End of February

Last Monday (Feb. 22) it was a little rainy and cloudy, but we did our usual grocery swap.  The kids had fun playing.  After school I noticed Candy and Brooke seemed a little off, and sure enough, both of them were running low-grade fevers.  We had a nice FHE and talked about the plan of salvatoin and our new baby coming to us from heaven.  Anytime we talk about heaven, our kids talk about how Granny lives there and maybe she's playing with our baby and maybe she played with Candy, etc.  It's pretty sweet.  And then out of the blue Candy says, "But we didn't play for very long because when I was borned, then Boom!  Granny died!".  It was a pretty comical observation from our 4 year old--Dan and I had a hard time keeping a straight face.  As we talked about the baby coming to our family, Megan started asking some more detailed questions, so we got to cover some basic birds and bees with her after we put the other kids to bed--pretty exciting :).  She seemed to handle things pretty well though, and Dan and I survived too.

Tuesday I had Brooke and Candy home from school/joy school so I got to take 3 kids with me to my OB appointment.  Party ;).  But with Jack on the iPhone and Candy and Brooke on the kindle, they did pretty good.  Baby looks great and seems like she pretty happy hanging out in my tummy for now.  We stopped for a quick visit with Carrie before heading home for naps.  She seems to be healing up ok and not going too crazy from boredom.  Megan had piano and I had book club that night.

Brooke was better quick and went back to school on Wednesday.  Candy was still running a low fever, so we skipped playgroup and stayed home.  I got stuff done around the house and we layed low.  It was a tough sickness for Candy because when her medicine was working, she felt great and was so sad to not be able to have friends play.  Megan had A-days that afternoon.  After we got the kids to bed, I got to go to Ali's house for a baby shower/dessert night for me.  It was really fun and I felt loved and got lots of cute little girl clothes.  I still have some things left from my big girls, but it's fun to have some new things.  

Ali, Me, Ashley

 

Alina, Leann, me, Jen, Ali

Thursday Candy still had that low fever in the morning, so we had to move joy school to Friday since I was supposed to be teaching.  I took Jack and Candy with me to pick out some material to make a carseat cover for my baby and a blanket for my next door neighbor.  We had a quiet day again (Candy was pretty bored by now, but what are you gonna do?).  She was better by evening though.  

Friday morning Candy was recovered and we had a fun day of joy school.  It's my last day teaching until May, so I was excited too.  We did lots of little science experiments and the kids ate it up.  We made jello and dissolved sugar in water and mixed paint colors and saw what things sink and float, etc.  I finished my neighbor's blanket during quiet time.  Dan and I were supposed to go on a date to do sealings that night, but he got a really bad migraine at work and he stayed home.  Megan had a birthday party (a late-over til 10 pm!) and I took the other kids to babysit swap so I could go to the temple.  I JUST missed the session, so I did initiatories instead and that was great.  I came home and Dan and I watched a movie before we picked up all the kids.  

Saturday we had Megan's soccer game at 8 am.  She played better than last week and had a blast.  They tied 1-1.  She had a few good blocks and even got a kick on the goal.  We put on a zoom lens Dad gave us and had fun trying to get some action shots.  We came home and washed the cars (Dan washed the cars, the kids rode bikes, and I supervised).  Dan headed to a family history conference at church while the kids and I had quiet time.  We took the blanket over to our neighbors house, and they invited us in--this is their first baby and with our 4 kids there, they seemed a little overwhelmed by the craziness of our kids :).  Haha, they were nice though and we got to hear Romanian since they are from there and the grandparents are visiting for the next 6 months.  We had a quiet night at home.

Megan  our soccer star.

The funniest present ever--the box is a joke, but my friend totally tricked me into thinking it was real. 

It was a good Sunday.  Dan got to be with us at sacrament meeting AND Jack slept until after the sacrament, so it was one of our best sacrament meetings ever--our kids did great.  We had family dinner with everybody at Carrie's after church and taught the adults the new game we learned last week and had fun letting the kids play outside while we chatted and laughed. 

This morning, 38 and 1/7 weeks

We are ready for baby!  That's her little bed and changing table and cute clothes.

These 4 cuties before church...

Dan and sleepy Jack before church started.

Mid-February

Monday was a school holiday for President's day.  Ali watched my kids while I ran to the store for groceries.  Ashley was still out of town and didn't want to risk her kids getting the tummy bug from Candy and Megan so we didn't play with them Monday.  We ran to Academy to pick up some shin guards and cleats for Megan for soccer.  It was a pretty quiet day overall.  We met up with Ali and her kids and another friend at the park in the afternoon to ride bikes and play.  Then home for dinner and FHE and bed.
Tuesday I had my OB appointment.  Baby is doing well, I am doing well.  No signs of labor yet.  Megan, Brooke, and Candy had their dentist appointments in the afternoon (Jack is so jealous every time we go--they get these tokens to "buy" toys from a little vending machine and boy does Jack want one).  Then we ran home for Megan's piano lesson.
Wednesday I picked up Ali and her 4 year old and we headed down to the Children's Museum for playgroup.  The kids had a blast.  I let the girls ride bikes in front of the house after school and Candy finally got it!  2 wheels and she's off!  She was SO excited and has asked to ride bikes every day since then.
Thursday while Candy was at joy school, Jack got to help me organize closets and clean the floor and do other errands.  It was a good get-work-done day around the house.  Megan had her 2nd soccer practice.  She is all smiles as she runs around.
Friday was warm enough to break out the baby pool and some water toys. I mowed our front yard in the morning (Candy rode her bike while I did) and then Ali's 4 year old Luke came over to play in the water and Jack and Candy had fun.  We got a replacement for one of the swings that was broken, so I replaced that while they splashed around.  Friday night was our night for babysit swap.  Just the Tracy's and the kids were good.
Saturday we got to watch Megan's first soccer game--it was pretty entertaining.  Megan told us she wanted to be goalie when we were on our way there--we told her that her coach would decide who played where.  Sure enough, right before the game started, we looked up and Megan was putting on the goalie jersey.  Keep in mind that Megan's entire exposure to soccer at this point was her 2 practices.  She'd never really watched a game.  So the other team made it down the field, right in front of the goal and took a shot.  Megan blocked it by kicking it away--right to the other team.  They took another shot and she kicked it away again (at this point we realized that she didn't know she was allowed to pick up the ball).  They got it in on the third try.  And Megan carefully got the ball out of the net with her feet and kicked it to the ref--hilarious!  Her turn as goalie was over after the first quarter and miraculously they were only down 2-1.  She had fun trying out the other positions too.  Good thing it was a scrimmage.  It was fun to watch.  In the afternoon, Ali's son Alonzo was baptized along with another kid from the ward.  I got to lead the music and Dan and Ali sang a duet.  It was really nice.  We went to Ali's for refreshments afterwards and ended up staying to play and have pizza with them and learned a new card game, Castle that we'll have to teach you. 
It was a good Sunday.  Dan didn't have early meetings and it was nice to have him home as we all got ready.  He wasn't with us at sacrament meeting, but the kids did well overall.  Jack was the busiest, so I didn't hear too much of the talks.  After church was a quiet afternoon.  There was a dessert night to thank our outgoing bishop in the evening.  It was fun to look back on his 5 1/2 years as the first Bishop of our ward.

Jack passed out Tuesday after we took Candy to joy school.  He's starting to be able to sleep anywhere.  In fact, he slept on the floor in the corner of the Relief Society room for almost all of Alonzo's baptism service.

Look, the bookshelves from Dad's house found a new home in my room...

And the freezer that just. barely. fits.  But it fits!

Jack and Candy at the museum

Our little happy goalie...

V-Day

Monday I took Brooke to school early so she could audition for a solo in the 1st grade musical.  We haven't heard back on that yet.  I left from the early dropoff and did a super fast grocery run with Candy and Jack.  That way when Ashley was watching them for me, I could run to Ikea to get a dresser--I got one last week, but they didn't have 2 but got more in over the weekend.  I got that purchased and came back to watch the kiddos while Ashley ran to the store.  Dan had a work dinner that night, so we did FHE with just the kids and had a good time talking about obedience--a favorite lesson of ours :). 
Tuesday I taught joy school at my house and in the afternoon my visiting teachers came and Megan had piano after school.  I haven't had visiting teachers in a LONG time (our ward rotates them among active sisters so that the needy sisters always have them but no partnership has more than 2 people to visit).  With the baby coming soon, it's nice to have them again!  The lesson this month was about strengthening marriages and we had a fun discussion.  I know one of them well, but the other has only been in our ward for 3 months--b/c she just got married 3 months ago and they moved from the singles ward to ours.  It was good for Candy since she has struggled a little to not be nervous with her new primary teachers. I had to finish up Megan's teacher's birthday gift that night too.  All the parents donated money and I got to go buy a bunch of cute things and gift cards for her.  It was fun to put together.  Another mom in the class took it to the teacher for me on Wednesday.
Wednesday we had playgroup at a friend's house in Fall Creek and at 11:30, I met Shad and Amy at my house so they could drop off Molly and Ellie while they headed to the airport to spend a few days in California for some ortho conference.  Ellie doesn't know me super well and she was NOT sure about getting abandoned here!  But after about 20 minutes and some silly youtube kids songs, she stopped crying and warmed up a little.  She did fine the rest of the time playing with Molly and her cousins, she just seemed a little quieter than usual.  I put together the dressers at naptime and moved Candy's old dresser into the baby's room.  I watched Ali's kids afterschool too while she decorated for the blue and gold banquet.  Megan had A-days also.  The kids all had fun together and mostly played outside--it was fantastic weather this week, upper 70s most days.
Thursday was joy school here again and Molly and Ellie got to participate too.  The kids were good and had fun.  Sally came to pick up Molly and Ellie just before naptime.  She also brought me fudge from Old Town Spring, yum.  Megan had her first soccer practice that night.  She had a blast running around and by the end was getting better at dribbling and controlling the ball.  Her coach seems nice.  We don't know anyone else on the team, but Megan was making friends. 
Friday I watched Ashley's younger girls all morning (she went out of town for a few days) til 1 pm.  I took the kids to Target to pick out a birthday present for a party that afternoon and then we went to the park for 2 hours for a picnic lunch.  I dropped off Ashley's kids and then took Candy and Jack with me to the school to set up and run the valentine's party in Megan's class.  It went well, much easier than the Christmas party and the kids had fun.  After school, it was Ali's son Alonzo's 8th birthday party from 4 to 7.  It was minecraft themed and even though my girls know nothing about that, they had fun.  The kids played games outside and did perler beads (those melty bead things you do on a grid) and had pizza and cake.  Dan came over after work and we got to have pizza too. 
In the wee hours of Saturday morning (4 am for Candy and 5 am for Megan) we got woken up with throwing up kiddos.  Fun (not!).  But thankfully it wasn't too bad and they felt better by mid morning.  Dan spent the morning meeting up with Dad and Sally and shad's kids except Hailey (in Shad's truck) to move the white freezer from the back room to our laundry room.  And 2 of the bookshelves from the family room.  I'm so excited for all of those.  As with most things like that, it always takes longer than usual, but it got done.  Dad had some exciting moments with the freezer tipping over while on the freeway and such, but they made it.  With sick kids, we had to cancel our date night and opted for some pei wei takeout and a movie.  It was a nice valentine's eve. 
It's been a good Sunday.  Dan went for early meetings (that he found out had been cancelled), spoke in a Spanish ward, and met up with our ward for the last 2 hours of church.  Jack slept for the first half of sacrament meeting, so I felt like our kids were awesome at being reverent :).  He managed to wake up and run to the stand once before it ended.  Candy was spotlighted today.  She brought a book (I love to read!), her tennis shoes (I love to run!), and her doll from Christmas (I love to play with my Jenny doll!).  She was cute.  After church was quiet and we had a yummy dinner of shrimp and pasta.  The kids were a little naughty after dinner, but they managed to clean up their messes and we played some games before reading to them for bedtime. 
We're down to just 4 weeks til this baby girl's due date which is starting to feel really close.  I'm doing well and she wiggles a lot. 

I couldn't resist buying some clothes for the baby while I was out shopping for Megan's teacher

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Here is one of the new dressers.  They tuck right into the closet on each side.

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Jack and Ellie were pretty cute together.  Love those 2 year olds.

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Megan is in the blue shirt.  This is from her first soccer practice.

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Buddies at the park on Friday

A wiped out Jack on Friday afternoon after the class party and before Alonzo's party. 

 

Megan and Jack at her class party.

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And me today before church.  36 weeks

First week of February

Monday last week we did our grocery swap as usual.  FHE that night and all that.
Tuesday was a busy day.  I dropped Candy off at Joy School and headed to my 34 week checkup--all is well with baby and me.  Then I drove to Carrie's house.  She had her surgery that morning and Dad stayed there til I arrived with Jack.  She was OUT.  I woke her up a little after 1 pm so I could get her to my house and settled in before I had to get my big girls from school. 
My kids LOVED being little nurses for Aunt Carrie--they would take turns filling her water bottle, adjusting pillows, and having her read books to them.  Since she couldn't do stairs, Dan and I got to sleep upstairs in our guest room for the first time.  It wasn't too bad.  And I had fun hanging out with her and making sure she was taken care of. 
Wednesday I had playgroup at my house in the morning and picked up the kids from early release at noon.  We went to a friend's street for playing and riding bikes with a bunch of other kids from the ward/neighborhood for a few hours. 

This is Jack all ready to ride his bike (and after eating an ice cream sandwich)

​ Then back home to check in on Carrie.  After getting her settled into bed on Wednesday night, I started to feel a bad cold coming on.  I woke up a little after midnight with fever and chills--miserable.  I was worried about my fever (it's not good for the baby if my temp goes to high), but after some tylenol and a blessing from Dan, I was able to sleep and my fever didn't go too high. 

After I dropped Candy at joy school, I helped Carrie get packed up to head back to her house.  I dropped her off a little before noon.  She was doing pretty well at that point.  I came home that day and got a good nap before picking up my big girls.  I taught about CPR and allergic reactions at the RS activity that night and it went well. 
Friday Dan worked from home which was great.  I watched Ashley's kids in the morning while she went to visit my visit teachee in the hospital (the old one who had a stroke a few months back).  Sammie (my visit teachee) is really sick.  She has an infection and pneumonia (and an antibiotic resistant infection at that, so I probably won't be going to see her myself with the baby coming so soon).  Then Ashley watched Candy and Jack while I ran to Ikea to buy dressers for them (so I can move their dresser to the baby's room).  That night we had Ali and her family over for dinner and the kids played while the adults chatted and watched a movie.

Saturday morning Dan took the kids to shoot baskets at the church in the morning.  I ran to a baby shower for a friend.  When I got home, Dan went back to the church to set up chairs for a funeral that afternoon.  A young girl aged 19 in our ward lost her life last week after battling mental illness and depression for years.  Dan is their home teacher.  He went to the funeral in the afternoon while I stayed home with our kids and watched the Bishop's kids too.  He said it was really nice--this family has had a pretty rough life but they are relying on their testimonies to get them through this hard time.  It was touching to see the ward come together to help the family. 

Jack was tired after playing with cousins late Friday night--he passed out on the couch Saturday morning.

​It's been a good Sunday today.  Dan had early meetings, but the kids were really good this morning and he was able to come to most of our sacrament meeting.  Brooke shared her testimony today and Dan did too.  Jack kept saying "my turn!" because he loves to share his testimony at FHE--he just didn't understand why we wouldnt' let him (he also wanted to say the closing prayer at Sacrament meeting!  it's tough to be 2).  After church we had a nice dinner and played some games and read stories with the kids.  Then we facetimed with Dan's parents and put the kids to bed. 

Here's the crew eating brownies while we read scriptures tonight:

And snuggling while we facetimed.