Snow! Are you serious?????

After our trip to Idaho, where it was very cold, I was looking forward to Utah's nice "warm" spring weather.  We were shocked, disturbed, and horrified to wake up to SNOW Monday morning.  You have got to be kidding me!!!!!
I decided that we were not going anywhere until Mother Nature got her act together and stopped all this nonsense. So Anna and I spent the morning watching the trees behind our house fall and break because of all the heavy snow.  Poor trees!

 The crazy thing is that by 4pm all the snow was melted and the sun had come out.  Crazy Utah weather!

Baldwin Bash May 2010

Last week (May 21-23rd) we went up to Idaho to visit Devin's family. It is always good to see everyone. We really wish they'd all just move down here so we could see them all the time. :)
We started the weekend off by getting together at Devin's parent's house. Anna had lots of fun playing outside. She has finally figured out how to swing on the "big kid" swings. But she still can't go too high.

Ashley and Katie had fun using Devin as a punching bag.

That night we FINALLY spilled the beans about being pregnant. It is SOOO nice to not have to try and hide it anymore. My belly is popping out way faster with this baby than with Anna.

We spent the night at Kyle and Kat's house and then went to Jackson Hole the next day. Everyone was shocked that I had never been there before. Anna had an ok time in the car. Poor kid had already spent so much time in the car the day before. Lucky for us Kat had some crayons in the car. Anna had lots of fun pulling the crayons out of the bag and putting them back in. She would rather "organize" than color any day.

As we were driving we happened to see this guy. You don't see that driving down State Street in Orem.

When we got to Jackson it was auction day.

Devin and I discussed what we should purchase for our cabin...oh wait we don't have one and I'd never in a gazillion years want something like that in my house! We had a good time walking through a few shops. It was really cold that day. We kept trying to figure out if it was colder than when we went to Disney World.

We then went over to the Jackson community center indoor pool. We had a nice lunch and were able to celebrate Devin and his brother Gene's birthdays.

We also got a nice group shot of everyone that was there. Devin's family is getting pretty big!

The afternoon was spent swimming in the pool. We were not quite sure how Anna would handle things. Anna was not too happy from being in the car all morning, she was really tired, and it was nap time. We were pretty sure she wouldn't last long in the pool. Oh how very wrong we were. Too bad we don't have any pictures. She loved splashing in the pool, playing with the balls and toys, and LOVED going down the two water slides. Once we got down the slide it wasn't long before Anna started saying, "again, again." This made me very excited to take Anna to the pool this summer. Imagine how much fun it will be outside when it is warm and not inside when it is snowing. :)
That night we hung out with family more. The next day we went with Kyle and Kat to church. Anna did ok in a different nursery. She is still trying to figure things out. During snack time I left and went to Relief Society. When Devin picked her up Anna was very concerned about finding mommy. "Find Mama, Find Mama."
Before we made the long drive home we took some cute pictures of the Baldwin girls.

Anna did fantastic on the drive home. She slept from Ashton to Centerville (3 1/2 hours). I'm sure Sydney enjoyed the ride much more with Anna sleeping. She was able to get a nice nap too.

I guess when you play hard all weekend, skip naps, and stay up late, you get tired. After dropping Sydney off Anna was an angel all the way home. If I had a 3 1/2 hour nap, I'd be in a pretty good mood too.
We had lots of fun. We look forward to going up again soon.

PERC Center

Anna and I have been enjoying the PERC Center lately. PERC is the "Parent Education Resource Center." Basically it is a room in the basement of the library that has TONS of cool things that kids like to play with and that you can use to teach your kids stuff...all for FREE!!! You can check the stuff out, just like library books. I have heard about the PERC center from friends and family, but it was only recently as Anna has started showing interest in wooden puzzles that I thought about going and checking something out. We own two wooden puzzles and Anna loves them. I kept thinking it would be nice to buy her more, but let's be honest, money doesn't grow on trees. That is when I remembered the PERC center and I thought, "Maybe they have puzzles?" Oh boy, do they! They have puzzles and games and movies and toys and tons of stuff. It has been fun to get "new toys" and good teaching toys at that, each week. I am so grateful for resources like this! If you haven't been there you should check it out.

Happy 30th Birthday Devin

We recently celebrated Devin's 30th birthday. Anna can now say, "Happy Birthday, you you" and it is pretty cute. Sorry I don't have any video of that. She was pretty excited as we sang and she loves it when people blow out the candles. I made an Oreo butterscotch cake for Devin. I got the idea from Missy (of course I used vanilla Oreos and butterscotch instead of chocolate Oreos and chocolate chips). My cake wasn't as pretty as Missy's but it sure tasted good! Anna LOVED eating the cake as much as we did.

Happy Birthday Devin! Glad you are still trying to catch up with me in age. It's about time you made it to 30!

Anna's New Shirt

Anna wanted to show all of you her new shirt.

Yes, Anna is going to be a big sister.  We are excited to add a new little person to our family in November.  My due date is November 21st. Yeah!!!!! 

Pleasant Grove Falls

Saturday was too nice of a day to do anything but go outside.  We had been hoping all week that the weather man would be right and that it would be a nice day on Saturday.  We thought it would be fun to take Anna on her first real hike.   Pleasant Grove Falls is not very far from our house, so we figured this would be a good first trip.  Anna loved every second of it.  Anna loves being outside as much as her parents do. 

She loved riding in her backpack.  

She loved saying cheese for all the pictures.

She loved looking at all the trees and birds.

 She loved looking at the falls. 

  And she LOVED throwing rocks in the river.

We all had a great time.  Hopefully we'll be able to go on another hike next Saturday.  

Where are your favorite places to hike in Utah County?

Mother's Day 2010

I feel like I've been a mother for a long time.   Shortly after coming home from my mission my first nephew was born.  Since then I made it my personal quest to become the favorite aunt.  I love being an aunt to so many great kids.  Being an aunt has given me so many great "mom" moments. 
When I started teaching school, I felt like I gained a classroom full of kids.  Not students, but kids.  Perhaps it was when I realized that I spent more time with some of my students than their parents did, that I started looking at them more as my kids than my students.  I grew to love them as we laughed and learned together.  Even though some of my little people drove me nuts, I really did love them like they were my own. 
I traded in a classroom full of "other people's kids" for my very own little girl.  Some people would think that when Anna was born, that is when I became a "mother."  But I like to think that it is when I became a mother full-time.  24 hours a day, 7 days a week....FOREVER!!!!   I feel so lucky to have Anna.  She is my favorite reading partner, cooking assistant, shopping buddy, walking friend, and so much more.   Sometimes we just sit around and we "talk."  It is so much fun!

 The highlight of my mother's day (don't get me wrong Devin I loved your gift too) was the cute little bouquet of flowers that Anna made for me in nursery.  My big thank you goes today to the wonderful nursery leaders who love my little girl like she was their own daughter.  Who helped her to paint these cute flowers.  And most importantly who are helping her learn more about the gospel.  Thanks for being a second mom to my little girl!  I'm so glad we all get to be mothers!

Are We Not All Mothers?

Are We There Yet?

Today as I was reading my scriptures I had a cool thought. I was reading in the first chapter of third Nephi. In verse 5 is says, "But there were some who began to say that the time was past for the words to be fulfilled, which were spoken by Samuel, the Lamanite."

I thought about how I am often like the people that said, "the time was past." I feel like I do a good job listening for the promises of the Lord, but I sometimes am not the most patient person. It is kind of like going on a trip in the car. You are told you are going somewhere really neat, but you have to drive a long way to get there. I am like the kid in the back seat asking, "Are we there yet?" "Are you sure we are going the right way?" "Shouldn't we be there by now?" "Last time it didn't take this long!"

The Lord promises us so many wonderful things. We need to trust that he will get us there just when the time is right and He will not get us lost. A promise is a promise. His promises are worth the trip, they are worth the wait.

Nursery

 Today was the big day.  Anna went to nursery for the first time.  Devin had the responsibility of dropping her off.  He said he set her down in the hall, she walked in, and didn't look back.  She walked right up to the table, sat down and started coloring.  She didn't even say good-bye.  I looked in on her when I was done with music time in Jr. and Senior primary.  Both times she was doing great.  The only hard part was that since Devin was teaching and I am primary chorister, neither one of us get done with our callings quickly.  I packed things up as fast as I could and went to get her.  Poor girl was the last one in there and you could tell she was quite concerned because all of her friends had left with their moms and dads.  Why did she have to stay?  I guess we will need to work on getting there quicker so she isn't the last one left.  Overall, it went really well.  She had fun coloring and painting, or at least the pictures look like she did.   When I asked her if she learned about baptism, she kept saying the word baptism over and over.  Pretty cute if you ask me.  Hopefully next week will go just as well.

Copying Daddy and Mommy

Anna loves to do what dad and mom do.  Sometimes when she copies us it is really funny.  Lately she has been really excited about doing two things that we do.
Anna watches Devin put his socks on every day.  She loves to play with his socks.  She has even been trying to put them on her feet lately.  Devin decided to help her.  One day when I got out of the shower this is what she looked like.

She wouldn't let me take them off for quite a while.  I guess she just wanted to wear cool socks like dad.
The second thing that Anna loves to do that I do is "play on the treadmill."  I cannot tell you how much time we spend each day walking on the treadmill and running too.  She loves it.  I really should keep track of how far she "runs" in a day.  Freedom Festival Kid's Fun Run here we come!