Easter 2011

(This is not an amendment or contradiction of my last post. Just an addition and clarification of the rest of the day)

I honestly thought I would be spending my Easter either in the hospital or on my couch cuddling my new little angel. Not to be. Which is fine. Easter was wonderful and I felt great so I can't complain. In fact I am sleeping so well I almost want this baby to stay in a little bit longer... almost.

I curled the girls hair all cute. They barely made it to church in tact. Kimball cried the whole way there because Seth wouldn't' let her take her stuffed penguin. By the end of Sacrament they looked like they'd just gotten out of bed and I'd thrown a bow in their hair. Boys are so much easier.

We got to Skype with Kilian, our exchange student and the kids were so excited. Aren't their little faces just precious?

Then I tried to take pictures. This is what we ended up with:

Not exactly a success but definitely an accurate portrayal of the moment.



Yesterday my sweet friend dropped off this adorable diaper cake. My friends had thrown me a "football" baby shower. She couldn't make it but she made this anyway. So cute. Okay, Nash, we're ready for you!

Happy Easter!

Seth doesn't have meetings today!

I made crepes. The last 4 were really good. The kids thought the first ones were good too.

Seth is cleaning the kitchen.

We're listening to conference on my iPod. I love technology.

The kids are reading books together. And only fighting a little tiny bit.

Max:4 is written on our little chalk board. (Seth's sweet subtle way of reminding me the maximum days I have left of pregnancy. Induction scheduled for Thursday)

I have such a blessed life. And today more than most days I am reminded how very much the Lord has given us. What an amazing blessing to know that our Savior came and gave all for us. That he lived and died for us. I am so grateful for that knowledge.

Happy Easter!

Hum Dee Dum...

Have I mentioned that I'm ready for a baby? So we're 10 days from my due date and regardless of how I keep telling myself to just be patient and let it happen, I'm starting to get very antsy. I need to find things to keep myself busy so I don't think about it so much. Oh wait, I have a TON of things to keep me busy I'm just ignoring/neglecting them.

I do have a good little cleaning schedule for this week. I just finished my Monday Laundry Day duties and now it's on to getting as organized/picked up as possible before Friday. Why Friday? Well because I have the best husband EVER! For an early Mother's Day present he got me a house cleaning! Yep someone is coming here to my house to do all the deep cleaning. I am SO excited. I do realize that it sounds a little insane to say that I am cleaning to prepare for the cleaning lady to come (I never understood that growing up, I had lots of friends with cleaning ladies and they would tell me "I can't come over today I have to clean up because the cleaning lady is coming." What?) Now I get it. You are not "cleaning", you are picking up and organizing so that she can "clean." So that's what's on my to do list for the week. Clean for the cleaning lady.

I tried to put myself in labor this last weekend by helping with our latest project. Putting in 5 tons of river rock next to our driveway... it didn't work. It just made me hot and tired. But it looks good. If Seth, his dad and his brother weren't doing most of the work maybe it would have jump started things.

This is actually 2 Saturdays ago, I think it took 3 hours to get this stump out. The guys are in sweatshirts and jackets which is hilarious because this week it was like 93 degrees. What a difference a week can make.

Seth worked all week to clear all the weeds and grass out. Now if we could just get our neighbors to do the same.

The boys

About half way done. It was a long hot afternoon but it looks great now. Too bad I haven't taken a final picture and my camera is out of batteries and apparently charging the battery is just too much to do right now!

I think I'll go for a nice long walk tonight. Any other suggestions? (no need to suggest the one very obvious one that every one suggests, including Seth.)

Ready for Four

T minus 16 days or so. I am ready for a new baby. I may not be "ready-ready" but I am definitely ready to meet Nash, to see his cute little face and hear his sweet little newborn cries. I can't wait to meet him. I feel like this pregnancy has been so different from the other 3. Not in the sick or not sick way or carrying him high or low type of discussion but just in my ability to cope and my being ok with the whole thing. Hmmm, not that I wasn't ok with the other 3, each of them was planned and expected. So what am I trying to say? Maybe I'm a little more mature now. Maybe I understand the enormity of it a little better. I don't know but it feels different.

My best description would have to be that with my first, well it was my first. I knew how far along I was by the day on any given day and pregnancy consumed my life (reading books, surfing the net, discussion groups, etc, etc.) This one has been more like "um, I think I'm like 22 or 23 weeks, I don't know somewhere 5 months." And for months I would think "why do I feel sick or why am I so tired? Oh right, I'm pregnant."

Then with Kimball, McKay was only 8 months old when we found out I was pregnant and even though it was planned it was still a little shocking to digest. Plus, who has time to focus on number 2 when number 1 is barely learning to walk.

With Luc, oh boy. I thought I was ready for number 3 and a gap of over two years seemed huge. But once the pregnancy really hit, I was exhausted and nervous about my mothering abilities. Plus, he was a boy and I was scared. I thought there was no way I could love a boy like I loved my princesses. (I was so wrong.)

This pregnancy has just felt... right. I know, I know, I've complained about nausea and fatigue and all the rest but I haven't really felt stressed. I've felt like "it's all good." And it's been a nice change. Not to mention I've felt super comfortable in my pregnant body this time, which has been a welcome change. (except for that one week when the nurse told me that I had gained 17 lbs in one month... someone needs to teach her how to read a scale or maybe they should invest in a digital one, for all of our sakes.)

So I am ready. Today I bought a Boppy and a diaper bag (which isn't really a diaper bag but just a big purse because I just don't want to lug around a quilted bag with little teddy bears on it this time, been there) and I picked up his car seat and stroller. His crib is up. His clothes (95% hand-me-downs - which I love) are all in his dresser and closet.

AND, his newest cousin was born today!!! (my sister Dani had Taryn Juliet this morning.) So we're ready whenever you are Nash.

(Diana- this is for you, it's the only pregnant picture I could find of myself. I'll have to snap a few more in the next couple weeks.)

Horseback Riding

Kimball has been asking for months if we can go ride horses. I have repeatedly told her that I don't know of anyone who has horses, to which she would say "let's go to Uncle Dale's house, he has horses." Uncle Dale lives in Alberta Canada. She didn't care. She was more than willing to make the 1400 mile drive as long as it meant riding a horse. Luckily when Seth's mom heard about her "dream" she came to the rescue. She has a friend (Billie) with horses and arranged a riding time.

We made McKay go first because Kimball looked nervous and well Luc is only 3 so shouldn't his oldest sister show him the way. Mistake. She was terrified. She didn't want anything to do with it until Billie offered to ride with her.

Luc went second because he could hardly control his excitement and we couldn't hold him back a minute longer. He LOVED every second of it. It was super nerve-racking for me. He kept sliding to one side and turning around and saying "yee-haw" and I was sure he was going to fall off. And look at him, he's tiny. That horse is huge. He didn't seem to notice.

Kimball was in heaven. Billie told her she was a "natural" and even let her steer BJ all by herself. She grinned from ear to ear the whole time. I felt like a super good mom for making this happen. Oh wait, I didn't make it happen, oh well, it still felt good to see them so happy.

McKay did end up getting on by herself and while she didn't love it as much as the other two I was proud of her for conquering her fear.

So here's to horseback riding! Look at my little Rodeo Princesses, they are too cute!

Soccer Day 1

I have entered the world of soccer-mom-dom. I have had the minivan for 3 years but now that we finally signed the girls up for soccer I'm feeling official. McKay is a trooper, loves the competition of it and is actually a fairly good goalie, not afraid to attack the ball. Kimball is also a trooper but more of a "supportive" trooper. She runs up and down that field like nobody's business and comes with in inches of the ball quite often but she has yet to attempt to touch the ball. At her first practice after being (gently) told she was going the wrong way she stomped off the field and declared for all the other experienced and seasoned soccer moms to hear "I HATE SOCCER!" So honestly we were just proud of her staying on the field at the first game. Luc thinks he should definitely be allowed to play. But for now he'll be their little cheerleader.

Arriving a full 10 minutes early! (the games are at 8am every Sat! good thing I didn't know that when we signed them up I might not have done it.)

There were no subs so they played the whole 40 minutes!

I forgot to buy them soccer shorts... McKay is wearing Luc's shorts! And they totally fit.