Last Saturday, Greg and I got a sitter and went snowshoeing in Ala Archa for over 4 hours!!! It was so much fun!!!! Here I am, all layered in marshmellowy clothing. And my first use of my trekking poles. I couldn't help but feel like an old lady using them, but by the end, I really liked them. It definitely helped stabilize me, and I still slipped and fell over into the snow a few times. It was pretty funny and equally annoying!

You can see the bump in this one.

 It was really cool, because there was no one around.

It's been really neat to see the mountains change with the seasons. Normally this is a bunch of shallow water running over rocks that we have to hop through, but today it was all frozen solid! I've never been on solid ice, like this before. It was neat.

Makin' fresh tracks.

It was kind of neat, because we started on a trail and eventually the trail and footprints stopped and we "went where no man has gone before". Not really. Just no man went for awhile. We liked it.

It was the first time we used our snowshoes. We bought them, for the simple fact that we were moving here and wanted to have fun while we're here. It was really cool!!! At first, we tried a new path, but it got too steep, so we went off trail and then it was just winding through bushes, avoiding rocks, and then climbing THRU bushes. It got to be a little taxing. But THEN! We went to our old trail, assuming we wouldn't be able to wear our shoes and it was SO MUCH BETTER!!! We hiked forever and it was so open and clear and beautiful and then we could actually see the mountains. We were much more enclosed in the trees, before. We only stopped to eat for 20 minutes, and were hiking straight the other 4 1/2 hours! I can't believe I did it! I was very tired the next day, but Greg felt seriously ill! I was so worried he'd caught something, but he was just really worn out. I don't understand how I did it. It is a mystery to me. We only planned on being away for 4-5 hours and ended up staying away for 8! I felt sort of bad as the hours crept by, but I didn't want to go home. We left at noon and got home after Brighton already was in bed. Scarlet was in bed, but heard us open the door and came running down, so she ate Chinese take out with us and it was gooooood. She especially loved the sweet and sour chicken. I think it was her first.

So I've been eating meat lately. Totally weird, I know. So strange, I don't know if it's pregnancy or just me, but I think it's just ME. I never thought I'd eat meat again. The more time passed, the more I was disgusted by it and had NOOOOOO desire to eat it. And then Greg and I went out to a really nice Chinese restaurant earlier this month and there was literally NOTHING I could order without meat. It is a common problem here, but I can usually find ONE dish to get me by. But there was literally nothing here. It was pretty funny, on one page it said "meatless" and it was a list of dishes with veal. Anyway, so we got a couple chicken dishes and I was surprised at how fine I was feeling about it, waiting for the cood. The garlic chicken was AMAZING!!!! It was perfectly cooked and so YUMMY!!!! I couldn't stop eating it, it was so strange! I was really HAPPY it was strange, otherwise I would have starved. Then I had chicken after our hike too. I did prefer the broccoli dish, but I feel my meat eating coming back into my life a little and it's weird. The weirdest part about it is that I still think about those horrible chicken houses and the way animals are raised and it is SO GROSS and UNHEALTHY, but I'm just starting to say, "Whatever" in my head and eat it anyway. I could never fathom how others could do this. CONTINUE to eat disgusting things, KNOWING it's gross!!! I don't think I'll start cooking meat at home, or anything. I really have enjoyed not cooking with meat. It's a convenient way to have your kitchen. But I don't think I'll worry so much about it, going out. I mean honestly, it will make eating out a lot easier for me. It's been almost impossible to find things without meat in restaurants.

I STARTED A ZUMBA CLASS!!!!! It's a miracle! I always said, "If only Kyrgyzstan had Zumba . . ." assuming that didn't exist here- BUT IT DOES!!!! I started last week and have signed up to go twice a week, when my sitter comes. It's been awesome. The instructor does it differently and stops quite a bit, to explain moves and routines. I normally wouldn't like it, but it's hard for me to keep dancing straight, at least right now. I'm hoping I'll get in good enough shape I can just do the full hour. So far, I've been 30 minutes late both times, but it ended up being a good thing, because I haven't worked out in so long. I can already feel such a difference in my life! More energy! Clarity of mind! More happiness! It's seriously great and I feel like it is a direct blessing from God. The instructor is a little panicky about me being pregnant, I'm sort of wishing I didn't tell her. She'll tell me to be careful on certain moves, sometimes and I just nod my head, but I hope it doesn't get more than that. I want to dance, I want to work out and I'm not going to push my body too far.

I bought a new book called Busy Book for Preschoolers- or something along those lines. It's been great! I haven't come close to finishing it, but it has a TON of simple activities for  the kids. Using things you already have around the house. Fun ideas, and it's been nice to add activities to our life.

The cold and snow out side is finally wearing me down. Not that it's BAD, but that if we want to PLAY OUTSIDE we have to put on our wool socks, our snow pants, our snow jackets, our balaclavas and our boots. The whole process takes SO LONG!!!! I just never feel up to it! I wish I could just send them out in there clothes. Maybe I should try it. It would be so much faster. I just figure they'll be soaking wet within 10 minutes and the fun will be over. But I'm so sick of never being outside! I miss fresh air! I miss the activity! But it is far from over. We're not even into February yet.

I have turned some MAJOR corners in the mommy department. I used to feel so obligated to my children. Now I mean in an EXTREME way. Like I really felt guilty for every moment I wasn't paying attention to them. I felt bad for making dinner, I felt bad for taking a shower. I really felt bad for everything! I had a serious problem. I'm happy to say it's gone! I could feel that it was coming, and the last month it's just melted away. I'm so glad. It was not good. This will sound weird, but because I paid so much attention to my kids, they couldn't live without me. They wouldn't play, if I wasn't playing with them. It's like they forgot how. So for two weeks, I sort of ignored them (not all day) and they whined and fought me and day by day they got better and better and now, before I've finished breakfast they just go downstairs by themselves to play in the playroom! AMAZING! They have SO MUCH FUN TOGETHER! And by themselves. I just love to see them play. It's really been an amazing thing to witness.

Another turning point is babysitting. I LOVE our babysitter and so does our children! It's just a magical thing. I used to feel so bad for leaving them and I don't at all anymore. They don't even care. Scarlet used to complain and say she wanted me to stay, but now she has a lot of fun with Rakia. I used to have her come twice a week, 2 1/2 hours, but I'ce recently bumped it to 3 1/2 hours and it has made all the difference. I used to just take a shower when she got here and go sip hot cocoa in a coffee shop and read for 1 1/2 hours. It was the best. So relaxing. Now I ZUMBA and go read for an hour. It's even better. The first months of babysitting, I would leave, but I wouldn't relax. My mind would just think about everything I had to do and obsess about the kids. Then during one of my reads and cocoa sessions, I read all about anxiety and totally realized I have it!!!! It was a big realization and a big light bulb went off in my head and I instantly started changing the way I think and purposefully trying to RELAX, almost meditative here and there through out the day. As soon as I REALIZED I had this problem, it became so much easier to RESOLVE it. And now I can go to the coffee shop and just listen to music. This might not sound like a magnificent thing, but it is. 3 months ago I could not shut my mind off. Ever. Now I can actually not think and just breath and I realize how important that is.

I just started Divergent and it is so much fun! I hope the rest of the series is. I've also been watching Project Runway Allstars. You just can't go wrong with Project Runway. Greg and I love it.

Now that I don't feel sick, I can't believe how unaware of my pregnancy is. It is so not on my radar. I don't even wanna think about how the next time will go. When I think of how it was constantly on my mind, with Scarlet, and it's not more than an afterthought now. A part of me feels bad, but then I think, "Well, I have two kids distracting me left and right! Who has time to think about a baby that I don't have to worry about yet?" A part of me strangely doesn't want to find out the sex, just because- but since I have to fly home with newborn clothes, I kind of want to bring the correct color. I've never been a fan of unisex clothing. And I don't have enough luggage space to bring both.

Today's one of those days where I'm just letting the kids tear the house apart. I even left Brighton alone in the kitchen with yogurt and a spoon. We ditched his high chair a couple weeks ago, because he never wanted to be in it. So now he sits in a booster seat, without a tray and we just push him up to the table and give him a PLATE and UTENSIL. Such a big boy . . .

We've actually all been HEALTHY FOR ALMOST 2 WEEKS!!!! I can hardly believe it!!!!! I've been praying so sincerely to have us all healthy the next 6 months. It hasn't been so much of a request as a demand. I rarely have done this. But I just can't help saying something along the lines of, "I NEED 6 months. It has to be 6 months.  PLEASE! I BEG OF YOU! GIVE ME 6 MONTHS!!!!!!" in a very desperate beggy kind of way. I just can't help myself.

Scarlet has been dressing herself, which has been pretty cool. She often puts her shirts on backwards. She can even put her snow boots on! Awesome! She's just so old and grown up. She totally prays without a fight now! She always prays for the baby. She is so aware and talks all the time about us flying home to Grandma and Grandpa's house, on the beach to have the baby. She finally knows the difference between the grandparents now! I don't have to explain anymore that it's my mommy and daddy or Greg's. She knows! It's been amazing to witness her mind develop. I love it.

B will totally fold his arms the entire prayer. I love it. Obviously, he is only 1 1/2 and sometimes chooses to go ahead and eat his food, but he OFTEN waits until we're done! It blows me away! And he says Amen at the end. I think he likes to pray, because he always smiles and is the first to fold his arms when I say "It's time to say a prayer!"

Scarlet and B play this funny little game, where she puts him to bed. She lays down a baby blanket on the floor, he lies down on it, and she puts another blanket on top of him and he just lays there. It boggles my mind, but they do it all the time.

Brighton runs everywhere. I literally have to run to catch him. This has never happened with Scarlet. She still doesn't really know how to run. I hope she figures it out before kindergarden. Hopefully this summer when we're out and there's more reasons to run.

Brighton doesn't so much love ME brushing his teeth, but he loves to steal a tooth brush and just gnaw on it for EVER!!!!! He's permanently bent the bristles on my brush! I can't keep them away from him and we've lost so many toothbrushes of his.

Scarlet says the funniest things all the time. "No Mommy don't sit on my pillow!!!!" Why? "Because  it will stink!" Why? "Because your bum is on it!" She was really panicky about this. She says hilarious things all the time. I wish I could remember.

Have I mentioned I got called to be in charge of Primary? I ask someone to help out every week, but I'm the only one with a Primary calling. I have 4 kids, 2 of which are 3 years old. Half your Primary being in Sunbeams can be problematic, but it's been going well so far. As always, with Primary, it really depends on the day. But I'm so glad we're having it. I'm so glad because I think it's important and I'm so glad Scarlet gets to experience it! It's been interesting, because at home Scarlet will sing every song with me and answer my questions and suddenly at Primary she just sits and won't participate and I have to remind myself that she's a Sunbeam and that's very typical, so I don't worry about it. But the first week I was really perplexed because it wasn't the Scarlet I knew at home. I'm thinking she'll come out of it, by the end of the year- but we'll see. The other 3 kids are all sibling. We have 20-25 minutes for the whole thing. I've been basically dividing it in half for lesson and music time, but I might switch things up a bit. We'll see as I get inspiration. I'm not sure other people in the church group think Primary is that important, but to me it is. I'm really glad I get to be apart of it.

I have to document this. I made a felt book for the kids. These are my favorite pages.

There's also a weather page and a pizza page. I made a point to make it as simple as can be, with minimal sewing. If you notice, it's all pretty simple, but before I knew it- Greg made this suggestion and that and I took them, because it made the book better and more durable and before I knew it I was sewing into the night feeling quite drained. But I'm really glad I did it. A nice quiet activity for Sacrament Meeting. I just can't believe I did it. I always see these crafts moms bust out and I think, "Where did you find the time to do that? I don't even understand the possibility!" And now I can join the club. At least for the day. I think I want to make another one later, to switch in and out with this one. And make a Christmas one for December. We'll see if it stays exciting.