Wrastlin' with Pa

Both the kids love wrestling with their daddy after work. He'll come home, change his clothes (so Robbie doesn't get him all dirty from dinner), grab a few bites of his dinner, and then play with the kids. Clara loves it as much as Robbie. I remember loving tickle wars with my dad, too.

Michael's birthday

2014 brought Michael his thirty-sixth year of awesomeness.

I made him waffles with whipped cream, strawberries, and egg nog for breakfast. He ate before Clara woke up, so unfortunately we didn't catch a picture with both.

Don't you just love Robbie's face?

 Family selfie attempt.


Michael's birthday fell on a Saturday, and we had planned to go to the temple that day. We invited ourselves over to my friend Karisa's house on the way back from the temple. They fed us a delicious lunch and accommodated our busy children.

Karisa made Michael feel like a king and even made cupcakes in his honor.

 Eating all the cupcakes at once.

Benson and Clara modeled their cute smiles for the picture.

Happy birthday to the love of my life.

Halloween 2014

This year there was quite a bit of drama about what Clara wanted to be for Halloween. For some reason, we began receiving a catalog for children's upscale costumes, which Clara really enjoyed perusing. I should have just thrown them away immediately, but alas, they filled her mind with all sorts of ideas and she was constantly changing her mind. She really likes the Count from Sesame Street for some reason and wanted to be a "vampiress" or a "countess" along those lines, so we bought a used purple dress that she could wear with her bat wings from last year. Perfect. Then she wanted to be a "fab 50s girl," but I'd already spent money on the dress and didn't want to waste more. My mom also tried to help out and bought her a boa to be a movie star instead, still utilizing the purple dress. However, she wouldn't have it. Anyway, after lots of emotional huffs and puffs (and fortunately the boa was returned), she decided on being a bat like she was last year. She looked great.

Robbie is still at the age of oblivion about costumes, and a friend offered to let me use a cute puppy costume for him. Since he enjoys pretending to be a puppy with Clara, I thought that would be great. However, before the ward Halloween party, he wore it for five minutes and then proceeded to unzip it, informing me, "I no like it." I knew there was no way I was going to force him to wear it.

On the night of Halloween, however, I debated. Should I let him go trick-or-treating without a costume? How lame would that be? But should I force him to wear it? Should he just stay home? I felt the irony of "making" my kid go walk door to door to get free candy. Fortunately, Michael persuaded him to put it on, and he was fine with it once he was outside. He was pretty much the cutest puppy ever.

 Robbie smiling.

 Clara smiling. (It was a chilly night, but fortunately her black jacket matched her outfit.)

 Look at that cute tail. I also like this pic because it catches a very common face from Michael--jaw clenched, lips pursed, and in love with his boy.

We didn't get our pumpkin carved until Halloween morning. Michael gallantly did the entire thing, which was fortunate because the smell was too much for me right now.

 I can't remember why Robbie was upset, but this face is classic.

 Happier now! I don't even have a finished product photo. Bummer. But Happy Halloween! Actually, I'm glad it's done so we can look forward to Christmas. (I like Thanksgiving for the gratitude part but not so much the food part.) Yippee!

Playing in the Leaves

We love the trees behind our house, but their presence always means lots of raking and blowing. This year, we had the added bonus of thousands of acorns and black walnuts (apparently they drop their goodies cyclically), which have provided hours of "fun" for Michael and I and true fun for Robbie. Many days he asks, "Go pick walnuts?" Mostly he enjoys dumping them behind the fence, but he also is good at spotting them, and Clara has also helped with picking up nuts as well.

 Robbie's getting ready to throw an armful. Love this dontmakemesmile smile of Clara's.

 Who wouldn't love to have air blown in their face? The kids thought this was very funny.

 Clara gets a taste . . .

. . . and enjoys being on the other end, too.

This leaf day was the first of three several-hour leaf rakes this fall. Phew! Even though it's a pain, I love that the work gets us outside and enjoying these gorgeous days.

When the cat's away . . .

Meanwhile, during our absence, my parents took good care of the kids and had a lot of fun with them. Here are some of my dad's shots during a day in the backyard.

 They went to the Arboretum one day and discovered there was a fall festival going on. They made little leaf wreaths at one of the stations.

Thanks again for coming, Mom and Dad. Robbie prays for Nana and Bapa and Grandma and Grandpa every night. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful parents.

Our fall getaway

In the fall for the past several years, Michael and I have gone on a weekend getaway, partially for business and partially for fun. This time, unfortunately, it fell during my first trimester, which made me sorely tempted to skip it. I didn't want to be a stick in the mud and be throwing up in the hotel room the whole time. However, my parents had already planned on coming up and I decided to be a big girl and go anyways. I am glad I did, if nothing else but for a change in scenery. It was nice to be able to sleep in a little, and I didn't throw up as much (probably because I felt more relaxed).

 First stop was the LDS temple in Washington, D.C. It is always so peaceful there, a wonderful refuge from the world that reminds you that this life is not the end.

 Using a different lens--nice close-up of the angel Moroni on top. I didn't know he had a lightning rod.

 The next day, we walked around Alexandria, which is a charming part of D.C. I love the old townhomes and the brick-paved sidewalks. We also got to see the Meet the Mormons movie. We really enjoyed it.

 We saw this place and couldn't resist eating lunch there.

 The food (what I could enjoy) was good, and the atmosphere was fun (one server even looked like a hobbit!). Each table had little trivia cards (some about The Lord of the Rings), and this sign through the window was funny.

A walk by the river was refreshing.

 We saw this amazing performer playing incredible music with water goblets. He played "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" and "Danny Boy" while we were there. Truly awesome.

That evening we drove to Charlotttesville. A dentist for whom Michael had done some pro bono work gave him a gift certificate to the Boars Head Inn, which was nice and rustic at the same time. I loved the bathroom door and had to take a picture.

Unfortunately, my camera ran out of batteries, so I couldn't take pictures of the beautiful fall scenery there. Overall, the trip was decent and went as well as it could have gone, all things considered. Michael enjoyed some golf and we enjoyed watching some Harry Potter movies which were playing that week on tv at night. I haven't seen those in a long time.

Being a baby

Lately I have been feeling very much like a newborn: I want to sleep all the time, I lie in a fetal position, I throw up, and I cry.

Yes, I am expecting a baby! It still seems a bit surreal that we actually got pregnant after trying for only a year and didn't have to wait so many years as we did between Clara and Robbie. We are very thankful, and I am sure I will feel excited . . . after the first trimester is over. I had yucky morning sickness with both Clara and Robbie, but this time around seems worse--more debilitating and exhausting. Maybe it's because I'm getting older, or because it's my third, or because I have a toddler during the day that keeps me busier than I sometimes feel capable of being. Either way, it has been hard and I am only nine and a half weeks along. But, as I keep whispering to myself, "I can do this." Clara has taken to saying it to me as well.

Clara was very excited when we told her; we felt like we needed to early on because she would ask why I was sick and if I was contagious. Robbie is, of course, oblivious. Robbie loves watching me throw up, for some odd reason, and runs every time he hears me, climbing onto the counter to watch and asking, "You puking?" Clara runs away. I don't blame her . . . I wish I could, too. On Wednesday I laughed as I watched Clara climb down the bus steps, reading the "From Conception to Birth" magazine that the nurse gave me at my last appointment. I didn't realize she'd taken it to school.

Zofran has been a huge help but has also caused other digestive issues, so I guess I can't have my cake and eat it, too. Shocker. Michael has been a real trooper and has been Mr. Mom and Super Dad and the provider for the family. I feel so bad, but he is great as always. My parents came up last week and helped out with house projects, cleaning, making freezer meals, making the kids feel loved, and pampering me while I lay on the couch. Michael and I went on the getaway that was the original purpose for my parents' visit, and it was a nice little break.

Anyways, I have other posts I will eventually write, but these days I can only take one day at a time and pray to make it through. But hooray, for I know it won't be like this forever!

Hawk's Bill Nest

For our anniversary, we had tried to hike Hawk's Bill Nest up in the Shenandoah Mountains but lost daylight. So last weekend, we decided to try again with the kids in tow.

We started out at a good pace.

Then we realized that we needed to pick up the pace in order to get back home in time for the General Women's meeting. Thank goodness for Daddy's strong back.

 Clara put on a burst of speed towards the end.

 We made it! Hawk's Bill Nest is the tallest point in the Shenandoah National Park.

 Michael persuaded Robbie to jump to him from this ledge. (Read: Mom was very nervous)

 Okay, so it's posed, but gosh, who could resist? We certainly didn't pose those faces.

 Love these two with all my heart.

So grateful for beautiful fall days.

After this, we hurriedly hiked down the mountain, Michael carrying the kids part of the way again so we can hurry home in time. Robbie is quite a little walker! Lesson learned: hiking is much more fun without a time crunch, but it's still better to do it than to not.