The last Saturday in February we took the kids to the Zoo to see the Parade of Penguins! Alex declared she would take her camera and as we were getting ready to leave I caught this moment. Alex was trying to take a picture of her and Heidi and their penguins all together. Their first selfie. It was adorable and hilarious.
Alex with her camera was like watching mini me. "Heidi, go stand by that sign so I can take your picture." Unfortunately this is as far as we got before her battery died.
Since the sun was shining and it wasn't completely cold and miserable, just mostly, there were a lot of people at the Zoo and we didn't have stellar spots for the walk. I thought Quinn would love the experience but she was pretty uninterested with the whole thing. She had been recovering from a week of Pneumonia and constant misery so I suppose I don't blame her. An ER visit with Daddy in the middle of the night because of difficulty breathing confirmed our fears that this "cold" was something a bit more than a cold. That week we sat in my big chair together all day every day while I over saw homeschool and we watched Wild Kratts and Daniel Tiger. We ended up taking her to the doctor a few days later to get a stronger antibiotic because the first meds weren't enough, and she also has an inhaler that we have had to use a few times since when she gets wheezy and can't breath well. The Dr. won't diagnose her with Asthma until she is older, but at this point it looks like a possibility.
Last week we had sun in the forecast and the kids got to play in the back yard for the first time in nearly a year. It was a wonderfully warm day and got us excited for spring. A few days later there was more sun expected so we made park plans and it was a LOT colder! This didn't stop the kids from enjoying the Blue Slide Park though. It's one of my new favorite parks I've decided.
We had been keeping Grandma and Grandpa's upcoming visit a secret for over a month and on Friday we declared it a fun day and took the kids to the library in the morning and then on a drive in the afternoon. Alex is pretty sharp and once she recognized the airport she started quizzing me on who we were getting. We parked and went inside just in time to greet the Brady's as they came down the escalator. The kids couldn't stop smiling, they were so excited to see Grandma and Grandpa! Alex and Heidi latched onto Grandma's hands and Quinn walked into Grandpa's arms and they all stayed that way for the next 5 days!
Saturday morning Tyler and his Dad went shooting at a range nearby while the girls and I worked on Alex's birthday cake. She had drawn a picture of what she wanted her cake to look like and I was a bit surprised to see 3 layers and shamrocks all over it! When the boys got back we drove to Boyce Park to get a tour of the history of Maple Syrup. It was a rainy day and not quite the event I had expected but it was free and I learned a lot about "sugaring".
The guide mostly talked about the history of maple syrup and the kids got to put hot rocks into a hollowed out log like the indians and settlers did to boil the sap into syrup.
They seemed to enjoy that part the most, and seeing the sap run from the tree into the bucket.
Sunday was church and afterwards Grandma taught Alex and I the tricks to making her fried chicken and gravy and then we feasted! Alex had said that this was her favorite Grandma meal (mine also) and so we got some cooking lessons to learn the secret. Monday Tyler was off to work and so Grandma and Grandpa and I took the kids to Target to have a mini "baby shower" with a couple of gift cards that were bought with the funds donated by good friends and family in Utah, it was the sweetest thing! I felt completely loved and it was nice to splurge a little an get a couple items brand new for baby boy that I probably wouldn't have gotten. I'm super excited about a little church outfit with vest I found, and the cutest yellow raincoat that I may have bought a bit bit so Quinn could share it. Monday afternoon we took Quinn to the Dr. because she had been having a hard time breathing Sunday, and then took Grandma and Grandpa to the strip district to wander the street and shops and get some popcorn from the Popcorn Factory! It was so much fun especially because the weather was perfect and the sidewalks weren't crowded and we just wandered down the sidewalk eating delicious popcorn and chatting and getting St. Patricks Day shirts! For our FHE activity we decorated the house for Alex's birthday. Tyler did an amazing job of filling in all the little touches, like decorating the stairs with animals.
Alex woke up at 5am on her birthday while Daddy was getting ready for work, so she naturally slept in while we tried to keep Quinn out of the kitchen so she wouldn't destroy the decorations before Alex saw them. I had to go wake Alex up and we went down and all enjoyed Lucky Charms while she opened her gifts. She had asked for bug catching things and got a big vacuum and collection kit things as well as a scooter. The other thing she had requested was for the birthday goblins to hide clues at the Natural History museum like last year, so the goblins had done lots of preparation only to find out just before leaving that the museum was closed Tuesday!!!! We decided to go to the park instead but it was SO windy and cold! So we diverted once again to a picnic at the mall play place. Alex seemed happy, so I was happy. That afternoon we put Quinn down for her nap and while Grandpa and Heidi watched Tinkerbell movies, Grandma and Alex and I snuck off to see Cinderella in the Theater!
We came home in time to make Hawiann Haystacks for dinner, Alex's favorite.
I tried to get pictures of these 4 beautiful ladies, but it was nearly impossible.
It was impossible.
We had saved a few gifts for when Daddy got home and Alex opened a clock for her room that she got to color, a butterfly growing kit, and some lego's from Daddy. She loves legos.
Tyler is getting better and better at this all out birthday thing, and he decorated the cake for me! Alex placed the candles and it tasted a LOT better than last years cake. I was happy to get a half decent picture everyone together to remember the fun vacation. Grandma and Grandpa were amazing, washing dishes, helping cook and clean, reading books to kids and putting them to bed..... I felt like I was the one on vacation and wished they could stay forever!
Alex had lost her second front top tooth a few days before Grandma and Grandpa arrived and today as I write this she lost another of the front top ones, 3 in a row!
These two have been such goofy little trouble makers lately, In a lot of ways they really are best friends and I'm sorry that with all the fun and late nights and sugar that Grandma and Grandpa got to see a lot of the sourness and fighting.
Wednesday we packed up Grandma and Grandpa and did our scavenger hunt at the Museum before we dropped them off at the airport. It was a good thing they were there for that because Quinn was an extra handful that day! Alex bought me a wing necklace for my birthday and it just melted my heart that she had thought to get me anything. Tyler got me a shirt to replace the one I ruined in the laundry with green crayon, and a nice jacket. We stopped by Costco on the way home and bought a TON of strawberries instead of a birthday cake, and that night after Quinn was in bed, and while Tyler was studying the girls and I watched the new Tinkerbell movie about the never beast while we ate leftover cake, strawberries and whipped cream. It was perfect. I've trained these girls up to be mini me's in a lot of ways and it's just so fun to sit and enjoy special things together.
Today it snowed, and I had a Midwife appointment. I'm measuring slightly big and have been referred to a Physical therapist for my hips, which literally feel like they are disconnected. It was so nice NOT to hear "oh, that just happens in pregnancy, it will go away when the baby comes!" and instead hear "You need to go to PT, that is not normal." Not that I want it not to be normal, but it's nice to be validated that I'm not just crazy or a whiner. Alas my feet and lower legs have already begun to swell a bit as well, and I'm afraid that with not being able to move about very much I've almost already gained as much weight at this point now as I did with Quinn the whole pregnancy. I can feel the little guy moving around and thumping a lot, and I think I'm at 28 weeks today? I should do the math, I don't actually know. Still too far off. The girls call him Thomas or Tommy, even Quinn can say it. I'm not 100% sold yet though but have yet to suggest an alternative and it may be too late.
Tyler just started his Psych rotation which he was dreading and I couldn't wait for. I thought it would be fun to hear the stories, but it must be my pregnancy because I don't enjoy them at all and on the flip side he seems to be enjoying the rotation. So far the hours are great again and even thought he has to drive a good 30 min away we still get him home for dinner every night!!!!! Our Landlord has insisted that we inform him by the end of April if we are staying, and if we decide to move then we must be out the end of July. This is pretty inconvenient in about 1000 ways but it has sure put a fire under us to figure out a job! Up until that point I think Pittsburgh was still in the running, in our top 5 even though we do want to leave. But we know we can't live in this house for another year, we won't fit, and we can't afford to move any of the places in the city we DO want to live/ all our friends are moving to, and I don't want to live in another one of these falling apart 100+ year old houses with little kids. So I suppose we've sort of officially decided to move in July, but who knows where we will be going?! I can't wrap my head around packing and moving with a tiny newborn, 6 weeks at our evacuation date, but I know everything will work out somehow.
As the weather gets nicer we start to remember the things we like about the city. And I'm nervous about leaving my little support network as a postpartum Mom with 3 other kids. For all it's rough edges, Pittsburgh has become "our" city and we know all our favorite little spots and routes and I'm finally not getting lost without GPS all the time. We are also discovering lots of new wonders and joys and if the sun would only shine once in a while I think I could stay for another year or two. But when we think about our future and our goals, staying doesn't fit in to the life we really want to have, and have felt like we have been putting off for the last 8 years, so I suppose it is time. But then there is God's plan! And it usually doesn't line up quite with what we want for ourselves anyway it seems. So for now I'm just focusing on finishing school, gaining some mobility through Physical Therapy, and figuring out how to deal with the endless mud coming in from the backyard.
