He is not here, for He has risen.

Easter Sunday was lovely at the Bodtchers. We kept it wayyyyyy low-key; the quiet was exactly what we needed to feel the spirit. We started the day with our regular 3-hour church service. I'm grateful beautiful program was prepared for us so I could reflect on my savior's life and sacrifice. Plus, Amelia would say, "AMEN!" whenever she felt a prayer was too long or anytime someone said 'Jesus Christ.' She also yells, "bread! bread! bread!!!!! bread!" and "water? water, pease? water!" during the sacrament prayers. Please don't think we don't remind her to be reverent, any tips for us are welcome...

After lunch, Amelia went down for a nap. Jeremy made oreo cream pie for Sunday dinner, while I finished putting together Amelia's cardbox airplane (yes, it's made out of a huggies diaper box). We set out her basket, before taking a quick little nap ourselves.

To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about the Easter bunny. I know I sound so self-righteous right now, but it's just always seems to take away from the real meaning of Easter a little bit (for me, anyway). Holidays mean a lot more to me now that I have my own baby, and I stress about making them meaningful and special. I still packed a small basket: toddler plate, sunflower seed to grow, butterfly net, crazy straws, bubbles and a couple of swimsuits for the summer. Easy! I do wish I would found the time to get her a new church-related book, but it's fine. I've realized Amelia doesn't need much to be happy, because she's a toddler and we also try emphasize gratitude around here.

her hair.

the joy on her face was worth all the hours of cutting the cardboard shapes and spraying thin layers of paint on the box...

We went over to Grandma Bodtcher's house, and the grandchildren had a hayday in the backyard hunting for eggs. Jeremy helped "hide" the eggs, but Amelia still got a total of $0. Guess you can say we have an honest man in our lives... Amelia's lucky to have so many sweet sweet cousins; she's always thrilled to go to "gramma's house" to play.

At some point, she stole Remy's basket and started filling it too. (when these boys get a little older, she won't know what hit her. One day out of the blue, they're going to stop taking her bullying; when that day comes, I'm thinking/hoping my life gets a little easier... ha!) I told her to stand in front of the fence and say "cheese!"-- I'm so proud she's mastered this skill!

Amelia loved the hunt. She loved sorting through her eggs, and even popped in a jellybean (so sneaky). We had dinner; we played in the backyard some more; we loved our family. We went home and watched the #becauseofHim video again, always makes me teary.

I'm grateful for my savior; I'm grateful for the atonement; I'm grateful for Easter, so we can celebrate the day an angel said, "He is not here, for He has risen."

Hope you had an amazing Easter!
xo

slc marathon

april 19th, 7:00 am, slc marathon, 05:32:14

shall we just start out by saying: I'm not the fastest?
it was a beautiful day, perfect running weather. I'm the luckiest.
it had plenty of incline and decline, but nothing like the park city marathon.
I was averaging 10.5 minutes/mile for the first half, before the 5:00 pacer passed me.

around mile 15, my left IT band started aching. I prayed and prayed, "Heavenly Father, please please please make it stop. Please just make it stop so I can finish the next 11 miles." By the aide station at mile 16, I was feeling pretty defeated. I slowed down for water and walked for the next little bit. I finally stopped to stretch. By this time, I was begging, "please, Heavenly Father, please." When I started running again, my hip started hurting more than ever. Instantly, I felt so alone and started sobbing. The next moment happen just as instant, I was overwhelmed by his presence. I am here. It was silent. It was sacred. It was powerful. I sobbed a bit more. He didn't take the pain away, but He stayed with me.

I did the whole run three minutes, walk a minute deal. Then I started walking a lot more. Then I caught up with these two guys a mile 20-- Tommy and Brent, they were friends from high school living across the country from each other and would travel to run marathons together and catch up. The three of us talked, ran, walked, and finished the last 6 miles together. It was a lot less painful with those two!

in the end, my runkeeper app said I ran 26.99 miles in 05:33.
can you believe it?
nobody needs extra credit when you're already running a marathon.

I'm pretty proud of myself.
I'm also pretty sore everywhere, hobbling and waddling around.
all for a shiny medal, right?

I'm thankful for everyone who loved and supported and congratulated me.
xo!

let's talk real life.

NO, YOU MAY NOT HAVE MY BREAD!

I've been wanting another baby for a long time. Like, craving, crying, praying, pleading, bargaining, kind of want. We've been having a couple tricky days around here; today was a particularly difficult one. Amelia letting go of my hand and full on laying down in the middle of the street to throw a tantrum was definitely the cherry on top. Today, I was thankful I didn't have a newborn in my arms. (In fact, today I considered never having another child; giving Amelia up for adoption; locking myself in the bedroom so I could take a nap... nice?) I can't believe I'm admitting these selfish thoughts on a public domain that makes me so vulnerable.

Jeremy came home and I put myself in time-out. Amelia came in shortly to give me a few kisses. Jeremy took us both to feed ducks at the lake, and bought pizza for dinner before I went to young women's.

Thank goodness for these two, they truly are the loves of my life.

22 months

"hi shadow!"

Millie babe is a total sponge these days.
She mimics like crazy, especially when we're not noticing it.
The other day, she called her daddy, "Jeremy."
She can say her colors (red, yellow, blue, green, purple, white, black, brown. she doesn't like to say 'orange' and she says 'yuck' for pink),
numbers 1-15, letters a-e, animal names and the sounds they make.
She knows the names of all her aunts, uncles, cousins, little friends, and a few others, but don't expect her to say them in front of strangers
She says "pease" and "tanks" out loud now.
She also says phrases like, "love you" and "c'mon mommy" and "morning daddy" and "night night fishees" and "sthat?" (what's that?) and "pull... pants... up" (always the pause in between words).

The other day, she helped me bless breakfast:
"...Father... Thanks daddy... Thanks babies... Thanks food... Thanks everything... Pease bless food... Pease bless daddy... Pease bless goodday... Jesus... Christ, AMEN!"

When we cross the street, I ask, "Millie, are there any cars coming?"
She looks to one side, says "nope!"
I say, "what about the other side?"
She looks, and says, "nope... c'mon!"

While I was rocking her right before naptime today, she said, "sing the temple?" (we always sing 'I love to see the temple' at bedtime)-- I accepted.

She loves picking her leaves and giving the special ones away,
but she knows we leave them outside.
She's so outgoing, yet still so shy. She loves swings and slides.
She follows simple instructions and understands really well, like "please throw this away for me" and "do you need a diaper change?" and "time to brush your teeth"
She loves to call family members and leave messages for them.
She also knows when she is in trouble, like when she has a handful of wipes in her hands and gives me the guilty look and hands them all back to me.
She loves to read, and point things out, and find objects that match up in the book (like her hat, or whale)
She's getting so much better with sharing/trading.
She loves to give kisses.
Still teeny tiny and fits in her carrier carseat.
Let's you know when she is bored.
Can walk up and down stairs by herself (hand on the wall or railing, of course)
Always wants to sit on her potty, makes me leave, slams the door in my face (gotta have her privacy)
Loves pulling her rocking chair in to keep me company whilst I'm on the potty.
Has been playing on her own more often.
In 12 months clothing, size 3 diapers, size 5 shoes.

She sleeps from 8 pm to 9 am, regularly
and naps between 1-3, but these are dwindling too.
For breakfast, she either has an 'oatmeal day' (oatmeal + quinoa) or an 'egg day' (cherry tomatos, kale, egg, spinkle of cheese) with yogurt and a smoothie.
For lunch, she has a plate of broccoli and carrots, half an advocado, 3 large strawberries/5 cherry tomatoes, and a smoothie.
For dinner, she has lunch + bites of whatever we are eating.
My current smoothie recipe: 2 bananas, 1 orange, handful of strawberries, 2 large handfuls of kale, broccoli, carrots, chia seeds, 1 can of greek yougurt, 1 glassful of ice. (I can make this in my sleep).



She's just a mini adult, and I love her little spirit.
22 months. Can't believe there's only 2 months until she's 2.