13 Weeks

Since this will be my last baby, I want to make sure that I am keeping a good record of this pregnancy.  Although pregnancy is sometimes hard, I want to treasure every minute I have, because I'm sure I'll look back in the future and miss parts of being pregnant.  I wasn't so great up to this point, but here's to (hopefully) doing at least weekly updates until this little baby comes to meet us!!

(I got the idea for keeping track like this from a baby album I saw on Pinterest, and then from Heather's weekly shots on Facebook.  So glad for inspiration!)

Guess What?

Is anyone else as shocked as I am?? Seriously, it took quite awhile for the big news to sink in. We had always planned on having a third child, but hadn't even talked about starting to try again. After all, Easton isn't even 14 months old yet.

But, as it usually is, babies have their own schedule. The last couple months have definitely been a roller coaster ride. I didn't get sick with Abbi at all. With Easton, I got sick, but it wasn't too bad, and it seems like it didn't last very long. But this time around, it has been a different story. And although I haven't been throwing up very much, it's the nausea that really gets me. Even now, at 13 weeks, I'm still sick.  And it seems like it's been the worst in the last couple weeks. I'm only hoping that it will start to subside now.

And talk about being tired! I have a hard time keeping my eyes open past 10pm anymore, and I used to be up until at least midnight or 1am every morning before. And I've even found 20-30 minutes to lay down during the day because I just can't make it through.

I won't lie - it took me a little while to get used to the idea of having another baby right now. My life has been so crazy and hectic lately, and I'm still wondering how I'm going to do it all when the baby gets here. But now that it has really sunk in, and now that it all feels real, I am so excited and happy to meet this little soul that is being entrusted to our family. I look at my children every day, and I feel so blessed. I am so excited for this new baby to join us and for the excitement that is to come!!

Dream Big, Little Pig

When we go to the library, I'll let Abbi go crazy and choose what books she wants to check out. Without fail, we'll end up with lots of Dora, Barbie, Strawberry Shortcake, Olivia, Max & Ruby, etc.  But I like for her to choose at least one or two "other" books to branch out a little.  (Ok, I'll admit that I get a little tired of reading the character books to her over and over again!)  But with the "other" books, it's hit or miss whether it's a good book or not.  But sometimes we run across a book that both of us love.

I thought it would be fun to highlight the good ones that we come across - just in case you are looking for a book for your children.

First up - Dream Big, Little Pig by Kristi Yamaguchi.  I thought this was the cutest book.

It's the story of a pig named Poppy who desperately wants to be good at something.  She tries several things, and is told that she just isn't good enough.  But she is always cheered on by her family and her best friend.  Then one day, cheered on by her best friend, she tries figure skating.

Even though she is told that pigs can't skate, she is determined.  With lots of practice, Poppy learns how to become a wonderful skater.

Not only is it a cute story, but I think it's one with a great message behind it as well.  It's one I definitely recommend!

Field Trip Fun - South Towne Mall

Ok, when I started this weekly field trip idea, I said that it didn't have to be anything crazy or an exotic location.  And this week's field trip was neither.  Yep, we went to the mall.  See, I had to find something to wear for a tv appearance the next day, and the week was so busy.  So I decided to combine it all into one activity - a day at the mall = fun times for my kids, right?

First up, I was starving, so we needed food.  Abbi said she wasn't hungry, and going to anywhere sit down with the two of them and just me just doesn't happen.  So all we had was the food court.

I tried to pick something that I would like and that the kids would eat, and I ended up choosing Panda Express.  I'll admit - there are times that I totally crave that orange chicken, so I thought it would be a good choice.

Well, we sat down to eat and neither of the kids would even touch it.  And I didn't even really like it.  Which was a good thing and a bad thing.  Good, because I don't think I'll be craving it anytime soon, and bad, becaues I was sad that something that I normally think is good was not good at all.

I'm really striking out on this whole "field-trip-going-out-to-eat-somewhere-new-and-exciting" thing.  I have yet to really enjoy my lunch on one of these field trip days!!

Abbi was really bummed because we couldn't ride the carousel in the mall, because I couldn't hold Easton while on it, and she had to have an adult with her.  But I promised her that she could ride on the train, which made her excited.

We did a little shopping, (and I must not be a real girl, because I really do not enjoy shopping!), when Abbi started screaming that her shoe hurt.  I picked her up and readjusted her shoe, thinking that it was pinching her.  She stopped crying, and we continued on our way.  In the next store, she started running, then started screaming again.  This time, when I picked her up, I noticed some blood on her heel.  I took her shoe off, and noticed a HUGE tack in the bottom of her shoe that was poking up into her foot.  Poor girl.  The tack came out, and she didn't complain anymore after that.

Then we headed down to the train.  It was a total rip off, but both of the kids totally loved it.  So much, in fact, that Abbi did not stop talking about it the rest of the day.

After the train was a stop off in the play area.  Both of the kids loved it, although Easton loved trying to run out into the mall more than he liked playing.  So once I got tired of chasing after Easton, we headed out.

It's funny, because it really wasn't any crazy fun location, but all night, Abbi kept asking if we could go back to the mall in the morning.  Oh, how I wish I were a child again and got so excited about such simple pleasures!!

All pictures taken with my iPhone - sorry for the quality!!

Easton Randoms - April

Here are Easton's random photos from April!

This boy has a facination with being on the couch! 

 

And he's a very messy eater...

 

Love that smile!

 

and more smiles

 

and more messy eating

 

He has been teething a lot lately, and I think that's why he started walking around biting on his tongue.  I think it's pretty cute, though!

 

Where's your nose?

 

Caught in the act!

 

Haircut time!  (I think this was his 4th.)  The sucker sure helped to keep him still!  (and this was also his first sucker.)

 

Snacker

 

Running away at grandma & grandpa's house

 

and yes - more messy eating!

Abbi Randoms - April

I haven't been very good at keeping track of the funny things that Abbi says.  In fact, I only have 2 written down from this month.  Both were while we were waiting for Tami & Janell at the museum.

"He doesn't have a roof on!"  (when seeing a convertible pull up in the parking lot)
"She's not stuck in her car anymore!" (I told Abbi that Janell was stuck in traffic because of an accident.  I guess she thought that Janell was literally stuck in her car!  So she was excited to see Janell walking towards us.)

**update - I was a little better than I thought - just found these that I had written down!

4/11/12

Abbi & I were getting ready to go to the dinosaur museum.  I had some raisins on the counter, and Abbi asked if we were going to bring raisins for the dinosaurs.  I told her that the dinosaurs aren’t alive anymore, that they lived a long time ago.  Abbi said “a long time ago?  Like Jesus?”

4/17/12

I was making French toast, and Abbi made a comment about French fries.  Josh asked her if French Fries come from French toast, and she said “no, they come from Arctic Circle!” (she’s only had Arctic Circle once in her life – I have no idea how she comes up with these things!!)

And the random pictures from the month:

playing at the park

This is so typical Abbi.  Dancing and singing!!

Watching cartoons while eating a snack

Her idea of dress up!

First time wearing flip-flops!

more Abbi crazy dancing

She does love to read!!

Field Trip Fun - Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival 2012

It's time for the Tulip Festival!! For this week's field trip, we couldn't skip the Tulip Festival. This is the 4th year in a row that I've been, and it's one of my favorite yearly traditions.

This year, Janell and I first met up for lunch in Lehi at Emmett & Ethels. I was really excited to eat here, because I had read so many good things about it. But unfortunately, we were a little underwhelmed. I do have to preface this, though - right after we went in, a school bus showed up with about a million kids, and they obviously weren't prepared for it. There were only 2 people working, and we saw them frantically calling people to come in to help. And honestly - this was probably why our food wasn't the best - because they were rushing to get through all of the orders, but I was still disappointed...

But then we drove up to the Tulip Festival for to see some beautiful flowers!! The weather was perfect - it had been really hot the previous days, but we got lucky and got cloudy skies. I was almost afraid that it would rain on us, but it was perfect and not too hot. I feel like I take the same pictures every year, but all of the flowers are so pretty that I can't help but take about a million pictures!! The kids, of course, had a great time, and it was a wonderful afternoon!

Thanksgiving Point 2011
Thanksgiving Point 2010 
Thanksgiving Point 2009