Mother Daughter Trip: DC

*This trip happened back in March, so this is long overdue. But I had to wait for Nate's contribution... see end of post*

Our first stop in DC was to the Costco right down the street from Jill's apartment.

The highlight of that trip was when we were all casually walking down some steps and Jillian full on toppled down the stairs. Not just a little trip, but legs coming out from under her and falling on the ground and essentially rolling down the rest of the steps. It was bizarre and a little sad because she really did get hurt. But to be honest, it was mostly funny. I mean her legs were actually in the air. It just looked so spectacular, and it was so crazy that she had such an amazing fall on all of 4 steps, that once we knew she was ok, we couldn't help laughing. But she healed up fine, so now it is nothing but a great memory! :)

Our first day on the town, we were getting ready to leave, and when I saw Whitney ready to go, the first thought that came to my mind was "first day of school". With her backpack and cute outfit, she looked like someone headed out for her first day of school.

Our first day we did Museums. It was fun. I'm not much of a museum gal, but I still enjoyed it. I can't remember the name of the museum we went to, Museum of American History? Something like that. But it had all the Inagural Ball dresses of the first ladies which was cool. It also had Julia Child's kitchen, which I thought was very cool. We also went to the Holocaust Museum. It's a very somber, fascinating place, but after the first 3 floors, I was done. I don't think I need to go back there for at least another 10-15 years.

Day two was my favorite. We went to the mall and had a picnic and flew kites and blew bubbles. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. It was so relaxing to just sit and talk and laugh and people watch. Here is Jill with our awesome eagle kite that she bought at toys r us in Times Square.

Whit and Ash blowing bubbles

My Aunt Karen came down for the day with her daughter Robyn and her daughter Belle. It was fun hanging out and catching up with them.

Lexy, Morgan, Jill, Hailey, Aunt Karen, Belle at the WWII Memorial

Mom and Morgan

Mom, Lexy, Jill, Whit, Morg, Hailey

After the WWII Memorial, we kept walking along the reflection pool and up to the Lincoln Memorial. From there we walked to the Jefferson Memorial and were able to enjoy the beautiful cherry blossoms. After that we went to dinner around Chinatown. It was a lovely day in DC!

This is unfortunately, the end of my picture taking, but not the end of our trip. The next day my mom got super sick, so we just went shopping at the mall and met up with Doug and Jackie who were driving through from Virginia, and then later met up with Burton and Janaya Rampton, good friends of Ben and Whit from their Provo days. The next day it was time to head back to NY. We had a fabulous trip, and it was so nice to get away without kids for a few days. It would have been perfect if I hadn't been pregnant and could have actually enjoyed the chance to sleep in as much as I wanted. But when you are 8 months pregnant, there is just no comfy position to sleep in. Oh well. It was so fun to be with my mom and all my sisters. Hopefully we will be able to do this at least every couple years.

Things I learned while Morgan was gone ( By Nate. Of course Morgan already knows these things!)
*If you load kids up on enormous ice cream cones with chocolate sprinkles, they will not fall asleep on the ferry/subway. Instead, they will be bouncing off the walls like crazy people, screaming at the other boats, and generally annoying everyone around them.
*Always bring a spare set of clothes, because if there is a mud puddle in or near the playground, one of the kids will find it, step in it, and of course fall down in it.
*If you don’t open the window in the bathroom, the entire house will smell like pee.
*If you don’t get the 2-yr-old into his diaper IMMEDIATELY upon exiting the bathtub, he will pee on your running clothes.
*If you let said two year old get out of the tub to look for toys you can’t find, there is a good chance that while he is out of the tub and disrobed, he will relieve himself on the floor, and then step in it.
*There are no beaches on Staten Island, even if you walk around the coastal area for 45+ minutes.
*If you bring potato chips as part of the lunch and don’t separate them into little bags, they will become the entire lunch.
*If you bring carrots as a snack, you will end up eating them yourself.
*In the sandbox, little girls like to build castles, dig holes, and make sand cakes. Little boys like to destroy these things. No matter how much you tell them not to. You’ll probably have to sit next to them to ward off their destructive instincts so that all the other parents don’t glare at you, thinking you are a bad parent and hoping that you will leave soon so their kid can play in peace.
*There is never an acceptable time to leave the playground. Desperate screams of “no!” and frantic running will inevitably accompany your proposed departure.

Wheeler Farm

One of the first weekends that we were back in UT, Nate wanted to go to a fiddle contest up at Wheeler Farm, so we decided to take the kids. They of course loved all the ducks and geese that were wandering around. They loved to climb on everything, and I am amazed that they never once fell in the water. I loved seeing them have so much fun though. They seem like they can entertain themselves for hours at places like this.

Chasing ducks and geese

Climbing the wagon

Asher sittin' on the porta john

This turkey was enormous. Aside from their necks and heads, they really are beautiful animals.

Little Barty, being so good, as always!

Moving day

This is of course long overdue, but I wanted to get some pictures up of our last day in NYC. It was a crazy day! I almost lost it a few times throughout all the packing, and if Chris and Heidi (Nate's parents) hadn't been there, I would have been an absolute mess. Packing and moving with a newborn and two boys in a 500 sq/ft apartment is not fun. Not fun at all. But we survived, obviously, but by the time we got on the plane I had a splitting headache and was just plain wasted. Can't wait to do it all again in August! ;)

We are going to miss our little apartment with it's cute balcony. We had to give it up to come to UT for the summer. But we just found out that we will be in the same apartment, just one floor higher this next year. It is the same layout, but it doesn't have a balcony. I am going to miss it because I love it and it adds a lot to our little place. But it was starting to make us a little nervous with the kids. We know we like the layout though, so we are happy with our new living arrangements.

7 weeks (tomorrow)

Barty will be 7 weeks tomorrow. I can't believe how fast time has flown by. The little dude has gotten super chubby. He is starting to be a lot more social, he smiles and coos and looks around everywhere. He seems to be a little more serious than the other two were at this stage, but really, I can't remember when they started be super smiley. But he is such a sweetheart. He has been such an easy baby so far, and I am so grateful for that. I feel better rested at this point than I did with the other two. I'm sure it helps that Nate lets me sleep in every morning, then he goes back to sleep when he wakes me up around 8. Bart still wakes up once a night, sometimes two, but for the most part I usually get a good 5 hour hour stretch. Hopefully he will be sleeping 8-10 hours in no time. Bart is also such a good nurser, which is what I was hoping for for this one. With 2 crazy boys running around, I need this little guy to eat as fast as possible, so I can keep them from demolishing the house. I feel like since he has been such an easy baby, I have really been able to cherish this time while he is little. I remember with Sayer, I just wanted him to get older so he wouldn't be as fussy and would sleep longer. But I have been loving snuggling with him, and am so sad that he is not a tiny little newborn anymore. Here are some pictures I took today. \
My 3 handsome dudes...

I LOVE this picture! I love his belly, and then his hands look like they're little shooter guns.

Hangin' with the Caziers

Nate's sister Lizza and her family stayed with us for a few days after Aspen Grove (Aspen Grove pictures to come later). We had a blast. Asher was beside himself when they had to leave. He actually got in their car and was ready to drive off with them. All the boys loved playing together. They made up a new game called Birdy-Birdy, where one is the baby bird, momma bird, daddy bird, etc. Awesome. They also went swimming at the hotel and veteran's pool. Went to the park. Rode scooters a ton. Watched Kipper and Pingu. Ate. Played, played and played some more. Us adults ate out a ton, did some shopping and just hung out. They're probably sick of us, but we can't wait to see them again in a week!

Watching a show

Spinny holding Barty. So cute!

Kiddies huddled around the technology. Typical.

Sweet baby barty. He is getting so chubby!

Ashlyn, Jackson, Asher, Maddie, Spencer, Ally, Drew, Parker. Waiting patiently for the pool to be cleaned.
Olson family grandkids. Minus Sayer and Cooper, Alton, Vander and Zoe.

Bartlett's Blessing

Nate's family were all in town for a family reunion at Aspen Grove the weekend after Memorial Day. We thought that it would be a perfect time to bless Bart since so many people would be in town. My parent's were so great to make the long drive to be there for it, even though they had to leave early the next morning, so they were only in town for about 24 hours. But it was so great to have so many family members here to celebrate with us. We ended up doing it on Saturday at our house, as people were leaving on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. It was a wonderful day, and Nate gave a beautiful blessing. I am so grateful to have a husband who is a worthy priesthood holder, and is able to bless our children.

This was one of my brother's outfits. I think it was just a church outfit or something, but I thought it would be a perfect blessing outfit. He looked so sweet in it.

Men and their technology...

Duffy, Maddie and Tessa. Look at all those blue eyes!

Lexy

Jackson, Vander and Bart

Zoe, Bart and Erin's little girl

Nana and Ashlyn

Kacey and Erin

Thanks to my mom for bringing the delicious food!

Minor Sugery

I was changing Bart's diaper one day and felt a hard lump on his little bum. It freaked me out so I took him to the Dr right away. Unfortunately, what would soon be an abcess (sp?), had not yet formed, so even after a trip to the ER up in SLC, we still had to go back to the Dr several times to get it taken care of. After lots of appointments, trips to Primary Children's, and finally a minor out patient surgery, his little bum is all better. Here are some pictures from his surgery:

He had to go under general anesthesia, which was a little scary because he was so little, but it all went great. These are before/as he was waking up.

With his little oxygen mask

He looked so sweet in his little hospital bed.

I thought the little gowns were adorable! ...and also a little sad. Sad that they need them at all. But he does look pretty precious, doesn't he? Thankfully he was over one month, which is the cut off for not having to stay over night in the hospital.

His surgeon was Dr. Downey, and he was so great. If you live in UT and your child ever has to have surgery, he is a fantastic Pediatric Surgeon, and SUCH a nice man. Loved him! Anyway, his bum is healing nicely, and we hope that we don't have anymore problems.