Oregon Vacation Day 1

Well we made it back to Utah safe and sound after a fun week on the Oregon Coast. I have a ton to document so hopefully I will be able to get it all done soon.

Monday morning we left around 1:00 PM to drive about half of the way before stopping at a hotel in Baker City, Oregon. It was Lydia's birthday and I thoroughly embarrased her by singing "Happy Birthday" at McDonalds during lunch. He he he! The drive wasn't too bad. We did find out that Adelle gets car sick if she reads or colors in the car though so she had to be content looking out the window or listening to the audio book we had going. Wes decided that we should stop at Shoshone Falls near Twin Falls Idaho. The waterfall was beautiful especially since the water levels were so high.

Wes and the girls in front of the falls.

Me and the girls. You can see my pregnant, baby bump. The girls enjoyed throwing coins into the water and making wishes. We rolled into Baker City, Oregon in the evening and pretty much went straight to bed since we were all pretty tired and had driving ahead of us the next day.

Lydia thinking hard about what to wish.

Father's Day

Today since Wes and I were feeling under the weather the whole family stayed home from church. I made french toast and we gave Wes two nice dress shirts and ties. The girls also came out with this lego creation. A MEGA HOUSE!Most of the day has really been spent doing laundry and packing since we are heading out on vacation tomorrow for a whole eight days on the Oregon Coast. We love you Wes! Happy Father's Day! Happy Father's day to all our special dads!

Lydia and Liz's Birthday Gathering

Yesterday we had an extended family get together for mine and Lydia's Birthday. Lydia will be turning 10 on Monday and I will be turning 30 on Friday. We will be gone on vacation! We had a great time getting together with everyone. Lydia is super loved. She got PlayStation 2 games, legos, Webkinz, a family pass to the Tracy Aviary for a whole year, littlest pet shop pets, a hard bound book to write her stories in, and both Lydia and Adelle got new comforter sets, decorative pillows and a curtain for their new room!!! Thank you everyone!!!!

Here are the girls holding their bedding sets! They are super colorful and fun! I think Grandma Julie is a blog reader because she knew the girls would be needing them soon.

Aunt Sarah decided to make the boxes into a house for the kiddos. Adelle has endlessly played with these boxes since yesterday and she doesn't want me to throw them out. She has colored them, tied them with ribbons and found several ways to play with them. I haven't once found her bored, which is a miracle for that child. Now I am torn what to do with the large, cardboard boxes.

Lydia requested ice cream cake for her birthday. It is her absolute favorite.

She had a hard time blowing out the candles this year. Maybe it's because she didn't want to spit on the cake!

Julie was very generous and got me this new toy! Yeah!!!! I am super excited to try it out more on vacation.

My sister got me this purse which Wes and his brothers found absolutely hilarious! I personally think it is a cute, bright purse for the summer. What dear readers do you think? My mother in law is going to take me maternity dress shopping when I get back from vacation. I need to find something yellow or purple in the maternity department for a wedding I will be attending. Everyone keep your eyes open in the store or online. They don't seem to be particularly popular colors this season in maternity dresses.

We all had a wonderful time together and it was fun to see everyone. We missed those of you who couldn't make it. We know we are super loved and appreciate all of you!

Edible Garden

We have our first fruits of the season. Our Raspberry bush has produced a few red berries, despite the torrential rain and less than present sunshine. We have all tried one and think they are pretty good, but not as good as our fresh peaches we had last year from our tree.

We ate them even though the bugs have been nibbling on them a bit. I am just happy we have gotten any fruit yet this year. The blackberry bush looks terrible, I don't know if it is because there has hardly been any sun. There haven't been any blossoms on that bush yet. Thank heavens it is a perennial so hopefully it will start producing at least next year. The cilantro we planted looked like it wasn't going to make it. It came back to life, but then it promptly went to seed! Drat!

Hardly anything has come up in the other garden. Do you remember that laborious day when the girls and I planted the garden? I must have done something wrong. We only got two spinach plants which is really strange. We always get a lot! One of the plants got pulled while the girls were weeding. The peas were coming up great but then the monsoon hit and the morning glory took over. From there our poor sad peas where lost forever! The tomato plants have grown HUGE! There is really minimal fruit on them right now though, so hopefully as we get more sun we will see more fruit. The peach tree is abundant with developing fruit so hopefully we will have a bountiful harvest at the end of the season. Something is better than nothing I guess!

Windows into other Worlds

I have to confess something..I am a lurker! I LOVE other people's blogs, especially the professional, well written blogs filled with beautiful photos, interesting stories and incredible talent. I am addicted. I will find myself clicking on blogs at the most inappropriate times (like work for example). I can't get enough. I will click onto one of these blogs and totally get lost in its content. It is like peering into someone else's world. I can't get enough. It makes me wonder what it is about my personality that absolutely loves learning about others. I have always loved people. I love going to the airport. It is true. I love to watch others. I love to strike up a conversation with a perfect stranger and learn about their life. "Where are you traveling". "Where is home". It is just a tiny sliver of that person that you get to glimpse. I will never see that person again, but I have met someone new and for a moment shared a conversation with them. It is incredible the amount of people who live in this world and I love being able to glimpse the life of one more person. Am I strange or crazy perhaps? What is it that draws me to the wider world?

I love watching documentaries about real people from boys learning opera in Africa, to female journalists in Iraq, to homeless youth in Utah. It absolutely fascinates me. Now, I'm not talking about reality television where people are thrown together to create drama of the very unreal kind. I am talking about real people in their very own real element. It is amazing! What is it about other peoples lives that is so fascinating? Is it the feeling of connection? Is it learning of a person that you never knew existed before? What is it?

What is funny is for a living I actually listen to recorded phone calls. Now granted these are business calls, not personal ones. All day I listen to other people talk and converse. What made me end up with a job where I am an observer of human interaction? Granted, I then end up judging these people. I have to make comments like "Please remember to speak with enthusiasm" or "Remember to use the caller's name at least once during the call". It just makes me wonder why do I enjoy watching others so much. Wes said the other day that I should be a psychologist because I am so observant with what is going on with a person. We had just had a conversation about him and he was surprised by how much I had noticed. I guess it gives me something to think about. For now though I really should get back to work. I should just put my giant headphones on and start the audio rolling. That is why I a paid. My cubicle will be my world for the rest of the day and I will AVOID browsing the wider world that exists outside of mine.

1/3 of the Way

If you are tired of hearing of this pregnancy already, I apologize, but this is one of the only ways I will remember it. My pregnancies with my girls is now just a blur, except for the the last 8 weeks with Adelle thanks to those great contractions. This is not going to turn into a pregnancy blog I promise. We have Lydia's birthday party this weekend and our family vacation next week, so don't worry you'll have other things to read about.

I am now 13 weeks and 1/3 of the way through. I am so excited that next week I will be starting my second trimester. I have had spotting off and on since week 6 and it has made me nervous at times. I know that being this far along has greatly reduced my chances of things going wrong. I have spoken to other mothers who had the same issues in their pregnancies and still went on to have healthy babies. My doctor isn't overly concerned and thinks things are going well, especially since we saw my little one at my first appointment.

I have found that my internal worrying has somehow manifested myself to my girls. Aren't kids perceptive! They have worried about the baby as well and Adelle one day asked if the baby could die. It made me realize even more that I need to relax and enjoy the pregnancy. It is becoming easier now that I am further along.

I will on occasion feel my little baby move. I remember what it felt like with my girls and it is such an exciting moment when it happens. I am looking forward to feeling my baby move on a regular basis when I get further along.

I rarely get morning sickness anymore, which is wonderful. I do get more hungry than usual and I still have cravings. I really tend to lean towards Italian food. I made one of my favorite childhood foods the other day, tetrazzini, and absolutely loved every bite and consumed all of the leftovers over the next couple of days. It reminded me of my mother since she was the one that made it for me as a girl. I miss her, but I know she is happy where she is. I feel like she is watching over my little baby.

I still get bouts of tiredness and often fall asleep on the couch in the evening for a little while before waking up, hanging with Wes, and then heading to bed. My family has been very patient with this!

This last Saturday I broke down and went clothes shopping. I found great bargains and I am so happy I will have cute, comfortable clothes to wear especially while I am gone on vacation. I have found that if my clothes are too tight it will actually cause spotting. Gotta love it, NOT! So I was especially motivated to get some new things. I usually HATE clothes shopping but for some reason I had a total blast finding stuff for myself on my solo shopping trip.

I am still exercising when I can, even though I have totally lost my previous fitness level. I tried a prenatal yoga DVD and couldn't walk properly for two days afterwards. It was a great workout that I think would really benefit me, if I can get brave enough to do it on a regular basis. I usually don't want anyone in the room when I do it though because it involves some vocalizations, arm flapping, and at times dancing in strange ways while imagining you are giving birth to your baby in a forest surrounded my caring women. You think I'm kidding? I'm not! Wes won't admit it, but I think he finds it hilarious! I can't really blame him! It is a bit embarrassing, but I find that I feel relaxed afterwards while at the same time using muscles that rarely get any sort of real work anymore.

I am so grateful for my little baby and we pray for it every day. Wes has been a very supportive, loving husband. He has been right there with me as I have stressed or haven't felt well. The girls are getting more excited all the time. Adelle still has questions. Last night I had to explain how the baby gets out. She seemed okay with how that happens. I remember telling Lydia years back and she vowed right then that she didn't want to have kids. I did make it much simpler with Adelle and she didn't ask if it hurt like Lydia did years ago.

I was asked the other day if my girls will be attending the birth and my answer was "Absolutely Not!". I don't want my girls to see me that way. Let them keep their innocence. Besides, it can be very distracting to have others in the room because then you are worried about them. It is a time that I will just need to focus on myself and what is going on. Besides, remember how they do with blood? Can you imagine them getting ill or passing out? It will very likely just be Wes and I, and the doctors and nurses OF COURSE. We probably won't have any other relatives. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all of you, but prefer to keep it something between the two of us. This is especially true when you are having a natural birth when focusing is key :)

I am really looking forward to the next 27 weeks and can't wait to meet my little one. There is much that needs to be done around the house before we welcome our baby though. We need to turn the family/play room downstairs into the girls' new room. There are purchases to be made, walls to be painted, organizing to be done and furniture to be moved. I am hoping the walls will be painted by the end of the summer so they can dry well. Our basement is not known for warmth. It is an absolute icebox in the winter, which means I am hoping to find super warm comforters for the girls.

Well here's to the next 2/3 of the pregnancy!

My Crafty Moment

Last November I suddenly got a hankering to sew. Moments like this are VERY rare. I can often lose patience with a project, especially when my back starts killing me after hours of cutting fabric and leaning over a sewing machine. I did decide though to do a simple project. I have often seen chic nursing covers and have thought "I want one of those". Of course I could NEVER justify spending forty to fifty dollars on one since a simple blanket would really do the job. I did some research though and found information on how to make your own. I of course have now lost the link, but maybe with some digging I could find it again. I am just posting this project now because I figured if I posted it in November everyone would wonder if I was pregnant, which I wasn't. I knew we wanted another baby and I thought "why not". Wes thought I was a little crazy "planning ahead", but it didn't deter me.


I did subject my poor family though to an hour or so of wandering up and down rolls and rolls of fabric. I think Wes was ready to pull his hair out, even though he usually likes the fabric store. I wanted to find just the right fabric, something chic and beautiful. This of course takes time, especially because I can be so indecisive. I settled on this beautiful green fabric that is embroidered with butterflies. I didn't want anything that would overly suggest a girl or a boy, since obviously I had no idea what we were going to have someday.
This was the finished product. A simple, but very functional cover.

I loved the ingenious idea of putting a small strip of boning in between the neck straps. This allows the top to slightly open out allowing for air flow and for you to see the baby while nursing. The straps were very simple to make, even with my limited skills and allows you to adjust the cover as needed.

This less than glamorous photo with me wearing the cover was taken back in November. I was very proud of my project though and so happy I was able to make something all on my own, without even nagging Wes too much about how to do it. It was pretty inexpensive and all in all I think the project only took about 4 hours. I am sure some of you could make it even quicker. Well at least if I won't look chic after the baby is born, I will have a chic cover for my baby. Silly I know! The great thing too is that there is lots of "coverage"! .

By the way...I dug around and found the link http://www.blisstree.com/breastfeeding123/free-pattern-to-sew-your-own-nursing-cover/. If you have a friend or family member that is expecting and nurses this would be a FABULOUS gift and super inexpensive!