Spring Break 2015

Spring Break this year coincided with my nephew's 8th birthday. Since 8 marks the age when most Mormon children get baptized, the majority of my family descended on Virginia to celebrate James' birthday and his baptism. Zara, Adelaide and I drove up to Newport News on Monday, April 6th. (David stayed behind to work. He's saving up his vacation days for the baby's arrival and a hopeful Christmas vacation in California.) My mom flew in from California on Monday to watch the kids since Cassy and James went on a mini-trip to Boston. My brother and his wife and daughter drove down from New Jersey on Thursday and my dad flew in from California the same day. Several of my brother in law's family came for the weekend as well so it was a full party. 

We spent the week playing with cousins and generally having a good time. We visited the Mariner's Museum in Newport News where we learned all about ships. (Sort of.) We played in the backyard in the dirt and at Chick-fil-A. We had a big picnic at a park that overlooks the James River and a big birthday dinner for James. And on Saturday morning, James was baptized. 

I wanted to get home on Saturday so I could have Sunday to recover from the long drive, but we didn't get on the road until 11:30. Luckily, my mom made this half of the drive with me which was a huge help since Adelaide decided she hated the car on this trip (my girls are thankfully good travelers in general) and we had a little throw up to contend with. 

Still, we all made it back alive and enjoyed our trip immensely. Now for a ton of photos. 

At the Mariner's Museum

Zara and her cousin Anna in matching dresses at James' baptism

The picnic at the park

The grandparents

The birthday boy

Star Wars cupcakes made by my brother Jason and his wife Elisa

Adelaide LOVED this balloon

She stole this cupcake from somewhere. I'm still not sure from whom.

A Crack in the Windshield

Nearly two years ago on our cross country drive from Utah to Virginia, the very corner of our windshield was hit by a rock. It must have happened somewhere in eastern Utah or Colorado, but it rained through most of the drive that day and so we never noticed the small chip. But when we woke up the next morning to start the next leg of our long, long journey, a small crack had begun to spread up the passenger side of the windshield. 

By the time we got to Virginia, the crack had spread up the passenger side of the windshield in a small arch but it stayed that way for some time. It didn't bother us since it only obscured the passenger side. (I know you can't really see the crack very well from the picture above.)

Not having the money to repair the windshield right away, we left it as it was. A few months later, however, I was driving on a rainy day and a huge splat of rain fell right on the crack on my windshield and immediately caused the crack to spread even further, until it stretched right through the middle of the driver's view. 

It was low enough on the windshield that it didn't completely obscure the view and so we kept driving with a cracked windshield. I forgot it was even there. And even when we did have the money to fix it, I kept putting it off for one reason or another. 

We had earmarked some of our tax return to replace the rear shocks of my car (which were in desperate need of fixing) and I finally inquired about having my windshield replaced at the same time. When I was finally connected to the glass guys at the dealership, they said they'd come to my house, it would take an hour to replace it, and it cost way less than I expected. 

Now I feel a little foolish that I waited so long. I'm so happy to have a crack-free windshield once again. (Just in time to sell my car and buy a mini-van. Oh yay.) 

Scenes from the Day

It was a good day.

Frozen in Dance

At her dance class last week, Zara got to try on her outfit for her dance recital in May. Their routine is set to music from Frozen (of course) and Zara is super excited about both the dance and her Elsa dress. The only trick will be keeping her out of her new sparkly dress before the recital.

Pi Day

Our Pi Day celebrations were postponed by a day so we indulged in all things pie today rather than yesterday. We had pizza for lunch (leftover from last night's dinner), chicken pot pie for dinner, and apple pie and banana cream for dessert.

Since David works late during the week, we've taken to having our version of Family Home Evening on Sundays. The girls love singing songs, playing games and eating treats together. Since the weather was so nice today and the sun still up, we held our FHE in our backyard. We played duck-duck-goose and Adelaide pulled weeds with such pride. It was a lovely day. I hope this means spring may finally be here to stay.

Oh Boy.

It's upside down, but here's the baby's head.

Yup. We're doing this again. 

Only this time it's a boy.

I have no idea what to do with a penis.

(That's really not supposed to sound dirty.)

I'm 20 weeks along, due on July 23rd, which is my dad's birthday.

Everything looked great at our ultrasound, which is good because I was convinced that there was something terribly wrong with this baby. Zara and Adelaide were both extremely active by this point in my pregnancy, and I've barely felt this little boy move. I'm going to pretend that means that he's going to be calm and easy going and sweet.

A mom can dream, can't she?

Sisters

It's often really hard to get a good picture of Zara and Adelaide together where one is not blurry and both are looking at the camera. It's pretty much the rainbow unicorn of family pictures. But I managed to get ONE such picture recently which I had to share. (And a few others.)

Sisters are awesome. And despite their squabbles, they do love each other a whole ton. I'm so glad they have each other and I love seeing how they are both so similar and different from one another. My sister is one of my best friends and I only hope that these girls will become lifelong friends as well.

Snow Day! (x3)

We woke up Tuesday to a fine dusting of snow. Now I know this is a bit pathetic as far as snow goes, but the South doesn't get much snow and any appearance of the white stuff is met with shock, awe, and an impending sense of doom. (After last year's ice apocalypse, I kinda get their sense of fear.) School was cancelled for the day and so we bundled up and hit the backyard to romp in what little snow we had. 

Zara insisted on building a snowman (darn you Olaf!) and this was the best we were able to muster. The carrot refused to stay on his face and the whole thing collapsed pretty quickly.

Adelaide didn't know what to think of the snow. I think this is her first real experience with snow. She did not want to keep her gloves on either. 

Zara has had much more experience with snow and was super excited to run around and play in it. I wish we had gotten a little bit more. 

It looked like we'd get our wish on Wednesday. A big snowstorm was reportedly heading straight to Atlanta. School was cancelled in anticipation of the forthcoming snow and our other appointments (dance classes, dentist appointments, etc.) were all called off.  The governor declared a state of emergency starting at 2pm and David was sent home from work around 3pm. (He still had to work from home, but at least he got to eat dinner with us.)

And then no snow came. We got a few flurries, but nothing stuck. Northern Georgia got a lot more. Even towns just 15-20 minutes north of us got quite a bit of snow. But we got nothing. Life had been cancelled for nothing. And for good measure, they cancelled school on Thursday as well, for fear of ice.

So after three snow days for only one actual day of snow, Zara is back to school and we can resume our normal lives. Is it spring yet?

Sitting on Cats

A few months back, a woman in our ward posted a plea on our Facebook page looking for someone who could catsit her two cats for an extended period of time. A student at the local chiropractic college here, she was taking a semester off to spend time with family and tavel and needed someone who could watch her cats for nearly 3 months. 

Always a sucker for cats, I volunteered the Malones. So just before Christmas, Jack and Annie came to stay with us. They've been with us for about two months now and I think they've finally gotten used to us, although they are still rather gunshy around the girls. Annie was the first to grow accustomed to us and she'll roam around the house freely and mostly tolerates the girls. Jack spent the first two weeks hiding under the bed and only came out when the girls were asleep. Now, he doesn't hide as much but he still tends to stay away from the girls as much as possible. But as soon as they've gone to sleep, Jack is immediately in your face, seeking love and affection. 

Annie, small and gentle

Jack, neurotic and affectionate

It's been nearly a year since our Suyom disappeared. Her absence is still felt and her loss is still mourned, but it's less frequent and intense as it once was. I have debated back and forth in my head whether or not we should get a new cat. It feels weird to not have one and the girls adore animals. I thought catsitting would be a good way to determine if I wanted a new cat or not.

I really love having cats in the home again, but I do not love the cat litter everywhere. I love the cuddles, but I do not love the sharp claws digging into my skin. I love the purrs, but I do not love the way Jack feels the need to interrupt me every single time I'm using the computer. So yes, I want another cat, but I think I'm okay with waiting a little while before we adopt a new one. I know the girls will be sad when Jack and Annie leave next month, but I'm sure we'll find them something new to distract them with soon enough. But I'm going to enjoy them while they are here. 

Valentine's Day 2015

We're not big on celebrating Valentine's Day in our household. It's nothing against the holiday, but since both David and my birthdays are the week before, we often forget about Valentine's Day. But we did something a little different thing year. We actually celebrated it. 

I had the appalling realization that even though David had been thoughtful enough to buy me flowers or cupcakes for past Valentine's, I'd never reciprocated. So I went out and bought David some roses. And he loved them. I also helped the girls make clay prints of their hands, which David now has hanging in his cubicle at work. (I should have thought to take pictures of them before he took them away.) 

During the day on Saturday, David and I decided to take the girls out for dates. David took Adelaide since he doesn't get to spend much one-on-one time with her, and I took Zara. Zara and I first went out for cupcakes (and I have yet to find a cupcake place here to match The Cocoa Bean back in Provo) and then we went to the Aquatic Center for a little swim practice. I plan on signing Zara up for some more swim lessons this summer, but it has been a long time since she's been swimming so I wanted to give her a little more practice. She had a great time and would have kept swimming until the pool closed but I was too tired to carry on. Swimming takes a lot out of you. 

Adelaide and David went to the park together and according to David, had a great time swinging and sliding down slides together. David then took her to Whole Foods where they purchased some raspberry sorbet and ate ice cream together. We both had a lot of fun with our respective daughters and I hope we'll make this a more regular experience. It was nice to have a little one-on-one time with them. 

That night after the girls went to bed, I made David and I a dinner of bacon wrapped steaks, potatoes and salad, and then we played games. (I won both.) But we also exchanged our Valentine Day cards. And wouldn't you know it, we bought each other the exact same card.

We're perfect for each other. 

Scary, huh?