Idaho trip

I have a few posts to catch up on, but since we currently have internet that feels as slow as dial-up, (don't worry, we're switching pronto) I can only do one per night because it takes so long for the pictures to load.

SO, last month we went to Idaho for Eric's cousin Anna's wedding. It was great to see all the extended family and catch up. We got to spend a night at the girls' GREAT-grandma and grandpa Murray's house, attend the sealing in the Idaho Falls temple (thanks to all the cousins who watched the girls!), hang out with Eric's fun cousins Trent and Marlene at the luncheon, ride 4-wheelers and explore great-grandma's awesome yard (I should say LAND) and hang out with more fun cousins again at the reception. A good day.

The girls in front of the temple

An awesome Whitney face, she's saying "cheese!"

Whitney LOVED the 4-wheeler and called it a tractor.

Katelyn now wants a 4-wheeler for her birthday (not happening, sorry! (: )

A Day in the Life of Whitney's Pig

Every morning I wake up with Whitney in her crib. We go down for breakfast and I get a special seat on the table so I don't get messy. Sometimes I sit on the floor so I'm extra far away from sticky hands.

Whitney likes to hold me while she looks at books, or while her mom or sister read to her.
I wait in her room while she takes a bath so I won't get wet.
Whitney gives me lots of kisses.
I wait inside while Whitney plays outside. This used to make her REALLY sad, and a couple of times she even snuck me out with her. But now she accepts that we must be separated so I don't get dirty.

I also wait at home while Whitney goes places. This made her cry for 30-45 minutes two weeks in a row when she couldn't take me to church! But now she's usually okay. Sometimes we're lucky and I get to go for a car ride with her. But then I wait in the car while Whitney goes to stores and parks.
Sometimes Whitney carries me around a lot. Other days not as much.
But I always know she loves me, because if she ever gets upset about something, the first thing she says as she's crying is "Piggy! Piggy!" I comfort her even when she has a blue mouth from eating a blow-pop.
She always wakes up happy from her nap when she sees me.
At the end of the day, sometimes we wrestle.
And sometimes we watch a movie. Even if I don't get to watch because she's using me as a pillow, I love to be with my Whitney.

Whitney singing

We discovered a couple of days ago that Whitney has learned this song! I love nursery!

I love how she keeps looking at Katelyn, who was right behind me whispering the words. And she likes to say "hey!" at the end of every song, like we do at the end of Jingle Bells.

Also in the background is her pig, which deserves a post of it's own. Coming soon.

committed

Well, it's official.

I am registered to compete in the Salem Spring Triathlon on June 5th!! I am SO excited, and scared of drowning/having to be rescued halfway through the 800 meter swim. But my awesome cousins did a triathlon last year, and I am inspired to follow in their footsteps. I haven't tried to swim more than like 10 meters in like 7 years (when I went once with you, Brenna!). And before that it was about 12 years since I took swim lessons. But my sister Katrina was a swimmer in high school, and Melissa is now, so I'm hoping that the ability to swim more than one length of the pool is in my genes and will burst out with minimal effort. :) Biking isn't hard for me, I own a bike and biked 7 miles yesterday no problem. I can easily work up to being comfortable doing 12 miles. And we all know I could run a 5k in my sleep. :) So..... this will be a great challenge for me. Especially since the closest pool to me that opens before May 29th is 30 minutes away.

Why a triathlon? Basically, running is no longer a challenge for me. I will continue to train and race a couple of races a year, and greatly enjoy it. But THIS IS MY YEAR! I am not pregnant, and I do not have a small baby. I am healthy and financially secure. So I've decided that this is my year to try something new, to learn and to improve myself and to serve others. And trying a triathlon is one way I'm doing it.

I've already bought a bike helmet and swim goggles. Here I go.

The evolution of speech

Here is the progression of ways Whitney has said "yes" in the past few months.

Nov-Jan: "ah" as in "yeah"

Feb: "nah" as in "yeah", SO confusing because it sounded like she was always saying no! "naah"

First week of March: "ess", I think she got tired of us asking "yes or no?" when she said "nah!"

Second week of March: a loud, distinct, confident "yep" or "hep"

At least "hep" can't be confused with no! :)

you can always stay....

The other night Katelyn came out of her room when I thought she was already asleep and we had this conversation:

kate: Mom, I have to tell you something.

me: okay.

k: Can I still stay here when I get big?

(At this point I remembered the conversation we had when I was putting her to bed. I told her she was getting so big, she's almost 4! and asked her if she could just stay little for me. "Do you have to get bigger?" I asked her. She said "yes, we have to keep getting numbers!" So funny. Anyway I knew where her question was coming from.)

me, grabbing her up in my arms: yes, of course! You can always stay here with me! You will always be my girl, I love you so much! etc. etc......Well, until you get married and then you get to live with your husband and have your own family.

k: And you can come to my wedding reception.

me: I'm coming to your wedding, girl! I'll be right there in the temple with you and I'll be so proud of you and happy for you to get married in the temple. But until then you can live here for as long as you want.

k: Oh, like Grammy and Grandpa Jamie have their kids still living with them?

me: yeah, like Aunt Melissa and Aunt Jenae.

k: and like Uncle Donny, he came back from his mission and he's still living there. (I think this was important for her to know, that he had gone away and could still come back)

me: yes.

k: and when I get married I can visit whenever I want.

me: yep!

Then I put her back in bed smiling and reassured.

It was just so cute and I wanted to remember it. Although at some point I might go back on the "you can live here as long as you want" part. She should probably move out by the time she's 35. :)

If you give a mouse a cookie...

We went to see a play last night! The SCERA in Orem has a theater for young audiences, and they did "If You Give A Mouse a Cookie". Here's Whitney and Eric waiting for it to start.

Me and Katelyn
Whitney was making the saddest face ever because the play hadn't started yet! She kept saying "boy" and "mouse" and looking at the stage like "where are they?" and almost crying, it was SO funny. I was so happy I caught this face on camera.
They ended up LOVING it! I wish I had a video of Katelyn laughing hysterically every couple of minutes at something funny the boy or mouse did. She even laughed several times when no one else was laughing! Eric and I agree that we have NEVER seen her laugh that much in a one-hour period! So of course we loved it too. And Whitney was just riveted, not really laughing, just taking it all in.

Afterwards we didn't want to wait in line to take a picture with the characters, so I cheated and took this picture of them and the back of Whitney's head.

We spent the whole ride home recounting our favorite funny parts of the show. Definitely worth it, I will be looking forward to their next production!