Boy or Girl

I am now 18 weeks and everything appears to be healthy with the little one.  I had my ultrasound last Friday.  The technician, Brian and I saw 1 healthy spine, 2 arms and 2 legs, no cleft palate, 4 heart chambers, all the organs in the right place, everything measuring the right size and 3 knees.  3 knees? You read that correctly.  There was a right knee, left knee and a weenie.  We are having another boy and the kids couldn't be happier.  Some were concerned that the boys should not be outnumbered.  We are excited and now we have to come up with a name.  The most difficult part, in my opinion.  Below are the first peaks at the little guy.
* The 3 knee joke came from the technician who got it from another dad during an ultrasound the week before.  I thought it was kind of cute and funny.  Brian is probably groaning that I shared it.
* The 3D pictures didn't turn out as well because she had to look through the placenta because he was turned towards it and wouldn't roll over.  But if you look closely and use a little imagination it looks like he is giving the thumbs up or looks like Prince John from the animated film Robin Hood.

Definitely Living the Good Life

I got lost again.  Actually I was sucked into 2 books (The Phantom Tollbooth and the Hobbit), helping in school classes, shopping for maternity clothes (mostly a yuck, although I found a cute dress and some large shirts for $6 at Old Navy that should hopefully get me through until warmer weather), preparing taxes, doctor appointments and just enjoying the wonderful life I live most of the time.  I complain a lot about how hard it is to be home all day with kids doing dishes and laundry over and over and over and over.  I even get way too grouchy about dumb things (something I am working at).  But several times over the last month I have paused and really thought about how good I have it.  I owe a lot of this to Brian and am so grateful for him. It is not just financially that I  am thankful, but I am extremely thankful for his supportive and loving nature. I complain when things are not the way I want (like having him home for dinner every night) but he does everything is his power to help this family run efficiently, to allow me to have time to pursue my interests and to become a better father and husband.  Now to learn to enjoy it all the time and to constantly show my appreciation to that wonderful man.

On to less sentimental thoughts, this year the kids and I out did ourselves with the Valentine boxes.  They turned out great and were so easy and cheap to make.  I was able to help at Kelsey's class party.  She informed me that I need to help 2 more times in her class to catch up to the number of times I have been to Macy's class this year.  I get kind of tired of the competition/fair idea that my kids have.

President's Day weekend was probably one of the best ones we have spent as a family.  I don't know what was different for me but maybe I really took the time to be with the kids.  We went to the dollar movies on Saturday with the intent to see Wreck It Ralph but it was sold out so we hit Hotel Transylvania.  Then we went and had dinner with Emily and Jake and played games.  The kids had fun playing with their cousin and hanging out with grandma and grandpa. Sunday came and we ate dinner at home with only the 5 of us.  We enjoyed everyone's company and conversation. I am sure there was some fighting but I only remember the enjoyment. After we played Just Dance and I forced the girls to dance to songs I like. Then Braden had to have a turn to play wii Resort (he is a little addicted to Super Mario Brothers so it was a success to play something else with him).  Monday we went swimming at the rec center and it happened to be free that day because of the health fair.  After it was the first pleasant trip to the mall.  That hasn't happened in a long time, except for when I have been by myself.  I have hope that we can have another enjoyable weekend like that in the future.

A Girl After My Own Heart

This is what Kelsey brought home from school the other day.  She is definitely my daughter.  Glad I will always have someone to hang out with my inside.

My Birthday Present

My birthday is coming up and Braden is finding all sorts of things he says he is going to give me.  Here are just a few gift ideas.  A couple of weeks ago I got him a drink or something.  He was very grateful and said "because you got me a drink I will get you a bat for your birthday.  A bat just like dad's so you can hit it (the ball) really far."  This morning he told me he was going to get me a shower.  That way dad could have one and I could have one.  He found one problem with that gift.  He wasn't sure where I could put it.  The best idea so far came this afternoon.  I was watching TV while folding laundry.  Braden was with me so the best show that I could find that we were both happy with was the Andy Griffith Show.  Of course there were commercials targeting specific audiences.  One happened to be for Ducolax.  It's catch phrase was about not making you go but helping you relax so you could go.  Right after Braden tells me "I'm going to get you that for your birthday so you can relax."  Not sure I will want to open a gift from him.

Another funny moment that happened during the Andy Griffith Show.  Braden at Don Knotts (Barney Fife) and said he looked like my brother.  The best part is I had just thought there was a slight resemblance.

What Kissing gets You

A couple of days ago I started working on putting more of my blog into printed book form.  I came across a funny story.  It was about 2 months after Braden was born.  Macy saw Brian give me an innocent kiss.  Of course she acts grossed out and then said you better not kiss anymore or you will have another baby.

We didn't listen and the kissing didn't stop so we have another family member on the way.  We were hoping this would be the case.  We couldn't be happier.  Of course some days and moments we question our sanity and say "what were we thinking?"  The kids are beyond excited and Braden keeps mentioning all the things we will need for the baby.  He is also mentions all the items he will share.  Let's hope it stays that way.

Macy was excited, and still is, but questions whether it would be better to have a baby or get a new boat.  She asks Braden and Kelsey if they would rather have a boat or a new baby.  She became a little unhappy when she asked if we could get a boat this year but was told that wouldn't happen because we were having a baby.

past updates

I did some updating but I put them in chronological order.  If you are interested in Disneyland pictures and trip or our family photos, click on the hyperlink.

Last Week's Adventure

I may not have been the most amazing mom last week.  There were some good moments and times the kids hated.

I made Kelsey bawl for about 20 minutes about how she was starving.  And when I say bawl picture complete sobbing, coughing from crying to hard and red blotchy cheeks by the time it was all over with.  I had told her and Macy that their room had to be clean before I would fix them lunch.  They had 3 1/2 hours to take care of a 30 minute chore.

The girls lost coins for fighting (a lot of coins meaning a lot of fighting) which meant they couldn't go to Classic on Friday.  The coins are a reward/payment system.  So on Wednesday and Thursday they really had to work their butts off to get enough coins again.

And I forced them to practice piano and do some chores.

Braden got his first black eye running straight into his cousin Ellie.  She is 6 months younger so her forehead was right at his eye level.

We rode the frontrunner for the first time to downtown with my parents and sister.  On the way home we missed getting off our stop.  Not for any fault of our own.  We were up in the top section for the ride home.  When the train stopped at our parking lot we quickly made our way down the stairs.  Well the driver assumed that nobody was getting off at that stop and no one got on so he made it a really short stop.  When we pushed the button to open the door the driver was already making preparations to leave so the door wouldn't open.  The kids and I were stranded at the next stop (in Draper).  There is nothing out there.  Nothing is within walking distance.  It was 20 degrees outside and no place to wait inside.  And the next train heading north wasn't due for another hour.  We had just missed it.  Luckily my sister, Stef, works nearby and she saved us, but she got lost on the way over so we still had to wait in the freezing cold for 30 minutes.  The lesson from this story is if you are going to ride the frontrunner train for fun, do it in the warmer months just in case a rude driver doesn't let you off.  Maybe the driver had no control but I need someone to direct my anger at.

On to the good things.

The kids ate mini corn dogs for lunch on 3 different days.  I think Braden had 2 hot dog meals during the week.  Brian was out of town the end part of the week so we ate Café Rio one night and the leftovers the next.  We had Sonic for lunch once.  We took my dad to Archibald's for his birthday Friday night.  The kids and I ate popeye pancakes, aka German pancakes, the night Brian went to the Jazz game.  He doesn't really enjoy breakfast dinners.  Sunday I threw Rhodes cinnamon rolls in the oven for breakfast.  Overall, we did some good eating.

The biggest thanks goes out to my mom (and my sister Emily did a lot of helping too) for sewing with my children.  They made the cutest jumbo pillows while I went to a continuing education class for real estate.  I know they had more fun than me.

Macy was a third grade finalist for the spelling bee.  She had to go to school on her day off to participate.  I never got her to study the lists.  I didn't do too much pushing.  When the day came, according to her, it was my fault she didn't study.  She did okay.  There were 18 kids (maybe 21).  She went out in the third round in the fourth grade words.  There were a number of kids that went to the sixth grade word list.

The boy next to her looks really worried.

We rode the frontrunner train.

The girls did earn back all their coins so it was Classic for us on Friday.  It was 3 1/2 hours of fun for them and 3 1/2 hours of boredom/exhaustion for mom (I just wanted a nap while there).  They did everything but laser tag.  We even had meltdowns when I wouldn't buy anymore tokens for the arcade than what was given in the admission price.

Monday night Kelsey took us to Scales and Tails for our FHE.  It was so cold that night that we were the only people there so the kids didn't have to fight or wait for a chance to feed alligators and other reptiles.  They were a little shocked to see the reptiles were fed dead rats but they got over it.  They even fed the turtles all the carrots the turtles could get.  Kelsey held her snakes.  I think Macy even held a snake.  They all held the baby turtles.  I think they all had a good time.

Macy feeding Darth Gator

Braden feeding TNT

Kelsey feeding Gatorade