The rest of the week

Tuesday night was good.  Jake went to his meeting and it didn't end early.  I talked on the phone with Mike for a while. Lila and I did something a little out of the ordinary... we went to the mall after Jake left for his meeting.  I found a coupon I had for JCP--it was equal to $10 cash, so I didn't want it to go to waste.  I bought Lila an umbrella stroller and she loves it, and it's so much easier to use than her big stroller.  I only had to pay $10 for it with the coupon.  And I also got myself a $5 pair of sunglasses.

Wednesday we had another fun shower.  She seems to love it now so we'll try a bath again next time.  I took Lila grocery shopping after her nap.  While she naps in the afternoon, I usually have a nice lunch by myself.  She did ok at the grocery store... but she sure is getting to be a toddler.  She didn't want to sit in the front of the cart, so I put her in the back and she happily rode there the whole time.  We got free samples of cookies (which she munched on the whole time) and chips.  When I was checking out, I stood her on the ground and she started walking out of the check out lane.  I had to run to catch her.  It was funny.  That evening after dinner we drove over to President Anderson's house to see if we wanted any of their furniture; they're trying to get rid of stuff before they leave for their mission.  The Anderson's daughter was there with her 5 kids, one of whom is Lila's age.  Lila had fun crawling around with him, especially on their stairs.  Most of their furniture is really outdated, but I guess we will be taking several bookshelves for our storage rooms, a really old stereo/cassette/speaker system from the 70's, and Mike is going to take a guitar. 

Thursday, Emily didn't have to work until 5 so she came over at lunch.  We ran some errands.  I dropped off a load of stuff at Goodwill (I'm starting to pack and get rid of things... I'm determined to have less clutter in our house, which should be easy for a little while at least, because it's so much bigger than the space we have now), deposited money in the bank, and stopped at the dollar store.  It was a really nice day out.  In the afternoons lately we've been going for little walks around the complex, getting the mail and paying rent, etc.  It's a nice way to eat up some time and get some exercise.  I'm really looking forward to living in our house in our new neighborhood and to have another summer with Lila.  That night Lila was in bed at 7.  Jake's dad has been trying to video chat with us this week, but by the time he gets home, Lila's already in bed.  So I don't really remember what we did that night... I think Jake and I watched some TV and I sent some pictures to my mom.  I also found a picture of Jake at around 14 months where he looks EXACTLY like Lila.  Oh, now I remember... Jake went to bed at 9:30 and I was up till midnight doing a puzzle.  Except I couldn't fall asleep right away, and just as I was falling asleep at 1am Lila woke up.  She woke up like every hour that night crying... she's getting molars right now and must be in a good deal of pain!  So it definitely wasn't a restful night for any of us.

Friday was a good day though.  We did another shower together and Lila was trying to climb into the tub while I was washing my hair, so it looks like her fear of the tub is completely gone.  Woohoo!  We had lunch with Jake and she slept in the car on the way to his office.  I love having lunch with him and am glad that our house is a lot closer to his office.  After that we picked Em up and went to Target so I could get a birthday present for Kasey Hunt.  I ended up getting a few shirts for myself too.  Oh, Emily had gotten a letter from Shane in the mail that day and read it (for the first time) on the way to Target.  It was adorable.  Shane's companion put a note in there too that said that her letters always make Shane smile a lot and that he's been practicing the phrase "te quiero mucho" a lot.  In Shane's letter he asked what her long-term goals and dreams are, about her childhood and our parents, etc.  I like Shane a lot.  He's a good guy and I'm excited for Emily to finally have a nice guy to date when he gets back in June. It's so much fun having her in Kzoo.  After that we went to the mall so she could get some cheap sunglasses too.  Lila fell asleep on the way there so we took turns going in :)  I bought a skirt at Forever 21 thinking it would be long enough, but it's a little too short so I'll have to return it.  Lila slept for an hour in the car, woke up right when we got back home.

I was glad that she slept when she did because at 6:00 I had Kasey's 30th birthday party. Jake got home from work and I got ready and headed out.  While I was gone, Jake, Mike, Lila, and Andre went out for dinner.  The birthday party was so much fun!  It was so nice to get a little break too... I'm starting to really need to get out like once a week, even if it's just for a few hours.  There were a lot of women there (no kids or husbands allowed): Kendra, Candace, Annette, Sonja (who was so excited to see me because she wants me to take more maternity pictures for her), Melissa Linkfield, Katie Staten, Sarah Cook, Jen Randall, Robyn Green, Lindsey Parker, Rachel Mills, Alicia, Sharon and Liza Hunt, and a few other women I didn't know.  It seemed like half of them were pregnant, it was funny.  Great good, good conversation, funny people.  I loved it.  We had a cake eating contest.  Sarah Cook, Kasey, Katie Staten, Sharon, and I were in it.  I was talking smack before the contest but I totally lost.  I'd never been in a contest before--it was so hard to chew and swallow the cake!  Katie and Sarah tied, it was hilarious.  Anyway, it was a great time and I love the women in the ward.  I think it's funny/interesting that I'm friends with all these 30+ year old women and that they don't seem old to me...

I got home at around 9:30 and as soon as Lila saw me she started crying because she was ready for bed.  Jake tried to put her to bed but she didn't do so well, lol.  Mike was still there, figuring out how to call Cassandra from his phone... he got some plan through Skype to call Canada.  He left shortly after Lila went to bed.  Jake and I watched some Park and Rec before bed.

Lila woke up at around 5am this morning crying in pain.  She actually did that the two mornings before that too.  We gave her more Tylenol and she eventually fell back asleep.  I think we all got up sometime after 9, which is awesome.  We went to Sweetwater's for our traditional General Conference donuts.  Lila went down for a nap at 12:15 and slept till 2:30, which is awesome!  Her napping has definitely gotten better.  Jake and I had a fun afternoon cuddling and watching Conference together.  Mike would text excitedly whenever marriage was mentioned because he was hoping that it would help Cassandra move in that direction with him, lol.  We had taco salad for lunch.  Jake slept through most of the afternoon session.  He eventually woke up and played with us for a while.  We did a little packing and organizing.  Organizing feels so good.  She got really cranky before bed time, was wailing and crying for a while.  So we gave her Tylenol and her iron supplement and washed her up and sent her off to bed.  She was asleep before Jake left for Priesthood session.  So I have the evening to myself :)  I'm pretty happy about that.

General Conference was good today... we watched a little bit of the General YW Meeting as we were waiting for conference to start this morning and I started tearing up listening to the messages... I am so, so grateful for the YW program and that I had a chance to be a part of it growing up.  It was such a huge blessing in my life.  And I'm so grateful that Lila, and any of my other future daughters, gets to be a part of it too.  I love this gospel and I know that Heavenly Father loves me and all of His children.