Bidding My Time

Baby number 4 is set to arrive any day. If he isn't here by Friday, he will forced to make an entry. So what have I done the past week and a half to pass the time since he doesn't want to come early (my actual due date is the 25th)?

First of all I sent my family to Island Park for a family vacation. It was Grandma Carol and Grandpa Alan's Christmas present to the family. For some crazy reason the doctor wouldn't let me go. Brian packed up the kids Monday, July 15 (after he attended the first day of cub scout camp) and went to have fun. I am pretty sure he was worried the entire time that I would go into labor. It sounded like everyone had a great time. They went fishing, caught frogs, played in the hot tub (a lot), made s'mores, went on 4 wheeler rides, went horseback riding, and paddle boarded down Henry's Fork. I am not sure what was their favorite. I have heard horseback riding and paddle boarding the most so I would assume those were the favs. Because Island Park is near Yellowstone they took a day to visit the park. Old Faithful was a let down because they had to wait 40 minutes instead of the usual 20 and then it wasn't one of it's best presentations. They saw some big elk and bison but that was about it. I think the animals were few because it was a hot summer day and they didn't get there until noon and didn't stay too far into dusk. They called it a trip Friday night and arrived back home at 1 am. I have posted pictures that were on the camera. There were a lot more of all the fun but they are on Brian's phone still.

I didn't sit around and let them have all the fun but I didn't play the whole time either.  I cleaned out the garage including hosing it out. I was tired of black feet and it has been killing me since winter. I spent some time in my garden. I planted more seeds for the fall. And speaking of gardens I don't think I mentioned my garden at all this year. This has been the most successful garden I have ever planted and it has been fun to pick things and then eat them for dinner. We had a great crop of peas, lettuce, carrots and onions. Right now the beans are producing, the tomatoes are showing up and my spaghetti squash looks amazing. The cucumbers are not doing so well along with the watermelon, bell peppers and yellow squash. My excuse for some of those plants is the soil where they are planted isn't great. I am hoping the seeds I just planted will do well so we can have a bounteous fall. Hopefully the summer heat won't kill them before they get started.

This is not all the plants. Some of my other veggies are else where in the yard. It looked better when the pea plants were growing on the right and the lettuce and carrots filled in the other holes. I had to pull them out to plant new for the fall.

Back to what I did. After all that hard work it was time to play. There was girls night out with my friend Camie. We went to dinner, a movie and dessert. I went with my mom and sisters for a pedicure. I went in for a hair cut. Book club happened to be that week. And of course there was lots of shopping. With this shopping came a realization for me. I will have to get a job when my kids are grown so I don't spend all of our money. The only thing that slowed me down was I couldn't clothes shop yet. If that had been the case I might have been in some serious trouble. I spent an afternoon at the pool. I read. I finished my book from all the blog posts in 2008 to half of 2009 and got that sent away to be published. So far I have 2007 and 2008 done, only 4 more years to go. It is amazing what can be done when you have no time constraints, no meals to prepare or no one to find sitters for so you can make it to your appointments.

I am glad to have my family back in town. It was a little quiet around here and could easily get lonesome. I don't know how my Grandma Lue did it for so long or how my Grandma Bonnie still does it. Yes you see people but there are many hours by yourself.

Once they got back it was time to squeeze in the last bit of summer with the kiddos and get the house cleaned so I don't have to worry for awhile after baby comes. Tuesday the kids and I went swimming at their cousin's pool. Each took a friend. After it was a trip to Arctic Circle for some ice cream. Wednesday Brian had the day off. The kids had earned a movie from all their hard work this summer so we went to Despicable Me 2. We were the mean parents who wouldn't buy the over-priced, unhealthy popcorn and other treats. I am sure the kids will always remember that about us. That was about it for our Pioneer Day Celebration. Later that night we bribed our kids with ice cream. Macy and Kelsey have refused a father's blessing every school year. They have never had one. The thought was maybe if we could get them to agree just once then they would realize the blessings from it. Cross your fingers for next year or any time they have struggles. Thursday is here and I sent the girls to their first day of school. The baby still hasn't come despite all my attempts at jogging, walking, mopping, vacuuming, bathroom scrubbing and pineapple eating (I heard that one recently). Tomorrow he will come and he still has no name. I hope I am ready and I hope he has a name.

In a Large Nutshell

I have a blog? Who knew. So much has been happening and some of it worth blogging about but lately I would rather stalk/read facebook updates or catch up on blogs. I don't even put status updates on my facebook page so my blog shouldn't feel too neglected.

I just checked and my last post was almost 2 months ago. Sorry Jeff for leaving you in the dark about our life. Jeff is my brother on a mission for the LDS church. He can read blogs so I thought my posts could count as my letters to him. Guess that means I am a terrible letter writer too. Just ask my sister, Emily. I don't think she received one letter from me the whole 18 months she was gone. I do love them and I hope I show it in other ways.

So here is my life in a 5 minute nutshell:

1. I have an alarm on my phone set for 10 PM because I am trying to go to bed earlier. Every night it chimes and instead of heading to my room I dismiss the reminder and still go to bed at 11:30. That alarm just went off.
2. I am reading Lord of the Rings and have had to re-check it out from the library two times (that is like 9 weeks that I have had the book) because I keep doing other things. I do like the story but I keep telling myself to just finish this one task then I can have some me time. I keep doing that until the kids come home or I waste my free time reading facebook or dumb internet articles.
3. My sister, Calee, and her husband were finally able to get an offer accepted to buy a home. I am their real estate agent and the market has been crazy. I think they were getting tired of looking at homes. I was worried we wouldn't find anything before the new baby came.
4. We still don't have a name for this little boy. I am feeling very round. By the end of the night I dread having to bend over to pick up the house and hate the stairs almost as much. The good thing is that in the morning I feel great and can get a lot accomplished. My only other complaint is that I can't stand clothing bottoms. My pants/skirts/garments are always sliding down because there are no more hips/waist. This is another reason I hate bending over because I always have to adjust when I stand back up. And no, I have not resorted to going around the house wearing nothing on my lower half.
5. The girls are almost done with another year of school (2 more weeks left). Both played soccer and the season is almost over too. They each have one more game. Braden was sad we didn't sign him up but he wasn't ready last fall. We told him next fall. The girls were both taking gymnastics and piano. Kelsey had a meltdown and want to quit everything. So we let her give up gymnastics. I am not sure what to do with her as she grows up. She can be so happy and nice but also the most negative, grudge holding girl. If you make her do something, she will hate it no matter what.
6. We are finishing the basement. It will be so nice to have it done. The sheet rock will go up next week. Once finished each child will have their own room, there will be a play room to house the mountains of toys, a family room to help alleviate the sound and chaos that abound in the main part of the house right now and there will be a second washer and dryer so Macy and Braden can do their own laundry. The laundry is what Braden is excited for. He even says they are going to wash their own clothes. Here's to hoping for the best. If you couldn't tell, the kids decided that it will be Macy and Braden in the basement. Originally it was going to be Kelsey and Macy. Not sure what happened but it doesn't bother me either way.
7. I am trying my hand at gardening again. It is going better than my attempts in AZ. The spinach did get burnt by Utah's crazy weather of one or two days of crazy warm weather followed by some really cold and rainy days. Everything else (peas, lettuce, carrots, green onion) seems to look good but only time will tell. The kids and I started some seeds inside (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, basil). I hope to get those in the ground tomorrow or Saturday along with some store bought plants (spaghetti squash, zucchini, watermelon and pumpkin). I had to wait to put these plants in because I had to do some major work on a flower bed to make more room and I went out of town.
8. Speaking of out of town, last week I spent 5 days in San Diego. It was wonderful. Brian had a conference for work and I joined him. The conference was only 2 1/2 days but we extended our stay so we could vacation and count it as our anniversary. Brian was pretty much booked those 2 1/2 days so I vacationed myself. I thought I would do tons of lounging but instead I pulled a Brian was going non-stop. I wish I had been able to log the miles I walked because I know it was a lot. I walked all over the gas lamp district and Old Town. The next day I rented a car and went all around Balboa Park (I still did not see it all and I only made it to 1 of the 15 museums). That same day I hit Coronado. I took a snooze on the beach and tried to get my pregnant body comfortable on the sand so I could read my book. I determined the only way to get that done was with a lounge chair and I didn't have one so I walked around Coronado. It was nice to do whatever I wanted but by the end I was grateful to have someone to vacation with regularly. I was ready to start carrying on conversations with myself. There were so many things I saw and wanted to share them with someone. I even dined by myself because Brian's boss is a networking fool (which is a really good thing) and he had events booked for Brian and himself all night. He wanted to introduce Brian to people so that deals could be made. Brian wouldn't come back to the hotel until 10 PM at night. Once Brian was free, we went to: the USS Midway, Little Italy for dinner, a Padres game (as we were trying to buy tickets someone gave us $50 seats for free), traveled up to La Jolla to sit on the beach, saw Point Loma light house, and drove up to Del Mar. It was an action packed few days. I am so happy I was able to share some of it with Brian.
9. I am finishing this post and it is now 10:50. So again the alarm thing didn't work.

Call Me Crazy

Today Brian worked from home because he was a little under the weather.  I took advantage of that and decided I would jog outside for a change.  What would be the difference of sticking Braden in front of the TV and running on the treadmill vs sticking Braden in front of the TV and leaving the house?  Right from the get go I wanted to wimp out. Running outside seems much harder to me. I told myself just go for 30 min instead of my usual treadmill time of 35 to 40 (40 when I really make an effort to get up on time). Would my music be enough to distract me. I love the distraction of the TV. Put on closed captioning so I can read the words and have to watch the images and I am set.

I didn't make it 30 min. I thought I would do a loop and not have to double back. I didn't realize how far my loop was. I kept pushing myself and wishing I had a bike like everyone else so I could get home faster. At one point I started to think about my course and realized that it was a really long course. I immediately turned around and re-traced my steps. My legs were mad at me and made me stop to walk sometimes. I was wishing I had my Hallmark channel because I would have been done a lot sooner. I did force myself to run up a big hill, only because an upbeat song came on my MP3 player. I reached home after 50 to 55 min. According to google maps (because I am not cool enough to have a smart phone with one of those apps that maps your route) I went 5 miles. I can't say never again because I do feel like it challenges my leg muscles differently. But it might have to be with a partner and when Brian figures out a way to work from home.

After that I thought to myself, "I am not worn out yet. I am still young." So I did some grout repair on my shower. It took a lot longer than I thought too. By the end, my back was sore, my legs were cramped, and I dreaded my stairs. But the grout is done and I can re-seal it on Monday.

And my talk is still not done. I am having terrible writer's block. I feel like I all I do is stare at the computer screen. Sometimes the easiest topics are the hardest because there is so much information that I don't know what to focus on. In case you were wondering the topic is "Building a Strong Family". Wish me luck because I still have to put together a lesson for my class also.

February

• Taxes complete. Check
• Finances updated. Check
• Get crafty. Check:   Made Valentine boxes with the kids. The idea came from Pottery Barn but morphed into something easier than pulling out the sewing machine. Made a skirt in time for my cruise (actually my sewing teacher did all the finishing work because there were a couple of goof ups that slowed me down and she felt I just had to have the skirt for my trip). Made a Valentine's table runner. Mended some clothing. Made Valentine warm fuzzies with Kelsey and Braden. Started next project with my sewing teacher, a shirt and pants. (Need some luck here folks.)
• Celebrate my birthday. Check:   Kids throw me a chocolate party complete with Braden throwing a bagful of confetti on me and a little limbo. Kelsey and Braden also serenaded me on the karaoke. An indirect present was the gift of vacuuming up the confetti. The vacuum was out of commission for the weekend because I had cleaned the filter and it needed to dry.
• Help at Kelsey's school Valentine Party. Check:   In charge of the treat. Made fruit and marshmallow kabobs for a healthy snack.
• Go to St. George for President's Day weekend. Check:    Brian saved his company $50 by flying into St. George instead of getting off the plane in Salt Lake. To help save his company money and leave earlier I drove by myself with the chitlins. They were really good and we only made one stop. 

  

  The confetti

  






Lots of swimming at grandma and grandpa's





Hiking in St. George



Here is your next pick up line

I am one of the youngest people at the gym I go to. I would say at least half of the members are over 60 at the times I go (kind of like our cruise ship). I really enjoy the older crowd. I loved them when I worked at TOSH and I enjoy seeing them at the gym.

At the gym there are some of the nicest old men. Then there are some nice but quirky old men. For example the other day a gentleman, at least in his 70s, comes up to me while on the treadmill and asks if I received my phone call. I was a little perplexed and said I didn't understand. Then he asked if I had received my call from New York to be in Glamor magazine. Then walks off. This isn't the first old man/high school pick up line. I know they are not really trying to ask me out. They are trying to compliment in their own way but it does sound a little funny. At least men still find me attractive even if they are in their 70s.

Halelulah

The day I have been waiting for for at least 10 years has come. Brian finally experienced a pair of pants becoming too tight in the waist. It was a pair of slacks that he hasn't worn for at least a year. He tried them on tonight and now knows how I feel when my pants magically shrink.

Multiplicity

I finally did it. I bought 20 lbs of chocolate to dip stuff in this Christmas. It was a huge expense so I better put it to good use. I have always wanted to try coating my caramels in chocolate. On Saturday while at a candy store in Springdale I was reminded of my dream. Then my dream led to visions of dipping other things like graham crackers, Ritz crackers and fudge (oh my!). So today I wiped up the continuous drool since Saturday and bought myself some chocolate as incentive to fulfill my dreams. I cross my fingers that time will be on my side this holiday season. I also hope that I hid the chocolate well enough that it is still there by then.

You may ask why 20 lbs. Well I like looovvve dark chocolate and Brian only eats it under extreme circumstances (that is when there is nothing sweet in the house for a couple of days). So I needed dark and milk chocolate to save my marriage. Well only the 10 lbs packages were on sale at the candy supply place so I purchased one of each to save money, not my rear end mind you.

After this purchase while driving home I got to thinking. I have way too many things I want to do or like to do. My bucket list might require me living until I am 150 (while maintaining perfect health) and coming into a whole butt load of money. Then I thought if there were a couple more of me's I could enjoy almost everything I want to right now, kind of like the movie Multiplicity with Micheal Keaton. There could be a me that would learn to make beautiful cakes with yummy fondant (yes I love fondant so get over it). There would be a me that would learn to sew everything I want. Someone to cook wonderful new meals, breads and desserts. Someone that would take painting classes. Someone else to go to the gym for all of us. Someone to play with the kids, read all the books on my 10 mile list, design and plant the most beautiful yard including a magnificent vegetable garden, and finally someone can and keep up on my food storage. There would be a traveling me to go all over and anywhere. I think I would also need someone to work outside the home because I know I would enjoy that too. And someone to take all the college classes I think sound interesting. After that line of thinking a wrench was thrown into my thoughts. Would the central me be able to experience the pleasure, learning, hard work and satisfaction that all the other me's would feel accomplishing their topic? Deep, I know. So I guess I will keep being the one and only me. Maybe I will get to them all eventually by changing hobbies every year. Maybe I should a bucket list post one day so I don't forget about all things I want to do.

Woh, woh, woh, woh, woh (think Snoopy)

So the other day at the bus stop I meet this lady. We are chatting and she says she has to go somewhere in a bit. Since it is 8 am I ask if she is off to work. Her reply is "No, I don't work anymore. I am on disability." So what do I say? "Oh, I bet that is nice to stay at home." I wanted to smack my forehead right there and stick my head in a hole.

My problem is many times I don't stop to process and think about what I just heard before I speak. Instead I leave no room for silence and plow ahead in the conversation. In the example above I heard the word "no" and my mind raced on to prepare an answer before I finished listening to her. By the time my mind catches up my lips and tongue have already wrecked havoc on my social graces.

I have tried and tried to work on this but like many of my flaws there has been little improvement. So please don't take offense when I blurt out anything stupid, rude, and/or incoherent. Most of the time I really don't mean it.

Things I love...

• Climbing into bed with fresh, clean sheets. The first night after changing sheets is heavenly to me. The down side changing and washing those sheets.
• Slipping into bed with silky, smooth legs because I actually shaved them that day. It is worth shaving for this benefit alone.
• Having the sun shine and going outside to enjoy it. I really miss seeing the sun everyday like I did in Phoenix. Even if it is a warm day, if the sun ain't shinin' it ain't that great. Sunday we walked to church. It was so lovely because the sun was out the whole time. It was the best way to prepare for church. I had a tear in my eye as I recalled how often we could walk to church in Phoenix. I think the last year we were there we walked 9 months out of the year. By the way, this walk was no small feat. Our house is the furthest I have ever lived from a church building. We have to cross a busy road to get there too. Don't worry we did the "do as we say, not as we do" with our kids. We taught them to jay-walk and then said don't ever do this. It is against the law.
• that Brian has not won the last four games of Settlers. I don't think he will play the game again. It is back to Ticket to Ride and Carcassone for him.
• when Braden teases Kelsey by grabbing her blanket and running. Or when he is the monster and chases his sisters around the house. I hate that he dumps every cup or water bottle on the ground.
• that Braden stuck is lawn mower and wagon in time out yesterday. He pushed each one into a corner and yelled "in the corner" and "go to time out". I hate to hear what I sound like when my kids are playing me.
• that Macy wants two gift cards and money for her birthday. Her reason "so she doesn't have to spend her own money to buy things". What am I supposed to do for her birthday? Obviously the royal wedding is not an option.

Bus Stop

My neighbor is kind enough to walk Macy up to the bus stop each day. This is probably so I don't embarrass myself and Macy (and also to be nice since there are two other kids inside the house that could cause some chaos during the 1 minute I am gone). Occasionally the slowness of my neighbor's children cause them to miss the bus so I am forced to walk Macy up to the bus stop myself. When this happens I know that I give the drivers a good laugh (the bus stop is on a pretty busy road so I see lots of cars). This morning you could see me in a gray jacket, navy blue and green plaid pajama bottoms, no socks (the pants shrunk enough that you can see this), and my black flats that were closest to the door (of course socks may have made this outfit pretty funny too). My hair is also looking quite stylish, like I just got out of bed. At least there are no pink curlers in it. It curls on its own. I do have to say I am also glad that my high heeled shoes were not the ones closest to the exit.

Moderation

This morning I awoke with the best of intentions. Valentine's is over with and so marks the end of the candy/sugar fest of the holiday season. So I was determined to dump out the conversation hearts that I over-bought yesterday. I was going to be real good about eating extra sugar. I went to do this task before the gym, but I couldn't put them in the trash because Braden would be upset when his sisters were eating treats. I decided just to be good and not eat them.

I went to the gym followed by a quick shower. After making quick arrangement with a neighbor for babysitting because my mom was getting stitches in her hand, I was off for some service at Welfare Square. I had a great time making applesauce and I met some really nice people. One guy was 75 but didn't look close to that age. He told me all about his natural diet and how it worked for him. He has so much energy and never had to worry about his weight. He only eats the meat he hunts and kills himself. He doesn't eat any sugar or processed food. He began to eat this way at age 30. His wife or kids never jumped on board but he was still able to stick with it and pass up chocolate (that is willpower).

After talking to him I thought I should be able to moderate my sweets and ignore what is around me or what others are eating. Then I came home and found myself starving because I didn't have time to eat lunch. So I grabbed a couple small handfuls of the conversation hearts I didn't throw away. You could call that moderation until I sat down to type this entry. I brought a piece of the chocolate pie to the computer with me.

Tomorrow I will begin a more moderate sugar consumption.  Good thing there are plenty of tomorrows because I don't know how good my will power is.

How's Your Day?

This morning I woke up and it was just like most mornings. A little shouting to get kids moving to make it on time but nothing extreme. Then my world collapsed.

I take Kelsey and her friends to school then it is off to the gym with Braden. When it is time for my run all treadmills were taken so I did more time on the elliptical. This was not a terrible blow to my day. The punch came when my cell phone rang 6 minutes into cardio. It was an FHA appraiser asking when the water will be turned on at a home I am trying to help my cousin buy. Settlement is supposed to be tomorrow but last night at 5 PM the underwriter gave us 4 more conditions to meet before she approved the loan. Last night it was still possible to meet the Friday deadline but it would take a lot of coordination. One of the conditions to meet was an appraiser needed to confirm that the water worked and to do that the water needed to be turned back on to the home.  Well the loan officer said he would take care of that condition. Guess what the loan officer did not do. The water was still shut off and the appraiser couldn't perform his task. That meant quick work by me but now there is really no way to have settlement tomorrow. So to salvage things as best I could and ensure that settlement happens on Monday, I have to cut my workout short.

I get home to start working on the water problem. I go to wash my hands and no water comes out of my tap. Now I get to call my utility company for myself. There was a break and they hope to have the water back on sometime today. Of course today I didn't finish the breakfast dishes before the gym because I was on carpool. That also meant the counter was still a mess and food in the sink. I have no clean forks. There is no way to shower. On next months goal list is to get my food storage somewhat back to par. When we moved from AZ we dumped all of our water and have not filled it for various (at time logical sounding). I could just kick myself for not being on top of my food storage.

By this time, I need to be getting ready to pick up the kids. I decide to at least change from my gym clothes. I use the bathroom and right as I am finishing I hear my phone ringing. I know it is about the real estate deal (I had been waiting for someone to call me back). So I book it to my cell, not flushing because I have no water. I finish the call and go back to the bathroom to finish dressing. Guess who I find. Braden is standing in front of the pee filled toilet with a cup he has filled and extra toilet paper he has added. I try to wash his hands but there is no water and I have no food storage water.

This was not my best day and all this happened before 11:30 AM. I just hope the water comes on soon so I can shower before I have to go meet with people later on today.

The silver lining to all of this is: I did not get to use the treadmill so I am not as sweaty as I could have been. Because I spent more time on the elliptical I got to read more of my book (I can't run and read at the same time). I don't have to do the laundry today or mop my floors like I intended.  There is nothing good about Braden playing in pee water.

Here are some happier pictures.

Today we had an indoor picnic in the kitchen. Kelsey invited a friend over and they wanted a picnic.


  

Braden likes to walk around in women's shoes (at least it's not their underwear).



He listens to a lot of good music.



He has become a champ at utensils.

 

If I were a Betting Woman

The philosophical questions I pose today are "When do you think Brian will take this Christmas tree downstairs?" and "What are the odds I put it away?" As I have pondered such deepness I think the odds are about the same as the outcomes of "who will wheel the garbage cans out to the street for garbage day" and "who will shovel the driveway after a snow storm".  It is probably fair enough to say the odds are fairly similar to the outcome of my laundry abilities. Many times I am asked "I got this ... on my shirt.  Do you think it will come out in the wash or do I need to take it somewhere?"  It all depends on what type of risk taker you are.  As to the tree, I think my money is on me and the length of time will depend on how long I try to wait him out.  No tree man is coming on a set day to take it away like the garbage man comes to take my trash.

Whew!

Family History calls and so I am popping back in for some quick re-caps.

Kid date night.  Brian has been putting in tons of hours at work trying to get the business plan put together.  (When I say tons I mean almost 17 hours a day.  The other hours of the day are devoted to sleeping, getting ready for the day, getting ready for bed and commuting.)  So a couple of weeks ago the kids and I had our own date night.  After Macy's dance we went out to dinner over in Daybreak.  Of course dinner had to include dessert so we had some over-priced gelato.  We then played around the lakes until the rain chased us home.  It was one of the best date nights in a long time.

I believe the following week was when Braden caught the stomach flu.  The little guy was miserable and got so dehydrated we had to take him to a Kidscare for an IV.  They stuck him 3 times before declaring they couldn't get a vein and sent me to the ER (which happened to be in the same building).  I then paid another co-pay, had to go through the illness history again with another doctor to again be told it was stomach flu.  They stuck him with the needle 2 times before they got a vein.  Of course we were in the ER so a 15 minute procedure turned out to be an all night event.  I was not happy.  If they hadn't have left the IV in I would have walked out (I had already paid and there wasn't more to do for him and I already knew the recommendations to help him).  After his flu recovery the girls shared a cold with him and that zapped him for another week.  Luckily it is over and he is back to normal and they way he has been eating I am sure he will surpass the lost poundage soon.  Here he is miserable in the ER.

After dance one week Macy gets in the car and tells me she is quitting ballet.  I asked her why.  She replied that she "had too much to do."  I asked, "like what?"  "I have dance, soccer and school."  "That's it?" I said.  After a pause she responded, "and a dance recital."  Man what a hectic life.  Too bad I told her she can't quit and dance is almost over with for the summer.

Speaking of soccer, here is a picture of her game today.  Today she showed a little more aggression.  I think she really likes dance and soccer.  She really likes to play with friends too and that is a big dilemma.

The blond girl on her team is real good and aggressive.  Today Macy kept trying to take the ball from her own team mate.  Last week I realized that to be a soccer mom in Utah I am going to have to start wearing thermals.  Today that was re-confirmed.

During dance Kelsey, Braden and I sit in the car because it is too far to head back home.  I let Kelsey play around in the car.  The same day Macy and I had the previously mentioned conversation, I looked back to find chocolate on Braden's mouth.  I asked Kelsey where it can from.  It was an M&M she found on the ground.  Then I noticed a jolly rancher in her mouth.  It too come from the floor of the carpet.  Luckily I found the wrapper so it wasn't a previously sucked on candy.

This week I did some updating to our family's 72 hour kit.  I finally purchased a large enough backpack to carry it all.  I threw out one set of diapers (size 5) and kept the other set for Braden (they were for Kelsey).  That tells you how long it has been.  I think we are all set.  I still have to replace some water and first aid stuff, but other than that we are set.  My only concern is that I might tip over if it is blowing too hard.  This thing is heavy and stuffed to the brim.  I can't wait until my kids are old enough to haul their own food.  I was able to pawn off some things to their own backpacks because Macy and Kelsey are old enough to carry some.  Here is the monster pack.  I took it for a trial run up the stairs carrying Braden.  I sure hope he learns to walk soon.  Even then I still need to hit the weights a little harder to get very far.  Good thing kids move slow.

An update on me.  Besides the kids real estate is keeping me fairly busy.  I am working on selling 2 homes and helping someone buy a home.  Plus I have an awfully picky client looking for a home.  The name starts with a "B" and ends with a "rian".

Valentines and Braden Update

Well Valentines came and went. I tried to be a good mother and do fun Valentine things but it didn't work out as I imagined it. I had told the kids that we would make sugar cookies on Saturday for their neighbor friends. Well my mom made cookies with them on Thursday so I thought I was off the hook and could make brownies or cupcakes. Well the elephant, aka Macy, remembered the cookies and said that is what we had to make. So I started the cookie dough (which I was going to do on Friday, but had already altered my plans to do other things). The girls helped slightly but I did most of it. Then I had to refridgerate the dough so they went to play. They didn't have time nor did they want to cut out the cookies because they were playing. So I did it by myself. Because they were so busy playing I decided we could frost them on Sunday instead of cutting out paper hearts. Well Sunday came and when I asked if they wanted me to make the frosting they said no. Again they were having too much fun playing. So the cookies were never frosted and are in the freezer. The neighbor kids never received their Valentines.

The only Valentiney thing we did was fill out cards for Macy school class and dance class and decorate a box (which after I spent time wrapping it Macy put on 2 stickers and called it good). I guess I did help out in Macy's class for the Valentine party, but Kelsey didn't really do anything. Thankfully my mom made chocolate dipped strawberries and raspberries and heart shaped rolls for Sunday dinner. I did make the strawberry spinach salad to add to the festivities.

This past week I also celebrated my birthday. We went to the boat show and drooled and Brian is back hunting for a boat. He has found a couple that he likes but needs a boat partner. Anyone interested? I joked about posting it on Facebook but I think he may make me do it. After we went back to my parents and Brian surprised me with presents and my favorite chocolate cake. It is the one from Costco so I have had a piece every night since. There goes my beachbody from P90x. Friday night he took me to dinner at Tiberon. The place was not cheap but it was so delicious. This is the second time we have eaten there and both times have been great. The last time was years ago. This time we had purchased a gift certificate from city deals and that is the way to go if you want to try it out.

I wanted to throw in a few updates about Braden. He has stopped the army crawl and is now crawling. I give the credit to my dad for this. One Sunday he spent some time really working with the little bugger. Now his pants stay on but he is all over the place. He has even climbed a couple of steps and pinched his fingers in drawers. He is like Macy and empties drawers if he can. He is so proud that he can pull himself to standing. He is still the hoover and eats anything off the ground, but he is by far my pickiest eater and refuses a number of vegetables but devours anything with sugar. His eighth tooth has come in so he is even on top and bottom. He won't leave his socks on. Every time I turn around he has pulled both socks off and one is usually drenched in spit. I measured him myself since we only have temporary health insurance right now. He is 29 inches and about 20 pounds. He is doing more growing in length than in width.

A Slide for Any Season

So Monday came and went I am not completely well yet. However, today has been the best and most promising. My fingers are crossed that tomorrow the sore throat will be gone and I can wear my contacts again. Yesterday the virus spread to my eye and it was all goopy so I had to throw away the new pair of contacts I put in that morning. I must not have washed my hands all that well or I introduced the germs some other way. At least today the goop is gone.

I did go to the doctor because this thing was lasting so dang long and has been so painful. I confirmed that it was viral and not strep throat so no antibiotics. He said the rash looked like hives and maybe my body when under stress produces histamines and when my clothing rubs against the skin I break out in hives. The take home message to me was: I am allergic to getting sick. Stay away from illness.

Ever wanted some ideas on how to play with a little brother. How about making a slide out of couch cushions? You pile some cushions on the couch then lean one against those cushions and the floor. Ta-Dah. Instant slide to send your brother down or even take a ride yourself. That is what the kids did today. At least they took care of him and I heard no crying (there was some fighting between the sisters but when does that not happen). Of course I didn't think to take a picture.

The Saddest Thing

This is the saddest picture. Luckily, we don't have anymore of this from him. The poor little guy didn't feel good from Sunday night to Saturday. We still have a little snot but he is back to smiling and getting into a lot of trouble. He has figured out how to pull himself to standing to reach TV remotes and has managed to pull the nose off of Macy's zhu zhu hamster (we had to fish the nose out the garbage because I didn't know what the pink plastic pieces were in Braden's mouth).

I am glad he is over his cold but now I am wishing I were over it. I have had one of the worst sore throats since Thursday. The coughing that has come with it doesn't help my throat or ears feel any better. I also have my silly rash back. I now get this weird rash everytime I get some type of bacterial or viral infection. The last time this happened the doctor just said sometimes rashes are part of the infection and sometimes it is the way an immune system responds. Either way it is terrible. Sleep seems to be the only way to find some reprieve. However my body doesn't feel so terrible that it wants to sleep all day. Dang it. Hopefully by tomorrow I will be over it. By the way my nose does not look like Braden's did.

Introducing...

... Braden!

And our family is excited to have him hear. I know for many of you the name may be in a shock because it was not even on the radar. Brian made me sit down with him the night before the little guy came and come up with a name. Carter wasn't sitting right with him and Ethan was a little too popular. So I started throwing out some more names I liked. Two I really liked were Braden and Kaden, but our cousin already had a Kaden. So we decided to go with the first.

He weighed in at 8 lbs. 1 oz. and a height of 20 3/4 inches. The labor was not so bad especially because I had an epidural and was induced (I love knowing the end date). From start to finish labor was about 5 1/2 hours. Brian and I were expecting it to go a little faster, but the first time I saw my doctor was 30 minutes before Braden joined us. That was when he broke my water and soon after a healthy, content baby was born.

Here he is getting his first bath/shower. See that smile. He let the doctors and nurses do everything to him with so much as a whisper during the entire hospital stay. The one exception was the circumcision, but who can blame him for that one. Every nurse commented on his easiness. Hopefully he stays that way. So far he hasn't let us down.

Here he is all warm and snugly after his bath.

The girls were very excited to see their new brother and all through the day they would ask "when is our brother coming?" They couldn't wait to get to the hospital. When their Macy couldn't stop holding him and that still hasn't worn off. We only stayed 24 hours because the girls never wanted to leave, but they hated staying couped up in the hospital room. Since the hospital practiced what is called "couplet care" (meaning the baby never leaves you so you can take care of them) I thought what is the difference between the hospital and home. Comfort!

Here he is all ready for the ride home.

Here is the proud big sister. She is such a good helper.

Here is my other big helper. Her favorite thing to say is "what's his name again?" I guess we confused them too. However, now it is a fun game to play.

And of course the proud daddy.

I, myself am doing great. I am feeling good and healing well. Sometimes I wish it could be a little faster along with getting back into my pants. (I am a little worried with the heat fast approaching and no "fat" shorts in the closet.) I am also wishing my chest would return to normal a little faster. Hopefully in the next couple of days. At that time I am looking forward to a long, warm, relaxing shower.

Busy Beavers

So I finally finished my other post from last week when I realized another week has gone by. Much has been accomplished.

1. I finished all my "needs" shopping for the baby.
2. My house is clean.
3. My sugar snap peas grown from seeds sprouted. I have never been successful with seeds but thought I should try since the transplants provided were not sugar snap. (This was a Relief Society project.)
4. I played most of the day yesterday. First it was to the gym and then off to lunch with friends. Then a small amount of prep for a party at my house. And finally a get together with some of our friends from Brian's MBA class, without kids. We were actually able to talk and hear one another.
5. Today I cleaned up the pool from the massive wind storm on Thursday (I think). I took a nap and painted Macy and Kelsey's fingernails and toenails. I did a little more cleaning before my mom gets here. I helped Macy write and practice her talk for Primary tomorrow. She seems confident and like she wants to do it. We will see what tomorrow brings. She has not given a talk yet. I have given two.
6. Thursday the doctor thought I would have the baby this weekend and got my hopes up. I told him not to cancel the induction date because it never works that way for me. I don't go into labor on my own.

Brian also has been a busy beaver.

1. He has spent time looking at for boats and cars. He has done a 180 since he was able to keep a job, but there are no promises that anything will come about. See the next line.
2. He has also considered buying a rental property. Home prices have fallen so bad here that he figures we should have some cash flow from it.
3. He helped some friends pack their moving truck.
4. He played tennis this morning. It has been a few weeks.
5. He finished painting our old bar stools black.
6. He trimmed our palm trees.
7. He did our taxes. It looks like we are getting a little bit back. We may owe Arizona a couple of bucks.
8. He hung my new wall hanging we won at his companies employee auction. It was an item from a model home. I think he wanted to curse for buying this because it was a pain to hang and get it level. It took longer than he thought.
9. Numbers 3 through 8 were done today. Number 3 was also done on Thursday night.

Here are my auction purchases. The top picture was Brian's project tonight.

PS: I claim no photography skills. My new decor are cages with fake plants in them.

I need to make a note here for remembrance sake. A few weeks back I was released from my calling as Laurel advisor. I was sad to give this up, but feel at peace with what the Lord wants. I thought I would have a break from service because of the baby, but that is not how the Lord works. A week later I was called to the Enrichment committee. Not a big deal. I like to be involved, but this is something new for me. I am not even sure of everything the Enrichment committee does. I have spent most of my married life in YWs. My two other callings (the only ones I can recall) were cub scout leader and ward literacy specialist. These totaled maybe a year.

Life is wonderful (another long post)

So instead of getting rid of all the candy and treats I bought more. Partly because I took my husband shopping with me. But oh well the chocolate covered pretzels and dark chocolate cherries taste really, really good.

So why is life wonderful? Because Brian's company offered to let him stay if he would take a new position with them. They have been doing better than expected for the last 3 months (sold more homes than predicted) so corporate said that they could keep one more person and they chose Brian. It isn't exactly what he wants and he had to take a small pay cut. It was a difficult choice because we were all set to try our hardest to get back home and the thought of getting out from under our home (even if it was difficult) were very tempting and obviously the home industry isn't stable yet. However, we feel like this is Heavenly Father's will for the time being and I am happy to stay around some of my many good friends. I am not looking forward to the summer, but I am looking forward to swimming. We truly have been blessed to not have had to go through any time of unemployment and it has helped us see and feel what many others are going through at this time.

Life is good because it cooled back down to the 70s. A recommendation to women who live or may live in Phoenix, AZ: do not have children anytime in the summer or in the fall. I feel for you poor women because for a brief time I experienced a taste of what you go through (mostly at night). I could handle the days but it wasn't cooling off enough at night. It was miserable because I couldn't sleep and when I did I would wake up sweating. I had to turn on the air conditioner. The problem was that it was just cool enough that the air conditioner only had to come on when I turned it down. So the fan remained on all night and Brian had to sleep with a blanket and a comforter for a couple of nights. I couldn't let him near me because his body produces way too much heat and he tends to move closer to me as he sleeps. One night I finally moved to the leather couch. Since we have cooled off I am getting much better sleep.

Last Wednesday baby boy got a room makeover. His room had been pink and yellow and since we are staying it had to go. One of the walls had big stripes and it was slightly sad to paint over all that hard work, but I am over it. Because my friend Kenlynne came over and helped the room was completed in a day. She is a perfect example of reaching out. The Sunday before she overheard me say that I was going to paint on Wednesday. She looks at me and says I have nothing to do that day and I can paint. Let me help you. At first I hesitated because I can be stubborn, but then I thought it was stupid to pass up help and I need to learn to accept service from others so they can have a chance to serve. What a great day it was to have her over and I will be forever in her debt because I thought it would take me all week; Tuesday - wash walls and tape, Wednesday - prime, Friday - paint color, Saturday - touch up. She was so quick, I was able to get rid of my kids most of the day and I did a wonderful job of taping so that afternoon everything completed. However, baby still has no name. We are thinking Carter Alan, Ethan Dee, or Jackson Alan so at least we have something.

The best news is 3 weeks and 3 days before mister arrives. I am all scheduled to be induced and I am counting down the days. I know he needs another week at least to be completely ready (and myself needs two weeks to get everything done because I am not ready), but there is a part of me that would love to be done with the pregnancy. I get to this point and my impatience shines. I know I need to live in the now, but I am ready to move on to the future. I just want my body back. I don't have terrible pregnancy, in fact compared to most they are super easy. But I have my complaints. I have the slight swelling going on. You wouldn't be able to tell, but I can see that my ankles are not as skinny especially at night. I have been craving diet coke for some reason. I would take a coke or Dr. Pepper too, but I don't need the extra calories. He has been finding 2 of my nerves that run down the inside of leg and he likes to play with those. I can't bend anymore and my pants don't stay up and my under garments slip off my belly so I feel draft sometimes. The good news is that 2 weeks ago at my doctors appointment the scale said I had lost 2 lbs in 2 weeks (must be from being sick). I felt so bad that for the next 2 weeks my body helped out and added 3 pounds. I like to be helpful. My last complaint is my hips when I wake up. I am tired of sleeping on my sides and my hips are letting it be known. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so hard to roll over. Like I said these are minor things, but they do bother me and I want to remember so I can tell my girls when they are at this point in their life. I have been blessed to be able to exercise still. I can't jog everyday, but I can get some kind of cardio in and weight lifting. For some reason with this pregnancy my heart rate kept getting too high when I ran (with Macy and Kelsey I was able to jog the entire time). This started a couple of months ago. So I had to slow it down and I alternate between walking, jogging, elliptical and stair climber. If it is a good day I can jog and makes me excited to be able to get back to working hard (I am not always excited for this so that is good that I want to get back).