Easter Eggstravaganza

Saturday morning was the Easter Eggstravaganza at the Historical Park in Farmers Branch. We got up early so we could get over there quickly and be home before GC started. The whole time we were getting ready we kept telling Shelby we were going to see the Easter Bunny. By the time we were getting ready to head out the door she was so excited she was practically dragging us out! She kept yelling, "Eas-a Buuunnny!".
There is some construction going on close to the park, so they had everyone park a little bit away, but had trucks pulling trailors filled with hay to carry everyone over to the park. The first thing we did when we got there was head to the petting zoo. Shelby was a little leary of the goats at first, but once she saw the bunnies hopping around she let loose. She started screaming and chasing after them, again yelling "Eas-a Buuunnny!". She thought the tiny baby piglet was cute as well, until a little boy picked him up. That little piggy SQUEALED and SQUEALED and ran all the way home (or back to his mom anyway).
Then it was off to the pony rides. It was great that they had ponies because Shelby had just gotten her first My Little Pony the weekend before and was really into it, and you could see her trying to connect the two. I could almost hear her thinking, "Hey, where are your tutu and dancing shoes?". She hopped on, and was a little nervous at first, but then immediately grabbed the saddle and started rocking it as if to say "Giddyup!". This little pony was FAST, too, and I was almost a little nervous that Shelby was being bounced around too much. But she was fine and did great on the pony.

After that it was time for the hunt to begin. I would say Easter egg hunt, but it was more of a candy hunt, since they just threw tons of candy on the ground, with a few "prize eggs" here and there. I was not too concerened with Shelby finding any prize eggs, and just let her pick up whatever candy she wanted at her own pace. It was funny to see her leisurely walk up to the candy, inspect it, then place it in her basket. I'm sure she will hone her hunting skills over the next few years, but for now I was happy she only picked up a few pieces of candy. She kept begging for it in the car so we let her eat one piece and hid the rest. She had forgotten about it by that afternoon.

Okay, okay...

It is high time for another post. As usual, things have been crazy. Our time lately has been monopolized with house hunting. We will eventually find the perfect house for us!

In the meantime, Shelby is another month older - 21 months! Here is what she has been up to:

- Shelby's communication skills have really taken off. She has always been a fast learner when it comes to talking, but it seems like in the past month she has really been advancing. Her vocabulary amazes me. I cannot even count the number of words she knows. She surprises me all the time when she will say a word she has heard us say, and she will actually know what it is or what it means. She can talk in sentences, of which we can pick out 4-5 words. She repeats everything. And I mean everything. One of the funnier things she has repeated lately? Yesterday I was talkng to a coworker and jokingly told her, "Chill out, you need a Xanax". Of course, Shelby starts saying, "Xanax, Xanax!". That's one I am sure she will scream out in Nursery or something.
- She really loves playing with Roxy, but she likes bossing her around even more. If she hears Roxy bark, she is quick to yell out, "Hush, Roxy!". And if Roxy jumps on the couch she will say, "Down couch, Roxy!".
- I think she might be a future star of American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance. She loves to sing, and her favorite songs are Itsy Bitsy Spider, Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam, and Say My Name by Destiny's Child. Ok, that one might not be a favorite, but she does enjoy singing it. And the instant music comes on, you can bet you'll see Shelby bopping her head or shaking her booty.
-She has really come to love her baths. I mean, she liked them before, but now she loves to lay on her stomach and put her head in the water and pretend she's swimming. A few more weeks and we just might be able to test out those skills in a pool.
- Unfortunately, she still loves to call Jeremy by name. I swear I didn't TEACH this to her. She is just mimicing me. Jeremy thinks I have done this on purpose, so to get me back, he is trying to teach her to say my name. Fortunately for me, my name is a bit more difficult for children to say.
- Shelby is still very much a mama's girl. My hair still serves as her security blanket. If she is ever upset, I can put my hair in her hand and she will usually calm down instantly. When you ask Shelby who her best friend is, she replies, "Mommy".

Here's what else Shelby has been up to this month:


Making messes


Going to the zoo with...


Lilly...


Cole (aka Mini-Becky...Haha! That one was for the fam)...


and Leila.


Cleaning up her artwork on the walls and doors


Making sure Love-A-Lot lends a hand in the cleanup


Hot cocoa parties with Love-A-Lot (those Care Bears...such good friends)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

AIDAN, is pronounced AY-den. It is of Gaelic origin, and its meaning is "fire". Anglicised form of the ancient Gaelic name Aedan, a pet form of Aed. Name of a bishop of Ferns (seventh century) who was noted for his kindness and generosity. Saint Aidan (Ireland, seventh century) established the monastery of Lindisfarne, one of the great centers of learning of its time.


McGrath - Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Craith, a patronymic from a personal name, possibly Mac Raith ‘son of grace’, from rath ‘grace’, ‘prosperity’.

Quarantined

After Shelby's nap on Thursday I noticed she was warm. She had a slight fever so I gave her some Tylenol. As the night went on, the fever got higher, finally spiking at 104.1. I hate nights like that. It's not that I am upset over the lack of sleep, it's that I worry so much about her. Her poor little body gets so hot, I feel like she must be frying inside! The next morning she fell asleep on the floor by my desk while I was working and slept for two hours. That's when I really knew something was wrong, because that is definitely not something she would do on her own.

So after four hours at the doctor- which included a chest x-ray, a shot, and a bribe from us that if she stopped crying we'd buy her a slide, we found out Shelby had the beginnings of Bronchitis.

So, any and all plans we had for the weekend went out the door. I didn't want to make her worse than she was, so I was determined to keep her inside and do my best to entertain her all weekend long. Just when I thought we had run out of things to do, we opened the front door and there was a big box with Shelby's name on it sitting on the step. My wonderful friend/VT companion/Primary president and her sweet family had put together an awesome care package for Shelby. The box was filled with crayons, a coloring book, socks, a blankie, a cute chick shaped pail, a flower, THREE Sesame Street books, and a very sweet card. Shelby was thrilled. She wanted to carry around her new presents all day. Thank you, Aguirre family!!

I definitely think Shelby is on the better side of this illness now. We'll just err on the side of caution and stay indoors for a few more days, just to be sure she is 100% better by Thursday when Jordan, Roy, Leila, Cole, and Lilly come to town!


Playing on her new slide.


Shelby was proud of her "bracelet" (from the hospital when she had to get her chest x-ray) and her band aid (from where she got her shot).


Playing on the slide some more...


Can you tell how excited Shelby was to get this package?

HB-NO!

When Big Love first came out, I was intrigued. I wondered if it would portray the Church in a negative way, if it would anger me. But, I have to say that in the beginning, I really had no issue with the way the Church was portrayed. I thought they did a good job of showing the clear distinction of the Church, and those who have strayed from the Church.

Today, however, I have a different opinion. With each episode this season, the show has progressively been more and more antagonistic towards the Church. The characters on the show that are supposed to be members of the Church are all shown as naive, nosey, manipulative, scheming, etc. Then today I received an email from a friend at Church, one that I'm sure everyone else has seen circulating the Internet, about an upcoming episode of the show. In this episode, they apparently show sacred ordinances that take place inside the temple. With the email came an attachment, a copy of an article in TV Guide about the show, with a picture of Barb (first wife) in temple clothing.

In the article, the spokesperson for the show states how they are not airing this for shock value, that they hired an ex-communicated member of the Church as a consultant, to get every detail correct, and that they wanted to show it in the utmost reverence and respect...BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. First of all, is an ex-communicated member the best person to consult if you want to show the utmost reverence and respect? Probably not. This person probably has a lot of anger and resentment, so what if they were to use this as an opportunity to manifest their own personal agenda. Second, if they wanted to show the utmost reverence and respect, they could have just shown Barb walking into or out of the temple. There is no need to show anything else. To do so is disrespectful and irreverent in and of itself.

Which brings me to another point. It supposedly has been more than a few years since Barb has gone to Church. As any member knows, you have to have your recommend renewed every two years. How was she allowed in the temple in the first place? Even if she met with her bishop and stake president to get her recommend renewed, do you think they would have given it to her? I guess the ex-communicated consultant forgot about that part.

So when I saw this email today, I got a little mad. I was no longer going to contribute to a show that I shouldn't have been watching in the first place. Before I had even clicked off the email I was on the phone with Time Warner Cable. When the customer service representative asked me if I was canceling because of a certain show (Which I thought was a weird question- had they been getting a lot of these calls? Let's hope!), I said, "As a matter of fact yes. I am boycotting Big Love". I also sent an email to HBO to let them know I had canceled my service.

Does HBO care that I canceled service? Probably not. They will still air the episode. The network will still make ridiculous amounts of money. But I will no longer contribute.

Birthday, Sorta Birthday, and Another Birthday

This weekend was full of birthday celebrations. We started off early Saturday morning (though not as early as we were supposed to, due to my lack of properly reading an invitation) celebrating this guy's birthday:



Isn't he cute?! This little guy turned 2! (His actual birthday was Monday.) We enjoyed a fabulous breakfast of french toast, sausage, and fruit, and then topped that off with some Sprinkles cupcakes. Mmmmmm! I hope Peyton wasn't too traumatized by Shelby's bullying (more on that later), and had a great birthday!

Saturday was also special in that Shelby turned 20 months! I can't believe she is almost 2! Shelby is a lot of fun. She loves nursery, Disney princesses, and Elmo. When she is around a group of children, like in nursery, she tends to take the backseat and be more of an observer. However, when she is in her house, or only with 1-2 other kids, she is very bossy. I am working really hard on the sharing thing, but if anyone has any tips, please let me know. Aside from that, she is doing great. She is learning her ABC's and how to count to 10 (she does pretty well, but usually skips a couple numbers), and is talking more and more in sentences. She is still a great eater in terms of trying new foods, but appetite has decreased a lot lately. It must be growth spurts. Tonight she looked over and said, "Mama, mo' vocado?". She must be my child if she loves avocado!



Sunday was Jeremy's 27th birthday. I always give him a hard time about how old he is, even though he is only 3 months older than me. Anyway, this year I wanted to do something special for Jeremy, because he always goes above and beyond for my birthday.

Friday night, I took Shelby to Walmart to get what Jeremy thought was normal groceries for the week. Really, I was shopping for his party, and even when I came home with two HUGE pizzas, he didn't suspect a thing. Then Saturday, while Jeremy was at his Priesthood meeting, Shelby and I went on a special mission to get an ice cream cake from Culver's. (If you've never heard of them, they have the best hamburgers ever. Better than Five Guys.) I was able to hide it in the freezer behind some frozen vegetables, and he never even saw it.

So Sunday was the big day. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it a surprise the whole day- eventually he would catch on when he saw the decorations and food. But I wanted to keep it a surprise as long as possible. So when Jeremy took a nap with Shelby, I hurried and cleaned up really quickly and got everything set up. When he woke up and walked out into the living room and saw everything, I said "Surprise! We're having a party for you in 2 1/2 hours!". So, along with a few of our friends, we celebrated Jeremy's birthday. We had a great time.

Mardi Gras Continued

I just wanted to throw this pic in really quickly. It is blurry, but it was the best I could get considering Shelby would not stop dancing around. We had a lot of fun on Fat Tuesday at playgroup. The kids had a lot of fun running around, eating King Cake, making masks, and having their very own kiddie parade.