Spring Break

Ava was with us during spring break. I love having the kids home where we can stay up later than usual and sleep in. Also, I am able to make the kids clean up after their messes and help me around the house. We are always in a hurry when school is in session so it's nice to take it easy. The only bad thing with this spring break was, Kaiya and Ella go to dance and preschool in the Auburn School District. Kaiya didn't have dance the week before but had it during her spring break and Ella still had preschool. We had really nice weather that week. We went over to the school to play a couple of days. I love the fact that we are so close to the school. Our backyard isn't very big so it is nice to have the option to go play at the school...and not have to do the yard work!

Kaiya bonked her head on the bar and it hurt her pretty bad. She went and sat down and Jett followed to comfort her. He loves his Kaiya.

A Nice Relaxing Getaway

Cirdan and I were lucky to get away for a weekend. My mom was nice enough to watch the kids for us. It was kind of a trial run to see how Jett would do with us being gone (for a hospital stay). We wanted to go to Arizona or Vegas with our friends Greg and Staci but timing didn't work out so Bellevue it was! The place we stayed (Marriott) had a sky bridge connecting to the Bellevue Plaza and mall so the whole weekend we never even had to get in the car. We ate out (no screaming kids), went to the movies, shopped and had a lot of fun without wrestling with kids.
As for Jett...he did great! Kaiya helped a lot with him. He did take it out on us when we got home though and wouldn't let us out of his sight for a while. He is usually clingy but he was overly clingy. Ella? Well she was sad we were home and basically told us to go back to wherever we were. :)

Ella Turns 4

My baby girl is 4! We had a fun and eventful birthday this year for Ella. After we woke up and got dressed I took her to Starbucks for a hot cocoa and a birthday cake pop. She loves getting hot cocoa there. Then we met daddy at Chuck E Cheese for a fun birthday lunch! She asks to go to Chuck E Cheese every couple weeks...it's one of her favorite places. When we got home, Amy, Emma and Carter came over to give Ella some special (very yummy) birthday cookies.
We waited for Daddy and Kaiya to get home to open up presents. All she wanted for her birthday was an ipod. Kaiya got one for Christmas and they fought over it constantly. Ella always wanted to play with it and of course Kaiya didn't want her to. It was an expensive gift but it has stopped many fights and was very useful on our trip to Utah. She also got some toys from Kaiya. We  went to Red Robin for dinner, my mom and Casey joined us. It was fun to have them sing to her. She was kind of embarrassed and didn't know what to do.
Happy Birthday my little Ella! We love you! You bring so much joy/frustration (ha ha) to our lives and you definitely keep us on our toes. Your smile lights up the room!







Ella using her new play hair dryer on Jett




And her straightener. Jett seemed to like it.



Prego Update - 31 weeks

I haven't blogged about my pregnancy yet! Just wanted to give an update. I am feeling okay...just big. It's hard to have an 18 month old and be 30 weeks pregnant! Him and Ella keep me going. Everything health wise has been good. I have been having some sciatic nerve issues. If I am up doing a bunch of things (which is most days) my lower back starts hurting really bad and its hard to walk. When I try to relax and lay down....it hurts too bad. When I was in Utah I actually had to go to sleep sitting up and laying forward on some pillows because the pain was unbearable. I bought a heating pad last week which I have found really helps!
I am starting to stress about having a baby and Jett being so clingy. I just have to have faith it will all work out! :) We are changing rooms. Moving Ella to Jett's room and Jett (and baby boy) will be in Ella's old room. It's a big project. We had Cirdan's friend working on the closets last week adding shelves. Also, bought Ella new bedding. Her room will now be smaller so we are trying to make it special for her. Next the movers are coming to move furniture and I am supposed to get new bedding on Wednesday, then I can go pick paint colors and have a painter come paint. We are going to keep the crib bedding we had for Jett and we bought a quilt that matches for a twin big boy bed (that we still need to buy).
We can't decide on a name. We don't love any boy names. I have a feeling baby boy will come home without a name! I sure hope not.
I can't wait to not be pregnant so I don't crave laundry soap anymore!!!!! It is so frustrating craving something but you can't eat it and you can't really ever get the craving 'fix' you need. I also crave ice and just hope that my teeth don't break from all the ice I chew all day long. My blood test came back and said I was anemic so I am sure that is part reason for these crazy cravings.
I just need to remind myself that this is my last pregnancy so I need to enjoy it. I love feeling the baby move and wonder what he looks like. Will he have hair? Will he look like Ella and Jett? Will he be a good baby? His movement is getting so strong. My whole belly shakes and moves around. It's the craziest/best feeling. Ella loves to feel him move and loves to talk to him. She likes talking about the baby and wonders when he will come out.

Well that's all I can think of now! I will try and post some pics of my growing belly.

Spotlight Competition

I really need to update my blog but have been way too busy. I do want to do a quick update about Kaiya's dance competition this past weekend. It was her last one before Nationals (in Seaside) in July. Kaiya did so well and I am extremely proud of her!! Her solo was the best performance yet! She received a diamond and she was the category winner. She also received 8th overall out of 57 kids!!! She went against kids that were 8-12. Also, she received the highest score within all the other junior aged kids that dances at the academy with her. Some of those kids are really, really good!!! The kids that received top 10 for solo's also get to be part of the the "Spotlight Elite"and will be featured performers during the National Championship Extravaganza. So exciting! Kaiya's dad is taking her to Nationals this year since I will be about 40 weeks pregnant or just had the baby.  

Sassy - Diamond, category winner and judges award
Mr Postman - Diamond
Rain - Diamond
Solo - Diamond, category winner, 8th overall in junior solos
Jailhouse Rock - Ruby
The Anthem - Diamond, 4th overall for groups 
Made for You - Diamond (not sure what else...I left early before awards were given for this dance)

The kids have worked their butt off and it shows! We are so lucky to have a great dance family.

Updates

1. We are getting ready to go to Utah next week. Looking forward for a little family vacation! Not looking forward to a long drive with the kids. I am very excited for Kaylee! She will be a beautiful bride.

2. Rain, rain, go away...don't come back for a while. Thanks.

3. It was so funny. Yesterday Jett pulled Ella's hair. She looked at his hands with some of her hair in it and said, "Awwww! My gold hair!!!"

4. Ella also told me yesterday, "I did it on accident purpose!" Don't know what that means.

5. Cirdan is still really busy at work and has been working really long hours. His car broke down a couple of days ago so we are down to 1 car for a few days.

6. Ava was here for a week during spring break. It's always nice for all of us to be together.

7. I read the Hunger Games finally. Couldn't put it down so the housework and the kids got ignored for a couple days but I am glad that I was able to finish it. I haven't read for so long (because of the things that don't get done) but I love to read so it was a nice. Now I need to go get book 2 for the car ride.

8. Kaiya has been sick. She got a stomach flu again and had to miss a couple of days last week. Two days she went and had to leave early. Not good timing since she will miss a week of dance and school next week. One day after picking her  up early she threw up in the car. I felt bad but I never know how sick she really is...or if its a case of the, I don't want to go to school itis.

Allison and Denise's Baby Shower

The week between Kaylee's shower and the baby shower Jett, myself and my mom got sick. My mom had it worse and missed a week of work. I ended up getting a sinus infection and Jett had a bad cold/cough. It was miserable. My mom was supposed to help me with the shower but with her being sick she couldn't help and wasn't able to attend. I was glad I had an aunt and cousin who helped me because there was a lot to do. It was fun though! We had panini sandwiches, played a game, opened presents and had cake...the usual. The sandwiches were fun, those are always good. I am excited to have 2 other babies born in the family around the time I am due. These baby girls are going to be so cute! Can't wait to meet them!

Now That is Some Crazy Hair!

Crazy hair day at school

Kaylee's Bridal Shower

I have had a busy few weeks. Threw a bridal shower for Kaylee a few weeks ago, then the following week a baby shower for my cousins and then 2 weeks later a birthday party for Ella (and then Easter). It was a stressful few weeks. One of Kaylee's colors for her wedding is pink, my cousins are having girls and Ella had a pinkalicious party so one good thing was that I could use the pink decor I got for all 3.
It was wonderful to see Kaylee and hanging out with her for the couple days she was here. Her shower was fun and I was glad that I was able to throw one for her. We had a lot of family come and some people from the ward. Amy helped with the games and we played 2 really fun games. She dressed Kaylee up with items that would be new roles in her life after getting married and having kids and people had to remember than she left the room and people wrote down what they remembered. The next game I recorded Rusty on Skype and asked him questions about himself and Kaylee. Kaylee then had to answer the questions. If she got them wrong she would have to put a piece of bubble gum in her mouth. She actually did really good and guessed a lot of questions I didn't think she had a chance of getting right.
We will be leaving for Utah really soon for Kaylee's wedding. I am so happy for her and Rusty!

Lots of pink themed food. Pink whoppers, pink popcorn, donuts, cupcakes, wafer cookies, pink filled oreos, strawberries and a truffle.

Cake pops

The gum

I had Kaiya take some pictures of people there. These are a couple I got.

Opening gifts