March

March was the half-way point through our last semester. It was busy! First, there was Ally's baptism, then I had several home-visits for school, I had just finished my first week of lead-teaching the preschool class and had a couple weeks to plan my next week of teaching, and Garrett was running here, there, and literally everywhere as he worked on classes, his job, getting his internship planned, finishing research, etc. (I put etc, because I'm really not sure what he was doing all semester. We were both so focused on doing our own stuff that we really didn't have much of a chance to figure out what the other person was up to.) Amid all the hustle and bustle of trying to get school done, I was able to take cherished moment here and there to talk to my babies and catch some pictures. They made all of it so much more intense and difficult, but so much more worth-while!

This is her princess face. She loves wearing her favorite blanky as a princess dress.

The second week of the month, we headed out to Moab to show our kids the famous Arches. We were full of reminiscing since at the end of the summer we would celebrate our 5th anniversary of marriage, and Arches was where we spent our honeymoon.

                Bekah cracked herself up with this trick

That girl absolutely loves climbing rocks with her daddy. She sees rocks and immediately tries to get to the top of them!

Xander was an awesome trooper the whole time. He just looked around and hung out in his carrier. He had it pretty good!

On our way home we stopped at a natural history museum. Bekah loves these! 

Little diva, talking to her phone, with her purse and shades. She loves pretending she's grown-up, and she actually does a pretty good job!

By the time he was 7 months he was into everything and loving it! He mostly loved wrestling and tickling. Every night before bed, he and I would rough-house to get him ready to sleep through the night. It worked pretty well, and it was so much fun!

February

February. Still stressed. Still making it. Garrett and I were trading off between school all day and he was working at night. We were counting down the days to graduation with excitement but also sadness. We were terrified to move away from our Watkins family. But time kept marching on.

Xander asleep at Chelsey's when I got home from school. 6 months old now!

He went through a phase where he had to hold onto my hair to be able to fall asleep. It lasted for about a month.

Ross was blessed the first of the month and family came up to visit! Always exciting! We went and saw Reindeer. They were big, and the kids thought it was great. It snowed on us the whole time and we all got soaked!

Bekah and Garrett went sledding several times this winter.

Garrett took us to see the Great Salt Lake for some family time. It was really nice just to have an unrushed trip where we just spent time together. And it was really beautiful. Bekah was amazed at the buffalo.

We did a small hike to an overlook and Xander fell asleep in my arms. Sometimes people offer to take my children for me, but I almost always decline because the weight of them in my arms is one of the best feelings in this world!

Chelsey had one of the best birthdays ever. We all went to Dynelle's house and did a party for Chelsey, Ally, and Jacob. Chelsey got silly string and we decided to play the game where you think of something then go around the room and the person to guess correctly becomes "it". Well, she waited and waited till finally she got to Garrett. I don't think he got the answer right, but he sure got covered in silly string. Look at the joy on her face! (And the displeasure brewing just under the surface of Garrett's face.)

Sometimes I cuddle both my kids at the same time. And Bekah loves to pretend she's a baby. Holding both my children close makes my heart feel content!

January

January was very intimidating. I was in denial about it for a while, but it came anyway. I started going to school for  5 hours a day, which was more than I'd done since high school. I usually did online and a night class or two. Now I was gone before my kids woke up and got home in time to feed them lunch and put them to bed for naps. It was kind of rough starting out. I felt super overwhelmed and struggled with what roles I needed to focus on the most. I just felt like I was never doing my best at anything. But it kind of helped me to find more joy in my children when I did take the time to be with them.

Bekah, still very into dressing up

Xander, 5 months already!

Garrett sent me this picture while I was at school one day. It warmed and broke my heart at the same time. I wanted to be there nursing my baby but was so grateful that there are so many people at home to give him and Bekah love. Thank you Garrett, Cody, and Chelsey!

Look at that charm!

Headed to school at 5:30 am because I was lead-teaching (in charge of the whole classroom--set-up and curriculum-- for the week)

Feeling relieved to be headed to school at 7:30 am again! One month down!

We bought matching shirts for our boys that were all born withing 13 months of each other. Baer is looking for an escape, Timothy is cheesing out for the cameras, Xander is feeling abandoned, and Ross is squished and probably going deaf from Xander.

Learning to self-sooth when mom has to take care of Bekah

Taking care of her baby like mommy does

Giving her baby a ride like daddy does to her

Practicing her kissy face. This girl loves posing for the camera!