Shtuff

-I am through with the Family Letters.  They were changing the dynamic of my blog.  Since I don't have time to both blog and write weekly letters, the letters must go.  I choose to blog.  I changed the look and the play list a bit if anyone cares to see.

-Lyla is seven (!) months old.  She rolls from tummy to back and back to tummy, sits up like a champ, eats lots of solid foods, babbles (mama, dada, baba, nana, lala, ella...), claps, waves, gives 5's, and has the cutest smile around.  Now if only she would sleep through the night...

-Yes, I've been sleep deprived.  In fact, I've sort of felt like a zombie the last seven months.  Lyla usually wakes up around twice a night and has lately been waking up really early as well.  Last night gave me hope, though.  She woke up but cried herself back to sleep without me getting out of bed.  I fed her at 5:00 AM and then she slept past 8:30. 

-Kate still wakes up in the night.  We weaned her from sleeping in our bed and rewarded her with a Rapunzel doll and a trip to Kangaroo Zoo.  After a while she started wandering into our bed again.  When she stays in her own bed, she still wakes up and yells for us to fix her blankets.  She refuses to sleep under her covers; she will only let us put one specific blanket over her and she doesn't know how to cover herself with it after it falls off.  Besides the sleep deprivation, Kate is my biggest trial right now.  She is a feisty one!

-Ada and Kate are so different.  Ada is independent, shy, and likes to keep to herself.  Kate asks for help with everything, is outgoing, and loves to cuddle.  Ada has been getting herself dressed since she was two; Kate still needs help every day.  Ada has never allowed us to wipe her after using the toilet; Kate asks for help every time.  Kate always says that she doesn't know how to do stuff, not in a down-on-herself way, but just matter-of-factly.  Ada was so hard at ages two and three (and four...); Kate is ridiculously hard at three. 

-Mother's Day was a great day.  Tyler let me sleep in and made cinnamon rolls from scratch for breakfast.  He ended up making two batches because he thought the first batch wasn't going to turn out.  It did, so we had cinnamon rolls all week.  (We ate breakfast around noon.  After several hours in the kitchen he was pretty tired so I made the frosting.)  He did dishes and cleaned up.  He did all this while having to be in charge of church stuff.  The Elders Quorum took over in Primary that day, so Tyler had to get everything ready for that.  He also was in charge of putting together and handing out the gifts to all the women at church.  We each received a bag with a packet of forget-me-not seeds, a copy of President Uchtdorf's talk, and some chocolate.  We ate dinner at the in-laws' house that evening.  Tyler's dad broke out the marshmallow shooters and the kids were having fun playing with them.  Tyler was shooting mallows at Kate, trying to get them in her mouth.  Lyla decided that it was the funniest thing ever and laughed hard every time Tyler shot.  It was the cutest, funniest thing!  She giggles a lot, but this was like a video you'd see on YouTube.  I loved it!  For dessert, we ate this cake that Morgan and I made.  It was also Morgan's birthday, so this was her cake of choice.  It is a very intimidating recipe, so we split it up and then got together Saturday night to assemble it.  It so thick and dense it had to be cut with an electric knife!  It was really rich and intense.  We've come up with a few modifications if we ever decide to venture into that territory again.

-Tyler purchased his dream car a few weeks ago.  You can read about it on his blog.  He has been talking about this car for years.  He's really not a car person, but he became obsessed fascinated with the technology of the Volt.  It's different than a hybrid in that is runs exclusively on electric for 40 or so miles before kicking into gas.  His office is not very far from our house, so he can charge it overnight and doesn't have to use any gas.  It's pretty cool, with a huge touch screen and everything.  It's also fun to drive.  I'm just glad that his dream car is a Chevy and not a Maserati or something in that ballpark!  (Funny side note: I overheard Ada tell a friend that her dad got a new car.  She said, "He's been dreaming about it!"  I guess that is her interpretation of a dream car!)

-Another funny thing from Ada: one day she just randomly said to me, "Mommy, some people want to be a mom with big boobs."  I had to suppress a laugh.  I thought she'd heard that from school but she hesitantly told me that her cousin Sophie said that.  Hopefully I can teach her that there are much more important things than having big boobs (and frankly, if she's anything like her mother, she will be gravely disappointed if that's what she's expecting).

-Kate is always saying funny things.  A few I can remember:
     -I was helping her put things away in her room and she picked up a stuffed Donald Duck and said,  "What about this feathered friend?"
     -She saw some neighbor girls playing outside, opened the door, and yelled, "Do you guys have a mind of your owns?"
     -While I was busy feeding Lyla, she went into the bathroom to pee.  Right after she closed the door she started yelling something.  I couldn't tell what she was saying and started to panic, thinking she peed on the floor.  I ran in, only to find her sitting on the toilet.  When I asked what she said, her reply was, "Pumpernickel!" 

-Ada's ballet recital was last week.  Bountiful School of Ballet does an entire ballet for their recitals and this year it was The Sea Fantasy.  Ada and her classmates were clown fish.  She loved dressing up and wearing makeup, but her days as a ballerina are over.  She just didn't like going to class every week.  I have Ada and Kate both signed up for soccer in the fall, so we'll see if we can get a better response from that.

-I've started walking at night with some neighbors.  We walk at least three miles and try to improve our pace each time.  It's been good for me to get off my butt!  Hopefully I can finally shed some baby weight.

-Finally, some random pictures from my phone:

Sister tubby time!

Wearing their Mardi Gras beads from Ang & Hyrum

Tyler's masterpiece

Ada modeling her costume (more pics to come)

I  found this "wedding cake" that the girls created

Love that tongue!

Kate got a cold sore and wanted a Band-Aid over it

Lyla just loves her sisters

Holidays

Halloween:






Thanksgiving:









Christmas:

Family Letter -- end of February-mid-March

The family letters aren't going so well.  I may change the way I do them a little bit.  For now I'm going to summarize our latest big events and give an update on the girls.

On March 1, Tyler, Lyla, and I flew to Houston.  Tyler had some airline vouchers that were about to expire and we were glad to have an excuse to take a trip.  Our parents and Morgan & Jordan took turns watching Ada and Kate while we were gone.  We had an enjoyable time with Ang & Hyrum.  The first night we went to dinner and hung out.  The next day we drove to San Antonio.  We visited the Alamo and the River Walk, where we ate at a barbeque restaurant.  Their friend Barb had just purchased a house in Austin but hadn't moved in yet so she graciously let us stay there that night.  The next day we went shopping.  Ang wanted to go to Madewell (a women's clothing store) since their Austin location is one of only a few in the country.  We went to a mall and after eating lunch and walking around realized that is was the wrong place!  There was no Madewell in that mall.  After much debate, we drove to the mall that actually had the store and Ang & I ended up making purchases.  We drove back to Houston and Tyler and I decided to see if we could get into the Radiohead concert at the Toyota Center (where the Rockets play).  They are my favorite band and I've seen them twice, but I just couldn't resist giving it a go when we were so close.  Tyler immediately found a scalper and got two tickets for a little under face value.  Ang and Hy left with Ly and we got to enjoy an evening to ourselves.  The concert was amazing, though I wish they'd played more older songs.  All in all, I'm glad we went.  The next day was Sunday so we went to church and I got a good nap in.  That night, my friend Kim and her husband Paul came over for dinner.  Ang made a fancy mac 'n cheese dinner and we had fun chatting.  We went to breakfast the next morning and then flew back home.  It's always sad to say goodbye but I'm glad we were able to visit and they were able to spend time with Lyla.

Our big news is that the toy room is finished.  The carpet was installed the Friday after our trip and we are loving the room!  Ada said that it's her favorite room in the house.  Tyler did a fantastic job!  I can't wait to put stuff on the walls.  It's been nice to have a place for all the girls' toys and a place for them to go.  The house feels so much quieter!

Last week Tyler left for Portland with his dad, brother, and uncle to watch some NCAA basketball.  I was not looking forward to him leaving but I tried to plan some fun things so the girls and I wouldn't go crazy.  After we dropped him off at the airport on Wednesday, we bought some nail polish and nail stickers and I did Ada's and Kate's nails.  That night we ordered pizza and I watched some basketball.  The next day we went to Fashion Place Mall with Morgan and her girls.  We ate lunch at Chick-Fil-A and did some shopping at H&M.  The last time I went to H&M (which was I think in Vegas) I wasn't too impressed, but this time I saw so many things I liked!  It was crazy toting five little girls around (and we had an incident on the escalator where Kate fell as I was trying to hold up the stroller...let's just say it was a big scene) but I purchased a few items for myself and the girls.  I already want to go back!  Kate had her first (and hopefully last) shoplifting experience.  We stopped in The Children's Place after lunch and then when we got to H&M I noticed that she was wearing a bracelet that I'd never seen before.  She totally ripped it off!  I hope that she just put it on and forgot about it.  We, of course, had to give it back on the way back to the car.  I spent the rest of the day watching basketball.  My amazing friends Vanessa and Rachel came over Thursday night to hang out.  It was a lifesaver for me since I'd been having a tough time with the girls.  We ate frozen custard and chatted until way too late.  It was so refreshing.  On Friday we made cookies and pretty much watched basketball all day (are you sensing a theme here?).  Korrin was kind enough to invite us to dinner that night.  We made our own pizzas and the girls had a blast with their cousins while we watched more hoops.  I really owe Korrin!  She always seems to come to my rescue lately.  Saturday was St. Patrick's Day and the girls were expecting a visit from the leprechaun.  Due to no fault of mine, Ada totally believes in leprechauns.  Friday night I just set up a trail of pennies that led to the toy room, where a box of Lucky Charms, some rainbow Nerds, and these green monkey things with candy in them were waiting on a shelf.  I also dyed the milk green.  They loved it.  We all wore green and spent the rest of the day watching basketball!  We were so happy for Tyler to finally come home on Sunday.  Our church is at 1:00 and I left early to pick him up.  He had a good time watching basketball and checking out the sights around Portland.  Things we pretty crazy for me while he was gone.  All four nights, Lyla and Kate woke up multiple times.  Kate tried to sleep in my bed every single night and I had a tough time keeping her out.  I succeeded, though not without losing much sleep.  Also, Lyla and I started feeling sick while he was gone.  We never got bad, but it sure didn't help my mood!  I survived and am so glad that I don't have to do it all myself every day.

Now for the updates:

Lyla is growing way too fast.  She likes to grab everything and put it in her mouth.  She still cries a lot but gives the best smiles.  She's been waking up twice a night and again around 7:30.  We started feeding her rice cereal and she loves it!  Some days she is ravenous when eating it.  (Thanks to an article Ang told me about, I bought organic rice cereal that has not been genetically engineered.  Apparently baby cereal is one of the most processed foods out there.)  She tries to roll over when she's on her back but not when she's on her tummy.  I'm working on helping her sit up by herself.

Kate is still crazy.  She wakes up too early and gets mad too often.  She is so funny though.  She wants to be just like Ada.  When Ada comes home from school and tells me about her day, Kate makes stuff up about preschool so she can sound like Ada.  She finally learned to write her name and she can write Ada's name too!  She got her first cold sore, something that is foreign to me.  She definitely keeps us on our toes, but we sure love our Kate.

Ada is getting better and better at reading.  In addition to the school books she brings home, she likes to read our books and books from the library.  She's never really allowed us to work with her on reading, so it's cool to see her picking it up herself.  She does a great job.  She struggles falling asleep at night; I swear it takes her over an hour every night.  Poor girl is like her mom.  She loves to color and play and torture love Lyla.

Weekly Letter -- 2/13/12-2/26/12

This is going to be a two-weeker since I failed to write a letter last week.  The week of the 13th was a busy one, as predicted.

Lyla had her 4 month check-up on Monday the 13th.  Her weight is in the 25th percentile and her height the 89th.  She got shots and of course was quite upset.  We did grab some Chick-Fil-A for lunch on the way there.  It had been too long since I'd had my nugget fix.  After the doctor, I decided to go to WinCo.  I'd never been and had heard great things about it.  Lyla started crying not long after we got there so I had to hold her for most of the time while pulling the cart.  Kate wanted to run around like crazy, so I had quite the time trying to keep her close.  It was not a fun trip but I did get some really good deals on food.

On Tuesday morning I got to go to Ada's class to help with the Valentine's Day party.  I was in charge of a snack and, with the help of another mother, decided to do something different than the traditional sugar cookie decorating (especially since I wasn't allowed to bring homemade stuff).  It didn't have anything to do with V-Day, but I cut up pieces of string cheese and got grapes and let them make their own kabobs on toothpicks.  I think they mostly had fun, though I was surprised at how many kids didn't like cheese!  We don't like trying to fight crowds on Valentine's Day so I made a nice dinner at home.  It took quite a while and made my day pretty stressful, especially since we were also taking dinner to a neighbor.  We ate manicotti, heart-shaped breadsticks, and salad.  For dessert we ate chocolate fondue with Rice Krispies Treats, cake balls (leftover from the week before), and strawberries for dipping.  The kids had fun with that, and Kate made a huge mess!  Tyler and I just gave each other cards and that was about it.  Not really how I envisioned the day to be, but it was fun nonetheless.

I hosted book club on Thursday and made berry sorbet with cookie cups to put it in.  It was delicious, but I struggled with the cookie cups.  The recipe said to bake the cookies on wax paper and then quickly take them off to shape them before they hardened.  It did not work.  I could not get them off the wax paper, so I tried spraying the paper and still had the same problem.  They were ruined.  Amazingly, Tyler then walked in the door, unprecedentedly arriving home early from work.  He jumped on the 'net while I whipped up a new batch of cookies.  We tried these ones on parchment paper and it worked like a charm!  I didn't have time to dip them in chocolate like I had wanted, but I was just happy to have something to serve the sorbet in.  It was lots of fun hanging out with my friends.  I love book club.

On Friday we left for Southern Utah for the weekend.  Tyler's family goes down every President's Day weekend to stay in a house in La Verkin that his grandpa owns.  We had a fun weekend filled with swimming, eating, games, relaxing, hiking, and playing at an indoor trampoline place.  The kids had lots of fun with their cousins.  Lyla had a few bad moments in the car on the way there and back and she ended up in my bed a lot at night since she kept waking up, but otherwise did pretty well.  Kate peed her pants twice; the second time, unfortunately, was on her cousins' bed and it wasn't discovered until they were ready to hit the sack.  Kate always keeps things interesting!

This past Thursday we went to dinner at Rodizio Grill with Tyler's parents since we had a gift card that was about to expire.  Kate didn't eat much besides the fresh pineapple but Ada ate a ton!  I was impressed.  After dinner we went to the Utah basketball game and saw the Utes fall to Cal.  Tyler took Ada and Kate to the game on Saturday night where they beat Stanford in a thriller.  He was glad to see them end the season on a winning note.

Nothing too exciting happened last week, so I'll do a quick recap on the kids:

Ada started bringing home little books from school to practice reading.  Her teacher determined that she is on Level D (whatever that means).  I have been genuinely impressed with Ada's reading skills!  She blew me away with her first book.  These books have many more words (and many unfamiliar ones) than the ones for her homework.  She does so well with sounding out the words and figuring them out all by herself, especially since most of them aren't necessarily spelled how they sound.  I also finished reading Ramona the Pest to her and she loved it, so we started Ramona and her Father and she's been listening to Ramona the Brave at night on CD.  It's been fun to remember these books that were such a big part of my childhood.

Kate got an invitation to her first friend birthday party by herself.  It's not until March 5, but she is so excited.  Every day she thinks she's missing it, so we had to make her a calendar so she can get an idea of how many days she has to wait.  Other than that excitement, she has just been Kate, always making us laugh but also wanting to pull our hair out.  She was very excited to see Jimmer at the BYU game that I was watching yesterday.  She cracks me up.

Lyla has been a bit fussy the last few days.  Well, she's always fussy (when she's not smiling), but has been upset when I try and feed her.  I don't know what's wrong but I feel bad for her.  She's been waking up more than normal at night too.  I don't think it's an ear infection, so I'm not sure what to think.  She is just the sweetest thing though.  I just adore her.

This week should be another good one since Tyler, Lyla, and I will be going to Houston.  I can't wait to get away!

Weekly Letter -- 2/6/12-2/12/12

This week, overall, hasn't been too bad.  After a meltdown on Tuesday night, my attitude has been a bit better and I've been working on showing more patience with the kids.  I think I've just resigned myself to the fact that three kids are hard and will be for a while.

The week didn't start out too great.  As Tyler was leaving work on Monday, he discovered that his car had been broken into.  A window had been broken and his stereo was gone.  He had been listening to a book on CD from the library and one of the discs was unfortunately in the player.  The window has been fixed and he purchased a phone mount for his car so he can listen to music sans CD's (since he won't be replacing his stereo).  He was pretty upset that night, so the girls and I went to Grandma Dickson's birthday party without him.  We enjoyed a delicious spaghetti dinner courtesy of Lee.  I was shocked that Kate ate three servings!  Granny (as she insists that her great-grandchildren call her) got gifts for the little kids and they loved them.  It was a good night.

After school on Tuesday, we went to hang out with Emily, Sally, and Austin before they flew back to Kansas.  Emily made some tasty tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch and the kids had fun hanging out.  We didn't get to hang out for too long, but it was fun to have them in town for the week.  Hopefully we can make their stay more exciting when they come next.

Nothing special happened the next few days, except that we got a fun surprise on our doorstep on Wednesday night.  The Young Women in the ward left us some sugar cookies and hearts.  It made the girls (and, quite frankly, me) happy.

Ada's school had an event on Thursday called Dads, Donuts, and Drums.  Tyler took Ada (and Lyla) that evening so that Kate and I could have a little one-on-one time.  I let her pick any treat she wanted and she picked doughnuts!  We went to Dick's since there aren't any doughnut shops in the Bountiful area.  I hope she had fun with her Lyla-less mom!

Speaking of doughnuts, Tyler decided to pick some up for breakfast on Saturday.  I ate two in the morning and two that afternoon.  Yowsa.  Let's just say that I've been doing a terrible job on the healthy lifestyles challenge.  I got a good nap in that day.  I hope that Lyla starts sleeping through the night again soon!  We went to look for carpet for the toy room that evening.  It's almost done!  Tyler had previously looked at Lowe's and we decided to go down to R.C. Willey.  By the time we got out of the house it was dinner time, so we just stopped at the IHOP close by.  The service was poor and the food just okay.  I don't know why we keep going to places like that!  I seriously felt ill afterward and I didn't even eat much (this may or may not have had something to do with the fact that I ate four doughnuts earlier).  I guess you can't always eat where you want to when you have kids.  We had no luck at R.C. Willey so we went to Lowe's and picked out our carpet.  It will probably still be a few weeks before it's installed, but it's nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I had no idea how much work it would be to get that toy room finished!  Tyler and I watched 'True Grit' after the kids went to bed.  It was an interesting show.  Tyler thought it was stupid.  I liked it, though I do somewhat agree with his assessment.

Kate has been sick the last few days so she stayed home from church today.  I have felt like I'm on the verge of illness all week, but I think I'm going to escape unscathed.  Since Kate was sick, we stayed home from Sunday dinner.  I was thinking about making chicken noodle soup and rolls for dinner but Dude called and offered to drop dinner off to us since Korrin was cooking for the rest of the family.  What do you know--she made chicken noodle soup and rolls!  We are very rarely home on Sunday nights but it was fun to spend time together.  We helped Kate make a Valentine "box" for her  preschool party tomorrow (if she's well enough to go).  She decorated a bucket and we attached a floating balloon to the top so it looks like a hot air balloon.  It was all Tyler's creative idea!  Then we decided to make sugar cookies.  I make them every year for Valentine's Day, but it was nice to have Tyler around to help this time.  He rolled the dough and the kids helped cut out the shapes.  Most of the cookies were heart-shaped but Tyler made sure to add a few angels and stars, just because he's Tyler. 

We have a lot going on this week so it should be a good one.  It's always nice to have stuff to look forward to.  Hasta la vista, ya'll!

Family Letter -- 1/30/12-2/5/12

Last week really wasn't much better than the week before.  I'm still struggling with lack of sleep and dealing with naughty girls.  The Petersons came into town on Tuesday, so that was something to look forward to.  Tyler and I won the healthy lifestyles contest for January (we tied), but as soon as February hit I really let myself go.  I pigged out on sweets for three days in a row and only exercised once.  Sometimes you just need some sweets to help you feel better!  On Wednesday night, Lyla and I met the Petersons and Dicksons (the Dudes) at Letherby's.  Tyler and I had both decided that we would eat sweets that day.  I had been eating them all day and he forgot to, so he decided to stay home.  I ordered my usual Allan's Black and Tan, which everybody got a kick out of.  It was good, but I decided that my days of the Black and Tan are over.

Korrin came to the rescue again and threw a tea party on Thursday.  I made cake balls to bring.  It was my first time and they looked pretty awful.  I didn't have time to freeze them before dipping so they didn't quite work out.  At least they tasted good!  Korrin made cute heart-shaped sandwiches and had lots of fruit and chocolate-dipped berries.  It was all delicious.  I stayed for quite a while and let my girls just play with Ella and Grace.  It was a nice break for me.  I was quite tired that night but still stayed up to watch the BYU/Gonzaga game.  I am so glad BYU won.

I wasn't going to eat sweets on Friday but then I ate leftover treats from the tea party.  They were worth it!  That night, Emily and Neal came over and brought dinner.  The kids had fun playing while we ate and hung out.  They got to try out our Kinect before they left.

Tyler made bagels on Saturday morning, something he'd been wanting to do for a while.  They took a long time but they were yummy.  I think I ate 2 1/4.  I was so full and then I started feeling ill.  I woke up with a headache and then my stomach started hurting and my body felt achy.  Tyler took Ada and Kate to a Utah basketball game while I opted to stay home and take a nap with Lyla.  I felt a bit better afterward but still didn't feel like eating.  I think I had just eaten too much crap.  We went to the grocery store and then to Mom and Dad's, where Abby was throwing Alice's birthday party.  I can't believe she's one!  Tyler and the girls met us there after the game.  Abby made some delicious Cafe Rio-esque food.  She had cute decorations, a cute Elmo cake, and a pinata for the kids.  I actually refrained from sweets all day, but mostly because I wasn't feeling well.  We all had lots of fun.  I enjoyed listening to the Jazz game on the way home and hearing David Locke go crazy about them beating the Lakers. 

I still didn't feel great on Sunday but I went to Sacrament Meeting.  We had a Super Bowl party at the Squires' that night.  There was a ton of food, of course.  We brought cake balls (I froze them this time and they turned out much better) and a black bean/corn salsa that I made.  I was able to eat a bit more (I'd hardly had anything the last two days) but I still refrained from sweets.  Big accomplishment in my book!  I wasn't excited about seeing the Giants and Patriots but I decided to cheer for the Giants and I was glad they won.  It was fun watching a close game.

Kate continues to drive me crazy.  I've always heard that three is a tougher age than two, but I didn't believe it until Kate turned three.  I really need to work on being more patient and giving her more attention.  I suspect that her new role as the middle child has something to do with her behavior.  Lyla is so sweet and smiley.  Tyler and I both got her to giggle last week.  She hasn't been sleeping great, but she always makes me happy.  We went to Ada's parent/teacher conference on Wednesday and Ada is doing very well in school.  It's no surprise to us. 

Well, that's about it.  Ciao until next week.

Family Letter -- 1/23/12-1/29/12

Well look at me getting this letter done early!  It has been quite a week.  The first half of the week was very difficult for me.  Ada and Kate have been fighting a lot and I just couldn't handle it.  Kate has been especially difficult.  She is quite the crazy 3-year-old.  I was almost at a breaking point on Tuesday night.  I was ready to kick this healthy living stuff to the curb.  Somehow I resisted temptation.  On Wednesday night I told Tyler that I really needed a break from the kids or I was going to go crazy.  I was seriously about to have a mental breakdown.  Well, Korrin was a Godsend.  The next day she called me and said that her girls really wanted to play with Ada and Kate.  She invited them over on Friday afternoon.  She totally saved the day!  Even though the fighting didn't really stop, the last half of the week was much more bearable for me.

Kate had to stay home from school on Monday because she was sick.  That night we had a lot of errands to run so we decided to eat dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  Ada had been begging to go on a Monday night because they have a magician do magic tricks for the kids.  To her disappointment, there was no magician but we still enjoyed ourselves and our food.   

The next few days were the toughest for me.  I don't really have much else to say about them.

I'd been putting it off, but on Thursday I had to go to Target for some errands and I had to take all three kids.  Lyla was an angel but the other two struggled, especially Kate.  I was starting to get really annoyed when we all noticed a (not-so-) little girl on the floor throwing a huge tantrum.  Ada and Kate quieted down and just stared.  This girl was seriously screaming and flailing.  Her poor mom was trying to ignore her but then finally picked her up.  The girl continued to scream for several minutes and my girls kept quiet on their own accord after that.  I must say that I felt much better!  Things can always be worse.  I went visiting teaching for an hour before and an hour after Target, so it was a long day away from home.  It would have been a nice break except that Kate was not nice to my companion's poor little 1-year-old girl.  She does not do well with kids younger than she is.

Friday was a good day.  I got to go to Ada's kindergarten class to spotlight her.  My sweet friend Vanessa stayed with the little girls at home while I went.  Since Ada's birthday is in July, she got to be the Star of the Week this week.  She got to be the line leader all week and was very proud of that.  I made a poster about Ada and talked to her class about her.  We read her favorite book, Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog by Dr. Seuss.  We also handed out treats to the class.  She wanted Skittles, but the only fun-size ones at the store came in a bag with Starbursts also.  Well, every single kid wanted Skittles and there were only about six packs in the whole bag!  I felt bad turning them all down.  I hope they enjoyed their Starbursts.  That afternoon is when Korrin watched the kids and Lyla and I ended up sleeping the entire three hours that they were there!  It was wonderful.  That night Tyler picked up Chinese food for dinner and got a movie for us all to watch.  I think this is only about the second time we watched a movie together as a family.  The girls wanted The Smurfs.  We popped some corn and watched away.  It was pretty lame but Ada and Kate enjoyed it.  They thought it was hilarious.

Ada was invited to another birthday party on Saturday.  This was her first party of someone that she met at school.  She had a great time with all her school friends.  I forced Kate to take a nap that afternoon because she had been waking up way too early and was not pleasant to be around.  Luckily she obliged and it made the rest of the day much better.  We all went to our niece Reese's birthday party at Jungle Jim's in Midvale.  It was lots of fun for the girls.  I got to sneak away for a bit to use up an Old Navy Groupon that expired that day.  I wish I could go shopping by myself more often!  A little retail therapy is always good for the soul.  After the party we decided to go to IKEA to get stuff for the toy room.  Morgan and Jordan joined us.  We ate dinner there and made some good purchases.  I could spend all day in that place!  I was originally planning in watching the BYU/St. Mary's game that night but after hearing the outcome I wasn't sad I missed it.  Tyler and I were originally planning on staying up until midnight like we did the week before so we could enjoy some sweets (Sunday is our free day for the healthy living contest) but I was just too tired to do it.  Kate actually stayed in her bed all night but Lyla had a bad night and kept me up a lot.  I'm actually not minding 1:00 church because I was able to sleep in until 10:30 or so today.

Church was good, but it's hard with a baby.  Lyla was struggling.  She's loud even when she isn't crying.  I have a feeling that it will only get worse as she gets older.  Dinner was fun at Mom and Dad's tonight though.  I made black bottom cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for dessert and they were delish.  Dad had found lots of our old books and had us sort through them and take the ones we wanted.  It was fun looking through them.  I grabbed a bunch and tonight I started reading Ramona the Pest to Ada.  I can't wait to read them all!  Oh, the memories.

This week looks to be another busy one with the Petersons coming to town.  I can't wait! 

Little Ly

Family Letter -- 1/16/12-1/22/12

Oh, another week has come and gone.  I'm getting better at this letter thing--I'm actually documenting a few days earlier than I normally do!  Not much happened last week.  On Tuesday night I went to a Relief Society activity while Tyler watched kids in the nursery.  There was one other guy helping him and there were 19 kids in there!  It was a popular activity because a former contestant from The Biggest Loser came to talk to us.  She was really cool and said lots of good things.  If you want to be healthy and/or lose weight, a diet isn't going to cut it.  You need to change your lifestyle.  She lost 125 pounds from the show but she still exercises for two hours a day and consumes around 1200 calories to maintain her new weight.  She has completely changed her eating habits and is healthier and happier than ever.  She looks great! 

I actually got out of the house a few times on Wednesday during the day.  Lyla and I went to Target while the girls were at school.  After they got home, we all went to pick up some prescriptions and to the library.  The kids had fun picking out lots of books and I picked up some books for book club.  It was nice to get away and the girls were actually really good, even though Ada didn't want to go.  She is a total homebody. 

On Thursday night, Tyler took Ada and Kate to a Utah basketball game while Ly and I went to book club.  I love book club.  There are eight of us and we meet once a month to hang out and discuss a book.  We discussed 'Mrs. Mike' and then it was my turn to pick the next book.  I chose 'Mrs. Dalloway' by Virginia Woolf.  I've never read it, so I hope it's good.  I stayed out way too late but had lots of fun with my friends.

Ada went to a birthday party on Friday evening so the rest of us decided to get out.  We decided to eat dinner at Village Inn since Kate loves pancakes so much.  Ada has been invited to so many birthday parties but Kate hasn't been invited to any without Ada also being invited.  We thought we better do something special for Kate so she wouldn't feel bad about not getting to go.  I would have preferred to get ice cream or something, but Tyler and I aren't eating sweets during the week.  The food was okay (really, what can you expect from Village Inn, right?).  Kate started getting sick that night, so she really didn't have the best time.  Ada had fun at her party, though.  They all wore pajamas and had their nails and makeup done, ate dinner, decorated cupcakes, and watched a movie.  Something monumental happened that night: all three kids slept through the night!  It was glorious.  It hasn't happened since, but it gave me a little bit of hope.  Kate was doing pretty well at staying in her bed until she got sick.  I hope Lyla starts sleeping through the night again soon.

Tyler got a lot of painting done on Saturday.  The toy room is coming along slowly but surely.  I can't wait until it's all finished.  I pretty much sat around and watched basketball most of the day.  I did get the bathroom cleaned at least.

Kate informed us on Sunday morning that her ear hurt.  While Ada, Lyla, and I went to church, Tyler took Kate to an Instacare-type place to get her checked out.  Sure enough, she has an ear infection and is on antibiotics.  Besides her ear, she's had a fever and a cough.  I really hope nobody else get this, especially Lyla.  Kate and Ada can't keep their hands off of her despite the fact that I tell them to a million times a day.  I always end up getting mad at them and then they get their feelings hurt.  Anyway, we watched some football and were sad at the outcomes of both games.  I'm not excited about the Patriots and Giants playing in the Superbowl.  I wish they could both lose!

Tyler and I are going strong with our healthy lifestyles challenge, though I've had a harder time doing it this week.  I've stayed strong, though.  I even turned down pie at book club. 

Lyla has always wanted to eat at least every two hours.  Last week I started feeding her about 2 1/2 hours and it's gone pretty well.  She still cries a lot.  She won't take a binky.  She likes to use me as one instead or suck on her fist.  I tried a few different kinds of them last week but it was to no avail.  Ada and Kate were obsessed with their binkies, so this is new to me.  At least I won't have to worry about weaning her from one when she's older.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable week.  Ciao.

Family Letter -- 1/9/12-1/15/12

Last week was a pretty uneventful week. Tyler worked on the toy room as much as he could and I did my usual mom stuff. On Monday we watched Alabama kick LSU's butts. I'll miss college football. I did do one thing out of the ordinary, though—I went and played church basketball! Our ward had eight people show up and the other ward had zero, so we did a little 4-on-4 scrimmage. I am sorely out of shape and not very good, but it was fun to run around. I think I'll plan on going again!

Tyler and I have been doing very well on our healthy lifestyle challenge. All of us have been eating much healthier for the most part. The girls have been enjoying lots of fruit. The other day I found Ada and Kate eating handfuls of spinach and lettuce. This isn't uncommon for Ada, but for Kate it's monumental! I have really embraced this thing. For lunches, I usually eat salad with lots of veggies, beans, cottage cheese, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. They're really good! Thanks to Ang for introducing me to them. I made up a muffin recipe by throwing a bunch of stuff together. I didn't measure any ingredients, so I hope I can recreate them sometime. I used a little canola oil, brown sugar, honey, eggs, baking soda, salt, whole wheat flour, cinnamon, oats, applesauce, shredded zucchini, walnuts, and raisins. They were good! Kate ate five the next day! They were good for snacks. I've also been eating fruit or nuts instead of treats for snacks. For breakfast I've been eating either oatmeal or Kashi cereal. A lot less crap is being consumed by the Squire family! I hope we can all continue these habits.

Kate's nights of not sleeping with Tyler were short lived. She started climbing in bed with him again. Lyla still wakes up in the night too, so between the two of them we haven't been getting the best sleep!

On Saturday we enjoyed watching some NFL games (well, at least one game was enjoyable). Tyler kept giving up on the 49ers but I kept telling them that there was plenty of time to come back. That night we went to eat at Five Guys (not healthy, but not against the rules either). It was fun to spend the whole day together.

I taught my first Relief Society lesson on Sunday. The lesson was 'Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself' from the George Albert Smith manual. I was able to use a story from Grandpa Dickson's journal in the lesson. It was from a time he met Pres. Smith. I think the lesson went pretty well. Tyler came to listen and gave me a few pointers that I hope will help. It's nice that I only have to worry about this calling once a month! Sunday night we ate dinner at Mom & Dad's and we brought dessert. Since we only eat dessert once a week now we wanted it to be good. I made Fudgy Cocoa Brownies and hot fudge sauce and Tyler helped me make peppermint ice cream. It was all so good but I felt so sick after I ate it! I guess my body is getting used to less sugar. Perhaps I'll have to eat smaller portions next time.

Kate has taken a new interest in drawing, just like her sister. She can now draw people and draws them all the time. It's the cutest thing! I keep trying to help her learn to write her name but she doesn't seem interested. I think it will come soon. She has a pretty easy name.

I think I jumped the gun when I said that Ada's tantrums were over. She's had some bad moments lately, but at least they're milder and shorter than her former ones. She's a good helper, though. She's been really good about cleaning up after herself.

Lyla is still sweet but fussy. She's sleeping a little bit longer when I set her down at least. I am loving her name more and more. It always takes me a while to feel like I picked the right name, but Lyla's is feeling good! Maybe it's because it's so easy to use nicknames with her. I love calling her Ly, Lyla Ly, Little Ly, My Ly, and Lysqui. I just love her.

Well, it's adieu for another week. Peace out.