Soupy Man and Friends

Daniel found Aaron's old Superman cape and all the boys have had a fun time playing with it. Whenever Daniel wears it he insists he is Soupyman NOT Superman. I have tried to correct him, but there is no arguing with a two year old!! Josh is Spiderman with a cape and Matthew is just happy to get a chance to wear it sometimes. Josh also informed me that Spiderman DOES NOT take naps so I don't need to ask anymore. I guess Spiderman can have a little attitude when he wants as well:). So if you ever need help remember to call for Soupyman and Spiderman with a cape!!

Speaking of soup I tried making some three bean chili this week. Beans are pretty high in fiber causing some undesirable consequences. We had it Monday night and Aaron, Josh and Daniel are still reeling from its effects. Matthew and myself are somewhat intestinally challenged (me especially since the pregnancy!!) so we have been great. I don't know what to do with the leftovers because Aaron refuses to take them to work for some reason...

Daniel and I have been trading the same cold back and forth it seems. He has been getting some breathing treatments for the last couple days and it looks like things are getting better.

Aaron's car window motor died again a couple months ago, but this time it is on the passenger side. We finally got it fixed this week. He was tired of not being protected from the elements for some reason...

I took Josh and Daniel to the Dinosaur Park on Tuesday because it was a very beautiful day up to 80 degrees. Well surprise, surprise I got sunburned again. You think I would learn!! The kids didn't get anything, but I am starting to get a very defined farmer's tan. I just got done peeling in time to peel again. I did come home and find the sunscreen so we will all be protected next time--if I remember!!

Interesting

Matthew's front tooth is coming in finally after three years. He is only getting one so I am hoping the other will come in soon or we will have to start calling him fang :). He is pretty proud of it, though.

Well we had a busy weekend. I am happy to say that both boys were able to play soccer this week. Josh seems to be more interested in socializing than the game. I guess he is at least having fun. Matthew moved up levels to actually play a real game. He was a little lost at first, but since there are so many helpers on the field everyone gets to have a turn. He even had a turn at being goalie and was so excited. Aaron had to stand behind him and tell him what to do, but he was excited nonetheless. He even made a goal this week. Josh had an early morning game this week and Matthew had an afternoon game so to kill some time in between we went out to lunch. As always Josh drank his meal and when Matthew's game started Josh started doing the potty dance. There is no bathroom around so finally when he absolutely couldn't hold it anymore I took him to a secluded corner of the parking lot and he found some relief. I didn't think anymore about it until we came home and Josh went over to play with the neighbor girl. Next thing I know my neighbor called me to let me know Josh was finding some more relief in front of our mailbox. We had to have a talk about it and I am hoping we won't be finding anymore relief outside!!!

Aaron talked to the bishop today about Daniel and our sacrament bread dilemma. The bishop just told us that they would be getting Daniel friendly bread from now on. We are so glad. We did bring a couple of pieces of bread for our family just in case, but, thankfully, we didn't need them. Daniel has found this knit cap and insists on wearing it. He thinks he is pretty cool with his sunglasses on as well.

Well since we had the big ultrasound it is definitely a girl, Aaron made me get some girly stuff this week. I have been putting it off just in case, but finally decided it was time. We got some clothes and pink bedding. We do want to paint, but we are trying to decide on sleeping arrangements for the boys. I don't feel Josh and Daniel are old enough to move to the basement (four levels away from us) and there is too much for Matthew to get into in the basement, but we only have two kids bedrooms upstairs. We decided to move all the boys into the same room to see how they can handle it. We are holding off on painting the baby's room pink until we see if this will work. If it doesn't Daniel will have to share a room with her and I don't want to traumatize him with a pink room for a couple of years. Keep your fingers crossed. The first night we only had to break up one fight we'll wait and see what tonight brings. Thank goodness for bunk beds.

Our flowers are out in full bloom this spring despite the many snowfalls.

That's it for now :).

Meet baby #4

Here are some pics of our new baby. We had our big ultrasound today and, thankfully, everything looks great. She (it is now definately a girl) has even flipped from being breech to head down. She is even measuring a little on the small side which is a first for us. Hopefully, she will be normal size instead of huge!! She wasn't too cooperative so we got a lot of profile shots and some more with her hands by her head. I love the 4D because you can actually tell what you are looking at. She is up to 1 pound one ounce and is very active. You can click on the pics to make them bigger.

Star Wars

We finally have hit 22 weeks this week. This pregnancy is going faster than the rest--at least I think. Daniel told me I have a chubby belly today and I guess it is starting to look like that.

Josh has learned how to play Star Wars from playing at his friend's house. He gets the water noodles we have and talks Daniel into being Darth Vader and they use the noodles as their light sabers. It is pretty interesting to watch.

I was able to get some scrapbooking done Monday, finally. I got a few pages done and while I was cleaning up I stupidly left them on the counter to come back and find some graffiti. I don't know who did it, either (because smartly on their part they won't fess up). I guess I learned my lesson. At least they didn't get any of the marker scribbles on the actual pictures. It just adds some character to the page I guess.

For my birthday Aaron got me a gift certificate to a spa to get a pedicure because he loves me to paint my toenails. I am not very feminine so he even called and got the appointment set up for me because he knew if left up to me I wouldn't call. When I got home the kids all won't leave my feet alone. It gave them all some entertainment during church, though.

At Josh's preschool they have a special stuffed turtle, Boxey, they send home with each child to spend some time. You are supposed to do something fun with the turtle and then Josh is supposed to draw a picture about what you have done. We took Boxey the Turtle to the Dinosaur Park today and played in the playground, dug for fossils and also fed the ducks with the nasty pellets you can buy. We almost lost Boxey a few times because Josh took him out of the back pack and left him a few places, but we always found him. Josh has a lot to draw about now. We did bring the camera or cameron as the kids call it. They have a friend named Cameron so they think it is called a cameron instead. It is pretty funny. So those are the pics you are seeing.

Tonight for young women we had a career fair. There was a panel of 4 presenters who talked about their career choices. I was asked to talk about my choice as a nurse. It brought back a lot of memories and actually made me miss working, somewhat. There are areas I do miss, but others I do not. I am looking forward to going back to work when my kids are old enough, but that won't be for a while, yet.

Catch-up

I guess I haven't been as faithful at updating this week. It has been so busy!! I am continuing my pottery class and it might take me another 8 weeks to make another piece that is not modern art or a Q-tip holder because I am finding out that pottery is not my thing!! It is fun, though, and most importantly it gets me out of the house ALONE which is a wonderful thing. I am making a big platter right now so keep your fingers crossed it will work out.

I had to renew my temple recommend this week because the young women are going for baptisms for the dead and I didn't think it would be a very good example if I couldn't get in at the door. I am just glad they are now good for a couple years. So now I have two years to put off repenting, right :)--just joking of course.

Saturday we went to see Josh play soccer and he had fun. He is more interested in playing with the other kids than watching the ball. I guess it's the age, but it is quite entertaining to watch! Matthew was having a particularly hard day on Saturday so he wasn't able to play soccer this week. I am hoping next week will be better. In the afternoon I had some old bread so we took it to feed the ducks/seagulls at a really neat park by our house. They kids had fun--even Daniel who is AFRAID of anything with four legs or two in the case of birds. As long as the ducks and seagulls stayed at a distance he was all right with feeding them. When the bread ran out we went for a walk where the kids found lots of pretty flowers (dandelions) they insisted on picking a bringing home. They had all ready picked all the ones in our yard, which unfortunately was a lot, so they were excited to see some more.

At church today Matthew gave a talk in primary and did an excellent job. I am so thankful he can read because he did the whole thing without any assistance from me. It is a proud moment as a parent! He was ready to give it from the beginning of primary. The presidency had to keep telling him to sit down because he kept walking up to the microphone. He was so excited when it was finally his turn. He was happy the rest of the day. In nursery Daniel got to pet a rabbit and was so excited. It was a four legged animal, but held by one of the leaders so I guess that made it all right. When we got into sacrament meeting everything was great until after the sacrament when Daniel started sneezing, coughing and more alarming his lips started swelling--which is something we haven't seen before. I gave him some Benadryl and we had to come home to give him a breathing treatment. I guess the bread had something in it that he was allergic to. It was scary because we haven't seen his lips swell before. We were wondering if we were going to have an ER visit today, but luckily the Benadryl and breathing treatment kicked in soon enough. I am thinking we might need to start providing the bread for the sacrament.

Here are the boys showing their pretty flowers.

I guess I have rambled enough. I hope everyone enjoys the pics!! A funny thing that happened today was while I was making dinner (kabobs) I was cutting up some pineapple when Josh kept asking me where Spongebob was. I think he was somewhat serious, but gave up when he saw me laugh and tell him that was just on the cartoon.

Fascination

Yesterday was a beautiful day so I took Josh and Daniel on a walk and to the park. We were only outside for a couple of hours, honest. Well since my skin is so fair and it has been a long winter without much sun exposure, I got fried!! My arms, legs, neck and nose are pretty bad. The kids didn't get too much which I am glad for. I guess I need to find our sunscreen, but I won't need it for a couple more days since it SNOWED today!! Someday Spring will come at least I keep telling myself. Matthew is doing the sign for cold showing the snow we got today.

Yesterday was Josh's five year old pediatrician's appointment. He is doing great. He is still off the growth chart for height as he is a head taller than everyone else his age. I am glad he didn't get the Terry gene--Daniel on the other hand... He even had to pee in a cup. He thought it was weird, but took it in stride. He got a couple shots and a finger prick, but he won't let me take the band aids off. I guess he views them as his badge of courage. He is showing his band aid on his finger.

The other day I painted my toenails. I don't do that very often so Matthew, Josh and Daniel were very interested. All during church they kept touching my toes--I don't know if it was to see if it rubs off or they were just fascinated by it. I need to start getting used to doing girly things if I am going to have a girl!!

I broke out my old Sphygmomanometer (blood pressure cuff). I like to use big words just so I don't feel like it has been so long since I have been in school. In our ward we are having a career fair for the young women. They asked me to talk a little about being a nurse and how to become one. If I had time I would teach them how to do blood pressures. I had to get it out anyway to start doing blood pressure checks on myself to make sure I am still within normal limits. Hopefully I can make it interesting--I guess we will see.

The other day I was playing with Daniel and we were labeling body parts. I pointed to his elbow and asked what's that? He looked at me and said, "It's my buffalo." I started laughing, but he was completely serious. A little while later I asked him again and got the same answer. I never knew; I have called it an elbow all these years :).

Party Time

Josh had his first friend birthday party on Friday. Me being the procrastinator I didn't get things together until right before the party. We had invited fifteen 4-5 year olds plus Matthew, Daniel and Ellie the little girl across the street. I did not think everyone would come, but I was wrong. It was mass pandemonium for 90 minutes. I was sure glad the parents picked their kids up on time!! We had fun, though. We did potato sack races, pin the tail on the dinosaur, musical chairs only with a present they had to unwrap, and balloon popping games. With the balloon popping games we stuffed candy inside the balloons so the more balloons they popped they more candy they got. I thought about scratching the balloon games because I didn't want to blow up 100 balloons by mouth, but my brilliant husband told me we could use the air compressor and it worked wonderfully. He ended up blowing up 100 balloons, and was cursing me by the 50th one he had blown up. I baked a cake mix inside ice cream cones and let the kids decorate their own while singing happy birthday to Josh. We then opened presents and Josh loved it. It was quite a bit of stimulation so Josh was worn out by the time it ended. He just wanted to veg on the couch for a little while when everyone left. One mom called me right before the party started and wanted to apologize for the toy she was bringing. She let her son pick out an action figure and didn't realize that it was a female one until she saw it had breasts. She called to let me know the receipt was in the bag, but Josh just saw it came with a gun that shoots real arrows and hasn't really noticed that it has a feminine figure. I am glad that embarrassing things like that don't just happen to me ;)!! I was thankful that it was Aaron's Friday off and that my friend Julette volunteered to help me out because I definitely needed all the help I could get with that crowd!!

Yesterday it was a nice day so we went outside for some yard work. I was in the front yard and wanted the kids where I could see them so we got out their scooters and the kid 4 wheeler for Daniel. Daniel was quite jealous that he didn't have a scooter so when Matthew laid his down, Daniel tried it out. He crashed and burned, skinning up his nose and forehead in the process. His nickname today was Rudolph.

Josh and Matthew were able to play soccer yesterday and we didn't have to bundle up to watch either because it was so nice outside. We all got sunburned!! Anyway, Josh's team are all non-aggressive players for the most part (except for last week) so they were annihilated!! They didn't really care so they kept playing and watching the other team score. Aaron was the substitute coach this week and did a great job, but I don't know if he will want to volunteer next time the coach is out of town... At Matthew's game he is doing so well that next week they are going to move him up to the next level. This week there weren't enough players so they recruited siblings so Josh was able to play soccer again with Matthew. By the end Josh was pretty tired since he had finished two games within two hours. We had fun watching them.

Since it was nice weather we were able to do some geocaching after the yard work and soccer were finished on Saturday. We even were able to place some of the travel bugs we picked up from South Dakota. The kids had fun because we picked parks with playgrounds to "find the treasure" so they could play and get some energy out. We all had a pretty good weekend especially today. The kids were exceptional at church and since that is such a rare occurrence, I thought it was worth mentioning!!

Lots 'o Stuff

Matthew had a field trip at school today. Since he goes to the elementary school for most of the Hill Air Force Base children they had a mock deployment day. They took all the elementary kids around to the different areas their parents have to go to before they get deployed. This lets the kids know everything their parents are doing. Since they wanted this to be like a real deployment away from family they asked for no parent volunteers. He seemed to have fun and even came home with some mock dog tags that he was pretty excited about.

Yesterday was Josh's playgroup and I am glad I only have to do it one more time!! Everyone must have taken their beat everyone else up pills because that is what happened the whole time. At least it was somewhat reasonable outside that they could go out to play...until it started raining 15 minutes later. I guess you can do anything for 3 hours even if it is supervising 6 boys plus Daniel ranging in ages between 2-5, right?!? The night before I did get Aaron to set up the trampoline and the boys enjoyed that.

Tuesday night we got a phone call from the Executive secretary saying the bishopric wanted to meet with us. That always leaves you wondering why. In our last visit was when I got my Young Women's calling so we were nervous. We did find out the bishop likes to visit all the families in the ward at least once a year and it was our turn. When they came it was just a visit which was quite a relief!! We don't even have to talk in Sacrament meeting either which is a good thing!! Aaron was supposed to speak over Easter, but that was our vacation to Mt. Rushmore so he got out of it. Hopefully this visit will put us at the bottom of their hit list.

Today Daniel had an appointment with the Allergist and he still is allergic to everything, unfortunately. He was not a happy camper because they woke him up from his nap to do everything and he is just like his Dad--very onery if he is woken up before he is ready. The staff nicknamed him Grumpy. When I could finally hold him down he had a skin prick test where they looked at all the allergens and by the end his whole back was one big hive. They keep telling me he should be outgrowing the milk allergy soon, but who knows. Our next visit is in 6 months and at this visit they will be doing a lung function study to see how he is doing. They are doing the test because it seems every time he gets a cold we have to break out the nebulizer. Hopefully that will give us some answers. We are coming out of the cold and flu season so hopefully things will get better. When Daniel found out it was time to go he was all smiles and turned on the charm saying Goodbye to everyone with a smile. I really think he could be Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde...

This picture is Daniel being Dr. Jekyll and giving Matthew loves.

THE BIG 5

Since I am an insomniac and had some spare time I thought I would write. It was Josh's birthday yesterday. I can't believe how fast time goes. It seems like he was just a 9 pound 8 ounce baby and we were bringing him home from the hospital! Now he is a big 5 year old. He adds so much to our family I am thankful he is here!! He was so excited to tell everyone he met that it was his birthday and that he was 5. He enjoyed helping me get ready for everything as much as the party itself! He helped me make the cakes while wearing his cooker's hat (one vegan cake for Daniel and one cake for everyone else) and pick out dinner. Out of all things we eat he wanted hot dogs for dinner. That was fine because I am all about easy!! The kids all enjoyed his dinner choice because between the three of them they ate a whole package of hotdogs and buns, a bag of chips and a little bit of corn. They even saved room for cake and ice cream, too if you can believe it. In the morning I volunteered at Josh's preschool where they gave him a birthday crown to wear which he ended up wearing all day long. They sang to him and he was able to pass out some birthday goodies. He reveled in all the attention. Grandma and Grandpa Terry were even able to come for cake and ice cream which the kids were really excited about. He got some clothes, games and a playdoh set which all the kids loved. This year he will be having a friend party, but we couldn't have it until Friday. We have invited his primary class and a few other friends so there will be 14 five year olds (only 2 girls it was the year of the boys!) plus Matthew and Daniel. He has 12 in his primary class and 11 of them are active so we couldn't leave anyone out. It should be interesting to see how it turns out. I am hoping it will be good weather so we can do it outside. Good thing it is Aaron's Friday off and my neighbor offered to come and help as well, thank goodness. Josh is excitedly waiting.

Josh helping me bake the day before with his cooker's hat. He got to pick out the flavor of his cake which he wanted CHOCOLATE.

Josh is really into Scooby Doo and soccer right now so that is what his cake shows. I decided to try free handing the Scooby Doo. I guess it turned out all right. I don't know why it added it upside down.

Josh took about 5 puffs to get all the candles out.

The boys waiting for Grandma and Grandpa Terry to come.

Here is Josh checking out a few of his presents.

Tech Savvy

I forgot to mention this morning that the boys got to play soccer on Saturday. Things have changed a little from the last time they played. Josh had the first game and he was somewhat aggressive which is not at all like him. My quiet, passive, demure Josh got in the mob with the ball and threw some elbows along with some pushes to try to get to the ball. Aaron and I were shocked to say the least. Josh's coach won't be there next Saturday so Aaron got volunteered to be the coach for next week. It will be interesting to watch and see what happens :). Matthew had fun playing. It was cold so there weren't too many special needs kids who came so they combined skill levels and tried to let everyone have a turn. He didn't quite know what to do, but the turns he got he seemed to enjoy it.

Aaron took Josh to the Priesthood session of Conference. When they got there, Josh looked around and then said to Aaron, "This is an all boys meeting, Dad." He is pretty observant and copied what everyone seemed to be doing by falling asleep on Aaron. Aaron enjoyed it, though. While they were at Priesthood I put Matthew and Daniel to bed and then sat down on the couch. I am somewhat of an insomniac and have been waking up between 3-4 am every morning this last week while going to bed around midnight. It finally hit me when I sat down and I quickly fell asleep only to be awoken by Daniel crawling all over me. He decided it was not bedtime for him so he came to get wuvs (loves) and wouldn't take no for an answer. So he kept me company until Aaron and Josh got home. Aaron did take Josh out for cookies because sometimes being quiet and sandwiched between Daniel and Matthew, Josh can sometimes not get the attention he should. He seemed to have fun with Dad.

Thursday night while I was at my pottery class Aaron, being the technically savvy person he is, changed up my blog page to make things more interesting. We got instructions on how to do it, but they were Greek to me so Aaron took over. I am glad he can do those kinds of things!! If anything were to ever happen to my cell phone or the TV and Aaron weren't around, I would be in trouble!! I am so glad he became an Engineer, or engi-nerd as we call them in our family because that is what all the boys became.

Easter Egg Hunt

This week strawberries were on sale so I got some not knowing that Daniel absolutely loves them. That is all he would eat for lunch--hey at least it is healthy. I made some chocolate dipped strawberries and they were quite yummy if I do say so myself. They didn't last a day between everyone in our family (except Daniel of course because of the chocolate). I was going to try and find a recipe for a vegan angel food cake, but the strawberries were gone before I got around to finding one.

Well it was time for the annual Terry family Easter Egg Hunt/Grandpa Terry's birthday party yesterday. The kids got to go first which they loved getting all the eggs. The adults the competition was just as cutthroat as any other year meaning for those of us who aren't as coordinated...well you can tell what happened :). It was fun and we appreciate all the effort that goes into that every year.

On a side note, Josh went to a friend's house and watched an episode of Scooby Doo. When he came home that is all he would talk about. We started recording some episodes for him to watch and they are the same ones Aaron and I used to watch. I can't believe I used to just absolutely love them because they are so cheesy, but Josh and Daniel that's all they want to watch. It is crazy how things can go in circles!

Josh, Matthew and Tess looking for all the eggs.

Daniel getting some help in finding eggs.

Josh showing off his haul. Much to Aaron's chagrin Josh loved the bracelets, rings and necklaces. I just told him it is practice for our baby girl.

Daniel AKA Repeat after Josh, is showing his candy bracelet he found in an egg.

Matthew showing a quarter, which is lots of money as he says, his candy necklace and ring.