{Giggles}

Why I love my job!

Goings On

I'm a little behind...Life always seems to get a little more hectic when Fall comes around. Banana is LOVING preschool, and Em is LOVING having some one on one time with me. Running Man has been crazy busy with work. The past few weeks he has been working all of his normal hours at his office and every night at the State Fair. We all missed him! I escaped to Price for a few days so the girls could play with cousins, grandparents and aunts. One of the highlights of that trip was going to my HS's Homecoming football game. I haven't been to one since the year after I graduated. So...a LONG time ago. Banana has a slight obsession with cheerleaders as of late (thanks to her aunt Tay-Tay). She was in HEAVEN cheering along with the girls all throughout the game.
Super cute to watch!

The girls spotted the Homecoming Royalty during the parade and asked me if they were real princessess (Banana's life long dream is to be a real princess). I told her yes and it was all she could talk about the rest of day. Well...at the game she spotted Ariel so we had to get a picture!

Running Man's bday happened to fall during the State Fair so we had to spread out celebrating out to the times when we got to see him for a few minutes. Sunday we did bday cake and got to just relax together for a few hours!

On his actual bday Grandma T. and Kenna came up to see Kenna's quilt that was in the fair, so we went with them and got to have a quick dinner with him to celebrate!

Banana got to see a pig and you couldn't wipe the smile off her face. (Those who know her well know that piggies are her FAVORITE animal. Ever.)

I have been diving into projects at home to try and keep me busy and distracted from all of the craziness that has happened the last few months. We live in an apartment, so we can't paint any walls so colorful crafts have been my goal! These are all from Banana's newly finished room. I am pretty excited about the colors and how everything turned out.

Art work for the wall.

I finally found a way to display all of Banana's pictures my friend took a few months ago. There were way too many cute ones to choose from so I just displayed them all. :)

Finally, the BIGGEST project I have ever taken on. The girls have always used a dresser that used to be mine when I was a baby. I kind of tried to re-do it when we lived in Iowa, but with lots of curious hands grabbing at it, it didn't last too long. This is the best before picture that I could find...

And here's the after. I sanded, painted, stenciled and mod podged fabric onto the top. I LOVE how it turned out. I have the bug now and can't wait to get started on all of the other rooms in the house!

We {heart} school!

This little girl got all dolled up this morning and headed off to her first day of pre-school!

(Well...technically not her very first day ever seeing as she was in school last year).

But that didn't take away from the total excitement (on her part), and the tears (on my part).
Miss Em is slightly distraught about Banana not being around, and about her not being able to stay at pre-school. She did NOT want to leave that incredible classroom and come with her boring old mom. So I'm looking for things to do with her to help pass the time! Having Banana at school makes it easier to run errands, but I don't want my alone time with Em to turn into strictly errands all of the time. Any suggestions on what I can do with this spunky, crazy two year old?!

A Lesson For All

After a trip to the ER and five stitches...

Em has learned to NOT play with scissors.
{Sigh}
I'd rather she learned her lesson a different way...

These past few weeks have been the most trying of our lives, but the one thing that has kept us going is knowing that life goes on. Things get a little bit easier every day, and we have an amazing support system. I am grateful for so many shoulders to cry on, so many listening ears, and most importantly the comfort I feel from my Savior.

Running Man is busy as ever at work and we have made the most of what little time we do have together. The girls and I spent a week in Price playing with Grandparents, aunts and cousins. The girls loved the attention, and I felt very lucky to have so many extra sets of helping hands while I was in the hospital and recovering. Aunt Cole is the coach for the Drill Team in Price so the girls got to play at Jr. Drill Camp. They had a blast and it's fun to see how much they both love dancing and performing.
Banana and Blayr Bear are so funny together. I'm pretty sure their teachers weren't too impressed with what chatterboxes they were! :)

Aunt K and her kiddos came to visit and it was so much fun to see them! The Boy and The Girl are such dolls and Banana thinks The Boy is the coolest kid ever. The Girl is such a little cutie and I loved the cuddle time she let me have with her!

We also got to travel to Vernal for a family reunion, and I loved being able to see aunts, uncles and cousins that I haven't seen in quite a while. Once again the girls LOVED all of the attention. My Aunt and Uncle have an awesome property with lots of fun animals, a pond, and a tramp (which the girls pretty much lived on).

We have been wanting to go to Logan since we moved back to Utah and we FINALLY got the chance yesterday. Banana has been asking for a while to see where she was born, and it was so nice to go back to the town where we started our married life!

We took the girls to campus where Running Man showed them some of his favorite spots!

No trip to campus is complete without some Aggie ice cream! It was oh so delicious. :)

We drove past out first home and Banana was SUPER excited to see where she lived when she was a (teeny, tiny) baby. We have so many wonderful memories in that house. It was kind of weird to pull up, park in our old parking spot and not be able to go in the front door.
We stopped by for a quick visit with cousin Hadlee. Love that girl!
We went for a hike up the canyon, and took a dip in the river!
And ended a pretty perfect day feeding the ducks and playing in the water at First Dam.
Yesterday was just the kind of day we needed to recharge ourselves and get us ready to face another week.

Think Positive

I am not going to be winning any mom of the year awards anytime soon. Or wife of the year for that matter. Banana summed it up best when she told me that "everywhere else in the world is more fun than our new house." (The sad part being that I've really been trying to keep them entertained/happy). Sigh. Morning sickness is NOT my best friend. In fact I think it's my worst enemy. I firmly believe that the Lord blesses the women who get it to forget how bad it actually is. Because I would only have one kiddo if I could recall this fun part of pregnancy. I think my emotional state has a lot to do with my current attitude. I am missing friends, our home, our old ward, and the town we said good-bye to. (And that wonderful hubby of mine). Constantly.
Enough complaining. I REALLY am excited for this baby. Promise.
Thank goodness for the wonderful family we are close to. It was nice to be able to call my mom and tell her I needed help. And get it within hours. She took care of the me and the girls for several days with no complaints. Grateful for a sister who actually likes my kids and loves being around them. (And who only slightly encourages Em's mischeivous side). Here are a few fun things the girls have been able to do.
Have fun sleepovers with fun cousins!
Meet some new friends
Hang out with super fun Aunts and Uncles
Take part in some of my favorite traditions from my childhood.
We spent every 24th of July watching the parade at Grandma Norton's house, going to the park for yummy food, and watching the fireworks with all of the cousins. The girls loved it! Em was definitely a fan of the candy and otter pops being tossed around!
Having a Princess Tea Party at Aunt Cole's house. Complete with cupcake decorating, glittery make up, crowns and wands and slush! They were in heaven.

This past week we told this little girl

she is going to be a big sister!

This little girl

is thrilled and begging for a brother.

We also found out this awesome Aunt is having a little one too!!

We definitely have many reasons to celebrate but it will all sadly be put on hold until I can take more than a 10 minute break from the joys of morning sickness! :)