Last One before Baby Day. . . maybe:)

Ok, still trying to be sure everything is totally up to date before Mystery Baby comes.  I was so positive that my water was going to break the past few nights, that I wake up kind of disappointed that another night has gone by with nothing.   I think I need to be more patient and just be happy that he has more time to grow and develop in my safe body.  Here are a few pictures from this week.

Swim lessons!  The boys LOVE swim lessons.  They are getting really good in the water too.  I signed them up for the same classes they ended with last summer so that it would be a good review for them since we haven't done a lot of swimming since then.  Hyrum is the star of his class.  His teacher raves about how good he is and that he is by far the best swimmer in the group.  I think it's a great self-esteem booster for him.  I'm pretty sure that he's also part fish.  Noah is doing great too.  The review class is really good for him and he seems to love the water games they play holding his breath.  He's a great little swimmer too.

Tonight Brett helped organize the ward High Priest Group Social.  It was such a great night for everyone.  The weather was perfect, the park was beautiful, and the food was amazing!  There were lots of fun grass games to play.

 There was a beautiful lake to play in.  Noah played in the lake with some of the other kids for quite a while.   He and Owen also got to feed the ducks.  

There was canoeing available to anyone who wanted to go out.  I'm pretty sure Hyrum went out at least 6 times!  He loved it so much that he just waited on the shore and took every available opportunity to get on one of the canoes.  He also preferred to row, so it took a little bit of patience from the other people riding, but he really did an amazing job.  Sometimes I think he should be raised closer to an ocean:).

Dirty Boys

I took the boys up to the Canyon for a picnic with some friends.  The boys love to explore.  While I was sitting on the picnic bench I noticed Owen was missing so I looked around and found him sitting ontop a mound of dirt.  He was picking up the dirt and throwing it and then laughing when the wind would blow it right back in his face.  Then, of course, he would 'wipe' the dirt off his face with his even dirtier hands.  He looked like a chimney sweep.  I swear, these pictures do not even show the smallest part of his dirtiness. Man he's cute, even covered in dirt.  He went strait in the bath when we got home.:)

I've been really trying to keep the house clean in case I need to rush to the hospital and someone needs to watch the boys.  Today when I got in the shower the boys were happily playing with some cars and legos, so I wasn't too worried about the time they would be unattended.  When I got out of the bathroom I could hear lots of laughter and noticed the boys' door was shut.  I opened it to find this: 

It was one of those moments when I had to make a quick decision: either get angry and start throwing out discipline, or walk away quietly and grab the camera.  . . I chose the camera.  After taking a few pictures I smiled and complimented their creativity in making the slide/launcher and then reminded them of the house rule, "You make a mess, you clean it up".  Then I left and laid on my bed until one of them came out.  They wanted to eat lunch, so I said I would make them sandwiches WHILE they put the bed back together, because we can't move on to another activity until the first one is put away.  It took a little while and a few complaints, but they managed to push the mattress back up onto the bed and somewhat put things back where they should be.  Sometimes the boys drive me crazy and leave me feeling like I am always franticly trying to keep up with their energy, but they are such good boys.  I feel so blessed to have so much sweetness in our home.  

Phone Dump

Yep, still nesting and trying to make sure I've organized and updated everything possible before the baby comes.  Last night I finished updating each of the boys photo albums.  I love looking through old pictures and videos and remembering how much my boys have grown.  It's crazy how fast time flies, even when some days seem like an eternity.  I know the pictures on my phone are kind of blurry, but I was so happy to find these pictures:

This was during Hyrum's kindergarten program

One of our neighbors gave us some fun costumes that their boys had outgrown.  Our boys have been having so much fun with them.  Notice little Owen in the background in his Luke Skywalker robe:) 

This was taken on the second to last day of school.  Hyrum absolutely LOVED riding the bus.  Richard was such a great Grandpa for the kids and helped them not be nervous.  It was a great year.

 I haven't taken many pictures of my pregnant self these past couple of months, but I really love the way my boys snuggle around my belly when we're on the couch and talk to it.  Here's my snuggle buggle today during quiet time. 

Summer schedule

I'm feeling like this baby will be coming very soon, so I wanted to update the blog in case I don't have a chance to later.  I'll be honest, I have not been very active since the boys have been out of school.  I usually love to go on walks with the boys and race them around, and I feel bad that I spend most of my time sitting on my camping chair on the front lawn and just watch them.  Maybe by the end of summer I'll be back to myself again.  I love feeling this little man inside of me kicking away.  We can't wait to meet him.  He's going to be very loved and likely smothered with kisses, zerberts, and snuggles from his brothers.  Here's a few things we've been doing while we wait for Mystery Baby (or the boys often call him Fishy).   

Summer School has been very successful so far.  The boys love earning tickets.  I've tried to make it all about the rewards of working and time spent rather than merely what was accomplished.  Hyrum has actually worked harder at summer school than he usually did with his kindergarten homework.  I think he does a lot better when he doesn't feel as much pressure.  Everyday for summer school we set aside about 30 minutes. During that time they each have a bin of learning activities and flashcards that they can choose to do.  They get one ticket for working on those for 15 minutes.  Hyrum can also choose to write a story with a picture for a ticket.  Then we read together for 15-20 minutes, which they earn a ticket for.  If they read a book to me they get another ticket.  

We haven't gone to a lot of parks this summer yet, but this week we did drive to this really nice one a mile or two away.  The boys had a blast.  

In case you can't tell Owen has no problem climbing in and on everything.  I was pretty impressed that he just climbed up this big toy with out any problems or hesitations.  He's quite the daredevil.  

With the baby coming and Owen starting to swing himself out of his crib, we've moved him into a big boy bed.  It's been a little bit of a struggle for him, but it's starting to get better.  We're hoping all will be well with his sleep schedule by the time Mystery Baby gets here.  Brett has been great to get up with him every night/morning.  Owen is such a Daddy's boy and I love how much he loves him.   

In other big news, Noah decided that he wanted to ride on two wheels like Hyrum.  He was determined and kept practicing.  Now he's a big boy just like Hyrum.  It's fun watching the two boys ride up and down the sidewalks and race.   

Near the Day

This week I am officially 36 weeks along!  Woohoo!  The pregnancy has been hard on my body, but I think it's more the fact that I am constantly chasing after my three other cute little men that makes me pretty tired.  I am VERY grateful for an amazing chiropractor who really helps with my comfort level.  I'm pretty big now and do a great prego waddle. My neighbors have been amazing and many have volunteered to help us out if I go into labor before my mom gets here in two weeks.  Let's hope this little man will stay cooking just a little longer!  

With all that has been going on we've stayed pretty busy and have been having a lot of fun with the arrival of summer.  Hyrum graduated Kindergarten.  He had the cutest end of school program and fun activities with his class.  He also finished off the T-Ball season.  The first few games were a little rough, and we learned that he's not a big fan of the sport.  After several games he started to warm up to it a little.  It was so cute seing him in his Giants uniform and oversized helmet when he was at bat.  My biggest regret is not getting any pictures.  I was planning on taking pictures at his last game, but he ended up catching the stomach flu and didn't make it.  

Noah finished off his year of Joyschool.  We had a field trip up to the canyon on the last day and celebrated their exploratory minds and reviewed the things we had learned over the past year.  Noah also finished off his soccer season.  I can't say he really picked up on how the game works exactly, but he had fun running back and forth on the field with his friends. He scored a couple of goals and loved it.  Unfortunately, the day I brought my camera to take pictures ended up being the day he threw up all over the carseat on the way there.  Yep, we all caught the stomach bug and it was NOT fun.  

On the last day of school we celebrated with some cupcakes and a trip to Arizona for Brett, Hyrum, and Noah.  They were SO excited leading up to the trip and the vacation did not disappoint.  They had so much fun swimming and seeing family.  They are now obsessed with swimming and are insisting we have a pool in our backyard.:)     

Just before the last day of school I was loading Hyrum's bike into the van and I tripped on a hole in the concrete.  There was a very awkward landing with a bike over my head, my prego belly hanging below my shirt, and my ankle/foot underneath the weight of my huge body landing on top of it.  Yes, my first reaction was to look around, hoping no one saw.  It was pretty embarrassing.  Then I finished loading the bike in the van, got the boys loaded in, and headed home.  It wasn't until we got home that I realized how much pain I was in.  My foot started to swell up and I couldn't put weight on it for a few days.  Now, a week later it still hurts but is MUCH better.  The picture is not great, and it reminds me how much I want to get a pedicure, but you can see some of the bruising settling near my toes and heal.      I was pretty glad that Brett had the older boys in AZ during my worst pain, because it would have been really hard keeping up with them.  Owen and I had some good bonding time and I dragged myself around enough to get some good cleaning done and painting the baseboards on our main floor.  My nesting list is almost done.  Yay!

Sun

I love the end of winter.  I love the flowers blooming and the kids playing outside more then they are inside.  I love the excitement the boys find in worms and bugs.  I really love when the garden starts to bloom.  I love the colorful blossoms and getting my hands dirty in the soil.  

This summer we got a pass to the canyon and the boys love being in nature to explore, skip rocks in the river, and climb trees.  I think we will spend many days up there this summer when school's out.

One of the most exciting things that has happened since the snow has melted is Hyrum's new love of his bike, minus training wheels!  After a couple of Saturdays of Brett working with him, he was off. Now we have a hard time getting him to stop riding his bike.  He is becoming such an independent little man.

Funny things the boys say:

Hyrum:  While we were eating lunch one day Hyrum asked if I was extra smart because I had two brains.  I was kind of confused, obviously.  I told him I only had one brain.  His response: "No, mom you have two brains in your body because you have one in your head and one in the baby that's in your tummy.  So does that mean you're extra smart?"  This boys brain is ALWAYS going.  His thought process and deductions blows me away sometimes.

Noah:  While I was pouring Noah some cereal he said he would get the milk.  I watched as he pulled the full gallon of milk from the fridge with difficulty.  It was heavy and he carried it to me with both hands and said, "I. . . WILL. . . NOT. . . LET. . . THIS. . . MILK. . . DEFEAT. . . ME!"

Owen:  This little man has added some new words to his vocabulary.  "No" has really opened up understanding between us.  Now it's so much easier to find out what he wants to eat by pointing to things.  His cutest new word is "ME!"  When we ask a question like 'who wants to. . . ' He raises both hands over his head and yells "ME!"  It is SO cute! Mostly, he does it when we ask who wants to say the prayer.  He is just so cute!

Happy Mothers Day

Mother's Day in Utah means it is now finally a safe time of year to work in the garden with out fear of snowfall. . . or at least we hope.  This week I've been working on our front garden.  Pulling weeds.  Planting flowers.  Laying out dirt and mulch.  Pulling more weeds.  Then today was the big day for the family backyard overhaul.  The plan: edge, mow, weed, place new compost and dirt.  Our plan changed a little.  We've spent four summers debating what to do with a huge rock/boulder that inhabited the center of our garden space.  It has made planning for this space almost impossible. Once Brett got working on weeding out 'the jungle', he decided once again to attempt to defeat the rock of all rocks.  After a few hours of sweat and dirt, he cleared enough space around the rock so that it could move back and forth with a lot of muscle.  There was no going back now.  After many attempts at moving it he took a trip to the hardware store and got some heavy machinery to help with the rock eviction.  He had fun drilling and pounding into the granite, breaking off several pieces to make it more manageable.  The boys got to try out "Thors Hammer" - as Noah called it.  During this process we had the dirt/compost delivered to us by some young men earning money for scout camp.  They unloaded the dirt around where Brett was working and the scout leader worked with Brett to move the rock to the side of the garden so it can be used as seating.  It's amazing what a difference it makes to have all that space cleared up.  The backyard is looking so much better.  I'll post some after pictures later this week once we get the lawn mowed.  

I'm amazed the boys could pick the hammer up it was heavy and hard to swing. 

This picture is a little deceiving.  He is NOT drilling into his foot. 

The drill was really loud, so the boys sat with their ears covered most of the time.  They had to be far enough away that they wouldn't have rock pieces flinging on them.  

I had the best Mother's Day this year, thanks to the men in my life:).  Hyrum and Noah were really excited about the 'Mom Party' and couldn't wait to give me breakfast.  They kept coming into our room way to early asking Brett (loudly)  if it was time to sneak downstairs and get me breakfast.  Once it was a decent hour to wake up, Brett went down with the boys and got me my cereal of choice. Noah ran up a few minutes before Brett and the other boys, threw a present on me, and then ran away.  I pretended to still be asleep:).  Once everyone was in the room I acted really surprised to see everyone.  I sat up and fed Owen my cereal that he was begging for before I opened presents.  The gifts were perfect and much needed/wanted.  I'm so glad Brett took what I told him I wanted and ran with it:).  In Kindergarten class Hyrum made a special card for me with a paper that talked about how great Mom's are.  I loved them, but I had to laugh at the checklist that had two attributes unmarked.  I don't think he actually read what they said, but it was pretty funny.:)  It was a great day and I am so grateful to be a Mom to such cute/wonderful/happy/smart/funny boys.