Lots to say

-First and foremost, Kate can crawl! She's been crawling all week, but she doesn't do it for very long. She'll take a few "steps", then drop to her tummy and scoot, then roll to her back and start cruising (and usually bang her head into the wall because she didn't see it coming)! So the back is still her preferred method, but she's getting a little bit better every day. Good thing, because soon her hair will rub off and her head will resemble that of an old man's.
-She's also starting to talk a little more. She's been able to say da-da and ma-ma for quite a while now (though she only says ma-ma when she's crying), but she can make lots of other sounds now and she can also say Ada! She does love that sister of hers.

-Speaking of Ada, she has been a little pill lately. She likes to freak out at random moments, and hasn't been as nice to Kate as usual. I think she gets a little jealous when I focus my attention on Kate. I've been a little bit troubled about this, so Tyler had a great idea. On Tuesday night he told me to take Ada out to do something fun. At first she just wanted Daddy to take her, but we went and had fun. We went out for frozen yogurt and then went to the dollar store. I think she had fun, and I had fun just being with her. Last night was also great. Tyler watched both girls while I went to book club. It was a good night for that. I had some much-needed time away.
-Today Kate learned how to cover her eyes to play peek-a-boo. So cute!

-Ada is so funny. Here are a few recent gems:

"I better put it away so Kate doesn't joke."
"I need to eat my cereal so it doesn't get foggy."
Tyler: "I'm not dying to go walk around the mall." Ada: "Daddy, don't die!"
"Mommy, what does it mean to be angry?"
-Next week we are going to Disneyland! Ada is going to die from excitement.

-Tuesday's AI show was one of my all-time favorites. Everyone did an awesome job, with the grand finale by Adam. I can't wait to see what he comes up with every week.

-I recently gave Ada her first haircut. I straightened her hair one day and decided she really needed a trim. Well, it ended up being more than a trim, but it is still curly. Pictures are still on the camera.

-Two weekends ago I attended the best GNO with my in-laws. Tyler's mom took us to get pedicures, eat dinner, and see Wicked! It was such a fun night, and so nice of her.

Disappointment

Dear Jazz:

Oh, Jazz. When Larry died, I thought that maybe this would be your year. Win one for Larry! The beginning of the season was plagued with injuries, but when everyone finally came together, you just didn't have it in you. You lost at home to the 'wolves and the lowly Warriors and ended up with a #8 seed. Oh great. The Lakers. There's only one team I loathe more. I guess that even if you'd had a higher seed and won, you still would have ended up playing the Lakers. And lost.

Booz: What happened to you this season? You used to be my favorite player. You played with so much passion, intensity, and emotion. You showed sparks of that in game 3, but that's about it. Will you even be on the team next year?

D-Will: You struggled, and last night were outplayed by a 3rd-stringer. You redeemed yourself with the game-winner in game 3, but overall, it wasn't enough. You're still my favorite player. I hope the rest of the team can come to want it as badly as you do.

I still love ya. At least you didn't get swept. Better luck next year.

Love, Al

Random

-I forgot to mention some things in some previous posts. About Ada: during the fiasco where I locked my keys in the car, I was frantically searching through my purse and she said very hopefully, "Maybe a Mouseketool can help us!" About Kate: She LOVES babies, real and fake. If I show her a doll, she gets so excited and immediately grabs it and hugs it. She hugs a doll when she goes to sleep. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen.

-We bought a new TV last week. I'm still not sure what to think about it. It's huge. We don't really need it. I'm still getting used to it. But we had money saved up for one and got a good deal. We'll just have to have lots of parties at our house so we can get our money's worth.

-I wish I was a neat freak. I'm working on it. You know you struggle with cleaning when your husband comes home to a clean house and says, "Whoa! Is someone coming over?" I've never been the cleanest person, although I don't like living in clutter. It doesn't help that I've been exhausted for the last 9 months. Kate has been sleeping better lately, so hopefully I can step up my game.

-Ada is totally a Daddy's Girl. When he's home, he has to do EVERYTHING for her. She won't let me do anything. A few weeks ago at church I went to pick her up from nursery and as soon as she saw me she threw a huge tantrum and said she wanted Daddy. I had to leave and let Tyler come get her. She always says that she doesn't like Mommy. At random times during the day, she'll say, "I just like Daddy and Kate." But today after saying that, she did add, "I love Mommy too!" I haven't been taking her so-called dislike for me seriously, but I was very happy to hear that.

-Kate is tiny. Ada was by no means big at 9 months, and she weighed almost two pounds more than Kate does! Kate, however, is longer/taller. Crazy.

-I suppose that since the cat's out of the bag, I should say a word or two about Idol. Part of the show really bugs me (mostly the beginning half of the season), but I still find myself eager to watch each week. I don't think I like the changes this season. Stick with the top 24 so we can get a chance to see people more than just once. Also, get rid of Kara. Sometimes she's okay, but overall she bugs. The show has too much talking as it is. You'd think that after seven full seasons you'd could make sure you don't routinely run out of time each week. I was ticked that Adam's performance was cut short last week. And as if the show doesn't have enough drama, they add all this crap before they pick top 36 like the 'Judges' Mansion'. It's like they're trying to be like The Bachelor or something. My favorite part of the show is the top 12 (or 13). I like seeing the different genres each week. I like it when it's, say, Country Week and someone like Adam sings Ring of Fire and makes it sound nothing like a country song. He's my favorite. I really liked Jorge and wish he had been on the show longer. Same for Alexis. I like Kris and Danny, and even though she's weird, I like Allison. Lil? Gotta go. She can sing, but can't pick a good song. Anoop? Likable guy, but I don't like his taste in music. He has had some good performances though. Anyway, there ya have it. That was a lot of words.

An eventful weekend

Our weekend was jam-packed with fun. Things started off right with a Nacho party at my brother's house on Friday night. We watched Nacho Libre and ate nachos and corn-on-the-cob-on-a-stick (with paprika but thankfully no mayo). It was our first time seeing the show and it's hilarious! It seems like one of those that will get more funny each time you see it. One of the highlights of the night was seeing my mom laugh until she cried while Nacho sang the song he wrote about Encarnacion.


On Saturday we bought and planted some flowers and then headed up to Layton for an egg hunt at the Squire house. Tyler's parents hide lots of money in eggs and it's every man for himself to see who gets the most. Tyler and I historically come out on top, but this year we came in dead last with a whopping $13 combined. But hey, it's better than nothing, and it was kind of fun to run around in the mud. There was a separate hunt in the basement for the kids and Ada loved finding all the dark pink eggs. Tyler's mom is very generous and we had a great time.


Sunday, of course, was Easter. The Bunny left some goods downstairs before church. Church was great. I accompanied the ward choir in sacrament meeting and Ada learned about the resurrection in nursery and told Tyler all about it. After church we went to my grandparents' house for dinner and my grandma hid eggs outside for Ada and Ella. Ada has WAY too much candy and has been eating it like crazy. Nonetheless, the weekend was great.










Perhaps the biggest event of all is the engagement of my sister Abby. We've known she was getting married for a few weeks now (she already has her dress and they already have the temple and reception center reserved), but it became official on Sunday. Her ring is really pretty. She just got home from her mission March 5, but they dated before both of their missions and this has come as no surprise. I'm so excited for my baby sister, who doesn't seem old enough to be getting married (although she's older than I was). Congrats to the happy couple, and welcome to the family, Scott!

Did I hear a niner in there?

Kate is now 9 months old. I love this age. I wish she could stay nine months forever! She's so active and fun, but she still lets me hold her and cuddle. I am so in love with her. She still can't crawl, even though she's getting close. She still prefers so scoot on her back, and she moves all around the house now! We had to buy a gate for the stairs. She loves to point, clap, give fivers, dance, babble, take baths, and play. One of her favorite things to do is take her binkie out of her mouth and try and put it in yours. She thinks it's so funny! She's the sweetest thing ever. She is finally starting to sleep better at night and usually sleeps past 8:00. HALLELUJAH!

She went in for her 9 month check-up today. She's still a long, tiny little thing. 8th percentile for weight, 91st for height! She only weighs 16 pounds, but she loves to eat! She sometimes grunts for food like Ada used to. She's so easy and fun and I'm sad that she's getting so big!

A shopping trip gone bad

Yesterday was an interesting day. The girls and I took a trip back to the Village to hang out with Rachel and her boys. We had fun, especially since her boys are the same age as our girls. After I left, I decided to stop by Old Navy in Sugarhouse because I had a really good coupon that expired soon. I got Ada a dress and found a few things in the clearance section for myself (capris for $2! Who cares if they're fuchsia?). As I was looking through a clothing rack, I heard Ada say, "I want to wear the Daisy ones." Uh-oh. I knew by "the Daisy ones" that she meant her Daisy Duck underwear, and she only wants to wear her Daisy Duck underwear when her first choice is soiled. Sure enough, her pants were wet and there was a puddle under the shopping cart. Crap. I hurried and purchased my goods and rushed to the car, grateful that I'd packed an extra pair of pants and underwear. I changed her and then realized that I'd been overcharged for my clearance items. So we trudged back to the store, got my $6.41 back, and headed back, only to discover that I did not have my keys. For the first time in my life, I had locked my keys in the car. Not a good time for that. Luckily Tyler works downtown, and luckily I still had my purse with me, so I called him to come rescue us. We had to wait for him to finish a project, so we killed time in a pet store and Jamba Juice. It is now a very humorous story, but at the time I was completely frustrated. Everything turned out as well as it could have though. Kate even fell asleep in her car seat while we were waiting. Thanks to Tyler for coming to unlock the car.

No thanks to Michigan State who decided not to show up last night. Sheesh. UNC again? Give me a break. I ended up taking 2nd place in the Squire family bracket and 3rd in the Dickson's. So close!

Comin' out of the closet

I've decided it's time to publicly make a confession: I love American Idol. As you may know, I'm somewhat of a music snob, so I didn't care much for the show at first. Tyler really got into it not long after we got married and I slowly came around with him. I've been a closet fan for several years now. Until now. It doesn't fit with my music tastes, but I'm addicted. I can't miss a show. I anticipate it every week and get excited when it comes on. Sure there are lots of things that bug me about it, but overall it's one of my favorite shows. That says a lot because it's pretty much the only show I watch these days.

Ada was so cute when we watched this week's performances. When they announced Danny's performance, we told her it was Danny Gokey. When he started singing, she said, "That's you, Daddy. Daddy Gokey!" She did the same thing for me when Allison Iraheta came on. Tyler paused the show for a minute and she said, "Daddy, turn back American Idol!" Then when Scott started performing, she ran downstairs and started playing the piano. When I went down to watch, she stopped, pulled out her pretend mic, and started singing and dancing. It was so cute.

This year I don't really hate any of the contestants (it's a good thing Tatiana didn't make it). I predict that Adam, Danny, and Kris will be the final three. I think Adam will win it all. I really like him, although this week's performance wasn't my fave. I loved his Ring of Fire performance. He's amazing! Now that my secret is revealed, I may throw in some Idol commentary here and there. You're forewarned.