brady eats

as i mentioned in the chick fil a post... i'm obsessed with brady's little toddler fingers and how they hold food and drinks and stuff.  so here's a million pictures of brady eating an egg salad sandwich during our driveway picnic lunch.  

and how precious is this picture?  except that the kids were supposed to be getting ready for bed and abigail turned into a melting pot of disaster.  and i had to tell her to "just turn out your light and lay on your pillow and i'll come up to check on you in a bit" because she was so out of control that we couldn't even handle our usual bedtime routine.  that's what she's like when i don't have her do at least an hour of quiet time in the afternoon so really, it's my fault.  but anyways, this was a sweet and precious moment in time.  both shirtless, distracted from their current job of "put your clothes away and get your pj's on!" and well into the "ooo let's read this book even though we're topless."

so while abigail was upstairs calming down (she was waiting for me to check on her while i was waiting for her to fall asleep), i took brady into my room and shut the door.  he has this thing with putting on the soft socks i keep in my nightstand.  he sure knows how to pose for the camera, huh?  ; )

i told him to take out his binky and he did better like that.

he's such a funny boy.  i love this age.

graduation day and chick fil a

abigail graduated preschool!

ms. heather's class

 to celebrate/mourn our last morning alone together... brady and i went on a little date to chick fil a.  also, it was the last day of the month and i needed to claim my april freebie lemonade slush thing.  ; )

brady played while i texted honey... because he was in texas, about to leave on the cruise.  and i was already missing him fiercely.

i'm normally not very good at sharing, but i figured if we were on a date, i really needed to.

and i don't know what it is, but i am obsessed with brady's little pudgy baby fingers when they hold his drinks.  weird, i know, but i can't deny it.  it's the best.

which is why i took a million pictures of it.  also, brady opened this tiny little container of cheerios and was all "ah! donuts!"  i tried to tell him they were cheerios, but he insisted they were donuts.  since then, he's also referred to several other things as donuts... like a lifesaver candies and fruit loops.  if it's a donut shape, it's a donut.

we met up with my mil at abigail's graduation (i invited her since honey was gone... and she also invited my fil who arrived a little bit later.  i was glad abigail had some attendance to make it feel special) and it was really cute.  they had a little procession.

they did a pledge of allegiance, a bell chime to the abc song, poems on the flannel board, and handing out diplomas... and tossing hats.

it was really cute.  then we all loaded up on tons and tons of candy and otter pops and cupcakes and capri suns and hung out in the sun and had a good time.  i'm glad abigail was able to go to preschool this year.  i'm pretty sure she learned next to nothing (except how to say "easy peasy lemon squeezy!"), but she looooooved it to death.  hopefully she won't be too bored with me this summer while she waits for kindergarten!

35 weeks

How far along:  35 weeks  (4.30.15)

Total weight gain/loss: umm, 27-28 lbs... sometimes i wish i cared.  but then i remember how stressful my last pregnancies were when i cared and i'm glad that this time, i'm just fat and happy.

Maternity clothes:  yes... and i like them.  i rotate through three pairs of jeans (paris blues, red blue cheap ross jeans, and my favorite maternity skinnies from last pregnancy) and the several maxi skirts i have.  i love dressing my bump and i love when people tell me i look cute.  being pregnant is so fun.  it makes me feel so special. 

Sleep:  it's been steadily improving the past few weeks.  my dreams are consistently normal and basic, i'm able to fall asleep just fine (as long as i've taken my sleeping pill... without it, i'll lay awake indefinitely), my body is comfortable, and i can, for the most part, sleep uninterrupted until 7:30 or 8.  i'm sure soon enough that i'll start waking up during the night to go to the bathroom (occasionally i will get up to use the bathroom when chris is getting up and showering and everything), but until then, i'll just enjoy what i've got going.  this is probably the best i've slept all pregnancy since the crazy dreams have finally subsided.  

Best moment this week:  maybe my parents making it home safely from nepal after the earthquake?  ; )  or tuesday night.  honey came home and grilled dinner for us.  i made the our best bites recipe for grilled stuffed zucchini and we also had hotdogs.  we downed so much food and it was delicious.  we were all happy and gathered around the table for a delicious dinner.  and honey got up from the table and started cleaning everything up and i helped him while our kids played and danced in the great room and it was just one of those nights where everything flowed so nicely.  perfect to have that night together before all of his upcoming travel. 

Movement:  man, this has really been kicked up a notch this week!  it is constant and powerful and obvious.  even as i type this, my stomach is shifting all over the place.  several times this week, i've had my arm semi propped on my belly as i'm reading something on my phone and my belly is moving so much, it's as if my phone is going to get sea sick from all the rocking.  it kind of makes it tricky to read such a small screen!  also, the kicking in my ribs is even more painful and uncomfortable.  all of it has been really really obvious and in your face compared to the previous weeks.  

Food cravings:  i like eating.  i wish i wasn't so lazy about making stuff though.  things i've enjoyed this week have been hummus with red bell peppers, that grilled stuffed zucchini (a lot!), and chocolate chips.  when i think of chocolate chips, i pretty much want them right away.  i also have had a strong urge for oreos anytime i see or hear them mentioned (for example, some article online went viral about a colorado mom that sent oreos to school in her kid's lunch and they got taken away by a teacher) and want them sooo bad, but i don't have any oreos around so i don't know if they would hit the spot as well as i imagine them.  last night i had kettle corn which i usually love, but it just wasn't doing it for me.  oooo, i've also really been liking my chocolate peanut butter smoothies (i know i eat like crap, but i do add spinach and baby carrots to these).  oh, and maybe it was from the week before, but mmm, i made some banana muffins that were to die for and i've been really wanting more of those.  i've noticed that i eat in the afternoon to help myself stay awake, but a lot of it is crappy junk food or candy and it makes me feel sick.  i have a lower tolerance for junk it seems.  i've really been loving fresh veggies though.  squash and zucchini with plenty of butter and salt and pepper?  yes please... i'll take the whole pan.  also, the watermelon juice slushie (just blended up frozen watermelon) i made for the kids the other day was oddly satisfying. it tasted extra extra good.  

Symptoms: nausea, headaches, depression, fatigue, and back pain (the sharp kind on my right side) that may or may not be related to pregnancy.  

Gender:  i'm so excited for this little girl. having abigail and brady who are so different in personality and appearance, i'm just curious what's in the works with this kid!

What I miss:  not feeling so elderly.  this past week, it's like my body has suddenly started to seem pregnant.  i don't feel uncomfortable at all, but there are times that i go to lean over to reach something or pick brady up and i realize that my stomach is literally too big to allow me to accomplish what i'm trying to do.  like i'm just a few inches short of reaching what i want, because when i'm sitting on the floor and trying to grab brady's pants, my belly just gets in the way and i have to scoot my whole body closer to get my finger tips on them.  or like how i took the kids in the yard yesterday so they could play while i did yardwork.  this is normally something pretty easy for me and something i enjoy doing and after a few hours, i always feel really accomplished.  well, i literally lasted 32 minutes (according to the texts on my phone) before i felt like i was about to pass out.  i mean, sweating, spinning head, trouble breathing, lightheaded, nauseous like i was about to throw up, seeing spots, unsteady on my feet... the whole shebang.  i seriously got next to nothing done because even in that half hour, i was moving slower than molasses.  but what really made me feel old and decrepit... when i couldn't get off of the toilet the other day after i went to the bathroom.  it literally took me three or four tries (and almost falling down during my failed attempts) before i could stand up.  although, that was from the shooting back pain that caused me to collapse once i got to a certain point each time.  maybe it wasn't even pregnancy related... but on top of everything else, i'm definitely feeling like my body has its limitations.

Milestones:  i hit the 35/35 where i'm 35 weeks pregnant and only have 35 days to go!
Theme: the week of telling people i'm due in a month.  seriously, i'm constantly getting asked when i'm due.  i won't lie though... i like it.
What's different this time around:  with abigail, i still had 40 more days of being pregnant... with brady only 24.  yikes!  i wonder how much longer i have with this one!

Extra:  i'm a little worried about the timing of when this kid is going to come.  i mean, we should be good since honey doesn't have any travel scheduled in the three weeks before i'm due (have i mentioned before that he was supposed to go out of town december 19th last time and brady was born on the 18th?), but still, i worry.  i worry about getting to the hospital in time and i just worry about how everything will play out.  i still need to schedule a hospital tour (i took one last time and it's the only reason that brady wasn't born in the parking lot), because even though it's the same hospital as last time, they've done a lot of work on it and it's still undergoing a lot of construction, so i really want to know the specifics on where to park/valet the car, check in, etc.  

also, i haven't done any practicing on my pain management breathing techniques for labor or delivery so i'm feeling maybe i need to get on that... stat.  

but seriously, when i was pregnant with abigail, i was so sure i'd go a week late, and everything followed my plan and it was great.  with brady, i was pretty confident that i would at least hit my due date or be very close... and that isn't how it went down.  this time, i know going early is a possibility, so i have the added awesomeness of being able to worry about being unprepared and rushed to get to the hospital.  what if i'm at walmart and i start getting contractions and i have to hurry home to get my bag packed (let's be honest, i'm going to want my straightener and hair brush in there and i'm not going to keep all of that in my car) and i won't be able to take a shower or get ready before i go.  i know all of this doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things (unless my baby ends up being born in a car or something) but i can't help thinking about it.

i got out all the baby stuff and was putting it away in the dresser in the guest room when i remembered my aversion to having clothes in a dresser (abigail is the only one in this family with a dresser... and it only holds a small portion of her clothes... several drawers are completely empty) and decided i needed to buy a hundred baby hangers.  well, of course when i went to walmart, they were 100% out of baby hangers.  annoying.  so the clothes are currently all sprawled all over the guest room and it is complete chaos.  i'm going to go back to walmart tomorrow and hopefully they'll have an abundance of hangers.

4.30.15 at 35 weeks

4.30.15 at 35 weeks

Life while pregnant

Here's a bit of my day today. 

After our morning bowls of cereal, Abigail climbed in bed with me to read. Our current book is James and the giant peach. Something made her think of her birthday, so she asked me for the millionth time (since she turned four) how many days there were until her birthday. I normally just estimate, but this time I asked Google to help me. Only 76 days left? Abigail was very impressed. 

Our library doesn't have a James and the giant peach picture book (I was hoping Abigail could look at those pictures while I read from the chapter book), so I periodically recap what's happening and sometimes Google an illustration or two. I swear my phone sometimes helps me parent better. Sometimes. 

I tried to do yard work this morning while the kids played. I got maybe 20 or 30 minutes into it (moving slowly and not getting a lot done) before I was having trouble breathing and I was seeing spots and feeling super nauseous and lightheaded. Apparently it's not a good idea to do yard work in the heat at 35 weeks pregnant. So I took the kids to jodi's and we hung out on her lawn while all the kids played (she was watching the smith kids all day) 

We came home and had a picnic lunch and nap/quiet time. Then Abigail went to play at Lucy's and eventually Brady woke up from nap and we played outside. Abigail came home and I took the kids upstairs for bath and pjs. And then, just to be crazy, we decided to have a frozen movie party. 

And I cleaned the kitchen and did a load of laundry. 

But man, my body is feeling pregnant. Or maybe just aged and disabled. Same thing? 

Its blowin' up

It like my belly is an inflatable balloon and someone keeps blowing it up. It's mostly the size of one of those huge balloons with a rubber band attached that makes drum noises though. Seriously. And I still have at least a month to grow. I mean, go. At least a month to go. 

Photography by Brady

"It's messy"

4.28.15 around 5pm

Abigail is at Lucy's house. Since brady woke up and it's just the two of us right now, we decided to head outside with our snack. Watermelon slushie and goldfish. We each had our own watermelon slushie, but just one bag of goldfish between the two of us. Brady was so adorable and was all "I wanna share goldfish with you mommy" in his sweet voice that rises and sounds strained by the end of his long sentence. I thought maybe he would bring the bag to me so I could take a few, or maybe just pull one out of the bag to put in my hands... But he wouldn't. I literally laughed out loud as he pulled a handful from the bag and said "no mom, it's too messy!" as he held up his fist to put the goldfish directly in my mouth. So even though he had dirt coated hands, I couldn't resist letting him share with me.

 

I'm obviously not big enough to handle eating goldfish on my own without getting my hands messy. 

"It's too messy, mom!"

That's by far been the best laugh of the day 

Soul surfer

Abigail had a fun and eventful day today. We had our usual morning of hanging out and eating breakfast and then at 11, Klaudette came and picked her up to see ivy and bean at the Parker theater and then go out to lunch afterward... Meanwhile, Lucy and Presley came over at 11 and played with brady til close to 1 when brady got lunch and a nap... So then Abigail got home at 2:30 and played at Lucy and Presley's until 3 when I woke brady up and got both kids in the car for Elle's birthday party. It was really fun and there were a million kids all getting along great and playing games together. Everyone got a prize for winning a game. There was an extra paper doll set leftover and we were the last ones to leave... An hour after the party ended because Jodi and I were talking and I haven't seen her in forever... so Abigail got to take it home as an extra party favor. We all had taco soup for dinner and then spent a few minutes playing paper dolls before heading up to bed. 

The kids were playing well with the paper dolls while I cleaned up dishes for a few minutes and then Abigail told me that a wand had ripped, and a bow, and one of the doll's arms. 

When I saw the doll's arm, I literally laughed at loud at how perfect it was. It was the blonde Caucasian doll that happened to be wearing a bikini and have her long hair in a ponytail. And it was her at her arm right above the elbow. 

Soul surfer anyone?

Tell me you love it as much as I do... You do, right?!

*my mother in law is so wonderful. She got Abigail the first ivy and bean book for Christmas along with tickets to see the play at our local theater... In April. So Abigail has been pumped about it for a looooong time. My MIL called me in a mini panic two weeks ago saying that she realized she'd made a mistake booking her plane ticket for a wedding and that she wouldn't get back in to Colorado until a few hours after the play. Umm, y'know what she did? She ended up just buying a brand new ticket so that she would arrive a few hours earlier and be able to take Abigail to ivy and bean. I thought that was amazingly precious. I truly lucked out in the in law department. I'm so grateful my kids have so many sets of incredible grandparents. 

34 weeks

How far along:  34 weeks  (4.23.15)  on granny's birthday!!!

Total weight gain/loss: 26 lbs

Maternity clothes:  yes... i even bought a few new things which i know i shouldn't this late in the game but i did anyway.  i got a striped shirt from ross because it was super long and a lot of my current maternity shirts are already getting short.  and i got a maternity dress from old navy because i wanted it last time, and it was on sale and with my discount it ended up being less than $10.  

Sleep:  not too bad.  my dreams haven't been too crazy, and even if i wake up during the night, i can fall back asleep pretty easily.  i'm still waking up on my back frequently though.  whoops.  

Best moment this week:  monday.  i had a pretty great monday.

Movement:  it's pretty constant.  does the kid ever sleep?!

Food cravings:  i've been liking chocolate chips again the last few days.  especially late at night or during the middle of the night.  for some reason, when i wake up in the middle of the night, i need chocolate chips.

Symptoms: nausea, backache, headache, fatigue, depression

Gender:  girl!  ; )

What I miss:  being happy and having more patience and love for my kids.  this past week has been emotionally trying for me and i pity my kids that they got me as a mother.  

Milestones:  i only have six weeks left!  yikes!  how did this even happen?!
Theme: the week of more bad days than good.  i'm somewhat comforted that i was feeling this way last pregnancy too because i can blame pregnancy for these bad feelings, but it's also kind of discouraging that i'll likely feel this way in future pregnancies as well...  there are worse things though.  all in all, my pregnancies have treated me well.
What's different this time around:  maybe i've mentioned it already, but i'm still insanely grateful not to have the insanely itchy skin that i had with abigail.  i keep thinking it's because my skin is already stretched out, but that can't be the real reason because i was living in california that time and colorado is even more dry... and it wasn't just my belly... it was my entire body... which isn't stretched out.  but seriously... so so so extremely thankful to not be dealing with that this time around.

Extra:  i'm gonna have a baby soon!

4.26.15 at 34 weeks, 3 days

4.26.15 at 34 weeks, 3 days

Just okay

Tonight as I tucked Abigail in bed, I asked her if I was a good mom or just okay. 

"Just okay"

So then I asked her if I was a good mom,  a great mom, or just okay. 

"Just okay"

And then two minutes later, I closed her door a little more than she wanted and she started whining about it, so I slammed it open and it bounced back to shut completely closed and dark in her room and she freaked out and started crying. 

That's why I'm "just okay."  I can't just keep my cool for five more seconds to finish the night off strong. 

Also, I spend so much time in bed these days that brady has started throwing fits about it and crying "mommy! Get out of bed!" indefinitely until I get out of bed.  I seriously suck. 

Maybe tomorrow I can be a better mom...? 

; ) 

I'll try. 

"I wanna cry"

That's been one of Brady's most often used phrases over the last several weeks. Out of the blue a few weeks back, he started crying at naptime and bedtime. He protested naps and frequently stayed awake or only slept for 45 minutes or played for an hour or two before yelling out for me to come get him. So then I started asking him to please not cry when I put him in his crib and his response was always the same. "I wanna cry."  So I finally gave in and told him "okay, but Abigail is sleeping in her room, so try to cry quietly, okay?"  Well, that only lasted one night. After that he just started the "I wanna cry loud?"  Ha. But strangely enough, once I granted him permission, the crying became less frequent. And today I realized that he really hasn't cried for naps for bedtime and has been napping great. The funny thing is, he still uses the phrase "I wanna cry" in other applicable situations. All week long he begs to go to church. And when Sunday rolls around he says he wants to go home. When I tell him it's time for nursery, he protests and says he wants to cry. We told him that was fine. He's such a weird kid... The nursery leaders always tell us how great he is and that he's such a funny kid, but he seriously has to cry for the first few minutes every Sunday. I finally told Shawna about it. "Yeah, he always just needs to know he has the option to cry if he wants."  Maybe she can reinforce that next week and it will cut out his nursery crying. 

In other "I wanna cry" news, Abigail and I each spent way too much time crying today. I'm emotionally unstable and semi depressed when I'm pregnant and Abigail is emotionally unstable because she is an ultra dramatic four year old. Tonight we had a little talk and made a pact with each other that tomorrow would be better and we would make better choices and cry less. "And no whining" Abigail added. Yes, hopefully we can do that. Lofty goals, but if we're just hoping for an improvement over today, that shouldn't be too hard. 

So, yesterday was an amazing day and I was completely awesome at life. Today I spent large chunks of my day crying in bed. I'm a bit bipolar but I'm going to blame it on pregnancy and eventually postpartum. If I'm still crazy in six months, I'll likely blame sleep deprivation or having a newborn. If it continues beyond that point, I'll blame myself for having three kids and being an unfit mother. 

On the plus side though, we had salmon and zucchini and apple pears for dinner tonight and I have the kids baths. And my kitchen and great room are clean thanks to my kids and my honey. And I did my visiting teaching and I sent Abigail to school with cuties and Capri suns and homemade banana muffins for snackand she said everyone loved it. And I was on time picking her up. And I got granny's birthday card in the mail. And I made my kids strawberry banana smoothies and peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches to eat outside in the backyard while they gathered me piles of flowers from our yard and the weather was perfect. So mostly it was just all the crap that happened between the hours of 2:30 and 5:30 that completely sucked. But holy cow it was rough and I may have contemplated putting my kids up for adoption/which of my loved ones I could pawn them off to so I could still see them from time to time but know that someone adequate was raising them. 

So far in my life, I've found nothing better than a four year old to make me feel like a complete and utter failure. ; )  

Tonight we read the book "this plus that" and here's mine for the day... Being a mom + Abigail = refiner's fire

Crossing my fingers for a super awesome Wednesday. 

monday... when i was awesome at life

most days i think i do little more than keep my kids alive.  my laziness and incompetence at life leaves me plenty of days that i can enjoy but not that many days i can truly call a success.

but today i did a lot of things i don't usually do and it made for a pretty wonderful day.

i think i woke up between 7:30 and 8, ate some cereal, and, after checking facebook for a bit, realized i was being stupid, and so i got out my personal progress book that hasn't been touched since i got released from young women's.  i read some scriptures and journaled and crossed off choice and accountability number three and it was very satisfying.  definitely a better start to my morning than just checking facebook.  abigail came downstairs later than usual and so we went back and forth with her about how "i don't like to clean my room" wasn't a valid reason to skip putting away her pj's.  and then when her room was clean, i got her some cereal.  i'd been texting liza about food so then she called and we talked about food and she motivated me to take my kitchen by storm... kinda.  but it was very motivating (i even put stickies on certain pages of my cookbook with liza's notes about the recipes).  i got off the phone with liza around 11 and brady was calling out for me from his crib so i got him up.  and then the kids and i made banana muffins and both kids shared a bowl of oatmeal while the muffins baked.

and then they danced while i cleaned up and texted or something.  i put brady down for a nap a little before two and then went back and forth with abigail about how "i don't want to have quiet time" wasn't logical reasoning enough to change my mind.  i read two books with abigail.  one with a character named emmy and one with a walter.  it was great.

honey had been texting me about taking dinner to a family he knows from work so once the kids were set for quiet time, i went downstairs and made chicken enchiladas.  some for them, some for us.  at 3:30, i told abigail that quiet time was over and go to potty and get her shoes on.  i got dressed, and then i grabbed brady from his crib and got us all in the car to pick up my friend's kids from school.  it was my first time in an elementary school pick up carpool line... i won't lie... i was nervous about it, but all turned out well.  we got home at 4:15 and then all of the kids played together.  mostly basketball in my great room and i'm happy to say that nothing and no one got broken.  the parents came to pick up their kids at 5:30 and then abigail and brady cleaned up, honey came home to get the dinner and a frozen pie, i started a thomas show for the kids, and honey left to drop off the dinner.  i put our enchiladas in the oven and started on the squash.  i set the table for us all right down to silverware and drinks and even dished abigail and brady's plates (so their food could cool down and they wouldn't have to wait five minutes after the prayer to start eating) and honey came home at the exact perfect time.  we all sat down to eat and enjoyed a wonderful dinner together.  brady's favorite part was the blackberries, abigail's favorite was the enchiladas, and my favorite was definitely the squash.  but all four of us finished our plates and went back for seconds and thirds.  abigail ate so much i thought she was going to be sick.  cleanup was a breeze while honey took the kids up and all of us cooperated and had a peaceful time getting ready for bed.  the kids were down by 7:45 and honey took off to go for a run.

my kitchen is clean, my great room is clean (in my mind that might as well equate to my entire house being clean), i never yelled at my kids, i served two different families in need, fed my kids three hot meals, cooked muffins, enchiladas, and squash all within 6 hours, started my day with scriptures, and ended my day journaling (aka blogging).  as you can see, a lot of things that aren't typical for me.  so i definitely mark this one as a success.

there's just something about mondays for me... they just always seem to be above average.  and thank goodness for that... i'm very appreciative of it.

Weekends

Weekends are difficult for me. I do well with Monday's, but I truly struggle with Saturday's and Sunday's. This Saturday and Sunday were no exception. I'm grateful for Christopher and that he was around when I took a four hour shopping trip to old navy and Ross and Walmart. And tonight when he cleaned our whole main floor and unloaded the dishwasher and everything and I was just so sick of everyone and everything and at that "why am I having more kids again?" point. Parts of my weekend were awesome but pregnancy kind of makes me a bit bipolar so parts of my weekend really sucked too, like tonight after the kids were in bed and I cried while eating a bowl of frosted flakes. ; ) 

But as I often do when I'm feeling low, I read elder holland's talk "because she is a mother" and a new line stuck out to me that I don't recall from my millions of previous readings...

"But no one has failed who keeps trying and keeps praying."

I'll amen to that. 

Thank goodness tomorrow is Monday! 

Friday

My motivation for blogging flew out the window. It's because I either don't take any pictures and am too lazy to write anything, or that I take too many pictures and am too lazy to sort through and edit and post them. 

But here's to documenting a pretty great day. We all had an earlier wake up than usual (me at 6:30, Abigail downstairs by 7:30, and brady awake in his crib before 9) but no where to to because nothing was pressing and it had been snowing for 24 hours and was pretty wet outside. Abigail and I read in my bed for an hour, she watched a show, I talked on the phone with Emmy, and then both kids wanted to go outside and play in the snow. Which I usually avoid like the plague because getting them ready is so much work and we never have time for that. This time, there was time. And it was so worth it. It was mid thirties but felt so much warmer and was actually really pleasant. I hung out on the front step while the kids explored in the snow. Abigail even found the tiniest "hill" ever to sled down. It was pathetic and adorable. 

Eventually, we came inside to eat lunch and have nap time and quiet time. Brady napped, Abigail ended up going to Lucy's, and I talked on the phone with my friend, Jenna, for an hour and a half before realizing it was 3:40 and I was supposed to be driving to drop my kids at my mother in law's so Chris and u could make the 5 o clock session at the temple. Man you should have seen how fast I flew to throw off my sweats and get dressed, grab brady from his crib, get our stuff together, and get Abigail from Lucy's! I made it in time. We did the 5:00 session, stayed for our ward chapel session from 7:30-8, and then honey took off to get the kids and put them to bed while I stayed with the ward for the 8:00 session. Tillie Thomas and Mary j. Johnston. ; ) I got home before 10:45 and happily, honey was even still awake! 

It was a great day.