Updates

Sean is finishing up his last few days on the family practice inservice. He has been working in the hospital taking care of patients and also doing clinic 4 afternoons a week. The service accepts most admissions for the entire hospital on Mondays, so he has to stay until 9 and sometimes has needed to stay after that. Tuesdays and Wednesdays he has been able to get off around 7, although sometimes its after that and he often has had to finish notes and take calls from home. Fridays he has had to stay within 20 min of the hospital until 7, so we have been going over and meeting him at different restaurants by the hospital. On Saturdays, he has needed to go in and get his work done, but he has no clinic in the afternoon so he is usually able to come home around 1. I think he has really learned a lot this month. Inpatient medicine is so different because everything is so much more rapid. Labs come back in hours instead of days and medications are changed and tweaked every day if not more. One of the highlights of his month has been sharing Star Wars with the kids. I love seeing how his face lights up as he watches the different battles and duels and remembers fun times with his brothers. Its fun to keep creating fun Star Wars memories!

 Jennie is starting to feel more human again! I felt so nauseas every night for 5 weeks or so and was just so exhausted. I barely had enough energy to cook dinner, do laundry, and keep things relatively clean. Its so nice to start wanting to do extra things again! My parents and I are working on sprucing up our front door area and we are trying to decide what color would look good for the door. Mom and I want and maroon type color and Dad wants forest green. Sean is also pushing to get the last few things done in the basement and I actually have some energy to help. I am saddened that this baby doesn’t like sweets as much as I do. Its such a strange phenomenon to really really want pumpkin pie and cookies and ice cream and then eat them and have them not taste as good as you think they will. Its hard to explain! I still get nervous that the baby won’t be okay! I think the emotional turmoil of pregnancy is much more difficult for me than the physical symptoms. My pants don’t fit so the baby must be growing and i’ve seen the ultrasound of his/her little beating heart, so I just keep reminding myself I need to have faith. If I had to guess the gender, I would say boy because this pregnancy has been so much more similar to Brett than Alana.

 One of my favorite things about Brett right now is that he continues to talk about the baby. He told his preschool class last week that his baby was coming in April during a lesson on the seasons and he is always asking me how the baby is doing and how the baby is growing. Every prayer he says is about the baby “we are grateful our baby is breathing good and we are grateful the baby will come in April and we are grateful the baby won’t come at Christmas.” He is constantly trying to come up with names for the baby. Mace Windu is currently at the top of his list if the baby is a boy. Brett says he wants a boy but he thinks the baby is a girl. Brett is loving loving loving preschool! He is soaking everything up his teacher says like a sponge! He is improving in a lot of his skills, but most notably in his listening and emotional skills. We also got a membership to Thanksgiving Point this week and went to the museum of curiosity twice. He loves it a lot and seriously can’t get enough. We can also go to the gardens, dinosaur museum, and farm country with our membership. Brett gave his first talk in primary on Sunday about being obedient to Jesus because we love him. He sat with me at the computer and helped me think of pictures to describe different ways we can be obedient. He has such a sweet testimony! We have started sharing Book of Mormon stories at bedtime and he soaks them up! He was so excited to learn the other night that unlike Star Wars, the BOM characters are real! He has decided he wants to be Luke Skywalker for Halloween and recently saved up 20 gems (by doing jobs around the house) to earn a lightsaber. He chose green because that is Luke’s color and he gives me pointers every day during our epic duels in the family room.

 Alana is flourishing at 22 months! She has really come into her own as a toddler recently. I still try to think of her as my baby, but she is just getting so big! She loves to walk up and down the stairs all by herself, she pronounces loudly each time “i got it”. Every now and then she gets tired and asks for a ride. She loves “ight shaber” shows with her daddy and thinks R2D2 is so funny. She pronounces happily that things are fun or neat and is very into emotions lately. She points out when people in books are sad or crying. She also talks about people being happy and resting and sleeping. Sometimes she comes into a room and ask “ya doin” She is obsessed with “aminals” and begs to go to the zoo. She loves to go to sleep for naps and at night and is obsessed with her pink moon blanket. She also continues to be such a little nurturer. She recently got a stroller for her babies and she loves to take care of them. She is also obsessed with Frozen. She loves Anna and Elsa and talks about them every day. She actually hates nightgowns, but has one with Anna and Elsa on it and insists on wearing it whenever its clean. I love how she has recently started to care about what she wears and has opinions when we choose outfits. She still doesn’t love to have her hair done, but she hates having it in her eyes more so sometimes asks me to do it in the morning. She is obsessed with her bow and insisted on me wearing one the other day. She cries when we take it off so she can sleep. She learns new words every day and is super excited about everything.

 Sean's job had a retreat at snowbird a few weeks ago and paid for an overnight stay for us! It was the first night I have ever spent away from Alana and i’ve only left Brett to have Alana and go to Girls Camp for 1 night. My parents were so sweet and watched our littles so we could have a luxurious dinner without our sweet kids (who keep me running marathons during meals with all their needs and demands!), and we both got to sleep in till 8:15 (which was especially nice for Sean!)


The view was remarkable, I want to go back!



Cousin Lexi had a fun princess birthday party a few weeks ago and Brett, Kaden and Sean had fun playing lightsabers in the backyard.
 
Hanging out at the zoo in our new ($25 thrift store) stroller! It was so nice to go on a chilly day when there was no crowds and it wasn’t hot =)

She’s learned how to say “cheese” for the camera.



11 week bump
 
 We went to some fun outlet stores to find Sean some new pants and we let the kids bring their new toys. Alana was particularly adorable pushing her baby through the outdoor mall.
 
Jedi-Brett
 
 The obsession continues (and was fueled by a surprise package from Papa and Mimi)!




The water area at the museum.

Sean and Brett climbing the rope ladders at the museum on Saturday afternoon:
 
Sean with the kiddos

Brett and I made pumpkin pie yesterday! What a sweet little helper!!