Cousins and Conference are the best

You may or may not remember this post about the cousins my kids have on my side of the family. But I would be remiss if I didn't mention that my kids are lucky enough to have close to same thing on Brad's side too.

This is Ella. She just turned eight. Last weekend we went to "The Motherland" (Brad's affectionate reference for Ohio, in case you forgot), to see her be baptized (awesome) and her baby brother be blessed (also awesome).

After Ella comes Preston. Who would not, for the life of me, smile for my camera. But who is darling. And only 2 weeks older than Nick (Mindy and I had the same due date but she was lucky and went early).

And here's Brennen, who's less than 2 months younger than Chasey boy. And a red head. (jealous).

And finally, meet Griffin. Mindy and Phil's 4th child. About 3 months younger than Cora. Also a red head. (double jealous. you'd think with having it on both sides of the family that at least one of our kids would have red hair, right? wrong.)

And it's a good thing with all the boys running around that these 2 GIRLS have each other.


We love going to OH. The kids play themselves to exhaustion. Not only because of the cousins but because of the S P A C E. We're a little short on that in our little town home. Chase pretty much drives this car around Brad's parents house non-stop.

They make forts and chase Ella and go on hikes and wrestle with anyone that will let them (lucky that they have wonderful aunts, like Miranda).

There's always games involved in these trips. I love this shot of these three grown men begging Ella to sell something or buy something or give them something (I really have no idea. Monopoly -- not my kind of game).

I spent the better part of an hour trying to get a photo of Cora with her feet in her mouth. It's a constant these days, but she always pulls them out when I pull out the camera!

 This weekend has been relaxed and conference filled, which I l.o.v.e. Yesterday I laid on the couch with Cora girl while Brad and the boys "quietly" did legos as we listened. So edified. So refreshed. So inspired.

This morning we made whole wheat banana-flax seed pancakes for our special conference breakfast and enjoyed a wonderful jammie day together. The next month will be family filled and

I C A N ' T W A I T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The prep...

 The feast (corn beef, cabbage, carrots, onions and red potatoes cooked in apple juice, sucanat, and a little bit of mustard all day -- yum (except for the cabbage. I do.not.like.cabbage)...

 The dessert (pistachio chocoalte chip cupakes provided by Jessica, delish)

 The costume choices...

 The prize...

 The guests...

 The treasure hunt...

 The hosts

 Cora slept through the whole thing, so she and I had our own party later. As you can tell, I'm very entertaining...

I made a New Years resolution to make the holidays more fun and memorable for my kids. I failed HORRIBLY on Valentines Day. But I love St.Patrick's day. My mom's best friend, Retta, had a St.Patrick's day party for us and the Anderson's every year that I can remember, complete with the corn beef and treasure hunt. In fact, I think one of the most homesick moments I've ever had in my life was our first St.Patty's day away when I knew they were all together and celebrating without me. I've been wanting to carry on the tradition ever since we moved away, and finally did it this year.

Can't wait for next year...

I know, I know. March 11th has come and gone and you're all on the edge of your seats wondering "where is Bekah's 4 month post about Cora?!" :) To tell you the truth, not much has changed with my little love in the last month. She's still a great sleeper, still as happy as can be. She isn't rolling or anthing, which is a-okay with me (and could be because I only remember to do tummy time maybe once a week). She does immensley enjoy her bath and has discovered her feet. I think I fall more in love with her everyday!

I always love to hear who people think she looks like. The most common comment I get from people that know my family is that she looks like my mom and/or my mom's side of the family, the Smith's. She reminds me a lot of Nick, a teensy bit of Chase, and I definitely see my mom and my Grandma Smith in her.

Here's a photo of Nick when he was 3 momths old:

And Chasey boy when he was 2.5 months old

And my little lady at 4 months

Here she is with my mom (who's in town again--WAHOO!)

Here's my Grandma Smith (it's the eyes, I think)

And here's some other photos from this month:

Our play group went on a field trip to a local grovery store and my boys LOVED it!

Love this curly hair!

Happy March!! Hopefully spring is right around the corner!

What I do...

Last week I was composing a long overdue email to a dear friend. She had asked what was new with us, and as I set about to answer the question, I found myself staring at my computer screen, stumped. What is new with us. Why do I feel like I'm so busy, going from kid #1, to kid #2, to kid #3, all day long, but also feel like I get nothing done? So as the days have flown by this week, I've found myseld compiling a list (although not completely all inclusive) in my head of what it is, exactly, that I do.

1. Get up
2. Pray, read scriptures, exercise
3. Shower
4. Nurse my baby (6 times per day)
5. Prepare meals and snacks (5 times per day)
6. Supervise piano practicing and reading lessons (kid #1)
7. Do puzzles, build train tracks, potty train (kid #2)
8. Change diapers, smile, and baby talk (kid #3)
9. Clean. And clean. And clean some more.
10. Drive; pre-school, errands, piano and gymnastics
11. Put kids to bed (baths, pj's, teeth, family scripture study and prayer, books, songs)
12. Spend what feels like 10 minutes with my hubby before he works out and prepares seminary
13. Pray and go to bed
14. Repeat and repeat and repeat

***Disclaimer: I am not complaining. Fact is, I've never been happier. But now you know why I get that glazed over look in my eyes when people ask me "What's new with you?"

But here are some new things that have added excitement to my life:

Brad's sister, Mallory, is getting married next month! No one has gotten married in either sides of our families since we did, 7.5 years ago, so this is exciting! Welcome to the family, Jeff!

Also, the ever amazing sister-in-law Kate started a food blog! Wahoo! http://www.prettypalate.blogspot.com/

And lastly, my friend Cooper took some 3 month pictures of my Cora girl. Here are some of my faves:

You can check out Cooper's work at http://www.cooperjburgess.com/