Preggo Picture

So this is me at 38 weeks...and one day. Every day counts so I had to add that one in there. Yes I am wearing scrubs that Joe "borrowed" from the University Hospital during his 3rd yr surgery rotation-thanks for asking. They are one of the few pants that aren't uncomfortably tight on me.I also took a couple bare-belly pictures. Personally I wouldn't care if I posted them, but I know it grosses some people out. Including my husband. What is your take? It IS my personal blog and not my facebook. On the other hand, this is not a private blog. Meh, if I get a bunch of requests I'll post it, otherwise i won't worry about it.

This is a true testament to how much my boys love to dress up. On the day we got our Christmas stuff out, Ethan snagged some stockings and a Santa hat to wear around the house. They still wear their Halloween costumes most days, so this was a fun change of pace. As annoying as it can be to help them into their costumes almost every day, its so cute to hear them refer to each other by their character. They run around the house saying "Mario, come play trains!" or "Hey Luigi, chase me!" I absolutely have to play along or I'll get corrected. I'll say "what's wrong? Did Noah hit?" and I'll get the answer "No, Woody hit me." I will, of course, have to call for Woody and send him to timeout. (woody was last year's costume).

Joe has his last day before Christmas break tomorrow. After that, this baby has my official permission to come join us. What do you think my chances are that I'll conveniently be a week and a half early? I'm trying to be positive and proactive. I've been eating spicy food-despite my constant heartburn. I got out the exercise ball to bounce around on. I've tried pressure points. I've tried other things... ya, this blog isn't private so I won't get into it. Anyway, this baby needs to come out soon. I'm hoping sheer willpower and determination on my end will make it happen. You can laugh at me later, but for now, don't mess with the crazy pregnancy thought process. Wish me luck!

ethan and noah nativity

Last night was our ward Christmas party, and the sunbeams put on a nativity for everyone. The video is kinda long, so this is mostly for grandma's and parents. Ethan is Joseph, and his friend Jane Summers is Mary. Evelyn Keyes is the angel, and Noah, Jake Dougherty, Spencer Rasmussen, and Ben Grout are shepherds. I am the giant pregnant lady holding the mic, and Joe is the weird guy who occasionally pops out from behind the stable to corral the kids. Enjoy!

Boys Playing, and Joe Playing

This is what the boys have been up to lately: Building "tunnels". This is a fort we made out of blankets on their bunk beds. They loved it! I find that if I want the boys to actually sleep for nap time i have to bribe them with something fun when they wake up-but only if they take a good nap. This is one of those bribes. Building a tunnel.

Another bribe is playing in the leaves.

They sure are cute. They loved jumping in the giant pile of leaves out front and were supremely disappointed when the city came by to suck up all the leaves.

Here is Joe's project from Saturday. As you can see below, we have an awkward nook in the boys room. Its good for nothing, so yesterday Joe spent all day turning it into...

....This. A built in shelf. Now the boys have a place in their room for their books, hamper, and some toys. While Joe was hammering away I took the opportunity to reupholster the rocking ottoman. It was a cream color with LOTS of stains on it from the boys. We use it as a time-out chair. I also moved the boys recently repainted letters into their room. I think it looks so much better, and now it can be more organized too. Good job Joe!

Better quality video from the previous post.

Surprise from Joe

Last night while I was at a baby shower Joe was putting together a surprise for me-and the boys helped.




While watching this I was biting my nails nervously-even though i'd seen the finished product and knew it didn't end in disaster. I was torn between being very worried, and a little proud. I guess thats how it always goes when you let your kids try something new.

Here is the crib all set up with the completely amazing crib bedding I made. Its so crazy to have this all set up. It means a baby will be sleeping in it soon.

Trip to Utah

Sorry, i don't have any pictures. Pathetic right? 4 weeks in Utah and I don't have a single picture. I didn't pack my camera for fear that I'd have my luggage checked and have it stolen. Turns out I did have my luggage inspected on the return flight, so I do NOT regret this decision.
I'll have to keep this post fairly brief since nobody will read a long post with no pics, and I can't blame you.
Quick overview:
Joe has an externship in Des Moines for school for 5 weeks so I decided to spend the first 4 weeks in Utah so I could get some help with the boys. This is another decision I do NOT regret. I cannot tell you how good it was to have so much help. I don't think I could have made it through these 4 weeks otherwise. He still has to finish out this last week, but i can handle one week alone.
the highlights:
-The boys playing with their cousins in Salt Lake. At one point, all of the twins (there are 6 of them) were running around in super hero costumes screaming and hero-ing. it was so much fun to watch them all play together.
-The boys playing with their cousins in Price. One of the nights all of the cousins went to the dirt hills to ride a mini motorcycle. Obviously my boys were too little for this, but it was so fun to see the boys running around with their cousins in the same dirt hills that Joe spent his childhood running around in.
-The Gluten Free Expo. I came home with 4 loaded bags of free stuff. Super awesome.
-My mom putting my kids to bed for me for 2 weeks. Oh. My. Goodness. Can you imagine not having to put your kids to bed for 2 weeks? Seriously-it was SO NICE!
-Relaxing in Price. Peggy (Joe's mom), and Sarah (Joe's sister) probably got sick of my non-contributing laziness, but it was so helpful not to have to worry about meals, and housekeeping etc. Plus Sarah's little girl Molly kept the boys attention most of the time and i just got to sit and relax, and grow my new baby.
-Visiting friends. I got to see a lot of my Utah friends while i was in salt lake-plus some Iowa friends that recently moved to Utah. The boys loved seeing "jackson and akenna" (jackson and makenna), and i loved seeing their mom Kassie.
-i loved seeing my family. over the 4 weeks i was able to visit with all of my siblings and in-laws. plus i got to spend a whole week with my mom, which is rare since she works full time.
-gluten free restaurants. mmmmm.
The Low-lights:
-missing Joe. a lot.
-a very dear friend of mine passed away on oct 24th. But i felt blessed to be in Utah when it happened so that i could get together with our mutual friends and share pictures and memories about her.
-missing Joe more
-Noah discovering that I don't punish him as harshly around grandma. He was such a punk sometimes. He needed/I needed Joe there to back me up. And Ethan felt like he NEEDED to play with the ipad all the time. ugh.
-missing Joe when i had nightmares. yes i have nightmares and yes i usually wake Joe up to help calm myself down.
-the flight back to Utah was terrible, but it's over so i don't have to think about it anymore.

Conslusion: for those of you dental wives who'll have to go through this 5 week externship without their husbands, i would most definitely recommend getting to some extra help if you can swing it. 4 weeks is a long time to be away from Joe, but it was totally worth it. the time went by pretty quickly, and my kids still have all of their limbs attatched. Neither of those things would have happened if i'd stayed in Iowa.

The boys have been....taxing lately. That's the nicest way I can put it. They're 3. And there are 2 of them. And Joe has been working late a lot. And my belly is finally big enough that bending down is quite uncomfortable. Sorry, no belly pic today. Anyway, the culmination of all of it has made for a tough week. This had been my saving grace.See that sad little face? Ethan fell on something-maybe a Tupperware bin? I was in the other room when it happened. But now every time I look at those sad eyes I can't stand to be mad at him. After all, he's been through so much. Not really, but the poor kid looks pathetic.

Noah, on the other hand, is perfectly capable. Here he is smiling for the camera, and completely oblivious to Ethan's poor eye. Both the boys have been so DEFIANT lately. Unfortunately for Noah he has no ailment to gain my sympathies. My friend Angela offered to bop him over the head so that I'd like him more. Sadly, this plan may have worked. That's when you know you need some time away.
This picture makes me laugh. Joe is trying to put Neosporin on sad little Ethan, and Noah is smiling his biggest for the camera.

This is what I've been doing to get away. In preparation for the new baby, I've been sewing some crib bedding for her. I realized very quickly that new crib bedding is outrageously expensive, and I happened to have a lot of fabric stored up over the years. So far I've made a crib bumper out of some pink curtains and I patched together this crib quilt. The only fabrics i had to buy were the owl fabric, and stripes. As of when I started making this I've spent about $5. I'll still need to buy some batting and yarn to tie the quilt, but then I'll be done.

I'm quite proud of the bedding on a budget. I'm not very proud of my mothering skills lately, but hopefully it'll get better soon. And if not, I'm flying to Utah in Oct for the whole month and then my family can take my kids off of my hands for a while.