Love These Girls!

I love that I was able to get together with some of my best friends from my younger years growing up in Bountiful. I haven't seen them for at least 8 years. I love that we were able to talk and laugh like it was just yesterday since we had been together. We sure did have some fun/crazy times, didn't we girls?? I sure do love you. It was so great to see you today! Thanks to Amy for setting up this sweet reunion. I can't wait to do it again.

I Get By With A Little Help.....

My mom had a meeting in SLC that she had to come down for on Tuesday. She thought since she was down here already, she would come and spend the rest of the week here at my house helping me get organized before the baby comes. And let me tell you. She has only been here for one day and it's been AWESOME! She cleaned my fridge, scrubbed my oven and stove top, has been doing dishes, laundry, playing with the kids, and making meals. It's really been a treat to have her here so far. Carmen has asked me a lot, "How much longer does Grandma Packer get to stay??" They can't get enough of her.

Sorry Mom. She really didn't want me taking pictures of her cleaning, but I really wanted to document all this hard work. My fridge was really nasty. Love you Mom!

*Yesterday was really strange with the baby. I felt really weird. Lots of contractions, stretching and pulling. My ligaments have been killing me lately and yesterday it was the worst. I feel like my stomach can't stretch any more. There is a certain place on my belly that is numb to the touch and it feels like it's been pulled underneath. Strange. Oh the sacrifice, but oh how great the reward. :)*

Hey Diddle Diddle

It was Nursery Rhyme day in Carmen's class. Each child had to recite their favorite rhyme and dress up like something in the rhyme. Carmen picked Hey Diddle Diddle. We whipped up this little hat out of felt, along with a tail. Hopefully her classmates could tell she was the little dog that laughed.

Oh Baby!

Went to the doctor today. I was measuring 41 cm!! Remember, two weeks ago I was 36 cm! He scheduled an ultrasound for next Tuesday and a non-stress test to check out the baby. I have to continue to do the non-stress test weekly from here on out.
I told him that I appreciate that he's concerned and wanting to help me. He said he would like to deliver this baby vaginally and that it's not a C-section that's the scariest thing to have to go through. It's that there could be a problem with the baby or even worse, a problem with the mother. He's not willing to take that chance. This whole time I have been planning for a March baby, but maybe, just maybe, we'll be having a February baby.

Along these same lines......I need some input. We need a name! I wrote a list of my favorites and my list ended up being about 50 names long. David and I have decided that we will go into the hospital with 5 of our fave's, then after we see him we'll decide. If you have any you would like to share, please do!!

Up Close And Personal

A few months ago my sister Emily asked me if Harvey was hanging around me more than normal, sensing that I was pregnant. Since she asked, I have started to pay more attention. And, Hello!!, he's right by me most of the day. If I take a few steps, he takes a few steps. If I sit on the couch, he lays next to me on the floor. The other day, David tried to get him to go outside for his morning potty break while I was still laying in bed. He was lying on the floor next to the bed and he wouldn't go, but kept looking up at me for the go ahead. I finally said, "Go ahead Harvey." Then he jumped up to go, reluctant to leave the bedside. I seriously think he can sense that I am carrying a little guy that he wants to protect. He's like my own little personal bodyguard. Sometimes I feel like he's just a little too close. :)

Gettin' Tired

I've been going through all the right stages. I've been nesting, getting everything organized. I have days where I have sudden bursts of energy. I have been keeping up on the cleaning, laundry, dishes, meals, and carpools.......that being said:
Yesterday was a lazy day for me. I was tired! It was 10 am and I decided to take a nap while Morgan watched Caillou next to me. Sarah (my sis) called to talk and thought that it was funny that I was taking a nap that early in the morning. I am getting tired and I still have a while to go! I let Morgan get herself dressed. She then wanted to paint with her water colors. She got out everything that she needed, painted some pictures, posted them on the fridge, and then came and got me out of my bed (I was knitting) to tell me she had to show me something. She was so proud that she did it all by herself. I realize that this blissfulness of having kids that can do a lot of stuff on their own isn't going to last. I am just enjoying while I can. :) Having a new baby may just throw me for a loop.

Graham's Post

Graham spent a lot of time with his Bendaroos last night making these Alien Ships. When I got home from a Relief Society Meeting, he asked if he could use the camera to take a picture. These are the pictures he took. Not bad. He then wanted to put it on his blog (we set up a private blog for him last year, where he posts things that are really important to him). He kept saying, "Mom, I know you are going to steal these pictures and put them on your blog too." That's right bud. He knows me too well. Before I even posted on my blog, he typed this under his pictures:

"You have already seen this on moms blog.But run its a ALIEN ATTACK"

Blankie For The Little Guy

My latest project:
I've never really been into knitting much, seems to take so much longer than crochet, but I thought I would try and make this little blankie before our little guy comes. I got the pattern and the picture from here.

A Great Day

What a glorious day it was for my Emily and Jay. They were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple along with their boys Elijah and David. Their sealer was the missionary that baptized Jay years ago and his wife also attended, who was Jay's Primary President when he was young. Their two older boys were not planning on going in (my babysitters, so I could), but at the last minute the temple workers allowed them in to watch the ceremony, which was so great. I was quite sad, since then I was left with no babysitter and wasn't able to see the ceremony, but got to hang with the kids on the outside. I don't need to go into all the details of my sobbing in the youth room. Life goes on. I feel much better about it today and I know that it's not about me (It's amazing what a good night's sleep can do). All that matters is that this amazing ordinance was performed for them. It was so great that all four boys were able to be there. David got to be one of their witnesses and really felt privileged to do that. Congrats to the Forscutt family. The 16th of January will go down in the history books for our family. We love you guys!

Father and son.

Granny (Emily's mom) and the girls.

Love this picture of Graham and his Grandpa Thompson.

A Little Hope

Had a great visit with my doctor yesterday. He measured my baby belly and at 31 1/2 weeks and I was measuring at 36 cm! Pretty normal for me and my sisters. In a regular pregnancy, you measure a cm per week. So I am measuring a little over 4 weeks ahead.
We discussed my concerns and he took lots of notes in my folder. It's such a great feeling to see your doctor taking notes about what's being said. He then said something that was music to my ears. He said, "Well, I had already written here that we are going to try and shoot for a possible 38 week induction." Yes! Thank you. He went on to say that a large baby always poses the risk of shoulder distotia (sp?). A case where the baby gets stuck on his way out because of broad shoulders and we have to do an emergency C-section. He went on to say that we will do an ultrasound at around 36 weeks and have our little guy checked out and also do a stress test and then we can decide what to do next.
I am so appreciative of a doctor who is more concerned about the mother and baby's health than being worried about law suits or whatever. Thank you Melanie and Laurel for suggesting him!

Dino Head

Graham got Bendaroos for Christmas (a waxy yarn that you can bend and re-use over and over). I found this stuck to his wall next to his bed. He calls it a Galmeasaurus. I don't even know if that is a real dinosaur. He's the one that has been reading the dinosaur books like crazy and he claims that it is....

A New Year, A New Plan

With David being in the bishopric for the last 5+ years, some Sundays get pretty crazy during sacrament meeting with me trying to juggle all three kids by myself. I have never let the kids go out during the meeting, except to use the bathroom, just because I didn't want to have to worry about the others that were left on the bench, or we would all end up in the foyer. So I would resort to packing a bag full of stuff to do. Some Sundays I felt like I was literally bringing my whole house, just to keep the kids entertained. My bag was full of little toys, treats, books, coloring books, crayons, markers, and then more little toys.

But not anymore. I decided that since all three kids are in primary now (yes, Morgan is a Sunbeam), they are all old enough to sit still and listen without any toys to entertain themselves. So this weekend, I headed over to the Distribution Center and bought the kids their own Book of Mormon ($2.50), a marking pencil, and a scripture mastery bookmark. Then I got them excited about what they got to bring in their bag. Along with the stuff I picked up, I allowed them each to have some paper, pen, and one pack of fruit snacks, only allowed to be eaten after the sacrament. A huge downgrade from what we were bringing.

I am happy to report.....it was wonderful. I learned that the kids actually liked the simpleness. During the opening song, Morgan got really excited and opened her Book of Mormon and started to sing from it. Graham used to scripture mastery bookmark and began to highlight all the scripture mastery's starting with 1 Nephi 3:7. Carmen sat quietly drawing on her paper. It was lovely. I was happy that it worked out. Now I just have to hope that it will continue from this time forth.

Something funny that did happen though, is Graham had to use the bathroom, so I excused him to walk quietly to the bathroom. He was gone for quite awhile. Right when I was about to go looking for him, he showed up with his shirt untucked and his tie on the outside of his collar. He looked like he got in a little dispute with his clothing. He whispered to me that he was frustrated and couldn't get his clothes to cooperate with him in the bathroom. I have no idea how his tie got on the outside of his collar. Next, Carmen had to go. When she came back I noticed that the whole front of her dress was tucked into her tights. I had to laugh, along with many other members of my ward family. At least they both walked really quietly with their arms folded back to our seat. Aww, kids are great!

A Little Anxious

David and I were talking the other night, reminiscing about our past baby deliveries. I had to remind him about Morgan's birth. It was a crazy experience. Then I found this picture and realized that this is what your baby will look like if:

• You grow huge babies (she was 10 lbs 4 oz)
• You aren't dilating because she is lodged at an angle against your pelvis
• You're doctor won't induce you because of legal reasons, remember, you aren't dilating
• You finally get induced 3 days after your due date (after crying and pleading with the doctor).
  
• Your poor little girl breaks her collar bone because she was so huge and came out so fast!

It was crazy and I didn't remember a lot of it until I looked through our pictures again. Right after she was weighed, the doctor said, "Oh yeah, I guess we should have induced you earlier." During my stay in the hospital, each time I got a new nurse, she would question why little Morgan's lips were purple? They would think she wasn't getting enough oxygen, when in all reality, it was bruising on her lips. She looked like she had been through a boxing match. I sure hope my new doctor will help me and listen to me this time around. Can you tell I'm getting a little anxious about our upcoming birth?

A Great Lunch Had By All

I was making me a chicken salad for lunch. So yummy. It's a open tortilla, topped with spinach leaves, corn, black beans, tomatoes, chicken, avacado, cilantro and a little bit of cheese. I also like mine with a little drizzle of ranch dressing and hot chicken wing sauce. A perfect lunch. Something most ADULTS would love:
but to my surprise, BOTH girls wanted one for themselves, minus the tomatoes.....and they ate it all! It was amazing because it's usually pretty hard to get them to eat spinach. Not today. So I had to document it:

Itching For Summer

The other day the girls ran outside to play. Morgan, trying to catch up to her sister and not wanting to miss the fun, threw her coat on upside down. Carmen had to try out her new skateboard she got for Christmas and Morgan found the beach toys in the garage. They weren't out there long before their little fingers had had enough.

Sledding!

We've never taken the kids sledding before yesterday. I know, crazy huh? We realized that we may have been depriving them of something wonderful. The first few runs were a little nerve racking for them, but they got the hang of it and went down the hill many times. It was so hilarious to me to see their faces change from terrified to excitement in a split second. Next time we go we decided we need tubes. Tubes are much softer on the little bums going over the hard snow. Also, we need more snow! But despite that, a good time was had by all.

Happy New Year!

David surprised me with tickets to Avatar 3D at the IMAX theater. It was simply amazing. The story line and effects were incredible. While we were in Idaho last week, David saw it with my brothers and liked it so much that he wanted to take me to it. I was a little hesitant because I remembered when I was very pregnant with Graham, we went and saw a very long Lord of the Rings and I didn't enjoy it at all because I was SO uncomfortable. I was worried about sitting through a 3 hour long movie being so huge, but it wasn't a problem. Both David and I had never seen a 3D movie. So fun! Thanks Babe for the fun date, and to Granny for watching the kids. :) It was a great date for the new year.