Last Week Before Baby

 On Monday Tyler and I went out to my favorite place for lunch, Lena's Kitchen. They really do crepes right. It's nice to squeeze in these dates before baby comes. After our date, I had a "last hurrah" at the beach with all our friends. Quite honestly we have only been to the beach a few times this year so it was a much needed beach day. Pretty much everyone that I invited was able to come so it was a good turn out. I bought some junk food for everyone and then just got to hang out with some friends while the kids all played. Lucy invited her friend Claire and Claire had a friend come with her. Lucy thought this friend of Claire's didn't like her but by the end of the beach day, all 3 of them were besties. Oh girls. Lucy even invited herself to a sleepover with both of them. She is so obsessed with spending time with friends lately. I hope she is not wearing out her welcome.

Tuesday morning I went out to breakfast at the Breakfast Club with my friends: Grace, Caroline and Melissa. Obviously another hurrah before baby. It was a good hang out. I wonder how much our friend dynamic will change when I become the only one with a baby. I wonder if these friendships will last or if I will become the annoying one with a baby. 

After a long hiatus- Ben's friend Jacob returned to hang out with Ben. I really think that friendship is fizziling out becauase they mostly just fight over what to do and can never quite agree on anything. While having one of those repetitive arguments of what to do, I offered to take them all to Defy. Surprisingly they all agreed on that so we squeezed in another outing to Defy. The membership has definitely been worth it this summer.

Wednesday Ben had his friend over and Lucy went to her friend's house. While half the kids were occupied, I took it as an opportunity to clean out the guest room for my parents. I moved the birds into the living room and man did they leave a mess of feathers and seeds behind. That evening we had a pretty good storm but were lucky to keep our power. Mariah's family was not so lucky. They ended up without power until Saturday and needed to borrow our generator. I'm glad we were able to lend it to them but I still felt bad since it doesn't help with the hotness.

Thursday morning I had my last check in. This time the mid wife was more on top of things. I had someone come and give me pre-op instructions- now they have me wash with special soap and use mouth wash the night and morning before. Then I signed some papers so I can get a tubal ligation- this is the last baby for us. I don't feel anxious about that decision so I think I've made the right one. Lastly my midwife checked all of Ruby's stats- she is head down and doing well. The midwife also talked about her similar family with a similar age gap. That is one of the reasons I chose her, she makes it sounds so fabulous and helps soothe my worries about the large age gap.

Thursday evening my parents arrived. They came bearing gifts for us. Some cute bracelets for the girls, a new windmill figurine for me- I had one from Holland,MI awhile back that had broke- and a first Christmas ornament for Miss Ruby. We also had Mariah's family over so they could escape their hot home. They are always a bit of a whirlwind but a good one- my kids love their kids.

Friday afternoon Penny had to go get one of her cavities fixed. She was super anxious about it and kept crying but she did ok during the process. I think the laughing gas helped to calm her down some. The dentist was not impresseed with her teeth though and suggested prescription toothpaste and sealants for her molars. Too bad sealant is not covered by our insurance and would be a few hundred dollars. I think I'd like to wait until after we get through paying for Ruby. 

Saturday we all went on an outing to the Great Lakes Crossing Mall. Lucy's friend Claire tagged along with us. Grams and Poppy spoiled us with pretzels and ice cream. They also got the girls some more jewelry_ Lucy got earrings and Penny got a locket- and the boys each got a Lego Set.

This week I wore my new hair in half pony one day and Penny said she wanted hair like mine. What is funny about that, is when I first got my hair cut and colored she kept telling me I looked weird and that my eyebrows didn't match my hair and other less than kind comments. I guess she has come around to the new do. 

Camps

Sunday was an exciting day for me because my new phone came in the mail! There was an amazing deal on Amazon Prime Day ($200 off) and so after over 6 years with the same cracked screen that had a permanent dot on it as well- I finally have a nice phone. I almost think the kids were more excited than me though. They keep taking my new phone and telling me how fancy it is. I took some pictures of everyone to test out the new camera. Definitely a step up. 

Monday the girls started a camp that was run by the Lutheran Curch where they go to school. It was called "Create and Care Camp". It was super cheap and ran for 3.5 hours for 5 days that week so when they asked to go, I was totally ok with it. Plus their two friends from Renaissance, Geli and Luna, were going too. However, there friends did not come the first day but I think that was a good thing because when I arrived to pick them up, they both had made new "best friends" and were trying to get me to exchange numbers with parents. 

Tuesday I had the fun of getting the boys to their Aaronic Priesthood Camp in Kensington and then rushing to get the girls to thier camp. But then the real fun happened- no kids! This week was really lovely with the kids all having camp, even if the girls was just in the morning. It was exactly the relaxing week I needed. After camp I went to Grace's house because I had decided I was in major need of a hair change. She was the best and cut and colored my hair while my girls played with her kids. Grace talked me down from being too drastic and getting bangs and I really love how it all turned out. She wrapped my hair up nicely in saran wrap after dying it and let me leave my kids so I could go home and shower. It was a good makeover.

Tuesday night Tyler left to join the boys at camp so it was just us girls. We celebrated by watching "A Cinderella Story". A very cheesy movie so perfect for us- except for the kissing. The girls did not appreciate the kissing. 

Wednesday after the girls got out of a camp I took them to Five Below. I was looking for some comfy slide on shoes to wear at the hospital and decided I would treat them to something there. They ended up getting a craft kit that made mini desserts. As we were leaving my car decided to start smoking by the wheel. That was terrifying. My power steering pump has a leak and apparently will occasionaly cause some smoking when I do a hard turn. Super. I called Tyler and he convinced me it was safe to drive and surprisingly it was. We made it home with no more smoke. That evening I had some one give the girls a ride to their activity just because I was still feeling weary about my car. With the house to myself yet again, I decided to do some painting. I started off trying to make a flower, didn't love it and somehow this was the end product. Very psychedelic:

Thursday Geli and Luna's mom offered to take the girls out to lunch after the camp and then somewhere to play so that meant I had many hours with no one home. I decided to go see the movie "The Sound of Freedom". It has gotten rave reviews but it was a pretty hard watch- sex trafficking is an awful crime and I just don't understand how anyone can do that to kids. At least the movie had a good ending.

Thursday evening the girls went to sing at Girl's Camp. They sang with some other Primary kids and had to sing the song 5 times for different groups of yw. Lucy said she was nervous at first but got more comfortable each time. I wish I could have heard them but also, it was muggy outside and I had no desire to sit out there with them. They're Aunt Mariah was there with her Ward so at least she was there to support them. While the girls were singing, I met some friends for dinner. My friend Bethany, who had moved away 4 years ago, was in town so we were meeting up with her. It was fun to catch up with her and talk about how our ward has changed and the joys of teenagers. 

Friday when I went to take the girls to camp that morning, the car went beserk and started flashing codes and the speedometer was fluctuating weirdly. I called Tyler and he basically told me to "reboot" the car. I turned it off and turned it back on and that surprisingly worked. I managed to get the girls to camp and back. But oi my car is making me crazy. I spent the morning doing more "nesting". This time it was cleaning out the kitchen and shoe closet. After camp the girls both had playdates with friends so after dropping them off I did some more cleaning. All my cleaning that day meant I suffered from back pain and Braxton Hicks for the night but it felt worth it...Until the boys came back from camp Saturday and their camping stuff and messes are everywhere *sigh*

I spent Saturday recovering from Friday so it was a fairly uneventful day. I think we all needed that after such a busy week. The boys were exhausted from Aaronic Priesthood Camp. Ben felt like camp was a wee bit too long- he said he missed his bed. Ben's favorite part was the shooting and his least favorite part was the canoeing (apparently he had troubles steering the canoe). Steven was the opposite and said canoeing was the best part but he agreed that sleeping was the worst part- I think he missed his bed too.

Summer

On Sunday Ben gave a talk. He broke into tears when he was asked and he had a very "I can't!" attitude when I helped him write it BUT in the end he did a really good job and got lots of compliments. He compared his not listening on how to sit in a chair correctly to not following the prophets, it was funny and a good attention getter. 

On Monday the kids did some cleaning, Steven went to Max's, Ben had Andrea over and Lucy got her hair cut by Grace. Our fav hairstylist at Great Clips quit which was sad but I'm grateful Grace is willing to do it. I just feel bad because she has arthritis in her fingers. She does great work though. After the haircut I did some more "nesting" as Tyler calls it. I call it clearing out the crap. I went through our room- closet, bookcase, chest of blankets...I also went through the bathroom closet and organized the file cabinets in  the basement. It always feels good to dejunk, But then my girls somehow convinced me to let them use their money to buy a used play kitchen off of fb marketplace this week, adding some more clutter. Lucy claimed she would stop being bored if she had a play kitchen but she is already bored with it :/ At least Penny is still enjoying it. 

Tuesday we met Ben's friend at Defy. I sat with his friend's mom and got to know her a little better. Nice lady but meeting new people always exhausts me, socializing sometimes feels like a lot of work. After Defy Sister Davies was sweet and had the girls over to play with her dogs. They got to take the dogs for a walk, got ice cream and Sister Davies gave them a toy corgi and notebooks with corgis on them- she spoiled them silly! While they were with her, I went to Milford to stroll a shop that has cute baby things. Everything was SO expensive but I ended up buying a ruby red dress that was on clearance. It's 3T so she won't be able to wear it for ages but it was cheap and I couldn't resist. I also grabbed myself a yummy muffin from the bakery. It was a nice outing.

Wednesday all the kids had a dentist appointment. It always feels like such an ordeal. They used to see all the kids  at the same time but now they do only 2 at a time. The one hygenist was very friendly and complementary to my large family. The other one had a think accent and I struggled to understand her. Unfortunately, Penny has 2 cavities. She started to cry when the dentist told her and he felt really bad. I am sure getting those 2 teeth fixed is going to be super fun. That evening the boys had an activity at the church. I ended up sitting in the hall with a mom of our former seminary students. Turns out her oldest girl did not have a successful first year of college- she flunked out. This mom had a lot to say about the struggles of having adult children. Makes me really excited about those days ;)

Thursday I had my doctor appt and the midwife was off. First she talked to me like I was having a vaginal delivery. Then she told a nurse that I was having my fourth child. She had no idea who I was apparently. After the appt, a nurse took me on a tour of where I would go for my c-section and recovery. It looks like every other hospital I have been in but it was nice to see where I will be. That afternoon we had another meet up at Defy. This time the mom of Ben's friend didn't come sit by me. Part of me wonders if she thinks I am a weirdo but the other part was relieved to not have to make conversation. Instead I sat and read a book. 

Friday I went with Grace and Caroline to the big used bookstore in Detroit. Grace felt like her actual birthday was a bit of a bummer because she had been traveling so this was a birthday make up for her. I like to look at the books- there are lots of cool old books but I did not buy anything. Afterwards we had lunch in Mexicantown. I have always been told this has the best Mexican food in Michigan. The enchiladas were good but the salsa was bland and not chunky- I was disappointed. Our last stop was some ice cream at Dairy Twist. I got more than I should have and ate all of it. I think I have given up on eating healthy... That evening the Mays took Ben with them to Spongebob the Muscial" Andrea and Ben had a friend in it. I am so glad I didn't have to go because I am not a fan of Spongebob but Ben said it was really funny and he really enjoyed it. 

Saturday Grace brought her Reggie over so Tyler could help him set up Minecraft. Grace and I colored while the boys did Minecraft. It was actually such a nice hang out. Art really is my jam. Afterwards she took the girls to her house and I went to Target where I got some organizational things for baby stuff but I also bought a couple cute baby things that were on clearance. I cannot believe how close I am to delivery date. That evening Tyler's new seminary partner and his wife came over for dinner. They have a lot of similar interests with Tyler and I felt like I struggled to get a word in but I guess it's a good thing he seems to get along with them so well. They will probably be a great partnership. They are newlyweds, although they are late 20's, early 30's I think? They have a dog and aren't wanting kids yets. Very different in that respect. But they are engineer and scientist minded and love video games so...perfect match for Tyler ;)

Proud Lake, 4th of July, Tyler Turns 40

 On Sunday Tara and Mariah's families came to our Ward. It was actually a pretty decent fast and testimony meeting- a lot of the youth bore their testimonies about FSY, it was nice. Lucy bore her testimony as well. Her testimony is always short and sweet. After church the girls had to practice a song they are doing for yw's camp- they get to go visit one night- so it was a long church day but we still had some time to rest before Mariah and Tara's families came over for dinner. I usually feel like an outsider when Mariah and Tara are together. They are both always video chatting with someone in their family or talking about things that I wasn't a part of...I know they aren't being purposely exclusive but it is still less than fun.

Monday we went on a walk in Proud Lake. Tyler was sick with a stomach bug so he stayed home resting most of the day. And Mariah's older 2 kids and Jeff were hanging out with Jeff's brother so we just had Wesley and Mariah. It was a bit muggy and hot and buggy but Tara was in love with all the green and must have taken a thousand pics- her girls started to get tired of posing near the end ;)

After our walk we got some ice cream at Culver's. My kids have had so much sugar lately- I am a little worried how their dentist appointment is going to go this week.

Next we went back to our house where I attempted to help/teach acrylic pour painting to Tara, Navi, Saylor, Mariah, Lucy and Penny. I had really wanted Penny and Lucy to do it at another time but they were persistent so it was a bit overwhelming (and messy) trying to help everyone. Definitely better to do with only 1 or 2 newbies. I also need to do better at teaching people to mix the paint, that would probably help. An art studio of my own would be even more helpful ;)

Monday night Penny got sick and did not make it to the toilet. She got it all over the carpet, and the floor by the toilet. Poor Tyler, who still wasn't feeling well, insisted on helping me clean it up. It was quite a disaster.

Tuesday was the Fourth of the July and usually we are pertty lame and avoid parades and peopley things but for the sake of Tara and Mariah's families we went to the Northville Parade. I am really glad we did. Caroline's family was there too and we happened to arrive at the same time. We found a great place to sit under the shade and the kids had a lot of fun with the parade- especially because there was lots of candy. David's Scout Troop was in it and launched a rocket, there were police men on horses, a person dressed as a robot, a tooth fairy...it was a good time. After it finished the kids walked down with Tyler to get some cotton candy from David's Scout Troop. Mariah and Tara's families left so I just hung out with Caroline at a little historic village near where we parked. It had some Greenfield Village vibes and added bonus- air conditioned houses we could go inside. 

For dinner we had Tara, Mariah and Caroline's families over for a BBQ. I made some chili because I really was craving a chili cheese dog and was super worried no one would want it because it was hot outside but surprisingly a lot of people had it. Caroline and Tara also brought my favorite kind of desserts- a fruit pizza and an angel food cake with strawberries. And Tara made some delicious salsa so in summary- lots of good food! And the company was good too ;)

Later in the evening we went to see fireworks- also something we don't do normally. I had asked on Facebook where a good place was to see the fireworks on Long Lake and someone suggested this parking lot by a train museum. We were a little weary that maybe they directed us wrong but it ended up being a really good spot. Not crowded at all (maybe 8-10 cars?) and we had a great view of the fireworks. It was a good show with lots of sparkly ones- my favorite! I think we might have to go back there next year.

Wednesday, Tara's and her girls flew out in the morning, and I needed that day to recover from all the things. We had been so busy the last week and I was pooped. Ben also happened to get hit by the stomach bug so he needed some time to rest too. Lucy, however, was not happy about a recovery day. She informed me that she doesn't like being bored and there is just nothing to do at our house. She wanted me to invite friends over but I wanted a quiet house. So instead, through texting, she got herself invited to her friend's house. But then her and her friend ended up at our house for a bit. In the small time frame that they were over, they managed to make a mess of our kitchen making brownies. They didn't think they had enough oil but when I found more, they attempted to add it back in while the batter was in the pan. *sigh*

Thursday morning I got the groceries and when I came home I was not feeling fabulous. I ended up throwing up all my breakfast and spending the rest of the day in my room trying not to throw up again. It is really hard to have a stomach bug when you're pregnant. You want to eat but you really don't want to. Friday, Tyler's official birthday, I still wasn't feeling great but I managed to get myself out of bed so I could go to Target with the kids and get Tyler a little something for his birthday. Ben ended up going in with me to get Tyler the Harry Potter Lego Set: Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. The girls decided he needed a new Rubik's Cube- they have enjoyed messing it up and giving it back to him to fix. That evening the kids went to  Chili's with him since I wasn't up to it. I was bummed that I wasn't able to help celebrate.

Saturday I was feeling better which was good because I was hosting Tyler's 40th birthday that evening. I spent the day cleaning, decorating and getting things ready for his party. The party ended up with a really good turn out- the Mays, Perritons, Davies, Ormonds, Schnieders, and Jones. It was just adults which was honestly really nice- we could actually converse and enjoy our food. In the beginning the men threw knives while the women chatted. Then we had BBQ food and ended the party playing a Jeopardy game with questions from each decade- some questions about Tyler, some just general trivia. His sister won most of the questions about him, unfair advantage I think ;) For his cake I did an ice cream sandwhich cake. So easy to make and he likes it much better than cake. I made Mariah carry it out because I am awkward. I had enough awkwardness hosting the dang jeopardy game. After cake and ice cream, Bro Perriton asked him if he had any words of wisdom from his 40 years of life, lol. He started off with some fire safety advice as joke but ended with the advice that there's nothing you can't do if you're willing to put in the work (referencing the deck he is making through help from the internet and the youtube). Anyways, that was the last big event before Ruby and I think it was a successs.

FSY, Bowmans Visit

This week Steven had FSY at Saginaw University. He left on Monday and came back Saturday. I think he had a good time, it's hard to know with him. We asked him about various things when he came back and we got answers that were lacking in details. He said he couldn't remember what any of the classes were about but when pressed, there was one about being happy. He said the activities were all weird. There was one (the only one he told us about) where he had to pretend he was blind. His roommate was named Michael and apparently fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He made friends with a kid that they nicknamed "Tree" because he was tall and wore a green sweatshirt. And one of their advisors swallowed a fish whole- that seemed to be the highlight of it all for Steven.

Sunday and Monday I had a lot of Braxton Hicks and it made for some uncomfortable days. I managed to clean the house Monday in the midst of them but was pretty much a blob outside of that. In the past couple of weeks I have read a lot of books due to my blobness "Lady Jane" "The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley" "The Road to Dalton" and "A Court of Throne and Roses". Not all good ones but they help to pass time. 

Tuesday in attempt to re-enter the real world I took the younger 3 on an adventure to Lansing. Our first stop was Preuss Pets- a really cool pet store. They had lots of animals- ferrets, guinea pigs, hamsters, lizards, monitor, snakes, poison dart frogs, turtles, sting rays, puffer fish, fish that seemed to follow us, all kinds of birds big and small, koi fish...so many fun animals to see. The kids really enjoyed it, although the room with the big birds was super loud and Penny did not want to stay in it too long.

Our second stop was at the Michigan History Center. It took us a bit to find the parking lot and then we got behind someone who couldn't figure out how to buy the ticket so he could get inside the lot. I ended up getting out of the car and helping him. Basically I helped him by pressing the "help" button. Turned out there was a button that needed to be pressed once you put your credit card in, that the machine didn't really indicate to press. That helped me out so I had no problem getting in the parking lot when it was my turn. The museum itself was bigger than I expected and the kids really enjoyed it. I think I have been too many museums about Michigan so I was a wee bit bored but at least the kids had fun.

After those 2 stops, we decided to head home. Somehow we got lucky and didn't really hit any traffic on the way home. It turned out to be a really good adventure overall.

Thursday I had a dr's appointment. For some reason they messed up scheduling and I ended up having to see a different midwife at a different office. I ended up waiting an hour to see the midwife and that was not pleasant- the office was stuffy. Then the midwife wanted to go over my birthing history which felt redundant. But she did tell me I could have a midwife at my c-section which I think would be quite nice. I need all the support I can get with the anxiety I have about the surgery.

Thursday evening we celebrated Grace's birthday with a paint party. I brought my paint stuff to her house and her and Caroline did some pour painting- I just helped and watched. I felt so hot and blah that day that I really was happy to just help and not do any myself. We were all kind of quiet at first but eventually got chatty about things.

Meanwhile Thursday evening, Tara and her 2 girls surprised Tyler. She isn't able to come to his 40th birthday party because she has travel plans then but she came up early to surprise him and spend some time with him which was nice of her. She is staying with Mariah though, I think she's more comfortable there.

Friday Tyler took a half day off work and we went with Mariah and Tara's family to Frankenmuth. Since they hadn't had lunch our first stop was Zehnder's. I've always been told that it's a must but it's expensive so we had never been there before but we decided to splurge. It was definitely a splurge but it was a fun experience and I think his family really enjoyed it. The servers are all dressed up and everything is very German themed. The chicken was really good and they give you a 3 course meal. There was also a giant chicken making rounds that Wesley was very scared of.

After we ate, we walked over to the shops via the covered bridge and of course, I had to get some cherry chocolate covered pretzels from Cherry Republic. Too bad they melted in the car :/ Lucy spent her own money that she had just earned helping Sharon with some yard work on some cherry candy. The kids also really enjoyed walking through a store with lots of things for a Fairy Garden. It really had some cool stuff in it, much better than the Dollar Tree stuff we buy.

Our last stop was Bronner's. Everyone really enjoyed the Halloween and Christmas villages there. Penny had cleaned the car for me that morning and spent her freshly earned money on yet another Beanie Boo. I've got to work on gettting them to save their money instead of spending it as soon as they get it. 

Saturday afternoon (because I think mornings are hard when you're suffereing from time difference...) we drove to Port Huron to see the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse. Thanks to the wildfires in Canada, everything was hazy from the smoke. Some of our crew went to the top of the lighthouse but I chose not to because I was just there recently. Mariah ended up staying behind too so we hung out with the kids who didn't go up.

After the lighthouse we went to Lakeport State Beach. The kids always surprise me with how well they tolerate cold water- it was frigid! I mostly just sat and listened to Mariah and Tara chat- sometimes I chimed in but mostly I feel like an outsider with them. After the beach it was late so we headed our separate ways. I really am grateful for Mariah hosting because by the end of our adventures I am pooped and need some quiet time.