February 21

Back again!  Sunday evening.

My dad was came to visit us last weekend.  He wanted to see little Miss Ellie and we were able to bless her while he was here.  He flew in on Saturday.  I was planning on picking him up, but Kirk went fishing in the truck and took the Matrix key with him.  I called Dar and luckily she and Gary were able to go get him.  We spent the afternoon home and played.  One of Cade and Grandpa's favorite things to do was to build towers with the duplo blocks and the shoot them with the nerf guns to break them up.  I got out a pile of blankets for my dad to sleep with and Cade and Cami attacked him and kept throwing them at him.  They thought it was awesome.

Sunday we had a regional conference.  I (re)learned the importance of reading and studying the scriptures and how the first vision and personal revelation are a basis to our faith.  I also spent a couple of hours handing out books, crayons, stickers, snacks etc. to keep to busy children quiet :)
We blessed Ellie Sunday afternoon.  Dar, Gary, Scott, Kara and Bishop Baird were able to be there.  Kirk gave a nice blessing including blessing Ellie to have energy to do things in life, to be curious, to know how much her family loves her and to stay true to what she knows is right.  The bishop counseled us to use father's blessings as much as possible and told us what a great blessing they are.  Sunday was also Valentine's day.  We did a new thing this year.  We made a bunch of little cards and each day we wrote one thing we like about each member of our family and put it in their bag.  We read all of the nice things on Valentine's day.  We had a red dinner including jello, lasagna, juice, salad, french bread, red placemats and fancy cups.  It is fun to make holidays special.

Monday morning my dad fixed the light in my oven and took Cade and Cami to Yokes to pick out some ice cream.  I was able to go to Costco by myself during Ellie's nap.  It took me an hour to go, shop, unload and put everything away.  Usually that would take 1.5-2 hr depending on the needs of the kids.  It was great!  Dad helped me clean out a few things from the garage too.  He vacuumed the whole house and I was able to get the bathrooms cleaned.  We also managed to spend a fair amount of time playing with light sabers, duplo blocks, wrestling and hanging out.

He left Tuesday morning.  It was great to have him here.  I really like having another adult around.  My dad is great to talk to. He is very selfless, non-judgemental and helpful.  He will do what he thinks is right and is very easy going.  Tuesday afternoon we walked to Badger park with Michelle, David and Elaine.

Wednesday Cade had preschool and I stayed home with Cami.  We made some muffins and played.  I talked to Lindsey for a while while I was taking care of Ellie and Cami played by herself and was very happy.  She really likes Cade, but I think she likes a break from him sometimes too.

Thursday I took Cade and Cami over to Michelle's to play.  I went and picked up some birthday presents for Kirk and then came back and hung out for a while.

Friday was Kirk's birthday.  Cade had preschool and speech in the morning.  He has improved a lot with his speech and no longer qualifies for the help!  Yay!  We had Lauren and her kids over in the afternoon and played a lot.  I made steak, asparagus, pineapple and salad for Kirk's dinner and it was yummy.  Cami was pretty grumpy during dinner because we ate kinda late.  Kirk opened his presents.  Cade gave him a light saber and was super excited about it.  I got him a tippet holder for his pack and a fish finder for the pontoon.  Both were surprises and I think he will like them.

Saturday we got up and cleaned the church.  Then we spent a bunch of money ordering a cap for our truck.  It will be really nice to have a dry place we can lock up for trips.  Kirk went to work in the afternoon and I took the kids on a walk to Badger park again.  We got a babysitter and Kirk and I went to Texas roadhouse for his birthday dinner.  Ellie came with us and was asleep for a while and then happy after that.  She got lots of attention from the people around us.  We haven't been out for a while and I really needed a break.  It is so nice to be able to talk to Kirk about whatever without being interrupted by Cade's constant questions or telling them what to do or not to do.  We need that.

Today was a pretty normal Sunday.  Ellie slept 8 hours last night (8pm to 4:15 am).  It's a good thing too; she had 4-45 minute naps all day.  She was awake for over 3 hours this afternoon which is way too long for a 3 month old.

Favorite quotes:

Cade--"mommy, if you never put Ellie in bed, she wouldn't cry as much.  Don't you know that?"

Cami--"Do butterflies give us butter, because they have butter in their name."

Kirk--When we went to regional conference, we walked.  Ellie was in her car seat on the stroller.  Kirk told me to take the kids and go get a seat and he would get Ellie.  I went to grab my bag from the stroller and he said no, I'll get Ellie.  I smiled and told him I heard him, so he said it again to be annoying.  We went and sat down and Kirk came a minute later, empty handed.  I asked where Ellie was.  He looked at me, turned around and went to get my baby.