Sand

 This is why I don't spend a lot of money on Annie's clothes.  The girl loves dirt, bugs, mud, rain, etc.,  And I would much rather she was comfortable getting stinkin' dirty, than always having to worry about ruining her cute clothes. 

And this is what happens before I allow any of the sandy creatures inside the house:

When I'm Good, I'm Good

Aiden's preschool class had circus day last week and they were supposed to dress up.  Aiden chose to be a lion tamer which was a good choice. But seriously, who has lion tamer costumes laying around?  Certainly not me.  So I pulled out my twice-yearly craft skills and whipped up this costume made from an $5 fleece pullover from walmart. I must say, he looked adorable!

 And here is the reason my crafting is only a twice-yearly event.  I would rather spend my afternoons/mornings like this. Fortunately I have Annie around to tuck me in.

"I don't need help!"

Why are those words from a three-year-old often so scary.  Annie had to give her first talk on Sunday so we spent all morning preparing.  The topic was Latter Day Prophets Help Us Choose the Right so we spent the morning talking about how President Monson helps us.  I had all sorts of good ideas, but Annie was sure she wanted to start with, "President Monson profers us..." and then some more nonsensical dither.  Anyway, I convinced her to give the talk my way in primary and then she could do it on her own for FHE the next day.  When it came time to give the talk, Annie confidently stood up to the podium, pulled out her scriptures (actually a copy of Crime and Punishment), laid them on the pulpit then loudly whispered to me, "I don't need help!".  I honestly was terrified because once Annie gets something in her head that she wants to do on her own, it takes a real fight to get her to back down.  And I didn't want to have that fight in front of the whole primary.  Luckily, Landon walked in at that moment and I motioned him up to the front.  Since, for whatever reason, Annie will take instruction from Landon, she gave a version of the talk that actually made sense.  And, I must say, she did a fantastic job. 

Here are the pictures she drew for her talk.  They both are of President Monson.  #2 is a picture of President Monson doing plie's.  Of course.

80 degrees

Last weekend Landon and I went on a dream-trip to Arizona.  I know Phoenix isn't necessarily one's idea of the perfect destination but it had a few things going for it.  First- it was 80 degrees.  Second- we had NO kids.  Truthfully, as long as we are kid-free I don't really care what the destination is.  We stayed with my sister Carli and Landon ran a Ragnar race with his brother.  It was a perfect vacation.

Highlights, according to the camera phone:

Thursday night we tried a ritzy pizza place with Carli and Jeremy.  It was delicious.  I don't know if the pizza was any better than Settebelo's (our favorite place here) but the cheese plate we had as an appetizer was amazing. 

 On the last night we went to Lolo's Chicken and Waffles which had an atmosphere completely opposite from the ritzy pizza place.  It was in a trashy part of town- the kind of place where you are a little nervous to leave your car.  But it was delicous.  Fried Chicken, a sweet waffle and maple syrup over the whole thing is surprisingly delicious.  I have tried chicken and waffles at a couple places but Lolo's was by far the best I've had.

 While Landon ran his race Carli and I enjoyed a perfect girls day.   A morning of hiking, a little shopping (We tried the famous Last Chance, turns out it isn't my cup of tea), lunch on a patio, a trip to Old Town Scottsdale for an art museum and people watching.  Followed up by going to The Vow after dinner. 

 And here are a couple pictures of what Landon was doing while we had our perfect girl's day.

What we don't have pictures of is the day Landon and I spent hiking and running errands in the strip-mall mecca of America.  Even running errands without kids is simply a delight.

A big thank you to Bryce for putting together the Ragnar team and a big thank you to Carli for hosting us!

Proof

I actually didn't think I was really pregnant until I saw pictures of this baby for myself.  But the signs were all there:

In December I caught some sort of stomach bug and spent all day sick in bed wanting to throw up (not pregnancy-related, hallelujah).  That night I started to feel better and my body realized that I hadn't eaten all day.  Around 9:30 that night I was desperate for a steak.  A steak didn't just sound nice, I needed it.  Landon must have seen the desperation on my face and went to the store to pick up a steak for me.  I slapped it on the grill and ten minutes later had the very best steak of my life.  Red meat at 10:00? Sign me up.

A few weeks ago I was running at the gym when the song "Set Fire to the Rain" by Adele came on my ipod. There is nothing emotional about that song but for some reason I almost lost it when I heard it.  I have never been so close to crying in my life.  I was able to hold back the actual tears if only to preserve my pride.  However, later that week all the cheesy Valentine ads were on the radio and I actually cried tears when I heard this heart-wrenching script, "You remember the day you first saw her.  The day you wanted to give her a ring and make her yours forever..." The ad was complete garbage, but it really got to me.

And the kicker that I must actually be pregnant -I love love love full-panel maternity pants.  You know, the ones that rest right below your bra.  Nothing cute or sexy about them. So much for my pride.  Long live full-panel pants!