Perfect Day

There is not much going on here to report really, except that we are having the perfect day today. We went to take Weston to school this morning and it was a crisp 65 outside. The sun was shining, there was a light breeze and we had nothing to do on our agenda. It was the perfect day for playing outside. According to the weather man, this is what typical late August weather is like. It will be about 82 today and sunny. I think that I can deal with this!!! We took full advantage of this perfect day to spend over an hour at the park here by our apartment before going inside. Days like this make me so glad to be alive and able to enjoy the world outside with my wonderful children. It makes me sit back, relax and enjoy what is really important: being there with my kids and watching them have fun. They won't be little forever!!! The floors and the bathrooms can wait....today I am enjoying a perfect day with my kids. "Count your many blessings, name them one by one; And it will surprise you what the Lord has done!!!!" Here is hoping that everyone else has a perfect day too!!!!!!

Haircut!!!!

Tonight I turned on a PBS show for the boys and set to work trimming up Aaron's hair. He still doesn't have much, but it was getting way too long in the back and around the ears. I tried to take a picture so that you could see his neatly trimmed hair around the ears, but I don't really think that you can tell!! Oh well, he is a cute boy and so just enjoy the picture of him!!!!

Here he is after the haircut. I think that is the remains of dinner around his mouth!! Oops! I guess that I didn't clean him up as well as I thought! :)
Of course the other boys wanted me to take pictures of them too!! Here is my big 2nd grader!!! What a cute Westy Pesty!
Last but not least, my sweet fry guy!!! I sure am lucky to have such good and well behaved little boys!! Hope you enjoyed the cute pictures!

Oh, and yes, I know that the other boys need haircuts too!! That is on my list of things to get accomplished this week before the baby arrives. I got Barth's done on Saturday, and so now there are just 2 more cuts to go!!!!

1 Week Left

Because I know that everyone is just DYING to see how I look just one week before I deliver (ha! ha!) I thought that I would post one more picture. I am counting down the days now!!!!!! I am excited because I go in for my LAST doctor's appointment today!!! Hooray for me! We are now all set for the baby to come, now all she has to do is arrive!

And I know that the picture is just a little blurry, but I had Brian take it for me today!!!

What?!!!

Last night as I was watching the news to see the weather, I was VERY surprised to see that schools around the area would be closing early today due to the hot weather!!! What in the world is that all about? It is only supposed to be about 95 today, but many of the districts will be closing at 1pm so that "children can get home before the heat of the day!!" The only thing that I can figure is that perhaps they don't have air conditioning?! I think that closing for snow, or hurricanes or other things like that seem fine, but really, for weather in the 90's??!!!!!

Better be a Girl!!!

10 Days and counting!!!!!! All I have to say is that this baby had better be a girl, otherwise he will have a pink complex!!!! I got a car seat today. (You get to do things like get all new stuff if all your old stuff is in storage!) I decided that since I don't have a house, I at least get a pink car seat for a pink little girl!!!! I took a picture for everyone to see just how cute it is!!!!!!!! I am getting very excited! Now that I have a car seat to bring home Amber in, she can come anytime!!!!!

And in case you can't tell, the pattern is flowers and butterflies!!!

Random

There is not much going on here on our home front. Mostly I am just MAJORLY uncomfortable and feeling like I am going to pop any second. I have started the countdown and there are officially 11 more days!!!!!! I keep telling Barth that I wouldn't mind if this baby came tomorrow and he keeps telling me that she needs to wait. He says it is all planned out and if Amber comes now we will have too long of a time between the time I have her and the time Momma comes up to help!! So I guess that 11 days it is!!!!! Here are a few pictures that I took while Weston was at school this past week.

Brian wanted to make balls out of his play-doh. He counted as he made them. He said that there were 107, but after doing fun things like grouping into sets of 10's we found that he had really made 77!!! Still he had a lot of fun.

And here is Aaron giving me his cheesy smile!! He loves to say cheese when he sees the camera out!! What a little ham!

Take a Guess

Okay Amanda!! Here you go.... I will post the weights of the boys so that everyone can guess how big this little (or perhaps not so little) girl will be when she arrives in 2 weeks.

Weston- 8 lbs 9 oz
Brian- 8 lbs 8 oz
Aaron- 8 lbs 11 oz

Take a guess at how big you think Amber will be!!!!!

2 weeks to go!!!

Okay, here I am with 2 weeks to go!! I went to the doctor today and I am measuring as big now as I was right before I delivered with the boys!! The doctor said today that it looked like it was going to be a big baby. No surprise there since the others were fairly big too!! Let me know what you think!!

I decided to add a comparison picture from how I looked just 5 days before I delivered Aaron so you can see if you think I look bigger now or then or about the same!!!

All is Well

Here is just an update for those who are interested. We finally got a call from the doctor today saying that the results of Brian's MRI were in and everything looked totally normal. What a relief!!! It is good to know that the headaches and dizziness are not caused by a tumor and that everything looks great. I think news like this is some of the best news that a mother can hear!!!!! At least it is for me.

1st Day of School!!!!

I can't believe it!! The lazy days of summer are over and I now have a 2nd grader!!!!!!! Here are a few pictures of Weston on his first day of school!!

He wanted me to take 2 pictures of him~ one of his "regular smile" as he calls it (with mouth closed) as shown here.
And one of his "toothy smile!" What a cute and big boy!! He is really growing up isn't he!!!
Lastly, here he is with his new backpack and lunchbox all set to go!!! He was so excited. I can't wait to pick him up and hear how his first day went!!!!

Uncle Aaron Fishing Fling!!!

Since tomorrow will be Uncle Aaron's birthday, we honored him today by having the 2nd annual Uncle Aaron Fishing Fling!! Mom, Dad, Steven, Amanda and Pierce had one in TX in the morning but ours was held in the afternoon. We were not sure if we were going to be able to have ours today since this morning Brian was still woozy from the sedation of the MRI and seemed to have croup!!! He got better as the day went on though. The children's hospital called this afternoon to see how Brian was recovering and I mentioned that he seemed congested and croupy. The nurse said that was perfectly normal after the kind of sedation that he had received and the croup would start to lessen within 24 hours. So, now knowing that he was A-okay, we headed out to a "lake" near our place. It wasn't a lake really. More like a really large pond, but it had fish and that was all that mattered!! We found a great spot that wasn't really near to anyone else and had lots of shade!! We had a lot of fun fishing and remembering Uncle Aaron!!!! This first set of pictures are while we are getting ready. Enjoy!!!

Aaron headed down to check out the water!! Is he excited or what?!!!
There was this nice picnic table that was great for getting everything ready to fish. I couldn't find the hooks and bobbers and things that I have (must be in boxes somewhere...it's the story of my life!!!) so we made a quick trip to Wal-Mart for the needed tackle!!! The table was great for getting the poles all ready with the weights and swivels and hooks and things that we had just bought. Plus, it was shady!!!
The boys thought that it was fun to throw numerous rocks into the water at the lake. We told them that it would scare the fish away, but they didn't care. Rocks and lakes and boys just go together!!!!!
Tossing in the rocks while Mommy fixes up the poles!!!
Here are the boys holding up the new bobbers that I got. They are smiley face bobbers!!!!!! I just couldn't resist when I saw them!
For about the first hour that we were there, we saw this deer that was directly across the lake from us. It was eating grass and drinking from the lake. It was very cool!!!! There were also quite a few ducks on the lake too, but we didn't get pictures of them.

Fishing Fun

Here are some picture of the boys doing their fishing. We were there for a few hours and it was a perfect day. I don't think that it got above about 83 today and there was hardly any humidity. (Thank goodness we did it today and not tomorrow since it is supposed to be 95 tomorrow!!) Enjoy the pictures.

Here is Brian getting ready to cast!!!
Weston waiting for a bite. He was a little disappointed that he didn't catch anything, but glad that we went and he had a great time!
This is a picture of the spot that we had. There really weren't many people close by where we were. I enjoyed a nice shady spot on the weeds and watched the boys do their fishing!!! At first Aaron stuck close by me, not too terribly sure what this whole fishing thing was all about. That soon changed though!!!
More of Brian fishing. I just thought that it was a cool picture since he was kinda doing a flamingo pose!!!
Me watching the fishing. I included this one mostly so that you could see how big I am. If I am not sitting, I have my hands on my back because it is really starting to hurt. I am getting to the pretty uncomfortable stage. It is amazing how you forget just how uncomfortable you can get at the end!!!
Barth and Brian!!! Barth was the chief hook baiter, line caster and fish de-hooker!!! In between doing those things, he also took a vast majority of the pictures!!! Thanks dear!!!!
Here he is re-baiting the hook for Brian!!
Aaron finally got into the swing of things. We would cast the line out and then he would reel it in!! He thought that this was great fun. The only problems was that once he found out how fun the fishing was, he didn't want to give his Weston and Brian their poles back!!! :)
What a big fisherman, just like his Uncle Aaron!!

Catches of the Day

Here are the big catches of the day!!! Weston and Brian each had a catch of their own!! Weston's was pretty unique though~

Here he is checking out his "big catch!!"
And this is what he caught....himself!!!!
Brian caught 2 fish! (The only fish that were caught actually...must be the curly hair!) The first was rather small, but the second was bigger. Once it got to the surface he was unsure about the whole thing and very gladly passed off his pole to Mommy and Daddy and wanted nothing to do with that fish!!!
Here he is with his fish. You can see what I mean by the look on his face!
Aaron thought that the fish was rather novel though and would put his hand right up next to it as if he were going to touch it and then wave at the fish and say, "Hi Shishie!" which is to say hi fishie.
This was a close up of the bigger of the 2 fish that Brian caught.
Weston thought that it was pretty cool to touch the fish though!!! He thought that it felt slimy and neat.
It was only fitting that the last one down at the lake/ large pond was Aaron. Taking after his namesake, he didn't want to leave. He was the last man standing!!! While his brothers were already in the car, Aaron had to take one (or about 10) last casts!!!
It was a terrifically fun afternoon and a great way to remember Uncle Aaron. We are so glad that we had such great weather and for a great Uncle like Aaron so that we could honor his memory by spending a day together as a family and remembering that family is most important. We can't wait to see him again when we get to Heaven. I am so glad that families are forever!!!!!

Brian Update

I just heard from Barth. Brian is finally out of the recovery room and they are on their way home. The MRI was supposed to take place at 12:30 but they didn't get in until almost 2pm. Brian was put totally to sleep and it took a little while for him to wake up. He will be very sleepy for the next 24 hours and we will more than likely hear something on Monday. That is the update!!!

The Aquatic Center

Alright, I know that everyone is dying to see a picture of Barth and I together, but I forgot to have Weston take one last night before we went out. Maybe tonight!! Sorry!

As another side note before we get to the pool, Brian's MRI is tomorrow at 12:30. Since I am not able to be in with him because I am pregnant, Barth will be taking him in tomorrow. He has to be there at noon and then they will sedate him. The MRI will take about an hour, and then he will have to go to recovery because of the sedation. He should be home sometime in the late afternoon and we will have some results by Monday I think!!

And now......onto the pool!!! The boys LOVE the aquatic center (which is just a fancy name for the city pool). We haven't gone too terribly many times this summer because we have our free apartment pool, but since this was the last week of summer, we wanted to go one last time. It was fairly overcast on Tuesday (the day we went) and the pool was nearly empty! It was so nice. The water was a little cold since it was only about 84 outside, but the boys didn't care!!! Here are some picture of the fun things that they did at the pool!

Weston and Brian at the end of the octopus slide that is in the shallow section. They have all these palm tree things in the water that mist and dump water!
Aaron before he went in! He is my little shadow and won't do anything unless I am there!! You can see the octopus slide and palm trees better in this picture.
The pool also has a spray ground with it that is in the pool area. The boys love this part, especially Aaron who will venture out with his brothers into the spraying water without me! Here is Weston standing in the spray!
In the spray part they also have a kiddie spray section that is made just for the little ones like Aaron. I didn't get a good picture of it, but here is Aaron spraying Weston in the little kids section. Aaron's favorite thing to do was to put his foot over the spray to stop it and then step off and see the water shoot back up!
Here is Brian and Aaron by the spray part. Brian is running around and trying not to get hit by the buckets of water! You can see a little better the spray part and you can also see the slides that the boys like in the background. They are too short to go on the red slide, but both boys enjoyed going on the yellow slide over and over again. You can't see it really in the picture, but just past the spray ground is the lazy river. We all enjoyed floating in the tubes and just relaxing!!
What a cute couple of kids!!!!!
Best brothers and friends!!! We had a great day!

9 Years!!!

I wish that I had a recent picture to go with this post, but I don't. It seems that either Barth is taking the pictures or I am, so there are not many of the two of us together. I think that I will see if I can't get Weston to take a picture of us tonight before we go out!

Today is our 9th anniversary!!!!! It is hard to believe that it has been that long. Some days it seems like we have been married forever and others it doesn't seem long at all!! One thing that I must say for us, is that we have had a very adventurous 9 years together. Here are a few things that have happened in the last 9 years of our marriage:

* both graduated from BYU
* 4 (almost) children
* Lived in 5 different states
* owned 2 homes and lived in 4 different apartments
* had our children hospitalized 7 times (this does not include when they were born)
* gone to Disney World 4 times (this is much easier when you live in FL)
* been to the Everglades
* lots of fun camping and hiking trips
* been on lots of car rides to see our wonderful families!!
* laughed a lot (Barth is so fun!!)
* shed many tears
* illness and death of my brother
* grown closer than ever
* learned to loved each other and our Savior more with each passing day!!

I just want everyone to know how grateful I am for Barth. We do have our share of differences as every couple does, but he is so good for me and I love him with all my heart!! He is a great strength and support and a wonderful father!! A lot has happened in the last 9 years, but it has been wonderful. Here's to hoping that the next 9 will be even better!! Happy Anniversary Barth!!!!

Bassinet

Okay, so here is the finished product!! We all know that green isn't my favorite color, but since there wasn't much selection, green it is!!! I still think that it turned out cute even if it is green. :) It is all washed up and ready to go!!!! We have to rearrange some furniture in our room this weekend so that this will fit, so in the meantime, this is being stored in Aaron's room!!!

My Little Helpers

Today we got a bassinet and I put it together during nap time. When the boys got up, they wanted to "help" so they got the tools and banged around on the new bed a bit!!! It was sweet. Aaron was really intent on using the screw driver!! Here are some pictures of them helping!

Aaron was VERY interested in the screw driver!!
Nothing like a little hammering! Go Weston!
Brian wasn't really cooperating for an individual picture! Oh well. He had the wrench! Here they all are helping me to fix up the bed for the baby!

We Have a Name

Alright, I know that you all have been wondering what in the world we are going to name this little girl that will be here in 3 and a half weeks. Well, it seems that we finally have a name for her. And the name is..........

Amber Lynn

It was a tough choice as there are SO many good girl names, but Barth and I both like this one!!! We can't wait to meet her.

(As a side note, Brian will be having an MRI of his head this upcoming week. Given his recent history of headaches and vomiting, coupled with his recent dizziness, our doctor felt that it would be a good idea to have him have an MRI to make sure that everything looked good!!)

Similarities

Tonight at the dinner table I was thinking on the similarities between Brian and Uncle Aaron. I think that I started to think about this as Brian sat, not eating his spaghetti dinner, and talking about how, when he grew up, he wanted to be a chef. I just think that it is funny how someone who NEVER wants to eat ANYTHING, can want to be a chef. Brian loves to talk about food and play with pretend food and yet, never wants to eat it. Aaron loved to look at all the food gadgets in the ads and talk about getting this food thing and that food thing and yet was equally picky. The both really only liked the whole PB&J thing!! Is is due to the curly hair do you think? The only one of my kids with repeat hospital visits is Brian and Aaron was certainly in the hospital more than his fair share!!! So anyway, I think that as each day passes and I see how similar Aaron and Brian are, I am sure that they are kindred spirits!!! Brian is strong willed like Aaron. If he is half as valiant and courageous as Aaron was, I will be happy!!!!! I am glad for my little daily reminder of my beloved little brother!!!!

Tag!!

Okay, so Amanda tagged me tonight. Since all is quiet on my home front and the kids are in bed, now is the perfect time. Here goes.....

Jobs I've had:

1) Lifeguard - 5 summers in a row
2) Babysitting - all the time growing up and then at BYU for my Hall Advisor's kids
3) Dishwasher - at BYU, boy was that a dirty job!!
4) Resident Assistant in Heritage Halls - I loved it!! I had so many great girls that I got to know!!
5) Student Honor Association - at BYU. I did presentations and parades and was in charge of the choir there.
6) Mommy - 7 years and going strong!! One of the most rewarding yet challenging jobs I've had!!!


Movies I love:

1) Pride and Predjudice - the BBC version!!! I love all 7 hours of it! (or however long it is!)
2) Sense and Sensibility
3) Ella Enchanted

Places I've Lived:

1) Carrollton, TX - for my whole life up until college
2) Provo, UT
3) The Colony, TX
4) Jacksonville, FL
5) High Point, NC
6) Florence, KY

Favorite TV shows

1) M*A*S*H - I like to watch the reruns late at night on TV Land
2) House - Medical stuff intrigues me
3) House Hunters - It is so fun to see what other people want to buy!!

Vacation Spots:

1) Anything Camping!!!!! We love to camp as a family at state parks!! It is such great fun!!
2) The Beach - the ocean is great and we kind of miss it here!!

Websites:

Ummm...I don't actually do much on the internet other than look for houses and check my email and the blogs!!!

Places I'd Rather be:

1) IN A HOUSE!!!!!!
2) In Texas close to family!
3) Honestly, as long as I've got my little family, I'm happy!!!

People I want to tag:

1) Jessie
2) Heather Matthews
3) Annette

So, there you have it!!!

Video Clip

Okay, I can never seem to get what I want to say on the same post as the video clip, so this will just have to do!!! I took a really cute clip of Aaron yesterday doing Twinkle, twinkle little star, but after about 50 tries, it would still not download. So, I took another clip this morning, but he would not do twinkle for me. I hope you enjoy the clip of our little Aaron!!!

Aaron Video

Naptime Project

Instead of taking my usual nap today, this is what I did!!

Don't you think that they turned out cute? I was at the resale store yesterday and saw some little bows like this and thought that I would buy them, but then I thought that I could probably make them myself for cheaper. I recalled a few years ago Katie told me how she used to make them and so I tried it!! It was really easy!! It is made by getting white knee highs, sewing the ends together and then using wire and ribbon to make up the bows. You glue them on and then....viola...beautiful bows for a baby girl!!!! And we ALL know that no girl of mine will go without frills and bows and everything pink!!!! (or at least not while I am the one dressing her!) I just got the inexpensive 88 cent ribbon and there is even a bunch left over. Now that I know that I can make these, I might have to go and get a few more pairs of knee highs and ribbon!!!!!

1 Month to Go!!!

Okay, as requested, here are the picture of what I am looking like now!! I have one month to go!! It is hard to imagine that one month from TODAY I will have another little one!!

Here I am with the whole crew!!!
And here I am all by myself so that you can see that I am getting big!!