2 Months and Goodbye Elder Barth

The little lady was 2 months old on May 9.  I can't believe how fast she is growing.  She weighed in at 11.5 pounds (63%tile) with a head circumference of 16 inches (98%tile).  Apparently big heads run in the family. 

On May 9 we also said goodbye to Uncle Alan for 2 years.

 It has been so much fun to have Aaron's baby brother live in Provo for the last year.  We loved having him join us for weekly Sunday dinners and spend time at our house (and not just so Aaron could give him chores and yard work to do).

 We said our goodbye's at the MTC curbside drop off.  We were in and out in less than 5 minutes--so much easier/better than the old MTC goodbyes. We will really miss him.

Thank You

As an addendum to my earlier post today, I need to give a big THANK YOU to the husband for staying home with the little man while I partied in NYC.  I'm glad they could have some quality father son time.

Seize the Day

 Remember those teenage obsessions we all had?  Well one of mine was the movie Newsies.  I went to the movie on opening night with my cousin Laura and sister Julia.  We LOVED it!  We got these newspapers from the theater with info about the movie and cast and lots of great pictures (and yes, I still have my copy).  I plastered my locker with these pictures so that I could see the cute boys every day at school.  I'm guessing I saw the movie at least 10 times in the theater.  I remember riding my bike with friends to Movies 8 so that we could see it there.  I might have even been one of those super annoying girls that let out a little yell when the cute boy did something especially great (in this case it was when Spot Conlon arrived and said "never fear, Brooklyn is here).  I bought the cassette tape and memorized all the songs.  I bought the piano book and learned to play Santa Fe on the piano.  And I don't know how many times I rented the movie from Blockbuster, but I'm guessing between me and my friends it was 10-20 times. Yes, I was obsessed, and luckily I had a cousin, sister, and friends that were obsessed too.  So when Laura called me up in January and told me she wanted to go to New York in April to see the Broadway production of Newsies, how could I say no?  I almost did, thinking that I would be a bit crazy to go with a newborn, but I just couldn't miss out on the fun, so we made reservations, bought tickets, and planned a cousins retreat in the big apple.

 I am so glad I said yes and packed up my 5 week old baby to go to NYC.  Newsies was awesome.  We went to the play the first day we were there and it was a highlight of the trip.  I was a little worried about how it could compare to the original, but it really was so great.  The singing and dancing was fabulous.  My favorite was the tap number they did to King of New York.  It was especially fun to see some of our favorite dancers from So You Think You Can Dance (Jess, Evan, Alex) in the play.    I loved it so much, I would be willing to pay to see it again.  A big Thank You to my aunt Jimae for watching Lexi so that I could go.

 On our second day in New York we went to a fancy restaurant that had cool names for their entrees like the one I shared with my table called the "wah-zah".  Then we rented bikes to explore Central Park.  We thought we would only go a few miles and be gone for an hour...but a few of us missed the turnoff we were supposed to take and ended up doing the entire 6 mile loop around the park.  There were some intense hills on the north end of the park that we mistakenly went to, so we enjoyed some good exercise.  We saw some famous landmarks including this fountain and pond where we sang "How Does He Know You Love Him" from Enchanted.  Lexi had a bit more relaxing afternoon riding with my Aunt Jimae in the pedicab.

 After the park we made a trip to the Apple Store and FAO Schwarz,

 where Julia tried on the sorting hat and hoped to be placed in Gryffindor.

 We headed back to Grand Central Station for dinner and then the hotel for some jewelry stamping, which led to a few mistakes and a lot of laughter.

 The next day we took a few subways to get over to the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge (Spot Conlon's territory).  We were hoping for the famous ice cream and pizza...but we were there a bit too early.  So we had to settle for taking some fun pictures.

 Isn't this picture awesome?  Thanks to my sister Julia for always being up for a good jumping shot.  She was definitely inspired by the Newsies.  Probably one of my favorite pics from the trip.

Then we walked across the bridge on a parkway above the cars.  It was a fun walk with great views of the city.

 Then we headed to Ground Zero to the 9/11 Memorial.  Behind us is the new World Trade Center building.

 This is one of two memorials that stand in the footprints of the twin towers.  They are huge fountains that run into a big deep hole in the middle.  All of the names of people who died are written around the edges of the two fountains.  It was a touching memorial to all those people who lost their lives that day.

 Then we hurried to Battery Park to take one of the last ferries of the day to Ellis Island.  We didn't stop at the Statue of Liberty since most of us had been there, but we got a good view of it as the ship went by.

 Then we headed to Little Italy for an authentic Italian dinner, complete with a pushy Italian waiter and delicious pastries for dessert.

 We finished off the night by going to Rockefeller Center where we saw the ice rink and the studio where they film the Today Show.

 The next day was our last day to spend in the city before we flew out that evening.  We had some good family time in the morning, went to the Natural History Museum, got lunch at the famous Shake Shack (delicious), did some souvenier shopping, and walked through Times Square.

 Lexi was a champ.  Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better traveling baby.  She slept for most of both flights, slept 7-8 hours at night, and was happy and content to be pushed around in the stroller or carried in the pack.  Thanks to my cousins for planning a great retreat with uplifiting devotionals, fun activites, and time to reminisce, share quotes and stories, and exchange some of our favorite things.  It was such a fun trip with some of my favorite people.  I'm already hoping we can do it again someday.

Spring!

We are so excited to welcome Spring weather.  In April I started to venture out a few times with a toddler and infant.  So far it hasn't been disastarous.  We like Costco best because the samples and books keep Brigham busy and I can sit both of them in the front seat.

 Lexi sleeps like a champ.  She is already sleeping 8-9 hours at night.  She takes lots of naps during the day, and as you can see from this picture, she can sleep anywhere.

 Brigham is also a great sleeper.  I went to switch the laundry and came back to find him like this when he was supposed to be eating lunch.  Apparently our outdoor adventures had worn him out.

 Brigham continues to be a great eater.  He will try anything and likes most things.  This time he was trying a raw potato while helping me make potato salad, and he didn't stop after one bite.

 He loves to lounge in his chair and watch a little bit of Monsters Inc. after a hard busy day.

 He loves the new farm puzzle that he got for Easter.  He only says a few words consistently (door, zebra, ball) but he is great at identifying animals in his books and making all sorts of animal sounds.

 He also loved looking for Easter eggs and shaking them to hear the jelly bean inside.

 For the first time in years we didn't go on a trip over Aaron's spring break.  We used the time to get projects done around the house.  We painted Lexi's room and started moving around furniture, including putting a regular bed in Brigham's room and moving him out of the crib.  It is one my mom's old bunk beds and has this great bar that goes on the side to keep him from rolling off (or escaping).

 We took Brigham to the farm at This is the Place State Park.  He absolutely loved it.  One of his favorite things was riding the pony. I thought he would be afraid but he laughed and smiled the whole time.

 He enjoyed interacting with his shadow and trying to move these big boulders.

 His favorite animal was this pig lying on the ground.  He kept going back to it and petting it.

 He also enjoyed the goats, lambs, chicks, ducklings, and baby bunnies.  The farm is great because they let the kids get in the pen and interact with the baby animals.  They let you hold the chicks, ducks, and bunnies so the kids can pet them and see them up close.  It was such a fun experience.  He kept running around to all the different animals and couldn't get enough.  He could have stayed there all day.

 He enjoyed playing in a spring rainstorm for the first time.  He enjoyed it so much that he found the place where it drips off the roof and kept walking under that spot so he could get even more wet.

He enjoys playing in the bathroom for some reason, probably because the doors are always shut at home so it is a rare treat for him to be able to go inside one.  Grandma let him out of her sight for a few minutes and this was the result.

 We made our annual trip to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point.  As always, it was beautiful.  Brigham's favorite part was the Secret Garden with the spraying water.

 Lexi just enjoyed being carried around and sleeping.

 Brigham fell down the stairs a few months ago before he had learned to go down them backwards.  Now he is super afraid stepping down.  Even if it is only an inch or so from one walking surface to the next, he will turn around and go down it backwards.  We were at the top of the hill by the waterfall at Thanksgiving Point and he wanted to get down to the water, so he turned around and crawled down the hill backwards.

 We love spending time with grandma and appreciate that she is brave enough to babysit all three of these kids (1 month old, 9 months old, and 19 months old) on Wednesday while parents are working.  They are sweet, but it can be a bit crazy to have all three of them together.

 I love, love, love these two cuties.  Brigham is getting better with Lexi.  He says "baby" and pats her head and giver her a pacifier when it falls out.  He looks concerned when she cries and shushes her and pushes her in the swing.  It is pretty cute to watch.  I am so lucky to spend my days with them.

The Little Lady

 Our little Lexi is such an angel. She is so calm and peaceful.  As you can tell from the pics, she is an awesome sleeper!  She sleeps during much of the day, and most of the night.  She has managed to sleep through Brigham's high pitched squeals of happiness and crying tantrums as well as the busy streets of New York.  We love her so much.  Here are a few of my favorite pics of her.