It's a Date

One day a couple of weeks ago I realized I have never really had a lot of alone time with Breanna. And as soon as baby is here, we will really never have alone time. So I decided to take her on a date.

I was only slightly more excited to give her this dress than she was to get it. I've been waiting for weeks to give it to her. She always wants to dress up and all we have are church dresses. So today before we left I said "what dress do you want to wear?" I brought her to her closet where I had it hung up and she saw it. She was pretty stunned, but mellow and even-keeled as usual. "Uhmmm...I want to wear Snow White!"

We went to Storybook Theater and watched Once Upon a Lily Pad and ate popcorn. Breanna was so sweet- she sat very still and quiet the whole time and clapped enthusiastically after all the songs.

When it was all over the kids went and played on the set. Breanna loved it! She would have stayed there forever.

Dancing on the lily pad

She kept jumping off this "log" over and over and over.

Then of course I said, let's go get a treat. What do you want, Breanna? And guess what she picked? JUICE! So we went to Booster Juice. I even said 'cupcake?' a couple of times because Crave was just around the corner...but juice it was. I love her little personality, how pensive and thoughtful she is. How laid-back and nice she is. Just so easy to be with. So precious.

THE END

What?

This morning at about 9:30am I was upstairs. My kids were downstairs watching TV. I was sneaking a piece of leftover birthday cake. As I sat there in my housecoat, my kids still in pajamas, breakfast not cleaned up, eating cake at 9:30am, I thought...what has become of me??? And I went back to bed.

What has become of me? I get very little sleep at night because I'm either getting up to pee or blowing my nose and sneezing for hours due to some strange new allergy thing that has popped up. I've gained 50 pounds so far. Most of my maternity clothes don't fit anymore. Although some of it must be water because my fingers look like sausages and my nose is huge. It hurts to roll over, stand up, or walk. In summary: HUGE, PUFFY, EXHAUSTED, HURTING, NO CLOTHES.

Yep, it looks as though I've entered that last phase of pregnancy that makes labor seem less and less scary-the just get this thing out of me phase.

On the other hand, I have so much to be glad about!!

1. I do not have heartburn like I did in the first trimester.Well, just a little, but it's not that bad. THANK-you baby!
2. It's nowhere near as bad as the first 6 months. Besides being huge, exhausted and in pain, I feel great.
3. I never have to do this again if I don't want to!
4. I only have 5 more weeks!!!! Before the due date, so really I have 6 or 7, but that's doable!
5. When this is over I get to have a baby.

I am so so very excited to meet this baby. I ask Brad every day, aren't you SO excited?

I'm In Love

With a 30-year-old boy named Brad. 

He's super rad.

He's a great dad. 

He doesn't get sad.

He's no longer just a lad

And if I had

To make a husband want ad

He'd get the job and I'd be glad.

I could go on and on and say lots of nice things but Brad would be embarrassed and, well, it probably wouldn't rhyme.

Happy Birthday, Brad!

Vain

I bought this dress at the same time as I bought my bridesmaid dress for my sister's wedding. There was a sign in the change room and it said something like "you're pregnant-indulge yourself." I fell for it like a sucker. Brad and I went on a date that night and I had nothing to wear so I came out in the new dress. He said "you can't be serious. You're wearing a moo-moo (sp?) on our date?" Since then he's also commented that it is a bit showy.


But I feel pretty in it. Pretty enough to be super vain and take pictures of myself in it.

A story about this very mirror: I was a strange and unusual young adult. I liked to turn up my music really, really loud when I thought no one was around. A few times someone was around. Like the time I was listening to Wu-Tang and the poor pregnant lady in the basement had to scream at the top of her lungs to get me to turn it down. And the time I was listening to Outkast and dancing all crazy-like and one of the guys living in the basement passed the window and waved. He laughed. I've never been so embarrassed ever. Well I got the last laugh because the other day Brad took the kids to the park and I was cleaning up the kitchen. So naturally I turned up the music loud (but not that loud). I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror- 7 1/2 months pregnant, hair in a big bun on top of my head, dancing away. Can you picture it?


Speaking of vanity, you know that song "You're so Vian" by Madonna? The chorus says "you're so vain, you prob'ly think this song is about you." Well, how would you feel if someone kept singing that song every time you were in the room? This has happened to me. And it's a very awkward position to be in. 

Thanks and Tears

Okay, first of all, my windows are NOT dirty. It's condensation and it's all on the inside...so don't judge me :) Second of all, I got something to put in my plant-pot! Not a plant, but I like it BETTER than a plant! It's a... thankfulness tree! My kids spent a long time coloring all the leaves and then every night last week we each thought of things we were grateful for, wrote on the back of a leaf and put it on the tree.  I'm sooo creative, right? Okay not my idea. But I'm smart enough to know a good idea when I hear one! When I think of all the things I am grateful for I get a little overwhelmed. It starts with the gospel and plan of salvation, moves to nature and my country and family and kids and goes from there. Our prophet told us to be grateful (read about it here) so that's what I'm going to do. And believe it or not, I'm grateful that being grateful is such an enjoyable thing for me to do, and now I can feel righteous for doing it! Ha...I'm kidding...kinda.

Brad has his big CMA entrance exam on Thursday and I can't sit in a car for more than 15 minutes these days, so we didn't go to Thanksgiving in Taber this year. I wanted Brad to have a turkey dinner so we had one at our house and Brad's parents and sister came. It was so nice! And the weather was beautiful, so we were outside lots. So what if my fruit salad was actually a marshmallow salad and my buns were flat? My sweet potatoes were pretty darn perfect. Everyone else took care of the rest so I was pretty relaxed.

Funny story--I love my MIL's stuffing because it's crispy. And she always uses torn-up stale hotdog buns to make it. So in my attempt to make the stuffing as delicious as her's Breanna and I tore up hot dog buns the day before dinner to ensure they were stale and hard for the stuffing the next day. My MIL saw this and said 'you know, you can use fresh hotdog buns for this-mine are always stale because I tear them up so they dry up, I store them that way so they don't go mouldy."

Oh.

That'll save a bit of stress for next time.

Someone made me sad, hurt my feelings and such... so I've spent the evening crying. I wonder if I'm still allowed to cry over hurt feelings when I'm 33 and a Mom. It doesn't sound right, but I also wonder, when does the toughness kick in. Hopefully before my kids are teenagers. I feel better now because Brad is watching Remi videos and they are funny. I'm grateful for funny stuff.

AND in conclusion, I have to say it, I can't resist...I love love love my little kids! Thanks for listening to me gush all the time :)

How Fun is This?

A Rope to swing on in the basement!

So simple yet what could be more fun?

A Warm Weekend

I wanted my house to be spotless and to be totally relaxed and prepared for Conference Weekend. Then I ran out of iron pills last week (I'm anemic in my pregnancies), got a cold (that only strikes at night...am I allergic to the night air?) and that together with all the getting up to pee I do these days had me wake Saturday morning exhausted with my house not spotless like I'd hoped. Brad was gone all morning at school so I tried to enjoy conference while cleaning up/watching the kids/cooking and baking buns/fighting the urge to go back to bed. I was a bit discouraged but my Mom said, you're further along than you would be if you hadn't tried at all. Which was true. She also said I could choose not to be grouchy. I tried that, but it didn't work. I'm pretty sure some days, grouchy is kind of inevitable.

Well Brad finally got home around 2 and we ate super delicious potato soup and homemade buns and watched a wonderful session of conference. As soon as conference was over we whipped the kids into swimsuits and Brad took them to the lake for a couple of hours. It was beautiful outside, but I was so swollen and too tired to go. So I sat at the computer and we texted while he sent me pictures of the kids. Almost like being there, right?

Then Brad left to go to Priesthood session and I put the kids to bed. I was so excited because I started reading the kids their first chapter book, The Tale of Despereaux. I didn't know if they would like it but they love it and keep asking for "one more" chapter. I love sitting in the rocking chair with a pillow behind my back and the kids tucked into bed and getting caught up in the same surreal magic I felt as a kid when my Mom would read to us like that. I've been waiting to do this for years!

Sunday morning came and I woke up to blueberry bran muffins and bacon and eggs. We pulled the couch up and put the computer on the table so we could watch conference. Brad and I had about 3 naps each during the day, watched conference and spent most of the day lazing around and trying to keep the kids distracted. Then we went for dinner at a friend's and the kids had fun playing and we had a great time visiting.

So my house might not have been perfect, but there was a warm, peaceful feeling in the home which is exactly what I wanted. Even if the kids didn't get anything out of conference, I'm sure they felt the spirit it brought into our home and spending time as a family is always so nice. I also had a chance to ponder and learn and feel the spirit and repent in my heart and decide to do better. I can't wait to get the Conference Ensign and read the talks again.  I love the gospel and am so grateful for the happiness it brings.

Breanna was enthralled with the Tabernacle Choir. She sat just staring.

Jesse and Daddy wrestling. Note my unmade bed and the kleenex from blowing my nose a million times the night before...Sorry....

Warm Fall Days

What more can I say?