This year for Valentine's day Sterling's parents were staying with us. They came to see our new home in Rapid City South Dakota, meet our new baby Athena and help us during this newborn time.
Mom Roundy has been so helpful! She has cleaned and taken care of the kids everyday! Dad Roundy has worked in the mornings and early afternoons then read and played with the kids after that. He also spent time doting over her. She's so cute how could you not?
Mom also helped me throw a baby shower for my friend Martha. We threw her party on the 11th and she had a scheduled c-section on the 14th (Vday).
The party was awesome! Mom watched my kids while I made and decorated a cake and cupcakes for the party. She helped clean for the party and even make sure everything we needed during the party was had. We had a ton of girls show up and only a few kids who played together downstairs.
On Valentine's day we did not have a big romantic date. Nor did mom and dad. Sterling had to work but we were able to spend time together as a family.
The day after Vday Sterling and I went on a date. But first we took Ster's parents on a road trip. We all drove to Wall to see Wall Drug Store. Half of the cool store, which was like a mini mall, was closed for the winter season. So we drove on...to the Badlands National park.
We drove through and it was beautiful. So windy and cold though. Not snowy cold but just cold enough to be annoying. The wind was really all that was annoying because it was crazy windy.
We saw some fun wildlife; prairie dogs...whole towns of them, deer, big horn sheep and buffalo (from afar).
That evening Sterling and I got dressed up and went to Applebee's for dinner. It was busy, being a Saturday night in a busy town. But it only took 15 minutes for them to have a table ready for us.
We then drove to the church for a ward Valentine's dance. It was like a party more than a dance because only about 7 couples came. And there were some really fun people there...outgoing women. Singing and dancing, snacking and socializing. It was a lot of fun! Sterling did not want to go but went because he knew how happy it would make me. Once there I didn't want to torcher him so I decided we didn't have to dance the fast songs. They played the Electric Slide and a group was doing the dance. Sterling revealed to me that he had never heard that song before so he had of course never learned the dance. I was shocked. In Vegas as the LDS youth dances we always danced that song.
And Sterling surprised me by saying he would try it! So we got on the dance floor! It took me a long time to get it myself...having not danced it in so many years.
We socialized. There were only two couples there I had not met before. One woman I was friends on facebook but had not met her. The other was a young military member and his fiance who was here visiting. So we met both of those couples.
We slow danced, gazing into each other's eyes, feeling the magic we still have between us. It was so romantic!
We had fun! And at the end of the dance they played "Earth Angel" by the Four Seasons.
As Sterling and I danced he sang me the words of the song; "Earth Angel, Earth Angel,
The one I adore, Love you forever And evermore. I'm just a fool, A fool in love with you."
It was cold out but not too cold. I was so tired, as mother's of newborns are by 9pm, but had such a wonderful night.
Sterling and I had agreed not to get each other gifts this holiday. But I saw a Darth Vador mug in the Valentine's section of the store and I couldnt help but get it for Sterling. Then he had pointed out a poster, of the Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug, that he liked a while ago so I decided to get him that as well. Mom and I framed it in a big frame Ster and I had lying around and we put it on the wall in the tv area of the downstairs. He loved his gifts but felt bad that I did those when he hadn't gotten me anything. He did get me my favorite though...Twizzlers. And he got me a flowers and branches mold for cake decorating...one I picked out and purchased and told him it was a Vday gift from him. :)
The Sunday after Vday we all went to church together. The weather was wonderful that day!
Sterling received a calling...to be Scout master and a Young Men's leader. I received a call to be Co-Gospel Doctrine teacher. I am a bit intimidated by this calling because I have to stand and teach adults every other week. But I think I'm up for the challenge.
We were set apart that day. Then the bishopric offered me another calling which they had previousely decided to ask me to do but then forgot about it.
I can't think of the title right now! It's a committee that organizes and puts on Relief Society events and occasionally ward events. I will be the head of the committee. There are currently 6 members but they plan to have 8-10.
I'm not intimidated by this calling because I will have plenty of women on the committee to help me out. And because I love planning and throwing social events.
Mom and dad Roundy stayed about a week and a half. They left today...flew back to Utah. We loved having them visit! Now I'm going to be crazy busy. With Luke going to school and then having homework after school, house cleaning, taking care of the kids, meals, my hobbies like blogging and the church.
Sunday will be Sterling's birthday! I will be teaching Gospel Doctrine for the first time then we'll celebrate Sterling's birthday. Then we are feeding missionaries twice that week. The sister missionaries once and the elders once. And Sterling is going on a camping trip that weekend with the scouts.
Plus, I have to do something special to celebrate when Tiberias spends a whole night in his own bed. He's been so freaked out that mom and dad might leave him in the night that he gets up screaming and crying "mom? dad?" And he doesn't want to go back to his own bed. He sleeps on the floor in our room. Sometimes it's before midnight and sometimes it's as late as 5am. But if he can make it to 6:30a without coming to our room, and he doesn't freak out then we celebrate.
Twice we've done this. Only two nights in the last like month has he been good to sleep through the night and not drive us crazy.
I come up with a song we dance to because he loves to dance. We play Pin the Tail on the Donkey. We even have a special treat like homemade brownies. He loves having these parties! But they take up my time when I'm already so busy! Now mom Roundy is no longer here to help me take care of the kids and clean the house.
Now I have to stand on my own two feet. Learn how to be a mom of three without a mother here to help me (a few weeks before mom Roundy came my own mother was here helping out!)
And now I'm about 5 weeks past my delivery so I'm allowed to start working out again. I am happy to get back into working out. And I love that there's no pressure. I'm not over weight. I look pretty good. It's the first time I've started my pregnancy thin ...so staying in shape throughout the pregnancy really helped me looked great right after the delivery. My first week back at church people said I don't look like I've just had a baby. My husband even reassures me of that. And Sterling isn't one to tell me things just to make me feel good. We're too realistic. When he or I do something like that it's not very convincing. That's what makes me feel I am not a very good photographer...because Sterling won't compliment my work very much. I really get the impression he thinks I'm not that great at it. And it makes it so I think I'm only okay when really I want to think I'm pretty good. Others tell me I'm really good.
Other than that Sterling is the best husband ever!
Anyway, my point was that it feels great to be able to start working out and not have the pressure of NEEDing to lose 5 pounds. Yes, I need to lose weight. I want to lose ten pounds. But I don't worry about it because I have not worked out much in over a month so when I do start it should work to lose weight. And breastfeeding really helps me lose weight.
I am tired! I am happy but tired! And it is so windy here! I'm starting to really hate the wind. But mom Roundy pointed out...we are on the prairies where the wind blows. That's just the part of the U.
S. we moved to.
