Just from Today

I thought I'd be remiss if I talked about Elsa's singing and didn't post a video of it.  Forgive the angle, but if Elsa sees the camera that would be the end of her performance.



We still have to work on the ABCs.  She also loves to sing the chorus to "I am a Child of God" and "Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam".


In other daily cuteness news, Nadia decided she wanted to send Aunt Chandra a note and her leftover Easter gum.  This was found in our mailbox.

We made a few essential changes to the package and resent it.  Nadia is such a sweet girl and she loves doing things for others.  For weeks she has been carrying around random change taped onto paper for Daddy's birthday present which isn't for another month.  I love her giving spirit.

In other Aunt Chandra news, Elsa calls most of our relatives "Aunt Chandra".  At least Isabelle and Aunt Krystal have received that title anyways.  She also knows and calls Grandma by name.  Although when we were watching General Conference this past month, Boyd K. Packer was also deemed worthy of the Grandma title.  I don't think either Grandma was impressed with that story.

Rowan's Piano Recital

I think I have a little performance anxiety when it comes to my kids.  Rowan had his first piano recital this past week and I was nervous for him.  Since September he's been taking lessons from a neighbor of Krystal's and he's really enjoyed them so far.  He'd been practicing his songs a lot and we were proud that he went to the recital, even though he didn't want to.

He was pretty nervous, but he got through his numbers fairly well.  For his first time playing in public, I thought he did great.  When he first started playing "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" I thought something had gone horribly wrong, but then I found out he was attempting to play the introduction which he had never done in practice before.  Elsa tried to join him in the first number, crazy girl.  She was also the most enthusiastic audience member.  Every number was followed with a "YAY!" from her, which got increasingly grumpy sounding as the night wore on.  



If there was any question that Rowan takes after his father...

He was happier about the experience when he saw the treats being served afterwards.

It's a ...

I'm glad I'm not a gambler, because I have been wrong about every single baby's gender.  Everyone in the family thought we were having a boy and I even had dreams about it, but no, we were surprised to find out we are having another girl.  The ultrasound tech was pretty definitive, so there's not much of a chance of a surprise later on.  We are happy and cautiously optimistic that this baby will be a little easier on us that Elsa was/is.

Rowan was being a bit dramatic.  He dotes on Elsa more than anyone else in the family and is Nadia's best friend.  If any little boy was meant to be surrounded by girls, it's Rowan.  He is incredibly good with them.

At times I feel like Elsa gets a bad rap.  We complain a lot about how crazy she is in comparison to our other kids and how she lacks caution.  The other day she saw a dog running down the road and she took off to go join it.  In my efforts to prevent her from getting run over, Nadia said "It's okay if she gets squashed because we're having another baby that can replace her."  I'm pretty sure no one could replace Elsa.  She's one of a kind.  As she's gotten older and has improved in her health, we've gotten to see our high energy little girl's personality come out more.  She is constantly entertaining us and making us laugh.  I love hearing her little voice sing "Tinkle Tinkle Widdle Star" and say "I wuv you too!"  It's been nice to see her cross into a happier side of the spectrum.  I wouldn't trade her for anything and I know we'll feel the same about this new little one that is soon to join our family.  Hopefully the baby will have a better first year than Elsa did!

April Fools'!

I've never really taken advantage of April Fools' Day.  Perhaps it seemed like an awful lot of work.  Some friends of ours really embrace it and make full on cakes that look like turkey and other elaborate meals.  This year I decided to do a very mild trick and we had a good laugh about it.  Perhaps I'll do more in the future...