On the Lake

Bald Eagle

Penny Party

Dallin and Peter joined up with Arwen and Aaron to swap pennies.  Each sorted through their extras (or rather the dads did mostly) and found anything that the other may have needed to trade.  They had a lot of success and each of them ended up adding many pennies to their collections!

July Journaling

Wow, I don't know what happened to July and keeping up with my blog!  I have to look at my calendar just to see what has happened.  Life is going quickly, which I am glad for right now.  Staying in the moment is the goal even though I want so badly just to be done with this pregnancy.  I do have a variety of pictures to post, but that will come next I guess.

Dallin, Eden and Tanner have gained so much confidence in the water from their swim lessons.  They just finished up their 5 week session and the next one starts Tuesday!  Dallin can pretty much swim by himself for short distances and they can all float on their backs and are very comfortable with their face in the water.  I enjoy watching them so much.  Last week Eden told me that at first she didn't like certain parts of swim lessons (because it is hard), but now she likes those parts the best.  I love watching them learn and grow stronger from this!

I have used the waiting time during swim lessons to train Carter and Lily to sit quietly in the double stroller, which has gone pretty well.  They don't always like it, but I think it is important that they are able to sit (even if it does take restraining them).

We went to the swim center as a family the other night and we really got to see how far they have come.  All three of the big kids were totally independent, confident and having more fun than ever in the water.  It made it so much easier for Peter and I to handle Carter and Lily.  It was very different from the last time we all swam together. They did the water slide and loved that too.  And I filled my maternity suit right up! I am huge, although no one else is allowed to say that!

Dallin went to his first cub camp.  He was gone all day, every day for a week.  I was a little worried about how he would do emotionally, but I think he did fine.  Some days he came home with a tear streaked dirty face, but that just meant he played hard (he is competitive).  He loved everything about being there.   He built a bottle rocket and an wooden airplane box. He also learned how to shoot a BB gun and bow and arrow.  They played lots of fun games, had a fun obstacle course and even got to be in a skit. What a great thing to be a part of for a little boy.

Eden has been having a great time with girl cousins and an all day play date with her best friend.  She is becoming more and more social all the time.  She and Tanner are always coloring and making wonderful works of art. She is overall just a really good little person. She nurtures everyone around her.

Dallin is really into penny collecting now.  Peter did this as a child so he has now introduced it to him. That is all Dallin talks about anymore.  I guess he has moved on from the space topic.  He has several penny books that with his Peter's help, he has mostly filled!  He always wants to be on Ebay looking up old Indian Head pennies or asking to go to the coin shop.  I never would have even thought to encourage this hobby, so it is fun to watch Dallin and Peter have their thing.  The other kids do it too, but aren't nearly as passionate about it.

Lily is such a little wildflower!  She is independent as can be, talking a lot already, and she loves to wave and blow kisses. She fits right in with our little family.  She has started a shoe fetish the last week or so.  She is ALWAYS carrying someones shoe around and often has a pair on her feet and her hands as she moves around the house.  I am finding shoes all over the place now.  I remember Eden liking shoes, but I think this is a new level for us.

Carter is saying so much.  He surprises me all the time with his chatter and how much he can suddenly say.  I think we have another comedian on our hands, he is very quotable.  Carter and I are usually the first ones up in the morning, so one of his favorite things to do is jump on Peter repeatedly to wake him.  He climbs up onto the dresser and yells "Cannon Ball!" as he ambushes. 

Tanner his still hilarious and loves to laugh. I keep Eden's hair braided most of the time and so when I took out one of her braids the other day her hair was a huge frizzy mess.  Tanner thought it was so funny and asked what I did to her. I told him I took her braid out and he started cracking up and replied, "YOU TOOK HER BRAIN OUT?"  That really had me rolling.  Tanner is in a phase where he asks me why words are called what they are called all the time.  Like, "Why is the mouse called a mouse?" referring to the computer mouse.  I can't really come up with a good answer other than it just is. 

Peter is very busy with work this summer and they recently got a job working on the temple!  It has been closed for maintenance and so they have been updating a lot of the electrical there.  He has seen a lot of closets and rooms that most patrons never see.  How cool is that?

I am just...big.  I told Peter I want to run away from my belly, but that won't work because I can't really run, and it would come with me anyway. I know,  I am having irrational thoughts.  It is just so crowded in there!  I would love to have a belly break just for a few hours (am I even making sense?). But I remain grateful that I don't have much pain going on still in comparison.  Those sharp ligament pains are hitting now when I walk, which is mostly just funny because they come and go so quickly and make me twinge.   There are many things that I am enjoying, like feeling so much movement and just knowing that I am making a baby. But I am excited that I am on the home stretch and know it is so worth every second.

We are staying plenty busy and have many pictures of our adventures coming, but here is one for now.  Eden loves to call her daddy and ask him to bring home a treat from work.  Imagine her delight when she asked for a lollipop and Peter came home with this!

Sweets

Oh why oh why do I self medicate with chocolate?  I went to the doc this week and although I didn't have a lot of weight gain, my belly grew a lot more than normal. Like measuring 4 weeks past what I am!  I am secretly daydreaming that somehow we will find that I really am that much farther along (Um no).  I love my doctor and how nicely he said, "I know at this stage of pregnancy sweets are a strong craving, but..."  I laughed out loud because he nailed me.  Seriously I am like a drug addict.  Every afternoon I start to think about getting a sugar rush.  I don't usually keep sweets in the house for this reason and yet I find a way get some.  For example, "Oh you guys did great at swim lessons today, lets go get a treat!"  Seriously, what am I teaching them???  I guess it's time for a sugar detox.

GSG

Green Smoothie Girl is coming to Portland!  My sister got us the free tickets and we are so there.  Unless I am having a baby of course, ha ha.  She will also be in Eugene as well.  I am a big fan so I think it will be fun to see her do her thing. 

Click here if you if you are interested in going.

Journaling

After all the Holiday fun, we still had a fun week. It really warmed up on Wednesday so we went to the library and the park for their "Water Wednesday" and free lunch. We stayed for a long time and the kids totally wore me out.  That night we had pizza at Peter's parent's and Eden and I went to the mall for some H&M love. She got several fun items for her summer wardrobe and it was so nice to escape the heat. Yesterday, we had a playdate a the Park and then my sister came over with her 2 little ones.  The kids played hard all afternoon and into the evening.  The boys rough housed outside on the trampoline for a long time. The girls played dress up and built forts with couch cushions inside. They sure do love to play with cousins. Lily has lots of word but I thought it was cute when she gave something to my sister and upon taking it back said, "Mine, Dada!" She really thinks her name is Dada since the kids call her that.
7 Kids on one swing, its a party!

Tanner's Art

This guy continues to have a one track mind.  Tanner had a sleep over at Grandma D's house a couple of weeks ago and contributed a lot to their Spiderman art wall.  I count 11 Spiderman pictures there. 


Peter picked Tanner up from Sunday School last week and his teacher said "Wow, Tanner REALLY likes Spiderman!" Then he gave Peter this picture that Tanner colored of what was supposed to be a missionary.  Hmmmm, something different about this picture.  We had a good laugh about that one.  Should I be worried?

4th of July in Pictures 2011

The Fourth was wonderful this year at the lake.  A lot of people were out of town this year so it was different with only our kids being the little kids there.  The first order of business was to get out on the water and tube.  Carter and Lily did not remember doing this before so it was fun to watch them experience it.  Lily couldn't wait to get out on a tube and had this big open mouth grin the whole time.  She kept waving and blowing kisses too.  It was just way too fun to watch.

















Tanner is also really into tubing.  He just about can't stand to wait for his turn.






Peter's turn was a little more exciting.  He kept yawning to taunt his dad into giving him more of a ride.







 Mommy cuddles.


After the boat ride, they spent most of the afternoon playing in the bay on little boards.





Eden had fun teasing her Grandpa by splashing him. 


Dallin and Peter had a great time at the firework hut last week and so they set them off in the bay at the water.  Yeah, missed the photo op. on that one, but it was cool to watch on water.


We ate lots and lots of food, played games and puzzles with the kids, and visited with relatives and then bundled up to go out again to watch fireworks.


Sisters.  Lily loves Eden and Eden takes great care of her.














I decided not to take firework pictures this year, but Dallin begged me to so he wouldn't forget.  So I snapped a few for him.  I will never get over the magestic feel of being on the water and watching the show with boats all around and reflections of color bouncing of the water.  One of my favorite things ever.


The next night we finished up our celebrations by having a special family home evening. We started by making a fun flag cookie.  The kids did a great job decorating without help.  While they worked I read them a 4th of July story and we talked about our freedom.





When they finished we listened to the National Anthem via Carrie Underwood YouTube style and ate up.





We had snakes and sparklers left over so we made good use of those too.











It was fun to make so many great new memories.  We really emphasized the real meaning of freedom and told lots of stories as we talked  and celebrated with the kids and I think they got it.  We love America!

Journaling

Ah, its nice to be caught up in blog land.  But before I talk about the fourth, I want to do a journal post....about me! 

Pregnancy is going really well overall.  A few weeks ago I started having a lot of pain in my hip so bad that it radiated down my leg.  I was walking like an old lady for a while.  I was feeling doomed to have another painful second half of pregnancy.  Peter did his best to help by pulling on my leg or pushing on it or whatever felt best, but it would only help for a few minutes.   Resting did not give any relief.  Then as I was laying down one day I was moving my leg around trying to find a less painful position and I felt a tiny little pop.  A little while later I realized my pain was GONE!  It hasn't come back since.  I am kind of glad this happened because I am so happy to be out of pain that the normal uncomfortable pregnancy stuff doesn't seem at all bad now and I am not feeling doomed any more. It changed my perspective. Yay!

My most common question to be asked is "How are you feeling?"  For A while there I would just give a half smile and say "okay."  but now I can honestly smile say, "Pretty good!" My bone separation hasn't been too bad either.  Being really careful how I move is the key. But, I am into the 3rd trimester now so I am crossing my fingers that it will keep going well. My other common question is "When are you due?" When I say, "Not until September."  I get a sympathetic look and they say, "Oh, you have a ways to go."  Yeah, I know trust me.  I don't want to think about it.

I finally feel the little guy moving a lot now and even Peter can feel him.  I love to cuddle up from behind and press my belly into his back and wait for him to notice his son kicking him.  Ha ha. 

I haven't started any preparations for the arrival because it still seems so far away.  But lately I am starting to get those little twinges of excitement that leave me feeling all giddy and ready to hold my little guy...and have a waist...and my little 6 pack of kiddos...and take a break from pregoness (made that word up).   I feel like I am on the last mile of an 8 year marathon.  It feels so good.  I am right where I want to be with my life and now I can just take a breath for a minute.  I have had this goal in my mind for years(like since I was engaged) of having a family with 6 kids close in age.  That was a lot of work! It has been equally surprising in how it is more wonderful than I could have imagined and how much harder than I could have ever known.  Now I feel more calm about taking things one thing at a time and reaping the rewards of this awesome family that we have made together.  I like fulfilling my dream and not having a plan from here.

Here is a short list of my normal pregnancy stuff going on of which I am noting but not complaining about with my new perspective.  Seriously I am so happy with just these things I can handle: 
Crazy bad heart burn.
Choking up over anything daily.  Usually many times a day.
Nausea off and on (never had that after first trimester before)
Low energy. I probably seem like a lame mom sometimes with what my kids get away with, but I am doing the best I can.
Feeling like a hermit sometimes and just want to stay home for several days at a time and not be social.
Lots of self esteem killing weight gain.  I think I am plus more than 25 lbs already, yikes. Remember I am only 5'2. Outweighing your hubby is not a good feeling.
Bone separation in my pelvis that is not too bad so far as long as I am super careful with myself.
Getting a nerve pinch in my back when I sleep that comes back with every pregnancy. But:
Loving my bed so much I can't even put in words.  It goes up and down in every direction like a hospital bed and has a memory foam mattress.  I have used many interesting combinations with the head and foot raised to relieve my uncomfortable body.  I call it my happy place. It literally is. 

The kids have been great so far this summer.  They pick on each other more since they are together all the time but we are working on it.  But mostly we are just having so much fun being a family.  I love it.  We are staying extra busy, which I like because it takes my mind off my total lack of desire/energy/no bending ability to keep the house in shape.  If I don't think about it, maybe its not there right? Right.  I am choosing to keep things going at a necessity level and not letting the summer go by without the fun and adventures that kids should have.  My heart gushes over each one of them as I watch them grow and learn and experience life.  The amazement never goes away. Perhaps pregnancy hormones make me feel those emotions even deeper.

We had a fabulous lesson in Relief Society on Sunday about self criticism.  I think the best part for me was as lists were made on the board and comments made, I realized that I am so normal!  Despite everyone's different circumstances, we are all hard on ourselves about the same stuff! It was like what everyone was saying was what I was thinking. The lesson was very healing and heartening for me.  I left feeling inspired to not be so hard on myself and use suggested techniques to put off Satan's lies. Life is about learning and growth and that is not a bad thing as he would have us think and torture ourselves about.  Prayer is what hit home the most to me.  I know Heavenly Father can change our hearts and who we are if we just ask and let him work miracles in our lives.  The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the tool to get us there. I love the joy that the gospel gives my life.  Such a feeling of wholeness.

One last funny experience.  Yesterday, on our way to Grandpa's house for the fourth we stopped at a grocery store to pick up a couple of things.  We wanted to be on our way so I said I would hurry and run and be right back.  I had a total momentary lapse in memory of my condition and jumped out of the van and ran for the store as if I was my normal shape.  It didn't work very well.  I kind of waddle ran while laughing at myself at my sudden reality.  Perhaps it felt even more funny than it looked.  I was caught completely off gaurd.   I glanced back at Peter and we made eye contact and I knew he knew.  So when I came out of the store I ran again, just to make him laugh.  I like making fun of myself sometimes. 




 

Drive in Movie

A couple of days after Heidi's wedding, there were still some visitors here so we went to the drive in movie to see Cars 2.  I think it was opening weekend.  We had several cars and parked in the front row so the kids could play in the grassy area for a couple of hours.  Peter's mom brought LOTS of food so we had fun kicking back, eating and playing.  I love drive ins, it makes it feel like summer.  The kids even did pretty well during the movie. We sat outside on chairs with blankets.  Lily got a little restless halfway through so I took her to the van and buckled her up and she fell right to sleep.  My iPod pics are pretty lame, but I had to have something to show.  Jello face!


Dallin and Derek: Bubbles with new friends.


Playing with Ice cubes.