It's a Boy!

Last week we found out this baby is a BOY! This is very exciting for our family, especially for Todd. He's been waiting for a sidekick. I've been a little nervous since finding out this is a boy because I'm much more comfortable with the "girl thing", but the excitement is growing daily.

Addy's first reaction to the news was "I don't like brothers" but soon that changed to acceptance. I think this little boy is going to have to learn to hold his own with our two tough little girls.

I am so grateful for this child. I am in awe our Heavenly Father trusts Todd and I with another spirit to raise. Having a little boy to be part of our eternal family is simply wonderful. The blessings keep piling up!

Now we just have to think of a name...

Face Painting

This past Saturday Addy was invited to an awesome birthday party. Her friend Faith turned three years old! Lilly the Clown came to the party and painted every one's faces. Then she put on a magic show and made them the balloon of their choice. Addy had a great time!

Here is Lilly the Clown painting Addy's face.

Addy chose to be painted as a princess. I tried to get her to get painted as an animal so her whole face would be painted but she insisted on being a princess. Not really a big surprise!

Here is everyone who got painted up.
Addy chose to Lilly make her a wand balloon. Cute!

Easter 2010

This weekend was great because of General Conference and Easter but also VERY LONG because we barely left the house. Keeping two little girls entertained through hours and hours of General Conference is proving to be very tricky.

-Saturday morning Brynn and I woke up early and heading over to Smith's for the Easter Egg Hunt. Long story, but Addy chose to do another activity and was not able to attend the hunt. I told her it would make her sad not to do the egg hunt, but she said she wouldn't care. Of course, the next morning she was really sad after she saw all the candy Brynn got. Brynn happily shared though so all was right.

-We came home watched morning and afternoon Conference and had a girl night while Dad went to Priesthood session with his brothers. We made dinner and cookies, had a bath and watch a movie. I have the cutest stinkin' girls:)

-Sunday, the girls found their Easter baskets and we made a big breakfast. Then we watched conference, dyed eggs, had nap time and watch more conference. We all had cabin fever by 4pm so Todd took the girls outside for a little while. That helped a ton and we made it through Easter Sunday.

-It was really fun talking to Addy about the real meaning of Easter and reading her the Easter story. I love that she's starting to get some of these things, at least the basic concepts of the holidays. It makes the holidays more meaningful, and not all about candy and presents.

Here is Brynn finding her basket. (Our bunny hides the baskets.)

She is way into this goofy smile with her chin sticking out. It makes me laugh.

Addy found her basket down stairs.

Brynn got a hold of the chocolate before I could even stop her!

Best Friends!

Dying Easter Eggs

Addy got really into it. She did pretty good!

This was Brynn isle at Smith's for the egg hunt. It was only for one and two year olds. It was A LOT of candy for such little kids because there were only 20 kids that age there. It was nice though because they took their time filling their baskets and no one got pushy.

Brynn doing her thing.

After this much candy I thought it was time to go. There was still a bunch of candy on the floor but I figured this was more than enough.

March

Now that it's already April, I thought I'd better catch up on March. Besides the pictures that follow here are some fun things that happened in March.

- The first Sunday in March, Addy bore her testimony all by herself in church. She had been asking to do it for months and so finally we practiced some things that she can say because I refuse to go up to the podium and whisper in her ear and she did it. I did walk up with her and sit behind her in the chair just in case but she did great! She constantly amazes me. Todd and I were both very proud parents.
-Addy and I got to go on a mommy/daughter special this month. We went to see the Chipmunk movie at the dollar theater. We had a great time and I love spending quality time with each child individually. The whole time we go on these specials Addy talks about what a great time she's having. (Don't worry, Brynn got special time with Dad so she wasn't forgotten:)
-Brynn is hilarious. Every day for our morning devotional we only sing one of the girls' five favorite songs. Brynn's favorite song to sing is Book of Mormon Stories. She knows all the actions and requests it daily but sometimes we can get away with Sunbeam or Popcorn Popping. Nursery has really influenced her music choices, but we think it's adorable.

Addy was given a big kid bike this month. She loves it and we can't wait for Spring to really start.
Here are the girls at the annual Grandma Bassett Easter party. They had to eat some of their goodies right away.
Easter party. Ready to start the egg hunt.

Dad and Brynn. LOVE THEM BOTH!

This is Addy playing hide and seek. Either she'll lay down in the middle of the lawn with no covering or else she'll hide in the exact same place that I just hid and tell me she's hiding there. But I still have to count to 10...go figure?

Girls just being silly.

It was beautiful out one day so we took a picnic to the park. It was perfect.

Preschool is killing me! There are all these holidays that I really don't celebrate, like St. Patrick's Day but after a school party Addy is expecting the "sneaky leprechaun" to come and hide something fun in her back yard when she wakes up the next morning. It's actually a fun tradition but, my goodness, another one I'll have to remember. I didn't get a picture of her finding her "gold" because Brynn fell down the stairs the right when Addy was finding the goodies. That's why Brynn is kinda sad!

I turned 28 this month. Late twenties...ahhh! Great birthday weekend. Todd took me to a Japanese steakhouse, my absolute favorite, and then to a movie, which is beyond rare for us. It was a wonderful date!

The Gift

Yesterday I received a package in the mail and inside was a gift for me. My sister Sarah sent me a neat little calendar. She said the minute she saw it she thought of me. I'm not quite sure what that says about me but I'm just gonna go with it because the calendar makes me laugh! What would I do without my wonderful sisters who are always thinking of my needs?!?

The Cover

Each month has a scene from the movie displayed...

and a quote from the movie on the bottom of each month!

Thanks Sari, you're the best! You've made my week...or year!

Fire Station!

This past Tuesday Addy's preschool went on a field trip to the fire station. I was able to come along as one of the chaperones. The kids LOVED it! They got to practice "Stop, Drop and Roll", get a pencil, meet the firemen and watch the firemen put on all of their gear. To top it all off the Fire Chief of the station is the grandfather of one the little girls in the preschool so they got to ride around the block in the fire truck! They never let kids take a ride in the fire truck so it was a big deal! They put the sirens on and everything. Right when it was time to leave, the fire station got a real call so we watched them get ready, get in the truck and ride away.

Addy driving the fire truck.

The preschool kids with the firemen.

The kids watching the firemen put on all the gear and learning what to do if there is a fire in their house.

ABCs

Addy has been learning her letters since preschool started last August. She has loved learning and practicing each letter she has learned, but lately she has really gotten the hang of it. The last couple of weeks she has been writing her name constantly. I am so proud of her! What a big kid! She even wrote her name on all the Valentines she has given out. Sometimes she writes her 'D's backwards but I figure that still spells 'Abby' and since that's a real name it's not a big deal:) I'll have to post a picture of her name soon.

Brynn is in the stage of reading the same book over and over again. I can read it to her a dozen times and then she'll go to Dad to read it another dozen times. It's cute and annoying and funny all at the same time. After I finish her most favorite book, Bubbles Bubbles, I'll say "All done" and then she'll say "more, please"...oh she's cute.

Brynn is starting to get into dress-up now. How am I doing to deal with two little girls changing their clothes constantly throughout the day? The funny part is Addy encourages Brynn to 'try something different on'. I keep telling myself this stage won't last forever so enjoy the crazy outfits while it lasts.

Our family has turned into professional artists as of late. We color all the time. All of us. It cracks me up when we have all four of us at the table coloring pictures from a princess coloring book. Dad colors the pictures of the prince...so it's more masculine! Addy actually does a pretty good job of staying in the lines and Brynn just loves to scribble everything in sight.

I am so blessed to have such a great husband and two wonderful little girls.

Winter Time

We've been busy this past week but I actually took very few pictures so there's not much to show. Some of the fun things we did are...
Thursday after church basketball (which we won!) I went to go get a massage. Partly because it was my reward after Todd had been away on business and partly because I just really love them!
Friday the girls and I went out to dinner at The Olive Garden because Todd was working late. I don't know the last time we had been there and it was really fun. The girls are getting so easy to take places. After dinner, we met up with Todd at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Always fun to see the grandparents.
On Saturday we took the girls to Kangaroo Zoo, a place with lots of inflatable jump-arounds and slides. They had a great time and when we got home Todd decided to take Addy sledding. I guess she did great. Her friend Emma was actually at the hill when they got there so the two little girls went down the hill all by themselves. Talk about becoming a big kid:) Addy loved it. There's a hill a few blocks away from our house and I can't believe that was the first time they had gone this year. We'll take Brynn next time, she's a daredevil!
Todd and I were invited to the Jazz game Monday night with some of our friends. It was a little strange to go on a Monday night date but we had a blast. The seats were great and the game got pretty exciting. We need to go to more Jazz games:)
Brynn makes me laugh! She LOVES the game duck, duck, goose and constantly goes around patting our heads and saying"duck." She has also started to roar like a lion or bear. Truly entertaining!

Here Brynn got our the oven mitts and then tried to pick up her kitchen toys.

Addy and Daddy ready to hit the hill!

Weekend Update

Some of the fun things we did this past weekend.

• Friday night Addy and Mom went on a 'special'. We went to go see Princess and the Frog...at the theater. We rarely go to the theater so this was a big treat. Addy loved the movie and really loved the popcorn and candy that fed our tummies! The movie has lots of music and Addy just had to get up and dance during some of the fun songs. She kept saying "This is the best night Mom. I'm having so much fun!" I love that she's getting old enough to recognize fun, special times with each individual parent.
• Saturday, Grandma Bassett was tending some of the other cousins and invited us to come along swimming. We went of course and had a great time. Addy had a life vest on so she did really well swimming beside her cousin Sage in the deep end. Brynn loved going down the slides on her tummy and wasn't even scared of the big, dark green slide.
• Later that evening, after a quick dinner at Applebee's the girls stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Bassett while Todd and Jen went to get Todd's tooth fixed. His temporary crown came off and since he was leaving to Las Vegas the next morning for five days a nice friend offered to take him to her dental office and fix it at 8pm on a Saturday night. So grateful for generous people!
• Sunday at church Addy gave her first talk in Primary! She did so well! I helped her of course but she wasn't shy or scared at all and spoke especially loud and clear as she bore her testimony! I was so very proud of my little girl, who doesn't seem so little anymore.
• Brynn spoke another word on Sunday. Ice. This is thanks to our other daughter, Addy, who strongly prefers ice in her water. Brynn has now caught on and very clearly requests 'ice'. Other words she speaks are: this, that, Mama, Dada, Brynn, Addy, book, more, yes, dog.
• Addy's cousin Sage came over for a play date today. I enjoy watching Addy interact with her friends. She does great sharing, playing pretend (the monsters are always chasing her around the house) and just being silly. Today the girls were very concerned with dressing up and wearing high heels. Sage informed me she "doesn't believe in socks" to which Addy no longer believes in socks either. Really? It's 30 degrees out and you're three years old!

So Far in 2010...

Todd bought Addy a princess fishing pole set and promised to take her fishing. We went down to Utah Lake and found a pre-made hole. Addy had the best time. The pink sunglasses came with the fishing pole set and since Todd told her they would help her see all the fish, she was set on wearing them. She didn't catch anything but she's not giving up yet!

Dad and Brynn while we went out for pizza one night.

Just because she makes me giggle!

One of our nightly dance parties. Addy's current plan is to marry Dad. They practice dancing to their wedding song almost every night. It's usually a song off of the Hannah Montana soundtrack, but changes nightly so you never know.

Addy really has turned into the best little helper. She really cleans off the dishes before I load them into the dishwasher. And with a smile on her face. Love her!

The first couple of weeks of January this was our life...for both the girls. I could never get a picture of Brynn taking her medicine because it took two of us to hold her down:)

The first Sunday of January was a big one. Addy attended her first week in primary as a Sunbeam and Brynn started nursery. So far she's adjusted great and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Addy got some big kid games from Santa. So we now play Hi Ho Cherry-O and Don't Break the Ice on a regular basis.

Brynn's nickname has been 'Bumper' for over a year now so Grandma Bassett was very excited to find a cereal with the same name in the health food store. Too cute!

Anniversary Getaway

For our 4th Anniversary Todd and I took a little vacation to the Homestead Resort in Midway. We really enjoyed our time there, even if Todd had the flu the first night and I had the flu the second night. (Why does that kind of thing always happen?) It was the first time I had been away from the girls for two nights and...they survived. Even Brynn did great. The first day, before we got sick, we rented a snowmobile. It was a blast! We had so much fun and it was a good reminder to us to do this kind of thing more often. It reminded me of all the fun, crazy things we did before we had kids:) I sure love Todd and I am grateful for everything he does for our family.

Here we are at the top of Wasatch State Park. It was beautiful.

Todd and the snowmobile.

The Homestead is known for its crater. It is a natural warm spring that doesn't smell.

Inside the crater.

Here we are. You can barely see us with all the steam but we had to wear life vests so those are more noticeable.

Todd's Birthday!

Todd's birthday also known to others outside the Bassett home as Christmas Eve was new for us since we didn't have the usual big family birthday party for Todd. Instead, Todd took the day to himself while Mom and girls worked hard to make him his favorite jello cake. Then after stopping at his parent's house for a quick dinner we headed up to see the lights at Temple Square. We had never waited until Christmas Eve to visit the lights but we loved it. It really brought the spirit of Christ and family into this special evening. This will now become our yearly tradition we think.

The girls in front of the Christmas Tree in the Memorial Building

The girls in their new Christmas Eve princess pajamas.

Singing 'Happy Birthday' to Todd!

Addy was so excited for her Dad's AND Jesus' Birthday Cake, she had to help blow out the candles!