Litter and it will Hurt

Last weekend we had the opportunity to go to Washington and celebrate my father-in-law's sixtieth birthday. Since we now have to pay for a plane ticket for Ellie we decided to drive. We split the 13-14 hour drive into two days. Ellie was a gem. I thought we would have to depend on the iPad a lot, but we rarely had to pull it out.

On our second day drive to Washington we made a stop at Burger King to get some lunch. Ellie wanted to play on the big toy, so we let her play while we ate, and she ate her chicken nuggets in the car. While she was playing she noticed that a lot of kiddos had a crown on. Since we are cheapos, and didn't get her a kid's meal she didn't get a crown. She was a little sad about it, so while I was changing her diaper for the rest of the drive Jeremy pulled some strings and got a crown for her. She was so excited.

Jeremy's mom is so good at packing a ton of fun in a short amount of time, which worked to our benefit since we were only there for two and a half days. On Friday she arranged to have some girls from the neighborhood come babysit the grandkids while the adults went to Seattle for a Segway tour.

For those of you who have never been on a Segway, it's terrifying. Okay, it's not that bad, but I'm a ball of nerves anyway, so I was anxious during the entire tour. A Segway reads where your body weight is and speeds up and slows down accordingly. They are so much fun, but I couldn't help feel like I was going to fall off at any given minute.

I survived, and had so much fun! Aside from one angry cyclist, there were no casualties and I got to see a lot of really pretty sights. If you've never been to Seattle, you need to go. Seriously. After the Segway tour we went to Pike's Place Market and went on the Wings Over Washington ride. Basically it is like Soaring Over California, but Washington. It was a lot of fun, and I loved seeing all the sights.

On Saturday we went to the ocean beach. Ellie had so much fun. I was a little curious to see how she reacted to the sand and water. The last time we went to a sandy place she didn't like it, and didn't want to play in the "dirty water". It was a huge hit this time though. She wanted to be in the freezing cold water, and loved building knocking down sand castles.

Saturday night we celebrated my father-in-law's birthday. Jeremy's mom invited over a bunch of their friends and we had a huge barbecue. I failed at taking pictures, but it was a lot of fun and so delicious.

Ellie had so much fun spending time with her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. On Sunday we were able to hear McKenzie and Mary sing in church then we started the drive home. We were so excited to pull into our driveway on Monday afternoon, but miss all of the fun. We were so lucky to be able to spend some time with everyone!

Also, I love how dramatic Washington is about being a "green" state.

I got 6 at the Sun Stare

Yesterday, Ellie and I watched the solar eclipse (kind of). I was a lame mom and didn't buy solar glasses but we did make solar eclipse cookies though. It was such a cool experience! In northern Utah we got to see a 90% eclipse, and we had clear blue skies.

Even though we didn't have the glasses to look at the sun there were some really cool things to see. It was darker outside, cooler outside, and there were some really cool shadows. I took a few peeks at the sun (don't worry, I didn't lose my eyesight), and it was so cool to see the moon blocking the sun.

Potty Training - Take Three

With a baby  (and possible puppy) on the way, we want to get Ellie out of diapers as soon as possible. My goal is to have the whole house potty trained well before the baby comes. Luckily, Jeremy is pretty low maintenance. We've tried this potty training thing with Ellie twice before. The first time was too early, and the second time she got diarrhea two days in and I wasn't dealing with that. This time around things have gone much more smoothly. She's really good to tell me when she needs to go, and we've been accident free for the last few days.

I tried the whole sticker chart with a prize for her the last time, but that didn't fly. She wanted the prize immediately, and didn't associate the stickers with earning the prize. This time we stuck to candy. One candy for going number one and two candies for going number two. It has worked wonderfully so far. She tells everyone she meets about the deal, and usually flashes her panties at them, too. We've loved her excitement because it has made it so much easier. Cross your fingers that it sticks this time because I am so over this diaper thing with her.

Patience is a Virtue, a Virture I Lack

After two years of no luck we are finally expecting an addition to our family, and we couldn't be happier. It still doesn't seem real to us. Sure, I've been dealing with morning all day sickness and I've seen our sweet baby during an ultrasound, but it's almost as if I won't allow myself to believe it in case it isn't real. When trying to have Ellie we also had a hard time. I played mind games with myself. A week before my period I would start thinking this could be the time, maybe I'm pregnant right now. I would make myself sick.

This time around I promised myself that I wouldn't get emotional about it, I wouldn't get inside my head. After a year and a half of this approach I finally set up an appointment with my doctor. He decided to do a blood test to check my progesterone. When they got the tests back it was clear that part of the problem was I wasn't very fertile. On a scale of ten I was a one. My doctor started me on Clomid. This was supposed to raise my progesterone levels. A month later they did a blood test to check my levels, and it worked! I continued to take Clomid until I conceived. I was a little concerned about the side effects. It raised my chance of having multiple babies by quite a bit. I was beyond thrilled when at the ultrasound I only saw one baby inside me.

So now we wait. We are so excited to get another baby, and for Ellie to have a sibling. We can't wait to know the gender. Jeremy would love a boy. I'm fine with either, but I would really love for Ellie to have a sister. I'm fourteen weeks right now, so we have six more weeks to wait. Whichever gender the baby is he or she will be loved like crazy.