Fourth of July Prep

Fourth of July was a big weekend for us!  The Bacchus Family and the Peterson Family were coming up to Idaho to visit and celebrate with us.  Among the many things that we did in order to prepare for their arrival and the upcoming holiday was make cookies with Andi and make a fourth of July shirt.

 There isn't much that Sienna loves more than baking with her Aunt.  Every time I watch those two together I always get the feeling that maybe Sienna was actually supposed to belong to Andi.  Seriously, it's probably just the blond hair and blue eyes and girly personalities....  Anyway, they did a great job getting all the cookies baked and ready for decorating, while having a good time in the process.

I found this cute and easy tutorial for a eraser stamped shirt and just knew that Sienna would love it.  I was so right too!  She kept saying how she couldn't believe that I was telling her to put paint on her shirt.  I was very impressed with the final product and she loved getting to wear it on the fourth and telling everyone that she made it herself.

After all the prep work all that was left was to wait for our family to arrive!

A Pony Party

I can't believe that Sienna is old enough to go to friend's birthday parties!  I suppose that she has been to parties before but this was the first time the invite came in the mail and she insisted on choosing the perfect gift for her friend so it seemed pretty official to me.  One of her friends from Primary turned 4 and hosted a super fun My Little Pony party!

Sienna LOVES My Little Pony so this was like a dream party for her: friends and ponies equals best day EVER!  

They got to paint their own ponies, go on a hunt for Rarity's jewels, played pin the tail on Rainbow Dash and eat ridiculous amount of rainbow cake and ice cream.  All of the little girls were in heaven and had such a good time.  I was a little apprehensive about the party at first because Sienna tends to get really shy and withdrawn in groups of her peers (i.e. the park, music class, etc.) but she did great.  She did need some encouragement to hop in with the group every once in a while in the beginning but she found her stride and by the end she was sad to leave.

Sienna's favorite part was pinning in the tail on Rainbow Dash and mine was how much thought she put in when it came to picking out the perfect gift for her friend.  It was truly the first time that I knew she was picking something for a friend and not secretly something for herself.  In case you are wondering, she insisted on finding a Wonderbolt (which for those of you not in the know is a special pony who is part of the best flyers on My Little Pony) because they have a blue uniform and her friend's favorite color is blue. It was such a fun day!

Memorial Day

I have had a bunch of random side things that have kept me away from my blog lately and I'm now feeling like I'm so far behind that I better get on it before I neglect forever so... let the catching up begin!  

We had a very low key Memorial Day which is kind of how I love holidays anyway.  I'm not going to lie though I missed the annual camping trip, not so bunch the dirt and tent sleeping but definitely the company and the beach.  Seriously, I long for the beach sometimes.  Not that I went a ton when we lived in California but now that it's not a few hours away I dream of sand and waves.  

We headed over to the Esslingers house and had good food and tons of backyard water fun.  I adore watching Sienna and Jett together, because while it's not always pleasant it's always entertaining.

The kids had a blast and its always fun for me to hang out with my sister!

The Pregnancy Post

At the end of January I was found out I was pregnant!  Later that day, since we had been trying, I asked Nick if he would would want to know right away when I got pregnant or if he would want me to wait until after my first appointment.  He responded that I wouldn't be able to keep it a secret so his answer was moot.  Well...challenge excepted.  The day of my first appointment came and by this time he had a very large suspicion but I hadn't said anything.  Since I had previously had a miscarriage they wanted me to come in early at six weeks to help "calm my nerves."  The appointment did anything but and I was by myself because I was trying to keep it a secret.  During the ultrasound the midwife found two sacs, meaning I could be having twins!  She couldn't be sure though because it was so early and told me that they would setup another ultrasound soon to determine if there was actually only one baby or two.  As soon as I got home I told Nick and we panicked together.

A few weeks later I finally had my appointment where it was determined that two eggs had been fertilized but only one had developed, so just one baby.  By this point we had prepared to be excited for either option, but we were definitely relieved it was only one.   

8 week ultrasound 

My pregnancy has been pretty normal besides the crazy beginning.  I was sick for awhile but that has past so now it's mostly trying to figure out a comfortable way to sleep with the growing belly.  In the beginning of this month we where able to find out if we were having a boy or a girl.  Everyone in the house was hoping for pink and Sienna even told me, as well as anyone who asked, that if it was a boy she was "so going to cry!"  Well, it was good news for everyone when we found out that Sienna would be getting a little sister!

18 week ultrasound

So far Shelby and Sienna have been pretty similar in there stubbornness. Both have hated people messing with them ( moving away from the Doppler and kicking at the ultrasound.)   I feel Shelby much more and earlier but I'm not sure if it's because she's moving more or if I just recognize it because I have felt it before.  We are very excited for her arrival in early October !

Golfing!

We were out running errands one day and Sienna mentioned that she wanted to do something fun.  This is something that is often said by this girl because, let's be real, errands aren't particularly enjoyable when you are three.  Nick responded that he would think about it and then preceded to drive to the family fun center in Meridian and we all went miniature golfing together.  It was the first time we had taken Sienna and she really liked it.  Also the place that we went was super fun and had spinners at every other hole where it would tell you a different way for your opponents to play the hole ( Use only your hand, hit with the club behind your back, take your first shot with your eyes closed, etc.) For an impromptu trip we ended up having a lot of fun, until we were trying to head back to the car and Sienna saw there was bowling too and got mad because we couldn't spend forever there.

Sienna and her hole in one!  She was so happy. 

Practicing her swing with Daddy.

 

We will definitely have to go again this summer and maybe do the bowling too.

Easter

Nick had to work on Easter so we were so happy when Andi and her family invited us over for dinner and an Easter egg hunt that day.  We headed over to the Esslinger's right after church.  Andi and I hid about a billion eggs while the kids played together and then let them go crazy.

The kids checking out their loot.  

 

The girls

 

The Boys

 

Mommy wanted to take a picture together and Sienna wanted to play with her cousins some more.

 

After the egg hunt Mama Alice helped the kids fill up a few water balloons to play with as long as they didn't throw them at each other...which lasted a few minutes and the kids had fun.

 

We had a great dinner and felt very blessed to be able to spend that special day with people that we love.  Fun story I want to remember:  I wanted to teach Sienna about why we celebrate Easter so we had talked a little about the Resurrection.  The conversation that followed was both awesome and awful.

Me:  So what happened to Jesus after he was Resurrected?

Sienna:  Jesus became undead!

Nick: (whispers to me)  Zombie Jesus?!

Luckily, I was able to get a second chance and taught her sunbeam class the Easter lesson in Primary.  Good news: no sunbeam went home talking about zombie Jesus. :)

Coloring Eggs

Oh Easter, I feel like you happened such a long time ago, but before you did we prepped by coloring eggs.  Sienna was so excited to color eggs and to be able to do it with Daddy.  Since Nick works long shifts a couple of days a week I try to play this kind of stuff for days that he is actually here.  We had a lot of fun and of course we had plenty of purple and pink eggs to decorate our refrigerator with. 

Also, yes, my daughter is wearing a St. Patrick's Day shirt while we color eggs.  It's how we role around here. :)