My Goofs

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Yesterday was the birthday of Link and Lydie's Grandma Doll. We decided there was no reason why we couldn't celebrate Grandma's birthday even if we weren't with her on her big day.

 And how can you celebrate without cake?

  

Lydie Bug helped me make a heart-shaped cake in honor of Grandma which nicely doubled (or tripled, rather) as my midterm exam comfort food and our family night treat for later. When Brad got home, we had our family night lesson and discussed Grandma and Grandpa's service in the Medford Temple and how it helps families be together forever. 

We're very thankful to have so many good examples, like Grandma, in our lives.

 

Last, we called Grandma and ate! (Brad said our parents should have birthdays more often.)

New Houses

Our family recently moved, and of course, while any moving situation is difficult and exhausting (even our seven block exodus), having two kids under two complicates it somewhat. The time and labor intensive process of packing up all your belongs, performing an extra deep cleaning you won't be around to enjoy, and reorganizing everything at a new place, becomes even more stressful. Luckily, Brad and I engaged three survival strategies during our move:

1. Recruit Myrna. Even though my mom stayed with us only a few weeks earlier for Lincoln's birth (before we received the news that we had to move), she traveled back down to help us pack, move, clean, unpack, and watch kids. Her help was immeasurable. I don't know what we would have done without her; she preserved my emotional health in a very real way. Love you Mom!
2. Enlist family for manual labor. The day of the actual move my sister Lisa and her family drove an hour and a half to help out and lend their truck; how great are they? Also my brother Gus and his family came to help even though they were already moving my niece. Gus showed up about 20 minutes before Lisa, and he moved so much in the first load, I was worried there wasn't going to be anything left for the others! (Don't worry though, they still had plenty to do.) They did everything so quickly when it would have taken us hours and hours.
3. Forget about it all for minute. Right before moving day we took advantage of our old neighbors TV box and just played! Brad was the architect and Lydia was the tenant. As the pictures and movie show, it was a success:

Why Little Girls Need Daddies

It's been awhile since we've posted anything because we're not so good at this blogging thing. For instance, we have a new bundle of joy we have yet to brag about on here, but first, I wanted to quickly share this short post while I was thinking about it.

Miss Lydia loves to play outside, rain or shine, and today was rain. Lydie was so desperate to go outside, so Brad finally gave in. I waited inside with Lincoln wondering what in the world Brad and Lydie Bug were up to. When Link finally fell asleep, this is what I found:

 Their Rainy Day Masterpiece

 Are moms allowed?

 She was so happy she couldn't hold still for a picture.

For Lydia, the best part is running in out, rain or no, as you can see here.

 Best friends

Valentine's and President's Day Weekend

Brad and I enjoyed our three day Valentine/President's Day weekend. I thought I'd just share some tidbits.

First of all, for Valentine's Day Brad and I decided indulge inn a fancy waffle breakfast with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Everything was divine, but we learned a few things. For instance:

• DO color the whipped cream pink
• DO NOT try to color the waffles purple, unless you want mostly normal looking waffles with puce border (I guess mauve is more accurate, but puce sounds more dramatic). Tastes fine, looks disgusting.

Valentine's night we headed to Rexburg because Lydia missed her grandparents and cousins. Lydia loved being at Grandma's house.

When Grandma told Lydia she had a "grandkid drawer," Lydia took it a little too literally.

We convinced Grandma and Grandpa to come to Big Jud's with us.
 Brad took on the Big Jud.

Here's the comparative, baby to burger shot: 

 I got in trouble for doubting, but he made it. Brad conquered the Big Jud.

 
We spent lots of time with the Anderson cousins – though we were bad at taking pictures. Abigail and Saylor took it upon themselves to serve as Brad's "shoes" all weekend while Rigdon kept Lydia occupied.   Grandma Myrna hosted Sunday dinner for Andersons, Aunt Linda, and us. We had a blast.

Lydia chased Linda's dog around forever. She was fearless, and I worried way more about the dog getting hurt than Lydia.

Before we left Rexburg, we saw Uncle Chris, Aunt Ashley, Cousin Johnathon, Aunt Jenny, and soon-to-be Uncle Daniel.

Last but not least, we announced our new arrival. It's a boy!

Happy Halloween

Attack of the Sweet Smelling Goo

Brad's been gone long and late hours this term which means I have a lot of time by myself to get into trouble.

Recently while home alone, I gave Lydia a bath, dried her off, lotioned her up, put on her pajamas, and got ready to carry her to bed. As we went toward the bedroom, I immediately felt something crush under my foot. An indistinguishable, but loud gut-wrenching shriek erupted from underneath me. Even though I was holding her, for one terrifying moment I thought I had stepped on and broken Lydia's arm.

Upon looking down, I discovered my victim: a bottle of baby lotion. Despite the preserved imprint of my foot, the damage only included a small dob of lotion on the carpet. I felt rather silly.

After putting the Bug to bed, I found a long thin stripe of lotion on the blanket beside the lotion. "Oh," I thought, "that makes a lot more sense." The little dob on the carpet could not have merited deafening explosion  by itself. I wiped up the lotion without another thought. For about thirty seconds.

Then I saw all this:

And this:

And this:

Though, this picture really really doesn't do it justice.

Here's a perspective shot with the lotion in it's original spot:

I'm still finding lotion around the house. On the car seat, in the diaper bag, you name it.