Survival Week

Hello everyone!  Everyone is doing well out here for the most part.  Winry decided sleep was overrated last night, which was SOO fun!  But other then that things have been good.  Brooke got spoiled this week with me being home from work and basically spending all of her waking hours with her.  It was pretty hard on her on Friday when I had to work again.  Brooke still loves Winry and loves to help with all things baby.  She's held Winry a few more times, and seems to like it better each time.

As mentioned, my job this past week was to keep Brooke busy so that Monica (and Winry) could sleep.  Brooke and I did all kinds of things this past week to keep her entertained.  Last Sunday it was a little chilly, but there was a breeze, so we headed to the park and brought the kite!  This is the first time Brooke has flown the kite without having to run everywhere, which is a little funny because when I got the kite out she started yelling "run daddy, run!!"

Monday morning we mostly played around the house.  It was chilly outside and snowed some, which means we had to get ready to play in the snow.  I'm not exactly sure what all a 2 year old needs to do to get ready, but I would never have guessed curling her eye lashes was essential!

We headed out into the back yard to do some sledding.  Brooke loves to sit in the sled and have me pull her around the yard.  We made many loops, and it kept getting harder and harder to pull her around as the snow got less and less.

But back to Brooke, she had a blast out there.  Our back yard is sloped a bit on one side, so we'd go down that side and then around the lawn to get back up the hill.  It's not quite steep enough for the sled to slide on it's own, but we definitely pick up speed heading down the "hill."  In fact, one time when I was turning the sled at the bottom Brooke toppled out into the snow!  Luckily, she thought it was a lot of fun and laughed.

When we got inside we had a little hot chocolate and had a dance party to warm up.  Brooke loves to dance, and she loves pancake robot.

On Tuesday morning Brooke and I headed out for adventures.  We went to Walmart to return a Fitbit I had that I didn't need, and then over to the library for story time.  Brooke's favorite part of story time is definitely the cow chair.  When I said we were going to the library the only thing she really cared about was getting a cow chair.  I was a little worried about this because I knew there were only 2, but apparently she's the only kid who likes them.  That's perfect though because we had a blast sitting on a cow eating a snack.

A little while after they bring out the toys actual story time starts.  We went in for that, and one of the stories had a horse with jingle bells, so they gave out jingle bells for all the kids to shake.  It was very loud, but Brooke had a lot of fun.

After the library we stopped by Target to get some stuff for the baby, and then at Salvation Army to look and see if they had any more board games for Brooke.  They didn't have anything this time, but Brooke was a trooper about it and didn't get sad.  I felt a little bad though because Brooke was so excited to get a new game, so I thought about it during nap time, and when she got up I had a few ideas of games we already had that she could try.  Trouble was a flop, but Brooke loves Hungry Hungry Hippos.  She doesn't much care to play it the real way, but she likes to put all the balls in the side holders and flick them in, and occasionally has a hippo eat a marble.  Though, when a hippo eats a marble and it rolls out the side she'll typically say "NO!  Stay inside!"

Meanwhile in Winry land she's been eating and sleeping and crying and all the usual over this past week.  She squirms a lot and is actually pretty strong.  She picks her head up all the time in fact!  Anyway, she also loves to fling her pacifiers out of her mouth across the room too, or in one rare instance, bite on the edge.

Winry and Monica both had doctors appointments on Monday, and both went fine.  We decided to try to see how much Winry had grown since her appointment though, and finding our normal scale just too inaccurate it was time to get her on the kitchen scale.  We were able to find a pretty good method to balance her up there, and to celebrate we baked cookies!

Brooke and I spent many an afternoon at the park this past week.  Brooke loves to go on the swings, and when we get to the park she'll usually swing for about 10-15 minutes before we do anything else.  This past week she leaned forward while swinging and saw her knees, and for some reason that was very funny (Motion sickness warning).  I really don't get what was going on, but at least we all had fun.

After Brooke had helped with Winry's diapers for a few days it was time for her to get her own diaper to use.  Fortunately we have some sample new born diapers from when Brooke was a baby that we tried and didn't like, so we gave her one to use.  Pikachu was so happy to get all cleaned up!

This past week we got some meals from people in our ward.  They were all SOOO GOOD!!  Thank you so much to everyone!  We really appreciate it!

Accompanying one of the meals was this pre-market spreadable butter.  I can't name names, or talk specifics, but we've begged so much free mac 'n' cheese  and crackers off of our neighbor we've become honorary product testers for his company!  My thoughts on this product is that it's spreadable, and buttery tasting, so I think it was a success.  If I can work out a royalty deal on this product I'll post additional information when it comes to market.

As Brooke and I headed to the park pretty much every day this past week, Brooke started to broaden her playing.  The playground is built next to a hill, and the top of the hill has a walkway into the playground so you don't have to climb any stairs, etc.  Brooke finally braved the hill on her own for the first time this past week.  It was only once, but it was progress!

Also, Winry has re-inspired Brooke's love for pacifiers.  Brooke had to get her old pacifiers out (or, said differently, we had to buy Winry her own pacifiers) to use again because they're just so fun!  Now that she's bigger she can use two at a time!

Also, Brooke peeled off the 3m size sticker from Winry's future clothes and stuck it on her pajamas this past week.  I tried to get a better picture, but Brooke wouldn't cooperate, but at least I got something!

One day this week Monica's mom went out to do some grocery shopping and came back with chocolate covered blueberries.  When Brooke got up from her nap she saw us having some later that night and said "Brooke wants some... some... some BEANS!!"  Luckily for her (and for us) they weren't really beans, but even today she said she wanted chocolate beans...  She also calls m&m's trail mix (because she gets them in her trail mix) and if she's just asking for one she asks for a trail mic.

Today we had a stake conference, and since we just had a baby and Monica isn't ready to head out for stuff like that, we got approval to watch it online.  The conference was really good, but during the opening prayer I told Brooke to fold her arms, and 5 seconds into the prayer she declares "Winry not folding arms!"  That got everyone laughing!

During stake conference there were talks and stories about recent converts as well as stories from being a mission president.  To me, at least, it felt very mission focused.  It was great to reflect on my mission and think of all the spiritual moments I had sharing the gospel.  Not to sound too ward mission leader-y, but we should all be looking for opportunities to share the gospel.  We can always be looking for people that could be blessed by receiving the gospel.  I know the church is true, and sharing our testimonies is a great way to strengthen our testimonies of the truths of the Gospel.  I encourage all to strive to live the teachings of Jesus Christ, and see how they can improve and bless your life.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.