I've been avoiding you

I really have been avoiding the blog. I haven't done much reading of blogs either. I can't really say why I have, but I just haven't really wanted to make any posts. Our little family had a great trip out to visit our families, and we've been back now about 3 weeks. We are definitely enjoying our new house, but its been a difficult transition, emotionally, especially for me. I mostly just feel lost, I guess.

The girls are doing very well though, and I'm thankful for that.

Family Pictures 2012

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I'm a cluster blogger.

Enjoy posts April through May. If you want chronological order start down and scroll up.

Adelynne's last day of 1st grade.

Adelynne's last day of the 1st grade was May 25th. She almost didn't go because she came home with a fever and sore throat the day before. I actually took her late to school the last day because she still wasn't feeling well, but she didn't want to miss her last day. She was able to perk up after breakfast and an easy (rather than rushed) morning.

Look how long her hair has grown!

This was her first day of 1st grade. She has changed!

A close-up:

First day close-up:

Adelynne and her teacher Mrs. Tammy Younts. She was an AMAZING teacher and I am so grateful that Adelynne had her as her 1st grade teacher.

Adelynne doing her morning work with her class mates: L to R at the table: Ana, Itsuki, Adelynne, Spencer, Justice.

More of Adelynne's classmates: Marissa, Dana, Itsuki, Olivia, Jordan, Hassan. (The girl sitting at the other table looking on is Amina).

Floor time!

Blowing bubbles! Ana and Adelynne. These two girls have been best friends (BFF) all year long. Ana is the sweetest girl and we sure love her. Adelynne misses her so much with school being out!

Putting herself to sleep

I started a job at the YMCA working a shift two days a week from 2/3- 10 pm. Aurora doesn't always like to go to sleep without me around, so this is what Dustin has resorted to doing on those more difficult nights. He sets Aurora in our lazy boy, gives her a blanket, her baby dolls, and sometimes her bunny. She refuses to let Dustin hold her, and will in fact yell at him to get out of the chair so she can sit there. Dustin finds it quite humorous and took this picture. She sure is a good source of entertainment!

In May...

Monday, May 14th, our family plus Grandpa and Grandma Belt took a road trip to Evanston, Il. We all wanted to check out Northwestern University, and look around Evanston to scout out any potential places to rent. On our trip we discovered that NW is right on the beach of Lake Michigan. We decided to have some fun on our trip and play at the beach. The girls were SO happy. It was a beautiful day to picnic on the lake and play in the sand. The water was very cold, so no one was swimming, but we did at least stick our feet in the water. We mostly had fun with the sand. It really was a great day trip, and it made us all excited about our upcoming move.

Here is the beach that is on Northwestern campus. You can see Chicago in the distance. Isn't it awesome?! We played on the beach just over that rock divider.

And Adelynne lost a tooth! I helped it a little, but she was SO excited! The first thing she said after I pulled it out was, "I can't wait to show Grandpa Biggs so he can call me Toothless Goofus!"

I love that scrunchie face and her tongue sticking out!

The girl's castle/river creation.

David and Mable Belt at Lake Michigan.

In May...

Dustin graduated!! Dustin's wonderful parents came out to celebrate Dustin's achievement. They have been some of our biggest supporters throughout these last six years, and we are forever grateful. They have been saving to come out to Indiana for this exact reason, and it was a great joy to have them be here with us. Dustin's graduation ceremony was also on Mother's Day. So Happy Mother's Day to me! :)  I am a very proud wife. The ceremony was 3 hours long, we definitely should have left after Dustin was hooded, especially since he was at the beginning.

Dustin's wonderful parents. We were so glad to have them share this special day with us!

A hug from his mom.

I know, a pitiful amount of pictures taken on this day, but I just wanted to enjoy it. I never did take a "Mother's Day" photo with my girls either. But there's a picture of me from my Mother's Day 2012.

And a Dance Recital!

Here are the girls all dolled up for their dance recital. We are waiting impatiently for the recording to come in the mail. The girls did such a great job. Amy wanted to just do ballet this year, and although she was 2 weeks late to the class, she proved to learn very quickly and VERY well. She was the best dancer in her class! I was one proud mama, that's for sure. I really had a ton of fun doing the their hair and make-up. I probably did more make-up than I should have, but I loved it! Plus, good eye make-up is important for stage performances, right? The girls had a great time too. Adelynne's dance class was hip/hop and jazz combo. Her dance was done to the song from the movie Rio, "Fly like an Eagle." She did so well too. It was really great to see how much she had improved in her dance skills. She really loves dancing.

Back in April.... Amy had a birthday, what?!

Amy girl turned 5! FIVE!! It is so unbelievable to me that to this day when people ask how old she is I am still saying that she is 4 and then correcting myself. Since Amy had a big party last year, she didn't have one this year. She did have a sleep over though. Her best friend, Sabrina was supposed to come over, but she and her sisters got very sick and were not able to come. But our neighbor/friend, Clayton came over and spent the night and Amy was happy about that. But before the sleepover began, our favorite neighbors and dear friends, the Iddings family came over and had cake and ice-cream with us. Their son, Dylan is another of Amy's best friends. In fact Dylan and Amy have a bit of a crush on each other. :) The draw each other pictures all the time that have hearts all over them and a boy and a girl holding hands. It is pretty cute. We did celebrate Amy's birthday starting on Friday (for the sleep over), but also because Dustin was leaving town on Sunday, her actual birthday, for a week. (He went to a conference at Yale. On Saturday night I stayed up late and decorated the apartment so that when Amy woke up on her actual birthday it would still be special for her. Some of the decorations are still up. :) Amy picked out this cake. She wanted the cake with a crown and wand. She was VERY excited about her cake. Some things about Amy at 5 years old: - Her "nick name" is "Amy Girl." - She still loves princesses, fancy clothes, dress-ups, crowns, skirts, dresses, etc. - Favorite color: pink and yellow. But if choosing between the two, she will choose yellow. - Favorite food: macaroni and cheese. - Ariel is her favorite Disney Princess - chocolate is her favorite treat - Dylan and Sabrina are her best friends - Little Mermaid is her favorite movie (although she loves to watch Barbie movies a lot) - Loves the Bubble Guppies on Nick Jr. - A is her favorite letter. - Her favorite thing to do is watch TV - Hippo is still her favorite toy - She picks her nose a little too much - She only wants to do something when she wants to do it. Persuasion doesn't usually work. - She is very sensitive and will cry or have hurt feelings easily if someone gets upset with her. - She loves playing at friend's houses and is always grumpy when I come to get her. - She loves making people happy and she really is a sweet and loving child. She is shy about making new friends, but she is excited when she does make a new friend. Amy really brings a lot of fun and brightness to our home and our family. I often call her my sunshine girl because when she is happy she just lights up the room and brings a smile to my face. She loves to love on her baby sister. Aurora is not necessarily fond of all the love from Amy, but Amy still loves to cuddle her. Amy enjoys giving Adelynne hugs too, and wants so much to please those around her.

Back in April...

 Easter pictures! (April 8, 2012) Not a moment too soon, right? Adelynne and Amy are once again wearing the dresses that my mother made for my sister and I on an Easter long ago. And my mom made one for Aurora too so she could match. The girls are so darling in them, they look like princesses. When Adelynne put her dress on for the first time on Easter morning she declared, "I might actually like this one!" Ha! She has loved all of the dresses from her Grandma.

I love Aurora's face in this one:

(April 13th). I had to snap some pictures of Aurora in this outfit because its one of my favorites, and she won't be able to wear it much longer since she is growing so much. I wish she would keep the cute little headband on longer than 2 minutes because it completes her outfit so well, but she doesn't. At least she left it on for pictures.

Again, her cute little scrunchie face. Oh I love it so much!

Announcing...

Dr. and Mrs. Belt! Did you see that? I wrote "Dr." because that's what he is now, a doctor of mathematics.

Oh smart.

Dustin defended his research this afternoon, and passed! Hurray! He has a PhD.

Sigh.

5 facts for the day AND a random back-blog post

Fun facts for the day:

1. Aurora is 19 months old-- HOLY COW!!! She's still my baby though. I have had lots of baby hungry days and moments over the past year and half, but every time I hold Aurora I know I'm not ready for another one because I've still got my sweet baby to take care of. (I'm SO grateful for the reality check with those moments)!

2. Amy Girl has learned to ride her bike without training wheels. !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dustin removed them on Saturday, and she was very nervous. She didn't want to hold on to her bike, she wanted to hold on to me or Dustin (who ever was helping her). She would let go of her bike every time she even thought she would fall or crash. But today she just got on her bike and I gave her a push and she was off! And then she would use her breaks but mostly her feet to make herself stop. She did awesome! She will be pro by the end of the week, and she's not quite 5 yet. I am so impressed, if you couldn't tell. I love how Amy Girl is so proud of herself too. She just beams with happiness!

3. Amy Girl notified us yesterday that she does not want to be a princess when she grows up, she wants to be a dance teacher. This is a HUGE transition for my totally princess child to make. I can definitely see her being a dance teacher.... as well as a princess.

4. Adelynne has glasses! She got them on Friday and she is one adorably smart looking girl! I was so surprised during her eye exam when she was asked to read the letters and she really struggled. The letters were not that small and she would tilt her head forward with her right eye and squint with her left eye. I was just so shocked that I had not notice her do this before! Or maybe I had and I just thought she was being so silly. She seriously is so cute in her glasses though. Pictures coming soon.

5. I'm still house-searching for a place for us to rent in Evanston/Chicago. So nerve racking! I just want to find a place that we can afford and is in a good and safe area for my children. But even when I get myself all stressed out and worried I still have a feeling that Heavenly Father is watching over us and we will find the right place. I just have to be patient and wait. We can't move until August 1st anyway, so its a little too soon to find a place, I think.

And onto the back-blogging:

Just a cute picture of Amy helping Aurora play dress-up. This was back on January 19th. Amy saw it and remarked how long her hair was and that she had bangs. I guess I should post an updated picture of her with her cute little bob she's got now.

Also on Jan. 19th, some friends threw a little goodbye party for my dear friend Tifani. She moved away at the end of January, and I miss her! Everyone does. Its so hard saying goodbye to dear friends, and very soon I will be the one leaving. But here's a fun picture of some of my friends, Emily Z, Tifani, and yours truly.

And here's another picture of Tifani and me with Dacia. These ladies all have a special place in my heart!

A Small Tender Mercy

This morning I woke up with no energy. I took a shower and dressed hoping that I would feel better afterwards. But I did not, in fact I felt so heavy with exhaustion, I felt like I was moving in slow motion. My kitchen desperately needed cleaning, and the girls and I had planned a picnic at the park for the day, but I just didn't see how I could do even a simple task. I was feeling helpless and hopeless. But then I took a moment and knelt beside my bed and poured out my heart to my Heavenly Father. It was only a brief moment, that was all I had time for with three unsupervised children in the other room. But I asked for strength to not just get through my day but to enjoy the day with my children. There have been many, many days where I have prayed for the strength to get through the day, but something was different today. Almost as soon as I stood on my feet I felt the heaviness lift from me. I went to my kitchen and cleaned it up and then made some delicious homemade bread. The girls and I enjoyed a fun afternoon at the park, and I just felt strong and energetic. I am so grateful that I was able to enjoy the day with my sweet daughters, that I could help them cross the monkey bars and scoot down the slides with them; that I could not only hear them laugh but enjoy their laughter. I am grateful that my Father in Heaven answered my prayer this morning.

Art by Amy

Amy girl drew this picture this morning. I love it. And I think it is a very well drawn picture-- even if they are stick people. Its a picture of Adelynne and Amy, I'm sure you can tell who is who. She drew it for Adelynne.

So our life is going to change...

I can't believe we have reached this stage in our lives now! We will be moving to the Chicago area this summer!! Dustin has accepted a post-doc position at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. It is a one year position with possibility of extending up to three years. It is also a lectureship, which means the position will focus on teaching (as opposed to research), which is what Dustin prefers. He loves teaching, and doesn't love research so much, so when he was offered this lectureship he was very excited (as excited as Dustin can be). This all happened so fast. Dustin received an email letting him know that he would receive an offer from Northwestern soon. A week later, Dustin received the offer, with ONE week to accept or reject the offer. The deadline was today, and after much thought and prayer (hopefully enough of it), Dustin decided to accept the offer. He had not received any other offers, although he did have a job interview with BYU a few weeks ago and he was still being considered for that position. However, Dustin much preferred the position at Northwestern. It has all been quite stressful, especially for Dustin since up until Tuesday of this week, he still did not know if he would be able to graduate this May as he had originally planned. (Although now, he is kind of wishing he had planned for an August graduation so that he would have work through the summer). In January, Dustin received news that there was a mistake with his dissertation, and it wasn't an easy fix. It took him about 3 weeks to figure out a solution, and when he submitted that to his professor, it turned out that fixing that mistake had snowballed causing other problems that needed fixing. Daily Dustin would return home declaring that he didn't know if he could fix the problems. He started feeling like his reputation as a mathematician was depreciating, and that his advisor and other professors were thinking less of him and his abilities. It has been a very difficult few months watching Dustin stress and worry over something that I cannot even pretend to comprehend. I had no way to help Dustin, and beyond worrying for Dustin and his stress levels, I was starting to worry a little that he wouldn't graduate as well, and we might be in school for one more year. But it seems as though the Lord has answered our prayers and things are turning out fine! I know the Lord has helped Dustin and guided us along, and is continuing to do so. I am feeling very blessed!

So while Dustin works tirelessly on finishing up his dissertation and preparing for his defense (on April 17th), I am looking and praying for us to find a place to live in the Chicago areas. Dustin and I discussed what our finances will be with the income he is to receive, (which isn't much for a family of 5 to live on in an EXPENSIVE city, especially since we are used to living in a lower cost of living area). I am VERY nervous. I'm worried that my expectations are too high. I really want a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house/condo/townhouse, or something of that nature. The price range for these types of homes is around $1900/month, not including utilities! That is nearly half our monthly income. I started thinking of scaling down my expectation, but I am worried that places that are 2 bedroom just won't allow a family of 5. I also don't want Dustin to have too much of a commute. Sigh. Att the moment I just don't know when we will move out there. We don't have work for the summer and we need to save quite a bit more money than what we have saved. I'm aware that this is nothing new in life, but it is new for my life. I also have to consider what schools that BOTH of my daughters will attend. (I am still in disbelief that Amy is going to be in Kindergarten).

Oh, it is all so exciting and terrifying!!

Dustin and I are a little sad that we aren't going to be much closer to our families in the West, but, I am excited that we will be close to West Lafayette. We can come for a visit to see our friends that are here, and when they come to Chicago they can come and see us! One of the reasons we want a 2 full-bathroom place is to accommodate overnight guests. (Our hope is that friends will like to come and stay the night-- if they are coming to attend the Chicago temple-- or any other reason), and having 2 bathrooms will be much more comfortable for all. I want to more comfortably be able to host family and friends. (And if you are familiar with my current residence you can understand the reasons for my desires).

Sigh.

Smile.

Life is good.

I am blessed.

Leprechaun Trap

So I decided to be a fun mom tonight and make a leprechaun trap with Adelynne and Amy. We got some ideas from the internet and this is what we came up with. We made our trap based on some "rules" and some pictures from other traps that were made. Some of the rules included: leprechauns are lured by rainbows, sparkly things, gold, and lucky charms (the cereal!). We also learned that leprechauns don't like to follow rules, so we put up a few "tricky" signs. We decided to make it smaller using a child's size shoe box (that also was less work for me). But the girls and I had a lot of fun. I don't think I've been so involved in a craft for my kids before. I know, sad, but I'm trying to change. So here's the proof of all our fun.


A close up: The girls drew their own rainbows to add to the trap.


The back side: You can see the "tricky" note Adelynne wrote, "Lepercon trap, don't go up." The green pipe cleaner on the side is a rope ladder just in case the guy doesn't want to use the rainbow ladder. But who wouldn't want to use that cute ladder? The beads are keeping the back of the box on the trap.

And the top: So the trap works this way: the lucky charms are sitting in a paper cup cake tray which is in a hole. When the leprechaun jumps in to eat the lucky charms, he will cause the paper cup to drop into the box and we will trap him!! The girls were even willing to sacrifice the marshmallows from their cereal. Amy also came up with the idea to make a "pot of gold" with a black pipe cleaner, and then Adelynne made one too. They sure had a lot of fun, and so did I.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

487 points. An awesome day.

Today was a good day.

- I got 3 loads of laundry washed, dried and put away. (And there is one load in the dryer and one load in the washer still): 100 points/completed load

- I did some organizing and a little cleaning: 20 points. (Only 20, I didn't wash the dishes, but I did put clean ones away).

- I did NOT clean the bathroom (this could be a bad thing, it hasn't been cleaned in a LONG time, please don't ask to use it if you come over): 0 points.

- I showered: 10 points

- I got dressed: 10 points + bonus 5. (I get a bonus 5 points because I showered AND dressed).

- I did my hair AND put on make-up! (And I'm wearing earrings)!!: 10 points (for hair), 10 points (for make-up), 2 points (for earrings)

- I changed Aurora's diapers: 10 points (one of them was poopy):Yes, I totally get points for this, it is a required chore when you have a baby, but I still get points for it).

- I got up early to help Adelynne get ready for school AND I made her her lunch. (Normally Dustin lets me sleep in and he gets Adelynne ready.... don't judge me): 50 points (this is NOT an easy task for me so I am rewarding myself)

- When I got up this morning I remembered to get on my knees and pray, hmmm maybe that's why it was SUCH a good and productive day, hey!: 50 points

- I didn't "hit a wall" today and conk out on the couch while my children watched TV. (That is pretty AMAZING, but my children did watch a lot of TV): 10 points

If I added correctly I get 487 points!!! :)

But really, most of my days lately cannot even compete with this kind of day. I am really really grateful for being able to do each of these tasks today.

After all of these points were awarded: Dustin and I had a parent/teacher conference with Adelynne's teacher, T. Younts. Ms. Younts is a fabulous teacher! Adelynne adores her, and Ms. Younts seems to adore Adelynne just as much. I am so grateful that Adelynne has such a great teacher. But the conference went well, even with 3 little ladies in tow. The girls played happily with legos and books while Ms. Younts discussed with Dustin and I about Adelynne's school work. Adelynne is still at the top of her class, scoring at the top of testing levels, and even higher in her reading comprehension. Ironically, math is the one subject that Adelynne has a very slight struggle in, (if struggle is what you can call it). She is still doing extremely well, it just doesn't always come as easy to her-- which is fine with me. I think it is good for her to work to learn something. Adelynne will sometimes rush through assignments and do her work more carelessly, but I believe that is her competitiveness. If she sees someone working faster, then they are "winning," and Adelynne likes to win, so I can see her rushing an assignment so that she can be the first to finish. But really, Adelynne is intelligent and loves learning and loves school.

After the conference, we strolled through the book fair at Adelynne's school, and we let the girls pick out a book. Actually we let the girls bring two dollars each and I figured they would pick out something like a pen or a bookmark, but they both really wanted a book. Adelynne was really pouty about not having enough money, but Amy was kind of cute about it. I asked her if she had seen any books she liked and she replied, "Well, there are a couple of books, but I'm pretty sure they are more than two dollars." And she seemed really okay with not having enough money. But then I decided to pay the difference for the girls' books. And Aurora got one too. She wandered around pulling books off the shelves and sitting down and reading through the books, (under supervision of course). Aurora loves reading (and she mostly prefers reading to herself). After leaving the book fair, Dustin and I surprised the girls with a stop at Subway and a picnic dinner at the garden playground. The weather was very nice, very windy, but still worth being outside in. We weren't sure if it was going to rain, and we were feeling some mist, so we decided to go to the garden park here in Pville so we could be closer to home if the weather went bad. But it didn't, and we ate our sandwiches and played together on the playground. Aurora LOVES playgrounds right now. She loves climbing the stairs and going down slides. She sits down at the top of a slide and scoots closer to the slide. But then she will get a little scared and hesitate and waits for someone to assist her. Although tonight, she didn't want help and she just went right down. But one time she went down too fast and bonked her head, and after that she wanted help going down the slide. She's so cute. I decided to instigate a family game of tag, and actually Amy volunteered to be "it" first. She tagged Dustin, and then Dustin went for me. I could barely run in my lady shoes (not to mention I can barely run despite what shoes I am wearing), and I knew Dustin was coming up behind me and I was laughing. And right before he tagged me I was thinking to myself, "I'm going to wet myself when he gets me." And Dustin got me, and I wet myself a little bit. Yes, I just admitted to that, but hey, I was laughing and I said it out loud and then Adelynne asked me if I had wet my pants, and I told her that I did. Haha. Just something to laugh at, or shake my head at.... or both. It was a fun game of tag, and Aurora watched us all and laughed. She thought our game was so funny.

After our game of tag, we went home and the girls read their new books.

Aurora's new book: she got a board book because she is into ripping pages out of paper books. (GRRRR).


Amy picked a Barbie book with stickers. She was very proud of her sticker pictures (and yes, she got a hair cut. She asked me to cut it because she does NOT like me doing her hair. However, she does like having a little "whale spout" pony on the top of her head ???? don't ask me. Also, the line you see above her lip is a cut that is healing. She got hit in the face with the door and needed some gluing. The scar is 2 weeks old now and I just hope it won't be so obvious after it is all better):


Adelynne picked out a 3D book about kittens:

oh yeah!

She is such a diva! I'm pretty sure Aurora will NOT be a tomboy. If her sisters are dressing up, then she wants to as well, and Amy and Adelynne are more than happy to help her out.


Picture was taken on January 3rd.

PI day

Every year I forget about this special day. I really shouldn't because I am married to a mathematician and I am proud to be married to him! This year I told myself to not forget, and guess what? I forgot until this morning. Luckily, there is still plenty of the day left. I made a chocolate pie for dessert, and I will be making a chicken pot pie for dinner. YUM! I think Dustin will be surprised.

Happy PI day!

Funny Amy

Every time my girls say something funny I think to myself that I will put it on the blog, but I always forget. Well last night at dinner time, Amy said a funny, and I am writing it down darn it!

I was making grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner, and there was a lot of excitement in the house because of this. I think Dustin was the most excited. We had been enjoying the nice warm weather outside, and everyone had come inside except for Dustin. I was cooking up the sandwiches and Dustin came in the room and asked excitedly, "Can I have a grilled cheese sandwich too?!" Amy jumped from her seat into Dustin's arms laughing and declared, "No Dad! You can't have a girl cheese sandwich because you're a boy!"

Oh were we laughing at that one! I'm still laughing to myself this morning.