Memorial Day 2013

Anna has decided that she wants to hike to all the letters on the mountains.  We have already hiked the "Y" so Anna wanted to hike the "G" next.  Memorial day was the perfect day to do it.  Everyone knows about the "Y" trail, but it took some digging to find out about the "G".  We weren't sure how the trail would be or how are kids would handle it, but we thought we would at least try.
Nicholas was ready to go.  He loved the whistle that Devin gave him.  Devin told it only to blow it if he couldn't see mommy or daddy anymore.  Needless to say he blew it all the time.

The trail was not the best, really narrow and very steep.  I am so impressed that Anna hiked the whole thing up and down.  Nicholas made it most of the way up and then Devin carried him the rest of the way.  This was not an easy hike and the kids did great!
The "G" is not as nice as the "Y".  You can tell that not a lot of people hike there or even really care about the condition of the "G".   We had lunch on the "G" which was tricky because it was so steep.

 You can see all the grass and weeds growing up through the white slats.

Anna did great, she loved it.  She hiked the whole thing and is already talking about hiking the "U" or the "B", though she really wants to find an "A" to hike.  :)

Nicholas was a trooper and crashed as soon as we put him in the car.

That night we went up to my Uncle David's house for the Henderson Memorial Day BBQ.  The kids had a blast swimming and really didn't want to get out of the pool.

After being so busy with dance concert and videos it was a perfect day to relax and play.

Spring Soccer 2013

Anna had a great time playing soccer during the Spring.  She was on the same team as a few boys in our ward.  She still loves to kick the ball...when no one is around.

Like every kid the treats are the best part.  I was pretty proud of the rice crispy treats rolled in sprinkles that we brought for her treat.

The weather was crazy for each of the games.  Lots of wind and really cold.  A few games were even rained out.  Nicholas was running pretty quick to the car when they called one game because of the rain and lightning.   Don't worry he never dropped his bag of Cheerios. :)

We told Anna that if she kicked a goal we would take her to get "painted ice cream."  (A Chocolate Dipped Cone at Macey's)  The last game she did it!!!!  Here is the happy girl right after.

She was thrilled to get her "painted ice cream."

Nicholas loved getting some too.

She had a great time playing soccer, though I don't think we will be playing again anytime soon.  There is a lot going on come fall and I think soccer is one of the many things we are going to let go.  I am glad that she has been able to play.  It is fun to watch these cute kids play.

Jane wanted to say "Hi!"

We had our 20 week ultrasound today (I am actually 21 weeks) and we found out a lot about our little GIRL.  We have gone in several times for ultrasounds before today because I had a subchorionic hemorrhage.  This is pretty common, but they did ultrasounds every two weeks to make sure it went away, and it did.  Because we had so many ultrasounds we have had one "it is probably a girl" ultrasound and one "it's a girl" ultrasound before today.  So three votes for a girl and we are running with it.  Jane Lael is on her way.
Today we also found out that baby Jane has a slight problem.  Her umbilical cord should have two arteries and one vein and her cord only has one artery.  So this means that she is not getting the nutrients like she should be.  As of today, everything looks great.  They did a pretty extensive ultrasound checking her hear, brain, spine, stomach, kidneys,  everything.  Everything looks great.  As she grows there could be problems.  So...there is a 75% chance that she will go full term and everything will be totally normal.  My doctor told me today that they will take me at 39 weeks if we make it that far.  She said that it would be really awesome if we could make it to 37 weeks, but it is very likely that we will go sooner than that if baby Jane is not getting what she needs.  So our little Star Girl will continue to get her picture taken quite frequently so they can monitor her progress and make sure everything is ok.  I guess she likes to have her picture taken.  :)  My third trimester is going to be full of lots of stress tests to make sure everything is ok.  There is really nothing that can be done other than watch and pray.  All I can do is make sure she is moving.  Moving means baby is still alive and well, so we are praying for lots of movement.
We will keep you posted on baby Jane.  Pray that she will get what she needs so her heart, brain, and every little part of her body can develop properly.  Pray that I can not go nuts worrying.  I told my mom today all I can do is pray, prepare, and simplify.  Pray because nothing works better than prayer to prepare us for whatever happens.  Prepare for when this little Star Girl is going to come and we might have to spend some time in the NICU.  And simplify because well, I think we are going to have to let a lot of things go depending on how early she decides to come.  We have no idea when this little one will come, hopefully it will not be for a long time.
Anyway, pray that all will be well.  We know no matter what it will be ok.  Sure makes you grateful for good doctors, and an absolutely perfect plan created by our Heavenly Father.  

Dream Dance Concert 2013

Anna had her third dance concert a few weeks ago.  This concert was titled Dream.  It was based on the book DREAM by Susan Bosak.
Anna was super excited to "dance on the stage" again. 
A few weeks before the show they had a mini dress rehearsal in class.  I think we are getting better at the hair and makeup thing.

They also took class pictures. We haven't gotten the class pictures back yet, but I know they are going to be fantastic!!!!!
Here is my silly "mommy" shot that I took that day in class. 

Devin did the videos for the concert again.  Here is a link to his preview for this concert.  He does such great work!!!
I helped print and cut out fliers. And stuff programs for our neighbor who runs the studio.  After stuffing 700 programs I told Devin that I have always known that 700 is a lot, but now I really know it is a lot!

I also helped film the first night's shows.  I was thrilled that our friend Earl was able to come help out the second night so I could just enjoy the concert as a mommy.  
Anna was super excited the day of the concert.  She looks pretty grown up carrying her costume bag with her hair all done and makeup on.  She is getting to be quite the pro at knowing where to go back stage and which dressing room is for her class.

She loves making sure everything looks great in the mirror before she performs.

I was worried that I was going to have to video both nights, which would mean that we wouldn't get any "Just Anna" videos.  I brought my video camera with the hope that I might see someone from our ward that wouldn't mind taking some video for us.
Lucky for me our Bishop happened to be sitting dead center on the front row.  Aren't Bishops the best! :)   He did a great job!  Here are the videos from the first night.

Anna did a great job!  She has really come a long way.  It is fun to walk into a room to find her practicing her dances.  She has really caught on.  
She was thrilled that Braxton was able to come to her concert.  Braxton recently received his mission call and Anna was worried that he wouldn't be able to come since he is a missionary now.  Good thing Braxton doesn't leave until September.   We are so glad that Janae and Braxton come.  Anna loves having them there and we love seeing them too!

Since I had to help video the second show the first night Anna stayed with us.  She loves seeing the whole concert.  She also loved running around on the stage a bit when the concert was over.

The second night went well.  I could tell that Anna was tired.  Poor girl was up super late the night before and didn't get a whole lot of sleep.  She still did a great job!

We are really proud of Anna, she is becoming a really good little dancer.  I love that she has found something that she really enjoys doing.  The next concert is The Wizard of OZ.  I can't wait!

April 2013 Mobile Moments

April was another fun month full of random pictures.
Nicholas and Anna were copying my "Baby Bump."

 We had a great time with the Hendersons for a Day-After-Easter egg hunt.

Lizzie earned $10 for eating a hard boiled egg.  Something her father thought was impossible.  Lizzie sure proved him wrong.

My elliptical finally was fixed.  It is so nice to exercise each morning.

 Nicholas loves to sit in buckets.  He was pretending to sleep in this bucket.

 Anna was doing her push-ups.  I love how concentrated she is.  Nice pointed toes too!

 Nicholas loves to look out the window.  Our house in such a spot that there are always things to look at outside.  It is the perfect "People Watching" house.

 Nicholas makes a pretty cute princess.

Anna and Nicholas wanted to have little tables for snack time.

 Anna thought it was cute that her sunglasses fit on her bunny...kind of.

 I pulled down the Conference posters from last Conference.  Anna had fun looking at them and remembering all the talks.  I was impressed at how much she remembered!

 We enjoyed our Easter Deviled Eggs.  We also had lots of egg salad sandwiches.

 Anna and Nicholas loved having time with Grandma and Grandpa Baldwin.  Grandma is so good to read story after story to them.

 Anna had fun reading her books to Grandma and Grandpa.

 It was fun to watch Conference with Devin's parents.

 Grandma Baldwin brought new coloring books for the kids  Anna loved that.

 Nicholas found many sources of entertainment during the sessions.

 I was pretty excited to have Gene come down and watch the afternoon session with us.  It is always fun to have Gene around.

 Three of the five Baldwin boys were able to go to Priesthood session together with their Dad.  That was pretty cool.

 Nicholas loved getting out and riding his bike that night.

Then more Conference the next day.

 We explored many more sources of entertainment.

 The favorite was rolling cars down the treadmill to the person on the other side.

 After it was all done Nicholas had fun pointing to all the pictures that he knew. Conference is not a walk in the park with kids, but I am so grateful that we can help them learn to love Conference.

 I took Nicholas to a bike shop while Anna was at dance.  He loved peddling around.  I was amazed at how fast he went, and there wasn't a lot of room.

I love pulling out the Thomas blocks every few weeks, because the kids LOVE playing with them and are completely content for several hours.

 This is what all the little kids do during Pack Meeting.

Our neighbors got a new puppy.  The kids loved petting her.

The main diamond in my ring started to get loose.  I took it down to get fixed. They did a great job and it was all clean and shiny.  I sure do love my ring!

 Box head!

Nicholas is starting to color more.  The hardest part is keeping his artwork on the paper and not the table.

Anna wanted to make some snow shoes.  

 I am not sure what dolly did.  Anna is totally obsessed with tying things up lately.

 I moved all the toys to the kitchen floor to vacuum.  It was like having new toys for the kids.  How silly is that!

 Pam gave the kids a bunch of stickers.  They thought it was fun to put them all over their cups at breakfast.

 Here are some of the neat ultrasounds of our little #3.  Pretty amazing pictures!

Nicholas had another hair cut.  Boy that kid's hair is thick, not really soft, but super thick.

 Anna wanted to make a chicken for her friend Avery.  She did this all on her own.  I was really impressed.

 It makes me happy every time I unload the dishwasher and there are several canning jars.  I love that we really use the food that we can, and often.  Most dishwasher loads have at least one jar.

 Nicholas loves his cars!

 Anna started soccer again.  Go Pink Piranhas!

 She enjoys playing, but loves the treat at the end most.  What kid doesn't like the treat at the end?

 Nicholas is quite the handy man.  He loves to stick keys in screws.  I can't imagine how many things he would take apart if he had a real screwdriver.

 Nicholas is getting really good at puzzles.  He loves to do them over and over.

 I had to take a picture of the kids on the rocking chair.  I have a picture of them when Nicholas was just a few months old.  They both fit so well then.  Not so much anymore!

 I am trying to be better about taking pictures of Anna's Preschool projects.  They did a unit on butterflies.  It was super cute!

The kids are great helpers.  I figure if they put their little fingers on the windows, they sure can help clean them!

 Anna and Nicholas went to the dentist.  No cavities!!!!  Anna even was brave and had X-rays taken.

Nicholas was not so sure about the whole process.  I think I am going to bring his sunglasses next time, so the lights are not so bright in his eyes.

 Anna is a great helper in the kitchen.  She can almost make Hawaiian Haystacks all by herself.

 Nicholas loves having quiet time with his cars without anyone else around.  I love that he is really ALL boy!

 All the Baldwins came down for baby Kate's blessing.  We went to Pizza Pie Cafe for dinner.  All the kids got balloon animals.

 Nicholas got a really cool dragon, which never stopped flying around. :)

 After dinner we came back and let the kids play on the swing set for a while.  They all loved playing in the rubber chips.

They thought it was great fun to get buried in the rubber chips.  

They also loved eating at the little green table.

 Nicholas and Chelsea had fun playing together.

 After the blessing everyone went home.  Anna and Nicholas felt bad that they didn't get to go to Primary and Nursery so they spent the afternoon playing church.

 Many songs were sung and many scriptures were read.  It was just darling!

I keep all the old Friend magazines in a drawer so the kids can look through them.  I love walking in to find them looking through the Friend.

Anna enjoys soccer, but it has been really cold at the games.  I have joked around that it will be 80 on Monday, but the temperature will drop and the wind will blow just in time for Tuesday night soccer games.  We are getting pretty good at bundling up.

There you have it.  April!