Word of the Day

I was walking with the girls to the park a few days ago and Makenna, out of nowhere, sighs,

"Hmmm, metamorphosis."
 I stop, open-mouthed, and stare in bewilderment (with a healthy dose of amazement).
"Makenna! Do you know what that word means?"
"Uh, yeah Mom. It's when a caterpillar changes into a butterfly." (duh)

She kept walking while I sat there, dumb-founded, while I had a small epiphany that the thousands of dollars we've put into preschool the last two years really have paid off.


In other news, our computer crashed a week ago. We backed everything up until May of last year. Meaning: my life from the last year is completely and utterly gone. I could throw up. Or just cry.

***UPDATE (5-1-12)
Our computer is still dead as a doornail. However, our hard drive has been recovered and is not, in fact, corrupted (as was told to us before). Initially we got a quote from a company that plays hard ball with crashed hard drives (intimidating, right?) of $1000+/-, which we were seriously considering. Then I was told about a BYU Freshman in our ward who was home for the summer before his  mission whose specialty is recovering crashed hard drives. Godsend! An hour later and an un-asked-for $100 in return, our data was delivered, unscathed.  Miracles do happen.

Sidenote: This morning the girls and I were saying our breakfast prayer when I peeked and saw Makenna wide-eyed and looking around.
"Makenna, you really need to close your eyes during the prayer."
"But Mom, I was looking at how beautiful you are."

Where did I pick this kid up? With lines like that, I'm scared of what she's capable of.

Spring around here

We've been ultra-busy here the last month. From Grandma visiting during the Cherry Blossoms, to Uncle Daniel and (soon-to-be) Aunt Chalyse coming to take her bridals, to Conference Weekend, to Easter, to play dates to...to...to...we've had a lot going on.

Daniel and Chalyse flew all the way out here before their wedding (which in a month from today) so that I could take her bridal shots among the monuments and Cherry Blossoms in D.C. And although they only stayed for 2 days, we had such a blast being with them. Sadly, I'm not allowed to post pictures because Daniel is Mr. Tradition himself and refuses to see her in her wedding dress before their big day. So those pictures to come...after May 17th.

We had fun with Easter festivities. We went with friends to Leesburg for a fun Easter Egg Hunt here. They had face painting, bag decorating, scavenger hunts, a delicious bakery just across the street, and of course, the egg hunt. We tried our darndest to pump up the girls before the hunt began, giving them pointers and teaching them strategy (no, of course we're not those parents that so many towns across the country cancelled their annual egg hunts over; not obsessive at all). However, despite our efforts, when the fog horn blew, both girls went into flight mode, with Addison screaming and Makenna running for cover behind my legs. All the while the other little chickies ran and took all the eggs. Finally Drew hopped the fence and dragged the girls behind. Makenna collected 4 eggs. Addison: 3. But it's not about quantity, it's about the memories, and we made some good ones.

Easter morning run-down:
7 am: WAKE GIRLS UP so we we have time to enjoy their wonderful Easter baskets
7:30 am: Get ready for church
8:30 Church begins
11:30 Come home and make and Easter dinner for the sister missionaries that reminded me the night before that I had signed up to have them over.

Makenna discovered Fancy Nancy at her preschool library right after Christmas and is in love with her. Now she doesn't need to check out the same book every week at library. She was in heaven and made us read them to her at least 8 times Easter day.

This last weekend we went to the circus with some friends. I remember going when I was a little older than Makenna and being a tad bit scared. I was hesitant to take the girls, not knowing what they would think of the crazy loud chaos that is a circus. But not 5 minutes into it, this clown comes up to the nose-bleeds and stands by us and Makenna LOVES her, saying all that day she liked the cute girl clown the best. Huh? The circus was right in the middle of Addison's nap, so she appeared somewhat dazed and confused throughout its entirety, but we still had a good time and managed to edge our way past the barrage of PETA protestors.


And these are from yesterday when it was a sweltering 90 degrees outside in the middle of April. I caved and turned on the AC (cue head hung low with shame).

And I couldn't resist posting this last one. This is what comes of having 2 girls under 5 who adore bows...and their daddy.

A Week in the Life...

I don't live close to my mom. I haven't since I moved away my first year of BYU to live in the dorms. I always pictured my married life with children being close to family. It hasn't been that way (at least not yet - a girl can hope, can't she?); we're going on 7 years here in Virginia with no big changes on the horizon.

Besides the free babysitting, the Sunday dinners, the shared holidays and all that comes with living near family, I most of all miss seeing my mom every day. I wish, frequently throughout the week, that I could call her up and we could meet for lunch. I wish we could do mundane things like run errands together- pick up dry cleaning and run to Costco. I wish I had her eye close by to tell me if the new seat covers will match my kitchen. I wish...

But although I don't have my family close by every day, I think we do a pretty darn good job of flying out to see each other throughout the year. My mom flew out this last week to be with us on her Spring Break and we enjoyed a perfectly boring, albeit normal, week in the life of the Manns. She wanted to live "a week in the life of my daughter." And live it she did, from doctor's appointments to babysitting to Costco runs to park outings to hair appointments to never-ending chores. But we had a FABULOUS time doing it together...like we always do.

A few highlights:

If you've never been to DC during the Cherry Blossoms, put it on your Bucket List. It is pure beauty, plain and simple.

Happy St. Patrick's Day from these sweet shamrock sisters!

Grandma arrived this morning from Arizona, followed by a fun lunch out, then a shamrock scavenger hunt for the girls. They found rainbow clues all around the house and finished with a pot of gold in the front yard. They loved it! (Well, Makenna loved it, Addison mostly loved diligently following her big sis around, chasing after the clues.)

Addison's 2!

My little one turned 2 this last week. What a big girl she is! We had a low-key, but fun, day on Monday.

Our awesome home teachers brought over their family's traditional birthday cake for her, a pink popcorn cake covered with M&M's (we all got a small cavity just looking at it).

She opened up her birthday cards in the morning that she got in the mail. I'm not sure that she knows what money is, but she knows we all got excited for her and told her she's rich.\

Makenna and I took our little lady out for lunch at Chick-Fil-A. They both had fun playing in the play area and getting ice cream with pink birthday sprinkles.

That evening we had a little family party and Addison opened up her presents and devoured her funfetti cake with rainbow sprinkles.

Aren't these bunny ears too cute? Gigi sent them from Arizona and Addison thought she was all that for the rest of the night.
Makenna helped me pick out Addison's presents. She raked in with the kitchen appliances (she adores every aspect of food- namely, eating and playing with it).


We love this girl so very much! She is a light in our family, always making us laugh at her silly jokes. She is learning to share with Makenna (and vice versa). Whenever Addison heads to the pantry to sneak a snack, she always sneaks an extra one for Makenna. It's too cute to get upset about. She isn't a huge talker yet, but she's learning new words every day and repeating lots of things. She loves spotting big "rucks" (trucks) on the road, pleading for a "bite, bite, bite" of something, and calling for "daddy" and "mommy" unrelentingly.

She also loves playing with her big sister (they're taking an airplane ride here while I mop the kitchen floor). Makenna's a good sport and lets Addison play doll house with her.

Her 2-year stats are:

Height: 35.5"; 90%
Weight: 29 lbs.; 78%

Seems pretty incredible to think about in comparison to this...

We love you Addison! Happy birthday, big girl:)

"New York City, You're So Pretty"

Last week, my little brother Eric called us up and said he was flying out to NY to interview for an internship with an investment banking firm. I asked if he would stay a few extra days after it was over so we could rendezvous up there over the weekend. He politely acquiesced and we had a blast doing all the fun New Yorky things there are to do up there.

We knew it would be rainy Friday morning when we got there, but didn't anticipate rain ALL DAY, or 35 MPH wind gusts all day the next day and snow in the afternoon (wind chill was in the teens; I know, I know: it's February, but still). However cold we were, the fun factor outweighed any discomfort we had and the girls had a blast with their Uncle Eric.

First up, the Wall Street Bull photo-op. We especially loved the cop tasked to man the statue continuing to scream at the spectators lined up along the street, "GET OUTTA DA STREET PEOPLE! I'M GONNA BE LAUGHIN' WHEN A CAR COMES SPEEDING BY AND RUNS YOU ALL OVER." Enter strange New Yorker #1.

Second, FAO Schwartz (I felt we needed to reward the girls after our drive up there and for being angels in the car). Makenna, Addison and Drew tore it up on the Big Piano. Beat that, Tom Hanks.

Then we headed up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is one of my favorite places in the city. Drew was insistent on proving what an awesome mate he is and begged me so that he could take the girls to the basement to run around while Eric and I leisurely roamed through the museum to our hearts' content (okay, it may not have happened exactly like that, but it ended up that way). One of my fave pieces...

(Edward Hopper's "The Lighthouse at Two Lights", which we visited last summer while up in Maine...gorgeous)

The afternoon proceeded quite uneventfully at the Met, until it was time to leave and I needed to change Addison's diaper in the bathroom's handicapped stall. It started with her running in and attempting to open up the stall door. It ended with a certifiably INSANE woman who informed me that as an American, she "had the right to urinate in peace and quiet without an awful little child terrorizing her in the bathroom." The screaming went on for quite awhile longer ("You're not allowed to use this stall. It's only for the elderly, not for little babies. Go away NOW," with fellow patrons casting sympathetic glances our way and Addison grabbing at her diaper from behind. Enter strange New Yorker #2.)

Day #2: Ferry ride to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. Always wanted to do it, never have. We buckled down on the windiest day in New York history and did it. Collectively, I think we wore every piece of clothing we brought (I was literally wearing 5 layers of clothing and still freezing). Uncle Eric is not one to leave extra layers going unused and, very elegantly, fashioned a head scarf out of Addison's mimi (blanket).

Lady Liberty was amazingly beautiful up close, although we didn't get any pictures with her b/c I brought the wrong lens and couldn't back up enough to get everything in the shot. But here are Drew and me nearly getting completely blown over on a tiny island in the middle of a big bay.

We spent the minimum time of 30 minutes there before the next ferry arrived and we ran onto it, taking cover from the cold.

Ellis Island: Amazing history. Haunting photos and artifacts. Beautifully restored. LOVED THIS PLACE.

We ended the day with a delicious dinner at Lombardi's Pizzeria in Little Italy. This is Addison exhausted after 2 days of nonstop FUN. She nearly fell asleep with cheese stringing from her mouth.

Times Square: What kind of doting parents would we be if we didn't make a stop at the Disney Store? Terrible ones, I'd say. So here's Makenna in front of the magic mirror, where if you wave a wand, a princess shows up and talks to you...MESMERIZING to my 4-year-old. We may or may not have caved and bought her the Tangled figurines which may or may not have kept her utterly entertained the entire drive home to Virginia.

Rockefeller Center. Don't worry, it's just so cold it's SNOWING. We had fun watching the ice skaters, though, and got a super nice guy to take our picture (although it's pretty blurry).

The next day we packed up, did a drive-by of Central Park and a little bit of street shopping, then we reluctantly said good-bye so Eric could head to the airport and we could make our way home after a super fun, impromptu vacation up to NYC.

(St. Patrick's Cathedral by night)

Thanks, Eric for a fabulous weekend! We miss you already.