Thu May 23 2013 22:11 Me: I posted a couple pictures of myself on my picture blog. Both were taken for a photo-a-day challenge I'm doing. The first one was supposed to be for my favorite color. The trees on this street burst into the most wonderful spring-y green. With the setting sun they don't look so pretty but I love looking at them every time I drive down the street right now.

I wasn't supposed to be in the picture. I am singing to baby girl.

Hey, hey baby
I wanna know
If you'll be my girl

In fact, on this particular occasion, I think Maggie, Dalton and I were all singing to her. It was in the evening and she was ready for bed. We were on our way home after having dinner at Daphne's Greek Cafe while John was out of town, and picking out sugar cookies at Gelson's.

The other picture is my reflection in the car window. Dalton and I had dropped Maggie off at school and walked back to the parking lot. I don't normally use the sling for Sienna for such a short trip, but she was really tired and I wanted to snuggle her. Sure enough, she fell asleep in the car on the short drive home.

It's just a coincidence that I'm wearing the same shirt in both pictures! I got it for just $3 at Target when it was on sale for $6 and I had a printable coupon.

Thu May 23 2013 22:02 At the Dentist: Dalton was afraid to go to the dentist. Lucky for him, I forgot and we ran out the door ten minutes after his appointment, so he didn't have time to worry about it. He refused to put his shoes on, so I carried him. He got a piggy back ride from the car to the office, then I got his new flip flops out of my purse. Picking out a Mater toothbrush and Maggie going first quelled most of his fears. Plus, he got to wear cool shades and watch a show about ocean life.

Mon May 20 2013 20:22 Dalton Does Good: Dalton brought home a certificate from gymnastics today. He walked forward and sideways on the high beam all by himself. I watched him do it from the viewing area and he did so good.

He made it to level 3 in swimming lessons this week. Just now in the bath I heard him giving swimming lessons to the ducks and dinosaurs. "Eyes Down. Rollll. 1 2 3 4 5, Eyes down."

Dalton: Can I watch the one that says, "What? A llama! He's 'apposed to be dead!" (The Emperor's New Groove)

Sun May 19 2013 20:25 Sienna at Six Months: My baby is already six months old. She is turning into a little lady. As much as it brings me joy to see her eyes light up with each new thing she learns, I'm a little sad as well. It goes by so quickly. Since she was born I had the impression she would be more of a girly-girl than Maggie, and I still feel that way. She has delicate, precious little looks and a petite feel about her. She's very tall though (proof tomorrow after her 6-month well visit.)

Two big things that happened this week are beginning solid foods and sitting up on her own. I've delayed starting her on baby food mostly because I'm cheap and lazy but also because I am savoring the time I spend breast feeding what may be my last baby. I am a proud breast feeding mommy and I really do love it. But mostly I'm cheap and lazy. We've tried rice cereal and pears. She apparently does not like pears. Hopefully she picks up on the eating thing soon because I plan on leaving her for a long hike in Yosemite in 5 weeks.

Sienna adores her family. She turns whenever she hears Daddy's voice. She smiles and giggles at Maggie, who is the best helper and big sister. She appreciates Dalton's attempts to share when he's feeling loving, and leaving her alone when he's not.

Her favorite toys are Dalton's swim goggles, a badminton birdie, and the lid from the toy kitchen. She also likes to put fistfuls of my hair in her mouth.

Baby Girl has a big smile and is very friendly. When she talks while smiling, she sticks her tongue out a little and makes a cute "ulll" sound. She's quite talkative and will babble on to Maggie, or try to sing along if we are all singing songs. The song I sing to her (I should say "we" because the kids know all the words now) is "Hey Baby (I Wanna Know If You'll Be My Girl)." She loves it!

It's difficult to get her to sleep during the day, though she sleeps fabulous at night (7-6 the last couple weeks). She has only fallen asleep in her crib or in the sling over the past month or so. Maybe a handful of times in the car. She just likes to see what's going on. This is making church and the kids' activities difficult.

Fri May 17 2013 20:59 Suspicious: I have decided that Maggie isn't a picky eater, she's a suspicious eater. She really likes to know all the details about what I've made for dinner before she decides to refuse to even try it.

Today the Kindergarten took a field trip the farm. They got to pick and eat all the strawberries they wanted. Maggie said she ate so many her tummy hurt. "Maybe 17." They also got to try various vegetables. After describing them to me at length we determined that she tried a carrot (a whole carrot), lettuce, 2 peas (and she was happy to tell me she ate the pod and some friends didn't) and a "white thing with green on top that looked like a marshmallow with wigglies on the bottom." Hmm.

After school we went to park day since she was on the early schedule and finally got to go. Then we had swimming lessons. Maggie is learning how to dive and can swim the 25 yard pool by herself. Dalton just moved up to level three which means he can swim about 10 feet or so, rolling over to breathe, with an instructor nearby.

Then we went to Daphne's Greek Cafe for dinner. I carefully described all the food to Maggie and showed her the coupon flier. She decided she wanted a pita with meat and lettuce inside and hummus and pita chips. She was very suspicious about the whole thing, but said she'd be happy as long as she got her "tortilla" and meat. I ordered an adult meal for the kids to share. Dalton had a chicken kabob and Maggie had the gyro. I had to request that they leave her pita whole, and she made a little taco with hummus, pita and gyro and she LOVED it. After her first bite she said, "I wish we could have this for dinner every night." In fact, the only thing she didn't care for was the pita chips. She was also suspicious about trying the baklava.

Suspicious, I tell you. Dalton ate his chicken and half my Greek side salad. I ate the veggies from his kabob, had my own kabob and a street pita. Sooooo good.

After dinner, we walked to the fancy market next door, which I'd never visited. We browsed the produce section to find Maggie's mystery vegetable she tried. Turnip? Parsnip? Rutabaga? Nope. It was a green onion. Maggie actually did like green onion already but perhaps has only seen it sliced up. Anyway, that was her favorite thing she ate all day.

Sun May 12 2013 12:18 On Being a Mom: Sick kids. Actually, we're all sick. Dalton and Sienna both went to bed when we got home from Disneyland yesterday - at 4:30. Dalton stayed in bed until nearly 10, and Sienna woke up to eat at 7 and is going on the third hour of her nap. Tired, sick kids. Dalton throwing up meant one of us had to stay home from church. John kindly agreed to play the organ, in addition to accompanying the children while singing in Sacrament Meeting, and during Primary, and helping Maggie with her Primary talk. All of which things I am missing, in addition to lunch (lunch!) during the 2nd and 3rd hours for the fanciest Visiting Teaching Conference ever.

How annoying that I have to spend Mother's Day doing throw-up laundry instead of at church where I can hear about what a great job I'm doing as a mother! I mean, how lucky am I? How lucky that I can stay home and snuggle my boy (and, presumably, my feverish baby, if she ever wakes up). Because this is what being a mom is about. Not free food (sigh) or getting to see my kids sing (or not) to me in Sacrament Meeting, or even hearing Maggie give a wonderful Primary talk. It's more about making beds and breastfeeding. More day to day than extraordinary. The key is to make the day to day something special. Excuse me while I hide from monsters with otter-pop-mustache boy.

(I can't neglect to mention that John and the kids picked out some beautiful tulips that were delivered a couple days ago. John also bought me a new shirt that I LOVE and Dove caramel chocolates (one of my favorites). How lucky is he that a stripey shirt from Target that fits well makes me quite happy?)

Sat May 11 2013 18:48 All Done Disney: We went first thing this morning to California Adventure. We were there when it opened and got in line for Radiator Springs Racers. Right after John and the kids got off, the ride shut down. So I didn't get to go, but at least they did. We took turns on Soarin' Over California, then went to Disneyland. John tried to take the kids on Star Tours, but they would not let Dalton on. So instead, I used a Rider Switch pass from last weekend to take them on Space Mountain. Of course the ride broke just before we got on. It was just backed up, but it took 20+ minutes for them to reset. During that time Dalton un-psyched himself out and he did not want to go. I made him get on, though. We also waited in line for Casey Jr. just before they had some engine trouble. Ugh!

After that, we went to the Jedi Training Academy. The kids finally got picked - yay! They were so cute in their robes with their training light sabers. Maggie was really focused and did a great job. Dalton had a hard time, but tried his best. Unfortunately, he got pretty scared when Darth Vader arrived. He didn't want to go fight him, and he ended up coming back to sit with us. They still gave him a certificate though. Maggie showed her skills in fighting Darth Vader. I'm really proud of her.

We let the kids each pick one more ride. We waited in line for Alice in Wonderland for Maggie, then John took the kids on Haunted Mansion while I fed Sienna. If you're counting, Alice is the only ride Sienna went on today. John and the kids also went up in Tarzan's Treehouse. Then we took the train all the way around Disneyland and said goodbye.

John is planning to take Dalton one last time on Monday morning, but since we have gymnastics after school, Maggie, Sienna and I are done. I am almost relieved. I have felt like I *need* to go to Disney rather than doing other fun things, and it is a lot of work. Having a hot, disappointing day was a good way to end it, but I know I will miss Disney when the weather cools and the holiday season begins. Next year!

Thu May 09 2013 12:54 Double Disney Day: John was headed to a client's this afternoon, so he decided to take Dalton to Disneyland this morning, to try to get him on some more new rides (the last of them). They were at the gates at California Adventure when it opened and got in line for Radiator Springs Racers with only a 25 minute wait. Dalton was a little scared, but loved it.

Then they went on Tower of Terror. That height measurer must be a little taller, because this is the only ride we've had trouble getting Dalton on (keep in mind, he has napkins stuffed into his shoes). Anyway, they let him on. Here's what he had to say to me when he walked in the door this afternoon: "I went on the one that goes up and down fast and it made my tummy bad." Yeah, it makes my tummy bad, too. John said he was practically convulsing because he was so scared. Well. That's over with then.

I am taking all three kids to Disneyland after school. Only a couple more days left on our passes. It's almost a relief, to have my life back. Almost. I might cry when it's over.

Update: Disneyland didn't quite go as planned, but we had fun in the end. We waited in line to see Mickey. It was about half an hour. Sienna filled up her diaper and got her outfit, the sling and me all wet. I changed her really quick on the floor, and got a clean onesie on her, but her clean pants were in the stroller, so she is nakey legged in the pictures.

We went on Casey Jr, Pirates, Winnie the Pooh, and the Haunted Mansion. Sienna finally crashed on the Haunted Mansion. Then we got an ice cream and walked over to get a spot for the parade the kids really wanted to see one more time. We waited about half an hour for the parade. Maggie was dancing around and woke up Sienna, but it was just as well because the loud parade music startled her. At least she was already awake. She has a cold, so she was pretty unhappy, but not crying. I think she was content to be held in the sling all day. We made it home by 8:30 and everyone went straight to bed.

Tue May 07 2013 21:42 Accomplished: Maggie made it to level 4 in swimming lessons. This means she can swim 25 yards with the instructor 10 feet away. They also started working on backstroke, and today showed her how to dive in for the first time. I'm so proud of her. Now, if only I can get her to swim like that for us!

Dalton got his first Star Student note at gymnastics. It says, "for good listening and trying his best." It was the evaluation day, and he said he did everything the coach told him to do. He was pretty proud, since Maggie has brought several of those notes. He's a good little gymnast!

Sienna laughs if you blow lightly in her face. It takes a second for her to register it. She's also just generally adorable. Dimply cheeks and chubby legs. That's my girl.

Thu May 02 2013 19:45 DCA with the Kids: We went to Disneyland yesterday, even though I didn't want to. I'm glad I did, because it was even hotter today! The kids talked me into California Adventure, and once again, I was glad, because Disneyland was apparently crowded.

We parked on the roof, which they were excited about, then went first to Mickey's Fun Wheel. After waiting in line a few minutes, I determined that Dalton needed to go the restroom. As we exited to take him, the lady behind me said she'd hold my spot if they were still there when we came back. Sure enough, when we got back in line, she jumped up and down and waved and insisted we get back up in the line with them (which saved us 15 minutes+). She said it was because she had noticed Dalton's painted toenails and it reminded her of her grandson!

After that we went on King Triton's Carousel (Sienna rode on a sea creature for the first time), Ariel, and to the Redwoods playplace so I could feed Sienna. The kids stayed in the little kid area and checked-in. Finally, we went on Monster's Inc, got cake pops and headed home.

I had prepped some yummy chicken enchiladas, so they were all ready to bake when we got home.

Tue Apr 30 2013 21:45 Busy at Home: I had a very productive morning. I took the kids to the grocery store to get a flower for teacher appreciation, but we ended up using one cut from outside out house. I picked up a deal on some dishwasher gel pacs while I was there. Then we went next door and got some doughnuts. A lady told me I was Mom of the Year because my three children were so well-behaved. They are really good kids.

After we took Maggie to school, I got to work cleaning the house. We did one load of laundry, cleaned the bathrooms, organized in the garage etc. I did lots of work while Sienna took a nap.

Dalton and I were eating lunch when I realized it was time to go get Maggie. We had to wake up Sienna and run out the door with our lunch on the table. Then we rushed home, ate, and got ready for swimming lessons. Maggie is working on swimming the length of the pool (including the deep end) with her instructor 10 feet away. Dalton is working on doing two roll overs (breaths) on his own. He used to be able to do that, but has fallen back. Both of them need more practice to be able to keep their skills up outside of their lessons. Maggie never swims as well for us.

After swimming we did homework and cleaned up. Then we went to McDonald's and the play place for dinner, since I knew John would be late. Sienna didn't take another nap, so she was grumpy, but she didn't go to sleep and life moved on. When we got home, Dalton took a bath, Sienna went to bed, and we read two stories. Dalton picked The Sleepy Little Alphabet, one of the kids' favorites, and we read a story from The Book of Mormon picture book.

John texted just in time that he was coming home, so he got to snuggle the kids before bed. I worked on the baby sling I am making.

Sun Apr 28 2013 21:29 Sick Sunday: Today after church I started feeling really sick. I had actually been nauseous all morning. John to the kids to the park for two hours while I slept. Sienna slept too. I tried to make beef stroganoff for dinner but I only got the meat cooked and the noodles made. John came home just in time as I fed Sienna. He made frozen burritos for dinner and put the half-made stroganoff away. After another rest I felt well enough to help get the kids in bed. I hope tomorrow looks up. I'm keeping some water down.

Both of the kids passed off the fifth Article of Faith today. Dalton is so adorable when he says them, but he is too silly on camera so far. He got the fifth one word for word except he says "authorisGod" instead of authority.

I got to listen to bits and pieces of church, as happens with a baby. The organist forgot, so I helped fill in the closing hymn. In the meantime, I fed S in the mother's room where I could hear the talks. She went to sleep and I handed her off to a Good Samaritan so I could run in and play the organ. She continued sleeping while I gave an organ lesson. She was awake when I popped in for the last five minutes of Sunday School. My friend Stephanie held her while I got a brief message about seeking the Lord's will.

I spent most of Relief Society trying to get her to sleep, and then feeding her again. I made it in for the last 15 minutes, where she behaved (other than a noisy dirty diaper toward the end) and I got to hear Lorenzo Snow's opinions on following the Spirit (I think).

Also, someone told me they really appreciated the closing hymn (I'm in charge of picking the songs) and that it fit well and was inspired. I think I was successful at my calling today.

Fri Apr 26 2013 20:33 The Little Things: I've been trying to focus on doing the little things with the kids (Particularly Dalton, whom I'm with all day), things I'm usually too "busy" or impatient for, or too bored, but that mean a lot to the kids. The kid version of stopping to smell the roses. In fact, we did stop to look at some flowers one day. Other things we did:

Let Dalton try some light-up toys at the souvenir stand at Disneyland.
Built a pillow house.
Hid under the covers and yelled Boo! to scare the monsters away.
Got the slide out.
Made lunches more appealing (muffin tin meal style, sprinkles, dippers etc)
Busted out the fingerpaints.
Paid for the full version of an iPad game the kids love but have been playing the free version for 6 months. Now they can do A-Z instead of A-E...
Played with shaving cream.

Thu Apr 25 2013 21:33 A Good Mom for Maggie: This week I made a goal to be a better mom to Maggie. More patience, less yelling, supporting and uplifting her rather than discouraging. Focus on the positive. All that sort of thing. A few days later I read a talk from the most recent General Conference that talked about mothering daughters.

Young women need mothers and mentors who exemplify virtuous womanhood. Mothers, your relationship with your daughter is of paramount importance, and so is your example. (2013 April General Conference, We Are Daughters of Our Heavenly Father, Sat. Morning Session - By Elaine S. Dalton)

I spend a lot of time trying to get Maggie to do things - necessary things. Eating, bathing, getting dressed, homework. Asking, reminding, nagging, yelling. She is a sensitive thing, and she is in her own world a lot of the time and she Does Not Listen. She is very rarely disobedient. Just clueless. I've specifically told her she needs to do what I ask immediately, not because it's urgent, but because if she runs around the room first (and she always does) she forgets what I've asked her to do!

Anyway, I'm focusing on the impact my words will have on her tiny, precious spirit and hoping that thought guides me to be a better mother to her. I want a close relationship with her, so it's better start now.

In addition to just generally being more patient, I tried to make food that she liked and I didn't criticize her clothing choices (I was really glad I had an excuse to ask her to change into pants on Wednesday...), tried not to pick on her for being mean and bossy to her brother. And when I did pick on her, I did it nicely. Also, a big focus on saying positive things to her. Noticing when she listens, telling her I'm proud of her, pointing out her good traits and habits.

Maggie brought home a paper from school where she wrote about being smart. I love that girl.

(1) Mon Apr 22 2013 16:09 She Needs to Sort Out Her Priorities: This morning, Maggie completely ignored my indication that it was time to start her get-ready-for-school routine.

Me: I guess you aren't going to school.
Maggie: *gasp!* But how will I know when it's time for gymnastics??!?

Fri Apr 19 2013 20:16 Roll With Me 'Nenna: Sienna learned how to roll onto her tummy this week. Once she started, she hasn't stopped. Once she even kept on rolling all the way to her back (and almost right off the bed, but of course I was sitting next to her). She is SO ridiculously proud of herself, too. She giggles about it. And she thinks she is ready to crawl. She kicks like crazy, and can lift her entire bottom half off the ground.

Of course, she wasn't too thrilled when she rolled onto her tummy while she was supposed to be going to sleep. The first time, she then had a dirty diaper and leaked onto her sheets. Today when she did it, I turned her back over and she went right to sleep.

My baby is so big. She is bigger than my other babies, which is part of it, but part of it is knowing that it might be our last (sniff) and trying to enjoy every minute of her littleness. She's got adorable chunks all over and I love hearing her giggle when she's tickled. And she has a fat roll on just one of her thighs - her left. Love baby fat.

Tue Apr 16 2013 21:15 New Clothes: I am pretty excited about what I wore yesterday. On Saturday we bought a shirt at Disneyland that I've been eyeing since last summer. It's grey and pink - my two favorite colors to wear. It's long over my hips and the neckline isn't low. Meaning, I don't have to wear a tank top under it. And, it's a Disneyland shirt, so yay.

Additionally, my one pair of pants was in the laundry and it looked too cold to wear my new cropped pants. So I tried on a pair of my regular jeans and ended up wearing them with my maternity stretchy band since I couldn't button them. And my friend, Amy, said I looked skinny.

Today I hot glued the black band onto my hat. The black band that came off in India. Two years ago. The hat I bought on clearance for $4 at Old Navy in 2003. Yay!

(1) Thu Apr 11 2013 22:03: Here are some of the cute things Dalton says and does at 3 1/2. If you (my 3 blog readers! or maybe my future self) want to put a smile on your face, read this post. He. Is. Adorable.

M: When it's scratch paper, it'll be blabby blobby.
D: We don't say those words.

Dalton is always very impressed when Sienna smiles at him and he says, "She gave me a mile!"

Am I a man or a muffet? I want to be a muffet.

Me: Do you want to walk or drive to school?
Dalton: Drive. Walking is not easy. (He always thinks I mean WALK though we've never not taken the stroller.

I explained to Dalton that some babies (like Maggie) spit up a lot and some babies (like Sienna) don't spit up much at all. He said, "Baby Jesus didn't spit at all."

Some cute word mispronunciations:
grils (girls)
nest (net - as in basketball)
Newtah (Utah)
Posco (Costco - this is where he usually pretends he's going in his ride-on car, or where Alligator is going if he's hanging around)
cramra (camera)
beebee (nickname for baby)

One of the most adorable things Dalton is doing right now is kissing himself better. I laughed out loud when he tried to kiss his elbow after bumping his funny bone on the table. If he can't reach, he kisses his fingers and gives the kiss to his owie.

He has renamed his stuffed alligator Swampy after the character in "Where's My Water?" This has been his favorite "guy" for a long time. The other stuffie he currently sleeps with is a stuffed deer from Aunt Erin.

Me: Don't lick Maggie's homework.

He put on a pair of shorts I got out for the warm weather: "What! There's pockets." He walked out of the room mumbling to himself, "I need to find something to put in beese pockets." I don't like you when you die. Are you going to die soon?

Thu Apr 11 2013 21:49 These Socks Be Folded:
Me: Why are you folding your socks when you put them in the dirty laundry?
Maggie: Because that bees easier!

While I laughed about her saying "bees", she corrected herself, and then continued to insist that it was easier to have her socks already folded into each other before being washed. That's what I get for making her sort her own laundry to put away, I guess.

M: What's your third favorite? ... What is your fourd favorite? (I could NOT stop laughing at this)

Where are the finger muppets?

Sun Apr 07 2013 21:15 Spring: Four hours of General Conference is probably only slightly less church stuff than we do on a regular Sunday. But we managed to do a LOT today! We went swimming (Sienna's first time in the pool). We did bubbles and "flew" kites in front of our house. Dalton and John did scootering in the driveway. Maggie helped me organize the pantry. I rotated the food in our 72-hour kits. We all went to the park and played basketball. Maggie practiced doing the monkey bars and made it all the way across for the first time. Yay! She has been practicing for gymnastics and I think she'll be excited to tell her coach tomorrow.

The kids start swimming lessons this week. Our ward FHE in the park begins tomorrow. I've stopped panicking about the lack of long-sleeved onesies in Sienna's wardrobe. We had a colony of bees removed from our eaves. I bought myself some pants that fit - capris.

Spring is here.

(1) Sat Apr 06 2013 11:30 Sienna's Blessing/Easter/Spring Break in Utah: Links are for pictures!
Day 1: We planned to leave after school on Friday. Maggie woke up throwing up and didn't end up going to school. But by that point, John (who was also sick) had to go in to work for a meeting. So we didn't leave much earlier than planned. Traffic was awful and we had to stop a lot to feed Sienna. About 90 minutes into the trip, we decided to fly in December. We ordered room service at the hotel instead of going to a buffet as planned. This saved us a lot of money, especially since the buffet wouldn't have been worth it with John sick. We went to bed super early.

Day 2: Saturday was slightly better. There wasn't any traffic at least. Sienna cried more and we had to stop three times for her. A dirty diaper and outfit change at every stop. We arrived in the early evening and I went to pick up Zupa's for dinner.

Day 3: On Easter, we got up early and went to Sacrament Meeting. It was really an enjoyable meeting. The kids enjoyed all their new Angry Birds stuff they got for Easter. Angry Birds hats, socks, shirts, maze books, a blanket for Dalton. They also each got a Lego set and an Easter book.

The family all came and John gave Sienna a blessing. She was quite older than babies usually are and just sat there being darling. She wore my blessing dress and looked like a chubby little doll.

We had Easter dinner, and a not-egg hunt for the kids. I made eggs for the kids to find, but no one else did. Our kids were a tiny bit disappointed because I hadn't made eggs for them, but they got lots of other stuff.

Day 4: On Monday we went to the cabin with John's parents. It was rainy and cold, but it was fun to go up there. On the way home, we stopped to meet new baby Franco. So sweet. We had dinner at Jon and Sharon's on Monday night. The kids loved playing with the doggies. They came running in saying, "We got to feed the dogs!" They were giving them treats to do their tricks. Maggie really got into dogs on this trip, which was fun to see. Also, dinner was delicious.

Day 5: We spent most of Tuesday at Tasha's, hanging out with Colette, Madeline and Emmett. The kids had a great time. Maggie arranged a fun game of "Disneyland." They slid around the room riding it's a small world, walked over to California Adventure to ride Ariel, and screaming in delight on the Haunted Mansion. We went to Brook and Erin's for dinner. The kids were happy to see Jetta and Jazzy. We had hamburgers with donuts for dessert, and played a game of Taboo. Dalton was pretty good at Taboo, randomly shouting and repeating things that we were saying. My favorite quote of the night, though, was from Maggie. She sat down to eat a few more bites of hamburger before having some donut. She picked off the cheese I had put on her burger and brought it over to me stating, "I HATE this cheese!" quite vehemently. "It's gross."

Day 6: We lounged around on Wednesday morning, then met Brook, Erin, Ember, Jetta, Jamie and Mary for a hike in the afternoon. We hiked in Corner Canyon to Ghost Falls. It was a really nice hike. We spent almost two hours hiking and enjoying the small waterfalls. Maggie hiked almost the entire way on her own. Dalton didn't do as well. I think he was carried almost the entire way back to the car. But that was probably mostly because he could: Uncle Brook was willing to have a turn. After the hike, we stopped by our/Jamie's house, then headed to Jodi and Franco's for dinner and cousin time.

Day 7: We headed home on Thursday about noon. The drive up was so awful that we decided not to try to drive straight through. We stopped twice in Utah. Another gas station, another outfit change. In one place, there was a spot of grass for the kids to run around on. A fire truck stopped, and gave them coloring books which occupied them for a bit more. We stayed overnight in the Hilton Suits Vacation Club in Las Vegas. The hotel was SO nice. It had a real, full kitchen, a soaking tub, and a little overpriced market downstairs. We got sandwiches for dinner, breakfast sandwiches and chocolate milk for breakfast in the market, and enjoyed the tub.

Day 8: Finally a good driving day. There was no traffic, Sienna slept the whole way and we only had to stop once. The place we stopped actually had an open play place, so the kids got some energy out. We got home around 2 and had plenty of time to get unpacked, wash the car, do some laundry, and even enjoy being outside and doing the kids' new bubbles they got for Easter.

(1) Sun Mar 24 2013 19:52 Star of the Week: Maggie was the "Star of the Week" last week at school. On Monday, she took a poster we had made with pictures of baby Maggie, our family, Maggie in India, Maggie at Disneyland, etc. She filled out some star topic starters with things like: "My goal is to go to the next level in gymnastics." "One thing I like about myself is I'm smart." "I am good at reading."

On Tuesday, she took on of her Angry Birds drawings to show her hobby. I think she took one John drew as well, since she likes to draw with him.

Wednesday, she took the certificate she got for ringing the bell at gymnastics.

Thursday was favorite book. She took a book called Doggies and her teacher read it to the class.

Friday she took her little Piglet as her favorite toy.

Sun Mar 24 2013 19:29 Sienna at 4 Months: Sienna's 4 month appointment was this week. She is 26.5", 90th percentile. Very tall! In the mother's room today, we stood her next to her friend Valentine (8 months) and they are the same height. She is 60% in weight at 14 lbs 10 oz.

She slept completely through the night 5 of the last 6 nights. I stopped waking her up to eat around 10:00, so I've been going to bed earlier, which is nice. I like feeding her at night, because sometimes that's the only chance I get to feed her snuggled in the rocking chair, all comfy with our pillows etc. But we are both getting more sleep, and she clearly didn't need that feeding.

She puts her hands in her mouth, and sometimes sucks her fingers or thumb when she is going to sleep. She also likes to bring toys to her mouth, and really likes having a toy in the car. Her favorite at the moment is the Skwish. This week she rolled over onto her back the first couple of times. I don't put her on her tummy enough, or she might have done it earlier.

She still thinks Maggie is hilarious. She giggles if I pretend to eat her tummy, and sometimes if I tickle her legs or under her arms. More of a grunt than a giggle, but clearly a laugh. She gets excited to see her daddy. She and Dalton continue to grow on each other. He's going to be a great big brother once he gets around to it.

Sun Mar 17 2013 23:03 Good, Better, Best: The Relief Society lesson today was on becoming perfect. A lot of it was on not worrying about being perfect in this life and the atonement. But some of it was on doing our best. I didn't share this but I was thinking about an experience this week and decided to blog it instead.

I knew a few weeks ago that I would be playing the organ in church today. The last time I played, my lack of practice showed so this time I played the songs regulaly over the few weeks. One of them (God of Our Fathers, Whose Almighty Hand) had a few bass notes I couldn't reach with my hand so I decided to go to the church, practice on the organ and play those notes on the manual pedals. So I did.

This led to the discovery that the other ward has a badminton club -yay! But anyway, one of the ladies mentioned her lack of musicality when I explained I wasn't actually the organist, but wanted to try using the pedals. She said, "that's great that you're still working on it, even though it's good enough."

She's right. I do a lot of things that are good enough. But I need to be doing better, or even (!!!) my best. Today I did.

Side note: let's hope the lack of regular organists was so I could learn this lesson. I think we might actually have some good, reliable organists now!

(1) Fri Mar 15 2013 14:48 Proud Moments Part 2: I forgot to mention that on Sunday Dalton gave his first Primary talk. It was So. Adorable. He read the 3rd Article of Faith and said, "I know Jesus loves me and I love Him." That's it. He spoke clearly, right into the microphone (he does get a bit of practice with this in the chapel when I'm practicing the organ).

Maggie has been memorizing the Articles of Faith. She already knows four of them. The easy four, of course, but she is able to memorize them pretty well.