A Family Outing

I sit in my PJs while my baby plays in her cute outfits :)

I think I must have the best husband ever. This morning, as I sat in the living room wearing sweats and no makeup, Ashley spontaneously announced that we were going out. He packed up everything for Elsie and we left the house. Sometimes that's all a girl needs to get out of the emotional rut (you know, the one where you sit around wearing frumpy clothing and don't bother to do your hair or makeup because you're not going anywhere) that sometimes happens from being in the same place all the time.

So, just like that, my boring Saturday turned into an exciting family outing!

We rediscovered an awesome place to go on dates OR to bring your kids when it's miserable outside. Where is this magical place, you ask? *drumroll, please* The amazing... IKEA! (is anyone else thinking about the movie 500 days of Summer right now?)

This is the toy!

Seriously. Elsie even had fun because we found this toy for her early on that she chewed on the whole time. Don't worry, we didn't leave it for someone else to buy, all covered in drool. She loved it SO much that we just had to buy it. Also it was only like 2 bucks.

The verdict: We had a blast! I highly recommend going to IKEA for a date, or for a family outing with the kid(s). The only problem with that place is that I want to buy just about everything! This time we only got 4 small things. But we will have to see what happens next time! MWAHAHAHA! (just kidding) 

The Babysitting Adventure

Ashleigh and Me when we were little :)

Last week, Ashley, Elsie and I had a babysitting adventure! We babysat 5 kids from our ward for 3 days. Four boys, one girl (the youngest), and all so... perfect! We really enjoyed it. I told Ashley that if our kids are that good, we will have 5. He agreed.

The youngest girl wanted to play with Elsie constantly. The first day, she followed Elsie and me everywhere! She danced, sang, made faces, played "baby hide and seek", and squealed in delight every time Elsie grabbed onto her finger or touched her face, "She LOVES me!!!". And Elsie did love her.

The two younger boys are best friends, and SO cute! They played made up games together, slid on the wood floors together, helped each other out, and occasionally had arguments. They remind me of how me and my older sister Ashleigh used to be.

Little Me and Ashleigh again

The two oldest were so helpful! They did all of their chores without being asked. They were never grumpy. The oldest one has (apparently) read every single book in their house, which is like, 500 or so.... And they are both really friendly.

I just can't rave enough about this family. They are all just so good-natured. We got to see them again yesterday at church, and the little girl was peeking over her mom's shoulder at us and smiling :)

Anyway, it was pretty tiring, taking care of 5 kids + 1 baby. Even 5 perfect kids. It kind of makes me wonder how my mom stayed sane with all of us. We were not nearly as well behaved as those kids were. Yeah, my respect for my mother grows more and more every day. She is amazing.

And NOW, for the Mommy Monday part of my blog post:

Yesterday, Elsie did something really cute and really funny. My dad was holding her, and she was playing with her feet. Pretty normal... then... she started sucking on her big toe! Elsie sure does bring lots of smiles and laughs. We were all laughing so hard at this, and I just had to get the camera and take a video of it.

Yes, Elsie sucks her big toe instead of her thumb.  And my voice is so annoying in this video! Sorry!