Trip to Utah

I had the oppurtunity (with help from my parents, Todd and great friends) to take a solo trip out to Utah to visit my grandparents and my brother Eric, his wife Holly, and their darling new baby Rylee. It was so refreshing to be able to have a few days off to just relax and enjoy my vacation. I also got to see a couple of old friends from high school, which is always a treat. I spent most of my time cuddling Rylee. She is my first niece on my side. She is a tiny, sweet, happy little ball of a person- and I can only pray that number three is as easy as she is. I think I've earned it.

It's a....

GIRL!!

Yep, girl number three is on the way. I really didn't care what the gender was, so I wasn't necessarily disappointed or excited to begin with. Todd admitted later that he was pretty disappointed it wasn't a boy. But he's coming to terms with it. :) Both of the girls are thrilled. They both wanted another sister. When I asked Molly the morning before the ultrasound what she thought the baby was going to be she said- "it's a girl." I said- "Well, what if it's a boy? Would that be okay?" And she said- "But it's a girl." So I guess she knew something we didn't. When I asked Ella what she wanted she said- "A girl. We don't have any boy clothes or boy toys, so what would we do if we had a boy? We only have girl stuff." Very logical. I'm starting to get pretty excited. I'm a pretty big fan of the girls I have, so why not add another?

Keeping Busy

Mmmm... whipped topping for breakfast.
Too bad Mom came down and caught me. I was just getting started. Looks like its back to the oatmeal bowl for me.
Here we have a case of ketchup painting. In her defense, I did for once forget to specifically ask her to NOT paint herself with her lunch. I did remember to ask her not to paint the table or the television, and she was quick to point out the fact that she did not paint those things. I didn't say she couldn't paint her face. That day. I didn't get a full body shot either- She effectively covered her arms and legs as well. Who knew you could get so much coverage from one little squirt of ketchup?

Molly is perpetually busy. I like to think that instead of being naughty, she's just really busy. Depends on the day and my mood. Sometimes I swear she's doing something naughty just to see me lose it. If I keep my cool, that's one point for me. So she'll try something else the next day. It keeps things interesting. Here we have a case of me coming downstairs after my shower to find her sticking toothpicks into bottles of food coloring. ??? I could maybe understand that if I had just used the food coloring. And it had gotten her wheels turning. But no, I haven't used them in months. She's just very talented and finding messy things to do. Have I mentioned how much I love that girl?

Wisdom beyond her years...

Yesterday Ella was watching a show on Food Network with me. There was a husband and wife cooking together (which is a new concept to Ella). She said- Mom, is that the Dad that is cooking with the Mom? And I said yes. She said- why is he doing that? I said- because they both love to cook, and they love each other, so they like doing that together. You should marry someone who likes to cook. She says- But you didn't? I kind of laughed and said -no. Her response- So you got what you got. Such true words from such a small girl! In Daddy's defense Molly came back with- Daddy knows how to cook hot dogs in the microwave! We appreciate Todd for all the things he does for us- cooking just isn't one of them!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOLLY!

We celebrated another year with our sweet little Moose. She turned three on Friday! It was a great day. She wanted a beach party, so we did it up the best we could- considering it was about 5 degrees outside. She also designed her own cake. When I asked her what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday, she said she wanted a Super Moose cake. When I asked her what a Super Moose cake looked like, she said- it has blue frosting with M&M's on it. So she helped me put the whole thing together, and she was very proud of it. Here are a few things about Molly to help you to get to know her a little bit:

She calls herself Moose- which I think is hilarious.

She wants to be a firefighter when she grows up.

Her favorite color is blue.

She loves to help Mommy in the kitchen.

She loves to wrestle with Daddy.

She loves being tickled.

She is a mischief maker. :)

Her favorite foods are pizza and candy.

She is very affectionate.

She is constantly making us laugh.

Her word of the moment is poo-poo. Evidently adding poo-poo to the end of any sentence makes it hilarious.

She loves nursery. Every time the word 'amen' is said during sacrament meeting she says (very loudly) AMEN- now is it time for nursery?

She is completely unique and fun and wonderful. She brings such joy to our family. I feel so lucky to be her mommy!

My (Naughty) Little Artist

She was caught in the act of brightening up Cole's ear canal..

Molly proudly showing off her work of art... Cole.

What can I say about my sweet little Molly? She has a knack for mischief. She can find it in the most unlikely of places. She is always one step ahead of me. She thinks of things I would never think of. Examples: Painting my bedroom walls with a shampoo/lotion mixture, painting my hardwood floors with sunblock, and most recently... painting her best bud Cole with fingernail polish. Now, it seems like this child just needs some... paint. And an acceptable place to put it. But no, that would be too easy. It loses its appeal. Luckily, Cole was a good sport. Not everyone has the chops to put up with our Molly!

Sleepin' Sisters

These are a couple of pictures we've taken lately after finding the girls fast asleep in each other's arms. So sweet...