Turns Out Gardening Rules

I wish that I had taken before and after pictures of our backyard...I am learning that I am really terrible at that. Just know that Aaron completely over-hauled the back portion of our yard single-handedly and turned it into a really great garden! Finn had a great time helping him plant everything and I just couldn't pick my favorite picture of the two of them. Aaron has worked so hard on this and is very excited to reap what he has sewn!

The garden tonight!

Our grape vines get more and more lush every day! By the end of summer they will be twice this leafy.

We got hooked up with a cheap trampoline and a playhouse for free so suddenly our backyard is sweet! We are excited to spend many a summer day out here.

Who Put the Hop in the Hippety Hoppity Hop

The title of this post comes from the singing stuffed bunny that Finn and Kate got from their Grammy c/o the Easter Bunny. (Easter morning Finn exclaimed, "Mom! The Easter Bunny gave me himself!") It was a big hit with both the kids and all their friends. I put it in storage a week ago and I still can't get the song out of my head.

Leading up to the big day, we had an Easter party with some playgroup friends. Finn and Kate loved the egg hunt and playing and eating with their buddies.


Kate LOVED holding her Easter basket. On the drive home, she fell asleep immediately with it clutched in her tiny hands. When Finn saw me take a picture of her, he figured out a way to get his picture taken too.

Saturday night we colored Easter eggs as a family. I got this fun 'monster-egg' kit that the kids, including Aaron of course, had a lot of fun with.

Easter morning was so fun. Finn rushed down to my room to show me the puppets that the Easter Bunny brought for him and Kate. They were both so excited about their baskets. It was also fun to have our very own backyard to have an egg hunt in. Finn was very interested in the true meaning of Easter this year, and I loved teaching him about the resurrection and the gift of the atonement.

To top it off, my plum tree was in bloom making everything look so Springy -- it was an Easter miracle!

She's a Smartie

Remember this post? Finn knew all his letters by 20 months old and we attributed it to his love for Wheel of Fortune. Well, I guess Pat Sajack doesn't deserve the credit after all because we haven't watched that show forever and Kate (22 months) knows all her letters now too! I knew that she knew a few, but she surprised me a while ago by spouting them all off while I was reading her 'A-EEE-SEES!' (an alphabet story book that she likes to look at) Not only did she know all the letters, but she knows the name of every single picture in the book too. (Like, the mole on the 'M' page...what 1 1/2 year old knows what a mole is?) Letters are just something my kids' brains latch on to I guess. Like, Kate still hasn't figured out how to use the word 'yes' but she can tell a 'b' apart from a 'd'. Whatevs. We'll take what we can get! Finn was so cute praising his sister when she got a letter right. Watch the video at your own risk, I think it took up all 8 gigs on my memory card.

Finnisms

Wow, it's been a while. I'm feeling pretty great this pregnancy but the one thing I have noticed is a general lack of interest...I don't want to clean, I don't want to cook, and I don't want to blog. Occasionally the sun breaks through the clouds and I get a load of laundry done or make something for dinner that didn't come from a package...and today I am blogging! Without further adieu, I give you the latest installment of Finnisms, sprinkled with pics from his lastest do-it-yourself photoshoot.
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Finn is getting more comfortable saying his prayers and has been getting really creative. This morning he asked Heavenly Father to please bless us to get more apples soon...which was a lot nicer sentiment than last night when he asked to "please help us die soon, please help us be crucified, and please bless us that we'll be put to death." With Easter coming up, I have been talking to him a lot about Christ's atonement and resurrection...maybe a little too much :)
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I am hyper-aware of how much TV my kids watch in a day. Aaron...not so much. On a Saturday when we were all in the basement, Finn had just finished watching a show and said very strategically, "Can I watch another show...dad?"
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I frequently (especially lately) use the phrase, "I'm starving" when I need something to eat. After one such exclamation, Finn said, "Me too! Actually, no. Starvin' means you're so hungry you die right?"
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Finn likes strawberries and doesn't care that he's not supposed to eat the stem. After sharing some strawberries with his cousin he came to the adults and triumphantly declared, "I ate my plant!" Way to stick to your guns dude.
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Finn is very into maps and the other day he navigated us home from my brother's house...with a map of Ikea.
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Being pregnant, I take fish oil supplements. Aaron asked if I'd had one yet today, I said no, so he got the bottle down and Finn said, "I want a fish whale!" It took me a minute to realize he was talking about my pill.
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We live close to a Meadow Gold factory. The parking lot is full of big trucks that promote their product. One of the trucks says some slogan about milk and cookies and has a picture of the same. While we were passing the factory, Finn was telling a story, interrupted himself and could barely blurt out fast enough, "COOKIE TRUCK!!!" while he pointed ecstatically. It was so cute thinking that he just couldn't believe there was a truck full of cookies and he had to point out this amazing phenomenon before we passed it.

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I woke up to the sound of Finn yelling for me in the middle of the night. I rushed to his room but he was already almost back asleep. When I asked him what was wrong he said, "Um, mom, um, why do dogs and cats have tails, why?"
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Finn is really into dress-ups lately. The other day he asked me if we could go to the store that has Jesus dress-ups and get him one. An interesting conversation ensued about reverence for Jesus...but I guess in the end it is pretty great that he wanted to dress up like him. ****************
Finn wanted to wear two t-shirts the other day and so I let him. After he got them both on he said, "this is how Dad does it right mom?" Aaron frequently has two or three shirts on at a time and I thought it was so cute that Finn was just trying to be like his dad.

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A couple weeks ago we watched General Conference. After getting out of the tub on Sunday night, Finn looked at his skin and said, "Hey mom! My hands look like President Monson's face!"

Slowly but surely

It has been 6 months since we moved into our house. I have come to realize that it will never look exactly perfect, but that's just part of owning your own home. My sister recently did a lot of painting in her house and said to me, "Maybe now when you walk into my house you won't know it was built in 1946." To which I replied, "Yeah, maybe someday when you walk into my house you won't know that we built it." Because let's face it, we basically did. The work that we put into it is SO fullfilling though...unless you've done work on your own home you won't quite understand it. There is just something so gratifying about putting time and effort into something you own and making it better. I truly feel like my quality of life has been enriched by living here.

And so, slowly but surely we are improving our home. The latest additions are a BBQ that cost 100 bucks less than it should have thanks to a sweet online deal (Finn seriously can't wait to use it and asked me to cook our ham and cheese sandwiches on it for lunch today) and this little gem that makes me happy every time I step on it:

I always knew we needed a rug for this room but have never been able to find something cheap enough that was big enough and cute enough. Enter this little baby that I found online from a local dealer. It's real flokati wool and only cost 99 dollars! These kind of rugs get better with time because the more the fibres break apart the softer it gets AND I can wash it in my washing machine! I love the texture it adds to the room and I seriously change my course through the house sometimes so I can step on it. Here's what the living room looked like without it:

Still to do in this room are: hanging that mirror (yes, it's been sitting against the wall for several months), family pics on the walls, and a couple end tables and lamps. But we're getting there!

Something else coming slowly but surely? Kate's hair. She definitely has more than Finn had at this age (hallelujah), but it is still really thin. I was so happy the other day when I realized it was legitimately long enough for pig taills!



And these two little kiddos are both growing up slowly but surely. But it is still too fast for me.

The best surprise ever

Yes! I am pregnant! The actual pregnancy was planned though...the surprise came a little later.

We had been trying for a while and on New Year's Eve, it became evident that once again, I wasn't pregnant. I was surprisingly really sad about it and was just kind of depressed for a few days. At the beginning of February though, a home pregnancy test came back positive and we were elated. I made my first doctor's appointment for March 9th which put me at about 9-10 weeks pregnant.

My doctor always does an ultrasound at the first appointment which I love. It just makes everything seem real. During the ultrasound, the tech said, "when did you say your last period was again?" After I told her, she said, "well, I'm measuring your baby at over 13 weeks...so whatever that was it wasn't a period. Congrats on by-passing your first trimester!"

Seriously?! I was totally shocked. Aaron pointed out how ironic it was that I was actually pregnant when I was so depressed about not being pregnant. I thought I had a solid three weeks left of my first trimester and I am already in my second!

So now the baby is due September 12th instead of October 5th. And that is the best surprise ever.

Kateisms

Kate is a VERY messy eater. I'm sure most kids her age are, but she usually one-ups them by tipping over her bowl or plate at EVERY meal time and scattering/smearing the contents on the table. We're working on this.

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A couple of months ago I caught Kate in this get-up. It's my sports bra, toque and part of a Wii controller. Kate LOVES to dress up. Finn didn't start liking dress-ups till he was 3, but Kate already brings me her Snow White costume at any/all times of day to put on. She is also constantly wearing my, Aaron and Finn's shoes around the house.

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Kate has started squinting her eyes at me when she is trying to talk nicely and be cute. I realized this is because I usually squint my eyes at her when I am telling her how cute she is. She also can't say 'cheese' for the camera without squinting, as evidenced in the above picture.

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Kate's favorite part of the backyard by far is our little slide. She shouts 'sliiiiide!!!' as soon as the gate opens and makes a bee-line for it. Pretty impressive that she can climb up the ladder in all her winter gear.

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Kate's favorite words right now:

SHOW (I know, bad mom.) She always get's sooooo excited when I turn a show on and exclaims 'shoooooowwww!' several times on her way to her seat
OWIE (hmmm, maybe I shouldn't be sharing these.) Unfortunately, Kate's first real word was 'ow'. Finn's was 'balloon'...much sweeter.
NO (uuhhh, are these getting worse?) Kate does not say yes or yeah. She says no. To everything. She is just barely starting to say 'kay' in response to a question that ends in 'okay?'. But if you ask her if she wants something, she says no, even if she wants it desperately. It's a very polite no, almost like a question, like this "no?" so right now we don't really mind.
PLEASE (ok, I'm just putting this one in to counter the other ones) But she signs please ALL THE TIME. Girl knows how to get what she wants.

HAPPY Not sure if she actually knows the true meaning of this word, but we like to think she does. She goes around the house saying it over and over and over again. Cutest. Thing. Ever.

We love this little gal. She is so loving and a total snuggler. She worships Finn and is just growing up so fast!