A Mad, Mad March

This second half of March truly has been madness, in a good way.

Mostly because BYU made it to the Sweet 16. This is the first time Daniel has been involved as a coach with something so exciting. I mean, he regularly makes faces this intense no matter the game situation, but it's fun to have a bunch of people noticing when he does it. Before the tournament I really wanted them to make it to the NCAA so Daniel's season would be over quicker (because they'd lose). But it's been so fun to watch them win twice.

 I started out watching Monday's game on my computer since Directv's ESPN2 was showing a different game. That makes total sense, right? Show a Tennessee game in Utah while BYU is playing.

The girls paid a little attention. Sadie watched most of the first half before she realized Elise was just getting to stay up late and play. They made a giant mess of our house while I was engrossed in the game.
 
I was screaming and clapping by myself as I watched them beat Nebraska on Monday night. I laughed so hard at the scene above. I was planning on going back to capture a picture (ESPN2 started showing it around this time and I recorded it), but a friend sent it to me so I didn't have to. BYU is the third 12 seed to ever make the Sweet 16 in the women's tournament.

And then we have just been busy with lots of other stuff. 

Probably the biggest time consumer being that I volunteered to be in charge of our department-wide Library Awards last year, before I knew I'd be super pregnant. Got those over with last week.

We've watched Frozen 3 times in the past week. Sadie has requested Elsa braids a few times. This is my interpretation of an Elsa braid.

 We spent the 70 degree afternoon at the park in tank tops a couple days ago. Then we got some snow yesterday. Par for the course in March.

    

Watch BYU take on #1-ranked UConn Saturday on ESPN at 2:30 MST

OR stream it online for free at watchespn.com

While Dad is away...

...the girl's will play. Or lay around and complain about being hugely pregnant. Either/or. 

We are on day 5 of Daniel being gone. Here's what we've been up to.

Laying in bed while the girls alternate between harassing me and making a huge mess. If you look closely you can see that Elise is wearing the Tangled dress-up while holding her Flynn Rider doll on her shoulders.

Art projects and more art projects. Here is the family tree Sadie made for us. Sadie is, of course, in the center with Mom and Dad are on either side and Elise and the baby are above and below.

After she made it she kept laughing at her joke that we should name the baby, Baby. 

Side note: Sadie's handwriting has gotten incredibly legible lately. I am impressed.

Costco frozen yogurt after a successful trip with no whining. When I was unloading at home I realized I bought a case of kidney beans instead of black beans. Oops.

So I am pretty proud of my next accomplishment. On Saturday I took the girls to IKEA and bought this small wardrobe to put the dress-up clothes in. We currently use a trunk and everyone time they are looking for one dress they dump everything out (yes, I am absolutely nesting). One of the boxes was a little too heavy for me to reasonably lift, but I insisted on still purchasing it. We were quite the sight in the IKEA parking lot when Sadie biffed it on the way to the car and as I stopped to help her one of the boxes fell off the cart. I summoned all of my 33-weeks-pregnant strength and lifted it back up while Sadie cried about getting a hole in her favorite pants. It may have taken me and my huge belly 2 hours to put it together, but I did it while I listened to Daniel's game (WHICH THEY WON). And now unfortunately I can't carry it into the toy room by myself so it is sitting in the family room where the girls climb in and out of it constantly. Thanks for letting me brag about myself.

 After the game I texted Daniel this picture telling him while they were dominating NC State I was dominating IKEA furniture. My win is just as impressive, right?

Sunday morning we curled everyone's hair and painted nails. I never thought I'd be a mom who curled her daughters' hair, but when you don't have church until 1 o'clock you get a little bored. 

 I hope you will all be tuning into ESPN2 tonight at 7 PM MST to watch BYU take on Nebraska!

Viva Las Vegas

We returned home 1 week ago from a family babymoon. I had been talking for a few months about going to Vegas for the WCC tournament, but Daniel didn't ever actually believe I was coming. He thought I was nuts to drive down by myself with the girls, but I thought it was a worth a shot. If the girls behaved terribly I planned on just driving back. 

The drive down was easy. We only stopped because I had to pee. The girls happily watched movies and snacked away. We got there so quickly that the team wasn't back at the hotel after their game yet. The worst part of the day was waiting 45 minutes in the car for the team to get back when the girls were anxious to see their dad. Later that night we went on the "team school bus", as Elise called it, to dinner. The outdoor mall had colored water fountains, which was pretty much the best thing my girls had ever seen.

On Saturday morning the girls were ready to swim as soon as they woke up. We went to breakfast in our swimsuits. I thought they'd feel the water and be done, given the fact that it was 65 degrees and a non-heated pool.

Nope, they lasted a good hour and a half before shivering their way out and having me wrap them up.

Saturday afternoon was spent at the BYU men's game. Elise played on the iPad the entire time while Sadie harassed Daniel's players. It's probably good we don't spend more time around the team because Sadie get kind of annoyingly hyper and latches on to them. That night we went to the Rio buffet, which was kind of wasted on me and the girls. I currently can't fit much food in my stomach at one time and our girls weren't too hungry either.

After dinner we headed down to the Strip to watch the Bellagio fountains.

Despite it being 9 PM and the fact that Vegas is kind of gross at night, it was pretty fun to watch the girls get excited about the fountains and all the random weird characters walking around. Sadie spent most of the time with girls on the team, but she did allow me to sit her on my shoulder for one of the fountain shows.

 Imagine the excitement if we went someplace actually meant for kids.

Sunday was spent at church, swimming, napping, and eating. Sadie got some more girls from the team to play with her in the pool for a while.

Our kids have never been out to eat so many times in their lives. They were pretty well behaved, especially when we let them play on the iPads or our phones. Sadie liked playing with baby Crew (below on the right). She told him he was fancy.

If Elise wasn't playing on the iPad she decided she wanted to be around Andi, the team trainer. She sat with her on the team bus and held her hand when we were in public.

Monday we ate, swam, and watched the team beat Pacific easily. It was fun.

Tuesday we ate and hung out in the hotel room until Daniel's game. We got word that regardless of their afternoon game's outcome, they'd be heading back on a flight to Salt Lake later that night.

I was so nervous for the championship game. We started out across from BYU's bench on the first row before the game, but we couldn't see much, so a kind arena employee let us walk across the floor to sit behind the BYU bench. There are some perks to being pregnant. Unfortunately BYU played terribly. It was a sad game to watch. Sadie got really competitive and started yelling angry things when the Gonzaga cheerleaders came on the court. Things like, "No Gonzaga!" and "You lose!". She cried when the game was over and she saw the trophy that Gonzaga won.

After the game Daniel kindly insisted that he would drive back with us. It turned out to be the smarter choice because despite getting home about 1 AM we still beat the team back to Utah by a couple hours.
Bring on NC State! Saturday at 4:30 PM MST on ESPN2. Tune in to watch Daniel give himself a headache with furious gum chewing and constant yelling. Oh and to watch the team win, too.

PS- just about the only positive to the loss was that Daniel finally got a hair cut. He had been sporting a terrible middle-age-man side part wave since the team was on a 10 game win streak and he just knew cutting it would jinx that.

Let's Hear it for the Boy

Last week Daniel turned another year older. We didn't do much for his birthday. That's how he likes it.

 The girls and I bought some clothes for him and while we were at it, picked up baby girl #3's dress for Courtney's wedding in September. You can see their wedding outfits below. Sadie is so excited to go to Texas. She has been telling people for months that we are going to Texas. In fact on Monday when she was walking out of dance class I heard her tell her teacher she was going to Texas. Only 6 months away now.

Back to Daniel's birthday. He clipped my toenails for me and I took a picture to document his kind act of service.

He got an ice cream maker from his family and we put it to use immediately. Our first batch was vanilla. We have since made rocky road and chocolate peanut butter cup.

Happy birthday, Daniel! Our lives, and we, ourselves, have changed so much since we first celebrated his birthday together in 2003. Would he have run away if someone had told him in 11 years he would be married to me, still living in Utah, and completely surrounded by women both at home and work? 

The girls and I are lucky to have Daniel. He is pretty great at being a dad. And I don't want him to get too big of a head, but he is pretty great at being a husband too. We are looking forward to getting him back in our lives more after a long basketball season. Before we know it the next crazy little girl will be here, bringing even more estrogen into his life.

The other night before bed he was singing in the weirdest voice to Sadie. I was trying to record him, but took a picture by accident. It's almost as cute. 

I don't think you're ready for this belly

So here we are with 7 weeks left- single digits. Close, but it still feels SO far away. I am feeling some pregnancy aches and pains but overall okay. Having a real hard time bending over. I am at the point where strangers feel the need to talk to me about how I am almost done. Then they are always surprised when I tell them my due date. This belly will undoubtedly be getting much, much bigger. I am dreading entering that unreal huge stage that I always hit the last 4 weeks or so.

31.5 weeks

32.5 weeks- Lou "painting" with my makeup brushes is the best part

To Every Season Turn Turn Turn

On March 1 Daniel had his last regular season game. The Sullivans joined us again, which made the game (and all the games they came to) more enjoyable for everyone. I only caught the side of Claire in these pictures of the girls playing on the stairs. 

The last chicken dance of the season. Can you spot my girls? 

Yes, the ones inappropriately close to the team during the timeout. Oh well. As Sadie gets older she'll start to understand that we don't bother the team during the game. 

Can't wait to find out tonight where the team is going for post-season play.

Spring Fever

February, and so far March, have been mild this year. And for that, we are grateful. Several days in recent weeks have been so nice that we could actually play outside with no coats. We've played in the yard, ridden bikes, gone to several parks, etc. All in February and March. What a lifesaver for this pregnant mom.

*Elise walked over and took my sandwich straight out of my hand

*These 2 monkeys climbing the outside of the bannister

*Me and my then-30-week belly swinging. I was admiring how much of my legs are covered up by my belly when I sit down