Our Happy January

Dad turned 33 and we celebrated by taking care of puking children and sleeping very little.  I don't think anyone got out of their pajamas all day long, and I kept apologizing for the sad birthday Ryan had to endure.  Like always he was a great sport and seemed to still have a good day.  It's a good thing he is so easy going, because not much in life seems to go as planned lately.

Our Buckeyes won the college football National Championship and our awesome landlords brought us gourmet sugar cookies to celebrate.  Ryan decided not to join his dental school buddies on the trip to the game, but we had a fun night cheering for them from the comforts of our own home.  Even our little princesses love the Buckeyes.

Eliza graduated from nursery and became a Sunbeam.  Most days she feels good about the transition, but her attachment to mom and struggle to be without her sister Stella sometimes causes a few tears before church is over.  

We left our Christmas cards up as long as possible, took a few naps (well, 2 out of the 5 of us anyways), and enjoyed the few lazy mornings we didn't have to be out of bed before 7:00 am.  

Eliza could (can) be found wearing either her pink princess dress up or pink reindeer dress from the clearance rack 99% of the time.  This three-year-old is giving me a run for my money lately, so letting her wear a princess dress up to the grocery store suddenly seems like the least of my worries.  At least someone was perfectly pleased with her Target brand American Girl Doll.  Since she is the child who actually loves playing with dolls, it didn't take long to empty out her piggy bank and get a special friend of her own.

Thanks to 50 cents off of gas at Smith's, I paid $1.09 per gallon and thought I was 16 again.

The weekend before Stella's birthday we made a quick trip to Boise where we bought a new church suit for dad, ate at Chipotle (enter heart eye emoji) and visit the aquarium with the Lee family and their six cute boys.  They even invited us into their home where they fed and entertained us all evening long.  And while I'm struggling to balance life with three kids, Joni makes raising six little boys look easy.

January also included a small emergency when we thought my wedding ring was lost forever.  After searching for almost two weeks, I was sure it would never be found.  We quizzed the kids multiple times a day, but all we ever got from Eliza was "I think dad put it down the dwain." Ryan vowed that wasn't the case, and then one magical day I was making Eliza's bed and found my beloved ring hiding in between the sheets, a discovery that allowed January to end on a high note.

I just want to remember their cute, innocent answers.