Over a month since my last post? Terrible. As you all know, we've had a February for the record books. The car accident at the end of January filled our days with worry and doctor's appointments. We're making do with one car. We've all been sick for the entirety of the month, with Alaina and I being diagnosed with pink eye. I got selected to transfer to the Cheesecake Factory opening at City Creek Center (and while that's a good thing, it does fill me with quite a bit of anxiety.) All of that, in addition to my constant whining about the weather, has made some days feel long and bleak. Reflecting on the last thirty days, though, I realize that the silver linings to these challenges have almost, if not completely, outweighed the challenges.

I photographed the birth of my neighbor's baby this month, and editing those images has kept most of my spare time full. If I wait to perfect the pictures I'm posting in this entry, it will never happen. Don't judge.

In late January, we went down to see the Whites' beautiful new home. Those views! The kids all had fun playing together, and my kids absolutely love to see Tori. When the adults got down to see the basement portion of the house tour, we interrupted the kids putting on a show, all in costumes.


Little man following in daddy's footsteps...


We did our taxes and went out for our annual "tax return" dinner. This year we went to Red Rock Brewery, and I was greatly impressed! Sorry for the picture quality, but I felt kind of weird standing up and away from the table to get the correct composition, scanning the ceiling for bounce-flash platforms, and making noises so my kids would look. Point and shoot, it is!


This bruschetta will change your life. I'm not even joking.


Now, before we get into this next part, I need to make it loud and clear that I am not biased to taking pictures of Alaina. I've mentioned it before, but Alaina looooves to be in front of the camera, and Connor pulls faces or puts his hand in front of my lens. Case in point:

Even though his face is silly, I want to always remember him this way. Breakfast is his favorite meal of the day. He prefers to sit in the sunbeam at the table. He will eat almost anything if you put blueberries in it.

A couple of weeks ago, we took the kids to see The Phantom Menace. Lately, whenever we "go out", Alaina is insistent on looking nice. Her definition of that is a bit different than mine, and I found it hilarious that she wanted to wear her "high heels". Don't worry, we didn't let her go out with her hair like that. :) This awkward pose is what I got when I said, "Look nice for the camera!"


Connor HAD to bring his lightsaber to the movie.


The lightsaber fights still happen every day. I'm usually a pretty good sport until I get whacked in the head, but Daddy's always up for a round. Connor is usually Grievous or Darth Maul, and Alaina runs around the room pretending she's R2-D2 and rolls bombs at Daddy.






"A dutty-doo!" (R2-D2)


I don't go overboard on Valentine's Day. A heart-shaped mylar balloon and pink milk for the kids was plenty, I think. Alaina wanted to wear her new tutu swimsuit for brunch while Connor was at his school party. I got Anthony a lap desk so he can do his homework (or more accurately, so I can peruse Pinterest) on the sofa. He wrote me a cute valentine poem, complete with sperm balloons (he's going to be upset that I just insulted his drawing talent).




This, I think, takes the award for the best valentine I've ever received:


Connor wouldn't participate in the annual heart-glasses. :( Here's a trip down memory lane:







Stop growing so fast, please.

Being homebound while Anthony's at school has forced me to be more creative with my ideas on how to keep the kids busy. Alaina loves to "do recipes", and what used to be a once-a-month brownie mix has morphed into banana bread with cinnamon streusel and blueberry oatmeal pancakes with strawberry compote. I'm loving how willing they are to try new foods if they've helped me prepare it (something I've read dozens of times but have been too lazy to really implement). Tonight they tried basil, fresh mozzarella, goat cheese, honey-baked ham, and cucumbers. Being my little domestic helper, Alaina even likes to take over the clean-up! Unfortunately, the mess is usually bigger when she's done. She's still got those little edamame fingers...


Tonight we went on a scooter ride as a family. We're trying to grow out Alaina's bangs, so we've got some interesting styles going on.


Connor's personality is stronger with each passing day, and the traits that I admire about him (strong-willed, passionate, questioning) are also those that are patience-building opportunities for me. I believe this tantrum was because he didn't want to "use all his endergy" by riding his scooter and he would be too tired.


I love this photo, because Anthony had lagged behind to get Connor's coat and gloves, and as he rolled around the corner on the scooter, he saw the all-too-familiar scene. That head tilt says it all..."Oh, no. What is he upset about? What distraction am I going to come up with on the fly to get him back on his scooter?"


Connor decided we wanted to go back home where he and Daddy played Operation, and Alaina and I stayed out and watched the sunset color the snow-capped mountains pink and purple. It was a good day.