Doctor, Visiting Teaching, and the Kids Love to Cuddle

Last night I was up every hour with kids so it was hard to get going today. I was short with the kids and Jeff, which I felt bad about. It's very hard to be my best self when I'm so tired so I definitely need to work on that. But Jeff was very kind today and when he saw how I was struggling this morning he held off going to work and helped get kids ready to go and in the car since I had a doctor appointment this morning.

Once at the appointment the kids did fine, but it took awhile to get there. Lily wanted to sit in the stroller and Ryan wanted to push, the problem was that he didn't want me helping so I had to be very discreet as I tried to direct the stroller. We almost made it out of the elevator without any problems, but before I could stop Ryan he pressed the "HELP" button. So then we had to wait until the operator came on to tell him it was an accident and Ryan was in tears because we had to leave the elevator. My appointment went fine (Lily was very happy to help out with my blood pressure again) and we left with Lily wanting to measure my tummy when we got home.

My visiting teachers (Brittany Knight and Libby Blauer) came over with their boys Brady and Josh and Lily was happy to host again. Two different times she came up the stairs with a different boy to show him the bathroom and wait for him until he finished. At the end Josh left his sweater downstairs and Lily offered to go get it for him. She was very cute.

The kids both took naps (hooray!) and Jeff came home a little early to help out with kids if needed. They were still resting when he got home so he worked a bit then came up while I made dinner. Both kids were in a cuddly mood before Jeff came and Lily wanted me to hold her on my lap. Ryan thought that looked fun so he climbed on the couch and nudged his way on my lap too. We ended up having to take turns on who got to cuddle with mommy. Ryan sometimes tried to push Lily off my lap, but we eventually got our system down and then they were both done cuddling. Then they sat together at the table looking at the superheroes on the back of the cereal box again, I think it might be time to get some superhero action figures.

Jeff took the kids outside to play, which they were so excited about. They went on a walk, rode the bike and scooter, and the little car. It was a bit chilly but they don't seem to care. I'm not even sure how we got them to come back in the house. And then I was off to visit teach and Jeff bathed and got the kids ready for bed (and Ryan was in bed when I came home) so that was a wonderful break I got for the night. I came home to find Elmo reading Lily her princess books. It is so funny that she talks to him like he's a real person and when he says something wrong (like I was his mommy), she adamantly corrects him (no, she's MY mommy!). 

I downloaded the Family History Indexing program and started a batch. I have been wanting to do this for a long time so I'm very happy to have it in progress so I can work on it a few minutes at a time.

Superheroes, True Love, and Vegetarianism

The girls now have their routine when they come over: crafts and listening to Frozen. Lily was still very proud of herself for letting them sing along like she did last week. This time Ryan joined in on the crafting fun. I let him paint, but his main excitement came from dipping the brush in and out of the water. Today they made wands and Lily put eyes on her wand and said it was daddy. 

 Ryan was thrilled to hold his own banana! Usually we share a banana so I hold it, but he felt like such a big kid getting it all to himself. 

 The kids were happily eating their bananas so I asked, "are you monkeys?" Lily thoughtfully said, "no, we're not monkeys. Then what are you? We're just people!"

 Even from an early age kids love the back of cereal boxes. 

 And Ryan is especially enthralled with this one. His fascination changes between Batman, Superman, or Cyborg (who is he?). Not a Wonder Woman or Green Lantern fan.

This morning Lily asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up. She meant which superhero from the box did I want to be. I said Wonder Woman and she said that's who she wanted to be to. She said Daddy would want to be Superman, and by default that's what Ryan wants as well.

Today at school I saw Nolan's grandma (his mom just had a baby) and told her that Lily has plans to marry Nolan. She said that Nolan is smitten with Lily Baer (he never calls her Lily, just Lily Baer) and that they use her to get him to do things. "Nolan, if you don't behave you can't go to preschool and see Lily Baer." He told his mom that he loves Lily "this much" (arms spread all the way out) and that he only loves his mom "this much" (hands much closer together). Then Miss Mary chimed in and said there is a budding romance in the class and Nolan said to her, "Miss Mary, I love Lily Baer." When I picked Lily up from school she got in the car and exclaimed that she was after Nolan in the pick ups. I said, "do you love Nolan." "Yes, I really do." How does that even happen with three year olds?

Ryan had his first play date at Tara Smith's house (who is in the ward) and her son Blake who is Ryan's same age. He cried and cried when I dropped him off, but she said once they went downstairs and he saw all the cars he forgot about me. I went to the library with Lily so she could see her friend Maddie and they could go to story time. They ended up just playing the whole time and we skipped out on story time. Maddie's mom Christy is due in May with her fourth and has a 5 year old and a daughter the same age as Ryan. It was fun to talk to her and it was very nice to not have to chase Ryan around. I always forget how much I love chatting with other moms since I don't get that a whole lot, and it's neat that three of our kids are or will be the same age.

Last night for dinner Lily unexpectedly wanted to eat the chicken and broccoli we were eating. I am trying to limit the sweets in this house because both kids have a major sweet tooth and I'm tired of all the sugar around. So this was a good start. She had a bit of chicken and thought it was good but once she had the broccoli she exclaimed, " I just love being a vegetarian." That completely shocked me because we have never talked about that, but then she kept mentioning it and saying, "I'm so excited to be a vegetarian." I kept trying to find out where she heard that and then it finally came out it was from the show "Arthur." Today she happily ate some broccoli and mentioned the same thing about being happy to be a vegetarian. I asked what kind of food vegetarians eat and she said "vegetables from the garden." In an effort to get her to drink water, since she doesn't ever want to drink it, I told her water is what vegetarians drink. She said it's not, that vegetarians drink coffee. Oh boy, I'm going to have to start watching what she watches so I can know where she's getting her information. We have talked about the Word of Wisdom and I kept trying to remind her that we don't drink coffee, but in her mind it goes right along with vegetarianism so she couldn't quite grasp the commandment not to have it (even though in the past we have discussed at length that we don't drink coffee or tea, only herbal tea and she has been on board with it).

Jeff is so wonderful and when he comes home he is all about the kids. He helps out so much and not only does it give me a break but by the time they're in bed the house has been cleaned up from the day and dishes are done so I don't have to stay up late doing that. Tonight Ryan wanted to read books in bed with Lily too. Then Jeff became Elmo and the kids loved that. Ryan started trying to pretend he was Elmo too. Jeff said Lily gives out a lot of information and let him do a lot of things (like wipe her nose) when he was Elmo. She just likes chatting it up. I hope this tactic still works when she's a teenager so she'll talk to us. Ryan was absolutely wild tonight and kept jumping on Jeff in a truly crazy manner. He is so funny and when he's energized it is this overwhelming burst of energy. We have had to let him cry to sleep the last couple nights to re-train him for sleeping since he got all sorts of bad habits when he was sick. But tonight's crying was shorter than last nights and he did sleep the whole night so we are hoping changes are coming. Both Jeff and I realized we have to get more sleep before we welcome a newborn into the family.

Happy Monday

Saturday we just hung out, rested, went to the park, and went shopping. Lily looked a bit wild with her princess dress, leggings, and crazy hair, but that's how we roll sometimes.

 Enjoying watching all the ducks at the lake and carefully dodging all their poop. 

Yesterday we had ward conference. Jeff was asked on Thursday to get the choir and youth together to sing a song for sacrament (problem is, there is no choir and it was obviously very last minute). He asked if he could have the sister missionaries sing but was told that once the stake president has his mind made up it's hard to change it. But, it turned out the stake president approved the song so Friday night the sisters came over and they put together the musical number. It was the EFY version of "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" and they did a great job and many people were touched. I definitely felt like that performance brought the spirit in much more readily than a thrown together choir performance, so we were grateful it all worked out.

I made a visit to a family with a counselor in the stake primary presidency and then I got to teach Valiant 9. It was so fun to teach again and since I am fairly new in the ward I don't many of the kids. It was great to get to know them a bit better rather than just standing up and doing sharing time. If I am not doing sharing time or conducting I want to sub some more just so I can get to know the kids better. I really do love the kids and it is fun serving in Primary. Ryan was having a hard time and the nursery brought him in to me but since I was teaching they didn't want to disturb me. Nancy, the Primary secretary, just took him and held him for about 20 minutes, and he did fall asleep on her a bit. Then Jeff took him third hour and he slept on his chest the whole time. Jeff said he got really, really hot. He has been kind of sick lately and not been sleeping well at night so poor little boy was exhausted.

I went on a walk with the kids since they were itching to go out. Lily rode her little tricycle and when we passed a girl on her porch (about Lily's same age), Lily said, "Hi girl. We're going on a walk. What's your name? My name's Lily." The girl just looked at us and didn't say anything, but I did hear her ask her dad if she could go on a walk. Lily loves being social and was very sad when the girl was in her house on the way back. Lily also wanted to walk up to homes and knock on the doors to see if anyone was home. She used to like to do that in Virginia, I guess she feels better knowing her neighbors. Ryan enjoyed walking for a bit and then wanted to walk off the sidewalk and into the street. So I ended up carrying him since he was dangerous.

We were home taught last night and I think that is only the second since living in Colorado. It was nice to be visited and Brother Preece brought his son Collin (6) over as well and Lily and he had a fun time playing, so it was a good night.

During the night Ryan struggled sleeping again. Jeff was up with him (which was so nice!) but then around 1am he started crying some crazy cries so I went in with Jeff. We eventually brought him out in the front room and he just wanted to be held or play a little bit. We were getting ready to put him back in bed when I went to get a drink. That reminded Ryan what he wanted so he went to his room, got an empty bottle and put it on the counter next to the microwave. For not talking much he sure communicates what he wants. So after his bottle he slept the rest of the night.

After dropping Lily off at school I held Ryan's hand and we walked back to the car. A man was walking his son to school and said, "now that is really cute." He just loved seeing Ryan walking, and it was pretty cute. We were almost to the car when Ryan had to stop. He had discovered this tiny little toy jewel on the ground and had to pick it up. I know it's sparkly, but I was still surprised he could see it. He does that at home too. He finds all the little pieces of trash or food on our floor and happily brings it to us or throws it away. You think your floor is clean until you have a toddler.

Ryan doesn't like sitting in his booster chair anymore so we took it off. Apparently once it's on the floor it's fun to sit in though. 

Can you tell who I invited shopping with me on Saturday? The answer is Jeff. 

 I got a Minnie Mouse puzzle from the dollar store and while I was trying to help Ryan Lily started the puzzle. She kept asking for help but Ryan was having such a hard time I had to focus on him. All of sudden I look over and she only has two pieces left. She did the whole thing by herself, right out of the bag! I was so impressed with her and she was very pleased too. Problem was, since it's a dollar store puzzle, it's a little cut off so Lily was really concerned when the puzzle didn't match the picture on the box.

As I said, Ryan has been having a hard time. Tonight one of the few things that made him happy was sitting in the car with daddy listening to music. Lily loved doing this too when she was his age. 

 Jeff reading Lily the part when Laman and Lemuel hit Nephi with some sticks. She was very concerned. She wanted Jeff to read this chapter to her three times.

 My new favorite thing! I discovered on Pinterest a way to store all my art supplies....with a shoe holder! I love it and now my counters and drawers have less clutter and it's all so much more accessible.

Getting Married

The other day Lily said, "when I grow up, I am going to marry Nolan. Maybe Miss Mary will move him so he can sit by me, that would be nice. Do you love Nolan Bubba? Yes, or no? Yes?" Nolan is in her preschool class and apparently she loves him because she has mentioned this two days in a row. It started because she wanted to marry Macy but I said we don't marry girls and we don't marry cousins. So she settled on perhaps being her roommate at BYU when they get older.

Jeff came up the stairs to find these two holding hands. 

 Lily essentially did this whole 48 piece puzzle by herself. I helped with a few pieces (which she probably would have figured out if I hadn't come over), I was so proud of her!

Another sick day

We were all set to go to open gym at the rec center so Lily could play with her preschool friend, but Ryan had a rough night and then threw up and had a runny nose/cough so we ended up staying home the whole day. Luckily our Kiwi Crate came and we had fun doing some art projects.

This firefly was cute and floats on a zipline with a glow stick inside. It turns out this project was designed by someone from our home ward in Salt Lake.

And of course Lily loves anything that involves painting. 

Ryan got into sponge painting too. 

Watching Frozen videos, which kept them entertained for awhile. 

Since Lily saw some Frozen music vidoes she was very theatrical this afternoon and we took turns singing the parts of Elsa and Anna. And when we weren't doing it she had her dolls taking parts. She knows the music really well and even puts some emotion in it. This girl is a performer. 

Jeff came home tonight after being gone since Monday and the kids were so excited to see him. Poor Ryan has been feverish and not himself, but his eyes still lit up when he saw his dad. Jeff came home in time for me to go to Enrichment and I had a great time with the other women. It was a "favorite things party" and I gave away Suppressmints.  Then Jeff went to his basketball game (which he won) and now it's time for bed!

A Sweet Prayer

This morning Lily gave a very sweet prayer on her own. It was actually quite long and I was very impressed with all the things she thought to pray for. She prayed for baby Oliver, who is in the hospital right now, to get better, and that Granny Dot can help Dee (who is out visiting to help with Oliver). She prayed that she and Bubby can be kind, loving, and gentle, and she prayed for Daddy. I didn't want it to end it was such a tender little moment.

Ryan is trying to speak so much now and it's very cute because after you sneeze he will say, "bless you," and he also says "thank you." He's such a polite boy. After he figured out how to climb on Lily's bed (he used Lily's box of princess books to step on), Lily said, "Mommy, Bubby's growing up. He's getting so big." Such a proud big sister.

When I picked Lily up from school today she was so distraught. She didn't get called on by her teacher to share about her French flag today. I told her she could get a chance to share on Friday, but she could not be consoled. We had to say many prayers on the drive home that she could feel better and that Miss Mary would call on her on Friday. I felt so sad for her because she was very excited to bring her flag and talk about France. She was going to say she chose France because her ancestors are from there and her Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle were missionaries there. France has castles, the Eiffel Tower and she likes French ballet and the artist Monet (we watched some videos on those last two things and she liked them so I figured it was okay for her to say that). I never wanted to go first for a presentation, she definitely takes after Jeff.
 
This is the second day in a row that Ryan has woken up from his nap with a very messy diaper that has gone up his back. He is very distressed too, it's so sad. I quickly got him cleaned up and bathed so I could pick Lily up from school. It was such a beautiful day that we were going to the park. Lily needed to use the restroom so we made a stop at home first. She insisted she go in by herself and was adamant I stay in the car. I managed to come in to help get her situated but then she did everything on her own, she was very proud. After being at the park 15 minutes she had to go again. I should have known this would be poo poo and just put a diaper on her, but I thought she could make it (the restrooms were closed for the season since it's the park by the lake). Well, she didn't make it so that was another poopy mess to clean. On the bright side I felt like I kept my cool really well and both kids were bathed by 4:15 and now I've done lots of laundry today! I thought Ryan was teething since he's had a runny nose and not been really interested in food and has had diarrhea, but Lily was so cold after her bath that she just laid in bed to get warm and is now asleep at 6:15. I sure hope they aren't getting sick again.

A Crafty Day

Bethany and Rachel came over today, like they do every Tuesday, while their sister goes to music class with their mom. I had just bought some construction paper so the girls spent the morning doing art, listening to "Frozen," and loving it. I was able to get some baking done so it was a win-win. Lily was so proud of her accomplishments, it was great seeing them all busy being creative together. I was also so happy that this week Lily let Bethany and Rachel join in singing "Frozen" music with her. Last week she wanted to just put on a show without any sing-along helpers, but this week she repeatedly encouraged the girls to sing with her, though they don't have the soundtrack so they only know a little. I think Lily just needs some time to let things sink in because I didn't even have to coach her to tell them they could sing too.

Some of her art, including the French flag we made for her school project. Lily likes to use a lot of colored glue, but all the squiggles have some meaning, either an animal or a person. So there was a lot happening in these pictures.

And Ryan just likes to be my helper. Emptying the dishwasher is a favorite activity. 

Lily likes to bring home her church lessons

Today at church I did sharing time, which was about being made in the image of God. One of the activities was to have a song played on the piano and when it stopped the person who had the dice would roll it. On each side of the dice was a word that referred to a body part and the children had to share how we treat that or I would share a story from The Friend or New Era about someone making good choices with that body part (mouth, hands, feet, etc). When we came home from church Lily had "a great idea." It involved her playing the piano and Jeff and me passing the dice between us. When she stopped playing whoever had it would roll the dice and she'd jump off the bench to see what the word was. It's nice to know she got something out of church.

 I guess at school they wear a "leader" vest, but since we don't have one Lily decided wearing a diaper on the back was close enough. Jeff always gets to be the first leader. 

Ryan loves posing for Lily's photos. 

Lily wanted to find all the zoo pictures that had just her in them and then she took pictures of those pictures. 

Before church Lily was lying on my bed and Jeff was tickling her and she said, "no daddy, you're hurting the baby." And then, "my tummy is growing so big, just like mommy's." I hope she's not disappointed when I'm the only one who brings a baby home from the hospital.

Ryan seems to love nursery. When I went in to talk to some of the teachers he was happily sitting at the table with the other kids eating his snack. Reaching the 18 month milestone is so exciting at church since he has much more fun being in nursery than in the halls and his parents have so much more fun paying attention to the lessons.

My mom sent a Valentine's package with some cards and money. Lily excitedly put the money in her new bank, some for "fun", some for "tithing," and some for "mission." I'm happy to get her in the habit of paying tithing and saving up. I think we will start a weekly allowance now too since she is always happy to help with chores and it will be great to continue this lesson of saving and tithing.

Lazy Day

We had such a busy day yesterday at the zoo that today with Jeff working we kept it pretty low key. But when Jeff came home the kids wanted to go outside to play in the snow (which they haven't done for a long time, but I think since they were outside so much yesterday they felt a little stifled being inside all day today). Lily was very sweet with Ryan and helped him walk in the snow. She then started throwing rocks and that looked like fun so Ryan started throwing them too. Unfortunately at one point he got stuck in the snow....not really, but he didn't feel like he could walk in his boots so he just stood in his spot and cried until someone came to help him move. He was also happy to echo everything Lily was saying, he is trying to talk and communicate and we are so impressed by all the words he says and tries to say!

Ryan loves playing in plastic bins, it's one of his happy places. 

Jeff was very kind tonight and could see how tired I was when he came home from working. He helped clean up, played with the kids, and bathed them! Plus, he went with the missionaries to teach a part member family whom he home teaches (they live 40 minutes away) and the appointment lasted a really long time so he had a long day. How grateful I am for a loving and supportive husband that put my needs first even when he would have loved to have a break after a long day. Oh, and I forgot to mention that he helped clean the church this morning!

Zoo Day!

Jeff finally got a day off of work! He has been working so much lately so this was a cherished day to get to go on an outing together. We both needed NUCCA adjustments so we picked Diana up in the morning and took her to the chiropractor with us. I told Lily that this doctor is the kind of doctor that Uncle Darin is going to be, and maybe we will call him Dr. Darin, or Dr. DeVore. When we were leaving she said, "I want to see Darin!" I told her we'd have to take an airplane to see him and she was very upset and then kept saying, "but I want to see Dr. Darin!" It was very cute, but I felt bad for not explaining clearly that Darin wasn't going to be there.

We then went to the zoo and funnily enough I have been there lots of times with the kids and Jeff has been with the kids, but we have never been there together with the kids, so it was our first family zoo outing. It has been so cold lately that we were happy to get out of the house, though it was still a bit chilly. Diana was of course a wonderful helper as always and was the photographer of the day, so we appreciated her a lot. The kids loved the animals, and it's so fun because Ryan is now at an age where he can see them and get excited about them. He walked so much that day, we were very proud of his now excellent walking skills.

 Neither of them spent too much time in this stroller.

A happy family looking at wolves together. 

The baby leopard, "Sochi," was so cute and the mom was very playful. Though we noticed she tended to get bitten a lot by Sochi, the life of a mother. 

The highlight for Ryan of any exhibit was the climbing potential. He loved hanging on the rail in front of the tigers. 

This tiger seems a bit bored of the zoo if you ask me.  

 Nana and Ryan taking a stroll by the giraffes.

See, he's climbing again. 

Tropical Discovery is a favorite place for the kids, especially for Ryan because all the fish were at his eye level.

Tropical Discovery also means a lot of back pictures of us. 

The male shows off for the female and the other male nips at him. Jeff enjoyed watching this encounter, it's a guy thing I guess.

The other highlight for Jeff was the sea lions. I think he could have stayed there all day watching them play underwater. It really is pretty cool to watch animals do their thing. 

Lily was having a tea party inside this little house. She wouldn't leave because she was waiting for her friends to come to the party. There was a steady flow of kids for a bit, but even after they all left she wanted to be vigilant and wait for any new friends to come. Always the hostess.

Ryan leaving the tea party. 

Once he started pushing that stroller, he didn't want to stop.

Once Lily started driving, she didn't want to stop. I sense a theme with these two, they like to be in control and they like to drive. 

He was one tired little boy...every body part was limp when you lifted it up. 

After the zoo Ryan napped and Lily stayed with Diana and Jeff and I went to a movie. We saw, "The Lego Movie." If anyone who reads this actually liked that movie, we'd love to talk with you. We just couldn't quite understand how it got such high ratings, so we are very curious to hear what we missed. We assumed it was a generational thing, meaning that we are very old. 

And after the movie it was a Baer family Costco night. Sarah and Lily read Princess books the whole time on the patio furniture, 

and Lily was very opinionated about her fashion choices.

Ryan was just happy to ride on and push Mama Baer's cart.

It was very sweet when Ryan's eyes lit up when he saw Papa come in the store. Nothing makes you feel better than a child being excited to see you. And at the end of the night Jeff picked Ryan up to hold him and Ryan just wanted to be held. He never cuddles for a long time but it was such a sweet thing to witness and Jeff loved it, a precious moment to cap off a great day!

Ryan loves walking with a friend in each hand.