Easter Books

One of my favorite parts of holidays are reading the holiday books with Bryn. We pulled out our Easter books from the garage and have been reading them all week. Here are probably our three favorites:

I loved reading "The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes" growing up and now Bryn loves it, too! It has a lot of words, so last year Bryn didn't like it as much. This year she sits through the whole thing and then asks to read it again. I love the classic illustrations (it was published in the 1930's) and the story is wonderful.

I first saw "Rechenka's Eggs" on Reading Rainbow when I was a kid. It's a really great story and I love the beautiful illustrations. Bryn loves Rechenka the goose and her colorful eggs that she lays.

"The Easter Egg" is a new one for us this year. It has beautiful illustrations and a really great story about Hoppi the bunny trying to make the best Easter Egg. This is probably Bryn's favorite Easter book and we read it multiple times a day!

Do you have any favorite Easter books we should check out?

Hair Flowers

(I don't know why this picture is showing up side-ways(?), but I guess it doesn't matter)

I've never made flower clips before, but last night I finally attempted them while Josh and I watched the BYU game. I have friends and sister-in-laws who make the cutest hair flowers ever, so I know mine are just simple, beginner clips. Some of Bryn's flower clips have gotten a little thrashed, so I wanted to try making a few for this new baby girl.

My next attempt is making some of those cute hair clips with felt. (Jen Scott- where are you when I need you!?)

We'll see how it goes!

Green Treat

Green smoothies were a regular treat around here until I got pregnant and just the thought of them made me nauseous! I finally dared to try them again this week and now we've been making them every day. Just in time for St. Patrick's Day :)

There's lots of variations, but our go-to version this week has been:

A cup or so of unsweetened, vanilla almond milk

A blender full of spinach

Two frozen bananas

A a few spoonfuls of flax seed meal

"Green smoothies, Mom!....Ha ha ha.....It's like St. Patrick's Day!.....Ha ha ha....."

Yum!

Disneyland Day

Bryn and I had a fun Disneyland day today! It had been a few weeks since we'd been, so Bryn was so thrilled to be back. I told her about it last night and, sure enough, she climbed into my bed at 6:30 this morning ready to go! She had dressed herself (jeans, t-shirt, jacket, shoes), filled her "purse" full of random things around the house (puzzle pieces, lotion, vitamins(?), etc), and the only thing left to do was drag her mother out of bed!

We spent the whole time in California Adventure this time, and did all her favorite rides plus a couple new ones:

For the first time I took Bryn on "Soarin' Over California", which she LOVED, and then we also tried out the "Wilderness Explorer Camp", which was also really fun. She went crazy with all those big slides, tunnels, bridges, etc. I was the crazy pregnant lady running around, trying to keep up with my speedy child!

She loved this dog character. I think he's from "Up", but I'm the worst with recognizing the Disney characters.

I love having these fun outings with Bryn! I'm trying to soak up all this one-on-one time because we've only got a few more months until she'll have to share my attention with another sibling!

Bishopric Dinner

We had a really fun mutual last Wednesday! The girls planned a special dinner for the three Bishopric members and their families. It was fun for the girls to prepare the meal, to thank the bishopric for all they do, and to get to know their families better that night.

The girls set the tables, arranged the buffet table, and conducted the evening. We played a fun game where the bishopric members had to answer questions about themselves and the girls could get to know them better. We have a really awesome bishopric in our ward and it was fun to have a special night to thank them and their families for all they do!

Happy Sunday

A blurry picture of

Bryn in her favorite cat ears

and me with my ever-growing tummy!

Only more 17 weeks to go!

Fabric Flower Bouquet

Another little project I can cross off my to-do list...

For months I've been wanting to use up my fabric scraps and make some fabric flowers, and I finally got around to it today. Bryn was my little helper with this project. She was very willing to go on a "stick hunt" with me, especially since it meant a trip to the park. And then she helped me go through my fabric stash and pick out fabrics that were yellow, orange, or green.

It was perfect timing to add a bright bouquet to the table because it was gray and rainy all day.

We made ten flowers today, and I think we'll be making more!

Not Good

(Yogurtland: a favorite spot for Bryn and I lately. I was going to poke fun at Bryn's cheesy grin, and then I remembered I have glasses and no make-up in this picture so I have no room to talk. Oh brother).

Anyway. Let's get right to it...

Whyyyyyyy do I have such a sweet tooth!?

When I was pregnant with Bryn I went to the BYU gym every day and was walking all over campus, up and down stairs, hauling paintings to and from my studio. It was great!

With this pregnancy, instead of going to the gym, I have decided to make treats every night. It's not good.

Baby #2 is measuring a week bigger than her due date and I'm pretty sure it has something to do with all the Ghirardelli brownies we've been whipping up. Which also accounts for why the baby has been so active this week, kicking around all day long. Sugar rush.

There's really no point to this post.

Except for stating that my goal for today is to not make brownies.

Wish me luck!

Projects

I have about a million little projects that are half-done or on my to-do list. With a move and a new baby both coming in the next 6 months I am trying to finish everything up! This is a quick project that I can cross off my list....

A friend gave Bryn this hand-me-down doll crib. The white paint was a little dinged up, so I wanted to give it a fresh coat of paint.

I used a few old paint colors from the garage and mixed this blue color. And then I added a skirt to hide the doll clothes underneath. I liked the yellow fabric, but it is a pretty strong yellow color and it clashed in Bryn's already-mismatched room. So I decided to switch it out. (I'll use the yellow fabric for something else, so it wasn't a waste).

I had some other fabric on hand that matched Bryn's room better, so I used that for round two!

Here's the doll hide-out underneath the curtain

And while I was at it, I switched the fabric of Bryn's play kitchen so it would match. (It used to be a purpley-blue color that can be seen HERE). I liked the old fabric, but it was also clashing a little bit. Bryn's room is kind of crazy with a lot going on, so I'm trying to make it somewhat match....if that's possible.

Here are the crib and play kitchen in the room. The room is still busy, but it actually matches a little bit better now.

(And of course...Bryn's room always looks spotless like this. Never a toy on the ground. Har har har).

I Never Mentioned...

We found a few months ago that Josh got accepted to Dartmouth College for grad school! Dartmouth (Tuck School of Business) has a really awesome MBA program and it was our very top choice of where we wanted to go, so we're really excited.

We moved to California when Bryn was about 6 weeks old, and I guess that's how it will be with this second baby, too. Baby #2 will come at the beginning of July and then we'll move back East in mid-August. If it's going to be crazy with a new baby, we might as well make it even more crazy with a cross-country move!

Valentine's with Bryn

Bryn and I have had a fun morning celebrating Valentine's Day!

I made this V-Day Envelope a couple years ago and started doing the love note tradition, but this year was really fun because she was more excited about it!

Each morning from Feb 1-Feb 14 I left Bryn a love note and a little treat or gift. It was just small things like nail polish, stickers, a coloring book, her favorite snacks, etc. Bryn was still so giddy about it each day. Holidays are so fun with her!

Here she is this morning looking for her note and treat. Don't mind her crazy hair or outfit. This is first thing in the morning with bed-head and the outfit she dressed herself in before she came out :)

Since today was the last day she got something more special: one of her favorite books: "Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, too?" by Eric Carle. Bryn was thrilled because this is one of her favorite books that we check out from the library and now she has her own copy....and the pages aren't torn or drawn on! (By the way, if you are Eric Carle fans like us: select Eric Carle books are only $5 at Kohls right now. Hardcovers).

We planned on decorating Valentine's sugar cookies today, but I chickened out and convinced Bryn to make scones instead! Sometimes making sugar cookies can turn into an all-day affair with making the dough, chilling it, rolling them out, cutting them into shapes, baking them, and frosting. It always takes longer than I think and I always eat about 25 cookies. So.....we opted for quick heart-shaped scones!

We used our favorite scone recipe from "Our Best Bites" and Bryn was my little helper in making them....and eating them!

We also got super fancy and dyed our milk pink.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Bryn...the Healer

Bryn loves to watch Josh give me my shots each morning/night and is always very concerned, asking "Does it hurt Mom? Are you going to be okay?"

She used to wrap her arms around me and try to give me hugs during the shots (super cute), but about a week ago she thought of an even better idea:

Now, after my shots Bryn puts her hand over the injection spot and starts singing the "Flower Gleam and Glow..." healing song from Tangled. It's so cute. She takes this job really seriously, but Josh and I always have to hold in the laughter. It's pretty cute.

Yum.

I made THIS for dinner tonight. It was amazing. Really really good.

It almost brought Josh to tears.

Make it!

New Beginnings

This year our New Beginnings program with the young women was focused on Christ and it was such a neat night. In November we challenged all the young women to memorize the Living Christ and we've been practicing it with them ever since.

We made each of the girls and leaders one of these Living Christ cards (12"x12") to help them memorize each section of the Living Christ. We divided the Living Christ statement into different section and each week we worked on memorizing a new section. Each Sunday we gave the girls a new card with the next section and they could velcro it to their cards. Also, each Sunday as part of our Opening Exercises in Young Womens we recited the Living Christ as a group. It took a lot of work to memorize it, but it was a neat experience for us!

We had a framed copy of the Living Christ and when each girl or leader passed off the memorization of the whole thing they could sign the mat of the frame. We displayed the frame at New Beginnings. Some girls are still working on finishing it up, so we'll be adding some more signatures, too!

(Once the girls memorized the Living Christ they could use it as a Personal Progress project for either Faith or Divine Nature. )

Our New Beginnings program celebrated their memorization of the Living Christ and talked about how Personal Progress brings the girls to Christ. Each of our eight girls talked about a different young women value and how that value brings them to Christ. My favorite part of the night was hearing the thoughts and testimonies of the girls! I love those girls!

I didn't take one picture at our actual New Beginnings night (total bummer), but these pictures are from a mutual night where we talked about Christ and issued the challenge to memorize the Living Christ.

I'm so grateful for my calling to work with these great girls!

Bryn's Wedding Dress

Bryn wore this little white dress to church on Sunday and kept telling me "Mom! I look like Marie!" (My sister who just got married) "This is going to be MY wedding dress!! Now I'm ready to get married!!"

P.S. This picture makes me laugh. Sometimes I love her goofy, awkward pictures even more than when she looks photogenic. That grin! :)

I had my 19-week ultrasound today...

And it looks like we'll be having another....

GIRL!

My siblings are boy-girl-boy-girl-boy, so I assumed that naturally we would be having a boy after Brynlee, right? Ha!

We are thrilled to have another girl and hopefully she and Bryn will be great friends!

I've been pouring over Bryn's baby pictures this afternoon and it is making me really excited for another little girl in our family. Hooray for girls!

Valentine's Tic Tac Toe

I'm trying to make lots of holiday decorations and crafts this year since I'm sure it will be harder next year with two kids! Here's a little project I made for Bryn yesterday...

Bryn loves playing Tic Tac Toe, so I made a simple Valentine's version. For the game pieces I made ten felt hearts, stitched around the edges, and stuffed them. Then for the game board I just cut two big fabric hearts, sewed them together, insided them out, and top-stitched around the edge. Then I sewed on grosgrain ribbon for the lines.

Here's a close up picture. I don't know why I felt the need for a close-up, but maybe it's for my brothers - who will surely be making their own versions of this to play with their roommates.

Then I made a little fabric bag to store the game pieces and board. I just sewed a basic bag, added the heart, and sewed ribbon to the back of the back so it can wrap around and tie in front.

Before you stuff the pieces inside it's very important to arrange them by color, right?

Tada! Here's the little sack with the game inside!

All the materials except the ribbon were from my fabric stash, so this was also a cheap-o project, too. Three Cheers! This calls for ice cream!

And the best part is that Bryn loves it and has played it over and over.