Eve's Blessing

We blessed baby Eve yesterday. She's kind of old to be getting blessed, but we didn't want to do it in February b/c we were afraid she'd get RSV, then we couldn't do it in March b/c she did have RSV. So, our Eve was blessed at 3 1/2 months. Trav said it made it difficult to hold her in the circle because she was alert the whole time. Our others have always been asleep.
Anyway, her blessing was beautiful. I think she will bring much joy to our family and to others during her lifetime. I hope she will develop and share a strong testimony of the Gospel.

Her bow looks weird in the picture, but I promise it is super cute. She is so beautiful!

Eve with Nancy (Trav's mom) and Travis. Too bad how I always forget to take pictures until everyone goes home.

This is our "happy" family. I promise my girls were in cute dresses, but their cousin Bailee is a little fashionista and convinced them to change while they were playing upstairs. Then, when it was time to do pictures, Anna was in a very grumpy mood. She refused to be in the picture, and hid in the corner. She turned her grouchy little face around just in time for the shot! Unfortunately, this is a pretty frequent occurance in our family!

Disneyland Trip

We went to Disneyland with my parents last week. It was such a blast! The girls loved everything about it-- the rides, the princesses, the food, the toys purchased by loving grandparents. Anna, who is normally a wimp, rode the Matterhorn 3 times and loved it! Kate liked it too. We loved the Teacups, Peter Pan, Gadget's Go Coaster, Small World (Eve's favorite; she loved the songs and the lights in there). My dad summed it up when he said, "This really is a magical place, isn't it?"

The pictures are in no particular order because I hate rearranging them in blogger.

Little girls captivated by Rosetta the Fairy.

Love Tinkerbell!

We waited in line for 1 1/2 hours to meet these princesses, and then my camera ran out of battery!! Cinderella was the best anyway. Kate really loved talking to her, but Anna was kind of shy.

My parents in the photo teacup with the girls. The teacups have always been my favorite, even when I was little!

Eve was so good, she just slept in the Snugli when she was sleepy. when she was awake, she went on rides or just chilled in the stroller and was happy as a clam. She's a dream baby!

Our family with the castle. Kate got really nervous when we walked through the castle b/c it's all dark inside and tells the story of Sleeping Beauty, complete with wicked Malificent the dragon.

We tried going to the beach, but the wind was out of control! You couldn't even see the water! So we quickly found seashells (Anna collects them) and got back in the van.

The girls crashed in the hotel room every night. This time, Travis had been watching something with them and they were both awake, and then he got up to go brush his teeth. This is what he found when he was finished.

I'm really not sure what is the purpose of pillows like these. My girls called them "salamis" and had pillow fights with them.

We decided Disneyland is the best. It was so great to be there together as a family, and especially to have my parents there too. Thanks to them, because we couldn't have done it any other way!

Road Rage

The other day I was driving down Main Street and noticed an SUV flying behind me. When it got right behind my car, it did one of those annoying quick passes so they were right in front of me again.
I was irritated. "Hope whatever you're racing to is REALLY important," I thought to myself.
Turns out, it was. After the next light they pulled over in front of the fire dept. and tore out of the car. Spanish Fork operates a volunteer fire department, which means that the firefighters work regular jobs and just come to the station when there's an emergency. This guy literally hopped out of his SUV and into an ambulance that was already waiting for him.
Another opportunity to eat my words.

FYI

This post is sort of an FYI for our neighbors. We've had some water in our crawl space, which led to this:

Gross mold!!

We now have a sump pump to pump the excess water away, so hopefully we won't have any more standing water down there. We still need to take care of the mold on the beams, but the home warranty is going to take care of it.

We did lose a bunch of stuff, though, so we're leery of putting anything else down there. That's my message to the neighbors--- check your crawl space and don't put too much down there!

Supermom I am not

Anna needed a new swimsuit for our upcoming trip to Disneyland, so Friday morning we set off to find one. I was feeling good about myself because I had my 3 kids and myself ready by 9:30 am (Victory #1) and we headed to Walmart. After returning something I had mistakenly bought for the nursery kids (Victory #2), we went to look at swimsuits. She didn't like any of the ones that fit her, so we left WITHOUT buying anything. (Victory #3).
Next stop, Old Navy. Not only were the swimsuits there cheaper and cuter than at Walmart (Victory #4), but they had Anna's size and flip flops for both girls. (Victory #5, and if you know Anna, finding the flip flops is a major life event). I also picked up some cute winter shirts for next year off the clearance rack. Left the store only spending $30. (Victory #6, especially since I found a pair of jeans for me for only $6, but opted not to buy them because I really have no idea what size I wear post-baby).
The trouble all started in the parking lot. We ran into a friend from our old ward and I really enjoyed talking to her, so I let the kids into the van to play while we chatted. Then Eve started to fuss b/c she was getting hungry, so I said goodbye to my friend and headed into the van to take care of Eve. As soon as I got in the van Kate said "I peed my pants." Shoot. The day is no longer looking so victorious. "Where is your pee honey?" I asked.
Of course it was all over the driver's seat. Of course.
The fortunate thing for us all was that I had put an extra outfit for Kate in our stow-n-go, so we got her changed quickly. Then I had to sit in the pee seat while I nursed the baby, all the while thinking "And I thought I was Supermom to get all these things done before noon. How humbled I have become!"
I realize more and more every day how much work goes into being a mother. You've got to be the laundress, the chauffeur, the nurse, the chef, the milk factory, the cuddle when they're sad, the enforcer of time outs, the reminder to get dressed AND brush your teeth every day, the middle of the night helper to the potty, the teacher, the book reader, the social interaction coordinator, etc. And most important, you've got to be the example. Really it didn't impress my kids one bit that we managed all my victories of the morning, but hopefully one day they'll think of me and appreciate that I sure tried hard to be a good example and raise them in the Lord's way. I think the most important victory of the day is when I leave their room at night and hear two little voices say "I love you Mom."