Theo is dang cute

The other day, he saw me putting on a necklace, and wanted one of his own.  I got him the super shimmery one because I knew he could pull it off himself.  But then he wanted the green beads because I had been wearing them the day before.  He wore these around for an hour at least!

Theo and I organized the baby clothes this week, and we found the toddler sized sleep sacks from Corbin's adviser (Mike gave us so many cute girl clothes!)  So here, Theo is sporting a Superman hat, purple sleep sack with princess, Flash socks with Spiderman sandles.  The height of fashion!

To celebrate Memorial Day, our friend Kristy organized a trip to the Ithaca cemetery.  She had paper and crayons for doing rubbings, gravestone bingo, a map of the grounds... Kristy is truly fancy.  We went for the first little while and had a great time.

The Ithaca cemetery is really cool, with lots of old gravestones. Pictured above is the gravestone for a man who escaped slavery through the underground railroad.  His mother is buried with him, and I think it says on this that she lived to be 102 years old.  Impressive.

The grounds were so beautiful, but set on a very steep and long hill. I had a hard time making it, to say the least.

But look at my cute family! Theo was in charge of pressing the button for these.

There were several gravestones I saw in my wanderings of children and teens.  One simply said "Our Bessie," with her birth and death date.  She was only 15. I can't imagine what it must be like to bury a child, and I hope I never have that experience.

Can you see Theo's "backpack?" One of my tiny purses that he needed to tote around his toys.

Here Theo is posing with the gravestone of a revolutionary war veteran.  He was about 20 when the war started, and lived many years after. It's amazing to think of the history we get to enjoy here.

For those who have read to the end, here are some bonus Theo stories.

I've been testing my blood for about two weeks now, and Theo is always very interested, and wants to be involved. Finally, the other day, I couldn't take his little hands being all up in my business.  So I asked if he wanted me to poke his finger too, hoping it would freak him out and he would leave me alone.  He came over, and I gave his finger a poke.  Instead of being freaked out, he was very cool about it.  He looked at the drop of blood that started coming out, then wanted to put it on the test strip. I'm afraid my plan backfired, because now he thinks I'll do it for him every time. Oh my brave little man.

It was actually only a few minutes after the above story that Theo was eating an apple.  He got half way through when he stopped.  I asked him if he would eat the rest, and he said no.  So I asked if I could eat the rest for him, and he still said no.  Then I said, "well, who is going to eat the rest of this apple?" He replied, "Ruby." I love it when he refers to her, especially when we're saying family prayers.

Yesterday, Theo asked me to sing Sh-Boom (a song from the Taffetas). It has been at least a month since he's heard me sing that. What a memory on this guy!

Whirlwind Hardie Adventure

Since early Tuesday morning, we've gotten to watch the sweet Hardie girls while the lovely Joe and Whitney went house hunting across the country. I'm happy to say they had quick success at finding a beautiful house in a great neighborhood, and even had some time to relax.  We're so excited for the Hardies!

For the past few days, the kids and I have been busy partying. We fed this nice horse who lives by our house.  The kids were a little apprehensive when his mouth actually went for the carrots and apples, but we loved it all the same. 

Thanks to a funny package from my mom, we had a ginger bread man decorating set, and I thought they were the perfect crowd to do it! The littles mostly just ate the candies, but Ellie took hers very seriously.

I told Wren to look at me with her eyes, and this is what she did.

Just look at this face!  These girls are so sweet!

Thanks for the fun activity, Mommy! We were all covered in icing by the end, and we loved it!

Of course, we did a lot of this... vegging on the couch and watching shows.  The Hardies have Netflix at their house, which is a huge novelty for Theo.   As a large pregnant woman, I don't feel any regrets about the TV. Man, I've done a lot more bending and lifting this week than I've done in months. My belly needed rest!

Heavenly Father must have had me in mind when he ordered the week's weather.  It was beautiful and warm, and we spend a lot of time outside. These girls love sidewalk chalk, and Theo entertained himself in other ways.

Since it was so warm, we busted out the water toys.  Don't they all look cute in Theo's undies? Since we don't have a hose or anything, I filled that bucket with cold bathwater, and let them have at it.  Each one took turns climbing in and dunking, taking drinks by sticking their faces in, spraying each other with squirt bottles.  The first day we did it, Ellie got in touch with her creative side and made beautiful wet chalk art.  Each of the kids were stained blue and purple by the time we went inside.

It's interesting how different each child can be.  Putting this little Ellie lady to bed was such a strange experience.  Theo never gets out of bed once we put him down, but that first night we had them, I knew Ellie was a different animal.  At 10:15 I finally just climbed in bed to avoid having her come out every few minutes and asking me for something different.

I do want to say, though, that she was a very good helper and a good example to the littles for most of the week. Theo and I got to attend her preschool graduation party at a fancy park, and she was very magnanimous about sharing her friends and her space. And Whitney, Liz took plenty of pictures of Ellie, so you should ask her about them.

Between all our planned activities, we had a good time chilling, napping, snacking, playing at the park. The girls were such good sports about being away from their mommy and daddy for so long. What a busy, tiring week, but what a pleasure!

Corbin is in the middle of finals, and somehow he scheduled a bunch of gigs at the same time.  So he was busy.  But when he was here to help, he was a huge help.  And the girls love him.

I'm glad we got a chance to bond with these sweet ladies, but sadly, it's just in time for them to move! We will miss them, and Joe and Whitney.  How great that we've gotten our turn to be their friends!

Oh the crazy days of May

The day after the show ended, our family home evening activity was going to get my hair cut!  It feels so glorious to be back to my old self.

Theo wanted in on the selfie action. 

On Wednesday, Corbin and I dropped Theo off at the Hardie's house, and we made out way to Boston! Corbin had a conference he wanted to attend, and it happened to coincide with our anniversary. So he asked me along to celebrate.

When we arrived, I dropped Corbin off at the Marriott where the hotel was being held, and continued on to the Boston temple.  I arrived pretty early for the session, and enjoyed a walk around the beautiful grounds. We almost didn't have a session because I was the only person in attendance. Luckily, two or three people showed up just in time, and I enjoyed a lovely session.

 (since I'm too lazy to move these pictures, the Boston trip is on hold). The Relief Society closing social was pizza and bowling.  Theo and I had lots of fun, although I think the novelty wore off for him really quick.

Theo charmed the lady working behind the counter in a big way. She was watching baseball on the wall TV, and he came to join her.  Soon he was pantomiming the players, and the lady came out from behind the desk to do it with him.  They pretend ran bases, and threw baseballs.  It was very sweet.

And, come on.  Tiny bowling shoes?  Too cute!

 Back to our regularly scheduled program. After I picked Corbin up from the hotel, we decided to find a Taco Bell (Corbin's craving). Unfortunately, his GPS is really dumb, and we ended up driving around in rush hour traffic for an hour and a half to two different locations where there wasn't actually a Taco Bell.  Let me tell you, sick, tired, pregnant ladies don't take that sort of thing very well.

Finally, we gave up and went to Corbin's friend's house where we were staying the night. He directed us to a McDonald's a block away, and we ate an insane amount of food.

We went back to Wayne's house, got lots of rest for the night, and were ready for the next day's activities.

I dropped Corbin off at the hotel, and drove around aimlessly through the beautiful residential areas of the city.  Although it was gloomy, it was so beautiful!  Some trees were in bloom, it seemed so clean, and it was way easier to navigate than NYC. (my first impression of driving there was through a crippling snowstorm, but still)

After I'd gotten my fill, I scoped out a park near the water that I'd researched.  It was in sort of a shady part of Boston, but the park itself was beautiful. I put on double sweaters and took a stroll.

It was so clean and lovely, I wished it wasn't so cold so I could linger longer. It was fun hanging out next to the Atlantic Ocean, and helped me realize just how far I've traveled from my homeland.

I went back to the car and built myself a nest in the trunk. I loaded up with snacks, and snuggled in with a great chick lit novel. It was relatively short, and I read the entire thing.  That was pretty amazing and restful. It had been a long time since I've read a good book, and I love reading so much! Our kids are doomed to be bookaholics.

By the time I finished When Roses Bloom, it was time to check into our hotel. Thanks to my mom's hook ups, we were in a pretty fancy one. I brought in some stuff, changed into my swim suit, and spent 45 wonderful minutes in the pool. I stretched in ways I haven't done in months. When I got out, I felt like I weighed a thousand pounds.  I may be taking more baths in this last trimester. 

The two pictures above are our view.  One is more flattering to the eye, but the airport is nice too. 

After I showered and  got dolled up, I picked up Corbin, and we found a hole in the wall Italian restaurant to celebrate our anniversary.  In walking through the door, I felt like I walked into an Italian mama's kitchen.  There were only a handful of tables, and a kitchenette area in the corner. When the lady sat us at a table, the couple at the table next to us piped up, "what are you bringing people into our neighborhood?" in a fabulous Boston accent. Later on, that same guy gave us a wink and said maybe we weren't so bad to sit by, we had just looked like trouble.

I wish the sun would shine in Ithaca, at least for a few hours in a row, so things could blossom like this beautiful tree.

There were so many awesome buildings to look at.  I'll admit, I did a lot of rubber necking as I drove around.

The last morning we were there, Corbin had wanted to go to a session from 8-10.  Instead, we both slept til 8:45.  I didn't even wake up once in the night with heart burn or to use the bathroom, so you know it was pure sleep that night.

The drive home was uneventful. When we arrived back to the Hardies, Theo was at the tail end of a three hour nap.  We sat and chatted with the Hardies for a while, and finally had to go wake him up.  Apparently he did great and had a fun time with them. It was fun hearing Whitney talk about all the typical things Theo does, and how different they are from her girls.  I'm glad they made it through!

Here are just some bonus pictures of Theo reading to himself.  He had snuggled up on that chair, but decided he needed a pillow behind his head, and asked me to bring him one.  I love it when he does things independently, without causing mischief. I hope those times become more frequent.