bittersweet

Well, I haven't nursed Emma since Sunday. It was an unexpected & abrupt stop, but she started refusing me & getting really upset every time I tried nursing her. She just likes me to rock her now before naps (which have now gone down to 1X a day) & bedtime. I thought I would be so happy, but I'm kind of sad. I thought it would take longer. I kind of miss that closeness. I feel really out of place right now because I've been nursing or pregnant for almost 4 years now. On Sunday, I was able to fast for the first time in forever! It was good. I'm still kind of in shock that I have my body to myself. It is very weird! However, I know that I desperately need some time before I'm ready for baby #3. Dan & I are looking forward to our first ever trip alone together (since starting our family) sometime next Spring. The kids will finally be old enough to be left with their grandparents. We are thinking Eastern Europe where Dan served his mission or Disney World. I'm not sure if I want to go to another country the first time I leave the kids, we'll see though. Anyway, it is nice that Dan was able to put Em to bed tonight & I guess I can take off this pony tail holder on my wrist that I was using to remember which side to nurse on! Next feat: potty-training Elli. I know it's time.

Lagoon

We had so much fun at this amusement park in Farmington, we practically spent the whole day there, we didn't leave till closing! Dan's company plans a trip there every summer, in the past we couldn't do much because the kids were so little. This time we brought Dan's sister, Katie, so we were able to take turns going on rides.
Emma's first carousal ride
I was surprised at how brave Eliška was! She wanted to go on all the kiddie rides, even though she got kinda scared on some of them!

It was SO cute seeing the girls ride together on this little car! I was picturing them as teenagers!
They loved this little boat ride too


Eliška loved this roller coaster


This ride went high up & then dropped a few different times. Elli got SO scared! I felt bad, but afterward she said she liked it.

I didn't take any pictures at the water park area because we put the camera in a locker. We had so much fun though on all the waterslides. I hadn't been on one since I was like 13! Such a fun day!

Weaning Emma

My mom keeps asking if I'm still nursing. So this is for you, mom (plus I wanted to post this cute picture of Emma)! I stopped feeding Emma at night because thankfully she has consistently been sleeping through the night for a few weeks now. I'm so happy, I forgot how nice it is to sleep a full uninterrupted 8 hours! So, I now am down to twice a day, which is a huge improvement. I kind of stopped with the whole milk, so I need to try more with that. Eventually I will just phase out each feeding (hopefully replacing it with whole milk). It's been hard getting Emma to become more independent. I think when she starts walking, she will want to be on her own more.

Happy Sunday

Well my talk actually went well. I was able to find a lot of material on LDS.org. I talked about how we'd always go on road trips to visit National Parks in our Volkswagon Vanogan (some of my favorite childhood memories!). I was able to grow a love for this country at an early age, by seeing just how beautiful & wondrous it is (Yosemite is my favorite). Dan did great too, I enjoyed hearing him speak. Dan's sister watched the girls for us, they were pretty good. Emma started crying when I began my talk because she heard my voice so loudly, meanwhile Eliška was waving & saying, "Hi, mommy!" (very cute & encouraging). I baked/roasted a whole chicken today, which is something I've always wanted to do. I went a little overboard when I rubbed the seasoning onto the skin, but it turned out pretty good. We watched "Bridge to Terabithia" yesterday, very cute kids movie. I remember I loved that book in grade school. The girls are in bed now & it was a nice weekend.

little trouble makers

Here is their latest incident, powdered sugar everywhere (nice & sticky) We now have a doorknob lock on the pantry

good eatin'

Well we went back to Ikea to eat at the restaurant, very yummy & kid friendly. You have to get the chocolate cake, so good! The Swedish meatballs were pretty good too. I had an Italian panini sandwich w/ basil, roasted red bell pepper & mozzarella cheese (yum). They have kid tables, baby food, microwaves to warm bottles & games for the kids (I was impressed).

Patriotism

We just got a call asking us to speak in church on Sunday! Talk about last minute! Patriotism is the topic. I can't think of hardly anything to talk about, especially 10 minutes worth! We actually have not spoken in church since we were in Provo like 3 or 4 years ago! I am really rusty & nervous. At least they said I can spend a little bit introducing our family, etc. Well, wish me luck! I better start writing...

Super Long Weekend

Since Dan had Pioneer Day off on Tuesday, he decided to take off Monday too. So we had a really long weekend together, which was so nice. Most of it was spent staying up late & finishing the final Harry Potter book. I have loved this series so much, I highly recommend it to everyone! We finally got our carpets cleaned on Monday & it really worked. I was skeptical that it would get all the stains out, but it looks brand new now. We also were able to go to The Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy, which was very cute. Eliška really enjoyed it. She didn't like touching the sting rays though, too slimy I guess. They are going to be expanding eventually to a huge 90,000 s.f. Aquarium. The pictures of their plans look like it will be really cool. We started watching the TV series, "Alias" from Netflix. A lot of people I know love it, so we decided to rent it. It's a really addicting show! We've been frequenting Cold Stone & Jamba Juice lately because it's been so hot here. Dan is feeling better after throwing his back out a couple weeks ago. He was finally able to mow the lawn which was getting really crazy, to the point where we got a note from the HOA that our lawn was too long & in violation of the CC&R's! Anyway, now I'm sad Dan's back at work & we don't have anymore vacations planned for a while. Oh well, I guess Labor Day is the next Holiday he has off. Plus, we're going to Lagoon with Dan's company next week, so that should be fun. Emma's awake now, back to the daily routine!