The update of all updates

A lot has happened since I last posted. Malachi got all better, then got another cold, along with the rest of us. It took Jaina's nose a month to stop running. Malachi has been coughing a lot at night from post-nasal drip (that just sounds gross, post-nasal drip), and is throwing up right after eating again. He was keeping us up at night, so we put his bassinet in Libby's room and had Libby sleep on the couch that's in our bedroom. After a successful night of that, I decided I might as well make the inevitable move of transferring Jaina from a crib in her own room to a toddler bed in Libby's room. I put the bed together and took apart the spare crib, moved the bed into Libby's room, rearranged the furniture in both rooms, and put away Malachi's bassinet. He is now sleeping in a real crib in his own room, and Libby and Jaina are sharing a room. Libby is still sleeping in our room while Jaina gets accustomed to sleeping in a bed. So far it's been a success and we'll have the two of then sleeping together in no time. I was planning on doing this all in a few months, but as Jaina's fortune cookie said on Thursday - "Don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today".

The weather here has been gorgeous. We went to the zoo last Saturday. The membership we got gives us unlimited rides on the carousel and safari monorail. The girls LOVED the carousel and HATED the monorail. Libby cried because she couldn't see the animals, Jaina cried because she had to sit on my lap. Other than that 10-minute temper tantrum on the monorail (and for those of you haven't heard it, Jaina's screams can wake the dead), we had a great day. Malachi was happy in the stroller, and a nice lady at one of the snack booths heated up some water for his bottle so he wouldn't have to drink it cold. All three kid fell asleep on the way home. We're excited for the new savannah exhibit to open in May, where we'll be able to hand-feed giraffes and eat lunch with the lions. Well, not WITH the lions. Then we'd BE lunch!

We've had trips to the park, and also a day at a friend's house, where we had a picnic on the front lawn and the kids played in the cul-de-sac while Sylvia and I layed on the blanket, soaking in the sun and enjoying some girl talk. I felt like I was back in high school, chatting about cute boys. Cute boys who are now our husbands :)

Yesterday Libby asked to go see the temple, so I got the kids ready while John mowed the lawn. We walked around the temple grounds and walked through the lobby. We got to see a wedding party having their pictures taken. The bride looked so YOUNG to me, then I remembered how young I was when I got married. Malachi suffered a blow-out of epic proportions, and Iw as glad I had packed an extra outfit and a full pack up wipes. And luckily there was a lady in the car next to us who happened to have an empty grocery bag we could use to contain the mess. After that excitement, we picked up some food and found a park and had a picnic. Two picnics in one week! What lucky girls I have! Then they played and played and played. All three kids fell asleep in the car, but woke up soon after arriving home.

John went to Birmingham a few weeks ago and I realized that being a single mom to three kids under the age of 4 is really, really hard. And I get to experience it again in a couple weeks. Yay! Business travel is so overrated.

Oh, my sister turned me on to a great blog - crockpot365. The best thing for us is that she gives a gluten-free version of all the recipes because she's a fellow celiac. I love that I don't have to scrutinize the recipes to determine if I can alter ingredients without altering taste. And she gives an honest verdict for each recipe. She'll tell you straight if it's nasty. This site has made me love my crockpot. Love it.

John and I joined 24-Hour Fitness through his work. He gets a discounted rate. I'm real excited to get back to the pool. The biggest perk is that the childcare is pretty much awesome. They have a miniature gym for the kids, including a climbing wall and a ball pit. I've been wanting to get Libby into preschool, just for the socialization, but it's too expensive. The gym is like cheap preschool without the boring parts :) Malachi can't go to the nursery until he's 6 months old, which he will be in a week! A week! Once he hits that landmark, I can take leave them all for two hours a day while I swim and relax in the hot tub and take a shower. A very long, very hot shower. And when John goes in the evenings, he can take them all with him and I'll be here at home. Alone. That hasn't happened since Malachi was born. I might die from happiness. A few years ago my sister-in-law wrote an email about how her husband took her 4 kids to the zoo for her birthday so she could be at home alone all day. I remember wondering what the big deal was. Now I know :)

This week I'll be trying to put up some kid-specific posts with all the goofy things my kids do. Note that I said I'd be trying, no that I would actually do it. So don't get your hopes up :)