What a nice way to start the week

We took a stroll on the trail by our house tonight. We didn't bring the stroller, so we got to slow down and enjoy it. I hadn't realized what a beautiful place we have so close to home. Devan said it was nice to go on a walk and not feel like he was with a "drill sergeant." I don't know what that means....

The idea was to go feed the ducks, but we were a little late. The ducks were full and there was A LOT of bread floating on the sides of the river. It was pretty gross, actually.

I'm getting to the point where I look at these pictures and think, "How can I get any bigger?" I know, I know...bleh!

 

It was a great evening. We only went a little over a mile, but Hannah walked the whole way. And boy, was she tired when she got home. Bonus!

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I turned 24 yesterday. Scary. I felt a little sick during the day, so I stayed in bed until about 11 (I told myself it was because it was my birthday, but that's a lie. It's not that unusual.) I spent the day eating a package of Ritz crackers and tidying up. I tried to do a few things to make myself feel special. I didn't return a library book that was due today because I wanted to finish it. I can add $.20 to my library tab on my birthday right? Devan will tell you that's not just a birthday thing. I also turned on the AC for the first time of the season. The high was 76, which to pregnant Alex is hot enough to make everyone else just a little stupider than they really are. The Washington relatives should be glad they have some distance this summer. 16 more weeks AT VERY MOST until my little space heater is out!

My biggest pregnancy craving so far has been BBQ bacon cheeseburgers, so that's what we made for birthday dinner. Chad, Ashley, Stephanie, and Xay came over and we feasted on burgers, hot dogs, tater tots (sounded better to pregnant birthday Alex than fries or chips) and salad. Somehow, I was too full for my salad after I ate my burger, hot dog and tater tots. I wonder why that always happens to me? For dessert we had cherry chip cake. It was the same cake I made Hannah for her birthday and I only got to eat about 8 cupcakes in the days following. I've been looking forward to having my own cherry chip cake all week. We have half the cake left, so at least Devan won't have to worry about Hannah getting fed enough while he's at work tomorrow.

We ate our cake and ice cream outside and then played at the playground.

Devan and Chad raced horses. Devan won.

I was too afraid to do anything too extreme.

Hannah makes the weirdest faces. I don't know whose kid she is...

Ashley was braver than I, but that courage came at a price...

As did Hannah's...

Then we had a relay race. I wasn't halfway up the slide yet, when I realized I'm much bigger these days than I think I am. This was kind of sad, because believe me, I had no illusions about pregnant Alex being a slight woman.

I don't think everyone else was as excited about the race as I was, but I have sweet friends. Seriously though, you tell me what kind of a birthday party it would have been without a relay race.

And who could give up that sweet feeling of accomplishment?

Bike, outside

The one thing I really wanted to be able to get Hannah for her birthday was a tricycle. Then, birthday money came from both her Great-grandmas and our dream became a reality. She's still learning. It's a little big for her, so she has trouble reaching the peddles, but she's getting much better at steering if we're pushing her. My hope is that one day she'll be able to ride it while we take our walks since she things she's too big for a stroller now.

Two days after her birthday. Our first time out.

The next time we took it out, she rode for about two minutes and then decided she'd rather drag it.

This isn't our building...

This is about the time she gave up and went to the playground. She loves it though. She tries to pull it out of the laundry room and we tell her it's an outside toy so all day long I hear, "Bike, outside?" And when we go somewhere and see bikes she says, "Hannah's bike?" We'll keep practicing and eventually she'll enjoy peddling and steering more than pulling it.

Two Already?

Hannah's birthday celebration was spread out over the whole weekend. On Friday night Mom, Renee, Kory, Devan, Hannah, and I went out to dinner at Leatherby's to celebrate. We were excited to have the waiters sing to her, but before we could ask, the large table behind us "sang" (shouted) the "Happy Birthday" song to a member of their party. Less than a minute later the 20 person table in front of us sang to one of their members. This was the point when our waiter came and asked us if we needed anything else. We chose dignity, said "no thank you", and quitetly paid our bill.

We had Hannah's birthday party on Sunday evening. Hannah is so blessed to have such a big family and some sweet friends that we didn't have room in our apartment for everyone, so we had a dinner at our church building. The theme of her party was "Barnyard Fun."

That was about all there was to the decorations. But don't you feel like you're having fun at a barnyard? For dinner we had pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, homemade biscuits (by Mom), macaroni salad (by Mom Steele), deviled eggs (by Ashley), and lemonade. For dessert we had pink cupcakes (they were supposed to look like pigs, but that was a fiasco), and homemade rocky road ice cream (like pig slop, get it? Hee hee...)

The party probably only made me even more sad that I don't live on a farm. The fresh veggies, fresh milk for the ice cream, healthy eggs...all a lie. For all I know the vegetables were grown in South America two weeks ago, the milk is probably going to make my daughter resistant to antibiotics, and don't even get me started on caged egg-laying chickens. But it was fun to play pretend for a night. Please excuse my rant.

It was a nice party, and probably the most relaxed dinner (for me) that I've ever hosted. I found a wonderful new freedom knowing I was going home to a messy house that no one but me (and my out of town guests) had to endure.

On to the memories...

Hannah got a special quilt from her Nana to go over her mattress from Grandma and Aunt Renee on her new big girl bed from her cousin Kylee. We're all very excited.

Princess dress-up shoes. They're too big for now, but she's in love with them. They've made running errands a little harder, but much fancier.

She blew out the candles all by herself. At that moment I wanted to cry for not thinking to bring the video camera.

And finally, the best part of Hannah's weekend...

Hannah saying goodnight to Maddie. If she's a little much, we can only blame it on her genes.

Salt Lake and Gilgal Garden

This weekend my mom, Aunt Renee and brother Kory came to visit for Hannah's birthday. On Saturday we went out for a little bit of sight seeing. First we went to the Great Salt Lake.

I don't think I'd ever been to that exact spot, so I was pleasantly surprised to find this giant rock to play on.

Hannah actually did really well. I know you can't tell from the pictures, but she was climbing rocks much bigger than she is.

And she got quite a bit of help.

Devan and Kory edited some inappropriate writing in the sand.

Next we went to a park called Gilgal Gardens, another place I'd never seen. Here's what their website had to say about it, "Formerly the secret garden of Salt Lake, Gilgal Sculpture Garden is now a public city park, open daily for the enjoyment of all...Tucked in the middle of the block behind houses and businesses, many are still unaware of its existence and enjoy a true sense of discovery when they visit the garden for the first time. Gilgal Sculpture Garden contains 12 original sculptures and over 70 stones engraved with scriptures, poems, and literary texts. As a whole, Gilgal Sculpture Garden is significant as the only identified 'visionary art environment' in Utah." It was designed and built by a man named Thomas Battersby Child, Jr. in his back yard in the 1950s and 60s. It's his artistic interpretation of his faith. There were also tributes to his work of masonry and to his wife.

It was pretty and interesting, but we were already pretty worn out by the time we got there.