Love him!

 This semester has been like survival mode for all of us. Michael is teaching a total of 4 classes (2 at UVU and 2 at BYU), plus teaching institute once a week and serving on the high counsel in our stake all while working to write his Master's thesis in 14 weeks. Whew! Add a new baby and me returning to work 12 hours a week the beginning of March (Michael watches the girls while I work), it was been busy, busy, busy at our house!

I have the most amazing husband though. Those times when I am working are often some of the only times he sees the girls. But when he's home with them he is always doing fun things like taking them to the mall playground or playing Hot Wheels with them.

He even picks out all the purple cars for them to race.

 A few weeks ago I had a meeting for RS on a Saturday morning. Michael had met a sweet couple earlier that week and they had invited him to their baptism that day. So, while I took Lenora to RS with me, he got the girls dressed, did their hair, and took them to the baptism with him. They even made a stop at the City Center temple to see how construction was coming along...

Over and over people comment about how it takes a special man to be the father of so many girls. And over and over again I see that it's true.

Now on to surviving the rest of this semester! A few more weeks and Daddy will be done with his Master's!

Friendly Rivalry

Since Michael started his Master's at Gonzaga, a friendly rivalry was born in our house. Gonzaga vs. BYU in men's basketball. So when Gonzaga comes to Provo we like to go to the game.

This year Michael even went so far as to wear his Gonzaga gear to teach his BYU classes the day of the big game. Of course they gave him a hard time and made him promise that if BYU won he'd bring them homemade cookies (haha got to love college students).

Well BYU won! Lenora enjoyed her first basketball game, and by enjoyed I mean slept peacefully the whole time. (On a side note, I made this mock Moby wrap and I LOVE it. Lenora falls asleep peacefully in there and I have two hands to get things done. I use it every day. I have even conducted RS and interpreted at church with her sleeping away. Plus she isn't a big fan of her carseat so this is a lifesaver when we're out running errands)

We met up with Harrison and Becca for the second half. It was last year at the game that we met Becca for the first time (they were on their second date). So glad she's part of the family now!

 The best part was finding this the next day...

Even though Michael's lost bet meant I had to make 4 dozen cookies for his two classes, I didn't mind one bit. Just thinking of him having to take sugar cookies cut in to a Y and frosted with blue icing to his students made me smile:)

Growing!

 

Little Miss Lenora is growing up so fast! She's already 2 1/2 months old! She is still just the sweetest little baby. She loves to cuddle and melts the heart of anyone who meets her. Here she is at one week, one month, and two months...

One week

One Month

Two Months

At her two week check up she was up to 8 lbs and 21 inches. By two months she was already 11 lbs 4 oz and 22 inches! After having Eliza, who was off the bottom of the charts, I had forgotten how fast babies grow.

One Week

One Month

Two Months

I remember with Hazel I loved watching her grow and looked forward to all she would learn to do. Now with Lenora, I just wish I could freeze her in time. They grow up much too fast! Love you sweet girl!

Lenora's Blessing

February 16th was Lenora's baby blessing. I love so much about the day babies are blessed. I love having family gather to honor the sweet little baby. I love the beauty of seeing the baby in white and remembering how truly pure and holy she is. I love the power of the priesthood distilling on the sweet infant and giving them blessings that will remain with them for their entire life. Lenora's blessing day had all of these wonderful things. 

Michael's family came to the house for lunch before church. It was wonderful to have both of his grandma's there with us (though we didn't get a picture with Grandma Craig).

Hazel, "Grandma" Janet, and Lenora

Lenora and Alicia

The family with Grandma Ballard (love Eliza in this one)

Daddy gave Lenora a beautiful blessing!

Sadly this is the best family picture we got before church. Moments later Hazel stepped in a mud puddle and caked her shoes with a good inch of mud. Michael's reaction is priceless. Thankful we got a decent photo at the church.

I was also reminded how blessed we are with a wonderful family. In addition to everyone that came from Micheal's side of the family ALL of my side of the family made it out for the blessing (Gabby and Jake had to leave early because Brenna was teething and cranky so they aren't in the picture).

One more especially sweet story from the day... Because we are in the Deaf ward, Michael gave Lenora's blessing in ASL. In our ward the father starts in the circle, then goes up to the stand to sign the blessing where he can been seen before returning to the circle. Michael was also sitting on the stand because he was speaking in our ward. So, I put my dad in charge of carrying Lenora up to the circle and gave him the responsibility to make sure they didn't drop her. Since my dad is a convert he has never blessed a baby before. I could tell that even though he didn't give her the blessing, he felt like an important part of her big day and he was. I'm so thankful for my wonderful dad. He did a great job too!

It was such a beautiful day to celebrate the new life of this beautiful girl. Lenora, you are very loved by lots of people!

Our House is Frozen

This post is very belated but the pictures are too cute not to share. January in our house was spent doing two things: playing in the snow and singing/acting out/watching YouTube videos of the movie Frozen. The girls know every song by heart and are pretty much obsessed. I for one loved the movie and felt there were a ton of wonderful messages about the power of love and family to overcome the ills of the world.

The new way of wearing your coat.

One day Hazel went outside and Eliza wanted to go too. I told her you need to get warm clothes on....

Hazel and Olaf

"Hi, I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs"

We enjoyed the snow, but I'm happy to say February brought warmer weather and finally melted the snow that had been piling up in our yard all winter. We're still singing Frozen non-stop though:)