second row

Paul and I got to go to the Jazz vs. Oklahoma City game. We sat on the floor on the second row and it was a really cool experience. I couldn't believe how big those guys are! I literally would have reached the hip bone of a few of them. Unfortunately the Jazz lost, and I'm starting to feel a little bit responsible because they have lost every time I've been to a game but luckily I don't go too often so they can still have a good season. And it was a really fun date.

 

the life of Clover

Clover the Bunny

3.31.13- 4.9.13

Umm yes, our bunny lived for 10 days. I feel like a horrible person but I want to first start with a disclaimer that when Paul picked out the bunny he specifically asked the people about the cold weather and how to care for them and the people said that they are used to it from living here and they just burrow into their hay beds and are fine. We had some rainy and I usually brought him inside during the day but one night we actually got some snow and even though he was under the covered part of the porch, it was too much for him. I went out to bring him inside in the morning and... well he didn't move. At first we didn't know how to handle it with Caitlin and we thought maybe we could get a replacement Clover. But Paul called and all the bunnies had been sold! And to be honest I was a little shell shocked at its frailty and was afraid to sign up for another one right away. So when Caitlin asked about him I told her he went to his other house. She was fine with that answer for awhile and said "ok maybe he can come back a different day." But then she kept pressing me and finally asked "What's it called? What's his other house called" to which I meekly responded "umm.. heaven." She doesn't really know what getting to heaven entails but we haven't talked about it since so I guess that worked.  

Just thought I would mention that Clover's namesake is this little guy:

He is the animated bunny from the new Disney Channel show "Sofia the First" and Caitlin LOVES it. So when she saw him we said "Caitlin what's the bunny's name?" and she immediately responded "Clover!" She usually called him "baby Clover" to be precise.

Who knows what the future holds as far as our pets, but I do know that Clover lived a very full 10 day life. I don't know what kind of goals bunnies have but i feel that his life was very fulfilling and filled with happiness. He had lots of: playing outside, snuggling, eating kale, watching shows, being carried everywhere and in some probably very uncomfortable positions, wild rides, picnics and being given lots of "loves" from the kids.

 We had some good times. We will miss the little guy. 

Nolan: 10 months old

Nolan has turned into a wiggly active little boy. Still mostly happy and always cute. After all of the diaper changes and clothes dressings I've done I really think I could be a promising wrestler. I've always said "I just want him to be a chill baby and then when he's one he can turn into the crazy boy I know he will be"... as his first birthday is nearing I'm seeing my words come to life! Just trying to keep up as he grows bigger and better everyday! Whenever I come in to see him and he smiles at me you can't help but just smile and love him to pieces.

Eats: he still drinks his 3 bottles a day and generally LOVES his baba. He is still eating baby food because he doesn't mind it and he eats healthy that way. He usually eats about two containers at each meal. We did move him to the chair seat this month since he outgrew the bumbo (like months ago).

Sleeps: He still likes his two naps a day, although he usually naps better in the morning than the afternoon so I'm trying to fix that right now (rather have him napping longer in the afternoon so he can sleep at the same time as Caitlin and eventually that will be his only nap) he sleeps for about 1.5-2 hours each nap and about 12 hours at night. On March 30th he pulled himself up in his crib for the first time and I came in to him standing there. So adorable! I love coming in to see him standing there.

Play: he still army crawls but gets up on his hands and knees sometimes. and he is fast! also, he loves to stand! He pulls himself up on anything he can. He will turn and pivot but isn't trying to take steps and cruise yet.

Likes: he loves being outside. This warmer weather has been amazing. He comes out on the blanket and also likes to swing in the baby swing. He also loves to wrestle and laugh and get tickled.

Dislikes: he hates having his face wiped and his nose cleaned out. He also dislikes getting things taken away from him (i.e: small toys or nasty crumbs that he finds on the floor or things that he shouldn't have that he finds)

Also: Firsts: pulling himself up on things, and he also celebrated his frist Easter. We also discovered his love for horses and swinging. He reaches to be held. He started saying "ma ma" and also will say "da da" "ba ba" and his favorite is "la la la"... None of them are intentional but he says them, mingled with lots of loud yelling and grunts and groans. We also moved him to a "big boy" carseat! Technically he should still be rear-facing but it just didn't seem safe at all once we installed it so I turned him around and it's so cray to see two big kids looking at me from the back seat! He also got another tooth, making 5 total.

GC weekend review

Our General Conference weekend consisted of: 

Friday night mission reunion. We opted for a smaller gathering again this year and had about 8 couples from Pauls mission and his Mission President and his wife, Elder and Sister Gay. We ate and talked and mostly listened to President Gay as he imparted stories and wisdom from his time that he has now spent in the first quorum of the 70 and also gave us an update on the people and members and progress in Ghana. Crazy to think that the original mission all these men served in was the Ghana, Acca mission (actually Ivory Coast for Paul, but he was later moved to the ghana mission because of the war) and that mission has now been divided many times and is now currently 6 different missions throughout Ghana and Sierra Leone and Liberia! The people and members there are amazing and so faithful and embrace the gospel so beautifully. They are progressing and growing and it's exciting to see. It was a special and spiritual night.     

Saturday scones for breakfast, being with family, playing outside, girl's night with the kids and Bekah (shopping and dinner at the mall), dessert pizzas from Papa Murphy's and an epic game of speed Monopoly in which i won for I think the first time ever.

Sunday was relaxing, pajamas all day, seeing Pack's new house in the works and delicious dinner at Chelsea and Tyler's.

All intermixed with this of course was the 4 sessions of General Conference. I will admit that with kids and friends and family and food around, I don't always get to listen as closely as I would like. But I think it's important that we make an effort and just having it on and listening to it as much as possible brings a special spirit into our home for the weekend. And I'm definitely grateful that all the talks are posted online so I can start reading them on my own time and remembering what was said.  

one of my favorite quotes was:

neither here nor there

our life according to instagram in March:

joys of motherhood: March

Joys of motherhood:

My kids are fun and definitely have their own little personalities. Caitlin says some really funny stuff, it's hard to even remember all of them or write them down. Nolan is also starting to develop his own personality and preferences more and they both keep up smiling... most the time!

-(this has happened a few times) Caitlin wants something and I say no and she gets a really serious expression on her face and says: "Sweetie, sweetie heart... It's ok if I have it. It's ok."

Or if she wants to go somewhere (like the backyard) and I say no she does the same thing and says "It's ok ill just hold your hand and walk with you and come show you."

-The ipad= the "Hi pad" don't know why. But we have been putting the iPad on our chaise in our room and now whenever she wakes up she comes to our room and goes to sit on the "little bed" with her blankie and plays games or watches shows on the iPad until we fully wake up. (She usually comes in around 7:30 and we get up around 8) It's amazing.. And probably sounds extremely lazy of us but again, it's amazing.

-Granola bar = GraNolan bar

-Whenever Caitlin swings on the swing she likes to go on her stomach and twist around and kick her lags and run them and usually while doing this she yells "its a Wonderful day! yay mommy! yay daddy! yay caitlin! yay nolan! its a wonderful day today" or some combination of the above.

-Caitlin has started saying "I don't know" as an answer for things but when she says it she sounds like "I own know" and she says it when she's being naughty (i.e. "Caitlin what are you doing?" "I own no...")

-We encountered one high chair seat belt this month that wouldn't buckle around Nolan's tummy!

-Caitlin's current obsessions are: Sophia the first (Disney show), carousels (still), suckers (still), Cinderella and being in tutus 24/7

-Nolan's current obsessions are: balls, standing up, music and dancing

-Nolan got his first sucker the other day and loved it

-Caitlin pronounces "crab" = crap ...she had a little toy crab and I made this discovery. We probably took it a little too far by making her say things like "dad I won't take your ___" and "where's my ___?" "Let me see my ___" it made for some good laughs.

-the place I work out is next to Provo Beach Resort where they have a flow rider so there are guys there a lot surfing and whenever we go by Caitlin says "oh mommy they are so nakey!" (Nakey =naked... apparently swimsuits aren't enough)

-top 5 responses upon seeing Nolan: 1) "he's a big boy" 2) "what a chunky monkey" 3) "I bet you get a workout carrying him" 4) "wow look at those teeth" 5) "I just want to pinch his cheeks"...  if I had a dollar every time I heard one of those responses I'd have enough money to buy him the new wardrobe he's grown out of every 2 months.

our easter

Easter morning baskets from the Easter bunny.

Another surprise at the front door.

{They were selling these bunnies at the city Easter egg hunt and Paul just couldn't resist getting Caitlin one. It was 99% him and 1% me saying "ya that would be cute" that was all the encouragement he needed, and now we have a bunny. Caitlin named him "Clover" after the animated bunny in her Sophia show that she loves. Luckily so far he has been the sweetest and most calm buny and very low maintenance and we all love him}

Church.

{We had a wonderful lesson during the last hour of church that brought me to tears and was exactly what I needed to hear to bring me back to the real reason we celebrate Easter. Sometimes it's hard with little kids to teach them the real meaning of things and get away from the fun and candy. But one thing that I do always want my kids to know is that I love Jesus and I know that he is real and that he lives and that he loves us too. And he showed us his love by giving up his life for us and rising on the third day and I am grateful everyday for that.}

Easter Egg hunt at Humphrey's house.

{They did a hunt for all the little kids in the front yard and Caitlin cleaned up! She had so much fun. Then they did a hunt for all the adults in the back yard and it was so fun! I haven't done an Easter egg hunt for years! We cleaned up too.. there was money in each egg!}  

Dinner at our house with Mike, Jenna & Bailey, Rebekah & Jordan, and Jordan Zamora.

 {I always love a good Easter dinner with all the classics. This year I decided not to do the bunny cake like usual and instead opted for cupcakes so everyone got to decorate their own. I thought it would be really fun for the kids but they were asleep by the time we got to them. So the adults did it anyways and I was pretty impressed with what we turned out!}

weekend review

Thursday night I had a mommy/daughter date with Caitlin. I took her to see "The Wizard of Oz" Ballet performs by Center Stage. She loved it of course. She had never seen or heard of the Wizard of Oz before but somehow was able to have a running non-stop commentary of exactly what was happening every step of the way ("look at her dress! looks at the sparkly red one! Thats the lion! Oh she's sad, they're doing passe, they're doing arabesque!".... etc.) She was cracking me up, and everyone else around us. My favorite was towards the end when she started sticking up for the wicked witch. She had been unsure about her the whole time then at then end she started asking when she was coming back and saying that she was "so nice" So then when Dorothy and her have the big fight and they melt her Caitlin was genuinely sad. I told her "the witch was being a little bit mean so she had to go" (actually she got melted but whatever) and Caitlin said "oh ok, she had to go to time out, she will be back." Luckily she did come back for the curtain call and Caitlin exclaimed "mommy! she's back! She's so happy now!" She really believed in that witch, really rallied for her. Also when the curtain dropped after the last dance right before the curtain call (also when it got dark and completely silent) she yelled "oh no!!! no don't go!" (me: it's ok Caitlin they're just done dancing) "But I'll miss them!" Everyone got a good laugh from that one. I can't wait for her own recital in May!

Friday we got to have all the Turnbull kids over during the day which of course Caitlin loved.. she loves them and they all play together so cute. That night Paul and I got to go to Timpanogos temple for our date night. It's amazing how no matter what trials or bad feelings or bad attitudes you bring into the temple, as soon as you get in there you want to resolve them all and be pure. The past week had been pretty stressful and busy in many different ways so it was good to go.

Saturday we had a full day and thoroughly enjoyed the nice weather. We got up and went to the Cedar Hills Easter Egg hunt. We were a little early (shocking I know) so we topped by where our friend keeps his horses and let the kids get out to say hi. Caitlin loved them of course- our little animal lover - but she still gets a little scared at first. Nolan was the big shocker. He had no fear and an immediate connection to the horses. He wanted to see them and touch them and was so mesmerized by them! He is not super expressive usually and this was the most reaction I've ever seen from him to something. It was really sweet. Paul was so happy because #1 it gives him ore ammunition for getting a horse and #2 Paul was the exact same way as a little boy... we've got some cowboys in our family!

We went to the Easter egg hunt and Caitlin couldn't wait to get in there while she was standing on the sidelines. However when the siren went to start the hunt she backed off and got nervous. I ended up coming in and helping her and she found 3 eggs before the mad dash was over. She was happy with her 3 though.






Then we played at home a little bit and then went bowling with Mike, Jenna, Bailey and Jordan Zamora. We basically had the whole bowling alley to ourselves and it was really fun. Caitlin loved getting her ball and putting it up on the cart thing and giving it a big push. We ended up buying her her own game on the lane next to ours and she just kept going. She doubled my score. Jenna was the winner on our lane so we had to buy her frozen yogurt.

After bowling we came home and the Turnbulls came over. Paul and Taylor went to go pick up the "special Easter surprise" (more on that later) while we all played. Then we got pizza and the adults talked and played games when the kids went to bed.