February 2012

February flew by. Candace started sitting up on her own, clapping, scooting everywhere, and by the end of the month, she's crawling!
The biggest changes of the month for our family came by way of new callings. My Dad was released as Bishop of his ward on Feb. 12. We attended his sacrament meeting that day. That evening, our Bishop came over to meet with Dan and I. He asked Dan if he would serve as the ward Young Men's president. I was so excited for Dan but a little sad for me--as I knew it meant I would be released as Primary President. By the end of February, I was called to teach Relief Society--one of my favorites!

This month was also Dan's second month of being back to school. He was accepted in the late fall to the Master's of Science in Information Technology program at Carnegie Mellon University, starting in Jan of 2012. It's a totally online program. This combined with his new calling has drastically changed our family life for the time being :). Now, Dan gets home at 5, eats dinner with us and helps get the kids to bed at 7. Then on Mon, Tue, and Thu, he spends the hours from 7 pm to 10 pm listening to lectures and working on assignments. Wednesdays he takes a break from school to go to the Young Men's activities. Friday night we do a babysitting co-op with 2 other families (so we get to go to the temple once and on another date each month). And Saturdays he spends at least a few hours working on school as well. It's BUSY! But going surprisingly well.  I've had lots of times for projects.  Too bad he needed the computer or I might have kept up on the blog better :)

Uncle Ben came for a game between UVU and HBU.  We got to spend a few minutes with him in the afternoon and he got to meet Candace for the first time.  Dan went on his own to Ben's game in the evening on Feb. 4.

While Ashley was teaching Joy School for the Megans and their other friends, I had the little sisters over to play.  They had a blast as always.  (Feb. 16)

I love Brooke's bangs and ponytail while we finally put our popsicle molds to use.  Adorable! (Feb. 16)

Mmm, mmm good.  I think Megan liked it :)

Snuggling sisters after naptime on Feb. 18.  Brookie sure loves her purple blankie (she has 2 of them) and her thumb.

Candace's mobility sure lets her get into some mischief.  Here she is eating a coloring book. (Feb. 18)

Playing and practicing her sitting upstairs on Feb. 20.

Cute baby, cute little tights on Feb. 24.  A gift from Granny's stash that she gave to me before she passed away. 

Megan and Brooke made some cute decorations for the upcoming St. Patty's Day holiday on Feb. 29. 

Growing So Fast...

I can't believe that not only has 2012 begun, but that January is already practically over.  I've been sick with shingles* all week so I stayed home from church with Candace. 
(*Shingles are TERRIBLE!!!  I'm finally turning the corner and feeling a little better but WOW, it was definitely the worst pain I've ever experienced (childbirth included!).)

I took some pictures of my beautiful little girls this morning.  Picture taking is always an adventure.  Megan was pretty willing to have her picture taken, but she kept making goofy faces and looking away from me.  Brooke was NOT as willing and mostly ran away or looked crazy.  Candace definitely was the easiest--just drooly, but I guess that's true to life!  But we got some pretty decent ones (decent enough to update our frames on the mantel that are 1 1/2 years old now).

Oh yeah, and both Megan and Brooke had their first haircuts in the past week.  I did both and am pretty happy with how they turned out.  Brooke just got her longer wispy hairs in front trimmed to bangs.  Megan's hair was pretty v-shaped in the back, so I trimmed off the bottom of the v and just evened it out a little.  

Jan. 29, 2012
Megan, 4 years 3 months

Brooke, 2 years 6 months

 

Candace, 6 months

Candace, 6 months old/January Randoms

At 6 months, Candace:  loves to smile, laughs a lot (especially at her sisters), starting to scoot around on her tummy (slowly), sleeping through the night most of the time (7pm to 7:30 am), 2-3 naps every day.  She is rolling tummy to back and back to tummy.  She started eating solids this month too--first bites on Thurs, Jan. 5, 2012.  She is eating rice cereal once a day for now and loving it.
She's such a happy, easygoing baby, we are so thankful to have her in our family!
At her 6 month check-up on Jan. 31, she weighed 14 lbs, 12 oz and was 25 in long.

Candace throughout the month...

When my brother-in-law Trent came into town for the day on Jan. 6, we had a nice dinner at Dad's to say hi and then Shad showed off his new projector-in-the-garage setup.  These were some adorable and happy cousins :).

I just love seeing my kiddos in footie pjs.  Especially when they snuggle each other.  Megan and Brooke on Jan. 13.

Brooke finally had enough hair for french braids (also on Jan. 13)

Playing in the hot tub at Grandpa's on MLK day (Jan. 16)

 
Snuggles with Daddy after work!  Jan. 18

Cutie girls before church on Jan. 22

Horsey rides (ha!) on Jan. 25

Surfside

With New Year's Day on Sunday, Dan got Monday Jan. 2 as a day off of work.  So we invited our neighbors, the T family to head to the beach with us.  I love Surfside.  It's always less crowded than Galveston and on this day, it was almost empty!  It was windy and cool, but we had fun watching the surf and enjoying the sand.  It was such a fun little day trip to start the new year.

Maddie...

Dan and Beckett enjoying the horseshoes...

Our darling almost 6 month old.  She snuggled into the chair and took a nap.

Brooke dipping her toes in.  It was cold!!!

Megan dipped her toes as well...

Building a sandcastle with Daddy...

 The T Fam...

Our family minus sleeping Candace...

The girls were in HEAVEN when these guys rode by.  They were kind enough to let the kids say hello.  

New Year's Day 2012

Like so many things since Mom's death, starting a new year was bittersweet.  How could there be a year that Mom would not be in?  I missed her.  And celebrating with our old friends both reminded me of her in happy ways and made me miss her fiercely.  But I suppose that such is life after loss.  It still goes on. 

We celebrated New Year's Day with some lifelong friends of my family, the Talbot family with a fun dinner and games at their home after church.  It was fun to catch up with everyone, talk, laugh, eat, and let the kids play.

Megan, Brooke, and Kaden...

My childhood best friends--reunited!   Amber (27), Jenn(27), Kat(28), and Kate (29)

Post-Christmas and New Year's Eve

I had been wanting to take a trip to Ikea on one of Dan's days off, so on the day after Christmas, we headed there with the kids in tow.  Plus, that week Ikea was offering free kids' meals, so we figured we'd take advantage of that.

I know what you're thinking.  5 pictures from an Ikea trip?  But ha!  It's my blog and I'll document whatever craziness I want.   Like this little gem of Brooke.  It needs a little word bubble that says, "My parents are making me wear this dumb lion hat.  And I'm so embarrassed, I can't make eye contact with anyone.  EVER AGAIN."

But hey, she recovered quickly enough when we put her free lunch in front of her.  She even let us snitch fries when she wasn't looking.

Megan enjoyed her mac-n-cheese.  Dan and I preferred the chicken :)

 

And our angel baby napped.  Sweet girl.  That Ikea trip was Dec. 26.

We didn't take any pictures, but on Dec. 28, we had a little dessert party with friends from the ward.  There were close to 40 people over, a bunch of kids running around, and loads of delicious desserts.  We got out the chocolate fountain again and had a great time with our friends!

My Dad heated the whole pool on  Friday Dec. 30.  We had a blast.  Megan and Brooke LOVE the water and were thrilled to be able to swim in the middle of winter.

We left Candy inside where she practiced her scooting by trying to steal cousin Molly's bottle.

Dan honed his cannonball skills...

 Brooke's favorite jumping rock...

Megan stayed in the big pool til she got too cold (it was a mere 90 degrees in that pool).  Then she switched to the hot tub (kept to a toasty 98).  Smart girl.

For New Year's Eve, we spent the evening with my siblings at my Dad's house.  He invited some neighbors over too and we enjoyed chatting, playing games, and celebrating my sister-in-law Amy's birthday.

Megan found something chocolatey to enjoy.

We had some intense rounds of Monopoly deal.

And the birthday girl!  I made her cake.  Thanks Jane (Dan's Mom) for the recipe.  It's a chocolate pudding cake with chocolate frosting.

And just like that, 2011 (the most difficult year of my life thus far) ended.  It felt good to have some distance from Mom's passing, but it was so strange to think that I was entering a year that she'd never see.