I choose carrying grocies in the rain!

A few weeks before we moved from Baltimore I posted these pictures side-by-side on Instragram with this caption: "I call this talent: fitting all the groceries in the stroller in the rain, balancing toilet paper, carrying a toddler lawn chair under my arm, and holding an umbrella while pushing the stroller to the building, locking the stroller on a ramp so I can unlock the outside door. Then using my body weight to hoist the heavy stroller over the bump to another ramp where I have to lock it again so I can close the outside door. Going up the elevator and into our apartment is the easy part. I know @_byates_ is tired of my complaining, but I am counting down the number of grocery shopping trips left living in a high rise! #uglyface #yeslilyiscrying". My ridiculously long post did not include the funny encounter I had with the maintenance man after I opened the basement door. As I hoisted my stroller in the building I dropped half the stuff, ha ha! He looked at me kind of shocked and said "Do you need some help?" I don't remember what I said, but probably something absurd like "Nope, I'm okay." Now I could make all sorts of metaphors to life about balancing too much in our lives, not accepting help, etc. etc., and maybe I will someday, but I won't right now. However, after I put the groceries away and Lily was napping I had some time to think about the funny situation, and this is what I decided: Of all the trials I could have in life I choose this. I choose carrying my groceries in the rain up to my 4th floor apartment with a tired, unhappy baby! Life is hard and some people go through the hardest situations and I feel lucky that my "burden" at this time in my life is stuffing my stroller with food and taking care of a crying baby. Thank you Heavenly Father for the life I have been given!

Cherry Blossom Festival

We decided to make the drive to the Cherry Blossom Festival in D.C. and it was so worth it. We love D.C. and this was by far the prettiest we ever saw it. (Note to self: when we bring our growing children back some day, go when the cherry blossoms are in bloom). I'm not a good photographer so my pictures don't do justice, but they were gorgeous.

The trees completely surround Tidal Basin. We also got to see the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, which we hadn't seen before. You can see it in center of this picture.

This picture makes my heart melt. So cute!

We are going to miss the short drives to D.C. Goodbye for now!

Quiet Book

I finished #5 on my 30 before 30 list to sew a quiet book! It was a lot of work, but really fun to make. I searched for pages on Pinterest, chose the ones I liked, and then either followed their tutorials or made it up. I convinced my friend in Baltimore, Julia, to make the book with me. This helped with buying supplies, thinking through the best way to sew, and most importantly, for motivation.

 I complied a few ideas for the cover and I was so pleased with how it turned out. The front flap is velcro and there is a handle so Lily can carry it around.

The ribbon pull. I loved this idea, but sadly it didn't work out as well as I wanted it to. If I had reinforced the holes the grommets would have stayed and if I had used bigger ribbon the ends wouldn't always pull through the grommets. But it looks funs, ha ha.

 

Abacus counting page. Lily loves sliding the beads up and down the ribbon.

Good old velcro shapes.

This page is a combination of a couple ideas. Flaps and a velcro square that comes apart.

 I'm glad this page is next to the shapes because Lily has fun hiding the shapes behind the flaps and attaching different items to each velcro spot.

I should have gone for the more expensive zippers. Love the color of these, but Lily will need to be a lot older before she can zip them on her own.

A detachable "I Spy" bag. Found this idea somewhere and it is so smart. If I don't want the whole quiet book with me, then I can just pull off the "I Spy" bag and throw it in the diaper bag.

Button flowers with an open pocket in the pot to store the flowers in.

Basic mitten page.

And the final page involved Barrett's designing skills and access to a 3-D printer at school. I really wanted a twisty page and when Barrett told me he could easily design and print one for me months ago, I didn't forget it. He was nice enough to set aside some time before we moved to design these for the book and I'm so happy he did because they work great. They are really easy for Lily to twist on and off.

While crossing this off my list I realized that I also completed another item when I moved to Baltimore, which was to stop working full-time and teach piano. Although piano is not a replacement for work due to our frequent moves, I did stop working and had 2 students while in Baltimore. Hopefully, when we really are "settled" somewhere I will be able to have more regular students. I also had a realization that some items on my list may need to be adjusted because were aren't living in Utah anymore so I may not be around to visit specific places I have listed. We'll see...

More of our Baltimore bucket list

For those of you who don't know lacrosse, JHU it THE place for college lacrosse. Going to a JHU lacrosse game was at the top of our bucket list, especially because Barrett played high school lacrosse. We went on a beautiful spring day, where we got our first sunburns of the year. It was so much fun! I really wish we could have gone to more. Even Barrett only got to 2 games during the season.

A day at the Science Center at Inner Harbor with Ashley, Keaton, and Aisley.

$2 night at the Port Discovery Children's Museum with the Moss' and Normans. I really wish we would have known about this museum earlier in our time at Baltimore.

I had to take a picture of Lily during story time. Ha ha! All the kids are sitting enjoying the story and Lily just gets up and stands right in front of the book, pointing and talking like no one else is there.

A couple "documenting" videos of Lily. Not so exciting, but good for the journal. You have to look close in this video, but this is the beginning of her holding up her hands and saying "Where'd it go?"

A date night with Barrett's classmates at the Orioles game. We almost got lower bowl tickets to the Ravens/Steelers Thanksgiving Day football game, but when that didn't work out, going to an Orioles game replaced a Ravens game on our bucket list. It's more enjoyable being warm and gazing at the pretty city line right?

Philadelphia

Before Barrett went to India we did take a few days during his Spring Break to go to Philadelphia. Since it's a short drive we just drove there and back two days in a row. We really wanted to go to the zoo because we heard it was amazing, but it was too cold. Here are a few of the things we did.

The first day we went to the Please Touch Children's Museum. Lily was a little wary of some things (like riding her own horse on the carousel) but for the most part played with everything there. 

By far her favorite part was the grocery store. She LOVED pushing the little grocery cart.

In another room you could shoot foam rockets from an air compressor stand. I love this first face! She was always worried when they first went off...

 ...but then loved it when they flew through the air.

She didn't like this space costume very much either, ha ha.

Then we headed over to the famous Rocky steps and saw the statue.

View of the city from the Rocky steps

The steps are on the way up to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which we went to the following day. I wish I would have taken some pictures from the inside because there is one section with huge columns and a beautiful ceiling.

The second day we went to Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were signed. It took me back to the play 1776. It really is amazing to think you are standing in the actual room where our country began.

The original Liberty Bell.

It had been awhile since we had done any sightseeing so it was so nice to have some down time again and learn more about our country. If you ever visit Washington, D.C. I highly recommend adding this area to the agenda since it's so close and holds a lot of history of the government too.

Barrett goes to India

Right after my sister left Baltimore, Barrett asked if he could go to India for a "few days" to do more testing with his global health device. They were giving their team the opportunity for someone to go, which was great so they could get more feedback for their device. I figured a few days wasn't that big of a deal and he should definitely go. Well, a "few days" turned into 6, so I said that's fine as long as you make it back so I can go to the General Women's Broadcast since it was the first one with girls included! Then the plane tickets were bought and his flight didn't come in until Sunday morning! What?! Not only are you now gone 8 days, I can't go to the broadcast unless I either take Lily (keep in mind that there was a dinner beforehand with a 30+ minute drive both ways) or find someone to watch her late and then have to go pick her up late and put her to bed... Yes, sadly, a few tears were shed, but I decided it wasn't worth it to be depressed about it. We knew what this program was going to be like and I would figure out the broadcast or watch at home. (By the way, in no way was the longer trip Barrett's fault. He didn't want to be gone that long either. I definitely wasn't mad at him, just sad about the length) I was a little nervous about being alone for that long so I started making my schedule busy. Barrett left and then I had one of the greatest blessings of the year. My family knew I was nervous and offered to pray for me. The strength I felt while he was gone was tangible! Events, service opportunities, and friends came out of the woodwork and I had an amazing week. Probably one of the happiest weeks because of all the people I had contact with. Then to finish it off I decided to stay home during the broadcast. I put Lily to sleep, got in my pajamas, and watched the most amazing women's broadcast I have ever participated in. I ended up feeling grateful I had stayed home where I could cry and ponder alone at the messages. I felt incredibly grateful for the prayers and the willingness of others to hangout with me when they knew I was alone.

Sadly, Barrett's week didn't go as well. He got sick in India and felt pretty crappy and homesick while there. But he worked hard and did what he needed to. Here are a few pictures from his trip. I don't think I will do the explanations justice, but the pictures are worth sharing.

Here is a picture of Barrett's device: an inexpensive fetal heart rate monitor for developing countries.

They didn't have much time to sightsee on this trip like they did on the last one. They worked all day, every day and he didn't get any pictures in the hospital. But one thing they were able to see was the Victoria Memorial, which looks beautiful to me.

A picture of the crazy, no lanes, driving in India.

On their way home they had a long layover in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and were able to see the Burj Kahlifa, which is the tallest building in the world.

They happened to be there during a color festival so they saw some amazing lights and fountain shows.

Barrett also mentioned that there were nice cars everywhere. This must have been some of his favorites.

And while Barrett was off in India, Lily went to nursery for the first time! I didn't think she would care about going, and I was right. When I walked her into the room, the first thing she did was find a teapot in this bin and start playing.

Then she found her friends, Cohen and Maya and was content.

I really wanted to just sit and watch her. It's funny how you are with them 24/7, and yet you still want to watch how they are when you're not around. One of our friends snuck in and took this picture for me so I could see her. Look how cute! Sitting there waiting for her snack! I can't believe how fast she is growing up.