Girl Time

On Thursday I turned 28. My birthday was pretty calm and uneventful which is exactly what I wanted. I am not huge on having a big bash where all eyes are on me while I blow out candles and open presents- although I'm not gonna lie, I do like presents :) That morning, I walked Steven (& only Steven) to school which was nice. Tyler watched the other 2. Then I met Karen and Ashley for a yummy breakfast. After that I spent lots of time just chilling at home with the kids. Later I had dinner at Texas Roadhouse with my family and then Tyler showered me with gifts (as always). Just a perfectly, perfect day.

Friday is when I did the "real" partying. I went on a girl's getaway to the AZ Grand Resort in Phoenix. I went with a few women from the ward (Karen, Kristen, MaChel), with my sister-in-law Rebecca and with a few ladies from another ward (Ashley, Breanna, Kyla). We checked in and then had dinner at Claim Jumper (of course I'm the only one who can't keep her eyes open):

At dinner me and 2 other girls that had birthdays that week got a free red velvet cupcake, along with a "happy birthday" song. I loved that I got to share the moment and all eyes weren't on me. 

After dinner we hung out in the hot tub/pool where an awkward teenage boy seemed to enjoy sitting (hovering) near us a little too much- he later became known as "The Creeper." Then we stayed up late playing some fun games- one of which I almost won and one of which I lost horribly. As the loser I was supposed to go jump in the fountain in front of the hotel, some of the women even offered to hoist me up there- but you know that was not really going to happen with lame ol' me ;)

The next day I slept in until 9am (unlike the girls in the other room who woke up at 6am). After getting ready Rebekka & I went and had some Jamba Juice, then we went back to the resort where we hung out in the Lazy River with everyone--- and once again we came in contact with "The Creeper." He was several tubes behind us but I was sure he was going to pop up like a fish at any moment in a nearby tube.

After getting our fill of the Lazy River, Rebecca and I parted ways with the rest of them and did some major shopping at Az Mills Malls. I LOVE shopping without kids and Rebecca was a good shopping buddy. About dinner time we headed home, back to our responsibilities :( But at least are responsibilities are super cute ;)

And Sunday Tyler insisted we do the birthday cake thing at his parent's house--- although he didn't tell anyone about it and he didn't make me my much desired "Despicable Me" Minion cake. So...it was pretty lame, which is ok I suppose. However, he did almost set the house on fire by insisting on lighting all 28 candles. Man my cakes are getting bright! And we did discover that Lucy is going to have fun when she turns one- that girl kept trying to smash into that cake. 

And that concludes the celebrating of me :)

July's End

-As you can see, Lucy is now pulling herself up on things. Which means all the things I piled on top of the coffee table & train table to keep away from her are now within her reach again. Now I have to find a new place for all that junk!

-She is also growing her 7th tooth- this does not make her a happy camper (despite deceiving above picture).

-This week she had her first taste of meat- thanks to me! I used my baby bullet to make her some chicken & rice. Yes, I'm amazing! But the amazingness may stop soon. It's getting too time consuming and she is liking thicker textured food so we might be entering the finger food phase soon...

- Today she got to see Bryce Turley because Patty's in town (yay!). They kept smiling at each other and even played footsies. I see a future with these two ;)

- She also got to hang out with her best buddy, Jaylee (sorry Karen, Jaylee kept blinking so this was the best I could get). 

- This boy has been a lot of trouble lately. Not sure what's going on with him but there has been major attitude towards me, talking back and an excessive use of the word "hate" & "sucker" (and he's not referring to lollipops). Maybe he's trying to get me excited about him starting Kindergarten in a week and a half....

-Speaking of Kindergarten, we went to do some school shopping this week- just me & him. He picked out some pretty awesome high top black & orange sneakers and some orange basketball shorts (his backpack also has orange in it too--- I sense a favorite color surfacing here). I can't wait to take first day of school pictures of him wearing his new gear. However, I don't love shopping with him. He is SLOW as molasses walking down the aisles. I thought we would be quicker with just the two of us but due to his snail pace, it took us a couple of hours. 

- Oh my Benny, he absolutely adores his shark shirt. Wears it every other day (but he would wear it everyday if it didn't have to be washed). 

-He also got a new pair of shoes this week  - black with neon green accents- and he wants to wear those everyday too. The first couple days after getting his shoes he had to ask anyone who came over if they wanted to see his new shoes. It's funny how much 1 new thing means to him. Steven got lots of stuff for school and didn't seem to care so much and all it took was one new pair of shoes to brighten Benny's whole week. I suppose that's what happens when most of what you get is hand me downs.

- A few days ago I was feeling kind of funky so I complained about it and Benny said, "I'm gonna love you!" And I said, "Oh yeah!?" And he said, "Yup! Cause love makes everything better!" Then he came up and gave me hug and a kiss on the cheek. He can be such a sweetie.

-Thursday night Boston came to stay with us and he'll be with us until Sunday, late afternoon. Both the boys fight over who gets to be his friend and whose bunk bed he gets to sleep in at night. They sure love their cousin! 

 

-And today I thought I was finally going to be cool like all my sister-in-laws and get me a pair of Toms at this Toms Warehouse sale they were having in Tempe but I suppose I am just not meant to be cool. Me & Patty went with a total of 5 children (her 2, and Lucy, Ben & Boston) and arrived to see pure craziness. After waiting in line for 40 minutes and still not stepping foot into the actual store, we decided the kids would not last the remaining 2 hours we would probably be there for so we left while everyone was still happy. No $20 Toms for me or $10 Toms for Lucy :( So depressing but at least our kids were amazingly well behaved while we were there and at least we had fun socializing. 

Moments

Before going to church Sunday Ben fell down a few steps- it was quite tragic. As I was fixing my hair I overheard Steven say to Ben: "Were you mean!? Is that why mommy pushed you down the stairs!?" Thankfully Benny stuck up for me & responded: "No, I pushed myself down the stairs."

If you happen to run into Ben, you should ask him to sing Taylor Swifts "We are never getting back together." I randomly overheard him singing it the other day- totally cute! I had no idea he was paying such close attention to the words.

Valentine's was this week and though I didn't make pink, heart shaped pancakes for breakfast or cut my sons' sandwiches into hearts- I did buy them a little fountain and a little box of candy both of which they loved so kudos to me! 

Preschool was at my house this week. It was lots of fun! We played "Don't Eat Pete", BINGO, made Valentine Bags & Heart Monsters & decorated heart sugar cookies.  When it was over on Wednesday and one of Steven's friends was leaving, Steven grabbed a Coke bottle (Tyler had left them sitting by the door) & said, "Here, you can have this" That gesture was not appreciated by the child's mother.

I was laying down with Ben at nap time and Steven, who doesn't take naps but doesn't want to be left alone, suddenly cracked open the door and started to make whistling sounds through the crack. It seemed he wanted me to come out.

And this week we have been blessed to have Brian, Pattie, Leia & Brice staying with us. When I asked the boys who was going to marry Leia, Steven said, "I am!" and then Ben said, "No! I am!" And so the fighting over her has begun. But Lucy has it easy since she has no one to compete against for Brice :)

This week Lucy rolled over from her tummy to her back! It may not have happened again yet but it was still exciting! She is also really getting into her toys- it's fun to watch her grab a rattle or a doll and try to control her movements with it. (BTW she nursed a little better this week but we're still not 100% free of fussy nursing)

And I will end with a fun picture of my kids all dressed up for a Brian's sister's wedding reception...

The Zoo & My Belly

Yesterday Karen was nice enough to use her Phoenix Zoo membership to get me and the boys in for free! The Sanders & Ellsworth family also came along. It has been quite some time since we had been to the zoo so it was nice to get the opportunity to visit it and see all the changes that have happened. The orangutan's have a new habitat, there is now a jaguar, the Komodo Dragon's arm is in a splint and the zoo is reconstructing there whole entrance. Lots of fun things!

Sadly our visit to the zoo DID NOT start out well. Ben decided to try and get out of the wagon while it was moving and gave himself a good owie and it took him a good hour to recover (and I wish I could say I was exaggerating but I'm not) . First he was upset that I put a band-aide on it. Then he was upset that I took it off and he could see the blood. And then he was just plain upset to be upset. The picture below portrays my sad child perfectly:

I went and got him so the other moms could have a nice picture of their children, no fussy babies allowed. I love that Steven & Colin match- such good friends!

After Ben finally stopped with the fussiness the zoo trip was much better for me. It was so nice to hang out with some ladies in my ward and even nicer when I was able to see both my boys having fun with all their friends. However, Ben did not want to participate in the lizard picture below and I was not going to encourage the evil child to return so here are two cute lizard picture sans Ben:

Hopefully my child didn't ruin the experience for everyone else and despite his crankiness I am still glad we got to go. It was nice to have one last big outing with just my boys. I'm sure the next time we go there will be an additional child joining us.

Here's a picture of that additional child (aka Lucy) hiding out in my big belly. Of course, Steven had to get in the picture too.

I can't believe that in less than 2 weeks I will be at my due date. I'm super nervous for how my labor & delivery experience will turn out. I made the mistake of reading some anti-vbac things and am beginning to get worried. There's that .1% risk of uterine rupture which can cause fetal death. I know it's only .1% but you can't help but worry that you'll be that .1%. I also worry on the other side that baby Lucy will go overdue and I will just end up with a c-section anyways (because the risks of a vbac go up with induction & I don't think I'm game for that). I don't want another c-section but I don't want the risks of a vbac. Ugh! If only I could know how everything is going to pan out and know that it will all be ok. Hopefully I can rid myself of doubt and have faith in my prayers and know that it will all be ok. I honestly can't wait to be done with that stressful part and just have my sweet, baby girl to hold (and to dress ;) ). I am so excited to meet her!

Updates

I'm 32 weeks and baby Lucy is putting my tummy through the ringer. I have been getting some pretty awful Braxton Hicks. I honestly don't remember them ever feeling this bad. Sometimes I feel like I need to sit down or I might just collapse. It's awful :( And if I don't have Braxton Hicks then Lucy is stretching and moving in the most uncomfortable manner OR she's hiccuping. I swear, this girl is already giving me grief.

Last week, Pattie and Leia came to visit. On Tuesday I picked her up from the friends' house she was staying at and then we went went to the Ward playgroup at the beach pool. It was enjoyable until we left & Steven had a 2 year old worth tantrum. Sometimes I think he forgets he's 4 years old.... The rest of the time Pattie & Leia were with us was spent hanging out at my house. Sadly Leia wasn't feeling good and was giving Pattie lots of grief and terrorizing my house. Pattie ended up leaving us Wednesday night so she could stay with her mom who would be lots more help than I could be with my own 2 crazy boys to wrangle.

Steven caught Leia's cold but for once it didn't keep him up coughing all night. It was miraculous! I think it's because we now have our own breathing machine so I was able to give him the treatments from the beginning. This was the easiest time we've had with my sick Steven in a long time. Unfortunately though, I caught it too and it wasn't the easiest for me. It knocked me down pretty good & made a subbing job I did Friday terrible- especially because I had 2 out of control 2nd graders that about drove me to my death bed. Now poor Benny is sick but hopefully he has an easy of time with it as Steven did.

And at the end of this long, boring, no fun pictures to show for post, I would like to document my desire to stop giving in to my pregnancy hormones and instead to react more calmly to my naughty boys. I really need to stop yelling so much at my troublesome boys. Wish me luck with this!

My Longest Friend is Married!

This Saturday Rebekka got married! We have been friends since high school and I love this girl to death. I was so happy for her and so grateful to get to be a part of her special day. I was lucky enough to be a bridesmaid and I had fun with all that entitled. 

The night before her wedding I went out with her and her sisters to Someburros for a girl's night out. Of course my clumsy self started out the night by spilling a cup of water all over the table as I set down my tray. It was a very smooth move but everyone was very nice and didn't mock me and I had a fun the rest of the time. It was nice to get away from the boys and just hang out with the girls. I need to do that more often. 

Saturday morning Rebekka and Danny got sealed at the Mesa Temple. Unfortunately I have been having some major migraine problems this last week and all I can take is Extra Strength Tylenol which is SO not effective so the bright chandelier, which I normally find beautiful, was killer. I felt pretty funky through out the ceremony but  Heavenly Father kept me stable and I was still able to focus on the sealing. The sealer gave some great advice, one in the form of a humorous story about how he took his wife to Disneyland because she said she wanted to be 6 again but what she had actually meant is that she wanted to be a size 6 again. His point was to listen carefully to what your wife says because after 50 years, he still doesn't always understand her.

After the sealing I got to socialize with her friends and family while we waited for the bride and groom to get ready. I finally met an old mission companion of Rebekka's, Perla, who she speaks of often. Sweet girl and I enjoyed talking with her throughout the day.

Unfortunately I wasn't close enough to get a great shot of Rebekka when they came out but you can see my sister-in-law, Tara, was close enough. It was fun having her do all their pictures. I got to give her a hard time and now I'm going to try to bribe her to photo shop out my sweaty face. It was humid but thankfully the clouds kept the bright sun away which was great for my migraine and did help us sweat just a little less. 

After the sealing and pictures I headed home (Tyler had already left to pick up the boys, there was no way he was sticking around for pictures he didn't have to be in). We hung out at home for a bit and then it was off to the luncheon for chicken salad sandwiches, yummy! We got to eat at the table with Perla and a couple more old mission companions and then (they were a little late) Rebekka and Danny joined us. Steven and Ben got to eat at the kid table and they had fun hanging out with all of Rebekka and Danny's nieces and nephews.

Then it was home again until the reception. We got there a little early to help set up and then we ate food, socialized, danced, and decorated their getaway vehicle. I didn't get to see Rebekka much then but that's to be expected. It was an excellent day and I am so excited to have a new couple to hang out with!

Steven got a bit fresh with one of Rebekka's nieces- he kissed her twice! This boy is trouble!

After decorating Danny's truck with balloons, Steven insisted on hanging on to this one. He also insisted that he needed a picture of it so here ya go:

Conference Weekend

My best buddy Rebekka is in town from Germany for 3 weeks and in those 3 weeks she has to try and get her whole wedding planned- craziness! So, with such limited time, we ended up spending Conference Saturday wedding dress  shopping. I felt a twinge of guilt for skipping out on Conference but hey, I can read it later, and I wouldn't have missed wedding dress shopping with her for anything. It was way too much fun and I loved seeing how happy the dress she chose made her! Here's one of the dresses she tried on but this was not the winner. We'll save that shot for the wedding day...

On Sunday for General Conference I decided to try out an idea I got from Pinterest. I attached a craft/art activity, or candy to each member of the first presidency and to the apostles (well to the ones who hadn't already spoken on Saturday). Then when one of them spoke Steven and Ben would find their picture, say their name and get to do the activity or eat the treat. I also had a grab bag of things for when other people spoke.

It sounded good in theory and it did work well in distracting Ben. But for Steven, it ended up being annoying. After 2 minutes of the candy or activity he would ask, "Can I look for this person's picture?" I would have to remind him that he just did and he already had the stuff that was attached to it. And of course he continued to ask and pester. It was frustrating and I eventually had to tell him that he wouldn't get anything if he kept asking. Not so sure I'll do it again but at least it did work for Ben...

The Zoo!

My friend Karen has a membership to the zoo and invited us to go with her and her kids on Ben's birthday. We couldn't pass up a free day to the zoo, especially on Ben's birthday, so of course we went!

I am so glad we did! The boys had a good time with friends (and animals) and the weather was nice. They loved playing in the play house there, hearing the tiger roar and sitting down by a monkey with only a glass in between. The orangutan was super cute as it pulled in palm leaves and cuddled in it's blanket. And Chaparral's First Grade happened to be there at the same time as us so I got to see an old student of mine and my old co-workers. That was a fun coincidence! 

We did have a rough patch at one point but Jenny Smith (another friend that came with Karen) saved the day. She gave Ben a lollipop and Steven a fruit snack and they were both pacified. And then the rest of the trip went smoothly. All and all a fantastic outing to the zoo!

The birthday boy

Best buddies- Steven and Colin

A visit with a monkey ("mommy it kissed me!")

The lollipop that saved the day

Boys will be boys

Ben smiling at pretty Oakley Smith

Ben used his birthday money from his Great Grandma and Grandpa to get a new "baby" He picked an owl which was very Harry Potter like of him. He also got yet another lollipop and was nice enough to get Steven a lollipop too.

New Year Celebrations

This New Year's Eve we spent half of our evening with friends and the other half with family. 

The first half we spent at the Eric & Lexi's home. Pattie & Brian are good friends with them and since it was Brian's last night staying with us we decided to crash their party so that Tyler could a little bit more quality time with his buddy. They played a fun icebreaker game where you had to guess what character you were with yes or no questions. I was Tweety Bird & Tyler was Freddy Krueger. The boys had fun playing with their daughter's toys and the other kids that were there. Ben especially liked their daughter's pink shopping cart and he also enjoyed trying to squeeze through their doggy door.

At around 10pm we left to Tyler's house where there was said to be a plethora of firecrackers & sparklers. We were also thinking that his family would be there because they usually are. Sadly, though, most of his family wasn't there. But Tara's kids were there which made Steven happy & Tyler's mom & Keshia & Scott were there so we had some grown up company too.

Since it was just us we decided to light the firecrackers before midnight. Steven loved the firecrackers & sparklers but Ben was terrified of them, He spent that part of the night huddled in my arms. When all the noise makers were spent we headed home & were all in bed by 11:30. Totally lame I know but it worked well since we have 9am church this year :)

Love this picture of the boys reaction to the first firecracker 

Poor, pathetic Ben in tears because of the scary firecrackers