February: 3 Year Olds and Dinosaurs

We made it to the Aquarium here for the first time! It is in Draper so I really had no idea what to expect haha. We met Elise, Jonny and Sophie there and we had a blast! The penguins put on quite a show for us by diving, jumping, and swimming in big lines. This aquarium was really cool because they had so many different areas and different shows. My personal favorite was the one about the Amazon because we are getting ready to go there! We even got to watch them feed the piranhas. We also saw them feed the sharks and the boys played in the huge playground.

I always said I would never be that mom that threw crazy birthday parties when the kid was so little they didn't even care. And for the first two years I stuck true to that, but this year he started to know what was going on and he was so, so excited! He woke up and saw all of the decorations and just started running in circles. The theme was Dinosaurs and so we decorated and then had some dinosaur eggs that I made where they could find the baby dinosaurs inside when they broke them open. We also had a little scavenger hunt where they found some clues to get to their prize bags! We had Grandma and Papa, Jessica and Aaron, and the Bartons come over. Gustavo and Carlos came down for cake too! (And they brought Henry a present-they are so sweet!!) I can't believe we have a three year old!!

Helping me make cookies for his party!

Learn and play at the mall! The University Mall does the coolest activities every Monday. This one was all about Valentine's Day so we read a book, played in a huge bin of sprinkles, matched heart candies, and made some bracelets. 

For Valentine's Day we decided to just celebrate that because we had Henry's birthday party the Saturday before. So I got up early and left a trial of hearts from Henry's room out to the table, which was decorated. Then I made some pink heart pancakes and some scrambled eggs with pink milk.  Rusty went to work and we went to a Hike It Baby Heart Hunt! Each kid had hearts hidden around on our walk with their names on it, and then after the walk they got to exchange valentines. It was the first time Henry made Valentines! Ahh. That night, Rusty went and picked up some Olive Garden and got us Wonder to watch at home. 

And just look at these pictures of my little Valentines. Oh my heck, they are the cutest things ever. 

Over the long weekend Rusty went to Anaheim for a work conference. We had tried to make it so that we all could go and even spend a day at Disneyland, but it was just way too expensive. So, I decided to ask all of the sisters if they wanted to do a Sisters Weekend! Mom, Em, Beck and I all agreed so Mom and I made a train down on Friday. She had to come back Saturday and I stayed through Monday morning. It was so fun! We ate lots of food, watched some shark shows, and worked on refinishing my dressers. We also booked our flights to Peru this month for July, and Emilie will be watching the kids so I was excited for them to have a chance to spend some time with her and at her house before we leave.

Henry had his check up at the dentist and he did great, even though he is so shy. A few days earlier I had taken him for his doctor appointment three year check and he is doing awesome. While we were there, I asked the doctor to look at Adeline's lip because I thought she might have a lip tie. He checked and she did, so at the dentist I talked to him about options. We decided to cut it so that she wouldn't have speech impediments or issues with her teeth and they ended up doing it right then! They used a laser, and it was so terribly sad to have to help hold her down. By the end of the month though it was like it never even happened! She is even doing better nursing!

Potty training! The two words that I have come to fear more than anything else haha. We tried, yet again, to get Henry on the potty. Again, he did AWESOME going pee but just wouldn't poop. I told him I would buy him any toy (he picked out a broom?!), bribed him with tons of candy, pretty much anything he wanted. But he just wouldn't do it! I would say, "Let's poop on the potty!" and he would say, "Hmmm... how about I poop... in my diaper?" EVERY TIME. Haha. He just doesn't want to yet, so we'll take a break and try again later.

For this month, the country for our date night was Brazil! I decorated with the vines and leaves from Henry's party, some rainforest animals, and some bright colors. We had a delicious dinner with cheesey bread, Brazilian rice and beans, and some really yummy churrasca, and for dessert we had brigadeiros. I also had stuff for Brazilian lemonade but I forgot about it so we had it for FHE treat later :) That food was so, so good! Way better than I was expecting. For our activities we played futbol with a little mat, straws, and a pom pom, and answered some trivia questions. Then we watched a carnival video, and took some Samba dance lessons from youtube. To wrap up we watched Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. I love these country dates!

Story time at the mall! I love these activities that they do. This time it was all about Dr. Seuss. We made hats like Cat in the Hat and stacked cups up. Henry was so sweet and brought me a little carpet square to sit on like him and Della. He is so thoughtful!

Another night we went out on a date to a Paint Night at the Provo Library. We asked Jess to come and watch the kids, and we went and tried to paint a Monet. It was really fun! I'm not very artistic but I would like to be, so this was a good chance for me to try to practice. Rusty's turned out really good! Afterwards we went and got some french fries and a milkshake and took one home to Jess. When we got home, Henry saw her milkshake and came over and asked so sweetly, "Can I have some of that please Jessica?" She gave him some, and then Della saw it and started SCREAMING and flailing. She gave her some too, and then Della wanted more and hit the milkshake out of Jessica's hand and it went everywhere! Haha! I feel like this is a good representation of my two kids and how different they are.

So I had something... interesting happen. The Bishop called me in and I thought I was going to get a second calling or just be the secretary in Relief Society instead of the Assistant. When I got there he started asking things like how long I was planning on living here, and what our plans were. I was confused but didn't really think anything of it. Then he said that he wanted to extend a calling to me, and he got emotional. He said that he had been praying for someone for this calling for a long time and when I moved in he knew that I was the person he had prayed for. By this time I'm just screaming in my head, WHAT IS IT?! WHAT IS IT?! He then asked me to be the Primary President. I wish I was kidding, but I totally just stared at him with my mouth wide open for a few seconds. Haha! Anyways, I went home and prayed about it and felt like it was the right thing. So now I am the new Primary President! I have to come up with counselors and a secretary, and then I will be set apart the first week of March. I'm so scared of this calling. It's a big deal, and a lot of people depend on you. I have no idea what I'm doing, and I don't want to be in charge. But hopefully it will all work out!


Henry's Highlights

• I was putting him to bed and he asked for what sounded like the "party song". It was his birthday, so I asked if he wanted me to sing Happy Birthday (he had asked once already haha). After a while he said, "Upon a time, about dinosaurs!" I figured out he wanted me to tell him a story like I do sometimes at bedtime. When I finished he said, "I want another upon a time please!"
• He is talking so well! I know I say that all of the time, but he is making so much progress it's crazy. I always know what he's saying now because even if I don't understand he keeps giving me clues until I figure it out. 
• He says, "I DO like that!"
• Still a little iffy about Adeline haha. He will be so nice and stroke her face, get her toys and snacks, and sing her "You Are My Sunshine", and then he'll say he wants to leave Della Bella when we go to the store. On his birthday he told her, "It's not YOUR birthday Della Bella!"
• His favorite show is PJ Masks, and he will say "ON MY WAY!!!" like they do in the show. It's so cute. On February 23 he did his first imaginative play when he made us act like different people. It was one of those moments when you realize how big he is getting! He made me be Cat Boy, Adeline was Owlet, and he was Gecko. He kept shouting, "SUPER GECKO MUSCLES!!" and wouldn't answer to Henry, just Gecko.
• He is now in the phase of asking all of the questions, but he missed the "Why?" memo that every other kid gets. He asks, "How?" for everything!
• We started potty training on February 22! Hopefully this time it works! Through the end of the month he can pee in the toilet and isn't having many accidents if I remind him to go frequently enough, but he still will not poop in the blasted toilet. I'm hoping he just has something click and he will next month. I have tried bribes, toys, underwear, pullups, everything. He's just not interested.
• His imagination is so cool! He is constantly talking about ghosts and monsters that he sees, or fires that are in the house that he has to put out. 

Adeline's Adventures

• She is giggling like crazy! She is so fun to be around
• She is getting closer to crawling! She hangs out on her knees sometimes and rocks back and forth
• Adeline has started reaching out to people when she wants them to take her (mostly me haha), and if someone tries to take her (from me) she puts her hands on my cheeks and just stares at them haha
• She has started to babble a little bit!
• I was listening to Never Enough from The Greatest Showman and it was loud and I was singing loud and Adeline started belting it out haha
• She can lean against furniture while standing
• Her first tooth broke through! Bottom left, on February 23
• Her hair is starting to come in!!! Hallelujah!
• She looks at Alexa when we say "Alexa" because it lights up.
• She slurps her food off of her spoon
• She does this adorable thing where she will tilt her head when she looks at you if you're talking to her. And she gets really close to your face. Really close.
• Her favorite toy is her light up telephone
• She is stiff as a board all of the time! If she doesn't want to be set down or she doesn't want to be held that way, she will become just like a plank of wood haha.

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