April 2012

April was A LOT busier than we thought it would be when it began ; ) But it was also A LOT of fun! Travis' brother, Kevin, and his wife Sara and their 3 kids, Samantha, Derrick and KayDee moved into our basement. It has been great having them here. Almost and answer to prayer with all the help they have given us!

Travis was able to go with our ward's YM and YW to their Youth Conference over Spring Break down in St George. They had a great time. They got to do some really neat tours and had the opportunity to hear from some great speakers. Travis was really excited to be able to go. There are a lot of times that work and his calling conflict a bit so whenever he has the opportunity to participate with something like this he really gets excited about it.

We did a small Easter egg hunt this year which was really really fun! We did a little one for Dani last year but this was the first year that she got to participate in coloring eggs. We had a lot of fun! I had never heard of coloring on the eggs first with crayons but it made the eggs look so cool once we dyed them! Dani colored a couple of eggs (which got eaten just a few minutes later cause they were both dropped on the table and a little cracked..) ; )

Here is a picture of the kids looking for eggs.

Easter weekend was really busy! Travis went over to Beryl on Friday night to go bunny hunting with his brothers and brother-in-law. Dani and I got up the next morning and met him in Gunlock where we went to their community egg hunt.

It was small and really cute. Dani LOVED it! Didn't take her long to pick it up either. She kept trying to fit more and more into her basket even though it was already over flowing! Haha She was so so cute!

After the egg hunt we played at the park for a bit. Dani hadn't been on the swings since last summer and it didn't take her long to remember that they were the most awesome thing EVER! We kept asking her if she was done and if she wanted to get out and she would say, "NO!!!" and shake her head. It was really sad when we did have to go and take her out of the swing. You would think that her life had ended. This is a picture of Dani and her cousins (left to right: Jaxon, Scott and Dani). 

When we left the park we went back to Kevin and Sara's where we helped them pack up some of their house so that they could move out into our basement.

On our way back home we stopped in Beryl to hunt for our Easter baskets that Grandma puts together for us each year. Dani got her very own hair brush and has been making Mommy "pretty" every day since. ; )

On Easter Sunday we went back out to Beryl for lunch with as many of the family that could make it. Over the course of the weekend we did get to see everyone which was nice. We had lunch and even had time for a game before we headed back home. It was a busy weekend.

April 9th was Travis' 29th birthday. We had Kevin, Sara and their kids over for the party. Travis doesn't like cake a whole lot so he gets brownies instead. We didn't want the house to catch fire so we put 2 candles and then 9 candles on the cake. ; ) He had a great birthday and we had a lot of fun celebrating.

 

The whole group here for the party.

Around the middle of the month I fell off a curb in Parowan. They are really deep in some places (about a foot or more) and I sprained my foot pretty bad, dislocating a couple of bones. Thank goodness though, it wasn't broken and I was getting around with a cane a few days later. The baby was fine and I'm almost through the healing process (hopefully)!

Travis had a Great Aunt that passed away. She was a sister to his maternal grandmother. Her name was Viola and she was quite the woman. It was a very touching funeral service with quite the turn out! She was very, very loved.

We got together with Milt and Roni at their house along with D.J., Whitney, Kevin and Sara for a potluck dinner and game night. It was a lot of fun! The kids played downstairs and we got to have some grown-up time. : )

We bought a piano and kitchen table from my parents this month and my dad was nice enough to make a couple trips down to bring them to us since we weren't able to make it up. It is so nice to have a piano back in the house! (And as soon as I remember how to play it will be even nicer!) ; )

We also are in the process of buying an Explorer from a friend of mine. We were finally able to sell my car to a small dealership in Cedar City. This means after a year or more of being a one car family we will finally have the flexibility of 2 vehicles again! (Not to mention the added advantage of running errands around town with 2 kids in a vehicle that I don't have to park a mile away from the entrance! SWEET!!!) We are really excited about it.

Dani and I tagged along to the kite festival with Sara and her kids. They had to turn in reading charts to show that they had been reading at home for the last (insert time frame here - not really sure how long it was) in exchange for a kite. It was a perfect day - wind wise. The kites were staying up and everyone was having fun it was just a supper chilly north wind... It was ok though. Everyone had a good time. I really wish that I had taken the camera with me. KayDee didn't fly her kite for very long and handed it off to me when she was finished. Dani was BEGGING for a turn so I let her hold it with my help thinking that with the pull on it she would change her mind fast and be done too - Ummm... NO! She told me, "I do it!" and took off running with it! She seriously flew it on and off for about 15 min and was heartbroken when we had to stop. Who knew a 2 yr old would love to fly a kite that much! It was hilarious! She had so much fun. Like I said, I am really mad that I didn't think to grab the camera before we left.

Everything with the baby is fine. I have another appointment on Wednesday (I'm already dilated to a 3). My doctor was a bit concerned last week because Charleene hasn't turned yet. So if we are still in the same situation tomorrow he is going to turn her so that she will be ready to go whenever the time is right. We are really praying for a safe delivery. Travis has given me a number of blessings throughout this pregnancy for different things and I have always been told to follow the Dr.'s advice and to have faith and things would turn out well. So that's what we're trying to do. ; ) We've had a lot of blessings thus far and have no reason to doubt that the Lord won't keep his promise. We are just excited to meet our new little one and (because I'm starting to get a little uncomfortable) we hope that it is just this side of sooner rather than that side of later. ; )

Hope all has gone well for you guys this last month! We'll get pictures up of Charleene as soon as we can after she arrives.

March 2012

Well peeps we made it!!! I finish this post and we are all caught up! Whew!! I can't believe how much Dani has changed and grown in the last few months. We finally got a booster seat for the table. She will not sit in her high chair anymore. She eats her own cereal for breakfast and sometimes snack. She knows what kind she wants. She has a vocabulary of about 60 signs and I don't even know how many words. A lot of them still need to be translated for others but she tries really hard to communicate and her pernunciation is getting lots better! She likes to be the one to say the prayer even though she still needs help.
It is so amazing to see her little personality come through. She LOVES Tangled, Elmo and Winnie the Pooh (Grandma Todd is just cringing at that I bet.) ;-) She tells me what she wants to watch, positions my hands around her waist when she wants to cuddle. She teases Travis and I all the time by sitting in "our spots." She counts to 5 and sometimes 10 all by herself. She recognizes about 10 letters all on her own. Just amazing what a little sponge she is!

I always forget to take belly pics! This is 28 1/2 weeks. I can't believe how fast it has gone this time. It started slowing down as we hit the third trimester because the insomnia and aches amplified but we've still been able to deal and Travis has been a HUGE help with things around the house.

Dani's first purse. She LOVES this thing. She was so funny walking all around the store with it on her wrist. Trying to figure out if she should fold her arms or hold it in her hand. She was showing it to everyone. It was hilarious!
When we were down in St. George for our Costco trip this month I had the opportunity to have lunch with an old friend from High School that just moved there, Becky Stewart. It was so fun to see her and catch up!
We went into town and had dinner with our friends the Judd's. We even got away with having a decent double date when the kids played downstairs and watched a movie while we played a game. It was good to get out of the house and hang out with some friends. Things are going to be crazy in a couple months and we won't have as many opportunities for things like that.
Travis had a couple of different farm related meetings. He always enjoys going to them and meeting new people. Gives him a chance to get off the farm and run around town a little bit without his "nagging wife" on his arm. ;-)

This is one of the pictures that I took of Dani for the Style n Sass blog. See what I mean about her being my little model? She is so funny. I never know what I am going to get when I pull out the camera!

She has also developed quite a fondness for balloons over the last few months. She likes to play the "keep it in the air as long as you can" game. Her record is about 5 bumps. She has so much fun.

She likes to help me when I crochet. She holds the hook and then I put my hand over hers and she lets me move her hand around. The other morning I was getting everything ready to make a blanket and she jumped in my spot when I went to grab something else and I came back to this! She had grabbed the yarn and the hook and was wrapping it around the yarn and moving the needle trying to pick up more with the hook. It was so so cute!
We also had our 30 week ultrasound this month. I can't believe we're getting so close! I still have a million things to do... Well I'm sure she'll get here whether we're ready or not. I just have a few busy weeks a head. :-)

February 2012

These are mostly just some fun pictures from February. Dani figured out that Daddy makes a good horsie! I have no idea who taught her to ham up for pictures like this. They came over and she was already smiling cause she was having fun of course. I told her to look at me and smile and this is what I got! I could not stop laughing!! It was hilarious!!!

These next couple are from Valentine's Day. We had a fun family day together. Dani joined Mommy and Daddy on our date. ;-) She's a good third wheel. She was having so much fun playing in the snow before we left. This is one of the 2 big storms that we got this winter. She didn't really get much opportunity to explore snow this year. She loves it! Every time is snows she gets so excited watching it fall. Just wish more of it would have stuck around so she could play more.
We spent the day running errands and getting things we needed for the house and then went out to dinner at Denny's which has become our tradition. It was a great day! Good to have a family day. :-)

We have a little tradition that we started when we were pregnant with Dani. Whomever is right in guessing the baby's sex gets to pick out the first outfit. Since Dani was the one that was right she got to pick the first outfit for Charleene. She happened to pick a dress that had one in her size too so we got matching ones. I'm going to be one of those crazy moms that makes her girls dress matchy matchy on occasion. ;-) 
Jacque and Justin came down for a weekend in February. It is so fun to see the girls together and what is better is we'll both be having girls again! It'll be so fun to watch this next set grow up together too.

I had the camera out taking some pictures of a pattern I was working on and before I could put it way, Dani stopped me and asked me to take a picture of her. Look at that face! How could you refuse? ;-)