Presidents' Day Weekend

And with this post, I AM CAUGHT UP! HOORAY!

One thing (among thousands) that we love about Fanzz is that Rich actually gets real days off from work, like most of the normal working world. He got to choose between having Martin Luther King, Jr., Day or Presidents' Day off, so we chose Presidents' Day. It turned out to be a really fun weekend because it also overlapped with Valentine's Day.

Rich got me flowers on Friday night. We're not really big on celebrating Valentine's Day with fancy gifts and big dates, but I do love that he always remembers flowers (I am still a woman).

He told me the most adorable thing. He said that I would only get eleven flowers of my dozen because Norah gets one, too. So cute! Norah loved being able to put her rose in it's own little vase, and she loves pointing out that we both have our own flowers.

Also, I'm not going to try to explain it because that's Rich's territory, but this is Norah doing the scoob dance.

We did decide to do a family brunch on Valentine's Day, at only the fanciest of restaurants - Village Inn. Apparently us and half of Bountiful had the same idea, so we didn't even attempt to go inside. We drove a little and ended up at the Village Inn in Roy. My mom joined us, too.

Norah absolutely loved her brunch. She got three pancakes and DEVOURED them - see above. She didn't wait to finish chewing bites before shoveling more in. She ate all of hers and then started on my mom's leftovers, another two more! I have no idea where it went, and I was a little afraid it was going to come back up. I am very grateful that this girl is a really good eater.

When we moved into our apartment, we started making plans for baby boy's arrival. We decided that Presidents' Day sales would be a good chance to start looking for a real bed for Norah, and I can't believe that's already come and gone. We spent the rest of our romantic Valentine's Day searching for Norah's new bed and finally found one at Costco.

We were even able to borrow my dad's truck and get it all moved in and set up on Saturday. I love this shot of her testing it out. She looks SO TINY!

 And here's Princess Doctor Norah-Dorothy in her new office, giving her puppy a check up.

We went to a park on Sunday, and Norah helped me get my shoes on since reaching my toes is getting harder each day. She still needs some practice, but I still have around three months to go so she's got time.

We were planning on spending most of the weekend finding a bed, but we basically got it all done on Saturday and were left with an entire free day on Monday. Knowing us, if we didn't plan something it would just turn into a whole day of sitting around trying to decide what to do. So, on Sunday, we asked Cami and Ethan (and Andrea and Jed but they were already busy), if we could come visit them in Provo. The Wings were just days away from becoming second-time parents, so we thought they might enjoy one more outing with just one kid. Plus, Norah and Kelsey are just about the cutest thing ever when they are together.

This is how Norah usually rides: foot over the edge, sunglasses, and Lambie.

We started off our visit with a trip to Red Robin.

And after lunch we headed to a trampoline gym so the girls could run around together. The foam pit was the favorite attraction. Cami and I got to sit while Rich and Ethan did most of the work. Thanks, boys!

Norah officially learned how to jump into something while we were there, too. At the beginning, she would walk up to the edge, Rich would tell her to jump, and she would sit down on her bum to slither in. But she finally worked up the courage to make the plunge, and she hasn't stopped jumping since (from small heights, of course).

I love having days off. Rich's next one is Memorial Day. It's really weird to think that by the time that's here, baby boy will be here, too!

January Photo Drop

On New Year's Day, we took Norah to see her very first movie in the theater. (Of course, the only way I would let this happen was if she took a nap. I did not want to find out how bad a movie could go with a toddler who only got 8 hours of sleep the night before.) My sister had been raving about "Big Hero 6," so we decided on that one. We underestimated how busy the theaters would be, though, and ended up in Farmington and not Bountiful as intended.

 I was nervous about how she would act, but she did great! She sat on Rich's lap for most of it because she was too light to keep her chair from popping up on her.

 Kelsey came to see us one Sunday, after Rich and Norah had decorated her cardboard house. They loved playing in it together.

She seriously loved this thing.

Norah got lots of puzzles for Christmas, and for a while we had to pull out all of the puzzles and spread them out all over the floor. She's kind cooled down on them lately, but for a while we basically had no floor space in our front room.

The things kids learns from their dads. She thought this was the most hilarious thing.

Hooray for the Heaths! They were in town for a wedding, so we made sure to get together with them, even if it was only for lunch. Norah and Alivia wasted no time getting right back to being besties.

This face

My dad has a tax/financial planning practice, so this is the busiest time of year for him. I volunteered to do a little work for him, and Norah tagged along. I was there for about 6 hours one day, and she was seriously amazing. She played with puzzles, watched movies, colored. I couldn't believe how good she was!

One night, pregnancy got the best of me and I had absolutely no desire to make dinner. I was just not feeling it at all. So we went to Apollo Burger. And it was delicious!

Potty training really has gone well for us, but, for a while, Norah insisted on a story every time she sat on the potty. Now we've pretty much limited it to when she needs to go #2.

I watched Lola and Huey one day, and Carrie let me borrow her van to take them to McDonald's. Play places are one of the best inventions ever.

Fanzz put together a night where their employees could play on the ESA floor. Rich had a great time!

More play time with the Kirtleys. And they had to take every book off the shelf.

We went to City Creek one night, and, as we were getting ready to head home, Norah decided she really needed to go potty. We were by the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and thought it would be easy to find one in there. In the end, we ended up on the top floor, where she was finally able to go. I'm glad she was able to hold it! And then we had to check out the view, which really is amazing.

January Zoo Trip

Norah and I have been going crazy being shut up in the house all day. Rich takes the car to work, so we're stuck home most days. But, if I plan ahead, we can take Rich to work and actually get out for a day.

On one of our lucky days in January, we met up with Cami and Kelsey at the Hogle Zoo. My mom gave Rich, Norah, and me a pass for Christmas, so it was lots of fun to go check out what the zoo is like in the winter (though it's hardly been a normal winter here). It was actually a free day at the zoo so it was PACKED with strollers (including ours), but it was still lots of fun.

 These two together. I love it. And they love each other. So much that they couldn't ride in separate strollers but had to be squished into one.

Checking out the seals and seal lions. This was probably the favorite exhibit of the day because the sea lions kept darting past us, while the seal swam around in lazy circles.

So, while I was prepping for the day, I was about to put Norah in a pull-up just to be safe. But, no, I thought. She's been doing so well with potty training. She hasn't had an accident in two weeks. She'll be fine!

Wrong. Obviously I wouldn't be telling this if that's how it actually went.

We were stopped for our picnic lunch, and, all of a sudden, Norah gets that look on her face. The look I've only ever seen her make when she's had an accident. Uh oh. Well, at least we were outside on plastic chairs, so the mess was easy to clean up.

And, good thing I always have an extra pair of clothes in the diaper bag.

Wrong again.

I hadn't changed out the extra set of clothes from church the previous Sunday, so all I had was a sleeveless dress and a pair of tights. It's been a warm January, but it was still only in the upper 40s outside, not exactly plain tights weather. Well, tights are better than no pants at all, so that's what we went with. Tights and a t-shirt. Luckily her coat was long enough that it looked like she could possibly be wearing a dress. And I had a blanket for her to bundle up in when she was in the stroller.

Oh, potty training.

You can see the tights in my last pictures.

But, on a side note, potty training really is going well. She has definitely had her share of accidents, but she's pretty much got it down. Even at nighttime, too! I'm so happy she took to it easily. Pregnant me probably wouldn't have been able to handle it if she'd made it hard.

Finishing Up 2014

Okay, last post about last year.

Our anniversary is December 27th, and, as a testament of how little of a fuss we throw about it, we didn't even get a picture on that day. We did manage to get a date night in, thanks to my parents watching Norah for us. We went to Red Robin (not exactly romantic but my fave) and a movie ("Into the Woods" - obviously not Rich's choice but I loved it). Thanks, Mom and Dad!

We stayed at my parents' house that night so we could go to a birthday party for our nephew Logan in North Ogden the next day. We did manage to get some pictures there.

First, this is Norah with my dad's dog, Capone. I like this dog well enough, until he starts to nip. But Norah would play with him all day long if she could. She doesn't mind playing tug of war with him if he's up for it. He was practically dragging her across the floor here, and she LOVED it.

My mom was preparing a salad to bring to the birthday party, and Norah kept sneaking bites of the veggies. She's not the biggest veggie eater out there, but now I know how to get her to eat them. Leave Grandma Kari in charge.

 At Logan's party, enjoying some delicious cake. The birthday boy knew just what to do with it (and I think Huey did, too).

Carrie's kids came over to play one morning. I love how much fun Norah and Huey have together. Sometimes they like to push each other's buttons, but they're getting along better and better each time they hang out.

We also got to take a trip to Kangaroo Zoo. I love this place, especially because Norah can now officially do everything there without any help.

For some reason, this kid latched onto Norah during this visit. I have no idea who he is, but he would wait for Norah at the top of the slide (for a long time, too) just to go down with her. Norah certainly didn't mind!

Helping me make salsa. Yes, it must be done in princess heels.

We also got a new washer and dryer after Christmas because our old dryer sounded like thousands of nails going across a blackboard when running. I was all for throwing out the box, but trust a dad to make into a fun little play house.

And, finishing up the year, we spent New Year's Eve at the Nelsons' house in West Jordan. (I should say, New Year's Eve and Scott's birthday.)

 This little girl stayed up until 11. She would have made it to midnight if I had let her, but I had to put my foot down. Also, I love Rich's face in the picture on the left. No idea what was happening here, but the I caught a great goofy face.

 I attempted a Big Top Cupcake again. Norah chose the frosting, so Scott got a purple cake. I think I'm just about done with these. They never really taste that good, even though it looked kind of cool (before we cut into it). I'd rather have a boring old rectangle cake with ice cream on the side.

I know, it looks so appetizing on the inside.

Hooray! My posts will now be about the right year!