The Events of March (and April)

I was thinking of posting on April 1st that the birds had got me, but I decided against it.

So what have we been up to? Perhaps we should sail back in time to March. . .

-Julia went hiking in Zion! She firmly declared that she would not be carried, and walked the entire Riverside Walk (2 miles round trip) by herself. What a trooper! And as I recall, she was even wearing her big girl panties, and used the potty at the park. Double tropper!

-Lots of dessert! Probably too much, but who cares? Thanks to one of my bountiful baskets (and if you haven't checked it out yet, you really should), we had some delicious strawberries. So I bought some whipping cream, baked some shortcakes, and voila! We had Strawberry Shortcake. We had it again for Easter Sunday, because I like it that much.

Fancy, no? Just looking at it makes my mouth water . . .

-Clark has been playing the Ukelele! A lot! We enjoy the serenades. As a general rule, Julia just wants to participate. So when Dad gets the little guitar, she runs to get the big guitar.

-Cupcake Picnics! I made a batch of pink cupcakes one day (with pink sprinkles!) and Julia and I had a picnic every day until they were gone. I'd say, "Julia, what should we do now?" And she's say, "Eat cupcakes outside!" And so we would. And she would continually comment, "It's very nice out here today."

Also this picture tells you that I finally pulled out our dead tomato plants from last year's garden, and that our rosebushes are out. of. control. If the birds don't get us, the rosebushes might. Send help.

-Easter egg hunts! This first round of pictures is still technically from March. We were visiting Clark's parents (for Steve's 60th birthday [Happy Birthday, Steve!]), and Jessica decided to set out some eggs for the girls to find. Here you see Julia, in her Easter dress, hunting for eggs with Lauren. Good times!






Ahh, cousins.
And then, as if that wasn't enough, the Easter bunny came to OUR HOUSE last Saturday! Oh boy, Julia was excited about that one. He sprinkled jelly beans on the piano, hid eggs inside and out, and brought "candy birds" (peeps). Julia was on sugar overload from stuffing all those jellybeans right into her mouth.

I love that we have multiple shots of Julia gesturing, "Where are the eggs?" I also love her crazy bedhead.

And the obvious fun we've had with sidewalk chalk.

Lots of candy!

-Dying eggs! The Lowes were kind enough to invite us over for some egg dying (wow, I almost typed eye dying. . . ) and Wii. Just look at all the pretty colors:

And this was my personal favorite egg:

Uh, does anyone know how long hard boiled eggs last? Cause we've got a lot of them, and I WILL NOT get sick off of them. I've puked enough in the last 4 months, thank you very much.

-Oh, yeah, I'm still pregnant. Just plugging along, trying to ignore the heartburn, fatigue, and big fat stomach. But thoroughly enjoying all the little kicks I feel throughout the day. Honestly, I don't mind being pregnant now that the puking is done. All my pregnancy symptoms seem fairly minor to that awful first trimester. At my last appointment my doctor told me I didn't have to come back for 2 weeks, which is delightful news (I've been in there every week since I was 6 weeks along). We're still praying that the high risk nature of this pregnancy will stay at the "risk" level and not bump up to "heart failure" (that sounds pretty dramatic, doesn't it?). So far so good, and I have every reason to believe it will stay that way.

-Julia has ups and downs with the potty training. Last week she had 6 out of 7 days with zero accidents. Monday and Tuesday of this week were no good - accidents of the worst kind abounded. Highs and lows. But overall, I think she's improving. She just needs to remember to go to the potty, and I need to be better about reminding her. We've worked out a system where she gets treats, and that seems to work pretty darn well. If she refuses to go sit on the potty, and she obviously needs to go, I remind her that if she poops in the potty she gets a chocolate treat, and that sends her running to the bathroom. The chocolate treats are especially persuasive.

-And last, but not least, a video! Julia says goodnight to her clothes every night before turning off the light, and for some reason she decided to specifically bid adieu to her "bummies" (I believe this was in reference to her pull-ups, or maybe her swim diapers, I'm not entirely sure, Clark could clarify). It has become a bit of a family joke around here, and makes all 3 of us bust up laughing when we say it. Especially when Julia says it. The voice is classic.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And that, my friends, catches you up. Whew, I'm exhausted! I think I'll go take a nap.