Belly Shot

My four year old took these pictures while we were baking cookies. These will have to do for now. I may or may not post another one. In fact, I believe these two pictures are the only ones I have of me being pregnant. I am 38 weeks and I have a C-section scheduled for April 8th. 1 more week to go!

A true belly shot. I told Paul to make sure he got my tummy in the photo. He followed my directions so I can't complain. Who needs the eyes in a picture anyway?

Here I am trying to tell him his finger is in the way. After this picture he proceeded to take pictures of my thighs. When I asked him what he was doing he replied, "I am taking pictures of your legs." ??? He lost interest in portraits after that and took pictures of the fridge. I love my four year old.

Big Boys Get Bunkbeds

In preparation for the baby coming in a couple weeks we moved the boys downstairs. They are very excited about their bunkbeds. We waited until the last minute because I haven't been thrilled about my little guys being so far from me at night. So far they have been loving the novelty of it. Now I need to figure out how to keep them off the ladder all day. That probably isn't going to happen anytime soon though.

Now that I have started to get the baby's room set up I am getting more and more excited. I'll get a belly shot posted soon.

SUGAR!

My son Paul has what you call a sweet tooth that he unfortunately inherited from me. He loves strawberries, but I think some of his love for them comes from me serving sugar with them. The other day I saw him doing this after his strawberries were gone...

A couple days after this incident he asked for some sugar, and proceeded to explain to me that he didn't want any strawberries with it this time. "Just the sugar this time, k mom." Nice try.

Baby Shower

One of my best friends, Tracy, threw me a baby shower. I had a ton of fun and everything I received was super cute and much needed. The support from all the people I love here in Denver was overwhelming. Thanks Tracy!

My Fingers Are Still Raw

The quilts I made the boys are finished!



This is what the backside looks like.

I shopped around for comforters and couldn't find anything that I liked. I wanted a generic pattern (no sports theme, no trucks, no characters). I wanted them to last 10 years and since we are going to bunk the beds next month I wanted them to match. So I decided to make them instead.

The pattern I chose ended up being a difficult one and I didn't fully realize how difficult it was until after all the squares and rectangles were cut and experienced quilters told me I was crazy. I am the opposite of experienced, but I had some serious determination after I spent so much money on the fabric and a ton of time cutting it all out. So on I chugged. I took all my cut fabric to Boise to work on over Christmas break and when I showed it to my aunt she laughed in my face betting I'd never finish it (insert increased determination). There are no littler patterns or squares to sew into bigger squares. You have to sew each piece adding it to the whole one by one, to give reference to those who have done things like this before, and the rectangles are not all the same direction so you have to leave edges unsewn until the piece underneath on the next row is added. It's a little confusing.

I sewed every spare minute I had. We put them on quilt frames and hand quilted them from sun up to sun down for a week and a half. My mom stayed up all night the last day I was there to sew the edges. I went home with two completed quilts. It's been three weeks and my finger tips are still raw and sore from hand quilting them. I am glad they are done and I probably will never do it again. :)

Cold and Snowy

It has been cold and snowy here in Denver lately. We took the kids sledding the other day and they loved it. I was convinced that the kids would be too scared, but I was happily proved wrong. Paul was even carrying his own sled back up the hill! Pat and I were the ones that called it quits after we were cold and tired. The kids would have kept going if we'd let them.

It doesn't look like there's a lot of snow in the picture, but there was plenty behind me. We got 4 inches more that night and we are scheduled to get 6 more by tomorrow night. We'll try to take them out again soon.

Yeah for Keyless Entry

I have GREAT news!!!!! It may not seem like a huge deal to anyone else but me, but I finally found my car keys!!!!! They have been missing since early fall. I have a duplicated key that I have been using, but I couldn't lock the car with them. It only started the car. The alarm goes off and then the car won't start if you try to unlock or lock it with the duplicated key. Anyway, it is a very good day for me.

I found them in a bag by the kid's bookshelf. I used the bag over the summer for library trips, and I haven't used it since. I moved the bag the other day to vacuum underneath it and I happened to look inside when I picked it up and SURPRISE! Who knew vacuuming could bring such joy.

Grandpa's Plane

We had a wonderful Christmas in Boise.

While we were there we went to my dad's hangar so the kids could see grandpa's airplanes. The ultralight plane pictured has a new engine on it and it needed some flight time, so my dad took it up and let the kids see him take off. We were watching him in the air and then he suddenly turned out of the flight pattern and descended behind the buildings. I knew something wasn't right when he exited the flight pattern prematurely. So we put the kids in the car and headed toward the other end of the runway. As we drove closer I could see my dad walking on the access road to the runway. Hmm?


His engine seized in flight and he had to make an emergency landing. I was glad he was okay. After having several problems with this new engine he is sending it back as a 'lemon' and exchanging it.

My father would love it if one of his kids followed in his footsteps and became a pilot, but it doesn't seem promising at this point. I started taking pilot's lessons when I was eighteen and not too far into them I decided it was not my love. In fact, I dislike flying very much.

This is my dad towing his plane back to his hangar.

We Are Expecting!

We came home and decorated our Christmas tree in celebration of our upcoming new arrival! Yes, we are expecting our third baby in April. Earlier that day we took the boys to the ultrasound and found out we are going to have a girl!!! I am very excited, and Paul is pleased as well. He kept calling the baby a her and has been asking for a sister. More importantly, everything looked healthy and normal with our little one.

This pregnancy has been more difficult in some ways, and better in others. I was sick for long time in the beginning, but it was at night and I could put the kids and myself to bed at the same time and sleep through it. That was nice. I was able to keep it quiet for longer too because I wasn't sick during the day and I wasn't showing (unusual for a third I know). All the unpleasant symptoms like smells, hips hurting, fatigue, cramps, etc. have been amplified this time around. Bummer. I have a bonus symptom too; I am so lucky. I itch all over all the time! On the bright side though, I am more than halfway done!

I love Christmas time.

I love my family, and we are excited about adding to it.

The boys love their trains.

Thanksgiving in Albuquerque

We went to Albuquerque, NM for Thanksgiving because it was middle ground for family. We were all able to travel about equal distance. The drive down was really windy and we got terrible gas mileage. The kids were good and we didn't have to stop much so we made good time though. We almost ran out of gas on the pass. We were in no-man's land. Exit after exit had signs that read "no services available," but we did sputter into a gas station eventually. Phew!

The house we rented had a play set in the backyard. One of those wooden ones with a two-story fort with a slide. There was a swing thingo that held two kids at a time facing back to back, like a two sided rocking horse. The kids loved it. The first day we were there Paul and Caleb were on it for a while laughing and having a good time, when I heard screaming. Caleb was hanging on to one side like he was falling off a horse, and every time it swung his head was hitting a 4X4 post that held the two-story fort. I went running across the yard and before I could get there the swing had gone back and forth a couple more times. It was sickening to watch and not be able to get there fast enough. Poor Caleb had a three open wounds. One on his temple, one next to his eye, and another along his jaw. It didn't take long for the bruising and swelling to follow. I felt so bad for him.

I have a problem. I am confessing...I can't keep track of important things like cameras and keys. I am constantly misplacing them. I am currently missing my car keys. They have been missing for a couple weeks now, and of course I couldn't find my camera while we were in New Mexico. It turned up the last night we were there. They appeared out of thin air; I swear. Hence, I don't have many pictures. All in all it was a relaxing vacation, and it is always fun to spend time with family.

Paul, Caleb, Maisy, Emmy

Halloween

We had fun preparing for Halloween, but Halloween itself was a bit of a disappointment for our family this year. We were sick. I don't have any pictures of trick-or-treating or their costumes. We sat at home puking and had to ignore our doorbell. It was very sad. We tried to go to a church trunk-or-treat, but ended up leaving with sick kids. Paul had a knight costume and Caleb a dragon.

We did have fun decorating pumpkins and going to a corn maze though beforehand.

Book Club....While Mom's Away

Dad does post something every once and a while. This is what the boys do while mom is away for the night to book club with all of the girls on their night out.

Caleb's Happy 2nd

This cake was pretty simple and Caleb loved it. He kept giggling that there was dirt on his cake. I love that he got a kick out of it. The dirt part is just chunks of unfrosted cake (I got the idea from a friend).

This is Caleb enjoying the truck's sound effects. He kept pushing the buttons on the top of it, and the best part was that he got to keep the tractor/truck afterwards.

This is Caleb's happy face that he got his own package of gum as a gift.

Happy Caleb

We took the boys to The Aquarium and we had a good time. While we were there I was reminded why we don't go there often. You don't get much for your money, and they nickel and dime you to death once you're inside. The kids loved the sharks though.

Caleb's Big Boy Bed

We moved Caleb out of the crib and into a regular bed. Caleb has been asking to sleep in Paul's bed for a while now, but I was worried how the naps would go if we moved him out of the crib. We had a trial run while we were in Baton Rouge. Caleb slept in a bed there, and did really well. So, when we got home we made the transition. It went surprisingly smooth, and the nap times are still intact. Hooray for nap times! Both of the kids are loving the change.

LSU Game

We traveled to Baton Rouge, LA to attend an LSU football game with Pat's dad. The sheer mass of people tailgating was overwhelming. We arrived 5 hours before the start of the game and still had to park 45 minutes away. Unfortunately, the game itself left something to be desired (1st, 2nd, 3rd down, kick the entire time.) The two touchdowns were made by special teams. I had a good time overall though, and the trip was really fun. The kids had a great time with grandpa's dog.

Grandpa and Caleb waiting for the game to start.

Inside the stadium.

Paul and Caleb following the dog around and playing fetch. That poor dog was worn out by time we left.

The kids visiting the nursing home to see grandma.