Toy Story 3

Yesterday I was feeling a little down so I decided I should do something fun with the kids. We went and saw Toy Story 3 and it was the best way to cheer me up. It was such a cute movie! Usually by number 3 in the animated movies you aren't expecting much. I liked this one better than the second and just as much as the first. There were lots of exciting moments, funny moments, sweet moments and even some nail biting moments. I must admit I cried at the end of the movie. I'm such a sucker for those tender scenes. The fact that I'm 9 months pregnant probably added to the tears but I think I still would have teared up regardless. There were also a lot of laugh out loud moments where the kids and I were totally cracking up. Lets just say that Buzz stole the show quite a few times. Perfect activity for you and your kiddos. I highly recommend this movie and we all gave it two big thumbs up!

Due Date, Come and Gone

Yesterday was my due date. I started it off with a trip to the Midwives and got encouraging news. I was dilated to 3 cm. and she said my cervix was very soft and ready to go at any time. All day yesterday I had contractions. The contractions were painful at times, but they were always on the borderline. They never quite got to that accordion squeeze stage.

I spent yesterday running last minute errands and working on projects. I kept laughing at all of the people who, when they found out it was my due date, exclaimed, "what are you doing out shopping?!" As if I should be home laying on the couch just waiting for this baby to come. The thing that made me laugh the most was that I went to renew my license and as I plopped down into the chair to take my picture I thought, "I wonder how many women would take their license picture when they are 9 months pregnant?"

Last night I was so convinced that I was going to have this baby and then the contractions stopped. Frustrating! I guess I should just look at it as more time to get things done, and I always need more time! I'll try and get some pictures up of the cute things I've been working on sometime today.

Sunday Dinner in American Fork Canyon

My sister-in-law Megan and her family drove into town on Saturday. For Sunday dinner we decided to go up American Fork Canyon for some of Peggy's delicious Dutch Oven cooking. Chicken and potatoes, Yum! And she made a Red Velvet cake just for me since I can't have S'mores. How nice is that?!

We sat around the fire, chatted and relaxed. Michela snapped a picture of me chillin' in my chair.

Look at that basketball under my shirt!

The kids played with their cousins, threw rocks in the river and got extremely dirty while exploring. Chase needed about ten hand wipes to get clean before we went home.

Michela played catch with whoever would throw the ball to her.

Hunter showing off his balancing skills.

Three cute cousins.

Alyssa and I having a picture shooting contest.

The beautiful scenery.

Megan and Matt

Time to eat S'mores!

Russ and Logan

Daddy comforting Aria after she fell down and got hurt.

Sara and Mindy

We tried to get a picture of all the grandkids, but it wasn't the most successful venture. I'll have to try and do some photoshopping and see if I can come up with a decent picture. What a wonderful start to our month of fun with Megan and her family!

Missing Michela

Michela went off to Clear Creek Camp on Monday and left us all feeling like something is missing here at home. At first I appreciated the quieter, more mellow atmosphere of the house. She tends to get the boys all riled up and they are all rather rowdy when playing together. But pretty soon I began to notice what I was missing not having her around.

*She is an awesome big sister to Aria and keeps her entertained so Mommy has time to get things done.

*I miss all her questions and our fun little conversations.

*I miss all the funny songs she makes up and her loud singing.

*My babysitter is gone so I have to drag the other three with me wherever I go.

*Aria misses her big sister at night. She's become very used to seeing Michela in the bed across the room from her.

*I miss her face at the kitchen counter in the morning at breakfast time. I even miss her Marcia Brady hairstyle.

*I miss her big laugh and little giggles.

*I miss her sarcasm. (Like Mother, Like Daughter.)

*I miss hearing her answer the phone in her monotone voice. :)

*I miss the messes she makes in the craft room and doesn't clean up for days.

*I miss hearing her play the piano.

* I miss my biggest helper.

I asked the boys if they were excited for Michela to be home tomorrow and they both yelled, "Yes!" When I asked them why Hunter said, "because it's boring without her." And that pretty much sums it up. Life is a bit boring without Michela around. Who else can come up with all the crazy and creative schemes that she thinks up? Who else can fill up this big house with her big personality? Lets just say we are all looking forward to 3:00 tomorrow afternoon when we can pick up Michela from the school and bring her back home to us where she belongs.

Father's Day

We started off Father's Day with Blueberry Muffins and yummy smoothies. The kids and I presented Mike with his presents and they all excitedly watched him open them up. We gave him a new pan

(He's the pancake maker in the house and our old one was not so nonstick anymore.), a cool BBQ gadget that makes it so you can grill smaller stuff without it falling through, Michela made him a tie card, and I made him a sign for his office. I think he actually teared up when he read the sign. It is the cutest quote that I saw on someone else's blog but for the life of me I couldn't remember where I had seen it so I just kind of made it up as I went along. If you can't read it, it says, "Dad- a son's first Hero, a daughter's first Love."

After church, where the primary sang a lovely little medley of Father's Day songs, we went to Mike's parents for dinner. We had a nice and relaxing evening with his parents and his sister Mindy. Mike also got to watch the end of the U.S. Open tournament which he had been watching since Thursday. It was a kind of disappointing ending but he loved watching it so much because they were playing it at Pebble Beach and he has played there a few times. He got great satisfaction as he watched the Pros struggle with many of the holes and loved it when he saw someone choke on a hole that he has done well at.

After that he had some yummy strawberry cheesecake and a good rub down from his Dad. His favorite thing is a good massage from his Dad.

Larry is the sweetest man around and we are so lucky to be a part of his family.

Thanks Mikey for being such a great Father to these four, almost five, children of ours. The kids and I love him more than words can say and appreciate all the hard work he puts in for our family.

Swim Lessons

The kids really wanted to take swim lessons this year. Last year I waited too long and ended up not being able to get them in to any sessions. I decided to try out the Lindon pool this year because it's actually a lot closer to us than the Orem pool. It's a much smaller area than the Orem pool and it seemed a lot less crowded and chaotic.

Aria is old enough to do a class without Mom, so I was a little worried how she would react. My fears were soon laid to rest when on the first day she quickly grabbed the hand of her teacher Jessica and practically ran to get into the water. She was a lot of fun to watch.

She didn't like going all the way under the water at first, but by the end of the two weeks she was sticking her face in to blow bubbles, jumping off the side to her teacher and learning to glide and float like a little fish.

She even went down the big slide with her teacher twice on the last day and she loved being in the front of their choo choo train as they went around the lazy river.

Chase was born to be in the water. His teachers kept commenting on how he was the best in the class and that he was better than some of their students in the next class up. He was a champion floater, both on his back and his front.

He could probably float on his back all day. He learned to tread water and started learning the front crawl. He also loved diving for the rings and sticks with his goggles.

Hunter's class worked a lot on learning to dive. His teacher often asked Hunter to be the example for the other kids.

He got really good at it while his classmates continued to belly flop into the water. He also worked on the elementary backstroke and the front crawl. His favorite thing, though, was diving in and touching the bottom of the pool. He loves spending time under the water. I guess that's why he loves those scuba goggles so much.

Michela's class was all about stroke improvement. She worked really hard and made great strides in improving her front crawl and backstroke.

She was also introduced to the breaststroke, the butterfly, and learned how to turn at the wall.

Here is her class all lined up on the side of the pool going over the mechanics of the breaststroke.

The all passed their classes with flying colors! I wish I could sign them up for another session right away, but Michela will be gone next week at the Clear Creek Camp and this baby could decide to come at any time. Maybe we'll have time for more lessons later in the summer. I wouldn't mind a little more time relaxing poolside. And it might be a little more enjoyable when I don't have a big pregnant belly weighing me down. :)

The Robes of Many Colors

Costco always has the cutest swim robes. When we were there a few weeks ago they didn't have any big enough for Michela and Hunter. The XL looked pretty tiny of them. I bought some for Chase and Aria and figured I could try to make some bigger ones. I bought two really big beach towels from Target and decided to give it a try.

I used Chase's robe as a pattern and then figured out where I needed to lengthen and widen for it to fit the older kids. I ended up not having enough towel for the sleeves and hood. I could have gone and bought more towels, but then I would of had a bunch left over and I really didn't want to go shopping again. I decided to use some extra white towels that I had laying around and used parts of the striped towels for trim.

Thankfully Michela and Hunter aren't too picky. They actually turned out really well. They loved how cozy and warm they were after a day of swimming, especially since a few days turned out to be pretty cold for being in the pool. I was just happy I accomplished something and finished a project! Too bad my sewing machine and serger weren't very happy with all that thick terry cloth. They will definitely need to be going into the shop for a little once over.

2 Weeks to Go!

*Two More Weeks to Go Until Peanut is Due!

*Having Lots of Braxton Hicks Contractions.

*Major Sciatic Pain.

*Burning Up All the Time.

*This Baby is Constantly On the Move.

*Not Getting Much Sleep.

*House is a Mess.

*No Closer to a Name for this Little Girl.

*Loving Washing and Folding all the Little Baby Clothes.

*Still So Much to Do!

The Longest Soccer Season

The kids wanted to play soccer this year so I signed them up for the Spring Season. Little did we know that it would be a very wet season. The very first game was rained out and rescheduled for the beginning of June. Then a few weeks ago another game was rained out and tacked on to another Saturday in June. Our last games were just this last Saturday, which meant the season seemed to drag on forever. Luckily the kids had lots of fun playing and going to practices.

I love this picture of Chase, it looks like he is flying.

It might look like he missed the ball, but he really did kick it! He probably had the most fun. He was so excited to get into the game and ran as fast as he could up and down the field.

Hunter was on a team with some great players. I think it really helped him try a little harder.

He actually made a goal this season and was so proud of himself. I asked him if he had made a goal in his last game and he said, "No, but I tripped a lot of people." He is such a funny kid.

Michela is getting better and better.

She was disappointed to not score any goals this season but I had to remind her that she set up a lot of the goals that the other girls made. She had a great sense of where to put the ball for her teammates. She also was a really good defensive player.

So the season is over once again, but we'll have great memories of watching the kids play this year. Hopefully we'll have a little bit drier season next year.

Crappiest Day Ever

In the last few weeks of pregnancy sleeping isn't the easiest thing to do. Yesterday I woke up at 4:45 am to go to the bathroom. I crawled back into bed and tried to will myself back to sleep. I tried to clear my mind, but all the things I need to do kept racing around inside of my head. I thought of waves on the beach, which usually helps, but no, those darn thoughts would not go away! The other problem is that I am hot! I cannot sleep when I am too hot. I have the fan on, the AC going, but I'm still roasting. I looked over at Mike as I kicked the sheet off and saw that he had an extra blanket on top of him. What?! How can he possibly be cold? I would love to have the window open but I swear we live in an aviary because come 4:00 or 5:00 every morning the birds start a chirpfest.

I finally got out of bed and decided to go start working on my to do list. I got a little bit done but I was so tired that I kept finding myself staring off into space. I went back up to the kitchen, got the kids some breakfast and fed myself my bowl full of cereal topped with Lactaid Milk. Tasty...

Swim Lessons went good, but my sciatic pain was killing me so I must have looked like a limping, waddling whale wandering around watching the kids in their classes. Add to that a baby who has decided it is a gymnast/karate expert and must practice all day long!

After lessons we rushed home to shower and eat some lunch. Of course the kids took FOREVER so we were late getting on our way to my sister-in-law's house. Plus I had to change my shirt because I ended up with strawberry cream cheese all over my belly. My sister-in-law had called before lessons to see if I had time to come by her house around noon to go through her maternity clothes. Of course I said yes, thinking I would have time to run by there after lunch and before Chase needed to be at the dentist.

On the way we had to stop at a Pharmacy to fill a prescription for Chase for this sedation medicine to help him relax at the dentist while they filled his cavities. Chase gets so tense and nervous at the dentist that he often refuses to open his mouth or gags up a storm while the dentist is working on him. Of course the pharmacist needs half an hour to fill the prescription which means I can get to Sara's house and then have to turn right back around to get it in time for Chase to be able to take it one hour before his appointment. So I take the kids to Sara's and let them play while I run back to the pharmacy with Chase.

I get back to Sara's with about half an hour to spare before we need to leave for the dentist. I quickly start trying on clothes. It is getting too hot around here, so I am in desperate need of some short sleeve shirts. With only 3 weeks left to go I really don't want to go buy anything else. Of course half of it won't fit, Sara has the smallest ribcage I have ever seen. So I grab what I can carry and run down to my car. After gathering the kids and thanking Sara I rushed off to the dentist.

As I am racing down the road to my surprise I see this behind me.

That's right, I got PULLED OVER! Like I have time for this! And to make matters worse my license just expired and I haven't been able to renew it yet. Did you know that you have to bring like 5 forms of identification to the DMV now to renew your license and change your address on it? One of the things you need to bring is your Social Security Card. Where in the heck is my card? I have no idea. My kids' cards are safely filed away in a cabinet but I have no clue where mine is. You can also bring in a W-2 form but I haven't worked out of the home in over 15 years so it's not like I have one of those laying around. So add another thing to my to do list, apply for a new Social Security Card so I can renew my license. I digress, back to the cop. I tell him we were late for the dentist and that I am so sorry. He gives me a warning on the expired license and knocks off some numbers on the speeding, maybe he saw my big belly and car full of kids and decided to be nice.

Now we are really late for the dentist. Luckily our dentist is our neighbor and is very nice and understanding. He gets Chase fixed up lickety split and I think maybe I'll have time to lay down and take a little nap when I get home. As Chase gets up I notice he is super woozy. I had to lead him out of the office and to the car with one hand on his shirt just in case he went down. At home I have him lay down on the couch and he then sleeps for 2 hours! I couldn't get him to wake up. Maybe we'll have to do a half dose of that stuff next time.

I stare at the sink full of dirty dishes and decide a rest sounds much better. Shortly after laying down Hunter comes and tells me that Aria was cutting things with my good sewing scissors and has pooped her pants. She is potty training right now and has been doing such a good job, why does she have to do this right now? I take her upstairs, dump the offending matter into the toilet, get her all cleaned up and walk past my room where I look longingly at my bed and pillow. And when I get downstairs my sink is still full of dirty dishes. Ugg!

The bright spot of the day? Mike stopped off at Costa Vida to pick up some dinner because I just couldn't deal with making anything. Today has to be better.

Sprinkler Fun

After a cool and very wet May we have had a bit of a heat wave in June. I hate it when Spring gets bypassed. We've gone from 50s to 80s in a matter of days! The kids sure love playing outside during the summer and we bought a new sprinkler just for these hot days. It has all these little tubes that spray randomly around.

Chase probably had the most fun.

Hunter is complaining that it is too cold.

Aria getting her bum sprinkled.

Michela was the bravest. She kept standing by it until she was totally soaked and freezing and then she would run away.

Two little wet cuties.

Ginormous Tooth!

On Monday Michela and Chase had appointments with the dentist. Michela needed a baby tooth pulled because the permanent tooth was trying to come in and Chase needed his teeth cleaned. Chase had had a loose tooth for weeks now but he doesn't want anyone to touch it. I asked the dentist, who is our neighbor, if he could accidentally knock it out while he was working on it. He numbed it up a bit and told Chase he just had to check one thing and quickly yanked it out. Chase let out a yelp but then he was fine. He finally has a tooth to put under his pillow for the tooth fairy. He's lost two teeth before but he's been so chicken to pull them out that he has ended up swallowing them.

Michela's extraction was a whole different story. She had to have one of her back teeth pulled and it did not want to come out. I watched as they were trying to pull it out and I couldn't believe how much pulling and wrenching was going on.

Michela is a trooper though, and she stayed tough through the whole ordeal. When the tooth finally came out we couldn't believe how big it was. Even the dentist was surprised. The roots were bowed out because the permanent tooth was snuggled up right underneath it so the roots had to grow around it. It was a serious bleeder as well. We went to Target afterwards and ended up having to buy a roll of gauze and some scissors so she could keep putting in new gauze throughout our shopping trip.

We took pictures of the teeth just so people could see how big Michela's was and how tiny Chase's was. Chase has ground down all of his baby teeth into little nubs.

Here's a picture of the teeth by a quarter so you can see the size of those roots.

I think it looks like something out of a science fiction movie. Crazy!

Big Bubble

The other morning Michela wanted to try out her new bubble kit that she bought at her class store at the end of the year. She went out in the backyard and put on a little show for the other kids. I was surprised at how awesome the bubbles were. I'll have to find out what kit she used and get some more. The bubbles were very strong. When they hit the grass they would bounce around. The other kids had a great time running after the bubbles and popping them.

I love these long bubbles the best.