Thu Jul 02 2009 06:52 Really. Long. Hot.. Day.: Yesterday began with a morning walk with a friend. I had to wake Maggie up to go. (She's been sleeping in a lot lately, but apparently that changes starting today). If you ask Maggie about this walk, she won't say that we walked, or visited the horsies, or went past James and Kate's house; she remembers Cody let her play with his toy car.

Immediately after we got home, we rushed off to the grocery store, then dropped off groceries and hurried to the library for storytime. We had goldfish and melty ice cream for lunch, and were very hot and sweaty by the time we got home. Maggie didn't take a nap and was super hyper by the time Erin and Ember came for piano lessons.

In the evening I went to a bridal shower for John's cousin. When I got home, I did a quick clean of the bathrooms and floors, because today we are going to the cabin and hiking! Hurray! Maggie says we are going to the cabin to play balls and beep-beeps, and going hiking to a cave with MaPapa. We are indeed hiking to Timpanogos Cave this afternoon, but Grandma and Grandpa will be joining us on a wheelchair friendly non-hike tomorrow.

Sun Jun 28 2009 15:29 Quick Brag: Someone at church was impressed with Maggie's number-knowing. I think he was visiting and stayed in nursery with his kid. He said hi to Maggie and then said to me "she knows all her numbers! What a smart girl." Yes, she is! We're learning 21-30 right now.

Also, I posted some videos of her singing the ABCs. She let me take lots of videos of her, because she likes to watch them after.

Sat Jun 27 2009 20:58 Staycation: We had a really fun day. This morning we walked from the South Mountain Country Club to the Draper Temple and back. I went to my cousin Julie's baby shower this afternoon. I also got to see my Aunt Sharon and my cousin Jill, which made me happy. We had dinner at Rumbi and took Maggie to the park afterward. Also, we've been working on/buying some birthday presents for Leonard.

We also did some planning of things to do close to home this summer, since we're not doing a vacation we had budgeted for. Next week we're going to visit a spring, and hike/tour Timpanogos Cave on John's work holidays. I also want to take Maggie to the Great Salt Lake, and to the copper mine. All of these things cost a few dollars, but definitely less than taking a trip would be. Maggie and I are also going to get a membership to a nearby water park. It's a better deal than the swimming pool and opens earlier, although it's farther away.

Fri Jun 26 2009 13:41 Red Doggie: The ward playgroup went to the fire station today. Maggie was saying "no fire truck" all morning, and pretended to be shy for a few minutes after we got there. But once they turned on a cartoon about an escape plan, she got very into it. She wanted to volunteer when the firefighter asked for helpers. When they made pretend smoke and crawled under it, she went right along with everyone. She wanted a turn to hold the sledgehammer and turn the nozzle on and off. And she really wanted to have a turn getting inside the fire engine. She's been talking about it ever since we got home. Other people took pictures, so hopefully I'll have some to share eventually.

(1) Tue Jun 23 2009 08:47 Maggie's First Hair Cut: This morning Maggie went to Aunt Erin's house, had fun playing with the dogs, and brought home a Princess chair. I went to the doctor. He said with the second baby I'll have more and earlier aches, pains, and cramps. I guess that explains why I've had more and earlier aches, pains, and cramps with the second baby.

Also, I gave Maggie her first hair cut a couple days ago. I trimmed about 3 inches of straggliness off the back of her hair. It makes her hair look more full, and it curls up on the ends really cute. ETA: pictures here.

Sun Jun 21 2009 20:50 Socialist Butterfly's Calendar:
Friday: Ward playgroup at the park.
Saturday: Stake Family Fun Fair - Tigger bounce house, train rides, hot dogs. And we took Maggie to see UP and she sat through the whole thing. The free popcorn helped.
Sunday: To the cabin for dinner and lots of attention from Grandpa on "Happy Papa's Day!"
Monday: swimming at a friend's house.
Tuesday: being babysat by Aunt Erin and Ember, and to the aquarium with a friend.
Wednesday: Storytime at the library, and mini-golf for John's work party.
Friday: This week's playgroup is a tour of the fire station.

Hmmm. Better find something exciting for Thursday.

Sat Jun 20 2009 10:38 Chadwick Family Funnies: On potty training.

Mommy: Where do we go pee?
Maggie: Panties!

Mon Jun 15 2009 09:07 Chadwick Family Funnies: Yellowstone Version: Here's a collection on funny things that came out of Maggie's mouth (over and over) during our trip.

*elephant trumpet* while pointing at Daddy's PJ pants = grey. I guess I said, "grey like an elephant" a few too many times.
Singing ABC song, with no tune. I hope she isn't tone deaf. After Z she sings something that sounds like "Mama ABCs".
"Da Da Doo!": Horses say "neigh"; Ducks say "quack"; people and inanimate objects say "da da doo!" This happened a while ago while Ember was babysitting Maggie, but got excessive during the trip. The kids thought it was hilarious!
"Oh no!": Two predictable times she said this were when Justin pretended to be a raven, and when the bison were rolling on the grass. It is so cute that we bought a postcard of the bison rolling so we can recreate it.
"baby buffalo bunning": This is how Maggie describes what she saw when some baby bison were chasing each other. She often uses "b" for "r".
"Bicky Boss" = Mickey Mouse: Got really tired of listening to that CD.
"Bussy Boom" = "The Bearenstain Bears and the Messy Room": Took me a long time to figure that one out.
"Beaning" = "raining": Usually followed by "Umbrella" which sounds a lot like how she says "banana". We saw a lot of rain.
"There goes Uncle Brook"/"Where Uncle Brook go?": We caravan-ed behind Brook, and heard this at least 50 times a day. She also learned that Uncle Brook has a U on his car, and Uncle Dave has a Y.
"iking!" = "hiking": Maggie loves her hiking carrier. "Ma ai" = "Grandma's car": The one day we didn't drive in Grandma's car, Maggie asked about it all day.
"Montana: You can't afford it." On a sign when we first entered the state. It actually said "drunk driving" in the shape of the state, or something, but this is how we all interpreted it.

And some interesting interpretations during a game of Catchphrase:
Susie: stick = something you hit someone with.
Justin: fishbowl = place where aquatic life lives.

Sat Jun 13 2009 20:28 The Grand Tetons: We've spent the last two days in the Grand Teton National Park. We saw some boats, a frog, a tiny snake, and a moose carcass. Yesterday we went to Jenny Lake and String Lake and did a hike all the way around String Lake (about 3.5 miles). It wasn't a very hard hike, and we got beautiful views of the lake.

Today we went with just Brook, Erin and Ember and Jodi and Franco into the park. We went to Jackson Lake and dropped off Jodi and Franco for fishing ("iffing"). Then we took off to find a hike. We found one that went over a sandbar to an island and all the way around the island. The sun came out - we haven't had terrific weather on this trip, so this was really nice. We stopped at a rocky beach. Maggie learned how fun it is to throw rocks into the water. Ember and Erin waded in the water. After we walked back we ate lunch on the shore with Jodi and Franco, and acted like kids by throwing rocks into the water.

We're heading home tomorrow. It's going to be a long drive.

Fri Jun 12 2009 22:00 Yellowstone: Part 2: We had a lot of fun our last few days in Yellowstone. We saw bears, elk, a fox, big horn sheep (including babies!), coyotes, pelicans, a parade of bison in the road, lots of geysers, hot springs and mud pots. We got to do an awesome 3.5 mile hike to Mystic Falls. We were lucky enough to see Old Faithful erupt from a viewpoint. Maggie loves hiking. John also took her to see some bison up close, but I was too scared. We saw Mud Volcano and Dragon's Mouth, which were really cool.

We went to Mammoth Falls and The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The canyon was one of my favorite places so far. We hiked down to the Lower Falls where we were standing right on the edge of the 300 ft drop. The water was high and the river was so wide and swift. We also visited the Upper Falls, then hiked along the South Rim 1 mile from the Upper Falls to Artist Point. Maggie was asleep in the car, so we got to hike carefree - John's parents watched her, then we took them down to see Artist Point, which is the best view we've seen.

(1) Sun Jun 07 2009 14:54 So far on our trip: We've already done a ton of stuff on our trip to Yellowstone. We stopped at Bear World on the way up and took Maggie on some kiddie rides, petted a deer, and saw some baby bear cubs. Yesterday, we went into the park and made our way to Old Faithful. We saw some other geysers, boiling mud pots, and some wildlife. We saw some elk, an eagle, and a lot of buffalo. Maggie enjoyed watching the baby buffalo "bunning" (running) and thought it was hilarious when one of them rolled on the grass to scratch his back, just like our neighbor's dog does. She yelled "oh no!" in her silly voice. We got so close (in our car) that we could hear them tearing the grass off as they ate.

Our favorite stop that we made was seeing the Prismatic Spring. We had to hike up through a LOT of steam. It was dripping off our faces. We stuck Maggie in the backpack and Dad in the wheelchair and made our way up. The Prismatic Spring was covered in steam, because it was so cold, but we still got some pretty great views.

Today it SNOWED all morning, so we went to a Grizzly and Wolf habitat in town. We got to watch some huge grizzly bears lumber around, and a few of the wolves came to say hi to Maggie through the glass.

Maggie is having a lot of fun. She is attached to Ember during all waking hours, and enjoying the company of two of her new cousins, Sabrina and Mary, as well. We've worn her out pretty good; I'm missing the wolf feeding because she went ahead and put herself down for a nap.

Wed Jun 03 2009 20:01 Big Winner: A good mail day today. I got the maternity swimsuit I ordered and another surprise package. The swimsuit is not as cute as it looks online. The colors are a lot brighter. However, it fits well and I think that is more than one can reasonably expect from a maternity swimsuit purchased online, and no more than I can ask with a swim-play-date tomorrow morning and a vacation starting on Friday.

I thought the other box was something Rachel ordered so I didn't open it excitedly as soon as I got home. When I did open it, I just stared at it for a minute before I realized what it was. I won a prize on Mommysavers, and I didn't even notice. The contest barely ended on Sunday! I won two free Carl's Jr. milkshakes, Season 1 of the OC, body wash, lotion and a wallflower from Bath and Body Works, and a digital camcorder. Just in time for our vacation!

This is at least the 5th prize I've won from Mommysavers in the two years I've been hanging out there. I won a cutting board and hand towel when I first joined. I won a DVD (can't remember what it was, I sold it on eBay... the direction the OC is going soon). Also, a $20 Target gift card, and recently a touch-and-feel baby book. I think there might have been something else. Yay, me!

So excited for our trip to Yellowstone on Friday. I've had a crazy-busy day and another one tomorrow, but hopefully all will be ready and we'll have a blast.

(3) Sat May 30 2009 17:25 Downtown: Today (after cleaning the church again) we took Maggie downtown for sight-seeing. First we hiked Ensign Peak. That was really cool. You can see the entire valley, including the Salt Lake, and all the way into Utah Valley. I'd never been up there before. It is a steep hike, although not long, but I was breathing for two, and forgot to change out of my flip flops.

After that we went to The Gateway. We watched the water fountains, and met my cousin Alyssa for lunch at CPK. Then we road TRAX to Temple Square. Maggie loves trains, but as soon as it started to move she said, "no train!" She got over it though. We walked around Temple Square, and went to the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. I think that was Maggie's favorite part, just pressing her nose up against the glass on the Observation Deck.

We went to the visitor's center and took Maggie up to see The Christus. I'm afraid we don't have one of those cute stories to share in Sacrament Meeting about how Maggie loved it. She was more interested in the escalator ("up-up"), and in peering down in between the ramp railings. And in pointing to the Earth and saying "Earth ball!" (Grandma June gave her an Earth stress ball.) She did seem intrigued by Jesus' "owies".

We took the train back to the Gateway and went to the Planetarium (free, except for the IMAX). Maggie was pretty fascinated by some of the exhibits. Mostly the little balls in perpetual motion.

Maggie and I crashed when we got home. Maggie is still crashed.

UPDATE: Now every time we mention Jesus she says, "Jesus Owies" several times. Maybe we have a story to tell in Sacrament Meeting after all.

Sat May 30 2009 07:18 Getting to Know You: Maggie is starting to remember her Auntie Rachel. Yesterday when the computer signaled an incoming call, she ran into the room saying "Rachel, Rachel!" which sounds a lot like "baseball". Then, in the middle of our video chat/peek-a-boo game, she started Meow-ing. Rachel went to get Nimbus, who turned up his nose and stalked out to the windowsill.

Perhaps the gifts are helping.

Wed May 27 2009 14:04: Tasha was induced this morning. I feel like I'm becoming an aunt. Or a mom of twins. I've got two toddlers following me around (actually, Maggie miraculously took a nap). I took them to the aquarium (brave me), and we played outside. Really, that's about it because we had the carpets cleaned this morning, and all the rooms with toys are carpeted. Fun.

Mon May 25 2009 16:50 Various Quotes:
John told his nephew James we were having a boy and he said, "Oh. What's Maggie?"

Logan: I made white trash quesadillas. We were out of shredded cheese so I had to use sliced.

John's variation of Sesame Street: Poppy Lane.

Grandma, on dying: I think I'll make it through Lawrence Welk tonight, but I definitely won't make it to dinner at Scott's tomorrow (she did, of course).

We had a good time at the cabin. We went for a muddy but fun hike. Maggie sat happily in her carrier the entire time without a single fruit snack. I sang "Give, Said the Little Stream" to her when we saw a stream, and she sang along! That is her latest favorite song. We saw a snake and a deer and cleaned the place up. Best of all, Maggie slept the whole night in her own "bed", a blanket and pillow I brought from home and set up on the floor of our room for her. This is the preferred sleeping arrangement (all night, and not in our bed) for our Yellowstone trip, so I was glad to see it work out last night.

(1) Fri May 22 2009 16:13: We went to Provo today to celebrate Memorial Day a little early. We bought some flowers at Home Depot - African Daisies - and John made a cute card with an announcement on it. We picked up some burritos to eat on the grave, which Mom approves of, but I think may have earned us some dirty looks.

Afterward, we went to BYU and walked around. Maggie was pretty obsessed with the Y on the mountain. I think her favorite part was playing with the physics exhibits in the Eyring Science Center. We shot the air cannon at her, and let her watch the pendulum, and try to touch the mirror dollar. She also got to splash in the Tanner Building fountain.

We also bought a light fixture and some pruning shears at Home Depot. It's about time; we have needed those things since we bought our house.

(1) Thu May 21 2009 19:04 I was right: We are having a boy. I had an ultrasound at 12 weeks, and as soon as I saw him kicking around in there I thought it was a boy. I've been referring to him as a "him" ever since. Today's ultrasound proved me right. Maggie is getting a little brother.

(2) Fri May 15 2009 14:03 Hello in there: I love being pregnant right now. I am *almost* back to my normal energy level, so long as I don't have to carry anything (or anyone). No sickness. Only a little bit of an achy back. I have clothes to wear. And little baby is kicking away, but not getting stuck in uncomfortable positions or waking me up with karate chops.

(1) Fri May 15 2009 08:59 Sly and Crafty: I've been super crafty this week. I sewed some maternity clothes and some snack bags for Maggie. I also did some scrapbooking, and planted our garden. Right now I am working on some felt play mail for Colette as a big sister present. It is turning out really cute.

Thu May 14 2009 08:57 Maggie: Can count to twenty. Has gone from saying "okay" to "mm-hmm" to nodding her head emphatically. Calls blankets "eepies", as in "sleepy". Doesn't like to wear pants. Calls cars "beep beeps". Says "Oh Nooo!" instead of uh-oh now. Holds the camera up to her face and says "one two three". Is obsessed with bugs. Likes to lie in bed, possibly due to teething. She's had her hand in her mouth for the past three or four days.

Tue May 12 2009 13:36 YES!: Maggie is taking a nap for the first time since she fell asleep in the car 6 days ago. She is obviously not ready to give up naps, but we made her miss it one too many days in a row and then she had some trouble. Hopefully, she will go back to normal now.

(1) Mon May 11 2009 19:25 And Now My Story is All Told: I went shopping this afternoon wearing Rainbow flipflops in two different sizes.

(1) Mon May 11 2009 13:09 Wet Weekend: Friday morning I was doing laundry when I noticed that the bottoms of the baseboards in the basement were gray. As in wet! I called John over and he noticed several inches of standing water in our window well. Eventually, we figured out the neighbor's sprinkler pipe was leaking, flooding our side yard. The water was getting into our house through our sprinkler turn-off, which is inside. Brook was the hero of the weekend; he came over and spent all day helping us clean up and fix the mess.

We called a restoration company. They got us set up drying the place out (we have to replace about 110 square feet of carpet padding), but I called them the next day to come get their fans, because they hadn't told us it would be another $350 to put everything back together - even when I said we'd rather do new carpet if it'd be cheaper. So now we get to learn how to put the carpet back ourselves.

Also, our garbage disposal broke. Must be replaced. Joy.

Needless to say, we didn't get much done that we wanted to this weekend. We were able to go on a 2 hour hike in Corner Canyon, and we had Tyler and Tasha over for dinner (so Tyler could look at our basement). We also went to a big Mother's Day get-together at Grandma June's last night.

(1) Wed May 06 2009 08:12 What to Wear: Here's what I own as far as maternity clothes go: 9 shirts (4 of which are too hot to wear this summer), 1 pair of nice pants, 1 pair of jeans, and 1 dress. I also have some undershirts, two of which are tooooo small. Maternity shirts can be really sleazy so these are a must.

Going to DI today to drop off the three bags of stuff we've collected over the past 6 months, and to scout out jeans/fabric I can use to make maternity clothes. I was going to use a pair of jeans I already had (1 size too big, and 2 sizes too big) but I spent several weeks relying on each. So I think I'd better keep them as is. I already have some fabric to make a skirt, and fabric and elastic to alter the jeans.

Hopefully, Tasha's baby will be safely out in a few weeks and I can borrow some of her clothes, too. I'm getting quite the tummy.

UPDATE: I found a pair of maternity capris, which I actually considered paying $40 for at a maternity store, for $4. I also got two pairs of jeans. One is 2 sizes too big and really low cut so they fit great right now. The other pair I couldn't zip up all the way, so they will be perfect for making maternity jeans. The great thing was, since I didn't have to be picky about size I could pick out the cutest jeans.