National Cathedral, Snow, Sleep

The weather on Martin Luther King Jr. Day was somewhat pleasant, so we decided to try and go on a family bike ride at Rock Creek Park. We'd never been there before, and we got a little lost, but our detour led us to this beautiful place:

It's the Washington National Cathedral. We decided to park and maybe walk around it a little.

It turned out they were having a service inside to honor Martin Luther King Jr. We were able to sit and watch part of it. Thankfully, we were also able to leave after 10 minutes. The kids were very well-behaved, but since sitting in a cathedral and being quiet wasn't in our original plans, they were anxious to get going.

We never ended up being able to find a good bike trail at Rock Creek Park, which was a bummer because Nate had worked really hard to get 5 bikes to fit in the back of our car. We settled for some frisbee tossing and playing at a park. 

Although Monday was a mild day, Tuesday we got hammered with snow. The kids had the day off because it was a professional day for teachers, and then they ended up cancelling school on Wednesday as well. 

Emmy has been sleeping AWFUL. She has been a pretty poor sleeper for awhile, but recently it has gotten really bad. She asks for bandaids in the night, wants water, says she doesn't want to sleep, etc. Thursday night was especially rough. The next day I thought she was sick because she asked me probably 10 times during the day to snuggle with her on the couch. She was SO whiny and difficult. One of the times we were on the couch she zonked out. I did not feel well that day either, simply from lack of sleep. So, we are in the process of fixing her sleep, which means some crying at night for her. It has to be done though...she and I are both really suffering with the ways things are right now.  

Friday Nate left with the AU men's basketball team to cover their game against Westpoint on Saturday. He got back around 2 am Sunday morning. My weekend with the kids went pretty well. On Saturday, Jansen had a basketball game, and he also had a great time at a birthday party for his friend Daniel. Emmy, Natalie, and I had "a girl party," (including baby girl in my tummy) while Jansen was gone. This included ice cream from McDonald's, some games of UNO, and some other things. 

Today has been a bit of a hard Sunday. Nate had a meeting at our house from about 10-12 and we served a little breakfast, we left for church about 12:30 (a little late as I had a 10 minute breakdown and needed to recover) and picked up some friends that don't have a car, church from 1-4, dropped our friends off, picked up the missionaries, Nate and the missionaries went to a meeting at 5, and then Nate home taught some families at 7 and 8 and is still not home at 9:30. I don't know how he has the energy to do it all. No time to even eat anything but a few carrots and almonds today from about 12:00pm-10pm. But he is committed to Christ and he shows it with his actions. It's hard having him gone so much. I do believe it blesses our lives in ways that are sometimes hard to understand and see. Men this faithful with this kind of work ethic are not easy to come by, and I'm so thankful for him.

***also today: Jansen had his white dress shirt buttoned all the way to the very top, but without a tie. Nate told him that most normal people (just meaning the usual way it's done) don't button the top button unless they are wearing a tie. Jansen said, "Dad, most normal people aren't Mormons."

Raingutter Regatta, Bounce House, and Other Things

 There was no school today because it was a professional day for the teachers. It would have been cancelled anyway since we got hit with lots of snow. No school tomorrow either...which means it's been a 5 day weekend for the kids!

This fellowship year has been interesting. In many ways, Nate has been gone A LOT. But on the other hand, he has holidays like MLK Day off, and since he was supposed to work at USUHS today and everything there was cancelled because of the weather, he also had today off. He still "worked" at least 8-9 hours today doing other things that needed to be done related to the fellowship, but it's so nice having him around. 

This week he and Jansen worked on Jansen's boat for the Scouts' raingutter regatta coming up. I can always tell when something means a lot to Jansen or he is proud of it or he really likes it because he will carry it everywhere around the house with him. That's what he's been doing with his boat.

Jansen and Natalie love to play Minecraft. They get some time on the tablet every day, and this is always what they choose to play.

The kids pooled their Christmas money from Grandma Kim and Papa Tim and got a bounce house. We did some rearranging in the basement, and it lives down there now. They really love it. Totally worth the money. Not only do they jump on it, they play pretend in it, read in it, etc.

I snapped this picture the other night to remind me of a crazy pregnant woman moment I had. I have been ultra sensitive to sudden, loud sounds during this pregnancy. My whole body seems to freak out for a minute or two when I'm surprised by one. Last night Nate got something out of the hope chest in our room and the lid slammed shut. I immediately just burst into tears because of the sound. I just sat on the bed crying and laughing at the same time at how ridiculous I am.

Ultrasound

I about 21.5 weeks along now. I had my official ultrasound at about 20 weeks, and yes, it's still a girl! School was cancelled for the kids that day, and Nate was still on winter break, so the whole family came down to Walter Reed with me to have it done. They tell you to drink water before the ultrasound, and I did, and by the end I was SO uncomfortable. I'm only halfway through this pregnancy, but I already feel like I am using the bathroom all the time and several times in the night.

We took home a few pictures of our little bug, and this has got to be my favorite. 

I basically wear the same few pairs of pants over and over. Just the ones that have some stretch to them. I'm not one that can wear all my pants through the whole pregnancy. Until now, all of my 3rd trimesters have been in the summer, so I don't really have maternity jeans. I need to find some that I like.

And a random bonus to this post...the kids filled out these spotlight sheets for Primary. It's always entertaining and interesting to read their answers.

Jansen's answers made Nate pretty happy since there was a little science in there, a little hiking, a little birdwatching.

Oh Emmy

Blessed, blessed day. I think Emmy may be potty trained. It's been several days of no accidents, and she is telling us when she needs to go. She was not an easy one to potty train, and I honestly had my doubts this day would come. It's so hard to believe it will really happen when you are in the messy middle of it. I keep feeling this wave of relief at random times during the day when I realize this battle is pretty much over. 

I usually wrap Emmy up in this throw when we go out to pick up the kids from the bus stop. It's been so cold lately we've added the coat before the wrap up in order to survive out there for a few minutes.

All day long Emmy is taking clothes on and off. It's not that she likes to be naked, she always puts something back on, it's that she LOVES to dress up. She loves skirts. She is always talking about dancing. She also likes to come in the bathroom with me in the morning and tells me she needs to "make her hair." She likes to play around with make up as well. She got VERY excited about these new pink shoes she's wearing.

And she loves her big sister. They are 3 years apart, but they play pretty darn well together, and they are always laughing. Okay, or crying.

Naps are a thing of the past. We are working on having "quiet time" every afternoon instead of a nap, but she struggles with it. She comes in and out, in and out, and I am a bit of a softie this time around knowing how fast they grow up and how she likes to be with me. Today I told her we needed to go and clean her room together. She went in and half closed the door and said to me, "No mom, I can handle it."

The other night she took this Star Wars chapter book and insisted on looking it before going to bed so she could plan her dance party. Yeah, she's still in a crib. It works for us. She's going to be a great big sister, and she has already told me she is going to teach the baby all about how to dance. 

Just a funny picture from a trip to the park awhile ago... :)

A Little Bit of Jansen

One of Jansen's favorite gifts from Christmas was this model Super Hornet that he had to assemble. We didn't have the right glue for it, but instead of waiting till we got some, he and Nate decided to use super glue. Jansen did 90% of the work, and even more impressive is that he didn't glue any fingers together.

Lately Jansen loves to layer his shirts. He usually wears 3 at a time. It's hard to tell in this picture, but there is another shirt under the grey one with the hood. I think one reason he likes to wear so many is so that he won't need a coat.

He had his first basketball game on Saturday. I don't know who orders these rec sports shirts, but they are often HUGE. Like, when this one isn't tucked in it practically goes to his knees.

We had so much fun watching him and his team play. At this age, they are all still learning the rules and the basics. I think the score was 2-0 after the first quarter, maybe even the first half, I can't quite remember. Besides the benefits of being physically active, we really like that Jansen is learning how to listen to a coach, work with others, etc.

Is that a diverse team or what? It's great. I loved the little boys who played in pants and a turtleneck. I had a talk with Jansen before the pictures about how some people were paying for these pictures, and he can't make a goofy face. They didn't quite get a smile out of him, but no crazy face either. :)

Shake Shack and Museum of Natural History

New Year's Eve is not my holiday. I just don't like staying up late, and I don't feel well the next day if I do. I've had "every party has a pooper, that's why we invited you" chanted at me many times. We did have a fun New Year's Eve day though --- I hope that makes up for our lack of celebrating at night. I have really been wanting to try a place out here called Shake Shack. Cheeseburgers, fries, shake? Unfortunately, that IS my thing. It was so good.

Jansen hates wearing his coat unless we are actually playing in the snow or something. Most days (today being one of them) I have to convince him to put real shoes on instead of his flip flops. I think he was a little chilly in this picture. 

I really do feel lucky to have been able to live here for a year. It's been such a fun city to explore.

We went to the Museum of Natural History one time this summer, and after lunch we decided to check it out one more time. We haven't taken the Metro since this summer, and we have always been able to find metered parking pretty close to our destinations. I think I'm a fan of just driving into the city.

Our parking spot allowed us two hours in the museum. It ended up being the perfect amount of time. As incredible as that place is, we started to hear complaints of being tired and ready to go home after a couple hours.

 We've never bought anything at one of these road side stands, but they are all over...along with the food and snack trucks. 

That night we had oatmeal for dinner (woohoo!) while we sat on blankets in the playroom/living room and watched Night at the Museum. I thought that one was based on DC's natural history museum, but it's actually filmed at the one in New York. Next movie night we will have to watch the right one: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.