Big Accomplishments

In the spirit of posting things in reverse order, I just had to write about how proud I am of Ava. She's been working on not sucking her thumb, something she used to spend about a third of her day doing. She was begging me to take her to Build-A-Bear, so I told her we could create a chart and she could work on not sucking her thumb. She tried hard to talk me into doing something easier (i.e. making her bed or being nice to her sister), but I held firm.

I have to admit, the entire time we were making the chart, I really didn't think she could do it. I was a serious thumb sucker, and didn't stop until I was almost 10. I don't want to say she's free from the addiction (are we ever?) but she's well past earning her trip to Build-A-Bear. The trick for us was bandaids on the thumbs at night and gum during the day, but really it took dedication on her part.

You'll notice Lilly in the background of the picture with her bear. She's been working simultaneously on not wetting the bed at night. I wanted to cry when they rang up those two overly priced stuffed animals, but I guess it's worth every dime if it means not changing pee sheets every few nights and a huge behavioral change in Ava.

Disney World

We had such a fun spring break at Disney World last week. We made it to all 4 parks, braved the insane crowds, ate junk food to our hearts content, and walked it off. My dad wore a pedometer and figured we were averaging about 12 miles a day. I think I carried Lilly for about half of that.

The most exciting thing about the week is that both girls are now tall enough to ride the roller coasters with us. Lilly was just shy of the 40" mark, so we filled her shoes with napkins. She still needed a boost, so I folded napkins and hid them under her curly hair and it did the trick. Good thing, because that girl is a thrill seeker and LOVED it. She almost blew her cover the first time when the worker on Soarin' measured her and said she was tall enough. She smiled and announced "I got more napkins!"

This picture was taken the first day when the kids still loved each other.

On the train at Animal Kingdom. We never got a picture with all 4 of us looking at the camera.

After their first ride on Splash Mountain.

At the princess lunch. Ava wanted to see what kind of shoes the princesses were wearing, in true girlie fashion.

Easter

We flew in late Saturday night from Disney World, so the theme of Easter Sunday was survival. We managed to put on our new pretty dresses and make it to church, where I taught the Relief Society lesson.



When we got home we dyed eggs. Ava called it dying for eggs, which Lilly interpreted as "diving for eggs." When the day was over, Lilly reminded me that we still needed to dive for eggs. I guess she thought we were going to throw them in the pool and dive for them like rings. That might explain why she threw one on top of my parent's pool cover during the hunt.

My Love

xoxoxo

Happy birthday Ty! I'll never forget when I took you out on your birthday 7 years ago and we talke about getting married over fondu and go-carting. Good thing that wasn't just an April Fool's joke.

Thank you for your love and support through these years, and for being such a great husband and father to our girls. I love you!!!