My Graphic Card :(

I will post some pictures when we get our graphic card fixed... it died Thursday... so I can't look at the pictures I took. But I'm sure they turned out well. Allen picked up my camera from the shop Thursday evening which I was so excited about! I was so worried that I wouldn't have it for the holiday weekend! But I had it and we had an amazing weekend... which I will write about later.

However, I did want to write about a cute experience I had this morning. Riley came in around 8 and crawled into bed with me. He does this most mornings. This morning he snuggled up to me and handed me Rudolph. He said: "He will make you feel better, Mommy" How sweet is that? I've been sick with this pregnancy.. I know still. Then he shared his mommy hug blanket. Riley really wanted me to feel better. And you know what? It did. He also told me he was going to be good today. That made me laugh. Riley really is a sweet kid. He tries so hard to be good.

It's A....

So, we went to our ultrasound today. The big news is:

IT'S A GIRL!!!

She seems healthy and active. Stupid tech didn't give us any pictures, something I'm a little upset about. But, I have to go back in a month, so maybe I can get some pictures then. The baby was facing into my spine and wouldn't turn around so that they could get a good look at her heart. Her heart beat was really good, and everything seemes normal!

Tomorrow is the Big Day

Tomorrow is our ultra sound! I'm so excited to find out what we are having. I don't really have a preference. After all, I already have a boy and a girl, but it will be fun to be able to call the baby something other than "it". I'm starting to feel little flutters of movement too, which is really fun. So, anyway. Wish us luck, hopefully the baby will behave for the tech!

A Couple of First

Today was a very eventful day. Riley gave his first talk in primary. He spoke on forgiveness. I believe he did a really good job. We were so proud of him. He stood up at the podium so well, and only fidgeted a little. It was a little hard to hear him because they don't have a mic in the primary room anymore, but he spoke very clearly. This is the basic text of his talk:

My talk today is on forgiveness.

In the Doctrine and Covenants 64:9, God says: "Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another." Forgiveness is part of repentance. WE can be forgiven, but we must also forgive others. If we really forgive someone, we will forget what he did and never talk about it. It is as though it never happened.

Jesus showed the best example of forgiveness when he was on the cross and said this about the people who were hurting him: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

Like Jesus, we should all try to forgive others. If we learn to to forgive when we are little it is easier when we are bigger.

I know when I say I'm sorry to my little sister and I forgive her when we fight we have a happier home. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Allen's parents were able to come. Riley was so excited to see them. And we are so thrilled that they took the time and energy to support our little son. He was so cute last night. We asked him if he wanted to invite Grandma and Grandpa Leavitt. Riley started jumping up and down saying "yes! YES!" The timing was perfect that they were able to come. He also wanted to call them tonight and thank them for coming. Riley really LOVES family. We've been asking him what kind of birthday party he wants. Weither he wants to invite friends or just family. He always says family. He wants his cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents there. I think it's pretty cool.

The other first we had today came VERY early this morning. Emmaline woke, at some terribly early hour. I'm not sure the sun was up yet, but she was calling for her daddy... And so that's who she got. I kicked Allen out of bed to see what was wrong. He went in to check on her, checked her diaper (which is usually the cause of horribly early wake up calls) and discovered that she was dry. He asked her if she wanted to sit on the toilet, and she said yes. After a couple of minutes, Allen heard the sound of tinkling in the toilet! It was the first time she's gone in the toilet!!! She didn't do it the rest of the day, but still it's a start.

Another, less pleasurable first that has occured this week is that Emma has discovered how to bale out of her crib. Not such happy news for us. Now she can get free pretty much whenever she wants. But, what can you do? She waited quite a bit longer than Riley (Riley was bailing out around 15 months and Emma's almost 22) for which we are grateful.

Missing Person Update

We have an update on the missing Deer. Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer was located and safely returned to the care of Riley Leavitt. Reindeer was located in the VAN by Riley's car seat. Riley was the one to locate the missing deer. He said, "I found him!!!! He was safe all along!" And so ends the saga of the missing deer. Until next time...

Have you seen me?

We are missing a very important member of our family... Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. In an interview early this morning Riley Leavitt exclaimed: "He's gone! Just gone!!!" If you've seen this extra special deer, please contact us. He's deerly missed.

Yes, a little tongue in cheek. But this is how I was woken up this morning. to the painful wails of a lost special friend. We haven't found Rudolph yet... The search is on going. We will keep you posted. Rudolph has been Riley's constant companion since December. Riley was giving responsibility for the care and love of Rudolph from his Grandma Peterson. He was with Riley when he went to bed last night, we believe. We are however, unsure as to when Reindeer went missing, but assume it was sometime last night or early this morning.

We had quite the weekend! Saturday was so busy. Riley went to his first primary activity day in the morning. He had a blast! Then we went trolling yard sales. We found a saw set, play pen (for Demya) and some random toys. Namely: one stupid accordion. That wasn't my idea, but what can you do? In the afternoon we had our ward swim party. I wasn't going to go... I hate public show of me in a suit. But Allen insisted, and it was so much fun! The Walters were kind enough to open their home and their beautiful pool to the ward. The pool is amazing! Three slides, a bridge, a in pool bar/grill, a place to jump off cliffs, places to put up unbrella, a volleyball net. It was really cool. After the pool party and quiet time, we headed out to the outlet mall. Allen needed new dress shoes and we wanted to get my camera cleaned. So, I'm a cameraless for the next two week! I'm not sure what I'm going to do... I feel so naked. We had a good Father's day. We got Allen two new belts. Riley sang with the primary. It was so cute! Emmaline saw Riley up there and started saying: "Hi Wiley!" It made him just beam! He did really well sing too. We visited with Allen's dad that evening. Anyway, what a weekend it has been! Hope Father's day was good for all of you.

For Great Grandma McBride

I'm not sure if my grandparents look at my blog. I know they have once or twice, but I'm not sure if they still do. Anyway, Emma did something today that I knew my grandma would totally approve of: She saw the ketchup. Asked for the ketchup. Dipped everything in the ketchup. And Loved the ketchup!

My grandma is a ketchup lover. There is always a bottle in the house. Emma enjoyed dipping her cheese sandwich and her goldfish into the ketchup. She even need a second squirt!

While I was making lunch today, I noticed something that made me laugh: They matched... and it totally wasn't planned I promise. This happens to me a lot. I don't mean to put them in the same color, but when I look at them later in the day, BAM! it hits me that I must have liked that particular color that day. The other thing was that they were playing so nicely together, and quietly... weird.

What a weekend!

We had a crazy weekend! We had a baptism, a birthday, a temple session, a blessing, and today is our wedding anniversary! So much in just one weekend. I'll write about it later, but I wanted to post a picture I took of the cousins. It turned out really well. Aren't they cute? I got 7 out of 8 to look good, not bad odds! OK, Riley is making kinda a funny face, but he was getting really hot in his suit. The baby is even looking at me. The kids are: top row: Jeanie, Laura, Ryan bottom row: Hannah, Faith, Brinley, Emmaline, Riley