Cousin Time

Last week Portia and Palmer came to visit.   Portia stayed with us and Palmer got some one on one time with Papa and Nona.  I'm not sure there is anything that makes me happier than when Briz spends time with her cousins that she adores.  Maybe it means more to me because she normally just has Nick and I around.  

Briz was SO excited to have Portia here.  She told everyone she saw for the few days before she came.  She also made sure to brag about her cousin's age.  "Do you know how old Portia is?  She's 7!!!"  

Briz worships her cousin, and wanted to do everything exactly like her.  After a few days I think Portia was a little sick of having a clone.

Saturday, we went on a nature hike at Tryon Creek Park.  It was kinda lame and the guide talked way too much about stuff we really didn't care about.  But the girls got to be outside and they also got to use a magnifying glass.

Briz is really into making this weird pirate face when she poses for pictures.

We then took the kids to the Portland Aerial Tram.  They thought it was the coolest thing.  A lot of screaming and cheering.   

Palmer said his favorite part was the "freefall."

When we got up to the top it was beautiful and sunny and you could see Mount Hood and Mount Jefferson and the entire city of Portland.  

The whole weekend was sunny and warm.  These girls, being the northwestern children that they are thought it was basically summer.  They wanted to bring out a kiddie pool to play at Papa and Nona's, but settled for a big bowl that they kept filling up.  

Portia was leaping and dancing for hours.  What else do you need besides sunshine and a bucket of water with your cousin?

After not very long, Briz took off all of her clothes.  Portia was a little bit embarrassed by Brizzy's immodesty.  

We took the girls to see Mr. Peabody and Sherman.  They were mesmerized and Nick and I loved hearing their giggles.  I loved it because it was all about history and a nerdy dog.  

On Monday, we spent a fun afternoon at the park, but before that, I let the girls paint Brizzy's Ikea table outside.  These two girls could paint or color for hours.  They are both quite the little artists, so they thought this was a cool project.  

The girls were very tired by their last day, and needed some serious naps.  But it was so wonderful having Portia here.  Briz and her were in their own world for most of the weekend.  It was so nice for Briz to have a playmate around.  Briz asked if Dad could get a job in Washington so she could see Palmer, Portia, and Teya every day.  Probably not going to happen anytime soon, but we love that we get to see these cousins more often.

Books Books Books

I'm trying to find all of the upsides to lying down a lot.  I am getting some things done that I have needed to get done, i.e. organizing picture files, organizing music, and the best of all is reading.  The last couple weeks I've read some books, all very different.

This book looked and seemed intriguing but was a bit of a disappointment.  The language is beautiful in it, and it's about two worlds colliding.  It's about immigration in the United States, the Holocaust, death, love, aging, and family.  But there was a lot of buildup in the story to what seemed like would be a big mystery, and then the ending wasn't quite as exciting as I would have liked.  It was one of those books though that I didn't hate, so I decided I would finish it.  But it took me a while to get through it, and I was annoyed because I have a long list of other books I am excited about.

This is a book I have been wanting to read for a long time.  I have always been fascinated by the Romanov's and the Bolshevik Revolution, but don't have much knowledge about it.  Plus, I have  a bit of an affinity towards this royal couple since Nick and I  have the same names.  This book was extremely dense. I couldn't believe how much information there was.  It was long, but I couldn't put it down.  Absolutely loved it!  I would recommend to anyone who has a good chunk of time to read and likes history/politics.

This was our book club book, and it was cute.  It was about a boy and a girl, middle school aged, and each of their different perspectives on their relationship.  It reminded me a lot of when I was in middle school/high school and it made me laugh thinking about what I thought vs. the boys I liked.  It ended up in a fun book club where we talked a lot about funny stories when we were dating our spouses.

I am now starting on the Divergent series.  I refuse to see the movie without reading the book.  Luckily, its an easy read, because I got a stack of books that need to be read and returned to the library.    

Spriiing!!!

Spring has arrived and we are pretty excited about the sunshine.  I will admit, I am also somewhat bitter about it as well.  My doctor put me on moderated bed rest.  Translation: I am only supposed to be up for a few hours during the day.  It has made life difficult to say the least, but regardless, warmer weather, flowers blooming, and sunshine still lifts my spirit even if I can't be outside as much as I would like.  We were supposed to leave for  Hawaii in a couple weeks, which we had to cancel.  So I'm glad I'm getting at least SOME sun.  

Love a new season with my girl.  She gets excited and wants to do new things.  She was very excited to help me plant flowers in some of our pots in the front yard.

As always her favorite thing to do is color.  But coloring with chalk is the best.  She has been wanting to write, "Will you . . . " lately.  Today she wrote me a note writing, "Will you be my star rock." (aka rockstar).

Rainbows, flowers, and unicorns still dominate her coloring.

Briz has her last day of swim class.  We went back to go swimming for fun and she saw her swim teacher.  She would not take her eyes off of him, except for when she was trying to show off.

In an effort to try to be down as much as possible,  I have started watching some old movies with Briz again.  I'm not a big fan of Oklahoma, but for some reason, Briz loves it.  We have also been doing a lot of reading.  We just finished Matilda.  She could not understand why her parents were so  mean in the book.  Such a difficult concept for a four year old to understand.  She is a little nervous to watch the movie because of the scary headmistress, but she decided that she will be brave.

More than anything, Spring means that we are that much closer to summer = that much closer to arrival of baby.  She can't come soon enough!  Well, except that I have done nothing to prepare.  As much as I am excited for her to come, we are just trying really hard/praying really hard to keep her in there as long as possible.  Placenta Previa is still complete and my contractions are very frequent and intense.  Briz is watching out for me and is constantly lecturing me to rest (while at the same time demanding that I help her with things :) ).  It's going to be interesting for the next few months.  Let's hope I can keep my sanity!          

St. Patrick's Day

We had a very non celebratory St. Patrick's Day this year.  Normally I like to dye some stuff green, and Briz probably would have loved it.  But it was too crazy of a day.  Briz had her last dance class, we had play group with 7 friends over, and then I had my last piano lessons.  That night, Nick found out he got some last minute tickets to the season opener of the Portland Thunder, the arena football game.  By the end of the day, I wasn't able to really walk

I didn't think she would really like it, but she LOVED the game.  She liked to keep me informed of what was going.  "Mom, it was a fumble!"  I  had never been to an arena football game, but they did quite a bit to keep it entertaining.  Lots of music and fun stuff going on, so Briz loved dancing to the music.  She particularly loved the dancers . . . scary!  When she sat there watching them mesmerized, she said, "Mom . . . I want to do that when I grow up."  Hmmm, let's hope not.

As girly as Briz is, her dramatic personality tends to come out in sports.  She gets very into things and cheers and screams very intensely.   There's no way she got that from her parents! :)  Love how fun it is go with her to sporting events.   

Heartburn and Other Fun Things

Some random stuff of what we've been up to lately.

Nick's cousin Jeff and his wife Sam were in town so they stopped by for dinner.  We got in some good baby time with adorable little Sawyer.  It was good practice for both Nick and I, and we particularly enjoyed emphasizing the point to Briz that the baby hampered our attentions towards her.  She's gonna need to start getting used to it!

Briz has been reading more and more.  She still gets very frustrated when she doesn't know a word.  Taking the time to sound it out always seems like much too work.  Her new favorite word is Mac, like her aunt Mac.  She decided to draw Mac's family, and place herself in it.  

Nick and I have been trying really hard to get to the temple once a month.  We went this last week.  My parents were watching Briz and wanted to go to a session, so we swapped Briz in the temple lobby.  We told our ward members (who were at temple night with us) that we just left Briz in the lobby during our session and asked the temple workers to keep an eye on her (we think we're funny).  I think this may be the last session I go to for a while.  I was pretty uncomfortable!

We continue play group with our friends.  It's always a great excuse for me to try some fun stuff with the kids.  Normally I am too lazy to waste the energy on just Briz alone :)  We tried marshmallow paint brushes with edible paint.  They had a hard time keeping the marshmallows out of their mouths.

Briz is in her last week of swim lessons.  She still doesn't love sticking her whole face in the water when she is doing freestyle.  But at least she no longer takes dramatic gasps of breath between strokes.  She immediately gets out of the pool and tells me what her teacher wants her to work on.  She takes it very seriously.

I have never bought so much milk in my life.  Normally, we hardly get through our milk, but lately I can't seem to have enough because we have been big cereal eaters.  I wake up starving and want to eat three bowls.  But then I'm full until 3 or 4 in the afternoon.  This day was one rare occasion where I didn't eat anything until 2 p.m.  and I thought I was going to pass out.  I of courses still had to start my day with cereal.   Corn bran is my particular favorite these days.

On another note, the heartburn has been awful already. I have to take my zantac at night and I have to sleep propped up.  It doesn't make much sense because this baby is sitting so far down.  But I've given up trying to understand my body during pregnancy!  

I have been trying to cut Brizzy's hair since January.  I like to cut it in the spring because it grows so fast and its just easier when it starts to get sunny outside.  She has adamantly denied it for the last couple months.  I have been a good sport trying all new kinds of creative hairstyles.  But when she randomly agreed on Saturday, I pounced.  She thought it was so cool cutting her hair outside.

After we cut it, she won't stop touching it and waving it around.  She also loves looking in the mirror.  She thinks its really cool that she can do it on her own and just put a bow/headband in it (that is also my favorite thing). 

It has been gorgeous here this last week.  In the 60's and sunny!  I am really bitter personally because I just want to go running/walking and enjoy it.   But I have hardly enough ability to just do my dishes and get dressed for the day, so we haven't been taking advantage as much as I would like.  I finally decided to just do my "taking it easy" on a camping chair while I watch Briz ride her scooter.  It's a little depressing, but what can ya do. 

Papa came over this weekend to join Nick in a blessing for me.  I was hoping to hear something along the lines of "You will have no complications."  Ya know, complete healing or something like that.   But it was more like, "Don't be stupid.  Listen to other people."  Still very grateful for the added strength and reassurance that the Priesthood gives me.  Regardless of the circumstances of my pregnancy, I am grateful for it.  

This picture is right after Briz read Papa a book.  Whenever you tell Briz that she did something good, she usually responds with, "I know."  I love my confident little girl (although we may need to work on her gaining some humility).  She has been such a sweet girl though.  She loves her little baby sister and loves to give my belly kisses and hugs.  One of our favorite things to do is to sit around and talk about the things she will get to do with her baby sister.  

The Last Few Weeks

The last few weeks have been going well.  I am feeling overall a lot better and trying to enjoy it, even though I am constantly being lectured by Nick to stop doing stuff.  Briz was being extremely whiny and needy for a couple weeks, and I was getting pretty tired of it.   But helping her get more sleep, and being more consistent with consequences/rewards has definitely helped.  It's a big duh.  But day to day when you're tired, not so easy to actually implement.  Here are some things that we've been up to . . .

Briz has been asking for very particular hairstyles lately.  I attempt to try them out, but often give up.  She went through  a phase in January when she really wanted me to cut her hair and now she's back to insisting on growing it out like Rapunzel.  I really wish I would have taken advantage of that phase, because even though I don't mind doing her hair, it's quite a hassle.

Briz went to the dentist, which she LOVES.  As always, she did great and was very excited about her special prizes on the way out.

Even though, still rainy most of the time, it has started to get warmer, which is wonderful.  We have upgraded to our light coats, and spending a bit more time outside.  We decided to take an evening scooter ride one night while we waited for Dad to get home.

We have started piano lessons up again.  I have to make sure we do these when Briz is in a good mood, otherwise its a recipe for disaster.  She doesn't want my help with anything.  Here she is practicing rounded hands.

We have been doing a lot of play groups which is wonderful.  I have a group of girls over on Monday afternoon and Briz plays at her friends' houses on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.  Even though she never wants it to end, it's so nice for her to be around her friends every day.

We took a little pit stop at the pet store, and she was obsessed with the chameleons.  She begged and begged to buy one.  Luckily she seems to have forgotten about it since.

She has been perfecting her posing, as you can tell.  She has got the sassy-teenage-open mouth pose down.

Briz gets every excited about silly things.  This is her new toothbrush from the dentist and she loves brushing her teeth with it.

With some of Brizzy's friends, we made fruit loop necklaces.

I have recently decided to take a break from teaching piano.  It was a hard decision for me because I love teaching.  But with my pregnancy complications and my counseling business continually growing, there just isn't enough time in the day.  This is what Briz does while I teach piano.  She finds other peoples' dress up clothes.  

And finally, this is a comparison of my pregnancy with Holland to my current state.  You can't quite tell with this picture, but I am SO much bigger with this pregnancy.  I had to actually go maternity shopping today, which is something I think I did twice with Briz.  I normally have gotten away with buying just Large shirts, but my belly is just sticking out too much that I have to invest in the real deal.  Doesn't make me happy, but I did always say with my other pregnancies that I wanted more of a real pregnant belly (not to just gain weight everywhere).  So I guess I'm getting what I've wanted. 

 Baby Girl # 3 loves to kick A LOT.  She just recently started getting the hiccups which makes me smile.  She seems to love sugar, and goes particularly bezerk when I eat it; she loves music (both of which are not big surprises), but what I love is that she loves her Dad's voice.  Anytime he talks, without fail, she goes crazy.  Starting to get excited for this little one's arrival in a few months.  

Briz has decided that she wants to name her Rosella (and call her Ro for short) or Blossom Rose.