Interview

Three-year-olds can be quite funny, and I love watching the way Aubrey's little mind works to figure out the world around her. Here is a little "interview" I gave to Aubrey yesterday. She makes me laugh everyday.

Paige: What is your name?
Aubrey: The McDonald's girl.
Paige: Ok? What is your real name?
Aubrey: Cinderella
Paige: How about your real name?
Aubrey: *sigh* I guess Aubrey.

Paige: How old are you?
Aubrey: I'm free (aka three)

Paige: What is you favorite activity?
Aubrey: Family Home Evening (I suspect the "treat" part is why.)

Paige: What is your favorite book?
Aubrey: The princess book from Costco ( I concur. That book comes with a button and If I have to hear that song one more time...)

Paige: What is your favorite song?
Aubrey: "Let it Go" (I along with every other parent can sing 'Let It Go' in my sleep.)

Paige: What does Daddy do at work?
Aubrey: Um... He writes his book. And eats treats.

Paige: What do you want for your birthday?
Aubrey: Oh! I want a tiny little box for underwear and I want a big box with toys. (Okay?)

Paige: What is your favorite place to go?
Aubrey: Great America! (It opens this weekend and she has been asking to go daily for months.)

Paige: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Aubrey: A mommy like you because I love you. (I like this answer.)

Paige: Who is your favorite person?
Aubrey: A ghost.... or Cora.

Paige: What is your favorite toy?
Aubrey: My tiny pink cake that I lost at Faith's house.

Paige: What makes you happy?
Aubrey: Mom gives me lots of hugs and dad gives me hugs before he goes to work.

Paige: What scares you?
Aubrey: The real monsters that you showed me and... (launches into some very long story about monsters.)

Paige: When you get sick what makes you feel better?
Aubrey: I throw up in the bowl and in the hallway two weeks ago.
Paige: And what makes you feel better?
Aubrey: I get lots and lots of shows.

Paige: Do you like sharing a room with Cora?
Aubrey: Yes, I love her. I jump on her and she laughs. (ugh... this part is true. She keeps climbing into Cora's crib at bedtime.)

And that... is a look into the mind of my spunky, funny, sweet three-year-old. I'm lucky to be her mom.

Grandma

After my dad left last week, we have had this whole week to hang out with my mom, and it was great. The past four times she has visited (morning sickness, NICU, moving, broken leg), she has been helping us deal with some major event. It was so nice to just have fun without something going on.

We went shopping, got my yard/garden all ready for spring, went to swimming and gymnastics, lots of bike rides, Steven and I went to the temple, cleaned the cars/house, ate lots of yummy food, went to the beach, and just hung out.

We didn't see much of Steven, but that was the plan. He worked hard and now only has 4/15 chapters left to write on his book.

We had so much fun, but we were not great at taking pictures. The only pictures we took were of when we went to the beach. Ahh... I love the beach. I'm glad that my girls love it too. Cora, especially, is an outdoor beach baby. That girl would spend all day outside if we let her. She is like a little puppy and hangs out by the back door waiting for me to let her go play.

 We have tried many beaches, but right now we are loving Capitola beach. You can park right on the beach, the town is full of the cutest beach houses, and it isn't very crowded.

 Thanks for coming Grandma! We will all miss you a ton....

Papa

My dad was here to visit this weekend, and I can't believe he is already going home in the morning. We only had two days, but we fit in as much as we possibly could. The girls were so excited to spend time with their "papa."

Yesterday, the day started with workouts for all. Working out is something my dad never misses.  He honestly works out every single day, unless he is really sick. Seriously impressive. I'm not as dedicated, but I'm glad that he taught me the importance of exercise. I got to go on my first bike ride with Steven since his accident- it is great to see him back to normal.

After workouts, we went to the Children's discovery museum. The girls loved it, and ran from one activity to the next with a frenzy.

 But, there was definitely no frenzied running away from the water activity. We spent a long time there, and I think the entire museum heard when we dragged a soaking wet, shivering, screaming Cora away from there. I think she would have stayed all day if we let her.

After the museum, we did lunch, then let Aubrey watch "Up" while Cora napped. After naps, we went to show my parents around the new LinkedIn building and eat dinner. It is so nice! Steven will still be working at the headquarters, but the new building sure is fancy. We got some fun family pictures in the lobby.

Then we went swimming. I thought that I only had one crazy kid when it came to water, but Cora is just as crazy. I don't know what I did to have kids that seem to have absolutely no fear of the water. I'm just glad we don't live near water, or I would be nervous all the time! We all loved swimming, and plan to go again tomorrow.

Today was spent on church, walks, dinner, and just hanging out. Grandma and Grandpa got to give the bedtime stories :)

I wish those bedtime stories meant that they actually went to bed, but as I type this I still hear them both laughing and playing an hour later. I guess they definitely had a fun weekend with their grandparents!

Tidbits

I know that when you blog, other people read what you write. But, I pretty much blog so that I can keep a record of what goes on in life. It makes me take a second to slow down.

That being said.. I have been really bad at recording "life" lately, and it makes me sad. So, here are a few random photos and tidbits that I want to remember:

I came into the living room yesterday morning, and found these two reading on the couch like this. Both these girls love their books.

Cora is also at such a fun stage. She surprises me daily with all the words she can say. She is also getting pretty good at her animal sounds and will tell you very enthusiastically what noises a cow, dog, sheep, and horse make. If only I could curb her enthusiasm of eating random things. Today I turned around and she was chewing on a mouthful of sidewalk chalk. And then five minutes later a rock. And then a crayon. All in the space of an hour. I have to watch her like a hawk.

Aubrey is growing up far too fast. She is very sweet, fun, and athletic. Along with swimming, she is taking gymnastics, and she is impressive for a three-year-old. She already likes to tell me she is going to the Olympics. I definitely don't think I have that kind of commitment in me, but I'm enjoying having her do things that tire her out enough to take a nap.

I posted this picture on Facebook, but since a photo of me is rare on the blog, I thought I would add it here. My hair is curly now. So weird. I'm actually loving how easy it is to air dry and have it look half-decent. I'll admit that I throw my hair up into a ponytail way too often, and so the curly hair is making me wear it down more often.

The weather is getting warmer! I threw away the mini splashpad from last summer because I couldn't get it folded up into the darn box (a little lazy?), but maybe it is time to purchase a kiddie pool?

I don't know if I want to displace my off-season shoes and the bread on a daily basis. 

And... the big news of the week is that my parents are coming to visit on Friday! Whahoo. My dad is coming for a weekend, and then my mom is staying for whole week after that. The plan is for Steven to eat three catered meals a day at work (he has it rough) and write his book like crazy. He is up to 170 out of the promised 300 pages, so lots of five am progress is being made.