Family pictures

We had these pictures taken last week and I am so pleased with how they turned out!

Romantic and funny and gross

The other day Alexa said to me, "Mommy, do you want to know what happened at school today that was romantic and funny and gross?" Naturally my curiosity was peaked so I said, "sure!" She began by saying, "well, me and Isaac looked at eachother..." and at this point I'm thinking, "that little boy better not have kissed my daughter!!!!" I calmly smiled and nodded as she continued, "we looked at eachother and smiled." Phew, breathe again Marianne! I just smiled and remembered the days when I thought smiling at a cute boy in school was romantic and funny and gross.

So funny!

This picture requires no explanation...it just makes me laugh! (And laugh, and laugh, and laugh!)

Valentine's Day

This post comes a little late, but I wanted to post some pictures of our Valentine's Day. We decided to spend the evening with the girls and make homemade pizza for dinner. We had so much fun just being together and eating our oh-so romantic candlelight dinner of homemade pizza.

This is the girls in their new Valentine's Day jammies.

Draper Temple Open House

Tonight we took the girls to the Draper Temple Open House with my parents. Wow, what a beautiful temple it is! I loooooved the chandelier in the Celestial Room, and the matching, miniature versions in the Sealing rooms. I loved that my girls were able to see inside the temple and to gain a little testimony of their own. When we were driving home I asked Alexa and Grace what their favorite parts were. Alexa said, "that reverent room where people kneel down and get married. And the reverent room with the big chandelier." What a sweet girl. Grace said, "the cookies and the water." That's my Grace!

Little moment

After dinner tonight we blasted the music and the girls and I just danced and danced. We were singing, and laughing, and jumping around and it was so much fun! Alexa and Grace kept saying, "this is the best night ever!" Lately I've been so busy with school and homework (not to mention the usual things around the house!) that I feel like I haven't spent a lot of quality time with my girls. This half-hour of dancing and singing made me realize that it only takes a few minutes to let them know how much I reeeallly love them. I love being a mommy!

The sweetest sound

"Mama-ma" Adelle finally said, "mama" and it just melts my heart. Phillip said she was yelling that and looking around for me when he was getting her ready for her nap this afternoon. Then she kept saying it while I was making her dinner. Oh, what a happy day!

Have we gone MAD?!

Yes, I think we have. On something of a whim we took the girls out yesterday and adopted a kitty. Phillip and I have had cats in the past and vowed to never have another pet, but yesterday we caved and adopted one. She stole our hearts at the pet store and has fast become a member of our family. She is so sweet and has no problem being carried around so the girls are just in heaven. Her name is Tinkerbell Snuggles which is very suiting for our house full of girls. You may laugh at the name Tinkerbell Snuggles, but that is much better than Tinkerbell Cuddle-Snuggles which is what Grace was voting for. So, Phillip is no longer outnumbered 4 girls to 1 boy, but 5-1!

Shhh...don't tell, but Phillip really loves her. So cute!

Response to Gina's tag...

I've been tagged by Gina. A to Z about ME A--Attached or Single: attached to Phillip for 8 great years B--Best Friend: Phillip, of course C--Cake or Pie: Cake Tonight I made Hot Fudge Pudding Cake with whipped cream D--Day of Choice: Saturday...no school E--Essential Item: This time of year, warm socks F--Favorite Color: Red G--Greatest Accomplishment: Giving birth to my daughter, Grace, completely unmedicated H--Hometown: West Jordan I--Indulgences: Reading J--January or July: July (it's my birthday!) K--Kids: Alexandra, 5; Grace, 3; Adelle, 10 months L--Life is incomplete without: my family M--Marriage Date: November 3, 2000 N--Number of Siblings: 4 sisters O--Oranges or Apples: mmm, depends on my mood P--Phobias or fears: Spiders. enough said Q--Quotes: "What are you looking at, butthead?" (Phillip is watching "Back to the Future" right now!) R--Reason to Smile: My girls. I love when Alexa runs up and hugs me, I love to hear Grace sing, and I love Adelle's funny faces S--Season: Fall T--Tag 5 Friends: Suzie, Julianne, Jenna, and anyone else who wants to play U--Unknown fact about you: My parents got my name from Marianne on "Gilligan's Island" She is everyone's favorite, right? V--Very favorite store: I love to shop at Target W--Worst habit: Staying up too late on a school night X--X-ray or Ultra Sound: ultrasound, especially when we're looking at a baby Y--Your favorite food: I love to eat all sorts of food. I really do. But my favorite late-night snack is chips and salsa Z--Zodiac: cancer

The results are in

Adelle's blood work came back today and she is mildly anemic. Wierd! Her hemoglobin count is 11.9 and it should be somewhere between 12.1 and something. (I sort of have selective hearing!) So she'll be on iron drops until she is re-evaluated in a couple months. I'm so suprised because she is such a happy and active little baby, and my experience with anemia is just the opposite. Hmm. I've never heard of a baby with anemia...anyone have any experience?

PS...today was my first day working in the massage clinic at school and it went really well. Phillip was so sweet and came to be my first client to ease my nerves. What a doll to pay for a massage he could get at home for free. My other client was a fellow student who requested me! Sweet! I'm so relieved to have this first day over with so I don't have to be quite so nervous anymore.

My brave baby girl

Adelle's pediatrician wanted her to have her blood drawn to check for anemia, so Phillip took her to the hospital today to have the test done. He said she was such a brave girl and didn't even flinch when they put the needle in her arm. What a girl! No tears, no crying, only curiosity. I'm so proud of her! She does a much better job than her mommy does. Or her grandma. (that one's for you, Mom! ha ha!)

The loves of my life

My girls absolutely adore bathtime! They take their bath before bed each night and it is such a great opportunity for them to wind down and relax. No, that junk on the wall is not dirt, it's crayon! Obviously they have a great time in the bath.Alexandra loves to take pictures and sometimes we find the best pictures on our camera. I love this picture of her and Grace that she took.

A couple nights ago Phillip caught Alexa reading bedtime stories to Grace. Is that just the sweetest thing ever!

My sweet Adelle with Phillip. She is such a happy little girl and brings so much joy to our lives. We feel so blessed to have her in our family.

And of course, Phillip. We get so excited for those rare moments when we get to go on a date, and appreciate those who watch our little angles so that we have some time to remember how much fun we have together.

Happy Birthday, Phillip!

I'm a few days late posting this, but Happy Birthday to my Phillip! He turned 31 on January 14th and I feel so happy to be married to him. He is a wonderful husband and does such a great job being daddy and mommy while I am in school right now. I am so proud of how hard he works to provide for our family, and to further his own education.My family gave Phillip the hugest balloon I've ever seen, and after displaying it in our home for a few days we let it go outside. It was fun seeing how long we could see it floating away (which was a very long time!)
I accomplished a long-time goal on Friday night...I cooked my first roast. I know, what kind of wife am I since I've been married for eight years and have never cooked a roast?! I guess I've just been a little intimidated. Well, I finally decided to do it and it turned out so yummy! I was so proud of myself! (Thanks, Mom, for all the cooking tips!) Alexa has been into watching "Man vs. Wild" with Phillip this week, and right before dinner they watched Bear Grylls kill and eat a snake. Gross! So all during dinner Alexa kept saying, "I love dead meat!" I really think she meant to say "roast beef", but dead meat was fresh in her brain. So from now on I'll be putting "dead meat" in my slow cooker!

This past week has been finals week at school and I'm so proud to say that I aced all five of my classes. Hooray! I think that my wardrobe to school on Thursday was a good indicator of where my stress levels had been. Lorianne (my sister who is taking this course with me) and I rode Trax to school on Thursday and when I was getting out of the car at the train station I realized that I had forgotten to put shoes on. Whoops! I was still wearing my slippers! So I had to ride the train, walk around downtown, and take my anatomy final in my slippers. Some people (especially some people at Wal-mart and silly high school girls) think it's okay to make dirty slippers a regular part of their wardrobe, but I'm just not that girl. Lucky for me, Grace had an appointment at Primary Children's Hospital so I called Phillip and he took some shoes to the appointment for me. After my final I caught another train and met him at the hospital to get my shoes. Needless to say, my slippers went right into the washing machine when I got home.

Grace face-planted in her walker on Friday and got a big fat lip. My poor baby. She of course cried and cried at first, then was so brave and didn't even complain afterward. It is times like this that I let myself feel frustrated about the struggles she faces. Most days I cope really well with her disabilities, and some days I don't. I was talking to Lorianne about this on the way to school one morning and expressing a concern I have. Does the Lord think me ungrateful for the trials I am given when I express my sadness and frustration for Grace's struggles? I hope not, because it's too hard to be brave every day.

Oh, that sore on her bottom lip is what is left of a cold sore I gave her. Yeah, just imagine the guilt I felt after realizing I gave my daughter the herpes virus! Ugh.

Massage Clinic

I will be working in the massage clinic at my school (Eagle Gate College) beginning Friday, January 23rd from 8:00 am - 12:00 pm each Friday and would like to invite anyone who wants, to come receive a massage. The regular price for a 50-minute full-body massage is $30, but if you mention that you are a friend or family member of mine then you will only be charged $15. Since I am not yet licensed I don't recieve a paycheck for this, it is just part of the hours I need to obtain my license, so the money goes to the school. (Tips are always welcome, though! :0) If the hours I work don't fit into your schedule then you are welcome to schedule with any other student and still receive the discounted price. (Appointments are scheduled from 8:00 am - 7:00 pm) Anyway, I am excited about the opportunity I have to improve people's well-being and wanted to give everyone an opportunity to receive some bodywork at a discounted price. The address of the school is 405 N. Main St. in SLC (inside the Ken Garff building) and the phone number is 333-7142. You'll probably end up leaving a message and someone will call you back typically on the following Thursday. Enjoy!!

Something funny Alexa said

The other day Alexa said to me, "Mom, you were right, I do have brains!" That in and of itself is funny enough, but the fact that she was pointing to her ribs made it hilarious! I have since corrected her on where things are.

Okay, I know...

...I have been a HUGE blog slacker!! I'll do my best to catch up and be brief. Alexa and Grace had a dance recital on December 19th and they were so darn cute! This is Alexa's third year taking dance classes and Grace's first year. Alexa was so cute and sassy up on that stage and loved every second of it. Grace was just as cute as could be and tried so hard to move her little legs. I was so proud of my girls!!

We had a really nice Christmas and spent a lot of time with each of our families. Phillip's family celebrates together on Christmas Eve, while my family celebrates together on Christmas Day. I always feel so grateful that we get along so well with each other's families and that we don't have to worry about contention and disharmony on the holidays. My grandma made Alexa and Grace each a scrapbook and Grace was sooo excited looking at the pictures. She kept yelling, "finallee! It's my birthday!" or, "finallee! I'm in my dress-up!" It was hilarious listening to her yell as loud as she could in her cute, raspy little voice. We absolutely loved all the snow we received during the week of Christmas. My parents were very generous and gave us their old snowblower this year so Phillip kept peeking out the window every few minutes waiting for the snow to be deep enough to clear off. It was so funny seeing all the men in the neighborhood out with their snowblowers at the same time.Adelle has become quite the little diva and is so much fun! She just turned nine months old and I would love to just freeze her at this age for awhile. She has mastered crawling up and down the stairs and is a difficult little girl to contain. I recently re-organized the girls' playroom so that she can play in there now and she just loves being one of the girls. Her absolute favorite thing (next to me!) is taking a bath. She is turning into a little chatterbox and says "bath", "hi", and "dad". When she's not practicing her words she is singing or yelling. Super-cute! I love these pictures of her because they capture a bit of her vibrant personality:

Alexandra has been sick with the stomach flu all week and it has put such a damper on her Christmas vacation. Poor baby has been throwing up constantly and was getting dehydrated so I took her to the e.r. this afternoon. They gave her some anti-nausea meds to help keep her liquids down and she seems to be doing much better this evening. We're all praying so hard that no one else in the family gets it.

School has been going really well for me and has kept me very busy. I am liking massage a lot, but am not enjoying being away from my family so much. I am almost one-fourth of the way through (yea!) and I hope the time goes by quickly. I look forward to graduating and being home with my girls more, but am doing my best to excel in my classes. Suprisingly, the class I was most afraid to take, anatomy and physiology, has turned out to be my favorite!

Question of the day...

The other day Alexa was asking questions about death and she asked, "Mommy, does Heavenly Father come to get us or do we just flap our hands?" How cute is that!

A house divided

There is a reason why Phillip and I don't watch the BYU v. Utah game together each year:

Yet we still love each other. (Go Utes!!)

Grace can jump!

Grace learned how to jump while we were in California and I think it is just the cutest thing!

The best vacation ever!

We had the BEST vacation to California and I'm so excited to post some pictures. Warning: this may be a long post! During our drive down we stopped in St. George to see Phillip's grandparents for an hour and had such a wonderful visit. They are both such sweet people and we felt so blessed to be able to spend a little time with them. We spent four days in Disneyland before driving down to San Diego and spending a day at Sea World. I never realized how exhausting it is to go to Disneyland with three active little girls but it was so much fun! Our first day there I had to laugh because each member of my family (Phillip and me, my dad, my mom, and my three sisters) were each holding something that belonged to us as we were waiting to get on the tram to go into the park. There were seven adults and between each of us we were holding Adelle, Grace, her walker, two strollers, my backpack, and the girls' hoodies. I said, "how many people does it take to get the Olson family to Disneyland!" We were so grateful that my family came with us...not only were they very helpful but the company was great too!

The first ride we went on at Disneyland was Snow White and I was a little worried that Grace would be afraid and cry. Suprisingly, Alexa cried and Grace was fine! Grace was so unpredictable because the rides we thought she'd love, like Peter Pan, she absolutely hated; and rides we thought she'd be a little afraid of, like Pirates of the Caribbean, she absolutely loved! Alexandra loved Splash Mountain and the river-rafting ride, and they both adored Dumbo. (I remember my Grandpa Mallonee taking me on the Dumbo ride when I was three years old!)

The girls had so much fun meeting the characters and getting their little t-shirts autographed. The princesses and fairies were so sweet to them and paid extra-special attention to Grace.

Our third night there we ate dinner with the princesses at Ariel's Grotto and the girls were in heaven! (So were Phillip and my dad!) Alexa was so excited to meet Aurora and told her that they had the same kind of hair. It was very cute watching them compare their golden locks.

As for myself, I got to meet Captain Jack Sparrow and was pretty excited about that. But dangit, why did I have to close my eyes for the stinkin' picture! (this one's for you, Gina!)I love this picture of Adelle and Alexandra's Tinkerbell doll:

I feel like our vacation was just so much fun that I can't even write about it all! We just had so much fun being together as a family and watching our girls experience the magic of Disneyland for the first time. Alexa could not have been happier with all the new experiences, and Phillip and I were so impressed by how well the employees at the park took care of Grace's special needs. I was so excited to be home after such a long and tiring vacation, but I was so sad to leave Disneyland. I can't wait to go back again!

I found this picture from when Phillip and I went in 2002 when I was pregnant with Alexa:

And here we are now!

Family Pictures

I just wanted to post some family pictures that our friend Tiffany took for us. Check out her studio on my side bar under Tiffany Moody Photography.Don't I have the most gorgeous sisters? And I just love this one of Adelle!!