Movies, movies, movies

We took an Olsen girls night and went to dinner and the movies. We took the little ladies to see Big Hero 6 the weekend it opened and Lucy LOVED being at the movie. Since seeing it, she has asked for a movie night almost every night. She likes to set out a big blanket, get pillows, popcorn and a sprite and cozy up to watch a show. Its pretty sweet, and she is pretty sweet. I love my happy little Lucy girl. 

First haircut

On November 1st, Lucy got her hair cut for the very first time! We didn't do anything drastic, but decided it was time to say goodbye to her baby mullet. I had Haylee trim up her ends and even up the back. She looks so grown up now! I waited so long to cut it, because I knew once I cut her curls off they would never return, and I was right. But, she still looks a sweet as ever! 

Happy Halloween

Lucy got to trick or treat a couple of times on Halloween. The day before was her day care Halloween party, and they went trick or treating around the school. On actual Halloween, we headed down to my grandmas assisted living center and Lucy was able to go around and collect candy from all the residents. She was not sure about it, but seemed to enjoy the aftermath. Later that evening, we headed over to our ward's trunk or treat. Our neighborhood has some great handouts, like snow cones and cotton candy. To wrap up the evening, we ended at Shmovels house for her annual Halloween Party. We ate delicious treats and hung out with great company. 

I'm pretty sure I had the cutest little Cruella ever. She LOVED dressing up and have "crazy hair", of course toting around her favorite dalmatian wasn't too bad either. :) 

A sweet moment

I feel like I need to hurry and write down a little experience Lucy and I had last night, before it leaves my brain. I hope to get this in my personal journal as well, but I dont want to forget any of the details, so here we go.

I should start off by first saying how sweet Lucy has been lately. I dont know if its just the fact that I know she will no longer be an only child in the upcoming months, or just that she is developing the sweetest personality; but either way she makes my heart melt every single day. She is so kind, loving, funny and happy it makes every day the best day. Yesterday as Matt and I were driving home from cleaning the office, I kept telling Lucy over and over how much I loved her, and asking her why she was being so cute, that only continued as she fell asleep on our walk in her stroller and just wanted me to hold her. Because of the unplanned late nap, bed time was a challenge. We stuck to our schedule, and I had her brushing her teeth at 8pm so that we could get her into bed. As she laid down she was all over the place, talking up a storm and wiggling all around. I told her I wasn't going to lay by her and she needed to settle down, close her eyes and go to sleep. I got off her bed and sat in the rocking chair in her room. Almost immediately she told me she needed to go potty, so up we went to the bathroom, once we finished in there, we were back in her room. As we sat on her bed she sat down next to me and said "Prayer?" So I asked her if she wanted to say a prayer and she nodded then folded her arms. (She is always reminding me what is important) We said a little prayer and read a story, then I tucked her back into bed, again.

 -- as a side note, this pregnancy I have been having quite a bit of back pain, both with contractions and my sciatic nerve, so it isn't rare for me to say that my back hurts during the day and especially at night. Last night, I was especially having a hard time, standing up, bending over, holding Lucy, walking, everything hurt!--

 As Lucy laid in bed continuing to be wiggly, she said, "Mom, my back hurts. Rub it?" I ignored her the first time, and again she said, "Mama, back hurts! Rub it?" So I walked over to her bed, painfully laid down next to her and started rubbing her tiny back. She giggled a little and then reassured me that her back still hurt. So I quietly said, "mommy's back hurts too because of baby sister." Her reply, "baby sister? I see her. I talk to her" So she quickly sat up, grabbed my shirt and lifted it up to expose my bare belly. She put her face right on my tummy and said, "Hi sister! Hi, hi hi!" then gave my tummy a kiss. As we laid there Lucy kept her hand right on my belly and kept rubbing it and patting it, occasionally saying hello to her little sis. I had started out laying there in frustration that Lucy was not already asleep, and that I was having to lay next to her... this sweet little moment brought tears to my eyes. I feel SO lucky to have such a sweet little girl in our family, Lucy is always reminding us to be happy, be thankful and to be loving. She already loves her baby sister so much, and even though some days I feel really sad that Lucy wont be our only baby anymore, I cannot wait for the love in our home to grow and to be able to watch Lucy take over as a big sister. Bedtime did not come easy last night.. after staying in her room for about an hour, I gave up and we decided to go into my room to see if she would lay on my bed. I wish I could say I was successful in getting her to sleep, and that I had kept my patience the entire time.... unfortunately, I can't. My patience ran very short, I was in pain, and I was frustrated. I got mad at Lucy which made the situation worse... so thankfully Matt stepped in and took Lucy to sleep and got her down in no time. I hate that sometimes as a mom, you over react, or your get so frustrated with these sweet little ones. The mom guilt immediately set in and I wished I could go wake Lucy up and hold her and give her kisses. But every day is not perfect, I make all sorts of mistakes, but my one hope is that I will never do anything to change Lucy. I never want her to be any less sweet, loving, kind and funny.

I am thankful for her sweet spirit in reminding me daily what is most important and keeping me on my toes. I am so thankful to be a mother, and look forward to having a house full of love as we add this new babe in a few months.

Lagoon

This last Saturday we took Lucy to Lagoon for the first time. We were there for WAY too long, but we had a great time. I couldn't ride any of the rides, except the merry-go-round and the train, but Matt got to take Lucy on most of the other rides, and then she did a few by herself. She had fun and so did we! She would get excited about the littlest things and loved going trick or treating through one of the little kiddie rides. It was a great day spent with my favorite people! 

Pumpkin Walk

This week for Family Home Evening we went to the Syracuse City pumpkin walk. Lucy loved looking at the pumpkins, taking her picture and playing on the slides! I am so glad we had such a spunky, fun, loving little girl. She makes everything so much better! :) 

A very busy Saturday

Day 3 of potty training we broke all the rules and left the house, for almost the entire day! I was really nervous that we would mess things up, but Lucy did fantastic and didn't have any accidents!! 

We started the day by heading to Black Island Farms with my sister and her boyfriend. We started with the hayride this year and picked our pumpkins. Lucy was so excited to go get more pumpkins, she seriously loves all things Halloween! She and Matt were so cute searching for the perfect pumpkin. After getting that over with, we went in to play on the slides, see the animals, eat some lunch and go through the corn maze. Lucy loved the slides, including the biggest, tallest one, and kept asking to go again and again. She is quite the little dare devil! Matt took her on the little train ride, and Lucy was excited to ride in a cow. Matt is such a fun dad and always makes every little event for Lucy so much more fun! She and I are both so lucky to have him. While walking through the corn maze, Lucy looked up at me and said "Uh oh mommy, I go potty!" Which meant she needed to go, and go right then, so, I took her into the corn and let her pee outside. haha although I was a little embarrassed at the situation, I dont know think I have ever seen anything as cute as Lucy tiny little bum squatting in the dirt! haha We had a great day at the pumpkin patch, and as soon as we got to the car Lucy passed out! It wore her right out. 

After being home for a couple of hours, napping and playing games, We headed down to Provo to LES to watch our Cougars play. The first half of the game was awesome, and I was feeling like BYU had a football team again...... then the 3rd quarter hit and everything fell to pieces. Rats! I hate when we lose, but even if we had the worst football team out there, I would still cheer on our cougars and go to the games! ha Lucy especially loves going to the games, she has a cougar claw and a pom pom she brings with her and loves to yell "Goooo Cougars!" and "By-U" Its really sweet, and cute and funny. She does so well at the games and sits still and watches the game. At this game, we were only a few minutes in and we were watching as one of the BYU football players tackled a guy and without Matt or I saying anything, Lucy yelled "Got him!" as if she was really watching the game and was proud of the player. It was so funny! She cracks me up. We enjoyed being at the game together, eating nachos and drinking sprite! We also love going because we always get to see our good friends the Ross's/Meyerhoffers. Their season tickets are just a few rows behind ours, so we see them every game! We love our Cougars and hope that they can start to have a better season! 

^^ I guess this picture would technically be the first time I've documented this pregnancy. ha, this is my belly at 20 weeks.

Halloween Festivities

 On day 2 of potty training, Matt took the day off work (which was a huge blessing) Lucy loved being able to spend the day with both mom and dad! Usually on weekends we are really busy, and grandma and grandpa are usually home, so she doesn't pay too much attention to us. :) But this weekend, my parents were gone and so we took full advantage of just being together with our little family. That night, we decided to get a pumpkin shaped pizza and paint our pumpkins. Lucy loved painting! I did this last year with her, and had her finger paint, but this year she was big enough to want to use a paint brush. She is so proud of her pumpkins and takes us outside often to look at them. She always tries to bring them inside any chance she gets, just so she can look at them! :)

Potty Training

Last week, on October 16th I started potty training Lucy. I have known she was ready for quite a while. She showed a lot of interest and would go to the bathroom whenever she asked. I had been putting it off because I wasn't ready to make the commitment. I knew I needed to do it soon, before I missed my window of opportunity. So last week, we took the plunge. The first day was a little rough, she had a few accidents but nothing major, I was just exhausted from taking her to the bathroom 100 times!! But I am happy to say, this little sweetie picked up on it very quickly and has done great! We have had a few accidents here and there, when she is distracted or when I forget to remind her, but for the most part she did way better than I ever thought. I am happy to have this over with (although, even though she is technically potty trained, it is not over with. I am reminding her and taking her ALL day every day) But I am so proud of my big girl! Can't believe we are to this point, and so weird I haven't changed a diaper in over a week! :) 

A spooky FHE & Pongo

A couple weeks ago after we had Family Home Evening, we decided to make a spooky treat for the upcoming holiday. We made these little ghosts or "ghostys" as Lucy calls them, and they were a hit! Lucy had so much fun dipping the pretzels and putting little "eyes" on them. Lucy is becoming the sweetest little girl, and I can't believe how grown up she is. This night our lesson was on eternal families, and I had shown Lucy a picture of a family that I had colored and she had the same picture that she was working on coloring. Days and even weeks after this night, anytime she sees that picture, she takes it to the corner and sits down, folds her arms, and asks to say a prayer. It really is the sweetest thing ever. She has been really enjoying saying her prayers recently, and we have said prayers just about everywhere... in the bathroom, the car, dinner, bedtime, playtime... I can honestly say as a mom trying to raise a child (children) in this crazy time, I am thankful for those sweet moments when my 2 year old reminds me what is most important. I sure love being Lucy's mom! 

I think I have mentioned before that Lucy's favorite movie is 101 Dalmatians. She asks to watch "Pongo" any chance she gets and she never gets sick of it. One night my mom and dad had been in SLC at City Creek picking up my dads new suit for his mission, and they came across this "pongo" at the Disney store, and surprised Lucy with it! (Spoiled girl) Ever since getting pongo, she has not let him out of her sight. I snapped this picture the first night she had him, she was insistant that she needed him to go to sleep, and now he has become part of her bedtime routine! She really is the sweetest.  

A Baby Sister!

Surprise! Lucy is going to be a big sister!! 

We have been keeping a secret for a few months, and we decided a couple weeks ago, to finally share the news! On July 1st, Matt and I found out we were expecting another little babe! We knew the time was right for us to have another baby, and give Lucy a sibling. In June I had been to the doctor just to make sure things were all good and healthy before trying to get pregnant. At this appointment, we found out that my blood work was less than perfect. I have known since high school that I had anemia, but it hadn't really ever caused problems or been talked about much. I just knew I needed to eat more iron and make sure I was getting all the nutrients I needed. Well I guess my blood work came back and my hemoglobin levels were really low, they wanted me to start on some supplements right away and be tested again. Even after being on the supplements for a month, my levels were still low, but at this point we found out we were expecting. So on top of normal pregnancy fatigue, I was extra tried!! And extra sick! This go around has not been so kind to me. Thankfully the really bad sickness waited to settle in until the week after we got home from Trek. It was a total blessing that I wasn't really sick while being a pioneer, I dont think I would have survived! Being extra sleepy was bad enough. Anyway, getting pregnant came much quicker and easier than we ever thought possible, and we feel very blessed... however, because it came so easily to us we were more hesitant to tell people, I just felt like it was too good to be true. In fact, Until I was about 14 weeks pregnant, I didn't really believe I was pregnant. This whole experience has been much different than it was with Lucy. 

So far, everything has been going great, and finally now that I am 18 weeks, I am no longer nauseous!! I have been a pretty crummy mom and wife the last 4 months because I have not even felt human. I am hoping I am in the clear now and will feel much better until I get really big! We found out at our 16 week appointment that we are having another girl. At first I was kind of disappointed, just because I thought it would be fun to have one of each. But later that night, the more I thought about Lucy having a sister, I couldn't wait! I love having sisters and I know that this baby girl is meant to be in our family at this time! It is a pretty amazing thing to not only be a mother, but to be able to carry a child and be pregnant. I know these little spirits are gifts from our Heavenly Father, and they are coming to this earth, at this time, for a divine purpose. How lucky are we to be able to raise these children, to teach them and have them teach us? I feel SO lucky! I know that pregnancy, child bearing and being a mother does not come easy to everyone, and so to have already had one child and to be getting ready for another has me feeling extremely blessed. 

Baby girl is due March 8th, her timing couldn't be more perfect and we couldn't be more excited! 

A day at the Zoo

A couple weeks a go, we decided to use our Saturday at the Zoo! Lucy LOVES animals so much, and loves going to see them. It was fun to all be able to go together, Matt and I have each taken Lucy to the zoo separately, so it was nice to be there all together. Lucy is getting bigger by the minute and is so funny! She is totally turning into a little kid, and is so independent. We love her so much, we can't get enough of her and her adorable personality! She is becoming a daddy's girl, which Matt and I both love. It is so sweet, she gets so excited when Matt is home, and always wants him to play with her. I love these two together oh so much!