thoughts on a sunday

Thought it was time to put a picture of all of us on here.  

• I really don't want to brag, but last week when I came downstairs after getting ready for church, McKay looked at me and said, "Mom, you look like the girl from Single Ladies!"  Me and Beyonce.  I get it all the time.

• While stopped at a light on a freeway exit McKay looked out the window and said, "Mom, I see a dead man," just as nonchalantly as could be.  I then noticed the homeless man laying flat on his back in some grass on the side of the street.  It was very hard to tell if he was sleeping or if he really was dead, as the location was a very strange place to take a nap.  Another driver actually got out of the car to make sure he wasn't dead.  He wasn't.  Just nappin'.   But I love how McKay just noticed a dead man with absolutely no alarm or concern in his voice.  

• On Monday Ellery woke up throwing up.  My poor girl threw up twelve times in less than four hours.  It was heartbreaking.  She just laid around all day and I washed towel, after towel, after towel.  She was so good though, and by six o'clock she was running around with her brother.

• Last night I was trying to describe someone from our ward to Brian but I didn't know his name.  "He's a normal looking guy with brownish hair."  Brian just looked at me like, "Are you serious?" and then we both started laughing.  We still haven't figured out who I was talking about, even though Brian played basketball with him yesterday.  He said he didn't see any normal looking guys. 

• Of course I'll do a separate post on this, but we took off McKay's training wheels yesterday. He and Brian worked on riding his "two wheeler" all afternoon and he is doing great.  Still needs more practice stopping and starting, but we're sure proud of him!

• Potty day is getting closer and closer!  Today we picked out some undies for little Elle.  She was so excited and picked out princess undies, of course, and a pack of Tinkerbell.  She and McKay had just watched the Tinkerbell movie on tv earlier this week, so she was really excited about those undies.  Like really excited.  Brian was having a really hard time accepting her choice as he is not a fan of the little fairy.  He kept trying to tempt her with Minnie Mouse or Dora, but she was not giving up those Tinks!  He had to admit defeat, and we had to have a conversation about why he hated Tinkerbell so much.  

• After we got home from the store, Brian made a bold move and let her try on some of her undies, sans diaper.  Naturally, she chose a pair of Tinkerbells and insisted on ditching all of her clothes as she ran around in just her new undies.  Her face was adorable and her dance moves/excited squeals/ running around in circles were priceless.  I don't really know how this potty training thing will work for her because she is really into being a baby and being babied, but I was encouraged when she had a fit at having to go back to her diaper.  We shall see- next Friday is the big day!!!

• After Elle was dancing around in her undies Brian looked at me and said, "I can't believe my boy is riding a bike and my baby is wearing underwear.  What is going on here?"  I agree.  I can't believe it either and they are just growing up so fast.  McKay is going to be five soon.  FIVE.  How can I have a five year old?  

• Rugby has started up again, and Brian is playing on Saturday mornings.  He's also playing ward basketball, also on Saturdays.  He's also studying on Saturdays.  I am a nice wife on Saturdays.

• I had a doctor's appointment this week and was relieved to hear that everything on the ultrasound was normal.  So baby girl looks good and healthy.  They couldn't tell me anything except the gender when we got the ultrasound, so I had been waiting to hear that everything was normal. So glad that everything looks good so far.

• Ellery loves to talk to the baby.  She pretty much has the same little speech prepared every time.  She first says, "Mom, can I talk to your baby?" and then she'll pull up my shirt- has to be skin to skin- and say, "Hi baby.  How are you?  I'm going to play with you when you come out.  Okay?  Bye baby."  It's adorable.  But it wasn't so adorable when I was visiting teaching and she was getting restless and wanted to talk to the baby.  Remember the skin to skin thing?  Well, I then spent the remainder of the visit trying to keep her from pulling up my shirt and exposing my lovely stomach.  It was a fight, and thankfully I won.  

• I've been missing our families this weekend.  We didn't have much going on and I just wished that we could go and hang out with our family.  Anyone want to move to Portland?  You'll like it, I promise.  

Happy, happy Sunday to you!

seriously, i'm posting about easter

How annoying is it that I have waited until now to write about Easter?  

We spent the Easter weekend with Brian's family.  The whole family was in town because of Lindy and Alex's wedding a couple days before, so we lucked out and were able to spend conference weekend and Easter with the family.  We had such a good weekend and we loved being all together again.  

Here's a brief recap of our activities:

Conference:  Treats after each rest hymn, Elise cutting her paper up into teeny tiny pieces, Adele's cinnamon rolls, big McKay's purchased homemade goodies that came to the door at random, coloring to stay awake, Missy's amazing artwork, me doing a loud snore that startled me awake, and of course the amazing messages we got to hear.

The Easter stuff:  Dying the eggs, finding the eggs, breaking the eggs, snow on Easter morning, more conference, remembering and pondering, delicious Easter dinner, having a family stretch, playing games after the kids went to bed.  

My camera battery died right after we got to Utah, so I only took a few pictures, and none at all during this weekend, so these pics are all courtesy of Ken, Jaynann and Adele.  

Elise, McKay, Sharp, Marilyn, Brigham

Marilyn and McKay

Silas and Addie

McKay, Elise, Elle, Sharp

In Brian's family they do such a fun thing with their Easter eggs.  A few weeks before Easter they delicately crack just the bottom of all the eggs they use and save them.  Then they dye the real egg shells, just like you'd dye a normal hard-boiled egg.  After the eggs are dry the egg shells are filled with candy and little treats and sealed with wet tissue paper.  These are the eggs that the children get to hunt for, and once the hunt is over they get to crack all those beautiful eggs and find their surprises inside.  

It's the funnest tradition, but I still haven't decided how we will do Easter.  Luckily I didn't have to because we were at Grandma's this year, but by next year I'm going to have a plan of our own to follow.  I had always thought that these eggs were too much work, but after seeing them again this year I may have decided that a little hard work is worth it.  We'll see.

after easter

I have four pictures.  Four pictures to show for the wonderful time I spent with my family after the wedding festivities.  Brian flew home on Monday and I got to hang out for a few more days to spend some time with my family.  

We did a lot.  We kept busy.  We did not take a lot of pictures.  Here is what we do have:

Ashlyn turned three and had a belated birthday party just so her favorite cousins could be there.  She loves books and so Lisa threw her a book party.  Let me tell you about my sister Lisa.  She is amazing.  She throws amazing birthday parties for all seven of her kids every single year until they are twelve.  Not only that, but she   hardly spends any money while doing it.  

And.  My amazing, birthday-party-throwing sister Lisa just started a blog.  (Yes, I said it.  It's time.)  She started one mainly as a way of journaling for her family, like me.  But she also has wonderful ideas and is documenting/sharing them on her blog. She will hate this and try to get me to erase it.  Go take a peek! 

Okay, back to the book party.  The kids loved it.  There were different books in several areas of the house and they went to each "station" and read a book and then got a little prize for their goody bag that went along with that book.  It was so simple, yet so fun for them.

Alyssa, McKay, CJ, Ashlyn, Ellery, Eto

After the party we went to swimming at the Lehi Legacy Center.  It's a fun pool, but was SO crowded because of spring break.  My kids had a ball, and I was grateful for uncle Trevor who played dad for my kids- meaning he let me not get all the way wet while he wrangled my two little monkeys as well as two or three of his own in the lazy river.  We swam for a couple hours and then I knew it was time to go when Ellery had a total breakdown about wanting to be big and go down a huge water slide by herself and McKay tried to run away from me because he wanted to stay longer.  I left the pool with two crying children.  Okay, maybe two screaming children.

We did a little shopping while I was there too.  I took this because Ellery had found one of uncle Jason's orange hunting beanies and wore it around while we shopped.  Oh, and she also carried a windmill.  I enjoyed a whole day of shopping and running errands with my mom and Jana.  It was so fun to spend the day with them and mom was so helpful with some of the things I needed to get done and I was happy to get to spend some alone time with my cute mom.

We also got to hang out with this cute little boy.  This is Ellery's much loved cousin Carson.  They were both preparing to get a tandem diaper change here.  Look how big and long my baby is!  Jana fed us a yummy dinner and we went through all of our maternity clothes so that I could bring them home with me.

I don't have pictures of going to dinner with the whole family, hanging out and talking at mom and dad's, going to dinner with Katie, Jason and Molly (missed you Kris!) and lunch with my sisters.  Plus I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting.  I am really bored and annoyed that I'm still writing this post, so I'm just going to leave it at that I loved getting to see my family and I miss them.  The end. 

thoughts on a sunday

McKay with his slug cage around his neck and Elle with a lip gloss-filled cell phone talking to baby Carson.  She talked to him on and off during this whole hour long walk, which is funny because she tells me often that he can't talk yet.  She's kind of a little bit obsessed with him lately.

• Is it annoying if I keep going on about the weather?  We have been enjoying lots of time outside this week and I am obsessed with the area that we live in.  It it so gorgeous here.  There are huge clusters of pine trees, ponds with accompanying wildlife to observe, walking paths weaving throughout the community and the air just feels clean.  I love that we can go out our door and in about one minute we can walk into all of that.  I feel so happy that this is where we get to spend these couple years.  

• About that wildlife.  We have been going on lots of walks/bike rides this week and have seen plenty of animals.  There is a pond a couple minutes from our house where we saw a beaver (or something that is like a beaver that I can't remember the name of but I like calling it a beaver), fish, ducks including ducklings, and geese.  Not to mention the slug that we found on the sidewalk who instantly was captured (with bare hands!) and became McKay's pet.  He didn't even live long enough to get a proper name, but those were a few great hours for my son.  

• Instead of crickets chirping at night, there are frogs.  I have yet to see one, but I am pretty determined that I'm going to catch one for my kids this summer.  I just really feel strongly about it.  Brian thinks I'm insane.

• Is that enough about the local wildlife?  I thought it might be.  So how about earthquakes?  What is up with all these earthquakes?  I'm afraid that McKay's nightmare is getting closer and closer to becoming reality.

• Today Ellery and McKay were taking a bath and she stood right up and said, "I have to go poopoo."  So I ran and got the little potty that we had just gotten out yesterday, and grabbed her bubbly body and sat her down.  She will tell you that we sat and sat and sat and sat and sat and sat, and then she said, "I'm going!" and she did.  Except it wasn't poop.  But still.  We were all so happy that we marched around the house clapping and singing about it.  Oh she was proud.

• I should say that we are not potty training her.  We are talking it up, as we have been for several months actually, and it's getting very near.  But this morning was just on her own so we went with it.  Maybe she's more ready than I thought.  

• Last night I helped out at a wedding reception of someone in our ward.  Before the four hour reception, I had gone grocery shopping with both the kids, and before that I had gone a little crazy organizing several areas of my house.  I had pretty much been on my feet all day.  By the time I walked out of the reception I was waddling like I was nine months pregnant.  Sweet.  Waddling already.

• How come I always seem to have to go grocery shopping on Saturdays?  It happens way too often.  Like almost every weekend.

• In church McKay will often ask me to tell him the words to the hymns so he can sing.  I tell him one line at a time and then we try to catch up to the singing.  Some songs work better than others.  Most of the time he has no idea what he's saying.  Sometimes I wonder if I'm disturbing those around me.  Either way it sure is sweet.

• This week, as a Jane Austen-virgin, I was invited to watch Pride & Prejudice with a group  of devoted fans or other virgins like myself.  A cute girl in our ward threw a Jane Austen party and we ate yummy treats in our pajamas while watching the original version.  I have seen the "Kierra Knightly version" but I am told that does not count.  So far I am a fan, although the language is hard to follow because they talk so fast.  Part two is on Tuesday so I'll be able to draw formal conclusions then.

• Brian took his eleven year old scouts on a hike Saturday morning.  They saw lots of slugs.  I wish I had a way to make this more interesting but I really don't know what else to say about it.  I'm realizing that Brian and I have not had a real conversation in two days.  Saturday was crazy busy and today we haven't had time without kids.  Guess it's time to stop blogging and go talk to the husband.  Maybe something really amazing happened on that hike and I just haven't heard about it yet.  

Happy Sunday!

ellery

There is a reason we are finding it so difficult to come up with (and agree on) a name for this baby.  It's Ellery.  At least for me it is.  I love the name Ellery.  When I was pregnant with McKay, and before we knew he was a boy, we had names for both sexes.  McKay and Ellery.  Now we have a boy and a girl and we have a McKay and an Ellery and I'm afraid that no other girl's name compares.  I just can't find one that I love as much as that one.  It's feminine and beautiful.  And I want to love this baby's name, I really want to love it.  We have a small list of names, but I'm finding it really hard to just settle and not be totally in love with one the way I am with Ellery.    

Just for fun, this beautiful bride is the original Ellery.  Isn't she gorgeous?  This is the first and only Ellery I've actually known.   She is my best friend Katie's sister and I find myself talking about her all the time.  Well, basically I say, "My friend's little sister was named Ellery," when people ask me where we got her name.  It happens often.  Ellery is an amazing dancer as well as being a total sweetheart, so I wasn't surprised when Katie told me that there are a whole bunch of baby Ellery's inspired by this girl.    

This picture was taken at her wedding reception a couple years ago.  I wanted to make sure and snap a quick picture of these two together because I figured it might be the only time they would be in the same place at the same time.  I think it will be fun for my Elle to look back and see where we got her name.  

And as for baby girl, I'm just hoping that something comes to me.  And even more, I'm hoping that Brian agrees.

mother's un-tuition

With my first two pregnancies I had no strong feelings of what I was having.  I had guesses, but nothing more.  If I've talked to you about this pregnancy, you know that I had some pretty strong feelings that I was having a boy.  I haven't been shy at saying so.  I had a feeling that there was a boy for us even before I found out I was pregnant.  This pregnancy was more similar to McKay's- heartburn, acne, feet growing, insatiable hunger- all that good stuff.   All my dreams have been about a boy.  And I've just had a feeling.  I just kind of knew.  

Well.  I guess I don't really know that much, because we found out today that I was totally wrong.  It's a girl!  I'm still kind of shocked about it.  It's not that I wanted a boy so much, I really didn't care either way, but I had been so sure it was a boy that I was just really surprised about this little girl.  

So now, we can get serious about naming this little one.  McKay really wants Lindsey (he has been attracted to that name for some time now) and Ellery is voting for Snow White.  Whatever her name will be, we're sure excited to have her.  

  

thoughts on a sunday

at the open house

I just got back from a fun little trip to Utah for Lindy and Alex's wedding.  That's why I haven't been bloggin'.  But now here I am and there is plenty to report on- the wedding, Easter, fun with family.  But because it's easier, here are my thoughts from today.

• I know this is old news, but I'm too proud to just not talk about it.  Guess who picked the winning team in her March madness bracket?  Yep.  I did.  To be fair, I must admit that I pretty much always pick Duke to win every year, and lucky me, this time they did.  Brian's bracket did not compare.  When you know, you just know.

• This morning Brian was fixing the kids lunch.  Top Ramen.  Our kids love to help us cook and are often by us at the stove even when it's on.  We have taught them that it's hot and to never touch it and all those safety things.  But apparently we haven't taught them well enough.  Brian was at the sink and hear Ellery say, "What's that red?" and then screaming.  Her poor little finger.  She is totally dramatic about owies right now anyway, so to actually get a real one, well, you can imagine.  Or maybe you can't imagine her crying for over an hour and insisting on being held by only me, who had one side of my hair done, the other side completely wet-frizz and had yet to get dressed.  And then the little princess laid on the floor while I did the rest of my hair- head propped up on a pillow, hand dipped in a bowl of ice water, snuggling her bear and pink blanket while I dropped chocolates and jelly beans into her little mouth to keep her from screaming.  Just a great way to spend the afternoon.

• McKay has sweetly remembered to pray for Elle's finger in both the prayers he said today.  He also remembered to ask that his tongue wouldn't feel weird anymore.  I have a sweet boy.  I love him.

• My kids are sleeping.  It's seven-thirty and they've been asleep for half an hour.  Last night it was six-thirty.  I am so happy to have them back in their own beds, going to sleep on time.  Well rested kids are definitely a priority of mine, just not while on vacation I guess.  It's good to be home.

• Tomorrow we get our first ultrasound.  We are all going to go and it is blowing McKay's mind that we'll be able to see the baby in my tummy.  They were asking questions about how you can tell if it's a boy or a girl.  I told them that if it has a penis, it's a boy, if it doesn't, it's a girl.  McKay said that he hoped it had one.  Ellery then decided to have a full blown melt down as she cried, "Where is my penis?  Where is my penis?"  for about twenty minutes.  You should have seen the proud look on McKay's face.  By the way, I think this baby will have one.

• Before we left for Utah I took the kids to the dentist.  With the type of insurance we have, there is not a lot of choice with who you see.  It's kind of like you take what you can get.  Well, there was one dentist that took our insurance in this area, so I was a little nervous when we went not knowing what to expect.  Well, it was pretty much Christmas morning.  My kids walked out of the dentist with a helium balloon each, a barbie-type doll, a knock-off transformer, stickers, blown-up gloves with faces drawn on by the dentist and a cell phone filled with lip gloss, not to mention the regular stuff like floss, toothbrushes and those little dental mirrors.  It was insane.  I needed a whole extra bag to cart all this stuff out of the office.  The dentist was really nice.  Very young and very laid back.  But I now fear that their expectations of dentist visits will never be the same.  Luckily there' no cavities or problems so we won't have to go back for awhile.

• Oregon is very green.  Even when it's not all green, it's still very green.  It's very noticeable after being in Utah with all the brown sticks.

• I can't hold my stomach in anymore.  Not that I was really, but now even if I wanted to I can't.  It's a weird feeling.

• I cut my hair.  A lot.  I cried about it, as usual.  Why am I being so reckless with my hair lately?  I'm used to it now and actually don't hate it.  There comes a time with my hair when it's long and has been long for several years, where I just have to chop it and start over.  So I started over.  I've now made Brian a promise that I wont' do anymore drastic things to my hair ever again.  I don't know if I'll keep that promise, and actually, I'm making it sound more dramatic than it is.  It's just passed my shoulders.  The reason I cried about it was that I asked the girl to cut a lot off, but not to that awkward length that isn't long, but isn't short either.  You know the one.  She assured me she wouldn't do that, and then I walked out of there with, you guessed it, the awkward length.  Stop talking about your hair!  Okay.

• Have I told you that I don't know if I can name another child?  Especially with Brian?  I sometimes wonder why I didn't get one of those husbands who doesn't really care about names and just lets their wife take control of it.  But maybe there aren't those kinds of husbands anymore.  I don't know.  But he's difficult.  He has an association with every name, usually a bad one.  And naming a person is just hard anyway.  Especially if that person is a boy.  Ahhh!  Help us.

• Brian is back in school and busy, busy, busy.  He is doing more clinicals than ever this semester, which is good, but takes up a lot of time that used to be free.  

• Ellery has been telling me that I'm the best mom in the whole world.  She also says that Carson is her best cousin in the whole world.  She loves baby Carson.  She also says that Taylor Swift is her best song in the whole world.  She's passionate about Taylor Swift.

• While shopping a few days ago, Jana and I realized/rejoiced in the fact that we don't dress like teenagers anymore.  It's weird because you never really notice that change happening, and then here we are.  Women.  We dress like women.  And we like that.

• I'm ready to go eat some ice cream now.  I'm already suffering from horrible heart burn and I pretend that ice cream makes it go away.  

Happy Sunday!

his view

A couple weeks ago- during spring break- we took a little trip up to the hill to see the OHSU campus.  I have been wanting Brian to show us around up there since we moved here.  

Not too bad of a view to look at almost every day.  It was actually quite foggy because it was still fairly early in the day so it's not the best picture.  It's actually not the best picture for other reasons also, but the view from the hill really is beautiful. 

McKay was so excited to eat at a cafe.  We weren't sure where we were going to eat, but he started talking about cafe's and then we walked right by one and so that's what we did.  How does he know about cafe's?  

Now, notice Brian's face.  This is the why-are-you-taking-a-picture-hurry-up-then face.  I am putting it here for everyone to see in hopes that he won't make it anymore.  Also, notice the joy on McKay's face from being in a cafe.  Ellery is perfectly ready for a picture and I appreciate that.

OHSU has a tram that goes up and down the hill.  It's a big hill.  We rode it.  We liked it.  The kids got a sticker and even got to help the tram master (that's the guy who works on the tram- i just made it up) direct the passengers off the tram and to the right.  They thought that was very cool.

OHSU is a pretty amazing campus to visit.  Lots of hospitals, pretty views, and cafe's.