Ready or not, here I come!

Unintentional. Unexpected. Unbelievable.

We are pregnant. It is difficult to express in words all the feelings that come with this. We of course want more children, but this was much quicker than intended. Baby #3 should be due in the end of December, which is when Hope turns 3. Selfish as I am I wanted to finish nursing and have just one year to focus on exercising, being a wife, and the development of Hope and Bryce. That being said, many tears have been shed over the news. It isn't my will, but I will do my best. With doctors recommendations we spent all last week getting Bryce on a bottle and that has made my life easier. If anyone has advice to offer, I am all ears.

Get Home Daddy!

We get so much enjoyment from what comes out of Hope's mouth. She occasionally asks to talk to Daddy while he is at work. I happily put the phone on speaker and dial his number. I then listen and occasionally interpret her end of the conversation. Today she asked to talk to Daddy and when he came on the phone she said, "Get home daddy! Get home, me! atch (watch) Elmo, me!" We both laughed and Daddy then surprised us by coming home an hour early. Hope was so excited to see him and told him to sit by her and watch Elmo. What a treat! It was better than flowers, chocolate, or anything! Daddy has played with the kids all night long and it has been so relaxing for me. (I did just overhear him telling Hope that Daddy is getting tired) We have the best Daddy!

Daniel in Africa

Jared's brother Daniel safely arrived in Africa a week ago. This is a picture from his mission conference. He said that he bears his testimony in French as often as he can. His great spirit is felt by all who are around him and he is having his first baptisms this week. He loves the people there. His companion is a native African and he said that the children are pretty intrigued by his white skin. They come up and rub it to see if there is brown skin underneath. I love how happy he is. He is doing what is right and losing himself in the Lord's work.

Easter Egg Hunts!

We awoke early Easter morning at 5am to get ready for a wonderful day. We left our house at 6:30am and drove to Reno for Great-Grandma Forman's missionary farewell. She gave a wonderful talk and we are so excited for her to be a missionary. It takes courage to leave the comfort of your home, friends, and family after being settled for so many years to selflessly serve the Lord. After we enjoyed visiting and eating with family we headed to Grandma & Grandpa Christensen's house for dinner. We also enjoyed an Easter Egg hunt. Uncle Steve carried Bryce around and got in on the action by having Steve stuff candy eggs down his shirt. If you look closely you can see a bump in his shirt. I don't know what happened to those candy eggs...... but I know Bryce didn't eat them. :) Hope and Bryce had a fantastic time playing with cousins, dogs, and family. The weather was perfect, the food was great, and the occasion of our Lord's Resurrection is the greatest cause to celebrate!

I was anxious for Hope to have an Easter Egg hunt at our house. Instead of candy I decided to put the change in my wallet into the eggs and then Hope could put that into her piggy bank. It was as good as being candy to her! We did it after dinner on Saturday so that is why Hope is once again without clothes on. After we go through a couple of outfits during the day I sometimes give up after dinner and we go in just a diaper.

Tie-Died Easter Eggs

A few days before Easter we tie-died Easter Eggs as a family. We all enjoyed it. Daddy and Hope did most of the work while Mommy and Bryce watched and offered moral support.

An Easter Dress for Hope!

When I was a child I remember on a few Easters getting a beautiful Easter Dress to wear, complete with frills and a hat. I have been looking for a month to find a nice Easter Dress for Hope. I mentioned the thought of getting a pattern and some material to make a dress for Hope while we visited Grandma & Grandpa Cox. Sweet Grandma went out on her own and got a pattern and material after we left that day. She then spent 4-5 days straight making Hope the most gorgeous dress. It is a treasure! Daddy brought it home on Monday night and Hope's face lit up. She exclaimed, "Oh! Two Dresses!". We gave her a bath, dried her hair, and put on the dress and a bow. She was in heaven! She screamed when we took it off to prepare for bed. Here are the pictures we took of her in it that night. She is so excited to wear it to church for Easter Sunday.

The long trip home.......

I mentioned the point during the drive home from Utah when both kids were screaming. See below.........

Trip to Utah

On Wednesday at 2:00 AM we loaded the kids in the car and drove to Utah. It was our first trip with just our little family. Adam and Hannah invited us to come stay with them and offered conference tickets to us. In addition we both had mission reunions happening. We knew that with the kids we would have to be flexible with our plans, and easygoing, but we were excited to get away and meet the challenging of traveling with two young souls. We had projected that Hope would be difficult to take as she is delightfully active and difficult to restrain for long periods of time. Much to our surprise Bryce was much more of a challenge, and Hope did really well. (Thanks to a DVD player and snacks) We had a great time, though we did have a few challenges. It snowed. Bryce and Hope came down with a mild cold bug the day before the trip. Mommy made a mistake and Hope ended up wandering the apartment grounds ALONE! At one point on the way home both kids were screaming hysterically and Jared and I sat in the front seats just silently holding hands and praying that they would quickly exhaust themselves and go to sleep. The highlights of the trip include our trip to the Aquarium (pictures below), spending time with Adam & Hannah, having lunch with Mary, shopping, Jared's reunion, and having Daddy with us all day for 5 days straight! We didn't make it to conference because we didn't have anyone to watch the kids for us. Since they were a little under the weather we drove home on Saturday and enjoyed watching conference and relaxing at home on Sunday. Now if I could just get my arms around the post-trip cleanup!