February 29, 2012 - Leap Day :)

Happy Leap Day!

Today officially marks exactly one more month until my due date! This pregnancy has gone by so quickly up until a couple of weeks ago. Now an entire month feels like a YEAR!

At this point in my pregnancy with Keric, he had already been born. He was about two days shy of 36 weeks, and I will be 36 weeks tomorrow! I think my body may remember this little fact, and is now getting a little impatient with it's house guest. I have been tired and achy for awhile now, but for whatever reason I felt 10 times more so today?? I feel like it takes SO MUCH energy to do the dumbest things, and by the time the day is over, I'm embarassed at how LITTLE I have done.

I didn't by any means expect this baby to be born early, nor did I WANT him to be born early. Keric's being born early was scary and stressful and I honestly didn't want to have that happen again, but I have to admit, there is a small part of me that is a little sad, for lack of a better word, at the reality of this baby "baking" for another full month!

I guess that gives Chris another full month to get some more work on the basement done, and me another full month to REALLY get ready for Carson to make his grand entrance. I would be lying if I said I was anywhere NEAR ready for him to come, but you know...sometimes the little aches and pains and discomforts outweigh the reality of the situation.

Tonight Chris went to Home Depot to get some things for the basement, and on his way home he stopped at Wal mart to grab a few things. I still have yet to feel like going grocery shopping, so bless his heart, he did some of it for me tonight. It also dumped a good 6 inches of snow this afternoon, so I was more than a little grateful to not have to go out in it!

When he got back he came in carrying a black bean bag for Keric's new pirate room. Last week we did kind of a mini make-over of Reagan's room for her. We got new bedding and curtains, and a few other little things to kind of make her room more of a "big girl" room. One of the things she wanted was a bright pink bean bag in the corner of her room.

Since that day Keric has been obsessed with this bean bag! I catch him in her room all the time just sitting in it, or trying to "steal" it and put it in his room. He tells me that he needs one so he can read his books and sleep. I don't know how you would sleep very well in such a tiny bean bag, but he seems to think it would be pretty fun if I let him sleep in it one night! Crazy boy! I finally told him that maybe we could get him a bean bag for his new room someday so he could in it and read books. I guess thanks to his Daddy, today was the day.

Now each kid has a bean bag for their room. Tonight they each grabbed their bags and brought them down to watch a movie before bed. I think there was more playing on the bags than actually watching the movie, but oh well. It was actually kind of a dumb movie anyway. :)

February 28, 2012

We haven't had a JoAnn's here in Tooele for very long, but it has been here long enough that when I pull up to the parking lot Keric says "Mommy, I hate this store!" LOL

Tonight we went and signed the papers on our re-finance (Yea to my sweet hubby for doing so much re-search and locking us in to an AMAZING rate! I am so not up on stuff like that, and am always SO GRATEFUL that he is!) and after we were done at the title company we ran a couple of errands before heading home.

One of the things I wanted to do was go to JoAnn's, even though I sort of knew that wasn't high on anyone elses list. Chris took pity on the boys and said he would take them over to Cal-Ranch to look at guns while I went into JoAnns. I'm sure that was hard sacrifice for Chris. haha

I guess I took a little longer than I thought, because while I was looking at fabric I heard the very loud laughter and running of tiny feet down an aisle that was unmistakably my Bubby! I had a couple of things I still wanted to look at, so I had to keep Keric entertained for about 10 more minutes.

He squeezed himself into the bottom of the very TINY cart I was pushing, and I put the leprechaun hat on him. He rode around like that happy as could be until it was time to go. Maybe next time we pull into JoAnns he won't be so quick to say "I hate this store!"

February 27, 2012

I think I have created a Shower Monster!

One of the things we did in the Mickey Bathroom was to put a kind of "waterfall" shower head in the shower.

One shower, and Keric was hooked! He LOVES taking showers, and would take 3-4 a day if I would let him. No more "Tubby Time" for this boy...it's showers from now on!

He has a sort of shower "routine." I turn the shower on and make sure that he has just enough "warms" and then he gets in.

He refuses to have ANY help, he instead insists that I sit outside the shower and wait for him, while he shouts out a play by play of what he is doing in the shower. A lot of times this is just "I just standing in the warms Mommy."

These showers of his can last anywhere from 10 minutes to whenever his warms run out, depending on how much patience I have to just SIT there and wait for him. I have tried to sneak out, but he has caught on to this little trick of mine.

Today while he was taking his shower, he kept pulling the shower curtain liner back and peeking out of the little clear round circles in the curtain to make sure I was still there. LOL

The peek a boo game at least made the long wait not so long!

February 26, 2012

Just last week as I was sitting in Sharing time with my class and they were handing out the next weeks prayers, scripture, and talks, I was thinking "I wonder when Keric will be asked to do one of those things?"

Well low and behold he got "mail" today in sharing time! Of course he would get his mail the week that I am home laying in bed with stupid back contractions, so I missed it, but he was SO excited to come show me his mail when he got home!

He was asked to give the opening prayer, and couldn't have been happier about it. He just gets more and more grown up as they days go by. It's a silly thing to get teary about, and I'm sure having to stay down all day didn't help my already overly sensitive emotions, but I cried a little after he handed me his mail and went to change his clothes.

Next thing I know he's going to be bringing home an invitation to the Stake Baptism preview!!! Why does he have to get so big so FAST?? *sigh*

February 25, 2012

Read any book on marriage, or even Conference talks on marriage, and you will always hear the advice "You need to keep dating even after you are married." The funny thing is, that no one ever defines what a "date" is, or at least I don't recall anyone ever defining it.

I guess growing up, I always assumed that a date was dinner and a movie, or some planned out activity that you did on the weekends. I always sort of wondered why my own Mom and Dad hardly ever went on "dates." I guess when you have 7 little kids, dinner and a movie is hard to do every weekend, but of course I didn't think about THAT part of it. :)

Now that I'm the one who is married with little kids, I have often remembered that little piece of advice, and have come to realize that it really is wonderful advice!

I have also learned that date nights don't have to be a planned activity, or even something that requires hiring a babysitter, or spending a lot of money if any money.

I have learned to really love Chris and my date nights. They usually don't last any longer than an hour, don't cost much if anything, and I have even been known to wear my hair in a pony tail and go in baggy sweatshirts and/or jammie pants.

Sometimes we go to Home Depot to look at tile, or paint chips. Other times we go to Wal-mart to get things for Sunday dinner or get something we have run out of like Milk, and other times we go to Maverick to fill the car up with gas, get a movie, or just get a drink and a treat.

They are far from "elaborate" and definitely not planned out, but what they ARE is a few minutes alone, without kids, to get our batteries re-charged, or at least it gets mine re-charged.

Last night we went to Maverick, but we went to the Stansbury Maverick because they were the only ones who had the movie "Puss and Boots" that the kids wanted to see. I have to admit, I wasn't too sad about the extra 10 mins that we had to drive to get there. We picked up the movie, got a little treat, and came home.

Nothing fancy, nothing expensive, but it didn't matter, I still always look forward to our "weekly dates."

As we were driving home I started thinking about weekly dates and all of these things I've just written, and it suddenly occurred to me how similar Chris and I are to my Mom and Dad. I was remembering my Mom and Dad leaving some of us older kids in charge for an hour or so and going out to check on some of my Dad's jobs, or driving over to check on an apartment or take a deposit down to the bank. Something small, but something that they could do just the two of them despite at least a FEW of us wanting to go. :)

Funny how things come full circle. I didn't understand then, but I sure understand now! Those weekly dates, whatever they are...really are important, and some of the best times and moments of my week.

Thanks honey for the fun "date" tonight, especially for the big chocolate chip cookie! YUM!!

February 24, 2012

Today was a big day for me and Carson. Today was my 35 week and 1 day Dr.'s appointment. We were going to find out if he was still breech, and whether or not a C-section would be the way to go.

Our appointment was early in the morning, so poor Keric had to miss pre-school today. He didn't seem to mind too badly that he wasn't going to get to go, but he may have forgotten that he was supposed to go, I'm not sure! ;)

We got to the Dr.'s office around 8:50 a.m. and waited for my name to be called. I got my blood pressure taken, and much to my surprise it was "perfect" according to the nurse! PHEW! Bed rest avoided for another week!!

Then came my favorite part...weigh in. I've gained a total of 7lbs this pregnancy! Not exactly what my intention was...I was hoping to LOSE weight this pregnancy, but I will say I am much happier with the 7lbs gained with Carson than I was with the 30+
pounds I gained with Keric! *sigh*

Then it was back to the room we went. Dr. Holmes came in and asked how everything was going and how I was feeling. Besides being exhausted and totally un-motivated to do just about anything and everything, I feel pretty good. I still have some sleepless nights, the occasional heartburn, which I have NEVER had before, and of course just the normal aches and pains that come with being way too big and pregnant, but heck...woman do this everyday! I don't have too much to really complain about.

She asked me if Carson had turned yet, and I said "I really don't think so. I still feel him literally dancing on my bladder, and I felt his head up in my ribs just last night." She felt around and said "Lets get the ultra-sound machine and see what's going on." She left and came back a few minutes later. I was SURE I knew what she would see, his head up by my ribs.

I kind of held my breath as she put the little wand on my stomach and there it was! Plain as day, his head, down in my pelvis! I was totally shocked! She said "He turned! There's his head, pointed down!" I swear the little monkey did it in the time she left the room to get the machine and came back! I wanted to cry! He did it!! He did it on HIS timeline, but he did it! How could I be upset about a child of mine doing something when he was ready, and waiting until the last minute? I mean seriously...Is that not what I do on a daily basis??

My blood pressure being good, the fact that Carson is in the right position AND I am dilated to a 2 and 50% effaced has changed things! To quote Chris "Wow! That kind of progress took at least 2 hours of being on a Pitocin drip last time!" I think two hours is being on the kind side...it was probably more like 4 or 5, but yeah...he's right. With Keric, my body simply had NO IDEA what to do with itself! Maybe it learned a few things with Keric?

Dr. Holmes said we could move ahead and try for a normal delivery. He is still on the big side, but she said as long as there is no risk in hurting my hip...we can go for it!

NO C-SECTION!!?!?! It was almost too good to even be true! I thought I had come to grips with that reality, and had almost become OK with things. I wasn't happy about it, but I figured if that's what was best for me and Carson, then I would get myself mentally prepared and go ahead with the plan.

Now I don't have to think that way, or at least I don't have to think that way for this week. The odds of him turning back around are slim, but still a possibility. Hopefully that won't happen. I suppose my blood pressure could get bad again this week too, but I'm going to think positive and keep praying that things will work out the way they are supposed to, and we will have a new little boy join our family sometime in the very near future!

Good job Carson!! Thank you for making your Mommy's life just a little easier today! xxoox

February 23, 2012

Look who made their own bed this morning!! :)

One of Cameron and Reagan's jobs in the morning is to make their beds before leaving for school. This morning when I went in to make Bubby's bed, he had already done it!

I asked him, "Who made your bed for you?" He said "I do it Mommy!" It honestly looked pretty good, and at least as good as Cam and Reag's look somedays! LOL

*sigh* He's getting way too big and independant these days!

February 22, 2012

There is nothing more fun than getting packages in the mail, especially when they are unexpected packages! :)

This morning the mailman brought a package with my name on it and when Chris handed it to me I was completely confused!

My first reaction was, "I didn't order anything" but then I started second guessing myself and wondering if I just didn't remember ordering something! Believe me, Me forgetting something has for SURE been known to happen, especially these past few months!

When we opened it inside was the cutest little Pirate Ship from my Mom! Keric was so excited!

I love that my Mom is so quick to think of each and every one of us, and without hesitation send us something for whatever reason. It was just this last Friday that I was talking to her and telling her we were out shopping for things for Keric's Pirate room, and low and behold a Pirate ship shows up on my door step!

We put the little ship with the other things that will go in his room. Keric was quick to tell me, and everyone else that he showed it to, that we were to "touch it soft, because it was very VERY special!"

I'm so excited for his little Pirate Room to come together, and I am glad that Keric is so excited about it too! :)

February 21, 2012

Happy Fat Tuesday everyone! Did anyone else besides me wake up and realize that they no longer fit into ANYTHING they own?? How ironic! *sigh*

I have had this urge to "sew" lately. I don't know if it's a nesting thing, or just a weird "phase" I am going through, but I find myself looking at fabric more, and wondering how hard it would be to make this or that.

I haven't sewn for years! I remember loving to go to my Grandma's house and sewing with her. She is an amazing seamstress, but of course it is only years later that I realize I really should have taken the time and put forth the effort to really learn from her!

I took Home EC classes in Middle School, and even remember being in a little 4H group that taught me how to sew. My Mom was always good to let me use her machine, and help me out with my projects, but somewhere along the way I guess I got bored of it, or decided that it was just too frustrating. There was nothing more infuriating than having to use the little stitch pick to pull out mistakes! I think doing that a few too many times may have been my downfall.

Reagan has said for quite awhile that when she grows up, she wants to be a Fashion Designer. So for Christmas we bought her a sewing machine. My idea totally, but Chris thought it was a good one. Reagan however was not as thrilled with her present as I thought she would be. My Mother in Law is also an excellent seamstress, and she said that she would teach Reagan how to sew. Well..the poor sewing machine has sat in the box in Reagan's room since Christmas Day!

Chris pulled it out this weekend so that we, and when I say "we" I mean HE could make the curtain for the bathroom. I maybe could have done it, but there was no pattern, just the image in my head, and since it had been so long since I had sewn, I figured the curtain shouldn't be the poor unsuspecting victim.

Today however I found some really cute flannel, and thought I would try my hand at a blanket or two for Carson. I mean seriously...it's a blanket, how badly could I screw that up! Actually I did end up pulling out some stitches her and there, but for the most part, I think they turned out kind of cute. I still need to iron them but the point is that I made two blankets, all on my own, and I had fun! :)

Maybe one day I'll get brave and try something else.

February 20, 2012

Today was President's Day, which meant no school today.

I guess you know it's a boring day when the fun activity for the day is playing with your little brothers hair.

Keric had all sorts of funky hairstyles going on this morning, but this was the one that he was really diggin....the mohawk!

He came running to find me this morning to show off his cool new hairstyle. He was so proud. He wore his mohawk proudly all day long. :) Silly boy!

February 19, 2012

The "Mickey Bathroom" has been done for about a week now, but the paint we used was supposed to cure for about 4 weeks!!

Well..we didn't have 4 weeks, but we did make the kids stay out of it for another week! Every time anyone pressed on the paint it left a finger print and I was fairly certain letting them loose in the bathroom would result in walls FULL of tiny, permanent fingerprints, so we continued to be a one bathroom family for another week!

Today however we decided to let Keric FINALLY take a bath in his Mickey Bathroom. Poor boy asks every single day if he can take a bath in there. He loves his bathroom, and will show it to ANYONE who will let him! :)

When Chris told him that today was finally the day he could take a bath in his bathroom, he said "What about a shower?" I was a little shocked he even asked to take a shower, because he is NOT a fan of getting his face wet, and the times that I have had him take a shower with Chris to save time, it's been a major fight full of tears and screams the entire time.

He was insistent that he wanted to take a "Mickey Shower" and not a "Mickey Tubby Time" so we told him OK. Chris put him in the shower, helped him turn it on, and kind of guided him on what to do from outside the shower.

I was totally shocked, he took a shower ALL by himself. He washed his own hair, washed himself, rinsed himself off, and turned the water off. He didn't even get upset about having water in his face or eyes.

It's a simple and silly little thing to be so excited about, but I can't believe that my little boy is getting so big and more and more independent each day. What am I going to do if our "Tubby Time's" stop? I am seriously going to be sad! Maybe he'll let me give him a bath still once in awhile?

Good thing I have another little boy on the way who will HAVE to let me give him tubby times!

February 18, 2012

Of course I love that Keric loves his Mommy so much! I have decided that there is nothing like a little boys love for his Mommy!

However, I also love that he loves his Daddy just as much! :)

Ever since Keric was just a little boy, he has LOVED his "Home Depot Dates" with his Daddy. In fact there was a time when we would go to Home Depot, and Keric would get upset that I was even there! He would tell me to "Go!" and "No Mommy!" the entire time we were there. It was very obvious that I was the third wheel, and was interfering with Daddy/Keric time!

So tonight when Chris said he needed to go to Home Depot, and asked Keric if he wanted to come, his little face lit up, and he hurried and got his shoes on, and of course had to get his hat on, because Daddy had his hat on. LOL

I do LOVE my boys!

February 17, 2012

Today was one of those days that probably could have had LOTS of pictures...but I wasn't organized enough I guess to take them.

After I picked up Keric from school this morning, we had lunch and headed into SLC for my 2 week appointment. It was a couple days early because Monday is President's Day and Tuesday my Dr. is out of the office, so we opted for a Friday appt.

Carson is STILL breech, and the ultra sound showed that he is in the 90th percentile for weight, and to make strike 3...by blood pressure was WAY high today! :( Higher than it has been since my first trimester. Bummer! I didn't have any protein spilling from my kidney's so that was at least good news!

Dr. Holmes said that she is going to give Carson a couple weeks to turn on his own since I do have some extra fluid there is still a chance that he will do it on his own. If he doesn't...then I may have to have him turned manually, and of course the possibility of a C-section is still there because of his size, but she said she won't do anything until at least 37 weeks.

As far as my blood pressure, I have to start making trips to Wal-mart to check it regularly, and if it continues to be high...I'm probably looking at bed rest! I seriously SUCK at this pregnancy thing!

After the Dr.'s office we ran some errands. We have so much to do, and we don't make it to SLC very often, so when we do we try to do marathon days, which my body doesn't like very well...but we did get a lot done, and I survived all the walking around and shopping. :) Pretty sad when your husband is willing to shop, and YOU are the one wishing you could just sit down and take a nap somewhere. *sigh*

While we were at Sutherlands looking at Tile for the bathroom and carpet remnants for Cameron's room, Keric said "Mommy! You just for to take a picture of me!"

The boy never ceases to amaze me! Apparently he has caught on to the fact that I take a picture a day. Thankfully he reminded me to take a picture yesterday. LOL

I said "You're right, I haven't taken any pictures today. I will have to do it!" He said "How bout you take a picture of me right here." LOL So thats what we did. How could I NOT have this as the picture of the day? :)

February 16, 2012

Go figure...I deep clean my house, actually start to feel like maybe, just MAYBE a baby could actually live here, and people start getting sick! Guess I should have left my house a pig stye!

Last weekend Cameron was complaining of a sore throat and cough. He hasn't mentioned it again for a few days, but the other day Chris said his throat was feeling a little scratchy. Great!

Poor guy hasn't been feeling well for a couple days now and on top of the scratchy throat and sinus crap, he ended up getting a migraine today too!

Keric..well he isn't a complainer, but once in awhile he will say something about not feeling well, having a headache, fever, or something! I'm never sure if he is just repeating something he has heard somewhere else, or if he really doesn't feel good. Usually I can respond with, "Well maybe you need to go to bed then so you can feel better." and if he says "OK" then I know he really doesn't feel well, but if he says "I think I'm feeling all better now" I know he is just pulling my leg.

Me...well I'm just pregnant! I guess I am to the 2nd phase of exhausted all the time. I have a little bit of a stuffy nose, but I'm mostly just tired, nothing too serious.

So when Keric asked me if he could just wear his jammies today and not clothes, I said SURE...! We can have jammie day at home.

I kind of do think he honestly doesn't feel very well. He has been extra snugly on the couch today, not wanting to leave my side at all, he is FREEZING cold, His little hands and feet are just ice cold, and he was more than happy to go up and take his nap today, which was about 3 hours long!!

He asked me for medicine a few times today, but thankfully he doesn't have a fever or anything. I told him medicine was only for fevers and I assured him he didn't have one of those. He then told me he was sure that if I gave him some soda, his tummy would feel much better! HA!

I hope that whatever it is that we seem to have AGAIN...goes away quickly, and STAYS away! I'm just thankful this bug didn't come with any of the "throw-ups!" Or at least it hasn't so far....!

February 15, 2012

When I was a little girl my Dad used to tell us that he could tell how tired we were just by looking in our mouths. He would line us all up, have us say "awww" and then respond with things like "Oh my goodness, I can't believe how tired you are!" Being the trusting person that I am I fully believed that my Dad could tell how tired I was just by looking into my mouth.

I don't know how old I was before I finally figured out that my Dad could NOT tell how tired I was by looking in my mouth...but I kind of have a feeling I was rather old. Yeah...I'm not only naive...I am way too trusting, even still to this day!

Just like the "big spoon" this little trick has been used in our house many times. Thankfully Keric is just as trusting as I was. :)

Tonight when we told the kids to go upstairs and get their jammies on, Keric came and climbed up in Chris' lap and said "But Dad, I don't have so many tireds, see..." He then proceeded to open his mouth really wide so Chris could look inside and see that he wasn't tired.

Sadly however, Chris looked inside his mouth and saw that he was indeed tired, and so he very sadly and reluctantly went upstairs to get his jammies.

LOL I LOVE that little boy! He is so dang funny!

February 14, 2012 Happy Valentines Day!

I have had a love/hate relationship with this day for many years!

As a child I loved Valentine's day. I loved waking up in the morning and finding that the Valentines Day Cupid had left me a little heart shaped box of chocolates on my dresser, and that I was sure to come downstairs to some sort of yummy Valentine's Day breakfast. Then of course there were the fun Valentine's Day parties at school. All the little cards from friends in my class, and way too many cookies, chocolates, and other junk food!

As I got older, Valentines Day was more of a "Who is cool and who is not cool" day. I dreaded going to school and being one of "those girls" who was not called down to the office to receive her roses, teddy bear, and whatever else the girls with boyfriends had had delivered to them at school that day. It was always heart wrenching to watch those girls walking back from the office with their arms full of things and huge smiles on their faces.

I still remember the day I was a Junior in High school and my name WAS among the huge list of girls being called to the office to pick up Valentines. My Daddy had sent me flowers that year, and it was one of my best Valentine's days ever! I was so proud to walk down the hall with flowers from my Dad.

There were actually several years beyond that that My Dad sent me flowers on Valentine's Day. I remember working at State Farm and seeing the florist come through the door. I of course wanted to hope that the flowers were for me, but never got my hopes up too high. My Daddy always pulled through though. Even if that bouquet wasn't for me, the next one usually was! He was always well aware at how much I disliked Valentine's Day and always made it his mission to make it a much better day!

Then there were the years that I spent living away from home. My Mom always made sure to send me a Valentine's Day package filled with cookies from home, chocolates, and of course some kind of cute little Valentine surprise like a shoe, or some earrings. Bless her heart, my Mom STILL sends Valentine's day packages to all of us! I don't know how she gets them all put together and sent with all the other stuff she has to do, but it's a tradition I still love, one that Chris now loves, and my kids look forward to.

Now I am at a whole different phase in my life. I'm the Mommy and wife now and Valentine's day has taken on a whole new meaning...again!

I have had wonderful Valentine's Days for the past 6 years. In fact I think the last 6 years of Valentine's days have more than made up for the hard ones in my past!

This year was of course no different. I thought that I had had my Valentine's Day yesterday in SLC, but I should know by now, that's not how Chris works. I got up and got Keric and I ready so that he could go to school today. He of course was very excited to go to school because today was his Valentine's Day party.

After I dropped him off I ran to Wal-mart to get a couple things for dinner tonight. When I got home Chris had a Valentine waiting for me. Of course his card made me cry, along with chocolates and the Breaking Dawn movie. It was a nice surprise!

I picked Keric up from school, all covered in frosting and a red punch moustache, holding a huge bag full of Valentine's from all his classmates. When I got home I had Cafe Rio waiting for me for lunch along with laundry being done and an order to take a nap. LOL Like I would turn THAT down!

For dinner Chris made us all his famous Valentine's Day breakfast. This has been a tradition at our house for the past 6 years, and one that I don't think we will be able to give up. :) Chris made us all heart shaped Chocolate Chip Pancakes with strawberries, chocolate sauce, whip cream, and this year sparkling cider to drink. In years past we have had chocolate milk, but I found the cutest little champagne flutes at the dollar store, and decided to mix it up this year. :) The kids LOVE this meal, and lets be honest...so do the rest of us. :) I mean seriously, what's not to love!

After we put the kids in bed, Chris and I watched Breaking Dawn and then headed to bed. It was really a FULL and FUN day!

I truly am a very blessed woman. Probably more blessed than I deserve, but I'm certainly not going to complain!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

February 13, 2012

Today was my Valentine's Day a.k.a. "Princess Day" as Chris calls it, and lucky me, I got to spend it with my 3 favorite boys!

The day started with with a trip to SLC to the Maternal Fetal Medicine ward in the hospital. We were scheduled for an ultra sound today to check Carson's weight and also the fluid level in his little kidney's. The last few ultrasounds I have had, he has had extra fluid in his left kidney.

He still continues to be my FAT baby. They estimated his weight at 6lbs 12 oz and I am measuring at about 35 weeks and 4 days which is exactly two weeks ahead of where I really am. Sadly we never really got to see his little face, he is currently breech, and wasn't cooperating very well with the technician. We did however get to see his fat little hand waving to us and we also got to watch him playing with his umbilical cord. ha ha It was pretty funny to watch him whip that thing around and tug and pull on it. His kidney's looked good, and I do have some extra fluid, which is probably why my belly is so dang big. The only thing really "concerning" is the breech position. He needs to turn in the next week or so, otherwise we are probably looking at having him manually moved! I kind of don't want to think about having to do that! It sounds very painful!!

After the ultrasound, Chris surprised me with lunch at Tucci's. YUM! After lunch we went to Hobby Lobby and spent way too much time and money. Man I love that store! Poor Keric was really trying hard to be good...but there isn't much for a little boy to do in Hobby Lobby that doesn't get him in trouble. At least he didn't break or spill or drop anything!

After Hobby Lobby we went and got Cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory, and we ended the day at JoAnn's.

I wish my body was as enthusiastic about all the shopping and walking around craft stores as my mind was! I love Hobby Lobby and JoAnns and could have spent many more hours just looking and day dreaming, but more poor body just doesn't do as much as I want it to these days.

Despite my body being a little uncooperative at times today...I had such a FUN "Princess day!" There truly are LOTS of advantages of being "The princess in a house full of knights!"

February 12, 2012

I guess I got too busy doing other things, and only got my picture for today taken, but sadly didn't get anything posted. Dang it! Only a month in, and already fallen behind!

9:00 a.m. church is one of those things I have always had a love/hate relationship with. I hate getting up so early and trying to get me, Bubby and Cam and Reag all ready to get out the door so early, but I do love being done with church by noon!

When I came downstairs, there sitting on my ledge was a beautiful bouquet of roses. I was a little taken back actually! I know Valentine's Day is on Tuesday, but I sure wasn't expecting anything on Sunday!

I've decided that EVERYONE deserves someone like Chris. No, he isn't perfect, I certainly don't intend to portray that image, but neither am I, heaven knows that! I guess we are just perfect for each other! :)

I was talking to my Mom yesterday and I was telling her how glad I was that there were men out there like Chris who were willing to take a girl like me on. I'm sure I'm not the WORST person to live with, but I certainly haven't been the easiest person the past 6 years, especially these past few months.

I feel like I kind of just walk outside of my body lately. My mind is totally absent, I'm just kind of a big waddling blob. I mean seriously... I can't remember anything, I swear I feel like I'm losing my mind half the time, not to mention I'm totally irrational most of the time! I try not to complain too much about all my little aches and pains, because who wanted to be pregnant more than I did?? Not many people that's for sure! But there are those days where I let my emotions get the best of me and I think all I do is complain all day long!

Chris never says anything, in fact he is usually quick to simply respond with: "Go up and take a nap" when he probably should be saying "Suck it up Nati!"

He puts up with my crazy ideas, like Mickey Mouse bathrooms, and instead of telling me "Good luck...have at it" he finds time to actually do MOST of it for me! I don't know how many nights he stayed up ALL NIGHT long painting, or caulking, or doing something in that bathroom while my lazy bum was asleep in bed!

My friend posted this little saying on Facebook the other day, and I've thought about it a lot this week.



After I read it I thought...Wow, that pretty much sums up my "Fer!" The next thought I had was, "and it for SURE doesn't describe any of the other people that I thought were so great once upon a time!" Maybe if I had read this quote back then...I wouldn't have wasted soooo much time with so MANY jerks??

I'm just glad that somehow Chris and I found one another. I'm sure I would be TWICE the hot mess I am now without him! I guess I would also like to think he would be a little lost without me too! ;)

February 11, 2012

HA! I figured out how to outsmart my Braxton Hicks! It took me long enough...but I think I've beat the system. At least I did for today.

The only time they get horrible is when I am on my feet for too long, so I decided that I would find a way to make myself useful without having to be on my feet.

I was going to make cupcakes this morning, but I walked into the kitchen and all I could see was how disgusting my floor and tile grout were. It was about enough to make me want to vomit!

It's so weird how the funniest things just BUG me when I am pregnant. I know full well that my grout has been dirty for a long time, but for the past week or two it's really been bothering me. I couldn't even make the cupcakes until I had cleaned the grout.

So I got my cleaning stuff out, and went to work on the tile. As I was working I was thinking...Hey! I'm actually doing something productive and still sitting down! So I kept on scrubbing away, and two hours later, my floor was clean enough to eat off of, and I had NO Braxton Hicks!

I figured I was feeling so good...I would go ahead and press my luck. Do you know how many things you can clean while sitting down?? You can clean a LOT! I cleaned baseboards, walls, toilets, and floors, all while sitting down, and all without any Braxton Hicks! I was so proud of myself!

Granted it took me FOREVER to do all of it, and sadly I didn't finish every wall or baseboard or toilet for that matter, but I finished a bunch of them, and I even though I was sitting all day, I didn't feel like a big pile of crap! :)

Maybe my house will get deep cleaned from the floors to the midway point by the time Carson gets here?

Oh..and like my picture? I was trying to show my clean grout...which you can't even really appreciate unless you saw the before, but thankfully none of you did, but as I was taking the picture, Keric ran in and laid on the floor so he could be in the picture too! LOL As you can see he was SUPPOSED to be putting his jammies on, but didn't make it that far I guess. Such a little poser! :)

February 10, 2012

Seems like yesterday I had a TON of things that I could have posted about, and today I hardly have any.

I will say that I am really grateful that my picture today was NOT of a tiny baby Carson in a NICU bed at the hospital. These stupid Braxton Hicks/Contractions are really cramping (excuse the pun) my style these days!

After I took Keric to school I wanted to run a few errands by myself, because as slow as I am these days, I am a heck of a lot faster alone than I am with Keric. So I dropped him off and went to a couple of stores for probably 45 mins, and then had to come home and rest. SERIOUSLY! I mean how lame is that?? I came home and put my feet up, drank an obscene, or at least obscene in my book, amount of water, and kind of waited for school to get out.

When it was time to go get Keric I felt a lot better, so I bribed him with chocolate and went to my last store before heading home. By the time I walked in the door, my lower back hurt so bad I felt like I was going to throw up! I was pretty much done for the day after that. I laid down, took a nap and expected to wake up ready to go again, but I just wasn't. The Braxton Hicks/Contractions were still there!

I try not to get panicky when I am sick, and especially being pregnant, because I hate to be "that girl" who is always calling the Dr. or nurse and making unnecessary visits to the ER, but seriously I was starting to get a little panicked that they just did NOT seem to be going away even with water and rest!

I told Chris what I had planned for dinner and how to make it, and he made dinner while I sat like a bump on a log! FINALLY around 7:30 p.m. I felt OK, and the Braxton Hicks had finally gone away and have still not returned. Let's hope they DON'T for oh...I don't know? Another 4 or 5 weeks!?!

So my picture, although not all that exciting, is at least NOT what in the back of my mind I was freaking out that it was going to be.

I finally got my little bathroom sign and picture collage done. I haven't been in too big of a hurry because we have been waiting a WEEK for the paint in the bathroom to completely dry, so it's not like I really had anywhere to hang everything. The silly paint is STILL kind of "tacky" feeling, and if you press hard enough, it leaves a mark. So we have been using one bathroom for all of us for a week! I think we've all had enough, and the back of the can says to wait FOUR weeks, but none of us are willing to do that, so hopefully the infamous Mickey Bathroom will be all put together tomorrow! Chris is upstairs doing touch ups as I type.

Anyway, I finished my little sign, picked a few of my favorite Tubby Time pictures of Keric and had them printed in black and white, and then on my errand run today I found some really cute, simple black frames at the dollar store that I bought. I framed the pictures, and I have three extra ones for Tubby Time pictures of Carson eventually. So yes...pay no attention to the little Chinese Family in the frames, they will be leaving shortly.

I'm kind of in love with my little sign and the tubby time picture collage. The sign turned out so cute, and this is kind of how I envision the pictures being displayed on the wall. We'll see if this is actually how it happens once they get put up there, but hopefully it will be somewhat similar.

I can hardly wait for this bathroom to FINALLY be done! Wow...what a pain it turned out to be! UGH. I guess in the end it will be worth it. :)

February 9, 2012

This week is flying by way too fast! I swear it was JUST Monday and I had just gone to the Dr.'s office! Now it's already NOON on Thursday and I am just that many more days behind! *sigh* the joys of being pregnant, slow moving, and exhausted!

I found this cute little craft project called "Long Distance Hug" on Pintrest the other day and decided that Keric just HAD to make one to send to my parents for Valentine's day.

So this morning while he was still in his jammies, we got out the paint, scissors and glue and made Precious a.k.a Grandma Bennion and Gampa a.k.a. Grandpa Bennion a Valentine.

It was actually kind of fun to get a little messy this morning, or at least more messy than we usually do. :) Keric kept asking where the glitter was...amazingly enough I don't even HAVE any glitter!! I guess too many bad memories of cleaning up glitter messes from my days of teaching school. :)

We did some hand prints, glued them to a ribbon, and sent Precious and Gampa a "Long distance hug". After we were done Keric said "Awww...Mommy Precious is gonna LOVE it!" LOL

My Mom does get a big kick out of cards, and especially homemade ones. Guess Keric knows his Precious! :) Hopefully it won't be too late in getting to them!

February 8, 2012

I have a little sister, who is not so little anymore. In fact she is a senior in high school, and already trying to plan out where she is headed to college, and what she is going to do and be when she grows up! Doesn't seem possible that she is as old now as I was when she was born!!

I have very fond memories of her growing up. Even though I had started to "leave the nest" I still remember lots of funny things about having such a little girl surrounded by so many older siblings.

One of my favorite memories of her is watching her sit around the table doing HER "homework" after school with everyone else.

I guess things have truly come full circle now! Keric brings home a "homework" page each Tuesday and Friday and is always so excited to get home and start working on it. For whatever reason yesterday he didn't finish his homework, so today when Cam and Reag got home from school and I told them to get started on their homework, Keric immediately went and found HIS homework and sat at the table doing homework with Cam and Reag.

I guess he kind of knows the homework drill, because after his coloring was done, and he had practiced writing his 9's he brought his paper over to me and asked me to help him with his spelling words. LOL

So I made up a little spelling list for him to practice and we practiced his spelling words while Reagan practiced hers.

Keric's words for this week were: Keric, Mom and Dad. He is actually doing really good at spelling his name on his own! I'm so proud of him! The Mom and Dad...well we will keep working on that I guess. Hopefully he will pass his test this week! ;)

Next he ran upstairs and found a book in his book shelf and came downstairs to start his reading. He was totally cracking me up as he was sitting on the couch so seriously reading his book. Every once in awhile he would yell into the other room "please be quiet, I reading!"

I know that just like with Cicly, time will fly by too quickly, and before I know it, not only will Keric be studying spelling words, and reading books for real...but the filling out of college applications and mission papers will be following closely behind!

Why can't we just stop time every once in awhile and hold onto things for just a loittle bit longer? It all just goes by too fast!

February 7, 2012

Keric has his very first ever "Balentimes Day" a.k.a. Valentine's day party in a week. His teachers asked that he have his valentines all done and brought to school on Friday so that they could get their little bags all put together.

So after I picked him up from school today, we went to Wal-mart and picked out a few things for him to give to his class for Valentines day. I LOVE all of Wal-mart's 97cent things during the Holidays! I love even more that he has exactly 24 kids in his class, which means I only have to buy 2 packages of pretty much everything, and I have no left overs! :)

So tonight after dinner we put together his little Valentine bags. I found some really cute cellophane bags and we filled them up with suckers, smarties, conversation hearts (of COURSE!) and a tiny little bottle of bubbles. The little bottle of bubbles was the one thing Keric really wanted to put in his little treat bags, and since I'm fairly sure each child will only be able to blow about 5 bubbles out of each bottle, I figured the parents couldn't be too mad me. :)

After we filled the treat bags, I helped Keric sign his name on the Transformer Valentine's that he chose, and then we wrapped them all up and got them ready to go for Friday.

He was so cute while we were filling the bags. He kept telling me that he was having so much fun with his "Balentimes" and how much his friends were going to love them. :) I'm so thankful that he has so much fun at preschool and has such great teachers and friends. :)

February 6, 2012

Today was another 2 week Dr.'s appointment in SLC with Dr. Holmes. I sort of had a feeling that today's appointment would be a little different. Not that anything "bad" would happen, just something you kind of know in your gut, but need to hear from your Dr.

I believe Dr. Holmes exact phrase was "You're growing one big baby in there aren't ya?" Yep...I'm huge!! No hiding that fact!!

I am measuring 4cm bigger than I should be right now, and even though I had lost a little bit of weight this time, Carson is estimated to weigh about 6lbs right now. It's sort of weird to think that he weighs MORE right now than Keric weighed when he was born at just under 36 weeks!

I have an ultra sound scheduled for Monday Feb. 13, and I think the results of that ultra sound will most likely determine my fate.

There of course is an off chance that I just have a lot of fluid, but I don't know? I don't have any swelling, and I haven't hardly gained any weight. I'm not sure that I just have lots of fluid is honestly going to be the outcome.

I have been having some contractions off and on. Nothing really major or consistent, but contractions non the less.

So our conversation with Dr. Holmes was basically that depending on the ultra sound, Carson may come early on his own, due to his size and the contractions that I have been having, or she may end up taking him early via C-section because of his size. She said she didn't want to risk hurting my new hip trying to deliver a 10 pound baby. I'm glad, because I really don't want to mess up my hip!! ouch!

Of course no one knows what my body would have done or will do naturally since I had to be induced with Keric, but I'm hoping that the C-section thing can be avoided if at all possible!

If that is what is best for Carson, then so be it...I of course will do it, and I will be as happy as I can about it. :) However my ideal situation, at least in my thinking today, would be that I just "naturally" go into labor around 36 weeks and deliver a half way normal sized baby on my own!

Right now I think Chris and I are trying to mentally prepare ourselves for a C-section outcome. Guess now all we do is wait. I'm GREAT at waiting as we ALL know!

February 5, 2012

Some days it's hard to find one main event to take a picture of and post. Other days it seems like lots of things happen, and I just kind of have to choose the one I think best sums up the day.

Today I suppose there are lots of "pictures" that I could post. I could post a picture of us at Stake Conference and write about how excited Keric was to go to a "new church" and how excited he was to watch a "movie" and then 5 mins. later tell me how he really didn't LIKE the movie and wanted to go back home.

I could post the winning score of the Superbowl between the Patriots and the Giants. By the way the team I wanted to win did! :) That never happens! I was routing for the Giants simply because the last time they played the Patriots in a Superbowl they lost, so I figured it was their turn to win, thus my reasoning for cheering them on. I know...real great logic, but hey ya gotta route for the underdog right?

I could post pictures of all the food we ate at Mama Anne's house, and talk about how we all stuffed our faces watching a game that I don't think a one of us really truly cared about!

I could also post a picture of all the news coverage that has been happening about Josh Powell and how he killed himself and his two little boys in a house explosion this afternoon. I could write pages about how upsetting this story has been to listen to and to watch. I could write about how I honestly cried for those little boys as I read and listened to the news through out the day.

But instead I decided to post a picture of me and Keric right before I tucked him in to bed tonight. My hair is a mess, it's taken at a weird angel, and I'm sure I look like I've been crying off and on all day because...well I have, but this seemed like the picture that was best to record this day.

I'm extra thankful for my little boy, and for his safety today. I'm thankful that as I tucked him in tonight I know that not only does he have a Mommy and Daddy who love him more than he understands, but that he has a Daddy who loves his Mommy. A Daddy who would never do anything intentionally to hurt his Mommy or to hurt him, and a Daddy who will always keep us both safe!

As I get ready for bed tonight, I hope the NY Giants and their fans are having a wonderful celebration party tonight. I hope it's as big and full of confetti, cheers, and hugs as I'm sure the party in Heaven has been today between a Mom and her two little boys. My party tonight will instead be very low key, no guests, no confetti, just me, my thoughts and my quiet prayers of gratitude for my wonderful family.

February 4, 2012

Yesterday Chris started prepping the bathroom for paint. Earlier this week he re-did the caulking and let that set and dry, and then today he started taping. The plan was that he would do the prep work, and I would paint the walls.

Well...lets be honest. As much as I honestly really DID want to paint the walls, I have had little to NO painting experience, and even though people make it look easy, I'm sure it is far from it.

When it got right down to it, me climbing up on ladders, walking around the rim of the tub/shower, and trying to kneel on the vanity was probably not the smartest of ideas. I mean we all remember the dusting of the light fixtures incident around Christmas time right? I still have a bump on my ankle from that little trip and fall.

As big as my belly is, and as bad as my balance is with and I suppose even without the belly, we decided Chris would paint the bathroom. He was willing to do the high parts, but that's just silly to do part of it, and have another person do another part. Just paint it and be done.

In true Christopher fashion, the poor guy was up until 6:30 a.m. this morning finishing up the paint! Poor guy!! I don't know how he does these all nighter projects!

The bathroom looks beautiful! I seriously LOVE the color, and again my pictures don't do it any justice! Chris took the light fixture out, so I tried to get a picture with the natural light coming in, but it still looks a little weird in the picture, sorry.

So I guess you'll just have to trust me that it's very pretty, and I'm really excited about everything coming together! I'm not the only one who is excited...Keric is beside himself with excitement! He even prays for his Mickey Bathroom every night in his prayers. Silly boy! :)

February 3, 2012

I'm pretty sure that most EVERY day at preschool is Keric's "favorite" day, but he gets just a little more excited about Show and Tell day. The first Friday of every month is show and tell day, and he asks me about every other preschool day if it's show and tell day yet! So when I told him today was FINALLY show and tell, he was SO excited!

I love to see each month what he chooses to take. I've never told him what to take, I just tell him to go find something to bring to school and show the kids. I let him choose it all on his own. Sometimes I THINK I know what he will choose, but it always ends up being somewhat of a surprise when he emerges from his room with that months Show and Tell.

Today he chose his Optimus Prime Transformer that Grandma Anne bought him a couple weeks ago. He told me that it was his favorite toy! Hmmmm guess I didn't know that. :)

I wish I could be a little fly on the wall and watch him each month during Show and Tell. When I pick him up I always ask him what he told his teacher and the other kids about the various things he brings with him, but his answer is always the same "I don't know." *sigh*

February 2, 2012

Keric is going through a new phase of life. One that I am trying to embrace a little more each day.

I thought that it was just little girls who liked to pick out their clothes, but I guess that is just a myth. Keric likes to have a say in what he wears every day. Some days he is more opinionated than others, but trust me, there is always something he is wearing that HE picked out, and I didn't.

Some days he asks to just keep wearing his jammies, other days, he wants to just wear his unders, and he has even asked a couple times to just be naked!! If it isn't a school day, and we aren't going anywhere, I let him decide what he wants to wear, unless the request is unders or naked!

Thankfully all of his clothes from last summer have been put away, so I don't have to have the fight about whether or not he can wear shorts! :)

This morning we woke up to snow. I guess we have had so little snow this year that Keric believes snow = Christmas. He told me several times today that it was Christmas. There is no use trying to debate this topic... I tried!

After his bath we went to get him dressed and this was the outfit he insisted on wearing! His Santa shirt...! Of course because it's Christmas! I forgot the shirt was even still in his closet!

Oh well...we don't have anywhere to go today, but if we DO happen to, I hope people won't judge me too harshly. At least it isn't his jammies!

February 1, 2012

So my picture for today doesn't look like much, but this is the beginning of another project that I have in mind for the Mickey Bathroom.

I found a Walt Disney font that looks like Walt Disney's handwriting, and I am planning on cutting the words "Tubby Time" out in vinyl and placing them on the little sign. I also have some Mickey ears that I want to put on there as well.

Around the sign I want to hang black and white pictures of my boys during "Tubby Time". I have a ton of pictures of Keric in the bath at various points in his little life, and plan to have just as many of Carson when he gets here. I guess it will be a project in the works for a little while seeing as how half of the models aren't here.

My hopes were to finish the little sign today, but I ran out of White vinyl, and I'm not sure I want to do the letters in Black. So...there it sits...unfinished. Hopefully it will be done tomorrow!