a little, ok maybe a lot, of something after all this time

 So many things have happened since Jude was born. of course. close to 15 months ago. Looking back through all the photos makes me feel very grateful for a loving family and kind life and may I say, such beautiful children. Lucy was baptized the same day as Jude was blessed. I remember it being a really lovely day full of the warmth of God's love and family love. I entered the church a smidge later than I was wanting and there wasn't enough room to sit with my own Dunn family! So I squeezed in by Kathy and the Mouritsens. I don't quite know if this is kosher, but we shall do it anyhow, this is what I remembered of Brent's lovely baby blessing of Jude:

Testimony of Jesus Christ, grow to know Him and believe in Him. He is the Savior of the world and your personal Savior that through atoning power you will grow line upon line into a man of God that you were sent to be. Bless you to know who you are- a son of God. Plaed on this earth to learn and grow and serve. bless you with charity to others. You were blessed with a great mother with empathy and kindness. Blessed with great grandparents love of missionary work, family history and the temple. Bless you to be willing to share the good news of Christ with others and to learn of the work that your Father in Heaven has for you as His son and a holder of the priesthood. Bless you with humility to learn from you parents and siblings. Bless you with obedience to the laws of God. and most importantly, bless you to experience the grace of the Savior.

Lucy's baptism was simply superb. My brother John said the closing prayer and it felt so John as he started the prayer with a Hello Heavenly Father! 

I felt a lot of the Savior's love and I think Lucy did too. at the end of the day she was in tears because she didn't want to day to end. 

more after the jump:

Berry Picking, Fair, and Mom Issues

 We went raspberry picking a few days ago at a place a little south of Orem, Around Mapleton I think? anyway- the weather was SO nice and the raspberries- though we had to forage a bit for them- tasted heavenly.

 There was a bit of a snaffeau with poison ivy... I was holding Lucy as we were walking through an overgrown path and I saw the ivy- and i thought NOOOOOO. So I wiped down the girls with baby wipes on the drive home and prayed.

Thankfully, only Eleanor has had a few spots- and they have hardly been itchy. Thank you thank you thank you. Can you imagine a toddler and a baby with poison ivy? yiiikes.

 The raspberries were lovely, but I don't know if I"ll ever go back.

 Sham and Joel invited us to the state Fair. It was pretty nice- I especially liked all the cows and sheep- though I didn't take any pictures of those... you know what they look like.

Sometimes I struggle between the spectrums of motherhood. I feel internal pressure to be a "playful mom" and a "living in the present soaking up every moment with my kids mom." But I also don't want to be a helicopter parent (for both selfish and non selfish reasons) and not let them have free time where they have to think of their own stuff to do. I read stuff online about kids not being bored enough now with tv and phones. Like an empty mind allows space for creativity and independence. Also, I don't want to play prince and princess, and the bed is a boat, and store every hour. Get away from me, kids. Let me do my thing. It's a struggle.

Sometimes when Ella comes home from preschool and I'm peppering her with questions, she'll say something like, I don't want to talk any more about school. I'm at home now. Or I'll ask her what sound an A makes- cause that's what she's learning- and she's like, No, I already did that with Ms Brit. Ha! Alright threenager.

Hopefully you can see this video- Lucy is getting better and better every day with walking. She's eating a coconut almond protein bar if you're curious... I'm not sure if I should be embarrassed by that. I don't think so? lots of protein...

Also, lately, I've had Ella "Practice" wearing pants. She hates them- something about the fabric between her legs bugs her. Ever since potty training back in March- ONLY DRESSES. which is fabulous. but now that its starting to get cold- and her preschool will go on nature walks even in the snow- I need to get her sensitive little legs prepped so I don't feel like the worst mom in school when Ella walks around in a dress and bare legs in the snow. We're up to about an hour of wearage and she's like, can i take off my pants now?????

Lucy's First Steps

My sweet little Lucy just took 2 consecutive teeny baby steps yesterday. She is 11 months old as of August 26th. So exciting! My little girls are growing and its just wonderful.

Little sweet newborn Lucille! And just look at Ella's adoring expression.

My balloon face. And little Lucy's newly born red cheeks.And I die at Eleanor's pig tails and her little face. I would get a nutrigrain bar from the hospital cafeteria every time so I could give it to her when she visited me- she had taken to them. Birth is crazy.

Summer

I filled up a bunch of water balloons the other day for a church activity- and both Ella and I loved it. She liked to chew on them until they popped in her face (?!) and there is something weirdly cool and fun about popping the balloons on the sidewalk.

It was such a hot afternoon the other day and Ella was begging to go outside, which I didn't want to do because I didn't want to sweat. But, we went out, and I made it bearable by bringing us both out Popsicles. Ella was so cute eating hers- I should've taken a picture but my hands were so sticky and I'm lazy.

These days, I still take Ella for a stroller walk in the morning to get her to nap. She doesn't just go to sleep in the crib for naps, and again, I'm kind of a lazy parent. I rather like the stroller situation really, a walk is nice for me. But now that its getting hotter... we'll see how it goes.

The Mouritsens are going on the annual Park City trip this upcoming Sunday-Wednesday. Its always fun, and I'm looking forward to it. We'll go to the hotel pool, hang out and play cards, and I want to go down the Alpine Slide this year as I've never been.

Teeth & Swimsuits & Steps & Nursing

Ella got two little bottom teeth, oh, about a month ago. And today, I can feel the top two!! but you can't see them yet. ALSO SHE HAS SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT THE LAST TWO NIGHTS AND IT IS A MIRACLE. Before, I was waking up once or twice, feeding her a bottle, changing her diaper if need be, and then putting her back in her crib, which she would do peacefully maybe... 80% of the time. So lets hope by writing about this I'm not jinxing it.

I stopped nursing a while back. Ella was between 9 & 10 months. I wish I would have done it a bit sooner even, 6 or 7 months maybe. She just would snuggle after eating a bottle, and it was so fabulous, she never did that after nursing. PS I still have milk that will come out a little, and I'm a confused why. When will that go away?

Speaking of, a post baby body is hard to put in a swimsuit! I bought this one from Target thinking the ruffle would hide all my insecurities. And it did, when the swimsuit was dry. But the weight of the water on the ruffle caused the cups to roll down. So, I'm trying again with this high waisted bikini bottom and this zippered top. We'll see if it's enough coverage... and if they're the same color...

Also, Eleanor started walking! You can only see one bitty step here, but I've seen as much as 4 steps in a row. Since getting her teeth, she's really taken a liking to pacifiers too. Maybe it's like a substitute for a teether? i don't know.