March is here!

We are all so excited that March is here!  Even though it always snows in Utah and is windy and cold a lot of the time, it still feels like the beginnings of Spring.  Sean finished hospital service on Tuesday and started an OB/GYN rotation on Wednesday.  He has most of his deliveries needed for residency so he is trying to focus more on the gynecology part and also do lots of his Narcan research!

On Monday Sean was still on hospital service so he needed to do his 24 hour shift.  He hung out with us in the morning and watched the kids while I did a photoshoot for some friends then went into work at noon.  It was really fun to do a snowy photoshoot and it was so nice to edit the pictures when I was feeling particularly anxious after a long day of crying and fighting from the kids.  The kids and I had a normal afternoon, we ate leftover noodle for dinner, then played with toys and went to bed.  Brett has really been into taking pictures lately so this next one is one he took of me and Lizzie right after dinner.

Lizzie had her first set of piggy tails this week and it was seriously so so cute.  She turns 11 months old tomorrow and I can't really believe it!  She is just so fun and sweet and mischievous! 

 Santa sure hit the jackpot with these train tracks.  They come out all the time and the configurations are getting more and more complex.

 Last Sunday when my parents were here for my Dad's birthday, Brett asked if they could stay to watch Trolls.  When my parents said no not tonight, Brett burst into tears.  Brett was really excited about Sean's and my Valentine date because that meant that Grandpa and Grandma were going to watch them and watch Trolls with them.  He had handled the disappointment really well for 2 weeks since I think he understood pretty well that a lot change with Great Grandma passing away, but I guess he just couldn't take it any more.  My parents made a date to come over Tuesday night and to bring pizza.  We watched teh movie picnic style and everyone loved the set up.  My parents didn't love the movie the way we do (they think it may have been written by former hippies having acid flashbacks), but they had a great time watching with the kids.  I love how Lizzie loved watching TV while eating pizza and danced in her high chair to all the music!

 Alana loves to go get Lizzie from her naps.  She loves me to put her in the crib with Lizzie and then play with her in there for awhile.  Its really cute to see them hanging together!

 More train tracks and gates to protect the train tracks for Lizzie =)

 We had a special delivery this week from Great Grandma!  My Grandma left us a little money with the caveat that we are to use if for fun things only, no bills!  I decided to get something special for each person in our family.  I ordered 100 of these magnetic blocks to go with Brett's other set of 36.  It is an awesome number for these two to play with tons and tons.  I love the focus on building and math and problem solving, and I love building with them too!  The kids were so excited that Great Grandma had made it possible to get them and Brett said he wants to remember to tell her thank you when he sees her again when she comes back, I love his simple testimony of the resurrection!

 Brett gives me a run for my money!  I'm not sure if its just because he is the oldest so i'm experiencing everything for the first time with him, or if our personalities just handle things differently.  I think its most likely a combination.  Don't get me wrong, I love that boy fiercely!  He truly is one of my best friends.   That boy can get in GRUMPY moods though and its almost impossible to get him out.  Since he's been into taking pictures lately he asked if he could have a camera.  I told him he could earn one and him and I set to work making a chart for him.  It has daily tasks for him to complete like brushing teeth, getting dressed, practicing piano and reading etc.  Then is also has playing nice with sisters and having a good attitude in the morning and afternoon.  It seems burdensome to me, but he thrives on it, he just loves structure so so much!  On Friday after a really nice bike ride we got home and he suddenly got very very sad.  He was able to put into words that he is tired of always having to be the oldest and take care of his sisters.  He said he just wished he had an older brother.   Since then I have been trying to focus as much as possible on how helpful he is and the wonderful things he can do because he is so grown up!  It seems to be helping a lot!  He was really excited that he is big enough to help Lizzie learn to walk!

 I love watching Brett take care of his sisters and I love the way Brett and Alana just adore each other (they fight a lot too, but hey opposition in all things right?)  On Friday night after dinner, we went to the mall to wander around!  We ended up at the corner bakery to get some dessert.  It was so fun to go do something completely different and be together!

 When the kids came in on Saturday, they found Daddy in bed so of course they all attacked him!

 Saturday did not go as we had planned!  My grandma's house was almost cleaned out so we were going to go in there together for 2-3 hours to help with cleaning and taking trips to DI and the dumps.  Then in the afternoon we were going to get together with Neil and Rebecca since its been almost a month and a half since we've seen them.  Sean was on call so we knew he needed to stay close but my grandmas house is 20 min from the hospital so we figured it would be fine.  We got all dressed and ready, stopped to get some Banberry Cross donuts and the second we pulled up in front of Grandma's house Sean got a call that he needed to do an admission.  So he dropped us off and headed back to the hospital.  We figured he'd be back in and hour and a half or so to help a little and take us home.  I left my phone in the van so I needed to use my dads phone to talk with him but it turned out that after the admission he found out about a new baby that needed to be seen, then the baby needed a circumcision, then his patient started crashing, then his patient started crashing again!  The text that explained it the best was "I keep trying to come, but my patient just keeps crashing!"  He ended up staying there for 5 hours!!!  Luckily they still had internet up and running at my Grandma's and I had brought my laptop and Sean's iPad for the kids.  They watched movies, played games, and played with my cousins teenage girls.  They actually had a really good time and I was able to get the kitchen cupboard all vacuumed and wiped out, the microwave cleaned, the oven cleaned, the chandelier cleaned, lots of stuff carried outside and helped load the trucks and clear out the garage.  It felt really good to be able to help and to be with my family.  Poor Lizzie was the one who took the worst hit though!  She missed he morning nap entirely and then was 2 hours past her afternoon one when she finally fell asleep in my arms.  Poor thing!!
We got back home and Neil and Rebecca arrived a bit after that.  It was so nice to see them!  We set up Sean's new frisbee golf set from my Grandma and the kids all had fun with that, then they all played lots of nintendo on the new NES mini.  I made some baked Ziti, Sean went back to the hospital to do another admission.  Neil and Becks went home and we got the kids bathed and into bed.  Sean was reading some of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe to them when he got another call for another admission!  He got home about 11:30 only to get a call at midnight from a really troubled patient who wouldn't let him off the phone!  He was all worked up and couldn't get to sleep for awhile!  Today has been a little better with calls, but he is at the hospital right now doing another admission!  We did have a really productive, relaxing, and enjoyable Sunday though!
Lizzie had piggy tails again today and I just love them so so much!!

 Church selfie.  This was before Sacrament meeting started when I took my phone out to put it on silent =) Sean got to pass the sacrament today so I had all three cuties to myself.  Brett acted so grown up and helped me so much with the sacrament trays!  I was sure to compliment him up and down for helping and acting so grown up and helpful, he really liked that!

 Alana was feeling really clingy during sacrament meeting.  She is a 3 year old through and through right now! She hates anything that feels too tight!  Pants, socks, shoes, shirts, underwear, you name it!  So almost every time we leave the house we are in tears because something just doesn't feel right (Sundays are particularly tough), then if we are lucky enough to get to the car without crying, the seatbelt will surely cause us some grief!  It's driving me crazy, but I actually get it, I hate it when my clothes don't feel right and she is just learning about all the different kinds of clothes and shoes!  She'd rather just be a bare foot lion in the buff =)  She has also been having a hard time with having potty accidents again.  I know some of it is because she gets lazy, but I think a big part is stress.  The accidents seem to get worse in stressful times.  We will figure it out!  She loves to build and read and color and hang with me and she LOVES to clean the toilet!

As I am tying this Praise to the man was just playing and it reminded me that I wanted to share that Sean and I have been studying the Doctrine and Covenants with the Institute manual and we both really love it.  We are understanding the history a lot better! Hope you all have a very happy week!!