Summer so far

We have kept busy so far this summer. We haven't done anything fancy or super exciting, but it's been fun. Some of our activities include making mini cakes and decorating them, painting picture frames, trips to Goodwill, swimming lessons, karate and cheerleading classes, playing on the Carl's Jr. playground, Princess Night at Chick-Fil-A (complete with free pink sundaes, stuffed toys and photos, and miniture pony rides), playing with cousins and aunts and uncles, swimming, swimming, and more swimming, shopping for discount baby items, trips to the library, playing computer, video and board games, and more.

And on some random notes, Ken brought home a children's version of Monopoly a few weeks ago, and the kids played for five minutes before growing completely bored. Maybe we'll try again next year when they're a little older.

I asked Ellie today if she was excited about having a new little brother soon or if she felt jealous. She admitted honestly that she felt a little jealous and was worried that Alan would love the new baby more than her. I assured her that her big brother would always love her, which made her feel a little better.

This 'lil dude in my belly is VERY active. At all hours of the day and night I feel punching, kicking, and tumbling. It seems that he pretty much never sleeps. Despite the constant movement, I still hold out hope that he will be a good sleeper as a newborn. After the likes of Alan and Ellie (who were insomniacs from day one), Ken and I deserve at least child who is a good snoozer!

I'm getting my second sonogram on Monday morning. I'm hoping that everything looks okay on this one. I found out that along with my low amniotic fluid volume, the baby has a choroid plexus cyst in his brain. This can be an indication of chromosome problems (rarely) but can also be completely harmless. The cysts are found in about one percent of infant brains in utero. The doctor said that everything looks fine with the baby, which means that everything should be okay with his health. I still worry, but prayer has brought lots of comfort. I'm just anxious to get the ultrasound done. We're no strangers to pregnancy scares though. When I was pregnant with Alan, I was told that there was a good possibility that he would be born with Tisome 18 (my AFP test was positive). The doctor that gave me the results said that this meant he would be "born without a brain and probably wouldn't survive long past birth." They sent us to genetic counseling and suggested that I get an amnio. We knew that even if he did have Trisome 18, we wouldn't abort, so we decided against the amnio. The next day they did a ultrasound which revealed a perfectly healthy baby boy. We felt so blessed and relieved, but the whole experience scared the heck out of us!

My mom and Lana are flying home from Idaho this Saturday. I'm so grateful that they've had a chance to visit Celeste, Scott and Bethany. Abby, Jessie, and Josh will be here this weekend too, which means we'll have a full house, which Alan and Ellie love!

Ultrasound update

I got a call about my ultrasound results today and they told me that my amniotic fluid is low and that I have to go back in a couple of weeks for another ultrasound. I admit that this kind of stresses me out, especially after doing internet research. All I can do is hope and pray that everything is okay.
Jessie and Josh are staying with us for the next ten days, which Alan and Ellie are super enthusiastic about. Jessie painted Ellie's nails today and Josh and Alan watched claymation videos for hours. They are having a lot of fun. Hopefully, we can come up with enough activities to keep everyone entertained and occupied over the next couple of weeks. So far we have managed to stay pretty busy.
Alan and Ellie are loving swimming lessons and are becoming more confident around water. Hopefully this will decrease the wild and out of control screaming involved when I wash and rinse their hair in the bathtub.
I hope everyone is having a great summer so far!

And the gender is...

It's a boy! I went in for my ultrasound with Ken and Ellie in tow and the tech was able to see that we are having another little male ruffian. The baby was so wiggly that it was hard for her to get many good photos, but we were able to see somewhat of a profile and a tiny foot. Ellie was pretty disappointed, but seems to be warming up to the idea. Alan wanted another sister, but realized that he would have a video game buddy and perked right up. Anyway, we feel very blessed and are excited about this little boy becoming part of our family!

Viruses and politicians

Ellie was drinking a bottle of cold water today when I asked her to hand it to me so I could take a drink. She looked at me, still holding the bottle and raised one eyebrow in concern. "Are you sure you don't have the swine flu, Mom?" she asked. I laughed and told her I was pretty sure that I didn't. She seemed satisfied with the answer and handed it over.

Yesterday before family home evening, I sang the primary song "Baptism" to Ellie and Alan because our lesson was on baptism. A little while later I heard Ellie enthusiastically singing, "Jesus came to John McCain, in Judea long ago..."

This photo doesn't have anything to do with the post. I just put it up because I found it the other day and it's one of my favorites. This is Ellie's 3rd b-day at the McDonalds in Globe. She and Alan seem to be sharing a moment.

Ladies Night

Ken and Alan went to the father and son's campout last weekend, leaving us ladies home for the weekend to do lady things. After they left late Friday afternoon, Ellie and I went to Freestone Park to enjoy the scenery and ride the carousel. Unfortunately, the rides were closed and it was a little too hot, so we packed up and headed over to Jamba Juice to enjoy orange smoothies and people watching. After that, we went to Water Tower Park to cool off for a few minutes before heading to Ross to pick out a plastic tea set. To top the night off, we picked up dinner from Paradise Bakery and went home and tried out the tea set. All of these activities were sporadically accompanied by bursts of the 70s song, "It's Ladies Night." It was cute to see Ellie sing, "Oh, it's ladies night...and the time is right!" at the top of her lungs.

The boys had fun also. Though Ken said they didn't get much rest because their tent was on a slant and they rolled over each other all night, they still enjoyed their wilderness weekend. Ken also said that Alan had an unpleasant incident with a thorn bush at 10:30 at night that involved lots of wild screaming and demands for prayers and a blessing. I can just imagine what all the other guys in the ward thought about all that yelling. They probably suspected a bear attack in the camp.

You know you're pregnant...

You know you’re pregnant when…

1. You’ve eaten the maximum daily limit of Tums before noon.
2. Your clothing choices are severely limited (Do I wear my gray stretchy pants…or my gray stretchy pants?)
3. You have to pee so often that when your kids look for you they always check the bathroom first.
4. You look down one day and discover that you actual have boobs (for those of us who usually don’t, it’s quite a pleasant surprise).
5. You find yourself constantly thinking about and longing for the thing you crave most…sleep.
6. You want watermelon and you want it now.
7. Your kids sit on your lap and you tell them to be careful not to “squish the baby.”
8. The smell of bacon or your husband’s Axe deodorant makes you want to either toss your cookies or hit someone or both.
9. You have to walk through the baby aisles every time you go to the store. (:
10. You realize how much you love your kids and can barely fathom that there's another on the way that you'll love just as much!

Random photos and thoughts

Ellie riding the broom Harry Potter-style.

Baby bump (at 16 weeks). We find out the gender in two more weeks!

Ken lighting the birthday candles on his chocolate cheesecake. Happy 33rd Ken!


The graduates: Lana (from college), Abby (from high school), Ellie (from preschool).


Ellie striving to make the scariest face possible.

The other day I rolled the garbage out to the curb and on my way back I heard the side gate creak open. I thought it was one of my kids coming out to see what I was doing. I peeked around the corner and yelled "WHO DAT?" in one of my weird voices, expecting to see a surprised Ellie or Alan. Instead, it was my new neighbor coming out of his gate, looking both surprised and confused. Startled, I apologized and told him I thought he was one of my kids. He said, "uh...it's okay," and quickly bolted away. I still have to laugh when thinking about it, especially since I still get weird looks from he and his wife.