Girls Weekend

Katy and Elisabeth came in town this last weekend and we were able to have a FABULOUS girls weekend. I picked them up at the airport on Friday morning and had to take them back to the airport on Sunday evening. While we were together we ate out, shopped, layed by the pool, ate out, talked, ate out and talked. Did I mention that we ate a lot? I think I gained at least 5 pounds in the three days we were together. Oh well, it was worth it :). It was so nice to do whatever we wanted and to not have children to worry about. I haven't ever done anything like this and it was the first time I had left my kids overnight since Olivia was born - almost 8 years ago. I was definitely due for something like this!! It was so great to just talk and catch up without any interruptions and to not have any sort of agenda. We are definitely going to have to make this a yearly tradition!!! Love and ITB girls :)

Dad, The Girls and St. George

This last weekend while I enjoyed a girls weekend with Elisabeth and Katy (I'll post about our weekend later) Eric took both girls to St. George and hung out with my family. They said they had a great time and there were plenty of funny things going on - which is bound to happen when Spencer and Eric are together. They went swimming, took the girls for donuts (and lost Ava in the process), ate at Cafe Rio and In N Out, went bowling, and played and played!! Spencer, Judd (Becca's boyfriend) and Braden (Rachel's fiance) got 12 x 12's at In N Out - that is 3 lbs. of ground beef and they ate it all. Disgusting. Another equally disgusting thing is that Spencer bit the head off of a live cricket and chewed and swallowed it. Why? Who knows. The girls loved playing with Ava and seeing new baby Gavin. My mom and Becca both informed me that they knew I was not around when things happend like London waking up Becca the first morning with her hair going crazy and eating a bowl of M&M's with a spoon. Nice. London's hair was never combed the entire time, she never took a bath and she rarely had more than underwear on. Livy I think tried to pull herself together but no doubt it wasn't quite what things would have been like had I been there. Both girls were allowed to stay up a little later than they should have and who knows what other odd things were allowed to happen. I'm not sure I want to know. Anyway, I'm grateful for such a wonderful husband who was willing to take the girls on a road trip all by himself. The girls always have fun with their dad and I think a very good weekend was had by everyone :).

Weekend with Mimi and Papa

My parents came in town for a few days to go to Dallin Pew's wedding this last weekend. We had so much fun spending time with them. The girls absolutely love their Mimi and Papa. Friday was the wedding and luncheon and then that evening Livy had a dance performance so we all went to that. She was a fabulous dancer - but unfortunately there were some other dance companies that did numbers and we had to sit through their boring and very weird numbers?. Saturday Eric and Papa took the girls to the train park in Scottsdale and then to Build-A-Bear. Papa is so good to his girls :). While they did that my mom and I went shopping to find her an outfit for Rachel's wedding. It was so nice to shop without children - what a treat. Then we got the girls' favorite babysitter from our ward and my parents took Eric and I out to dinner for my birthday that is coming up. We went to Houston's. So fabulous. It is one of those places where I keep eating after I am full because it all tastes so good - I left absolutely stuffed!! We then stopped by Dallin's reception and visited with the Pews. Sunday we went to church and then just hung out until my parents had to leave that evening. It was such a fun weekend and it helped take my mind off the fact that I am a huge, uncomfortable, ready-to-be-done pregnant lady! :)

This next weekend Eric is taking the girls to St. George where my family has rented a house for the weekend. He is being very brave and going on a road trip with the girls all by himself. What a cute dad :). I am staying here in AZ and my two good friends from college days at the U are flying in for a girls weekend. We are staying at a great resort in Scottsdale and plan to shop, eat and lay by the pool. Oh, and sleep in as late as we want! I am really looking forward to this weekend and I am going to soak it all up because who knows when the next time I will get a good nights sleep will be!

Wildlife Zoo Pictures

Happy Easter

We have had a fun Easter weekend. Jerilyn's two younger boys - William and Matthew - came in town to visit and London and Livy had fun hanging out with them. Aunt Jenn also came in town and all the kids slept over with Jenn in her room - lucky Jenn :). They watched a lot of fun movies in Greg and JoRita's theatre room, went to a few parks, and one day they went to the Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium (I'm waiting for Eric's mom to email me pictures). They were able to feed giraffes and monkeys, touch starfish and sting rays, and they even went on a log ride.

Then today for Easter Sunday the girls woke up to cute baskets for each of them with some games and candy. Then Olivia had planned an Easter egg hunt for me, Eric and London in her room. It was so cute. She made baskets for each of us out of paper and then made paper eggs that she filled with candy and hid around her room. We each got four eggs and they had our names on them so that we didn't mix up our eggs :). She did it all by herself and thought of it on her own. It was SO cute and so thoughtful! Eric then made scones for breakfast which Olivia LOVED. We then got ready and went to Eric's parents ward because I sang in their ward for Sacrament meeting. It was nice to be with family at church. Later this afternoon we did our own Easter egg hunt in the back yard. London just follows Livy wherever she goes so Livy had to help London find her eggs - it was really cute to watch them finding the eggs together. Olivia opened the barbecue and saw an egg and London swooped in and grabbed it - it was too funny. Livy wanted to know why we just hid quarters and dollar bills for money. She was hoping for a twenty. I told her if there were twenties in the eggs I would be out there looking for the eggs for myself!

Another fun thing that happened today is London cut her hair. If you look closely at the pictures from the Easter egg hunt this afternoon you will notice London's hair is quite a mess. While Eric and I took a nap (we couldn't get either of the girls down for a nap so we gave up and we took one anyway) London cut her hair. Livy never did it and I knew it was bound to happen with one of my girls. She, of course, cut off a big chunk of hair right where I usually put a little pony tail in her hair. Of course, I just took both girls to a salon and had their hair cut really cute. London is so much trouble. Anyway, we have had a really good day and a great weekend. Happy Easter!

Engaged!!

Here is a picture of the cute, engaged couple - Rachel and Braden. They are getting married on June 25th in the Salt Lake Temple. Aren't they just so cute?.

Potty Training, Braces and Painting

I think we are pretty much potty trained! Yeah!! It has been a rough week but thankfully I can now see that we are nearing the end! I hate potty training. I really hate potty training. I was not ready to start it with London but she kept asking to go potty so I didn't feel I had a choice. So, we started Monday and it was a very bad day. We had five accidents and no real successful trips to the potty. Tuesday was much better and Wednesday was great. She has an accident every now and then but it is just because she doesn't pull down her underwear fast enough and she ends up going right in front of the potty in her underwear. Oh well, at least I can see that she has figured it out and this week has not been in vain :). So, no more buying diapers or changing them (for two months until the baby gets here) and I can look at her cute little butt in underwear :). I am very grateful that this week is just about behind me. Hallelujah.

We had the three girls rooms painted this week and they look so great!!! It was fun to get them all put together once they were painted. This one above is London's room and we did it in a pale yellow. She is now in a big girl bed and is doing really well. Her bedskirt is on backorder so that is why you can see the lovely box spring hanging out. In this picture she put her favorite stuffed animals to bed in her bed. She is definitely a character.

This is the baby's room - Savvy's room. We moved the crib in here from London's room and put in all the new crib bedding. I am loving it. I spent last night putting together the bassinet, the swing, the bouncy chair and all those fun baby items. We are just about ready!

This is Livy's room. She really wanted to pick out her paint color but I told her that after the experience with her and Eric picking the Tinkerbell Green paint for her last room - they both had lost their privileges for picking paint. So, her room was painted a pinkish brown that I love. I think I will use it in more of the house when we get around to painting the rest of the house. It looks really good with her bedding and all her white furniture.

This last picture I took is of Olivia and her teeth that we are getting fixed. She got a retainer put in on Monday that is spreading her mouth because her mouth is too small for all her teeth. We have a key that fits into the retainer and you turn it every night to slowly expand her mouth. She is not liking it at all, but it is nice to be getting it done now instead of high school. Then in a couple of weeks she will be getting her braces on. She is really excited about them. Obviously she doesn't realize that they are going to hurt just as much as the retainer. For some reason though, she thinks they are so cool. Anyway, she is just getting so big. I can't believe I will have a child in braces. Weird.

On to other news, Rachel is officially engaged!!! Braden Brown proposed to her last weekend and they are getting married on June 25th. So exciting. We all really like Braden and I am excited for the wedding. I am NOT excited to be in pictures or in a fitted dress just a month after having a baby. But, what do you do? I don't seem to have a say in the matter. Rachel is sending me a picture of her and Braden to post so you can all see the cute couple :).

This morning we had another addition to our extended family. Jamie went into labor and Gavin Hyde was born!!! As Ava would say - the baby finally popped out! He weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. and was 19 inches long. We are so excited and I have already told Ryan that he needs to have pictures of Gavin posted on their blog by the end of the day!!!