Living Planet Aquarium

We went to the Living Planet Aquarium with Joe, Jaime, the girls and my Grandma. It was Spring Break and sooo sooo sooo crowded but the kids still had a lot of fun. I didn't get a lot of pictures because it was so busy. But the kids loved the sharks, sting rays, and the penguins. I absolutely loved the penguins. They were so dang cute. It was a fun place to go to on a rainy day.

What a bummer

We have been doing a lot of yard work the last week. We decided to put small rock pebbles between our plants and it has been a lot of work. Mostly for Jon, but I have tried to help out where I can. I will post pictures soon. Yesterday I was having a lot of contractions so I worked even harder, went on a walk, went and got adjusted at the chiropractor, hoping to go into labor. But the contractions went away by the time I went to bed and they were replaced by severe low back pain. I didn't sleep at all. I thought I might be having back labor. I had my Dr. appointment this morning and I am only dilated to a 1 1/2. And I found out all of the pain was from a bladder infection. What a bummer. My doctor said a bladder infection makes contraction and back pain feel 10x worse then they are. I definitely do not want a replay of how I went into labor with Calvin. I had a bladder infection but didn't know it and it turned into a kidney infection. Calvin's heartbeat was over 200 and I had a super high fever. Needless to say I was in the hospital for the infection and ended up going into labor. So, if you are reading this, please say a prayer that I can get over this infection quickly and not have any scary complications. Thanks.

Easter week

We had a great Easter week despite the fact that I had to miss out on Moab for the first time in probably 15 years. I am too far along to be traveling to Moab, I wouldn't have been able to hike or 4 wheel, so I decided it was easier to take care of the kids at home than in a hotel. Jon took the blazer and had a blast with my family. I will have to convince him to do a post about his trip.

The Sunday before Easter we had a party at Grandma Nancy's and Papa Coach's house. We had yummy food and a fun Easter egg hunt. The kids had a blast finding eggs. They even got a money egg with some change for their piggy banks.

Through out the week we spent a lot of time with Grandma Nancy and Papa Coach. Before Jon left to Moab he had a gas spill in the garage and it stunk up the whole house. I couldn't stand the smell and so we spent a lot of time away from home. We tried everything to get the smell out. Kitty litter, charcoal, baking soda, coke, etc etc. When Jon got home he scrubbed the garage floor several times with this cleaner I bought from the parts store and that seemed to help.

I took the kids to see the movie "How to Train your Dragon" with Jeri, Darcy, Parker, Nancy and Coach. We had such a good time. The movie was great. We will definitely be purchasing that one when it comes out.

The kids and I had conference breakfast at Nancy's on Saturday. And then Nancy completely pampered me by giving me a pedicure. It was so sweet of her and it felt really great.

Easter morning the kids got an Easter basket and outfit from the Easter bunny. They were very excited.

On Sunday we went to Grandma Wendy's for Easter lunch. We had yummy food, more Easter egg hunting and good company. It was a great Easter with it being conference weekend as well. I love listening to conference. To me the theme this time seemed to be a lot about families. Motherhood, priesthood, teaching our children to choose the right. It was really great to feel the spirit and be reminded of our wonderful responsibility to be and raise a righteous generation.

Drawing

Calvin has been obsessed with Drawing lately. He draws 20 pictures a day. Of pirates and castles and whatever he can think of. He has made numerous birthday cards and other fun things.

Ever since Calvin was really little Jon would draw for him in Sacrament meeting to keep him entertained and now Calvin loves to draw and I think he is getting pretty good at it. Here are just a couple of his drawings.

Lily follows everything Calvin does, so of course she also loves to draw. You can't quite figure out what she has made a picture of, so I always ask her what it is and put little narration notes on the picture. One day she drew a crazy, scribble picture and Jon asked her what it was, she said "It is a bad storm." Jon still laughs about that.

Uncle Derek's birthday card. The top says: Derek's Castle Birthday. It is a picture of Megan, Travis, Grandma and Derek as knights. Derek is the knight at the top and he is fishing in the castle mote. Calvin wrote everything at the top. I just helped him with the spelling. I wrote the smaller notes.

The picture below is of a pirate that is fishing with his pirate powers, not a fishing pole. His ship is right by him and it is raining, all of the circles are clouds. There is a lighting bolt on the left side and of course the X marks the spot.

Jon's deer, not to be confused with Dear Jon

Jon found a deer at work the other day. This particular deer was pretty sick and wildlife resources had to come and take care of it. But Jon wanted to take a picture with it first. So here it is, Alive, just not kicking.

Birthday fun

We had a birthday party for my brother Derek here at our house. We had yummy Mexican food and fun games and my dad talked to us about the butterfly effect, which is pretty cool. I am sure you can Google it and find out more. But it is about how our actions can effect a whole lot more than we realize. It was a fun family night.

This dress is itchy

Jon got Lily ready for church and she came down the stairs and said, "Mom, this dress is itchy." I just had to get a picture of that sad face.

Getting close

Here I am at 34 weeks pregnant.

At my 31 week appointment they checked to see if I was dilating because I have been having a lot of contractions. I was not, thank goodness. But I was 40% effaced. I measured 28 centimeters. With all three kids I usually measure 2-3 centimeters smaller than the week I am at.

The last couple of months have been really hard. I have been getting contractions or braxton hicks just about everyday since 27 weeks. Sometimes they hurt, sometimes they don't. But I am sick of them. I don't sleep because I have to go to the bathroom every hour. The baby is very active. I mean, very, very active. I do love feeling the baby move, except for the kicks in the bladder and in the ribs.

I have been a lot more uncomfortable with this pregnancy and it has seemed to take forever. I think it may be because I never really got to heal from the surgery before I started growing. But all is well and I am thankful for that.

We are having a hard time deciding on a name. The ones we are considering are Anabelle, Ayva, Addison, Ansley. But we are still looking at all options. I was in love with the name Anabelle at the beginning and now I don't know. The kids still love it.

In preparation for baby to come we bought a new stroller. A sit and stand, it is made for two kids but can actually fit 3 if needed. I have wanted one for a long time. We got a new car seat that fits in the stroller. The baby clothes are washed and in the dresser and I think we are about ready. Except for labor and delivery, can you ever be ready for that? I am because I am uncomfortable, I am not ready because it is scary. I am going to try to do it natural again. The epidural with Calvin was so scary, I couldn't breathe and it made me swell up everywhere. Natural birth with Lily was amazing but extremely painful. I have a birthing coach or Doula to be in the room with Jon and myself. Hopefully she will be a really big help like my nurse was with Lily.

I am thinking I have about a month left. My due date is in just over 6 weeks but I had both Calvin and Lily 3 weeks early, so that is 3-4 weeks away. It would be ironic if I had the baby on April 17th (which is 3 wks before my due date) because I have super Saturday at the church, and I really want to go. And it is Megan's baby shower. I missed all of Megan and Andy's wedding, endowment, and reception because I was in the hospital having Calvin. Hopefully I don't miss her baby shower too.

I am scared, excited, anxious, tired, all the emotions you can think of. Pregnancy is wonderful and it is a miracle. I am so excited to meet this little baby girl.