Easter Egg Hunt

Dick's Market had a free Easter egg hunt on Saturday so we walked over to see how Jayda would like it. Holidays are so much more exciting now that we have her around. I feel like it is better than when I was experiencing it as a kid. This is before we left the house. She was just excited to be going on a walk and had no clue what she was getting into.

The Easter Bunny came out to say hi right before it started and she was going crazy trying to get to him, so we took her over so she could say hi. I love her look of excitement in this picture. There is no fear with this girl. Bryce and I give the credit for that to my brother Landon. He lives in our basement and he will sneak up the stairs and growl and try to scare her but she just thinks it's funny. It's hard to be afraid of big furry animals when you have grown up with one. ;)

They asked us to let the little kids go by themselves if they could walk so I let her go, but she wasn't quite getting the concept. She just walked around and looked at everything. Occasionally she would pick something up, look at it and then put it back down. Once I got in there to help her out she started to understand she needed to put the candy and eggs in her basket.

After the hunt they did pictures with the Easter Bunny. Once again we could barely keep her back while we waited in line. She was squirming to get down and kept saying "munny, munny". When it was her turn we put her down and she walked up to him with her arms outstretched and let him pick her right up. She loved him so much, she was touching his chin and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She would have hung out with the Easter Bunny all day if she could have.

After the hunt we went to Nanny and Papa's house to tell them about it and show them the pictures. All of us had been up late the night before so it was time for a nap shortly after that.

It was so nice to spend a Saturday as a family. I am grateful for these days when Bryce isn't working and we can make the most of it. After our naps we went to Shantaye and Mike's house for a BBQ and then to a movie. It wasn't a very productive day but I am actually happy for that.

And finally.... Part 4

I am now 5 1/2 months along. Here is a picture of me 2 weeks ago at 5 months. I have had people tell me that I don't look that far along but I have gained 15 pounds already and even though it has not gone to my belly it has definitely gone to my thighs, butt, arms and face. When I gain weight I expand from all angles! Ha! Just a few more months and we will have two kids. It's a bit of a weird concept right now, but we are looking forward to it.

Part 3

Last year for Father's day I bought Bryce plane tickets to Brazil. He has great memories from his mission and has always wanted to return. After almost a year of excitement we departed for our adventure. Layovers=cheaper plane tickets so we had about 3 each way. Our fist stop was Orlando which was great with us cause this is where we went on our honeymoon 4 years ago. Sadly, most of the fun Disney characters were gone, but good ol' goofy was still hangin out.

Second stop was Rio. We would have loved to get out and see the Christ Statue, one of the world wonders, but unfortunately did not have enough time.

When we arrived at the airport in Porto Alegre we grabbed our rental car and our google map directions and headed off to find our hotel....... A stressful hour and a half later we had found our way back to the airport and paid a cab so we could follow him to our hotel. Porto Alegre is a crazy city, with crazy people walking all over the place including in front of busses and cars, crazy drivers that will pull up in front of you when you are at a stop sign waiting to turn and crazy one-way, unmarked roads.

I knew other countries were different, but my little never-been-out-of-the-country, naive mind didn't quite understand how different things would be.

Below are pictures of our first hotel:

The windows did not shut fully so we slept with earplugs.

Pretty bathroom vanities are not the norm.

When you get into your room you have to line up a magnet in your key into this little box for your electricity to work. We learned the hard way one night that if the magnet is facing forward all of your lights and air will go off after a few minutes leaving you in pitch black silence.

Most hotels only offer double beds, but I was happy we found one that stated it had an "extra large double bed". They were actually bigger than our queen at home and pretty comfortable to sleep on.

This was the view from our hotel window.

On the streets below there was shop after shop after shop and thousands of people walking around. It was madness.

A few blocks away was a market in what they call the center. Each major city has a center which is basically what we call downtown.

Inside were meat, produce, spices, pastries, all sorts of food out for people to buy. On the outer edges there were what we would probably call fast-food type restaurants and then upstairs were the nicer restaurants. We ate at one of each.

Here is our little baby that we parked at the hotel for 3 days and did not dare use. We knew if we left the hotel we would never get back there.

For the second part of our trip we went up to Florianopolis to spend some time on the beach.

Here is a view of Porto Alegre from the airport.

Our hotel was right on the beach so on Sunday we went out and enjoyed the rays. We only stayed out for 2 hours because we didn't want to get fried on the first day, but apparently the Brazilian sun in much hotter than the American one because we should have only stayed out there for 30 minutes. (I know there is only one sun and I know that Brazil is closer to the equator, but we didn't know it would make such a huge difference)

One thing I loved doing with my dad when we would go to the beaches in California was dig for those little crabs that live in the sand. Bryce didn't know about these and there were thousands of them so he had a great time digging for them and watching them. He is my little 5 year old at heart and always will be. I love that about him. He will help keep me young and not so serious.

We loved our chalet. It had a full kitchen with a cute little breakfast nook that we would read in. We still had to sleep with earplugs but we felt much more relaxed here.

They have these gorgeous hibiscus flowers everywhere in all different colors. Love them!

The two meals that Bryce and I actually enjoyed were when we walked to the store and bought our own meat for a churrasco. Bryce was really excited about doing this because he used to eat churrasco all of the time on his mission. I think we have now been to every different Brazilian restaurant there is in Utah because he loves it. Luckily I am a meat lover too and thought it was fun.

Yes those are chicken hearts. They are a favorite of Bryce's and as sick as it is, I actually don't mind them if they are freshly cooked. I had one at Rodizios but it had been sitting there for a while and had become rubbery. Ehk!

We ate lots of pineapple on this trip. Their pineapple looks white, but it tastes just as sweet.

Overall the trip was great, there is too much to write, but it is a trip we will never forget. The Brazilian people are absolutely beautiful and the most heartwarming people I have ever met. I can see why Bryce wanted to go back.

Part 2

On March 15th we went in for our ultrasound to find out what the baby is. Until a few weeks prior to the appointment we had no clear feelings on the gender but as the appointment approached we both started feeling like it was a boy so we weren't surprised when the ultrasound tech pointed out a little bump and announced that we are having a boy. My first feelings were shock and a little fear. It's really a boy? But boys have penis's. I don't know what to do with those things. And boys are rough and tough and rambunctious! We know what to do with a girl, but having a boy will be like starting from scratch again. Luckily it has been 2 weeks now and we are a little less in shock. We are thinking that we will go with the name Bentley and we have started planning out his room and getting it ready a bit. I can't say that I enjoy pregnancy, but I do love the planning and decorating part. Bentley's first blankets

Here is Jayda looking at pictures of her little baby brother.

Our fridge full of ultrasound pictures.

Jayda enjoyed a little of the frosting from the cake.

Part 1

I have so much to catch up on, not enough time to write it all in one session and blogger isn't the easiest to format so there will be 4 parts to this post.

My good friend Jessie taught me how to make this wreath out of a book. I noticed hers the first time we went to her house and fell in love with it. Now I am proud to say I made my own and love it. It cost $10 and looks great in our bedroom. I don't think this picture does it justice.

March

I am excited for March! We will be finding out on the 15th what sex this little thing growing inside of me is, we are going to Brazil on the 16th, our 4 year anniversary is on the 23rd, and there is a possible job opening at Bryce's work at the end of the month. I am also really hoping that a certain something works out for a certain extended family member of mine. :)
March should be a fun month!

A little update on our family, Bryce re-injured his knee at another church b-ball game. He had it looked at and has a follow up appointment in a few days, but everything should be ok. He is plugging along in school and is on the right track to graduate next spring.

Jayda is talking more and more. A few words she can say are:
Dad
Mom
Papa
bird
please
thank you
up
tiger
yes
no
bye
ball
dog
cow
e i o (this is for old mcdonald and all of the animals she can't say and also Baby Einstein videos)
and we are working on "love you". She is very close.

I feel like other than going to the store with her, this is my favorite stage so far. She is a lot of fun to be around. We took her to the park last Saturday to take advantage of the nice weather and I was amazed at how brave she was. She wanted to go down all of the big slides all by herself and just went for it.

We had our 2nd appointment for our baby today which went well. Dr K couldn't hear the heartbeat (probably couldn't get through the fat layers but was too nice to say so) so he did an ultrasound and we got to see the little thing moving around and sucking it's thumb. That was way better than just hearing the heartbeat, although it made me a little nervous when he couldn't find it. We are really looking forward to the 15th when we find out what it is. With Jayda we knew as soon as found out we were pregnant that it was a girl and she would be Jayda. With this one we have no names and no clue what the gender will be. Either one will be great.

As for me, I am still feeling sick, throwing up more than I was with pretty gnarly headaches, but I have a little more energy and the nausea seems more bearable. I have gained 8 pounds more than I wanted too but what can you do? I am still working away at Intermountain Healthcare and I am becoming more and more comfortable there. My one year anniversary is on the 1st of March. Another good thing about March :)

You really taught her that?!

My mom may not be happy that I am sharing this story but it is too funny not to be told. The other night I was eating dinner at my parent's house, which is something I do almost every night of the week cause I am a lazy bum and mooch off of them. Anyway, my mom let out a rip roaring belch which is a somewhat common occurance and Jayda says "burp!" I was in shock! How does she know what that is?! Well aparently my mom taught her! Good old grandma, teaching her the fundamentals of life. :)