On Saturday Morning we did temple baptisms, the night before we had done a session which was really cool. But after doing baptisms I have to say that was my favorite. It was my first time doing baptisms acting as one of the endowed adults, meaning, I didn't get baptized but I handed the kids that had their towels as they got out. I sat in on the confirmations first and as soon as they started the spirit became so strong. I could feel that the excitement and happiness of these people. I felt like standing and singing out for joy! I have never felt that way before. It was amazing. I had a smile the entire time, the spirit in that temple is so incredible. Everyone should go there!

After that we went to Carthage. It was a good day to do so, because it was raining so we could be inside the whole time. Again, amazing spirit that is there. There is a place in the visitor center that if you look at the jail, you can see Joseph Smith in one of the windows, because of where his picture is in the visitors center.

We had a few places we wanted to go and we went to a show put on by the Young Performing Missionaries. These are missionaries that have already served a mission, and had to AUDITION to come to Nauvoo for a 2nd mission. They served in Nauvoo and performed for 3 months, they had to obey all mission rules. Only 24 out of 250 applicants are chosen to be these missionaries. How crazy is that!? They were the best of the best! They had performed little skits on the Trail of Hope, and put on shows. They were incredible. (Are you catching a theme that Nauvoo is awesome?)

Sunday, church wasnt until 2, so we relaxed and hung out. We had Elder Baxter from the 1st Quorum of the Seventy there. He is from England and had the greatest accent. He was pretty funny and took the entire sacrament time. He talked about how we are Christians. He was pretty blunt on some of the points, like we dont believe that the God Head is one being because that is wrong. He didn't try to sugar coat anything. I love that!

Monday we headed over to the Joseph Smith Historic Site. It is was by the Community of Christ church. There is a totally different spirit there, or should I say lack of spirit. When we went to Joseph Smiths houses and places he had been it just felt like an old house. After we went to Brigham Young's House and the minute we walked in we felt a change, a reverence for this place. Whenever the Community of Christ sells the Joseph Smith sites to the church I want to go back to see the difference in the spirit. I know it will be moving.

Monday was our last day, so after we packed and had lunch we left because we had a 4 hour drive ahead of us. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone but its nice to know that we will be seeing them soon!

For Memorial Day weekend, my parents and little brother flew out to Nauvoo to visit since they have never come. It is about 4 hours away from us, so Eric, Q and I drove down. If you have never been to Nauvoo you have to make the trip. It is amazing. This is my 4th trip to Nauvoo, and every time I learn something new.

Here are some thoughts I wanted to get down before I forgot:

The Brick House
One of the sites you can visit is the Brick House where they teach you about how the pioneers used to make bricks, and then how they would build their house. The 6 of us were the only ones on the tour at the time, so we got special treatment :) Our tour guide shared these thoughts with us.

To make a brick house it is 3 bricks thick. So when you buy the bricks once they are made you just get a bunch of bricks, and depending on their color will depend on where they were when they where in the fire. As you can see below, there is the black brick, the light brick and then the prettiest red brick. The pretty red you usually put on the outside layer of your house so it made you house prettier. The other 2 bricks are still great bricks, so they will be on the 2 inside layers, where no one else can see them.

- Do we look at the black and beige brick and think it is useless and would just throw it away, just because it isnt as pretty as the other one? Do we belittle ourselves and some of our talents and hide them because there are people that are better and more talented then us? Each brick is needed to make a house.

Another interesting thing to note about bricks- is when you make a brick you have to get all impurities out. This includes pebbles. Otherwise, when the brick is burning the pebbles cant stand the heat like the other clay and it ruins the entire brick. From the picture below the beige mold of brick looks perfect, you cant see there is anything wrong with it, but once it has been in the fire or underpressure the impurities come out.

-Do we tried to hide our sins, thinking that if i can look good on the outside, no one will know about my secret sin? That will only get us so far before our faith is tested, we are put under the refiners fire, and our sin is revealed.

Rendezous in Old Nauvoo
This is a super cute little play the senior missionaries put on. It is about some pioneers and what their lives were like living in Nauvoo. It is a cute little musical that will keep you laughing. One of my favorites songs is about the exodus west. Some of the men are worried that they are going to be remembered as cowards for fleeing the mobs, and not standing up for their rights. The song says- we will be remembered that we went "willingly- because we have to" by the last verse though, they have changed their tune and now are saying they are going "willingly - because we WANT to".
-Are their times in our lives that we do things, such as callings, service, etc. Willingly because we have to. Meaning, have to to please our parents, because other people will look down on us, because the prophet said, but i dont want to but i have to do it. You know that tone right? Usually it is said with a sigh, or a huff. maybe even rolling of the eyes. An example of this is those shirts that say" I can't - I'm Mormon". Like being LDS is keeping you from really enjoying life. How much better though would we feel if we did it Willingly because we WANT to? You want to fulfill your calling, you want to not double pierce your ear or get a tattoo. You want to go to the church and clean it on Saturday morning at 9 am. Instead of saying I cant I'm Mormon, take a stand and say, I drink, or smoke- or whatever you feel being LDS is keeping you from doing. How many blessings are we keeping from ourselves because we do not have the right attitude?
Can the dialogue of a pioneer that was crossing over the Rocky Mountains in the dead of winter because they HAVE to? I imagine there would be a lot of murmuring, mumbling under their breath, and I bet they would just turn around. Every Pioneer story I have heard is they went Willingly because they wanted to. If they were going because they HAD to, I'm sure their faith went out the window after the 1st storm. But there are countless of stories of the pioneers recieving amazing blessings because they had the faith, and because they WANTED to go. They WANTED to listen to the Prophet, and the Lord.

These have just been my thoughts as I have been in Nauvoo on Day 1. If I have any other thoughts I will share those tomorrow.

We also did a session in the Nauvoo Temple. It is beautiful. I love thinking about the pioneers, and that I am walking where they walked. I know they walked in Salt Lake as well, but there is just a different spirit here in Nauvoo.

Tomorrow we are doing Baptisms for the Dead in the Temple, and then heading down to Carthage and more site tours.

Till then!

Weight:  14.1 lbs
Length: ?? inches
Clothing Size: 3-6 Months
Sleep: You now will take all naps in your crib. At night you start in your crib but if you wake up and it takes too long to get you to go back to sleep you end up in bed with me and dad. You still wake up every 3-4 hours at night to sleep. We would really love it if you would start sleeping all the way through the night.
I Love...: Roll over, and play with your toys. You also are a jumping maniac. You have a bouncy chair and a saucer that lets you jump and that is all you do. Even when someone is holding you and you stand up you start jumping. You talk a lot now, no words but you just babble on and on. Also you love baths and water- you love to splash.
I Hate...: Itching. You skin still has some flare ups and they make you itch and you get super frustrated. Also, you have to be swaddled still to go to sleep otherwise you rub your eyes and it keeps you from sleeping.
Trips: We went to St. George for Bergen and Coltons wedding at the beginning of May. We flew out of Madison and straight into St. George. I loved it! Also, we went to Nauvoo to visit the Cluffs, and to see Grandma and Grandpa Corbett and Uncle Andrew.
It was funny when...: Max (Aunt Cyndy's Dog) loved to play and lick you. You would just lay there and let him. Also, you are starting to giggle more often now. So it is super cute when you do. Especially when you are trying to decide if you are going to giggle or cry.
Firsts: You went swimming for the first time in St. George! You had a ton of fun, and loved splashing the water. I cant wait till it gets warmer so we can go swimming more often! Also you are starting to get on your knees acting like you want to crawl. You scoot backwards but I think in the next few weeks you will be moving forward.  We also went to Nauvoo for the first time with you. Sadly it will probally be our last time while we are out here in Wisconsin before we move. You had SO much fun with Abby!
Other facts: No major doctor visits! You definetly like to sit back and watch. Before reaching for something you have been watching it and deciding if it is something you want. Once we got the rash under control you turned out to be a pretty mellow baby. You usually just and chilling in the stroller or being carried. You dont care where you take a nap or when. Its been nice.

LOVE YOU!

I just have to brag :) Last Mother's Day I was pregnant, and still got  a present (a blanket I had been coveting). So this was my first Mother's Day with an actual kid. I didn't know what to expect, namely because I hadn't been dropping any hits to Eric on things that I want. So on Saturday night when Eric said I didn't have to wake up with Q that night, that he would get up and feed him all night I thought that was present enough! It was wonderful getting an entire night sleep. Namely because he is being difficult now, he likes to wake up, scream and then act like the bottle we are feeding him is poison. Not sure what that is about but it needs to stop.

Anyway, on Sunday when I woke up Eric brought in this beautiful box!

Isn't this a GOREGOUS diaper bag! I had beeing eyeing it for awhile. In Fact it was going to be my gift to myself once I got to my Goal Weight! Lucky me I have a wonderful husband! Now the pressure is on for a Father's Day gift that is the same!

This Friday Eric also took the day off and we drove up to Green Bay. We did a tour of the Packers Stadium and had dinner at the Pub inside. It was pretty sweet! While on the tour they take you on the field, and have you yell "Go Pack Go!" The idea is that you get to hear what the players hear, and that the phrase echos back to you, because of how the stadium is built. Eric was holding Q, and when everyone yelled Q got super scared and started crying, big crocodile tears. He is such a baby :) It was pretty funny. 

He had a busy weekend :)

Q and I made a little trip to St. George for my cousins wedding. We flew out of Madison and right into St. George. It was wonderful! We had an extra layover but totally worth it! We got in Tuesday night and played all week! Here are some pictures from our little vacation.

Qin the pool for the first time. If you cant tell he had a blast! This summer you can bet that you can find Q and I at the pool.

My mom came down the same day I did so we could spend more then just the weekend together. We had so much fun, wish we had even more time!

We went to the nail salon to get mani's and pedi's - He may now be my new pedicure buddy. He loved the jets and when he wasn't in the water he kept staring at it. Also Max( the dog) LOVED that there was someone his size! He kept licking and playing with Q, and Q didn't mind at all! He would just sit there while Max licked him. It was pretty cute.

I wish St. George was closer so we could spend more time there!! The wedding was awesome and I am so happy for Bergen and Colton! When we move to Seattle it will be nice that the flight to St. George isn't crazy expensive so we can spend more time together!

I cant believe it has been 4 years since our wedding! Since I was at my cousins wedding this Saturday (post to come) I have been thinking a lot about our engagement, wedding and the last 4 years.  I cant believe it has gone by so fast! I also feel like we are now out of the "newlywed" group. We may have exited that group when we hit 3 years, but at that point we still didn't have a kid. Now that we do we are officially out of being newlyweds!

What has brought you closer in the last year?
I definetly think having Q has brought us closer. We have become better at working with each other and helping the other person. We also value our time alone more then we did, at least I do.

Anything shocked you about your spouse?
Eric likes to pretend a problem doesn't exist. Namely when I am upset, instead of trying to fix it or ask what is wrong, he will actually ignore me and pretend that I'm not there. His thinking is that eventually I will get over whatever I am upset about so until then he will just act as though nothing is wrong. Unfortunatly, that is not how it works ever, it makes me even angrier that he is not addressing the issue so then it makes it worse. You would think after 4 years of this he would just learn to face it head on, but no. He continues this process. Maybe one day he will get it.

What was a Honeymoon Disaster you are ready to laugh about?
Honeymoon 1: I forgot shoes. For my overnight bag Victoria, CAN I didn't pack shoes. Not sure how I forgot to pack them but I did. SO on the boat over I had to wear Eric's flipflops and then we went straight to the mall to get shoes.

Honeymoon 2: I was stung by a jellyfish. We went to Mexico, and the first time in the ocean I was stung by a jelly fish. It was awful. I was in pain and I had to get a shot in my butt.  Which made me drowsy.

What has shocked you about being married?
How you go from an independent person, to never wanting to be without them. I had my own room all growing up, and when I went to college I had my own room and at one point my own apartment. I never was worried to go to bed if someone else was home. But when Eric is out of town or I am out of town without him I have a really hard time going to sleep. Also any noise that the apartment makes freaks me out. I laugh at myself all the time thinking that I used to do this all the time! How is it that after only 4 years of being married I hate being alone?!


I love Eric more and more every day. He is my best friend. We laugh together, play together and have great conversations. We are not perfect, but every day we are helping each other get there. I am so excited to see where we will be in 4 more years!

Love you a million red m&ms!
Hill

Weight:  12.5 lbs
Length: 24.5 inches
Clothing Size: 3-6 Months

Sleep: You love your crib. as soon as we put you in it, you know what to do, you snuggle into your blanket and go to sleep. You still wake up through out the night to eat, but we are hopeful that as we start you on baby food you will start sleeping at least 5-6 hours straight at night. Fingers crossed.

I Love...: Talk. You do it all the time. You talk to your toys, and mirrors and mom and dad. You also love grabbing your toes. Now that you can roll over you do it all the time as well.

I Hate...: Waiting for food. It is maybe the only time that you are really upset. When you are hungry you want food NOW. Also, if you are super tired you cry because you are so tired.

Trips: We went to Seattle for Daddy's MBA weekend. You spent 2 days with Grandma Dolder and Grandma Corbett without mom and dad. It was our first trip without baby! It was wonderful! We continue to go to doctor appointments because your skin condition hasn't healed itself yet.

Firsts: You rolled over this last week from your back to your stomach! You also can sit up all by yourself, if you reach for any toys you will start to fall though. You also had your first Ear Infection, which lead to a Yeast Infection. :( 

Other facts: We went to an allergist and come to find out you are allergic to Milk, Eggs and Peanuts. The doctor gave us some EpiPens in case you have a serious allergic reaction. Like the one you had when we gave you Milk formula. Luckily they dont think you will be allergic to milk, eggs or peanuts for ever. For now we just have to keep those away from you, and as you get older we can introduce them to you.You are scared to death of loud noises. If I get Ice from the Fridge or make a smoothie you jump and then start crying. Or you make a funny yelping noise and then start crying. Its hard not to laugh about it. You love making bubbles with your mouth, anyone that sits by you is going to get drenched because you blow water everywhere. Again, we laugh at it because it is so cute!

I will be writing another post about all the fun new things Q has started doing this month, but this is a major accomplishment today! HE ROLLED OVER!

He has been rolling from his stomach to his back for a long time. He has been working really hard the last couple of days though, to go from his back to his stomach. Today he finally did it... TWICE! Then he got burnt out and needed a nap.

Yes I am a huge nerd for putting this to music, but I thought it made the video more exciting, and I really didn't want to listen to my voice.

 

So proud.

This last weekend we were able to attend University of Washington's MBA Welcome Weekend. It has been amazing, but let me first start with how we got here.

We decided that since UW was going to pay for our flight we were going to  fly out of our little airport in Madison. Usually we drive to Milwaukee which is an hour and a half, but its always so stressful. So we booked our flights. The plan was to leave the Madison airport at 6 AM, lay over in Chicago for 45 minutes then straight into Seattle. Well, at 11 PM on Wednesday we got a TEXT message that our flight from Madison to Chicago was cancelled! So we called the airlines and waited on hold for 1 hr to try and figure out what we were going to do! It took an hour and a half to decide that we had had enough of the airlines and we would just drive to Chicago- 3 hours away. So as soon as we hung up the phone, because by now its 12/1 in the morning, and decided we were still wide awake so lets just leave now. So we packed everything into our car, tried to keep the baby asleep and started our drive. The first hour was awful. The rain alone would make anyone nervous, but the wind was at 35+ wind bursts. Eric had to fight to keep our car on the road. It did eventually go away but it was pretty scary. Once we got to the outskirts of Chicago we found one of those travel centers/oasis' and slept. Yes we slept in our car because we didn't want to pay a hotel for 2 hours of sleep. Then we headed to the airport.

Sleeping in our car like Truckers

Once inside the airport we went to our airlines and they proceeded to tell us that this flight was also cancelled! I was pissed! They made us wait in line for 45 minutes to speak to a lady at the counter. All the while I am looking at the Google Flight Status thing and it says our flight is on time! And 3 other people can see that we are on the flight, it just wont let the check us in. Well finally the lady at the ticket counter told us that even though we bought our tickets from them, we have to check in at a different airlines, because they are the ones flying the plane! It would have been nice if any of the 4 people we talked to before would have told us this! At this point Eric and I are pissed, and Q has exploded out of his diaper. But we still haven't checked in, the line at security is forever long, and we haven't had breakfast.

We run to Alaska and there isn't aline, just a frustrated attendant. We then find the closest bathroom for the baby. and run to security. Luckily the person there took pity on us and let us go in the employee only line because we had a baby. We get through security to find Q exploded another diaper. Change him, order our McDonalds and they are boarding. So I haven't feed the baby or myself, and we have to run to our gate. We are FINALLY on the plane! Lots of deep breaths later we are settled and on our way to Seattle!

Thursday was a reception for the MBA students, and they put us in a nice hotel near campus. So we dropped the baby off at Eric's parents house and headed to the hotel so we could check in and change. It was a super nice dinner! After when everyone was heading to Pub Club, we decided to go to bed. We had only slept 2 hours in the last 24 and I needed sleep.

View from our room

Friday was mostly workshop type classes, they had a financial aid class, Mock MBA class, etc. For us blue dots as they call us, the significant others, we had our own lunch and a panel to learn more about what its like for other blue dots. They were all super nice, and have a great little community between all of them. It will be fun to get together with them while the students are studying or away on Case Competitions. Friday Night was a TG- or Themed Party, it was Indian Themed so they had some great food, also 6 kegs. The entire MBA school was invited to mingle with the new kids. All in all it was a lot of fun. I cant wait to go to those when we live in Seattle.

They give out quackers

Saturday they had us go on Ride the Ducks. All 13 years I have lived in Seattle I have never been on the Ducks. It was so much fun! The driver was awesome and the weather wasn't too bad! They sm
oozed us some more with a great lunch in Downtown Seattle. Then the MBA part of the weekend was over! We went shopping afterwards because HELLO 5 story Nordstrom! and it was Eric's birthday. After that we met up with Martha and Brenton and went to the Chihuly exhibit in Seattle. It was AMAZING! I would recommend it, but maybe not for little kids. It is really expensive glass. I would hate to have one break. After that we went to Dinner with my family, and had a torrential hail storm. it looked like snow on the ground, but really it was hail. Our car had 3 inches of hail piled on.

That is hail on the road

Sunday we went to Sacrament meeting with my family then rushed home to see my little sister who came home for the week before we headed up to Erics parents house to spend the rest of Sunday and Monday.

Now it is Monday morning and I am super sad because in a couple of house we have to fly back to Chicago and drive 3 hours home. :( August cant come soon enough! In the meantime I am looking forward to my cousins wedding in St. George and then my parents are coming to Nauvoo in May. I wouldn't mind if our flight from Seattle to Chicago was cancelled :)

This is from Easter- when we tried to get a family photo Q had a melt down. So we only got him and daddy in their matching ties. This was taken during a split second of none crying.

I am turning 26 today. Which means, I now have to round up to 30. I really dont care about turning 26, I still feel like I am 23. And besides it is just a number!

Eric is sadly in Milwuakee all day today :( So celebrating my birthday today is just Q and I. He is a real drag. :) I did get some pretty great gifts though! Eric and Q got my UW themed Nikes, a dress, a Coat, and dress slacks all from Banana. My Mother in law got me chairs for my table.. i only have 2, its hard to invite people over when there isn't enough spots at the table. And my mom got me a shirt and some beautiful Michael Kor wedges. I love it all! I only wish I could spend my birthday with my family. Good thing Erics MBA weekend is only a week away!

So for my birthday I made a list of 26 things I want to do/go/own. There is no way I will accomplish them by my 27th birthday, so this could just be the start of my bucket list. 

1. Cruise to Alaska
2. Go to:
• South Africa
• Europe
• Sweden
• Tahiti or Fiji
• Russia
• Dubai
• Atlantis Resort
• Italy
3. Have a Library like Beauty and the Beast
4. Own a MDX
5. Read 1 book a month
6. Own a gorgeous house
7. Go to Lunch with my friends at least once a week
8. Go on a spur of the moment trip with Eric
9. Go on a $5000 shopping spree
10. Become known for something- like Hillary makes the best cinnamon rolls
11. Go to a Ball that requires a beautiful gown
12. Learn to play Tennis
13. Learn to Golf
14. Cook more meals from Scratch
15. Get to and stay a size 6 
16. Go to South Africa and swim with Great White Sharks
17. Become a Scriptorian
18. Own a Steinway Baby Grand Piano
19. Go on a Mission
20. Go on a Service Trip to Africa or Russia
21. Finish my education
22. Always be Debt Free
23. Go on Family Vacations every year
24. Always be willing to do things for others
25. Have my house decorated for every holiday
26. Do something for Eric every month