So Far So Good

I had another OB appointment today and at 36 1/2 weeks along so far so good. Sarah is quite the contortionist and weighing in around 6+ pounds. In one 4D picture she had her arm and her foot in front of her face. She was not very cooperative and quite active. She kept hiding her face behind her hands and feet, but other than that everything looks good. I am all ready dilated to 2 1/2 cm and am 75% effaced which is good news. I just hope I go into natural labor on my own instead of an induction, but we will wait and see. At this stage with Josh I was dilated to 4 cm, but still ended up getting induced 3 weeks later because I didn't progress anymore on my own. It is anyone's guess at this point.

The kids had a water day today at Kids in the Park. The fire department came and hosed them down for some fun. It sounded like it was fun, but both Matthew and Josh seem to be men of few words. The other day at the park it was bring your pet day. Since all of our fish have died, Matthew and Josh didn't have anything to take. They did say they got to see some lambs, dogs, and cats. Matthew even brought a souvenir home on the bottom of his shoe--doggy duty, unfortunately. Nothing a good scrub and cleaning out with a screwdriver can't cure. Aaron was nice enough to take care of that one for me.

About a month ago when Aaron and I had our weekend away, he had forgotten to pack his swimming suit. We ended up buying one for him to use, but the kids hadn't seen it until we tried to go swimming Friday. It is white with aqua and brown Hibiscus flowers on it. Aaron decided to wear it and after he put it on he came downstairs only to have Josh start laughing hysterically at him. Josh then explained as a matter of fact that girls only wear flowers on their clothes and that they must be a girls swimming suit. Humiliated, Aaron went to find his old trunks and changed. I guess it doesn't matter how old you are you must maintain that machismo attitude no matter who you need to impress--such as a 5 year old.

Here is a pic of Daniel three nights ago. Of course he is on the floor asleep with his blankee. This is how we find him most nights. He is a crazy kid. At least by spending most nights on the floor he will be ready for all those scout camping trips. I have laid on his bed before and I promise it is not that uncomfortable!!!

Mish Mash

Daniel and Josh are fascinated with my shoes especially the ones with heels. I have a pair of nice sandals I wear to church and I saw them playing with them yesterday. When I went to get dressed this morning I could only find one. I looked everywhere, but alas I am down a shoe. I hope it turns up by next Sunday. For our house not being that large, things sure get lost pretty well. It is amazing! I guess I didn't check the toy box, but I don't know if any shoe is worth that :).

How do you teach your children not to point? There is an older gentleman who is at the bowling alley often. He has a very large, white handle bar mustache who uses mustache wax to curl the ends. Josh sees him every time and loudly points and laughs saying, "Mom, look at his mustache!" Every time I tell him to not point and to talk quietly, but every time it is to no avail. Then I pretend that he isn't with me--just kidding :).

We got our first zucchini from the garden yesterday. I have been checking quite regularly for anything to ripen in our garden, but we haven't been so lucky. We do have a lot of huge tomato plants with a lot of green tomatoes and I am afraid they are all going to ripen right when the baby gets here. As for the squash, cantaloupe, pumpkins and watermelon they are just vines right now. If they don't start getting anything on them it will be too late for this season. We did get started rather late this year as well, but of course that couldn't have anything to do with it, right?!? I made some Daniel friendly zucchini bread and the kids love it. We started out with four loaves this morning, but now we are down to two. Daniel would be in heaven if all he ate was bread and strawberries.

We found one of the greatest inventions yesterday. Josh and Matthew get up at night to use the bathroom and when they are done they slam down the toilet seat lids in turn waking everyone else up. We found some slam proof, slow closing toilet seat lids. It was great this morning when it actually served its purpose. Aaron and I still got woken up by them using the bathroom, but at least it wasn't by the slamming of the toilet seat lid.

Yesterday we met up with some friends and he works up on base so they have a bowling pass as well. We went bowling and then on a picnic. I don't know what it is about eating outside it just makes everything taste better. Josh had a little bit of a hard time because now he is back on his medicine he doesn't sweat anymore. We had to keep his clothes wet to cool him down, but we still enjoyed playing soccer and frisbee outside. It was a fun weekend.

Fun Friday

Today we had a little mini-vacation with the kids. Aaron took off a half day from work and we did a lot of fun stuff because who knows how many more weekends we will have free until the baby comes. We were going to take the kids to the zoo, but then saw it would be over 100 degrees outside and that quickly changed my mind. We ended up staying around home and doing indoor activities instead. We took the kids bowling and actually bowled along with them. Not to rub it in or anything, but I got the high score. That doesn't happen too often so I've got to give Aaron a hard time. We then grabbed some lunch and headed over to do some Galactic mini golfing. We had gotten some coupons from the last parade and thought we could try it out. It is golfing in black lights with painted walls that turn fluorescent when the black lights are on. They even had a small enough club for Daniel. You can see it in the picture. The kids had fun and we had many a mulligan shots, but that's not important is it?! The kids didn't quite get how to mini golf. You could tell by the way they held the clubs backwards and how they didn't wait for the ball to stop rolling before they guided it into the hole. Also when Aaron and I would take a shot one of them would inevitably pick the ball up when it stopped rolling and put it right into the hole like they were doing us a favor saying, "There you go, Mom." You just had to smile and tell them thanks. We were sure glad we had the whole place to ourselves because I am sure we would have driven anyone else there crazy!! We then took the kids swimming. We were hoping to wear them out so we could put the kids to bed early, but I think Aaron and I are the ones that are worn out. A funny experience happened a couple times ago when we were at the pool Aaron forgot and left his keys in his pocket after getting into the pool so he had to return to the locker room to put them away. When he walked into the Family Locker Room he saw a lady--well more of a lady then he wanted to. She had forgotten she was in the Family Locker Room and had started undressing when Aaron walked in. Aaron quickly averted his eyes and she embarrassingly got dressed quickly again, but we refer to her as Aaron's bosom buddy. Unfortunately we didn't see his bosom buddy today, though. I can laugh because that sounds like something that would happen to me.

35 Weeks and Counting

Aaron's sister Jill has never seen me fully pregnant before and requested pictures. It is a sad day when you start outgrowing your maternity clothes. I only have a few shirts left that completely cover my tummy. I refuse to buy a maternity shirt only to wear it a week or two.

I guess it is momentous that I have made it so far--I had Daniel right at 35 weeks and I hit that yesterday. I am just hoping I can make it until 39 weeks. I guess my babies need the whole time to cook in the oven or maybe it is just the boys that are weak, hopefully Sarah will be one strong girl. I know she will get that way by having three older brothers.

On a side note talking about ancestry--Aaron's Native American blood truly flows through Daniel's veins. 90% of nights when we go to check on Daniel he prefers sleeping on the floor instead of his bed. It looks like he might be sharing a room with Sarah so I will have to be careful not to trip over him in my sleepy state while trying to find and feed her. We will put him to bed in bed, but inevitably he ends up on the floor through preference. What a crazy kid!!

We have been bowling quite a bit this summer and they have gotten to know us at the bowling center. They even get all the kids' shoes out without needing to ask sizes anymore when we walk in. Matthew has a propensity for memorizing people's names and he has down all the employee's names at the bowling center. Josh tries to do the same, but that just isn't quite his gift. Josh thinks any guy that works there that their name is Steve. One of the employees whose name is David has corrected him I don't know how many times, but Josh still insists his name is Steve. Josh will walk in and say, "Oh hi, Steve." Every time David's response is, "My name is David, dude." Maybe Josh really does has selective hearing loss to more voices than just mine. David/Steve seems to take it in stride, though.

Baby Shower

Saturday afternoon my friends Tasha and Julette threw me a neighborhood baby shower. It was a lot of fun. First we played memorize what's on the tray game, but she threw in a twist and had me take it around for everyone to look at. After everyone had seen it I went back in the kitchen and instead of naming stuff on the tray they answered questions about me such as nail polish color, was I wearing a necklace, etc. After that she brought the baby tray out again and we guessed the price is right and tried to guess all the prices of the items on the tray. Then we played the baby food game where all the labels are removed from the baby food and you had to guess what they were by smell and taste--I didn't taste it because I am too chicken. We then had lunch and opened presents. Baby Sarah will be stylin'. She got lots of clothes, socks, diapers, blankets and hair bows. After that we played guess what's in the diaper. Tasha got some everyday items and poured them in the diapers. She then passed them around and through smell--and some even were brave enough to taste it--you had to guess what it was. There were things like peanut butter, bean dip, baby lotion, molasses, etc. They made sure this game came after lunch :) thank goodness. The last game they had to guess my belly size with paper ribbon. I guess I must look bigger than I am by the results ;P. We had a lot of fun. It makes me even more excited to have a girl. Since everyone says our kids look alike I tried the hair bow on Daniel so this is what Sarah will look like at almost three years old. I personally think she will be cute although I may be somewhat biased.

In other happenings Friday was water day at Julette's house. The kids had a lot of fun. Matthew left about 1 pm to go to a birthday party which I assume he had fun at. He is a man of few words.

Strawberries have been on sale this week so I stocked up and they are Daniel's favorite food!! He has eaten so many of them and let me tell you we are paying the price! We have gone through so many diapers and wipes it's not funny, but we just can't say no to those eyes. Luckily I froze a bunch of them and all the fresh ones are now gone.

Today the kids had a severe case of the wiggles and after the sacrament we discovered that the speakers were the high council and a bishop from another ward. We didn't have the fortitude to stay. We can try again next week, though.

PS. Aaron added some more of our family's favorite songs to the blog, but if you want to turn off the sound the controls are at the bottom of the blog.

Bad Things Come in Threes

You always hear that bad things come in threes and I am hoping that it just stops at three. We had our third bad thing happen in a week today. I got back from visiting teaching last night to find our house was an oven. Aaron who has been frozen out by me for the last few weeks was enjoying the heat and it didn't bother him until I commented on it. I checked the temperature and it was 80 + degrees in our house and our a/c unit was not working. Aaron tried to do as much as he could, but he couldn't guess the problem. We ended up calling someone this morning to take a look. While the repairman was supposed to come I had a scheduled doctor's appointment. I left for the appointment secretly hoping they were running behind so I could sit in an air conditioned office. I was not so lucky because I got there to find their a/c was not working either, but at least they were running on time. I felt sorry for the staff to have to deal with a gazillion cranky pregnant ladies and no a/c. Luckily the repairman got ours working for a price--of course--and it is slowly cooling the house down. So we are counting the a/c, Josh's seizures and Daniel's broken Collar Bone as the three bad things--we don't know quite where to put Matthew destroying our neighbor's kitchen light so we are just counting that as bonus. Hopefully, our count isn't off ;P.

As with my OB appointment everything looks great. We got some more 4D pics of Sarah. This time you can see more of her face, but she still prefers it to be smashed up against the placenta. During the ultrasound I even got to see her yawn which I think is amazing!! If she came the same time as Daniel did I would be having her Monday, but I am hoping not because my doctor will be out of town for the next 10 days. Why do doctors think they can go on vacation :)?!? Hopefully she won't be in a hurry to be born and my body won't be in a hurry to get rid of her. I am questioning my wisdom of being pregnant in the heat of the summer. This will be the third time I have done this to myself--you think I would learn.

Aaron was tinkering with the blog last night and added some music. FYI there is a music control button at the bottom of the page if you want to turn it off or the turn the volume down.

Special Kids Rodeo

Tonight was Ogden City's Special Kids Rodeo which we went to. This was our fourth year of participating and it is always a good experience. The kids got to do a variety of activities from roping a stuffed sheep to barrel racing with stick horses. Matthew got to ride a horse that was just for the special kids, but there was plenty for the rest participate in. The pics show what we did there.

This is the kids barrel racing with stuffed horses.

This is Matthew riding the special needs horse and loving it.

Josh and Daniel riding the buckin broncos.

The boys hog-tying a calf.

The Rodeo Royalty put this program on every year and boys were able to take a picture with the Rodeo Queen.

The kids meeting the Rodeo Clown.

The kids meeting Sundance the Dancing Horse.

Josh Gettin' Down With the Marching Band

Josh decided to get down and jiggy with it as the marching band passed by playing their instruments during the parade. It was pretty humorous to watch.

Boring Weekend

Just a quick note of our comings and goings for Saturday and Sunday. Josh had a talk today in primary and did well. We had forgotten until this morning so we are sure glad our church time is later.

Yesterday we went to another parade. Matthew and Josh were supposed to be in it, but their recreation program decided not to do it at the last minute. The kids are getting better at rounding up candy and Daniel even got some sympathy handfuls of candy after seeing him in his sling. We also went to our local city days celebration that had vendor booths. I was able to stock up on some headbands for baby Sarah so she will look very girly with flowers and bows in her hair. We also got all the baby clothes put away in the drawers so the only thing I have left to do is pack my bags for the hospital. This is something I want to do because I have been caught unprepared before and Aaron has had to pack them for me after I was all ready at the hospital. Needless to say that was disastrous :)--at least he tried!

We do want to congratulate the Rasmussen family (my sister in Ohio) for their upcoming baby addition!! We are excited for you!

For some reason I couldn't add these before, but here is Matthew loading up a squirt gun to get his next target. The bottom picture is Daniel crashing after the day was over in his new octopus swimming trunks he is quite proud of.

Swim Day

Josh and I survived the all nighter. Poor Josh got the worst of it, however. We ended up staying home and watching movies all night til about 3am then we played the Wii to get us moving and keep us awake. Even sleep deprived Josh can still beat me at bowling. I lasted until 5:30 am and then Aaron relieved me so I could get a ninety minute nap. On the way to the hospital it was almost impossible to keep him awake. I am glad Aaron was able to go with me just to keep wake Josh up every 2-3 minutes. We didn't have any problem with him going to sleep during the EEG which is what the goal was in the first place. The EEG did show something so we will be restarting him on meds again and getting an MRI to make sure there is nothing new going on since his type of seizure has changed. We are even getting an emergency medication just in case a seizure lasts longer than 5 minutes. Hopefully I won't ever have to use it!! I am hoping we can get everything settled before I have the baby so keep your fingers crossed. We are cutting it pretty close.

Thursday morning Grandma and Grandpa Terry came over to help us and we are so thankful!! I thought I could do it all alone, but I am so glad they came!! The kids loved seeing them. Matthew loved the one on one attention from Grandpa. They mowed the lawn together, pruned and pulled weeds--THANK YOU! Grandma even washed my windows for me--THANK YOU again! Daniel loved the one on one from Grandma and even needed it because his arm was still pretty sore since he had just broken his Collar Bone the night before. Josh and I slept for a couple hours which was heavenly. They even brought Josh's baby which they found out in the bushes up at the cabin. I guess in our haste to leave early Sunday morning it had fallen in the bushes. Josh was glad to have it back and slept with it last night on the floor next to our bed so I could keep an eye on him.

On a lighter note today was water day at the neighbor's house. Everyone had fun. The pics show what fun everyone had today. There will be more pictures later so stay tuned.

Bad Day Saga

Before reading this post read the prior post, please. Well after Daniel fell down the stairs he wouldn't move his arm and screamed if you got close to it. Fearing the worst I called the 24 hour pediatrician's clinic by our house and got an appointment. Aaron was able to beg off of work an hour early and I insisted on him going because I got the last broken bone--his femur last year about this time. Our suspicions were confirmed with an X-ray showing that he broke his collar bone. This is just the icing on the cake for my most wonderful day. He has to wear a sling for the next two weeks. I didn't know they made slings that little. He is looking pretty pitiful and haggard right now as am I.

Pretty Bad Day

Warning there will be lots of whining in the next few paragraphs, but I have had a pretty bad day. Today has been a long time in coming since I have had less than 4 hours of sleep per night in the last week. Anyway, to start off early Sunday morning--1:30 am--Josh had a seizure. Aaron seemed to catch him right after it ended, but it took an agonizing hour of trying to wake him before he finally opened his eyes, but continued to be very confused and couldn't walk. This was quite scary and we were at the cabin where there is no cell reception. We packed everything up and headed down to the city so we could call the neurologist on call. When we finally got a hold of her she said as long as he was recovering and getting back to normal we should just make a follow up appointment in the neurology clinic during the week, but to call back if there were any other problems. He did recover fully and in a few hours it was as if nothing had happened. It makes me wonder how many other times this has happened and we hadn't known since we thought he was sleeping.

This is where my horrible day began today. Our neurology appointment was this afternoon which I am thankful they could get us in on such short notice. We saw his regular Physician's Assistant--the one who has managed his care from the beginning and she basically didn't know what was going on with him as well. We decided to schedule a follow up EEG to see if there was any abnormality. They were able to get us in for tomorrow morning at 9 am. This means I get to have an all nighter with Josh. Another night without sleep I can hardly contain myself. In order to go to the doctor's office I had a neighbor watch Matthew because it is nearly impossible to keep him contained well enough to have a decent conversation with the doctor. While he was there he destroyed their fluorescent kitchen light by throwing a hoppity horse at it. We will get to replace the whole kitchen light as well we should. Another thing that happened was before we left for the doctor's office Daniel filled his drawers making us a few minutes late so he was changed and we were on our way. When I got down to Salt Lake I seemed to hit every single traffic light red so by the time we got to Primary Children's Hospital we were running behind schedule. I thought I was safe from having a dirty diaper so I parked and ran in with Daniel and Josh in tow. I was checking in while Daniel decided to load his diaper again. Seeing as I thought I was safe since he had all ready done his duty I didn't bring any diapers or wipes so all of us had to suffer through a very stinky room during the appointment. On the way home my windshield cracked all the way down the length meaning we will have to replace it soon. When we got home the kids were having a hard time and Daniel and Matthew got sent to time out. Since we have only so many stairs in our house Daniel was on the top stair while Matthew was on the bottom stair. The phone rang and while I was talking, Daniel decided to go to his bedroom and empty his bookcase a book at a time and throw it down the stairs at Matthew. You can only ignore so much...I was about at my breaking point so we decided to bring Aaron some food since he has been working the swing shift so he is gone from early afternoon til around midnight. So the kids could see him tonight and give me a break from the fighting at home we brought him dinner. By the time he got it one of the containers had opened and spilled baked beans all over the rest of his dinner. When I didn't think things could get worse Daniel is refusing to go to bed and came down the stairs tripping over his blanket and falling down the hard wood stairs. He now cries every time he moves his arm. I am hoping that he will feel better soon because I gave him some Tylenol. This will be the day that never ends since me and Josh get to pull an all nighter. I can't wait until bedtime tomorrow...only 24 more hours--not that I am keeping track or anything :). I am hoping tomorrow will be better.

Catch up

Today was another OB appointment and everything still looks great. I made the doctor double check and we are 100% sure it is a girl. I even recognized what I was seeing today which is saying a lot. She is measuring about 4 1/2 pounds right now so we are on track for about an 8 pounder if I go to term.

Today was Josh's last T-Ball practice. I went with Josh to this one instead of Aaron so I got to see him play. It is funny to watch all the kids and parents. Some parents are pretty serious about it while others like me just hope our kids are having fun. To sum up his T-Ball experience I asked Josh what his favorite part was about T-Ball--he answered the snacks at the end. I was expecting an answer such as batting or throwing the ball, but I was wrong. How could I have not guessed that it was snacks?!? The pics are some action shots of Josh moseying from base to base. He is having fun, though.


Aaron has a big project that is due this week at work. To finish it on time they have separated into different shifts. Since Aaron knows what he is doing he got elected to take the swing shift 1:30pm-11pm so that those who don't know as much can have other people around to help them during the day. Matthew and Josh really don't get to see him because they are gone in the morning while he is around so we took dinner to him tonight to say hi and let them know they still have a Dad. I will be glad when this week will be over!!

Daniel has been a stinker lately. We were at the store walking down an aisle when he reached out and patted some lady's bum. Aaron and I saw it about the same time, but it was too late to stop him so we just walked by very fast pretending not to notice. She turned around to see who the pervert was, but realized it was just Daniel. Another funny thing is that Daniel for some reason thinks that burping is called burted. It is nice because when he yells at church, "I BURTED, MOM!" no one knows what he is talking about. He does like to tell everyone who is in hearing range when he has burted, though. Oh the joys ;P.

4th of July

We had lots of stuff to catch up on the last few days. Thursday morning we went on a tour of the hospital where we will have our baby. At least now if on the rare chance I go into labor on my own I at least know where to go. While we were on the tour at the hospital we ran into some friends that were due two weeks ahead of us. She had gone into premature labor and their baby was in the NICU with breathing difficulties. That is scary because it brought back all the memories from Matthew and Daniel. We are hoping we don't have that problem this time around, but we did note where the NICU was just in case. Aaron is so excited to have a little girl that after the tour he insisted we get a very girly, PINK and safe car seat. We finally are starting to get everything ready--although I haven't packed my bags yet. I still think it is too soon for that.

To celebrate the 4th, Friday morning we went to a neighboring city's parade. We sat by some very interesting people. They were all about getting all the candy--the parents and the teenage kids. They went as far as grabbing the candy in front of my kids as they were bending down to pick it up. Aaron finally had to stand by the kids to make sure they wouldn't get knocked down or hurt. By the middle of the parade the people finally realized what they were doing and started picking up the candy and putting it in my kids' bags--their bags were almost bursting at the seams, anyway. It was very interesting to watch. Later on in the day Grandma and Grandpa Terry came to our house for a BBQ. After lunch we went over to a Demolition Derby. I have never been to one and it was quite the experience. I have never seen so many plumber's cracks, cigarettes and tattoos in one place. The kids had fun watching the cars crash into each other. After the Demolition Derby was over they had a fireworks show. The kids enjoyed that as well. Daniel was so enthralled that he fell asleep during the middle of it. He did wake up when the fireworks started, though. When that was over we all went up to the cabin to spend the weekend.

Saturday, of course according to tradition, we went to the outlets to do some shopping. I am happy to report that I am done school shopping for all the kids. I finished this weekend and it feels good. Now I am just hoping they don't grow out of their new clothes before school starts. While Grandma and me were shopping Grandpa and Aaron took the kids over to Home Depot to pick up some supplies for the cabin. When they got there they were doing a kids activity of making bird houses. All three got to make one. They are all pretty proud of their little bird houses. We of course had to then stop by the Train restaurant to get the most delicious fast food and shakes ever. When we got back to the cabin we did some four wheeling--which is not as comfortable when you are 7 1/2 months pregnant!!

We came back Sunday morning in time to go to church. Aaron was stuck in the clerk's office so after Young Women I went and helped out in nursery so I didn't have to go to Sunday School alone. While I was there I was lucky enough to have to perform the Heimlich maneuver on a little girl that was choking on a pretzel. That made things a little more exciting as far as nursery goes. Anyway that was our weekend in a not too little nutshell. Hope everyone else had a good weekend!!

Running Out of Time

I just realized today that Sarah will be here before we know it. If she is as early as Daniel was we only have 2 weeks left!?! Even if I went to term I only have a couple more weeks than that, anyway. I still haven't packed my hospital bag, gotten out the baby clothes, set up the car seat, etc. I really need to get moving!! I have procrastinated thinking I have all the time in the world, but it is running out too fast!!

This week the bowling alley has been closed because they were replacing the carpet. We are there so much that the workers are getting to know the boys and even know their shoe sizes without asking. Matthew is really good at memorizing names so he knows all the employee's names and tells each of them if he gets a strike or a spare as well as says hello when we get there. I like going because it is air conditioned!! Anyway, of all the weeks this week my museum pass to the Dinosaur Park, Train Museum, and the Nature Center expired as well. The kids have been going stir crazy and continually ask what their options are for that day. It is really hard for them to comprehend actually staying home for a day--imagine that. Well we did just that today we stayed home and I got out the slip 'n' slide and the sprinkler--outside the house this time ;P. The kids would only stay outside if I was there with them. It has been so hot and I am a whimp and didn't last too long outside and the kids didn't either after I came in. I will be so glad when school starts again. My due date is the first day of school so we are having two count downs--one for school beginning and one for the baby's birth. Luckily the neighbor girl came and asked Josh to come play and since they were playing outside Matthew went over to their house as well. That took care of their boredom at least for one afternoon. I am excited because Aaron has off tomorrow and the kids still have kids in the park in the morning so we have a free morning with only one kid which is a lot more manageable than three. We are taking advantage and taking a hospital tour of labor and delivery since we are going to a different hospital this time. We chose this hospital because they have a better newborn intensive care unit. We are going here because with our luck--2 out of 3 kids have ended up in the NICU--you never know and it is better to be safe than sorry. Hopefully I can start getting my act together soon and start preparations.