It's a Girl!

Monday I enlisted the kids to help with the house cleaning after they finished their school work and then we took a walk to 7-11 for their "payment" for helping. The weather was sunny but their was a chilly wind. It is starting to feel a bit more like spring, no snow this week, hopefully the warm weather stays for awhile.

We had the much anticipated ultrasound on Tuesday. The ultrasound tech was really nice but she also made us wait a long while before telling us the gender. First she did a lot of measurements and checks, she spent a long time on the heart. I was dying for her to just get to the point lol, but she did eventually and... it's a girl! Tyler was rooting for a boy so of course he showed less enthusiasm but I am just happy that the baby is healthy. The only quirk I have is an anterior placenta- meaning the placenta is attached to the front of my uterus instead of the back. Apparently it is fairly common and it also usually means you're having a girl so there you go. It was fun to watch Ruby kick and move in my tummy. Her little profile, her hands and feet, it is so surreal sometimes that a living, little baby is in my tummy.

To reveal the gender to the kids I went to Kroger's and bought a dozen pink balloons with helium plus with my own lung power, I filled up a couple dozen more. When Steven came home I had the balloons in the living room and he said "I knew it!" I am not sure I ever remember him predicting a girl but that's ok. Then for the younger 3 I filled up the car with balloons. They knew this was coming so when I came to pick them up they ran to the car, desperate to see the gender. Penny was so excited. Lucy had decided recently she didn't need any more sisters so she was a bit less excited. And Ben definitely looked disappointed for a minute but then changed his expression. He's good at faking happiness ;) After the kids got in the car we parked so that Caroline (whose kids are at the same school) could also come see what I was having. She gave a good reaction. Everyone keeps calling this baby the tie breaker, and it's too awkward to correct them, but in reality with Isaac and Ruby, we are even stevens again.

Tuesday night the boys went to a meeting about being a caddy. They hire ages 13 and up. It sounds like a terribly boring job but they are both willing to try it out so we're going to go ahead and complete all the things so they can do it. They'll need to take training, fill out paperwork, get the app that offers the jobs and get a uniform. I hope it works out because it seems like a good opportunity for them both to make money this summer.

Wednesday I brought out the bin of old baby clothes and discovered I really did not keep much at all. I had been a little too good at clearing out things. I did go through and take out the boy stuff to give away and found some of it was sad to let go of. I had accumulated a good amount of stuff to give away so I did a Salvation Army run and then took the girls to Target. They were desperate to go buy some things for Ruby, so we went to Target because I had been given a gift card for there at my Bunco Baby Shower. With the gift card they were each able to pick out $15 worth of things for Ruby. Here's what they ended up with:

I think the girls are going to love having a little sister to dress. They had such a hard time picking only $15 worth of things. 

Thursday the mom of one of Penny's friends gave us some baby girl stuff- a tub, a play mat and some clothes. We had a nice chat about having a baby after a big gap and she also gave me some more info about some of the school drama Penny has been experiencing. I cannot believe we have already entered the days of friend drama. My girls are definitely more challenging than the boys when it comes to friends.

Friday morning we only had 4 kids (including our own) show up for seminary. I guess that's what happens the last day before Spring Break. It was good we had planned a low key day. We had them turn the DM's into emoji's and then try to guess them. And then we just played Smash Brothers when they finished. It was nice to have a chill day.

Later Friday Tyler picked up 2 dressers that I had found on FB Marketplace. They were only $200 for both, they were closer to the color of the bunk beds and crib and they are much bigger than what they have. I will finally be able to fit all their clothes together with plenty of room to spare for Ruby. The only issue with them is that the tracks for the drawers are no good but Tyler can fix that for less than $100 so I still think we can call it a good deal. It'll be fun to start getting their room put together once Tyler fixes up the drawers.

Also Friday, Steven had his second driver's segment. That parking lot still sucks. I really wish they had a better location. There is also a ton of traffic by it right now. Not only is a freeway shut down but also the local roads are under construction and down to one lane. Who plans this crap? While he was in class, the girls and I went to check out Once Upon a Child and I was really impressed by the quality of clothes and prices they ahve there. Made me wonder why I have been shopping at Salvation Army all this time. Looks like I will need to make a change. I also took the girls to the mall and there was a Corgi at the pet store that Penny is convinced made a connetion with Lucy so we must buy it. Ha. They also really wanted a Build-a-Bear stuffie and are determined to save up their money for one. As if they don't already have so many stuffies.

Saturday morning Steven had another driver's class and the girls went with me again. We went to Skechers while he was in class and they got some new shoes since their shoes are falling apart. Lucy has also grown 2 whole shoe sizes and is now a 6. She is starting to look so much older, even if she doesn't act much older ;) The rest of the day was spent catcing up on things and catching up on sleep. Seminary has become so hard. I am not sure I am going to make it another 2 months. I am just so dang tired and don't feel like I can ever recover. 

Bunco Baby Shower, St. Patrick's Day

 On Monday we decided it had been awhile since we had went out to dinner as a family so we decided it would be a good night to go out. We drove out to Chili's and I got the Chipolte Chicken Mex bowl with very low expectations since they are not known for Mexican food. It ended up being super tasty. It was a nice night out as a family, the only bummer was the service wasn't great. We never got our second batch of chips and salsa and my food came out way after everyone elses. 

Tuesday I did my usual house clean while the kids were out and I was going to go out shopping for some more maternity clothes but I got lazy and decided on online shopping instead. I ended up ordering a bunch of stuff on clearance from Kohl's. Kohl's says I saved $150 so I am pretty proud. It always feels good to save money and especially on clothes that I only need for like 4.5 more months. 

That evening I had Bunco and was completely surprised when it wasn't our typical Bunco but a baby shower for me (Kelly and Michelle were the hostesses). It is still early and I still don't know the gender so I definitely was not expecting it. It took me off guard and I always feel so awkward when all the attention is on me so I probably gave them a pretty lame reaction when they shouted "Baby!" at me when I walked in the door. They were so nice though and totally spoiled me. They had Mexican food for dinner and cookies for dessert, my favorite things. Then they had me open gifts. After each gift I opened I got to pull out a name and then someone else would get to pick a Bunco "prize" to open for themselves. It was nice because it gave me a break from the attention. I ended up with a pretty good haul: some diapers and wipes, some gender neutral onesies, a diaper bag, a bouncer, pacifiers, baby spoons, a teddy that also is a sound machine and a thing to dry bottles on. My Bunco friends are good to me and I know their intentions were sincere and kind but honestly I wish they could have waited until after the ultrasound. I still have my worries and I know I will feel better if I can just see that everything is developing normally for the baby. I just worry about having all this stuff and then the ultrasound doesn't go well. Obviously I still have some anxiety about things.

This week Penny has exchanged the baby twin dolls for a "3 year old". Her new "daughter" is named Lily. At first she tried to say that it was the girl twin grown up, who had just sat in the sun too long and dyed her hair, but after some laughs from siblings she dopped that story. Now her daughter gets buckled in the car and she asks people to watch her daughter while she goes to the bathroom. For awhile we would place Lily in precarious positions while Penny was away (like on top of a shelf or climbing in to the garbage) and exclaim out how naughty Lily was. It was good times.

Thursday I walked with Grace in the morning. I love our walks. She is a good listener. Then that afternoon I went and saw another house for Mariah's family. This one was a winner, really well taken care of, good area, and checked all their boxes. They said they will apply to it so we will see what happens. It's about 35 mins away from us so not too bad. Thursday evening I had a super upsetting moment when I realized that the dinner I had thrown in the crockpot earlier was not ready because I had never plugged in the crock pot. I literally realized this at dinner time so it was far too late to save it, I was so frustrated. 

Friday morning I must have turned off my alarm instead of pressing snooze and didn't wake up until 7 minutes before seminary started. It was a panic for us all. Tyler ended up getting down just before the kids came in and when I came down there were already kids here. It was not a pleasant way to wake up honestly. I felt so groggy and weird and then having to try to start up class. At least Tyler was the one teaching. Friday was also St. Patrick's day and I was a sort of fun mom- they had Lucky Charms for breakfast, green noodles for lunch, Lucy had a friend over and they attempted to make a Shamrock Shake (it turned out a little too minty) and then the girls all did a craft. The friend Lucy had over goes to her school PLUS lives super close by. They got along super well and even let Penny play with them. I am hopeful this is a start of more playdates. It is so nice for her to have a friend close by. 

That evening I watched "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" with the boys at their request. That was a poor choice, it was too scary for Ben and he came into my room that night crying. Poor parenting moment.

Saturday was another chill day. Tyler and Steven had Robotics, the other kids had friends over and I got things done- still working on finishing all their photo books for Easter. 

Here are some pictures taken at school of my kids wearing green:

18 weeks

Sunday was fast and testimony meeting. To be honest I did not feel like church. All the off topic comments have been driving me crazy. But I went. And it was interesting that the first couple testimonies were on the importance of going to church. I also felt last month like I should bear my testimony. But I didn't. I felt it again and wanted to ignore but instead I made a promise to God that if their was a lull in testimonies I would go up there. Well I got my lull so I had to keep my promise. I hate going up, I was all shaky but I think I mostly sounded coherent. 

Monday Penny decided her dolls (which used to be mine) needed to join us for dinner. She gets on silly kicks. 

Tuesday Lucy needed new pants and decided she wanted real pants (aka jeans) like Penny has been wearing lately. So we went to Kohl's and I bought her one pair of real jeans- I wasn't convinced she'd wear them so I didn't get more. Well, she has been wearing that one pair fairly religiously so maybe I should have bought another pair. She also bought a training bra...doesn't need a real one yet but expressed she wanted one so why not? She's getting old. It's weird. And Penny has taken every opportunity to giggle over Lucy's training bras. Her time will come.

Wednesday was a sunny day so I decided it would be a good day to walk to 7-11. However, I don't buy them candy for no reason these days so I made them root through their toys, dolls and drawing notebooks before we could go. They got rid of some things but not as much as I would like. Especially when it comes to the dolls. The girls have so many but were only willing to give away like 3. Ugh. That night the Deacon' activity was canceled because no leaders could make it so I invited the Deacons over here. There's only 2 besides Ben. They played chess, ghost tag and Smash Brothers. Even though there's not many, I am glad they are good friends.

Thursday was a nice "self care" day while the kids were at school. I walked to the library with Grace and then we met Caroline for breakfast/lunch at the Breakfast Club. I was real hungry so I ended up going for lunch and got some yummy quesadillas. We ate and chatted for a good 2 hours. Then I came home and did not do much. It was a lovely day. That evening I decided to try a new recipe and it did not go over well. It was a garlic/lemon sauce with noodles. The kids did not like the tangy lemon flavor. Also Thursday, I got some pregnancy clothes in the mail from Grams. I am getting to the point where even my loose and baggy clothes are getting pretty tight. So here I am at 18 weeks, picture taken by Penny.

Friday there was snow in the early morning so the school's got canceled for a snow day. There really wasn't that much snow but I was grateful for the break from seminary. I am really struggling with waking up. That afternoon both boys had plans with friends but the girls and Tyler and I had dinnner with the missionaries. Last time they had come one of the companions was from AZ. That companion had left but in his place was another Arizonian. This guy was from Holbrook. He, of course, knew about our favorite rock shop/pit stop. It's always nice to talk to fellow Arizonians. It was  pleasant evening with the missionaries.

Saturday was just an errand/catch up day. I have had a hard time being motivated to do much of anything lately but I put in some effort Saturday. In the evening the boys had D and D at the May house and Caroline escaped from the chaos and hung out here, Melissa joined us for a little bit too. We puzzled and chatted, it was nice.

Snow Tired

On Monday the younger 3 had hardly any school work so instead they spent most of the morning earning money by collecting all the fallen tree branches from the front yard and piling them into our backyard. Basically Tyler just had them move the mess because now our backyard has a gigantic pile of branches. Awesome.

And then, because my kids can't hold onto money for more than a second, they went on some errands with me and bought themselves some dolls with the money they just earned while we were out.They also helped me pick out some rings to wear on my wedding finger since my swollen fingers don't fit my actual wedding ring anymore. 

On Tuesday I was real excited to have the kids out of the house and be able to clean. A couple hours after I dropped them off I got a text that we would need to pick them up early because the power went out. I was pretty upset because I still had cleaning to do but then, not too long later, I got another text saying the power was back. Thank goodness! It felt so nice to do a good cleaning with no kids around to mess it right up.

Wednesday all the kids had an activity at the church so Tyler and I dropped them off and did a Costco run, we are so romantic. Costco is a bad place for a pregnant woman who craves everything though but I did exercise some amazing self control. The only thing I caved in and bought was Naked Juice. I know it's not as healthy as it pretends to be but boy do I like it.

Thursday while the kids were in school I went to Target and bought my first maternity shirt. I am starting to get to the point where my shirts aren't quiet fitting my growing belly. After my errand, Grace and I went for a walk to the library. I love my walks with friends. That afternoon/evening Steven continued to complain about Robotics Club so Tyler left him and told him to go to his room instead. So of course, Steven got super upset and made some stupid threats. He told me we are ruining all his plans with this stupid club and he never gets to play with friends anymore. Tyler tried to talk to Steven afterwards but Steven refused to talk. It was a rough evening.

Friday Steven turned himself around and went to the Robotic's Competition with Tyler. I came to watch a couple of the matches that afternoon with all the kids and it was actually pretty fun to watch. They teams had to compete to pick up the most balls and cones and put them in certain places. Teams could also earn points if they got to the charging station before time was up. Steven himself wasn't driving the robots nor was he part of the pit so he was basically just an observer but Tyler was helping out in the pits after each match. Steven ended up coming home with us. Tyler came home not too long after due to it ending earlier because of an impending snowstorm. 

The snowstorm did indeed come. We had a party to go to at the Bloomfield's house so I had to brave the snow and drive to and from it (Tyler was napping, tired from the day). I do not like driving in bad weather. The drive there wasn't awful but coming back visability was low and it felt miraculous that we made it home. We ended up with 7 inches of snow and some fun winter lightening that terrified the girls. The party itself was alright. I don't particularly love conversations about how done with having babies people are...I mean obviously I am having another one so how am I supposed to participate in that conversation? Sometimes I feel like I don't fit anywhere. The friends my age are done with babies and the ones who are in the little kid stage have several littles and are burnt out.

Saturday late morning, I thought the roads would be cleaned up and I would run a couple errands. Some roads were good, some were not. We only made it to one place and after hitting some icy roads for the next, I was done. We turned around and came home. Tyler, ever the brave driver, took Steven to his Robotics Tournament for the last of competitions. Steven's team did not win but they did make the quarter finals. The other team from his group (his group is big so they split into two teams) did however, make it to the championship round but then unfortunately lost. I watched some of the games from home (they have a livestream). It is pretty fun to watch. I spent most of Saturday working on photo books for the kids- I make them books every two years for Easter. They are soo much work.