A New Arrival

Jeff's work gave all the employees a bonus in honor of its 25 year anniversary. We have been wanting a printer for a while, so although most of it went into savings, we used part of the bonus to buy ourselves a printer! Here it is, in all its newly installed glory:


It's one of those multipurpose printer/copier/scanner things. Technically, it's a photo printer, but it also does regular stuff like documents, and it was one of the most inexpensive printers at Wal-Mart, so we went with it.

The packaging included a little paper that talked about this great website done by Canon, called Creative Park, where you can print out all sorts of free neat stuff - gift cards, paper crafts, calendars, scrapbook stuff, etc. Most of the stuff uses a ton of ink (gosh, it's like they want you to have to go out and buy more or something...) but there's some fun stuff! So far I've resisted the temptation to print lots of stuff, choosing only to print a small origami box. You know, just to make sure the printer works okay and stuff. ;-)

Anyway, that's the exciting news of the day. We haven't had a printer the whole time we've had a computer (well, except one my dad gave us, but it never ended up working), so we're excited to finally have one. I'll probably mostly use it for printing recipes from the internet, up to now I've just been jotting them down on whatever scrap paper I can find, but this will be so much easier.

The rest of the trip

I figured I should post and say we got home okay on Monday evening. I'm so glad that we got to spend a week with my family, it was really great. Let's see, on my last post I left off with Friday evening, so I'll hop on with Saturday. We went back to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the second half of the reunion. I ate way too much again, heehee, but this time it was lighter fare like fruit for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch, so I didn't feel as full and kinda sick as I did from overeating on Friday. I haven't weighed myself yet, but I'm sure that I've more than made up for having only gained 1 1/2 pounds in the three months previous to this little visit...

We had a big FHE on Saturday night to finish off the reunion. The activity after the lesson was Family Bingo - my aunt and cousin had put together cards with pictures of all the family members. Then my aunt read off the names of family members one at a time, and we marked them on our cards with elbow macaroni noodles (I think that's the most creative Bingo marker I've ever used). The prizes were these really cute painted wooden magnets, in the shape of butterflies, palm trees, school buses, little kids, all sorts of cute random things. Since there weren't enough cards for everyone, we were put in groups. I was partnered with Owen, and he graciously let me choose and keep a magnet as prize when we got a bingo - I picked a butterfly. When Jeff and Thomas' team got a bingo, Thomas chose a school bus, which Jeff gave to Zaylee to play with; she is fascinated with school buses and had a blast playing with that little magnet!

Sunday was Owen's homecoming talk in church. Janelle and Marie had decided to sing a song together and asked me a couple weeks ago if I would accompany them. When Owen got home, he asked if he could participate too. So the three of them sang while I played. I'm glad that we practiced the song several times before performing it in church - I got all the tears out during practice and didn't end up sobbing while playing in the middle of church! The first time we practiced when Owen started singing his verse we had to stop altogether, because I started crying, then we all started laughing because we were crying - it was so emotional and spiritual to hear him singing about doing the Father's will. So anyway, yay for practicing because all of us made it through the song without getting too misty-eyed.

After church we had a big family get-together at Mom and Dad's house and had barbecue beef sandwiches. Several family members who were in town for the reunion were able to come to hear Owen speak, and stuck around to be fed and to hang out with all of us afterward. Lots of people running around, but it was fun.

Monday morning we got all packed up and hit the road, after lots of hugs and goodbyes. Then it was six hours of sitting in the car wishing that I wasn't going home - after a week in that large, clean house it was hard to come back to a tiny, messy, cluttered apartment. But I was motivated to clean up the kids' room on Monday evening. The room they slept in at Mom's house was empty except for the pack-n-play and the mattress for Zaylee, then the suitcase and whatnot in the corner. It was so clear and nice! So I dug in and cleaned up all the piles of junk all over the kids' floor. Now all the clothes, books, toys, blankets, and random bits of everything are all put away and the room looks great! And I've actually been able to help the kids keep it that way all day! Now I just need to force that cleaning motivation to stay just long enough to fix up the living room... and the kitchen... and our bedroom... and the bathroom... and oh dear, I think I feel the motivation slipping away as I think about all the other messes that have to be cleaned up to get the apartment looking and feeling half as nice as Mom's house. Phooey.

I mentioned in my last post that I bought a vintage maternity pattern at the thrift store, and was excited to make a dress. Well, today when we went shopping I bought some fabric and I spent the afternoon and evening making this dress. Then I went to try it on and realized that I had made a cross between a hospital gown and a tent. Sigh. I guess it really is true that maternity clothes have come a long way since this pattern was made. Now they're made to hug and accentuate the feminine curves of the pregnant body, instead of completely hiding them in billows of extra fabric. Well, at least I can use it as a nightgown or something. And maybe by the time I'm nine months pregnant I'll actually wear it outside of the house - by that time I might not care so much what it looks like as long as it's comfortable.

I still haven't uploaded any pics from my camera. But as soon as I do I'll do a picture post with all the pictures from last week. I'll also make sure to post a picture of my new "dress" for everyone to laugh at. Seriously, it really does look exactly like a hospital gown.

A Quick Post From Idaho

Having a great time with my family! We left on Tuesday morning and after driving for a really long time we arrived. Had dinner with Grandma and Grandpa D. Tuesday evening, and got to see Owen for the first time in two years. It was great! Dinner was simple: hot dogs, baked beans, chips, salads. The visiting was what was most fun - hearing some of Owen's mission stories, catching up with parents, siblings, grandparents.

We spent the next couple of days just hanging out and enjoying being with family! That's what I like about my family, we don't have to be constantly out and doing things when we're together. It's enough to sit around at home and just be together. Takes a lot of pressure out of visiting, in my opinion. :-)

Anyway, this weekend is the family reunion on my mom's side. Our family was responsible for lunch today. Mom and I did all the shopping for it yesterday, and apparently shopping and cooking for approximately 80 people of varying ages and appetites is no small matter! The shopping took all day long. We visited the different stores to collect price information for everything we needed, which took a couple hours. Then we took a break and wandered around a couple thrift stores to get our energy back up. :-) I bought a really cute vintage maternity pattern, and am looking forward to getting fabric to make a dress. I also found newborn diapers for a good price (at a thrift store! how cool is that?) and some new Church shoes for Zaylee.

Then it was back to business; we went back to all the stores we had previously visited and actually bought all the food, getting each item at the place wherever it was cheapest. We completely filled the van with all the stuff we ended up buying!

Today was the first day of the reunion. Again, in our family there isn't much in the way of super planned activities and such. There were a few things - decorating T-shirts, sewing children's clothes for a humanitarian service project, little things like that, but mostly just visiting. I had brought my sewing machine, and enjoyed sewing together little pants and shirts. Grandma L. has an antique treadle sewing machine that still works - it's the machine she used when she was growing up. She graciously let me take pictures of her using it, then suggested I give it a try as well. So I got to use the treadle machine and it was lots of fun! It definitely runs more slowly than an electric, and takes a bit of practice to get your rhythm going, but I got pretty good at it and made a cute pair of pants with it.

Zaylee and Thomas have been great today. Grandma and Grandpa L. have a play area in their living room that has been popular with the kids ever since my mom was a kid there. Zaylee and Thomas spent a lot of time there today, playing with toys that have been in that old toybox ever since my mom and her siblings were young. There's even a little toy tractor that has my mom's name etched into it! So neat. Anyway, the kids had a great time playing with the other little cousins and getting to know all this family they never knew they had. :-)

I have of course been taking a few pictures, though not nearly as many as I should have! I don't think I'll bother with uploading them from the camera for now though, too much work. That will be a later post I suppose.

Hmm, I really did mean for this to be just a short, quick post to let everyone just know that I'm alive. Well, I guess it turned out a bit longer. That's okay though, right? :-) I'll do more later, but for now I'm pretty tired, and I need to put my feet up - they're swelling like crazy! I don't remember them swelling this early with my other pregnancies...

That's Better!

The sun is shining, and Owen gets home from his mission today!!!! Yippee!!!!

I did have a really hard time yesterday. At one point I just sat on the couch and cried, while the kids climbed all over me trying to make me feel better. Thomas was such a sweetie, he kept giving me kisses and patting me on the head, over and over again. It was so sweet it made me cry even harder.

But I really am feeling quite a bit better this morning. I'm officially 15 weeks pregnant, we leave for Idaho in four days (yikes, that means I have only four days to clean the apartment, do some laundry, and pack for the trip - sounds easy but if you saw the apartment you'd know it really won't be), Owen is getting home!!!!, and the sun really is shining. The grass is green and the sidewalks are almost dry. I don't know how long the sunshine will last, but I'm sure enjoying looking out the window at it while it's here! Maybe we'll walk to the library later today (Zaylee and Jeff are still in bed or I'd go right now) if it stays nice. There aren't even any clouds in the sky! Yay!

Rain Rain, Go Away!

The weather is really getting me down. Really. It's been so wet and dreary and rainy for about a week already, and according to the weather forecast, we've got at least another week of bummer weather ahead of us. Zaylee keeps running to the window and exclaiming, "It's raining again!" It's really cute, but it hardly makes up for how dreary it all is. Not ever seeing the sun is really getting me depressed. Not to mention that the air pressure changes that accompany rain storms are a major trigger for my migraines. I've had a migraine nearly every day for a long time now, and it's getting so old!

Well, maybe the weather will be nicer in Idaho, where we'll be next week. Crossing my fingers!

Well, on the positive side, the baby has been fairly active today. I haven't felt it for several days, so it was nice to be feeling little kicks and wiggles today.

Sewing Again

I haven't been sewing much lately, in the first trimester it just felt like too much work. But yesterday I finally pulled out the sewing machine and got working on projects again. First I finished the mei tai I was making for Michelle. It looks pretty much the same as the one I made for myself. I had to get it done because we'll be up in the area in about a week and a half, and I wanted to be able to give it to her then. So Michelle, your mei tai is finally finished, and I'll get it to you when we come up to visit!

After my successful sewing venture yesterday, today I decided to take on another project I've been putting off. A few months ago we found a moses basket at D.I. for very cheap, so I bought it. It was "naked" though, no lining and no sheets for the pad. Well, today I finally made the lining. I cut up an old pale green sheet and sewed it up. Considering that I'd never made anything like it, and didn't use any kind of pattern at all, I think it turned out pretty cute.


Later I'll get around to making a couple sheets too. I don't have the elastic I'll need to make them, but once I buy some I'll just use fabric I have lying around the apartment to make some cute sheets.

It's fun to be sewing and making useful things again! Next I need to pick up the hooks and start crocheting again - I need to make a blanket for the baby.

Excited!

I'm getting so excited! I don't think I've mentioned on here yet, but my brother Owen will be getting back from his 2-year LDS mission on the 12th, and we're going up to Idaho to visit the next week! Yippee!!! I'm excited to see him because he's been in Alabama for two whole years, he hasn't seen Zaylee since she was just a little thing, and hasn't seen Thomas at all. And from his e-mails it's obvious that he's done an incredible amount of emotional and spiritual maturing in those two years, and it will be wonderful to be able to see that first hand.

I've been thinking this morning of all the things I need to remember to bring when we visit - all the stylish ties he used to pad the box of Christmas presents he sent, the deep fryer that Mom gave to us because they never used it (Owen had written an e-mail a while back that he was excited to use the deep fryer to show us some good southern cooking. I had to reply that it we had it here in Utah. He replied back that we better bring it when we visit!), super cute maternity outfits to show how awesomely pregnant I am with my little belly bump. The belly showing-off isn't just for Owen, of course, I want to show my bump to the whole family!

Plus, the weekend that we'll be there will be a family reunion, with my mom's side of the family. This also has me really excited, the timing worked out perfectly. More family to show the bump to!!! Oh yeah, and to visit and hang out with and catch up with and eat wonderful food with and stuff like that.

Here's that belly bump I keep going on about. Isn't it cute?


The shirt is one that I just got at D.I. yesterday for just $4. I love thrift stores!

A Nice Updatey Kind of Post

Sorry I've left that icky-sicky post up for so long. After Saturday, I have been feeling much better. Sunday I was weak, but not throwing up anymore. I stayed home from church and rested, and by that evening was feeling better. Yesterday I was pretty much back to normal. I'm glad it went away so quickly this time, but I'm definitely considering asking my midwife for a Zofran prescription that I can have on hand in case this kind of thing happens again - it's pretty miserable to go through!

I realized that I haven't been posting updates on the kids lately. All the little day to day things that they are learning and doing, I just sort of forget to record for posterity. But here's some of what they've been up to:

Thomas has become more vocal, though nothing he says sounds like it's supposed to. "Ahhh, shee!" means "please!" And "Zhezhe" is how he says "Zaylee." He also signs the word "more" by tapping his fingertips together when he wants more to drink or eat, though we usually have to remind him.

Zaylee is completely potty trained. She runs to the bathroom all by herself when she needs to pee or poop (yay, no more poopy undies!!!!!). Very rarely she gets there too late and wets herself a bit, but for the most part she does wonderfully, and I'm so proud of her! Now if I could get her to stop playing in the toilet water when she's done...

Thomas is the nursery jewel! He is always very well behaved and plays so nicely (I'm going off what his nursery teachers tell us). He's also the cleaner-upper after snack time: After all the other kids leave the table to go on to the next activity, he finishes up their snacks for them. He's definitely a voracious eater!

Zaylee has been doing better and better in Primary. At first she was a bit wild and would run away from class, pull other kids' hair, the normal brand-new Sunbeam stuff. But she has been much improving, and sits still in her chair and usually keeps her hands to herself. I got to observe her firsthand a couple weeks ago as I was subbing for the Primary pianist. She was so excited I was there she kept calling out, "That's my mommy!!!" She has been assigned to give a scripture next week, which means that I get to choose a scripture for her and help her learn it. How do you help a three-year-old learn a scripture, I wonder?

As for me, aside from the sick episode on Saturday, I've been doing well and enjoying the pregnancy (mostly). I feel the baby move occasionally, and it always brings a smile to my face! I've been super tired though, and usually drop into bed as soon as I put the kids down. I never thought I would be giving myself an 8:30 bedtime after I graduated elementary school! But by the time the kids are in bed, I'm so tired that I just can't stay up later. Plus it saves on the power bill - no lights are on and I'm not using the TV or computer! :-)

Jeff continues to enjoy his work. His schedule is sometimes hard on him and us, but we survive okay. Apparently Jeff is really good at what he does. He says his gels and interpretations are some of the best. Nice and humble, he is. ;-)

In other news, we have been scoping out houses in the area. No way will three kids fit in our tiny two-bedroom apartment, so we're looking to buy a home. We saw one yesterday that we're really enthusiastic about. It's a slightly older home (1984), and needs a bit of work, but it's within our price range and we both really like it! It has new wood floors in the living room, dining room, and kitchen. There's 5 bedrooms and 1 3/4 bathrooms (the 3/4 is a bathroom with toilet and shower, just no tub). One of the biggest pluses of this place is the lot size of 0.34 acre - in the back yard there's enough room for a sizeable garden, swingset, clothes line, fire pit, grill, picnic tables, gazebo, play house, and anything else we would want to put in there! Seriously, it's an enormous yard.

The house is a bit of a fixer-upper. Not a gut-the-entire-place-and-start-from-scratch kind of fixer-upper, but the kind where it just needs some TLC and a bit of work. The kitchen cabinetry will need to be repaired, some lighting needs fixed, the deck/porch in the back will need to be repaired or replaced. Then there's the basic stuff like redoing the carpets and painting. Plus maybe replacing the toilets. You know, just basic stuff. :-) With some work, this place will be gorgeous. The cool thing is that with Jeff's schedule, he has every other week completely off, and that gives plenty of time to work on a house. We could take on one project or phase at a time and finish it before he has to go back to work again.

Anyway, even if we don't get this particular house, it's fun to be looking, and forming ideas as to what we're looking for exactly - what features we definitely want (like a dining area - the first house we looked at didn't have one), and what things are optional (dishwasher would be nice but it's not a deal breaker), and what kind of work we're willing to put in if we buy a house that needs work.