Hello Family,It has been over four months since I've last written. Our computer crashed in November. We were able to retrieve almost all of our documents, except for ALL the updates I've written in the last four years. These were all saved in Microsoft outlook and this is the ONE program that we couldn't retrieve. I've been in denial since it was so much work writing these memories to preserve a little of our family history. Thank goodness that Tom saves most of our emails, so I can retrieve a majority of these updates. Needless to say the loss was depressing. For a while, I lost the desire to continue writing. It is amazing to look back over the last four months and realize what I've missed documenting as the girls continue to grow, as do I -- literally!
So starting with more recent events, we had a nice relaxing weekend. It has been a while since we didn't have some major event to support or head-up on the weekend. The girls went to Brooke's birthday party on Saturday. During the party, Brian and I made visits to home improvement centers. We are busy getting estimates on some built in cabinets, as well as looking at granite for our kitchen countertops, and getting paint estimates. We figure that we've been here almost three years. It is time to start settling in. I am just afraid that I'll spend the money getting our house to where I feel satisfied, and we'll move. That is always my hestitation, but I've already missed out on two years plus of home improvements. Our most recent purchase, the piano, has made me realize even more how big of a difference an upgrade can make. We've thoroughly enjoyed having the piano in our house. It makes our house look nicer, and it is so nice to have Brian sit down in the evenings and play. The girls have fun with it too. Brian bought the Suzuki method CD and book for the girls to get familiar. They like tinkering "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" on the keys. They have a short attention span and rarely last more than five-ten minutes, but it is fun to see them have an interest in learning.
Brian is becoming quite the pianist. At our ward Valentine activity, Brian, jokingly, played a Debbie Gibson "Lost in Your Eyes" love song. He has this 80's music book. He spends a lot of time playing (and singing) different love ballads from the 80's. I only get annoyed when I wake up singing the songs. It isn't a good thing to have the Bangles, Michael Bolton, and Bette Midler running through your head. :) We knew it was bad when Elsa randomly would start singing the lyrics word-for-word. There are better things to teach your children. The fun part of it is that a few of the cheesy love songs are from Disney movies. The girls love it when they recognize the songs that Brian is playing.
Today, it was finally nice weather. We've had lots of freezing rain and temperatures in the teens. You can't really enjoy being outside when there is ice covering everything. It isn't even safe to walk to the mailbox. To have it warm up to 50 degrees seemed like heaven. After church we went to a nearby park. The girls call it "the alligator park" because there is a riding toy in the shape of an alligator. It was a muddy mess since the snow just barely melted. The girls didn't care. They loved running around, playing, and just getting fresh air. We enjoyed a nature walk down to the docks and watched a male swan attempt an attack on two females. The females fled quickly. Ava said, "I guess the mom and dad didn't want to be by the baby." She has no idea. Oh, the beauties of nature. It really was so beautiful, and it made me grateful to live in such a nice area. I love the calming effects of the water.
We've been busy these last couple of weeks. Brian has been traveling a lot for work lately. He has also been interviewing for other jobs in Chicago and Scotsdale (it never seems to end). In addition to these prospects, Lilly has encouraged Brian to go out in the field as a sales manager. We are reluctnat to move to some random city for another couple of years. We headed up a BYU alumni dinner last weekend. We are the Indiana Chapter Co-Chairs. ("Ugh" is all I can say about that. We have "sucker" written on our foreheads.) Brian finished his basketball season last week after losing games in double elimination. This now frees up his Tuesday evenings. He is still busy with Elder's Quroum business on Wednesday evenings. Two weeks ago, he started a course to get scuba certified. He goes Thursday evenings 6:30-10/11pm. Basically, when he is in town, we get him home Monday nights and the weekends, for which we are grateful. I always notice a change in the girls behavior if he has been gone for a while, especially in Elsa. She is a daddy's girl through and through. Ava still insists on having me do everything for her, with her, or by her. She is my baby, at least for a couple of months. I've been encouraging her to "be a big girl" in preparation for the baby. Her preschool teacher mentioned that she has noticed a positive change too. Ava can be stubborn though, so it takes a lot of time and a lot of patience. She has gotten quite used to me saying, "My patience is gone." Today I was frustrated because I was trying to get them in the car after church. They were running around outside in the mud. I was going on about how they need to start listening to me better and obeying when Ava said, "Mom, you're not having much patience. That's not good." How quickly they learn to turn situations on their parents.
The girls started up gymnastics again. We have their lessons on Thursday evenings, which has its pros and cons. The pros - their classes run somewhat concurrent with each other, and since Brian is gone on Thursdays, it helps pass the time. The cons are that it is in the evening, during dinner time, at the end of a long busy week of preschool and swim lessons. They love it though. After the first week, Elsa asked me everyday if it was gymnastics day. I now wish I had enrolled them in the fall since they enjoy it so much. I tried to get both girls to start swim lessons, but Ava bailed out in the first five minutes of her first lesson. After last years experience, I didn't push it. The policy is no refunds after the first lesson, so basically I paid $68 for three lessons last year. I wasn't going to provide the same luxury this year. It isn't that Ava isn't interested. She is just a fair weather person (like her mother). The pool isn't heated and Ava has no interest in being cold. She would love it otherwise. She sits at the water's edge and watches intently as the other kids swim and splash. Elsa continues to enjoy it and gets so much satisfaction in learning new techniques. She is the same class as her neighbor friend, Emma, which makes it even better.
February was filled with doctor's appointments. Both girls got strep throat, Ava then Elsa a week later. Then last Sunday we took Elsa to an instacare place because she had been up the night before screaming about her ears. Turns out her screaming was valid. She had double ear infections. She finished a week of antibiotics and seems to be doing great. Brian and I have been fighting recurring colds, but that is the worst of it for us. Thankfully. We all seem to be doing well now. (I'll keep my fingers crossed.) The flu virus has been rampant at church and preschool. Each week, half of the kids in the girl's classes are absent from illnesses. So far, none of us have had it. I hope it passes by us. I can have the girls wash hands and try to avoid public places as much as possible, but it is really out of our control. I'd have to quarantine them otherwise.
We spent Friday at the Children's Museum with hundreds of other children, if not more. If they were going to catch something, this would be the place. They loved seeing the new Curious George exhibit, as well as old favorites - the dinosaurs, aquarium, science center, etc. They didn't want to leave, but finally hunger was a compelling enough reason. They had eaten all the snacks I brought and were hungry for more substance. So was I. We were there from 10am-3pm. I am trying to get out as much as possible in the next couple of months before this baby arrives. It will be nice to have this baby born in the spring/early summer. We won't be totally homebound, but won't be going to a lot of places either, at least for the first few weeks.
I am getting excited for the arrival of this baby. My anticipation grows along with the size of my belly. The girls are thrilled to feel the baby move and love talking to her. They are both eye level to my stomach, so it is pretty much in their faces all day long. Lots of times, Ava will walk right up to my stomach and say loudly, "Hi baby Sunny face." This is her name for the baby. Elsa and I favor Greta. Brian is still pushing for Lena or Cora. I told him that I have more face time with the girls, so Greta will most likely win out. Ava still insists on Sunny face, which I told her that can be her special name for the baby. I am trying to figure out where to put the baby. We want to keep a queen bed upstairs for guests, but then will need to do some moving around with bedrooms. I keep thinking that I have plenty of time to figure these things out, but realize that the next few months will go by quickly -especially as we are contemplating a move, home improvements, and adding these things to our already very busy lives. It doesn't get dull around here.
I could fill you in on all the other details of the past four, at least two months since we saw you at Christmas, but I'll spare you....for now. We hope you're all well. We miss you.
Love,
Natalie
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