More baby

Here are baby shower pics from the most wonderful baby shower ever to have occured. It was fantastic.

PS- Baby WILL be here tuesday. 11-1-11. Induction scheduled. Im stressed and relieved all at the same time. And apparently didnt tell Devin this was happening until this morning. Oops. He should check facebook :)

 SUCH good food! Thanks gals!!!

 Did you know that these wonderful flowers are made out of napkins??

Frame painting

 A true friend covers her entire house in wonderful happy decor in your nursery colors :)

 Super cute headbands



Lets make a Deal

So today was church, it was the primary program and Brody was a rockstar- as far as primary song performances go. I was only going to stay for Sacrament because 1. I cant cross my legs and my skirt had a hard time staying put. 2. Im swollen. I have traded in my toes and fingers for sausage looking type things, my Mum was nice enough to inform that even my face is puffy. 3. Sitting is not fun and I get the wiggles worse then a 2 yr old. But I did end up staying for all it and Im so happy I did. Being the 5th Sunday we were combined for the entire block and had some awesome lessons, but both of them were triggered by some down right crappy stuff that has been going on in my cute litte town.. and probably yours too. Topics of the lesson were all too common things we hear-but I think maybe it was because of  specific Evanston events that it hit me as so much more real. Pornography and Morality. We all know the concerns, the things to be aware of, but Im guessing that people dealing with the issues knew all to well too. Lately I catch myself making deals with the Lord, things like, ok, I will get up and read my scriptures and really commit to FHE and family scripture study and promise to always pay tithing.. IF you in return can promise to keep my boys safe from porn or drugs or bad friends or immorality or bad influences and make sure they serve missions and get married in the temple. Ok? DEAL! I want that deal. I know too many perfect parents who did all of those things but still had children make choices against everything they had been taught. Parents who I know I would fall short too in comparison. Thats not fiar! Stinking free agency anyways. Not really, but it stresses me out.  I will try my best to do the things we as parents have been counseled to do, its the best guarantee we have right? But well, I want more. I want a deal!


Something definatly worth sharing, We had such an awesome lesson on internet safety- so im passing along this, its called K9 internet protection, Its free, its user friendly and its a great way to protect your family from all the crap online. Check it out.

My # 1 job. (after my wife job) Make sure they know WHO they are. That they are sons of God and loved by SO many. I want them to  be happy with who they are. I want them to be good. I want them to live proud lives and I will do anything to protect them. I just want a guarantee that it will happen. Dang. Is it really too much to ask??? Oh and yes, they are in box :) 

Learning to love sleepless nights

SO our boys arent good sleepers. Never have been- and its mine and Devs fault because we are suckers and cant let them cry it out when they are tiny babies. Its too sad. The older they get the better it is of course because we can reason with them, so now bedtime isnt such an ordeal. We read a lot of stories, say prayers, go thru the typical I need a snack-drink-go to the bathroom- excuses and they fall asleep. Last week when they were sick and on their kid crack both kids were really up at about 7am and not in bed until after 10, and not napping during the day. Holy smokes I was tired. But this entire pregnancy sleep has been an issue. First trimester was heartburn and needing the bathroom a dozen times a night, and it has slowly evolved into good ol insomnia. Well lately I have started to just get up and do stuff when I cant sleep. I get laundry done, like 3 loads a night- do the dishes, get baby stuff organized, pay bills, whatever needs to be done. Last night I went to bed around 10, was up at 1am and did some laundry, loaded the dishwasher, made Dev's lunch and then I got on the treadmill! Lol. Yep, at about 2 am I put my running shoes on, put the treadmill on full incline and walked and walked. In hopes to help move this baby along! And because why not? It was better then laying in bed tossing and turning. I went back to bed at about 3 30am and was up at 6 40 and I feel great! How crazy is that.

School Years

School pics have arrived! And they are keepers! Oh man I love this kid. I had a pretty good idea that this is how these were going to look, he just struggles with a natural looking on command smile. When I opened up the envelope I got the giggles and it hurt his feelings a little. Sorry dude! He told me this was his 'BEST picture smile ever!" I was quick to assure him that yes indeed it is and that I was laughing because I loved it SO MUCH! And I do. I will love it even more when hes about 16 and  has a cute girl over or something :)

Happy FALL!!!

Aah healthy at last! And that meant it was time to get out of the house! And the state. Some might think this was an idea based on insanity considering baby could show up anyday, and that I was trucking off a good 2 hours from home and my doc and hospital and that the drive involves a nice stroll through miles of nothing.. including limited cell service. I was willing to risk it! And happy I did. It was a PERFECT day of fall celebrations.


First stop was apple picking in a real apple orchard. With cute little baskets to fill up with wonderful apples. Too bad I left my camera in the car for this first part.

After we wandered over to a small playground and a pumpkin patch. There was also a you pick patch that was pretty much done for the season but the kids rounded up some squash and even tiny watermelons and peppers.

 A fun little fact about Zane and this shirt. He has decided in the last month or so that he LOVES stripes. And shorts. It was a miracle in itself that I was able to get him to wear pants this day, but here we are in one of his most fave stripe shirts. Hes pretty insistant on this- the shirt MUST have stripes

 Good sharing kids!

 Because of the nature of the days plans I told Brody he needed to wear farm clothes :)  Hes nice to humor me like this and go with it.

Next stop was a witch hunt. And a trip to the toy store of course :)

And some awesome bikes at gardner village..

We still had one final place to hit- A halloween festival! We needed to ride the hay slides, go on a tractor ride and pick pumpkins from a real patch where the pumpkins were still attached to the vine.

 It was dark and cold, but Brody was taking his pumpkin selection very seriously.



It was a super fun day. Brodys fave was apple picking, Zane liked apple picking too and the little pumpkins, my fave was lunch at kneaders and spending time with the kids and just getting out. It had been such a long week before! And im also glad I didnt end up with a UT born child :) No offense UT


PS- For better pics and more info on this fall-tastic day check out Allies much cooler blog
http://www.reallyquitelucky.blogspot.com/

Spoiled Rotten

I am really just spoiled rotten. Or blessed. Or Lucky. Whatever. But wow. Wonderful friend Allie is a party extraordinaire- she decided I needed a pink party. In typical Allie fashion it was not your common baby shower. No games for this cat, we put the party goers to work doing crafts for ME and baby. I'll post more pics because I didnt have my camera at the shower, but here is the finished fruits of their labor and part 2 of baby room pics. Its coming along so wonderfully! Its my new fave room in the house.

 Allie MADE these frames. I had them as a fave on my pinterest and she decided to just whip out a saw and cut them. WOW. So we had everyone do some sanding and painting. Im luving the paper in them but am excited to put some pics in them too! I cant get enough of this wall. I LOVE IT! Love it!! I stare it a lot :)

So cute! Goodness its wonderful.

Friends also made the paper pom poms, Allie did the fabric banner. Mum is doing the baby quilt and bumpers so stay tuned for those.

More pom poms. Welcome home baby!

We also made the cutest hair bands and bows but it was hard to get a pic without them on a baby head- so those will come later.

Baby is spoiled too! Look at this shoe collection already. Those purple booties were hand made by my friend Sara. Amazing right! Oh I cant wait!

Soft. Oh so soft! Ive been a bit frustrated with finding the perfect outfit to bring her home in, friend Amy sent this and its wonderful. Cashmere and delicate and so so soft. I just hope it fits. Its NB but seems a bit big. Could a bring home baby outfit be more perfect. Like I said- SPOILED!

Baby-less

Notice the lack of baby announcement. Im ok with it actually. Dont get me wrong I am so ready to not be pregnant anymore. Ive hit the official DONE point. I waddle. I take 3 baths a day because my body just hurts, I dont sleep, and I get crazy looks from people that im sure are thinking " You should NOT be at Wal Mart right now" But even though I know baby could be here any moment I still have yet to pack a hospital bag, stock up on groceries so I dont have to worry about it when she arrives, take care of my summer flower pots, or clean my car. Or a gazillion other things. What have I been doing instead??  Other stuff :) Canadian Thanksgiving was last weekend and was bitter sweet, as it was also the day we learned that my cousin Andrew passed away- Ive been longing for home and wishing I could be there for the funeral and for my family. They are amazing. Last weekend was also a most fabulous baby shower! (more on that in a bit) And my biggest devotion of time has been to my thing 1 and 2, who are sick. Brody started with strep, Zane was in the clear I thought, but then he took a turn for the worse so we went back to the doc and left with the lovely news that they both have RSV. Not super super bad yet thank goodness.  So $200 later on Prednisone medication for both of them we trucked home with instructions to stay home for 4 days. This is when I had a breakdown. They arent sick enough to be house bound! I cant be housebound- I lose my marbles. Really. I cant stay inside my house for even one day without just going loopy. Ive gotta get out! And the extra kick in the pants was that the cure for their sickness causes hyper-activity and insomnia. Thats not even a maybe Ive decided. Its a for certain. They have been off the wall. So here is what I did- I ignored laundry, house cleaning, and doing my hair. (and then I called the house cleaners and made an appointment for them to come clean) I pulled out every game we have, we visited toys that have been forgotten, we made giant play dough messes and did crafts, we went for walks and gathered fall leaves in all colors,we colored on the windows,we set up halloween decorations and did pumkin crafts, we hid the glowing spider and took turns searching for it, we brought the slide inside and turned the basement into a playground (thank you swing!) we played baseball inside with pillows and wiffle balls. We set up the tent and read stories with every flashlight we could find. It was 100% damage control. My goal was to 1. keep them from killing eachother. 2. Keep them from making me lock myself in my room on the verge of a total meltdown. 3. Not watch TV. 4. And this came later.. enjoy the time at home with my 2 fave boys before their world is totally rocked when this baby arrives.  SUCCESS!!! Its not over yet. Its now fall break so Brody is off school until Tuesday. Ill make it though. We are in a good place. Kids are coughing less, still on the magic drug that Ive now named speed for kids. I've had some good outs- enrichment hair bow making, craft night with the girls and good laughs,great friends who brought supper, and Ive pushed through my sleepless nights, and aching body to be a Mum, to not be cranky and impatient or boring- and im proud of me. So thank you self and baby girl for not going into labor right now. I appreciate it.  

Show and Tell

SHOW

Just random happenings-

Playgroup days outside are limited, snow is in the air. I love these pics, here is Zane with friend Max, the first one is a classic nose picking picture and im pretty sure hes holding Max's hand against his will. I also crack up at Max's face on the one above, the joys of being two and just really not being ok with the concept of sharing. How dare Zane touch that bike! I love 2 yr old drama


And TELL

I just need to note that Brody is a Kindergarten all star, man that kid makes me so proud! Especially Tuesday afternoons when I go into his class. They have some big deal things at his school and one of them is called a 'THREE B" and its rewarded to kids who are going above and beyond, Brody has gotten THREE of them since the start of school. Well done kid! Hes kicking the pants off of Kindergarten reading and math and is just so smart! Im allowed to brag, its my blog. But really, cudos to him!



MORE SHOW

Look what I did!!!!!!!!  So this glider was just a plain tan mico-fiber, so a few months ago (yes, months) I decided to re-cover it. I planned it right and embarked on this project when my SIL Lindsey and Mum were here, so we all powered up our craft skills and figured out how to do this. Final decision was to use tracing paper and get a pattern, then cover big buttons to use as tacks, the back cusion was actually the easiest in the end, the most difficult thing was those blasted arms! I just finished it! FINISHED! I am not so good at finishing projects sometimes, I lose my mojo.

Its new home is in the baby room- almost getting excited for those sleepless nights where we just get to rock.. and rock.. and rock.


I've mentioned before that this baby has been like starting over, the crib and change table we had from the boys didnt do so well with the moves and just being used by both boys- Dev says its me and that im 'hard' on things.. I think he might be right. Anyways, we needed new ones. We found this crib on KSL and I LOVE it. Wishing my camera and photo skills were better, but its stinking cute and has a nice vintage look to it. The room is soo far from being done but at least stuff is put together and slowly getting organized.

Im not a crafter right, but I have ideas and like to occasionally make a go of it. So thats what I did with the change table-dresser. While my Dad was here we took my old dresser that I had growing up,the one that I beat the heck out of, well it somehow survived me doing self furniture moves every week, made it thru my years of using it as a table top for make up, hair products, hot curling irons, candles, candle making, perfume mixing and who knows what else, well it didnt totally make it. It was in REALLY rough shape. I really wish I had a before pic. Dad took the sander to it like crazy, then we matched the paint with the crib. I shopped for days for new hardware, Dad painted it and put those drawer stopper things on it so its baby safe for when she gets older, after the paint dried I used a cloth and did a stain glaze over to give it the same finish as the vintage-looking crib. SUCCESS!!!

It is the perfect height and width to put the change pad on top. I have big plans for this room. And they are SO close to coming together so stay tuned. I've surprised myself that I think im actually more excited for the girl room then I am for the girl clothes. But not the girl. Oh my goodness I am really just so excited to meet this little Miss. I spend so much time thinking about her and what she will look like and just what kind of person she is going to be. And of course I also stress and feel that pressure of child raising these days, I have such different concerns because she is a girl, the drama, the emotions- all the extra and different challenges that will come with being the Mum to a girl. Goodness. Let me do this right.



MORE TELL

I blame the hormones- but I have had all emotions elevated lately. I have just fet so incredibly blessed and have been so aware of the abundance of love that is in my life. And blessings in general. Mostly on my mind is Devin, he inspires me to do more. He has somehow found a way to work like a crazy person- like 6 days a week and 15 hours a day, then come home and be this incredible father who plays with the kids and reads to them or gets them in the tub. I have some different ideas on expectations of a husband I think, I dont ask or expect Dev to do housework, I feel like that falls on me and I would much rather him take that time and spend with our kids.I pick a messy house and dirty dishes and the opportunity to watch him wrestle our crazy boys on the floor or read harry potter or play mario kart, to me thats what matters. Hes awesome.
I have also been so aware and grateful of the efforts and sacrifice my parents make to spend time with us. I feel sad and guilty a lot that all three of us kids and their grandkids live so far away from Canada. Its a 12 hour drive from my parents house to us, and they make it A LOT. About 4 or 5 times a year. And I know that they will be here whenever I need. My kids know them and have this wonderful bond and friendship with them because of those efforts and I am so so grateful that the distance hasnt put a damper on that relationship.
Also on my mind- Friendship. Its hard living away from any family, but I have been saved by incredible supportive and loving friends. Truley amazing really.

Small Town Life

The longer I live in Evanston the more im a fan. Small town life really is just lovely (now that Ive adapted) No traffic, you aways run into friends, and it has this feeling about it. Its charming really.

Last weekend was homecoming. A definate highlight for Etown. Brody's school had spirit week and had a theme each day-crazy hair day, twin day, red day, hat day and PJ day, he joined in on all of them minus the crazy hair, He thought that was lame, (but wearing pjs to school is'nt??)

Dev ended up having to work a few night shifts so he was home during the day so we all went and had school lunch with Brody. This was on crazy hair day.. His was a tad special this day anyways :)

Later that week was the parade. It was really just great. Candy throwers galore, lots of athletes and dance teams, cheerleaders - side note, did you know there isnt cheerleaders in Canada?? floats for who knows what, some old cars driving around old people, and marching bands! Oh my goodness Zane loved those marching bands! It was such a picture perfect moment that made me just swell with love and nostalgia and patriotism. It was really great.