February Stuff

A couple weeks ago, the director of the residency invited us all over for some pizza and games. I mentioned to the kids that we were going to Daddy's boss's house and Brett got all grumpy and rude about being the boss. It was funny because I didn't realize that a 6 year old would take that to be such a bad word, he just associates it with all the bad things that come with being "bossy". Dr. Allen has lots of teenage girls who were more than happy to watch the kiddos in the fun basement while Sean and I played some fun games with friends. Sean was on call which meant he had to jump out every now and then, but mostly we just had a great time playing code names and laughing. When Sean went down to get the kids so we could get home, they were all snuggled up in this fun bean bag chair. It is apparently memory foam and has now made it on to our new house wish list! 

 Sean presented his poster on prescribing Naloxone (Narcan) to those who are also prescribed opiates at another conference in Park City. He texted me this picture of a cookie he got before he headed up to the poster session. He said it was really disappointing which is sad because it looks so yummy! Unfortunately there wasn't a great turn out at the session, but Sean got to visit with a lot of cool people and he was able to carpool up with Diantha. We received word on Saturday that his poster had won!! He gets all the glory and a $250 prize. I really am so proud of this project, I think its a really important topic that needs to be addressed.

Alana is such an amazing artist. I really am blown away by the amazing things she draws and colors!

 One Saturday we decided we needed a fun diversion and decided bowling was the best idea. We had a great time bowling, then we spent some time in the arcade. We all had fun and it was nice to just get out of the house as a family!

 They didn't have bowling shoes small enough for Lizzie, but the rest of us wore them!

 I was bummed I couldn't get a better picture of our scores!

 We had parent teacher conference for Brett and we weren't surprised to find out that he is in the top of his class. He is blowing reading out of the water and his math skills are incredible. We are so proud of how hard he works in school. He and Alana got to pick a book from the book fair to celebrate.

 I bought these fun "Dig it Up" dinosaur eggs at Target. You take an egg and soak it in water for 5 minutes then use a little chisel to dig out a dinosaur. Brett, Alana, and Lizzie love them!

 Papa and Mimi came to help with the first excavation and for some dinner and a viewing of Robin Hood =)

 On Presidents Day we went to Smiths Marketplace and bought some new bath mats for the new house and checked out some of the fun furniture. We also went to Kid to Kid where Brett and Alana bought some wiggle bikes and we bought Lizzie a little car for her birthday.

 We had a girls/boys get together. Sean, Brett, Steffan and some friends played games at our house.  Lizzie took a nap, and Alana and I went to the Saffrons to do nails and watch some movies. It was a fun get together.

 I drove past our new house to take a picture of the sold sign!

 The car finally got so gross I couldn't take it anymore. The kids and I took it to the carwash which was a fun adventure. They've never been in an automatic car wash before! We stopped at the gas station after and they got to pick some treats.

 Last Saturday we met our dear friends the Ehle's at the dinosaur museum. Our kids had such a fun time!

 We went to Wallaby's to have dinner for my Dad's birthday, it was delicious. I think my favorite part was the pomegranate limeade!

Mom and Dad Z wanted to see our new house again so we went out to walk through it after Wallaby's

 On Sunday morning I had to peel the kids away from this cozy spot to get them ready for church. I love seeing them snuggled together enjoying a good book! I wish they always got along this well!

 Mom and Dad Z found some learning to draw books in their library and passed them on to the kids. We are particularly impressed with Alana's drawings! Both kids are great artists and love to color and draw!

Alana has been going back and forth about how she wants her hair to be! A few weeks ago she told me she wanted it chin length and I agreed that we could do that. I had worked myself up to it and when we got to the salon she changed her mind. Then she told me a bit ago that she wanted bangs, then she changed her mind. Then the other night I looked up some videos on how to cut little girl bangs and then she said never mind I don't want them. I said ok then she came down the stairs and said she'd changed her mind again. I explained to her that I thought they would be very cute and that I would be happy to cut them, but that it will be that way for lots of days. She seemed to understand it was a long term decision and so we went to work. 

 She has loved them and so have I! They look so cute and now her hair isn't in her eyes as much since she hasn't wanted braids or ponytails as much. Alana is  getting older and bigger and funnier every day! I am consistently blown away with how much she knows and is learning. I also am amazed at all the love she shows to Lizzie and Brett. She gives the best hugs and is just such a peace maker. Her favorite thing right now is to color cute unicorns and put them up all over the house. She can still be feisty and loves to be a tiger or jaguar! Alana's preschool was canceled this week so today one of her preschool friends invited us over for a playdate. We had so much fun playing with some of the preschool friends. Its fun to see Alana interact with other kids. She loves Jack the best and will follow him around everywhere. She had no interest in the dolls or barbies, just the balls, slides, imaginative play, instruments, and art. She still loves her red juice in a sippy cup and has a definite like for meat. She loves deli ham and breakfast sausages a lot! She is super picky about all vegetables and only really likes apples or bananas covered in cookie butter or sugar. Heaven help us! Her favorite treat this week is hohos. Alana is excited about her new bedroom and her yellow wall with pink canopies and sharing with Lizzie=)

 Lizzie thinks she is older than she is! About a week ago she started having a hard time with bedtime. She didn't want to go to sleep and even when we let her stay up and do the big kid routine, she still didn't want to go to sleep! She also started rejecting naps. I'm too much of a softie and can't just let her sit in her crib and cry forever. One day I let her scream for 45 minutes before deciding that it just wasn't worth it. She seems just fine during the days, although I can tell she still needs more sleep that what she is getting. Its been a week with no naps.

 Yesterday she woke up at 6:30 and wouldn't go back to sleep, so by 5 pm when I was making dinner she came to me and asked me to pick her up. I thought she was sad about something but she just snuggled into my shoulder and fell right to sleep! It was so sweet!

 I let her sleep for about 20 minutes, but then moved her to the couch so I could start some pizza for dinner. We had done leftovers for 2 nights in a row already or else I wouldn't have been too concerned about cooking.  She will be 2 next month and its strange how she seems to get more grown up each day.  Lizzie still loves Wheels on the Bus, Minnie Mouse, her bear and goose, and following around her siblings especially Alana!

Brettster has been doing really great in school! He is loving to read and play with his friends. He is very sensitive and gets upset when things don't go right. His piano teacher assigned him a new recital piece and he really liked it. I did notice that he was complaining a lot more about practicing and avoiding the piano. Finally one Saturday morning he broke down and told us he was done with piano and he wanted to quit. We listened to everything he said and Sean mentioned that he though the Night Train recital piece was too hard. Sean asked him if we helped make piano fun again if he would still like it. He agreed to try a new piece. They found one called Penguin March which is right up our penguin-loving boy's alley. He has been playing like crazy again and enjoying it a lot! I took him to his lesson last Monday and he left really mad and grumpy because he felt like there was too much to do and that he really hated the Dozen a Day book as well. We told him there are millions of piano books and he doesn't need to play ones he doesn't like. Sean ordered a few more books for him to play from that will hopefully be more on his level. I think we have just been giving him to difficult of pieces. Its hard to tell when he sits so well through his lesson and plays everything she gives him. He is so obedient to her and never lets on that he doesn't like something or that its too hard. Hopefully we can get in a good groove. I feel like he has a talent for piano and want him to continue but I don't want to push him to do something that he doesn't like. It's hard to figure out what is best for our kids! It's hard to tell if they truly don't like something or if its their mood or if its mostly fun except for one part, I'm just glad he is talking to us so he's not miserable!  He will be taking some soccer this Spring again and is so excited! He has been practicing running every day at school with Carter!