grunting as she came towards us (the door was behind us).  She stopped at me, staring as she grunted, and her daughter and granddaughter were trying to usher her on (the daughter was probably 50's and the granddaughter was probably 30's.)  I just looked up, smiled, waved my hand and said, "bye!"  No reason to make the women feel bad or uncomfortable.

After pizza, we rushed home, Grace took a nap, and then we went to therapy.  Kelly, the therapist that usually comes to the house, was there to talk with Sara, the speech therapist, to see what we were working on there.  After 45 minutes there, Kelly met us at Broulims and she and Grace worked on grocery shopping.  Now, I know she's only three and wouldn't be shopping for herself any time soon, but we were really working on staying with the cart, listening to who she was with, and grabbing items that are the same as the pictures on the list.  It was especially fun because the person working with the fried food/chinese food worked with Grace.  I told her Grace would be coming and asking for a potato wedge, and so she was there waiting for Grace.  I didn't hear what Grace said because I was hiding so she wouldn't see me, but I could tell it was cute because the server had the biggest smile on her face while Kelly helped Grace with what to say.  After that I found a sister from the ward and we chatted while Grace was going around with Kelly.  At the end of the shopping experience, Grace got these items in her cart:

Meat spaghetti sauce

Fettuccine noodles 

2 oranges

1 pint of whole milk

Chili with beans

She did so great!  When we went to the checkout stand, I told the woman that Grace was learning how to grocery shop and will give her the debit card even though I know she doesn't slide it on her side.  She was nice and was really cute with Grace, and after I paid, she gave Grace some smarties!  That was a fit because I took them and said, "after dinner."  But on our way out I compromised.  I told Grace, "if you share with Kelly, you can have some right now.  Are you going to share?"  Grace said, "Share 'Telly'."  So we gave Kelly 4, and Grace had two, and then all were happy!

After therapy, we just hung out at home.  Grace played with Skyler and Daddy a lot!  They threw her in the air, twirled her, horse ride for her, and everything else you can think of.  Daddy even did airplane with her!  Held her left arm and left leg and twirled her around!  Crazy Daddy.  Then Kenna came over for a little while while Grace was up because her parents aren't home.  Then Grace was down at 8, and now here I am!

Well, that's all I have for now.  I better get over to my homework and get it done.

Amanda

(Wednesday) Fast Day Today!

I can't believe how fast today went, but it's because I went to the family history center!

Today started out like any other, but I did get up a bit later than normal.  We were up about 9:30 am, and you were such a sweet thing to see this morning!  You had cereal for breakfast today.  3 bowls of it!  I don't usually let you have sugary cereal, but I just had to today.  You had Lucky Charms, but really, you just like to eat the marshmallows in it.  You were sitting next to me eating while I checked out my Facebook and homework.  After this, we played around for a while, and then ran some errands.  You didn't go to bed until about 1:30 pm just because I had gotten you up too late.  I didn't want you to feel like you were in bed the whole day!  I went to the Family History Center to make our family tree more complete, and to find some ancestors and things like that.  I was so consumed with it that I didn't come home until 6 pm!!  You had fun, though.  You played with Daddy and watched your Sesame Street while I was gone.  Daddy had sent me a video of you saying, "hi Mommy.  Where are you?  Come home.  I love you."  It was so sweet!  You and I had leftovers for dinner.  We had some bean soup from yesterday, and some alfredo penne with brocolli.  That was pretty good, but you just weren't too interested in eating!  We had a brownie for dessert!  It was a chocolate brownie with white and brown chocolate chips on it.  You LOVED it!  Well, of course I did as well.  Neither of us could finish it, so it's still sitting in the fridge.  I think that I'm going to eat the rest of it now that I'm thinking about it. :)  You are my sweet pea, but the way!!

It was so cute watching you with Scotty today.  After we got home from our errands, Scotty was playing out front while I was bringing the groceries in.  I called him once, but he didn't come to me, and so you went to the front door and yelled, "Stotty!!!  Tum IN!  NOW!"  It was so darn cute, and he listened, which is a great thing that came of this.  I like that you enjoy helping me with things like this.  Oh, and then you ran around with him for a while while I put the groceries away.  Also, you enjoy putting groceries away.  Last night we had gone to Sams Club in Idaho Falls and whenever I had gotten something off the shelves, you would carry it like such a strong girl to Skyler or Daddy, who would then put it into the cart.  And even when we were just walking around, you were following like a good girl, and didn't grab or pull too many things off the shelf.  I can say that just a few months ago you were touching everything!  But you've gotten so much better.

Today was a nice day.  It was sunny and the snow teased a bit, but it was a sunny day.  It's 12 degrees right now and was probably in the 20's today.  

Tonight I made chicken leg/breasts with a gravy in the crockpot.  It was supposed to be dinner but since I didn't get back from the Family History Center until 6 pm, I made it so that we could eat it tomorrow.  That way, I can use the crock tomorrow for something else!  I'm thinking a bread pudding.  Brad really likes this, and I'm assuming Skyler does to, as will you.

Shew, it's 11:56 pm.  I tried going to bed early last night.  I went to bed at 10:40 pm, and ended up not being able to fall asleep until after 12, and then I was rolling around most of the night.  I woke at 4 am and felt as if I'd slept long enough, but went back to sleep because it was too early.  So then when my alarm went off at 7:30 am, which is when we normally get up, I was SO tired from having woken up at 4!  It messed me all up for sure.  

Today is the day when I found Levi Savage Jr's complete journal.  Levi Savage Jr, who was the co-captain of the Willie Handcart Company, is my 8th cousin, which means he's your 9th cousin.  That means that way down the line, he is a cousin of yours!  

Well, I think that's pretty much it for today.  

I thought I'd list some things that I use during our daily activities so we can look back in the future and see if things have changed.  Here's some:

I use an Ipod to listen to music.  

I use a wonder oven to cook some food.  This has two pillows in it filled with...something like styrofoam, and you boil whatever you are cooking in a pot for about 10 minutes, and then you put it between the two pillows in a tupperware box, and this will cook the food for you.

We use microwaves to cook food.

We have mail still coming in the mail, Monday-Saturday, and our mailbox is one that has a flag on it to put up when we've put something in it.

We have $1,$5,$10,$20,$50,$100, and for change we have: 1,5,10,25,50, and 1 dollar coins.

Our car has a button to push that can unlock, lock, and turn on an alarm.

I use blogspot, facebook, the byu-i homework page, yahoo email, and pinterest.

I use my cell phone as my alarm, and it is a cell phone that you can slide and then there is your keyboard to type with.

Well, that's all for now :)

Amanda/Mommy