If you’re new around these parts, this monthly series is an exercise in brevity as I try (sometimes not very hard) to summarize each day of our month in one sentence. (Also, I’ve been taking a picture of my daughter every day since she was born, and this is a GREAT place for me to share several of those!). Although I’ve almost always included the photo at the top of its corresponding day, the daily captions of what we did and the photos often do not match. (Just to clarify!)
Thanks to the wonderful Rebecca Jo for the post idea!
Sunday 4/1 – Spent the day down south with our families, watching General Conference (a twice-a-year broadcast of the LDS church). Before the first session started, we took a quick morning trip down to my old elementary school playground to get some of Raven’s wiggles out before we started watching the broadcast.
Monday 4/2 – Although I wasn’t planning on tackling that particular monthly goal so early, the comments on my April Goals post showed that I should move QUICK when it came to purchasing the two fruit trees we wanted to put in this year (as they were having a killer discount at a local store), so that’s what we did all afternoon/evening. Now we just have to wait a year (according to the nursery) before we can enjoy peaches and apricots from our new additions!
Tuesday 4/3 – Ran a ton of errands in the morning, which meant that Raven basically zonked in the afternoon. I also called the nurse at my doctor’s office to ask her some exercise-related questions about my pregnancy, and apparently I’ve been working out a bit too hard (seeing as how during my last class, my heart rate was 50 beats higher per minute than it should have been…oops). Needless to say, I dialed it back a bit when I went to my exercise class that night. (Note: I later asked my actual doctor about this, and she told me to not worry about any particular number, but just to pay attention to my breathing and make sure I could still carry on a conversation. I have since done my usual intensity in my classes.)
Wednesday 4/4 – Since everyone was on spring break, my sister-in-law came up with her two kids to spend the day up in Cache Valley with us (since they’d never seen our new place). We hit up Lucky Slice for pizza then rounded out the afternoon at the (very small) local zoo and chatting it up back at the house. Always fun for Raven to get some playtime with cousins! Later, since it was one of the rare Wednesday nights that Matt didn’t have something to do with his Scouting calling, I took advantage of it and went to the rec center for my usual aerobics class. Since my regular instructor is on maternity leave, however, and since the sub instructor sounded like he was going to be a bit too tough for me, I ended up going down to the basement to my other old favorite—the bags/boxing class. I was sad my usual instructor there was gone for spring break, but I liked the sub and got a GREAT workout (even though I had to modify pretty much almost everything).
Thursday 4/5 – On our weekly t.v. night, Matt and I bemoaned the fact that it was the final Fixer Upper episode ever, and we drowned our sorrows over a huge bowl of ice cream apiece as we watched.
Friday 4/6 – Since we were scouting out wood for the raised garden beds we’d be building soon, we made a pit stop at Matt’s coworkers’ new place, as they said they had an old barn they were tearing down. We ended up inviting them both (they’re a married couple he works with) out to eat with us, as we’d planned to stop by one of our favorite local places (Angie’s) for burgers and fries. It was fun for me especially to get to chat with her, since she is due (also with a boy) almost the exact same time as I am.
Saturday 4/7 – Made our annual trip to Baby Animal Days in the morning (this year with our friend Kayla and her little family), and although the fact that it was raining got to be a little annoying at times (since it meant we constantly had to be huddled under our umbrellas), it also meant that the crowds were WAY smaller than they usually are, so we hardly had any wait at any of the little stations. Raven especially loved getting to hold the baby chicks all by herself, as well as one of the baby goats.
Sunday 4/8 – Had the monthly birthday celebration at my mom and stepdad’s house (with all my siblings and their families), and it was especially fun for us since it was Raven’s turn to get the spotlight on her. She loved getting to open all her presents from her aunts and uncles and cousins (the grandparents are coming up on her actual birthday, so they saved their gifts for then), and she also loved that Easter stretched out a little longer than usual this year, as she got to decorate eggs and go on an egg hunt at this party, too.
Monday 4/9 – We spent our family night taking a long walk together and then showing Raven how some of her new birthday toys (that she got from yesterday’s party) worked, namely–the “sticky mitt” frogs, which she loved. Our families spoil us!
Tuesday 4/10 – We took advantage of the gorgeous morning and spent a long (hour and a half!) time at our local park, where Raven got to have a blast running around with her little playmates and where I got to have some grown-up time with the other moms. I’m terrible at setting up play dates, but I’m always glad when we make them happen because they’re good for both me AND Raven! Also, we had Raven’s 3-year check-up today and learned that she wasn’t as small as I thought she was—51st percentile for height. Guess all her friends are just taller than she is! (Sounds like my experience growing up, too!)
Wednesday 4/11 – Since no nap time happened with all that was going on during the day yesterday, I was relieved to get back on schedule on this day by going grocery shopping for Raven’s special birthday dinner in the morning, then sticking to the routine religiously the rest of the day. It seemed to pay off—we got a 3+ hour nap out of it! In the evening, we went with Matt to his pack meeting (he’s the Cub Scoutmaster) so we could check out the Pinewood Derby, since I knew Raven would think it was fun.
Thursday 4/12 – Raven’s third birthday! I had my gestational diabetes test + dr. appointment in the morning, so the fun didn’t get underway until the afternoon, when Raven had both sets of local grandparents over for a special dinner, strawberry shortcake, and presents.
Friday 4/13 – We drove down to my sister’s house about an hour south of us so that Raven could play with her cousins while I finally got the haircut I’ve so desperately needed, then in the evening, Raven and I went to my Aunt Terry’s house to have a baby shower for my cousin Taylor. Another late night for Raven, but it was so much fun to spend so much quality time with family!
Saturday 4/14 – Raven and I had stayed the night down in Bountiful, but we drove back home pretty early in the morning because we wanted to make sure I was around if Matt needed my help (he was building our first raised garden bed all day). It took us awhile to figure out all the particulars, but by the end of the day, we had a raised bed that looked exactly like I’d wanted it to AND we got some other necessary yard work done (weeding, spraying the fruit trees with dormant spray, etc.).
Sunday 4/15 – After church and an attempt at a nap for Raven (which didn’t happen), we took her in her maiden voyage in the new wagon she got from my mom and stepdad for her birthday. After dinner, because the weather was just so gorgeous, we set out lawn chairs in the front yard and sat out there chatting while Raven played (then I sat reading while Matt took Raven to ride her trike around the block). I noted that one of the reasons I LOVE living in our new neighborhood is that everyone is just so friendly—so many families were out taking walks and riding bikes, and every single person said hi to me as they passed, with many stopping to chat briefly. We seriously picked a winner of a neighborhood when we chose our house last year.
Monday 4/16 – We went on a (short) walk as part of our family night activity, and it was BRISK outside with the breeze blowing down hard from the canyon. We were a bit nervous Raven would be sick this day (yet again…ugh) because she’d been coughing a lot the night before, but all seemed well this day. Fingers crossed we can go more than a month without getting sick this time!
Tuesday 4/17 – Went to go get my pregnancy TDAP vaccine in the morning, as well as run a bunch of errands. I seemed to wake up on the wrong side of the bed (seriously, my hormones felt WAY out of whack), so my fuse was pretty short all day, which I hate. Luckily, after going to my hip hop class at night, I felt a lot more stable (of course, by that time, it was like 10 at night, but better late than never, ha ha).
Wednesday 4/18 – A pretty typical third Wednesday of the month—Raven and I went on a Sam’s Club run (followed by a quick stop to Matt’s work so we could drop off a little surprise of a root beer and brownie that we’d gotten at the store). That night was my usual monthly book club meeting, and it was the first time I hadn’t finished the book before the meeting (I blame the fact that it was a fantasy pick–not my favorite genre–as well as over 600 pages long). I left the meeting a tad early to make my boxing/bags class, which I’ve been pleasantly surprised to note that I could pick up easier than I thought I’d be able to after taking several months off (granted, I have to modify half the moves due to my being in the third trimester of pregnancy, but whatever).
Thursday 4/19 – Raven zonked out for 3+ hours for her nap (a feat that’s becoming rarer and rarer), and I took advantage of it by working on blog posts and finally starting to get the photos organized for the family photo album I’ve been wanting to do forever now.
Friday 4/20 – Matt stopped by the local landfill after work to pick up some compost for our new garden beds, and we spent the evening trucking wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of it, successfully filling up one of them before it was Raven’s bedtime. After that, Matt and I literally spent the rest of the night–like 3 hours–reading. Ah, that’s the way Friday nights should be spent, really 🙂
Saturday 4/21 – More work in the garden. We got another load of compost, filled up the other garden bed, and put compost around some other garden beds. We decided we could probably safely transplant our radish starts outside, too, but then nixed that idea when they all seemed to have died just from being put outside in the sun. (Detailed post on all we did in the yard this day here.)
Sunday 4/22 – Since Matt was attending the missionary farewell talk of a coworker, I was on my own with my Primary class, who were luckily okay (for the most part) for me. In the evening, we hosted our monthly get-together with our friends and maybe stayed up past midnight talking…oops! Always worth it when the company is so good, though.
Monday 4/23 – Raven boycotted her nap (even after having slept for so little the night before), which led to an epic meltdown come bedtime. At least we got in some quality family time for our usual Monday Family Night before we all were stressed out of our minds.
Tuesday 4/24 – Raven and I went to go visit one of the sisters I’ve been assigned to minister to through our church (though really it’s just like making sure I get in some good quality gab time with a friend every month), which is one of Raven’s favorite ways to spend the morning (as this particular sister has a daughter that’s just a year or so younger than Raven).
Wednesday 4/25 – I spent the whole day watching a friend’s baby who just turned a year old recently, which taught me that even though I’m almost 7 months pregnant, I still don’t feel ready to have two kids yet, ha ha. Luckily we all survived, and I even managed to get the dishes done and dinner made, so I’d have to call the day a success!
Thursday 4/26 – Raven and I went and visited Matt at work in the morning (always a fun little treat for Raven to get to feed and pet the animals there), and then Matt and I spent a leisurely evening watching the latest episode of Relative Race and eating ice cream.
Friday 4/27 – Kept Raven up WAY past her bedtime when we went to a BBQ at Matt’s boss’s house, which was awesome–we enjoyed great food, great company, and Raven had so much fun playing with their two oldest boys in the sandbox and on the trampoline that she didn’t want to leave. A great start to the weekend, and the gorgeous weather we enjoyed that night helped, too! It felt like the lazy nights of summer had come early as a special treat just for us.
Saturday 4/28 – Drove down to Bountiful so that my mom and sister could tag-team watching Raven while Matt and I went on the longest date we’ve been on in quite awhile to celebrate our anniversary. It was so nice knowing that Raven was having a blast while we were also thoroughly enjoying ourselves while Matt creamed me at mini golf (whomp whomp), we indulged my ever-present cravings for burgers, fries, and ice cream, and we rounded off the evening by FINALLY catching up with the rest of the world and seeing The Greatest Showman at a dollar theater. A pretty great way to celebrate 7 years together (even if we were over a week early!).
Sunday 4/29 – We had to head back home to Hyrum early in the morning so we could make our own church (since Matt had to teach our Primary class). Raven was brought out of nursery for the first time ever (I think) on this day, due to her having received a bit of a bonk to the head after falling off a chair. Luckily, she cheered up enough that she was able to go back to nursery soon after.
Monday 4/30 – Raven and I went to the last storytime at the library for awhile, as they take a break before the summer reading program (and the storytimes offered during the summer are pretty sporadic and not weekly). We will sorely miss it!
I’ve been kind of amazed to see how much stuff we’ve been managing to cram into our months lately, but I think it’s good that we’re fitting in a lot of these fun experiences now with just Raven, since life will need to slow down quite a bit (out of necessity) when the baby comes, at least for awhile.
May’s looking just as busy as April was, so here’s to another full (but great) month!