What Are You Doing?

The past few days have been just lovely here in Washington. Starting on Friday, we got some real sunshine! It was even WARM for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday! *gasp* Shocking, eh? Actually, not so much. It was our typical April warm streak, but definitely very much welcome, since it's been so cold and rainy and snowy this winter! We have been enjoying it all so much!!!

This past weekend was also General Conference. General Conference is a twice-yearly event in our church, where the leaders of the Church speak to us in 5 two-hour sessions. There are two on Saturday day, one Saturday evening for the men ages 12 and up, and two more on Sunday. For most of the past several years, I haven't gotten to hear Saturday's sessions because I am usually working. That was the case again this year. But Steve and Jilly listened, over the internet, and enjoyed it. Saturday evening, Steve went to the Priesthood session with all the men, and Jilly and I went over to a friend's house for a potluck dinner. It was so much fun!!! Since it was still nice, I couldn't keep Jilly inside the house. She kept running outside to play with all the other kids on the playset. At one point, I realized she even escaped out there without her shoes on. Oops! She got to play with a lot of kids, including her best friend Maya (or as Jilly calls her "My-na"). And I got to eat and talk and relax with a bunch of friends. We ended up being the last ones to leave, because I couldn't stop talking. (Sorry if we over-stayed our welcome Stacey. I have a bad habit of not knowing when to shut up! ;-)) Steve went out for pizza with all the guys after their session of Conference and had a blast too.

Sunday, we got up just before Conference started and listened to the first session over the internet again. Now, this can be challenging for a few reasons. 1) We have a two-year-old. She doesn't exactly get the whole "sit down and be reverent" thing. She ended up spending most of the time in her crib and was pretty okay with it. 2) The computer is in Jilly's room. Which means we can only listen when she's awake. Not to mention the seating arrangements are much less comfortable than our bedroom or the family room. Steve usually sits in the computer chair and I sit in the rocking chair. Of course, that means I have a tendency to rock myself to sleep. Oops! But despite those challenges, we do try and are better for it.

Halfway during the morning session, I remembered that my parents have digital cable, which means they have BYU-TV (which shows Conference). Plus, they were out of town until Sunday night, leaving only Andy at the house. So I called them up and told them we were going to go over to watch Conference for the afternoon. We figured this would be so much better. We could watch in more comfort, in their family room, while Jilly played with all the toys or took a nap if she wanted. Also, with the big TV it was easier to pay attention and hear. We did some tidying up in between sessions, then went over there for the afternoon. Of course, we were slackers and got there about 15 minutes into the session. Oops again. But it was very nice to be there for it! Jilly was mostly content, plus she got to played with Uncle Andy a lot, which I think they both enjoyed. And it was SOOOOO NICE outside, that it was a pleasure driving to and from their house. Then again, Steve and I did take turns dozing during different parts of the session. Oops again again. But like before, we did hear some wonderful things and are glad we made the effort, even if it wasn't a perfect one.

After Conference, we headed home and *gasp* opened ALL the windows and sliding doors, letting some much needed air and light into our house. By doing so, we realized that our apartment desperately needed some cleaning, so we spent a little bit cleaning and tidying everything up. It ended up so nice! Everything was put away, including the massive amounts of laundry in our bedroom. I even went through all Jilly's clothes, putting away the stuff that was too small and pulling out her summer clothes. Hooray! We then spent most of the evening on the phone with Steve's family in San Antonio, namely Grandma Karen and Uncle Dan. I think the phone call lasted 3 or 4 hours total. Unfortunately, our little Beanster hadn't taken a nap, so about 6:30pm she really got fussy and cranky. Even more unfortunately, she did this while I was making dinner, and she of course, only wanted me. As soon as I was finished, I cuddled her up on the couch and she fell asleep within 5 minutes!!! This is soooo not typical Jilly behavior. Yeah, she'll sometimes fall asleep on the couch or in her high chair or something, but pretty much never in our arms. It was so precious. I wanted Steve to take a picture, but by the time he was off the phone, she was awake and had moved. I ended up snoozing with her for a few minutes, and luckily Wildcat didn't kick too much in protest of it's big sister leaning on it. :-)

Monday we hung around the house, but again had all the windows and doors open since it was so warm and beautiful outside! I even wore a t-shirt and flip flops to work! I could have worn shorts or a skirt, but I'd been too lazy to shave my legs, so jeans it was. ;-) L-O-V-E-D IT! Today I was determined to at least go for a walk outside, so after the morning, we walked over the convenience store to get a treat. Jilly loved being outside and even kept her sunglasses on the whole time. She has been saying ALL DAY and ALL EVENING "What are you doing?". Sometimes it's just goofing around, asking repeatedly. Sometimes, it's been in the throes of a tantrum. But it's definitely been all day. It's so cute to hear in her little girl voice. She again, didn't take a nap, and again got really cranky in the evening. This time, she passed out on the couch next to me. I let her sleep for like an hour and half, but then woke her up so that we could go grocery shopping and eat dinner. Those plans got messed up a bit, when Steve's weekly meeting got moved up by about 45 minutes. She was SOOOO fussy when I woke her up. Poor kiddo. She did calm down though, once we gave her the Cinnamon Twists from Taco Bell. Hehehe. Jilly got into the staples in our desk drawer. Apparently the love of office supplies is genetic (Steve and I have to stay far away from Office Depot/Max/Staples, etc without a very specific list and time limit, because we get office supply lust).

Because I haven't posted pictures in a while, I took a bunch this evening. So gaze upon our cute fairy, who then turned into an alien fairy and enjoy!

This is a new outfit I put together a couple weeks ago and I love it. It's spunky and fun, especially with the side ponytail. ;-)


This was also a few weeks ago, when she put on Daddy's shoes and walked around in them. How CUTE is this?!


She loves to play with my Sudoku book, or pretty much any paper, whenever she can get her hands on a pen. This particular time, she had removed her pants. Classy, huh?


Tonight when she fell asleep on the couch. Sweet little girl. :-)


And our Fairy Girl!


She often climbs up onto the couch, and this is mostly how she accomplishs it.


Once up, she'll often perch herself right on their armrest (Grandpa Brad would not approve).


According to her behvior today, this toy can ONLY be played with when it is on it's side or upside down.


You can see some of the lime green staples she was playing with, as well as when the Fairy turned into an Alien Fairy.


And last but not least- Wildcat! This is tonight, 27 weeks and 1 day. Steve thinks I'm way bigger than I was last time, and I have to say, I'm not surprised. It does feel like the belly grew enormously between my last picture (22 weeks) and today. Crazy....