Blessing and a Temple Trip

We blessed Adelaide on Sunday, Oct. 13th.  Our families weren't able to come out, which is a definite downside of living out of state : ( but we had the support of several great friends to stand in the circle with Craig.  Adelaide wore the blessing dress that I wore, which was kind of fun to see her in it!

Both family pictures are a little awkward. :) I guess that's how it goes when you have 2 kids - how do you get both of them looking decent in one picture? :)

It was a beautiful blessing.  I was reminded of how precious she is -that she is a daughter of God!  We are so grateful for this sweet little girl!

 This last Friday (before our Stake Conference) was a Stake "Fill the Temple" day.  We felt like it was important for us to make an effort to go. So we did!  Our Stake is in the Oklahoma City Temple district.  It is 3 1/2 hours away.  So not way far, but far enough that it definitely takes some planning to be able to go.  

Craig took the day off of work, and we left at 5:30 in the morning, so that we could make it in time for the 10:00 session. (Turns out it was a 10:30 session, so we were a little early.  But that's not a bad thing!) On our way, we ran into some toll roads...which we were not expecting.  And we didn't have any cash.  And they don't take cards.  So there we were, counting out $2.50 all in pennies!  Luckily, we did have quite the stash of pennies in our truck.  After we got to $1.50, the toll worker was so annoyed and told us that she would just pull $1.00 out of her pocket.  We were grateful!  But seriously - we had no idea there would be toll roads in Oklahoma!  I thought that was only a back east thing...apparently I was mistaken.  So we made sure we had cash the rest of the trip.  And then we came to some that had no toll workers, just a big barrel that you throw your money into.  Toll: $0.60 - exact change required.  And these ones didn't accept pennies.  What?!  Who has exactly $0.60 just lying around? Luckily, we happened to find a $1 coin, so that worked.

We finally made it to the temple!  There was a church that shares the parking lot with the temple, and it was open and available for people to wait there with kids, which was very convenient.  

I went to the temple first while Craig watched our kids, and then we switched.  It was a wonderful experience!  It always is - I really enjoy going to the temple, but it had been a while since we've been able to go, so this visit was exceptional. I love the feelings of love and peace I get when I go, and that they stay with me for a while after.

 

Our stake definitely filled the temple!  The sessions were all overflowing, all day!  It was exciting to see so many people there.

We decided to drive home that night.  We left at 6:00, and what usually is a 3 1/2 hour drive ended up being close to a 6 hour drive!  We were stuck in traffic for 2 hours! It was crazy.  But our kids did awesome. I was so impressed!

Next time we go, we will be much more prepared for the logistics!

My 2 1/2 year old boy

Calder is over 2 1/2! He has grown up sooo much in the past couple months.  Some things about my little man:

• He is  such a good kid.  He really tries so hard to make good choices (at least most of the time. :)) 
• He LOVES to talk about missions, missionaries, etc.  At night when we are putting him to bed, he always requests stories from Craig's or either of his grandpa's missions.  He always tells us that he is going to go on a mission one day. 
• He talks frequently about the Temple as well, and how he is going there someday, and will get married there, just like Mommy and Daddy.  It melts my heart! I hope he keeps his mission and temple goals his whole life.
• He sings all the time. He doesn't always like when we sing with him - he'd rather do it all by himself.  Right now his favorite songs to sing are "Twinkle, twinkle little star" and the "ABC's."  He has sung almost all of the words to "I love to see the Temple" and the family song "I have a family here on earth..."  Usually he just breaks out in song, without prompting from us, and sings out loud for a vast majority of the day.
• He loves getting together with other kids to play.  Once a week he goes to preschool, and he LOVES it! (really just a playgroup where we switch off whose house it is at, and we throw in a little educational activity about a letter of the alphabet)

One week when preschool was at our house, we talked about the letter "B" and played with balloons.  This was Calder's favorite activity.

• He loves music.  He will play the piano, drums, recorder, guitar, anything that's available.  If no music is playing, it is not uncommon for him to open up the laptop and try to get some started, often with success.
• He likes to do things all by himself, and loves to try new things.

This is the first time using his own pair of scissors.  He sat there forever just practicing! He was so thrilled!

• Curious George is his favorite show to watch right now, although he would never turn down the chance to watch any kind of TV.  He often refers to George, and references how he does things, as if he were one of his best friends.
• He has progressed so much in his speaking!  He speaks in compete sentences, often paragraphs, and picks up several phrases that he will repeat.   A few of his favorites that he says often are: "What a nice day outside, isn't it." and " How was work, Daddy?" and "How were classes, Mommy?" (spoken to me after church) and "Do you want to..." and "what the?!" (often followed by some statement about what is going on)  We were getting ice cream the other day, and as we were leaving a couple sitting nearby waved bye to Calder.  He stopped, waved, said "hi," and then finished off with "have a nice day!" It was adorable.
• He LOVES sports.  Of any variety.  And he is really quite athletic.

A neighbor gave us some clothes for Adelaide.  Calder was going through the bag, saw this jersey, and automatically assumed it was his.  He immediately wanted to put it on, and wore it the remainder of the day.

• Right now he doesn't always take a nap.  I am hoping we can at least keep up the every other day (or more!) pattern for quite a while.
• He loves to hide.  Under blankets, couch cushions, you name it.  He thinks it is so funny.

Where's Calder?

• His favorite snack right now is graham crackers with peanut butter and chocolate chips, and when he requests them he says the whole phrase.
• Calder came into our room in the middle of the night recently and in his sleepy, teary voice said, "I just need to find my pillow." So I went to his room with him, his blankets were all in a bundle at the bottom of his bed, and his pillow was just where it should be - at the top.  I helped him lay back down on his pillow, fixed his blankets, and he was fine.  Cute kid.
• He loves to go outside, and play at the park, fly a kite, throw/kick a ball, blow bubbles, draw with sidewalk chalk, ride his bike, etc.

Recently he's been a bit nervous about crossing the wobbly bridges at parks.  But on this particular day, he just practiced slowly, over and over, and in no time was going across confidently.  I was so proud of him!

• He can be so helpful! He throws diapers away, picks put new clothes for Adelaide when I need them, loves to help cook and clean, etc.
• He is such a good big brother.  He LOVES his little sister.

I love hanging out with my little buddy!  I just can't believe how much he is growing up!  Calder, I am so grateful I get to be your Mommy, and that I get to be forever!