My girls

I wanted to do an update on the girls before the blog becomes over taken by the baby.

Abby:

We had a rough month of April.  When the sun started coming up earlier in the morning, so did Abby.  Which made for a tired girl, who wasn't getting enough sleep.  We also were incredibly busy all month long, so I think the combo made for a bit of disaster.  She was ornery, short tempered and just a little difficult in general.  Eventually, I gave up hope that she would adjust to the early sunrise, and started putting her to bed earlier, and thankfully, we have our sweet little Abby back.

She is getting ready for her dance recital which is less than two weeks away.  Everyday, she loves to show us her new moves (most of them are dance moves that she comes up with on her own, and are a little spazzy, but whatever she does is always super cute).

Even with the fluctuating temperatures that we have had all spring, Abby wants to go outside to play, rain or shine.  She loves her little scooter, riding her bike, coloring with chalk, and finding little ants to play with.

Dress up has become one of her favorite activities.  Sadly, all we have is a tu-tu from her Halloween costume, but her little imagination can come up with tons of stuff to use that tu-tu for.

Dark pink, fairies, mermaids, and princesses are her absolute favorite right now.

The most difficult part of any day is the getting dressed and combing the hair.  She always has a definite vision for what her outfit should be everyday and anything else is just not an option.  The other day, Cam's sister invited her to spend the night, and as I was packing her clothes for the next day we butted heads a little.  Her exact words were "the outfit that mommy picked out is ridiculous, and I can not be happy in it."  I eventually won the battle, and she wore the clothes that I picked out :)


Lexi:

She's learned several words.  Daddy, ba ba (for her sippy cup), night night, shoes, and of course NO.  But she rarely uses them to communicate, except for "no", which we hear all day long.  Most of her communication consists of grunts and pointing.  I'm not sure what to do with her, I can't make her talk, but I sure wish she would so it would become a little easier to figure out what she wants.  Thankfully, she understands a lot of what we are saying, so that does make things easier.

I've switched her to one nap a day, and she seems to have adjusted nicely to her new sleep schedule.  Actually, some days I think the time she spends in her crib is her favorite because it means she gets her blanky.  She absolutely LOVES her pink or purple soft blanky.  She will cuddle it, and squeeze it every time she gets it.  It is, hands down, her most favorite thing in the whole world.  Her sippy cup comes in with a close second.  I try to limit the blanky to just the crib, but some days, she will sneak into her room and pull it from her crib, so she can drag it around with her where ever she goes.

She got her first black eye, at Church, of all places. 



Not a very good picture.  I took it with my phone, and you don't really get the whole effect of the black eye.

Minutes before Sacrament Meeting was to start, she took a dive off the bench, and caught the hymn book holder on her way to the floor.  After Cam had picked her up off the floor, and rushed her out of the chapel, Abby informed me that "that was embarrassing".  I'm not sure if she was embarrassed, or was just assuming that Lexi was embarrassed.

Lexi's starting to become possessive.  Up until now, if a toy was taken from her, she would just move on to some other toy, not really caring.  But she is now starting to scream and throw a fit when "her" toy is taken or being played with by some one else but her.  So there has been quite a bit more fighting in the house between the girls.  The words "Please share the toys, girls" is uttered multiple times every day.

She's also started throwing fits.  Literally throwing herself to the ground in order to get what she wants.  I think she's had a great teacher on mastering the art of throwing a fit from her older sister.
I love this age, when you can really see their personality come out.  Lexi is quite the character, and loves to hug and snuggle.  She makes me laugh all the time. 

I'm a little worried about what her reaction to the little baby is going to be.  She can be quite possessive of her mommy and daddy, and hates seeing us snuggle with anybody else, even Abby.  This is going to be quite a shock to her system.


I just love and adore these girls so much!

The final count down. 38 weeks.

Boom.  Look at that belly.

I almost didn't post this picture.  It was a little scary reviewing the photos of my tummy. Yikes!

Needless to say, I am so beyond ready to get this little baby out of me.  I had my final check up yesterday.  Everything still looks good.  So good, in fact, that I didn't even see the Dr.  He left to go deliver a baby, and the nurse saw no reason for me to stick around to see him.  I'm still measuring small, which continues to baffle me.  I KNOW that my tummy is bigger than it was with either of the girls.  For one, my belly button is officially an "outtie" now, which has never happened before.  And secondly, I have new stretch marks on my tummy.  I didn't get any new stretch marks when I was pregnant with Lexi, but I have some now.  So yes, my tummy is large.

I got the stomach flu a week or so ago, and spent a couple of days quite miserable.  And for whatever reason, the entire time I was sick, I was having contractions 7 or 8 minutes apart.  Thats the first time EVER that I've had regular contractions (other than when I was enduced with Abby).  My stomach has been quite sensitive since then, so I've had to be careful about the foods that I eat.

I have 5 days till my C-section, and I am finally starting the "nesting" process.  I've washed and folded the clothes, purchased a few newborn diapers (man, those are SO tiny), and have gotten the car seat out to clean.  It's actually been really good to finally start getting ready for the baby because it's forced me to actually think about the arrival of the baby, and not just focusing on the end of the misery that has been this pregnancy.

For Mothers Day, I told Cam that all I wanted was a pedicure.  It's been awhile since I could reach my toes, so I thought it was time to bring in the professionals, and really get pampered :)  I stopped after my Dr's appointment, and got the full, deluxe treatment.  Ahhhh.  It was just what I needed.

Cam has been so amazing these last couple of weeks.  I've been pretty miserable/tired/grumpy and he has really stepped in and helped around the house.  I'm so grateful for him!  I'm also so grateful for the many people in my life who have offered their help or service.  Cam's family has helped do a deep spring clean, and so many sisters in the ward have done so much for me.  I feel so blessed, and am not really sure what I have done to deserve such great friends and family.

Now all we have to do is hurry up and wait.  Cam gave me a blessing on Sunday, and I'm just hoping this little guy comes out happy and healthy.

I'll try to put up a picture and some stats while we are in the hospital.

I did it!

I finally figured out how to french braid.  I've kind of known the general concept of french braiding, but could never get the technique quite right.  It took watching a youtube.com video, but I finally got it.  So I braided Abby's hair yesterday, and was so proud of myself :)

Easter

Friday night, we dyed Easter eggs.  I had wanted to do it on a night that Cameron would be home, but he ended up doing yard work all day, and was exhausted by the end of the day.  So, it was just the girls and I.  I was afraid Abby would only want to dye her eggs pink.  As of late, her favorite color is dark pink, not pink, dark pink, and everything she comes in contact with just has to be pink.  But, suprisingly, she chose a variety of colors for her eggs.

Lexi spent the "egg dying time" in her high chair.  It was close enough that she could be included in the fun, but far enough away that there was little chance of the dye being spilled, or drank, or some other disaster.

Sunday morning the girls woke up and got to find out what the Easter bunny had left them.  For the last several years, if Cam ends up working on a holiday, we just do the "festivities" on another day when he can be home to participate.  Unfortunalty, I think Abby is getting too old now, and she might be confused/upset that her "Easter" or whatever holiday is on a different day than her friends.  So we went ahead and celebrated Easter without Cameron this year.  That also meant that I was up past midnight putting the girls Easter gifts together.

Abby got a princess scooter (Dark pink, of course)

Lexi got a "Cozy Coup"

Lexi, taking a turn on the scooter while enjoying a piece of candy from her basket.  She has quite the sweet tooth, and every little bite of candy produces a lot of drool.

Not suprisingly, Abby has pretty much taken over Lexi's little car.

Lexi, being cute.

The hope is that these awesome toys will keep the girls distracted enough that they won't be jeolous of the baby when he comes.  Fat chance, I know :)

Here are the girls in their Easter dresses.

I was worried that Abby wouldn't like the purple dress that I had bought her, but thankfully, she loved the dress.  The jacket that she was supposed to wear over it, wasn't as easily recieved.

Lexi will happily wear anything.  Actually she will happily wear nothing, too.

3 weeks and counting

I had a check-up last week, and everything looks good.  I've been measuring a little small the last couple of appointments, and I honestly cannot believe it.  I'm almost embarrassed when people ask how much longer I have, and I have to say about a month, because, I know I look like I could go any day now.  Almost every piece of clothing I own is too small and uncomfortable.  Most shirts don't cover my belly, and even my pj's/sweats aren't that comfortable anymore.  I hope this belly doesn't get too much bigger.

I made a little quilt for the baby.  It's just like the quilts that I made for each of the girls.  It was so easy to make.  I worked on it for probably 3 days, just during Lexi's nap and after the girls had gone to bed, and finished it up pretty quickly.

Colton is the name we've chosen for him.  Cole for short.

My mom has also made a quilt for all of her grandchildren, and she finished it up and sent it to me about a week ago.  I just love this one.  It would make a great wall hanging.

Saying Good-bye

Well, it's been a long time coming, something we've discussed numerous times, and today was the day. Our home is now minus one wild and crazy dog. Rory has a new home. She has driven us crazy almost since the day we got her. We gave it a good four years of trying lots of different things to see if we could make this relationship work. But we finally just came to the conclusion that she would be happier in another home. I've felt sorry for her, knowing we weren't able to give her the attention that she needed/wanted, and so hopefully another family will have plenty of time to give her.

It was sad to see her go. At least for me. Abby didn't even seem to care. I made Cam do the dirty work of actually driving her to her new home, I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it. It's funny, even though that dog drove me nuts, I was a pathetic mess when it came time to say goodbye. I'd like to blame it all the pregnancy hormones, but realistically, I'm horrible at good-byes. We're gonna miss that little beagle, but I think in the long run everyone, most of all Rory, will be happier.

Vegas, Baby!

This last weekend, Cam and I went to Las Vegas.  Cam had entered into a power lifting competition, and so we decided to make a long weekend out of it.

I had to take a picture of the pirate ship at Treasure Island for Abby to see.

About a week before we left, Cam's mom offered to watch the girls for us, so we could get a little getaway, just the two of us.  It was so nice of her to offer, sometimes, I don't know what I've done to deserve such awesome favors from his family.  When we arrived at out hotel on Friday, it took all of about 5 minutes to realize how horribly miserable the whole trip would have been if we had to of brought the girls.  We stayed at the Imperial Palace (not a good hotel.  I would never recommend this hotel to ANYONE!) and the line to check in was over an hour wait.  Then, once we checked in, there was a line for the elevators.  Thank goodness we were only on fifth floor, because we ended up taking the stairs to get to our room most of the time. 

Friday evening, we ate dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (yum!), then headed over the Belagio to see the fountains.

Saturday morning, after breakfast, we went in search of the location of the competition.  It was a two day event, but Cam's weight class didn't compete until Sunday, so we had a free day to explore the Strip.  We then headed to a place that sells discount tickets for same day shows.  There were a ton of shows that I wanted to see (not sure Cam shared my enthusiasm), but Cam really wanted to see Jay Leno.  He was in town for the weekend doing a couple of shows, so we jumped at the chance to see him.  We decided to go in search of a mall next, Cam had forgotten a few items he needed for the competition.  After some shopping and lunch, it was time to head back to the hotel.  I was pooped.  I'm sure we had walked 3-4 miles that morning, so I needed to rest up, if I was going to make it to a 10pm show.

Yeah, I pretty much stuck out like sore thumb.  I think 90% of the people there, just stared at my huge tummy. 



  That evening, we headed to the Mirage, were Jay Leno was performing and ate dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen.  Then it was time for the show!  We were both really excited!  Jay Leno did an awesome stand-up act.  He was funny, but it was also very clean.  It was such a nice break from all the filth that is all over the Strip.  We got back to our hotel about 12:30, and totally crashed.

Sunday, we had to get up early so that Cam could weigh in and get drug tested for the competition.  It ended up being a pretty small competition, and had a very casual atmosphere.  Cam had a lot of fun, and set some personal PR's in all three lifts. 

Squat.  I was not able to get a single decent picture the whole trip.

Bench press

Dead lift

Receiving his medal.  I think that the guy with the red ribbon, is being trained to go to the Olympics.

I enjoyed watching, for the most part.  It went from about 8:30am to 3pm, but the chairs weren't all that comfortable.  Cam got a medal (3rd place, I think) in his weight class.  I'm not sure how much he was able to lift in each event, but I know it was a lot.  So much, that when they pick up that big heavy bar loaded with all that weight, it bows.  We ended up just relaxing in the hotel room until dinner, where we ate at Serendipity 3.  It was good food, and of course we had to try the famous frozen hot chocolate, but it was the slowest service ever.  We called it an early night and were lights out by about 8:30pm.  We really know how to party hard, haha!

Monday, we drove back home, and we were so anxious to see the girls.  They did great, but I think everybody was  ready to get home, and get back to our normal daily routine.

It was a fun trip, but I have to say, I have little to no desire to ever go back to Vegas.  It's such a filthy place.  As soon as you get there, you can really feel the absence of the Holy Ghost.  I've been told that the Holy Ghost will not go into unclean places, and that pretty much describes Vegas.  Plus, EVERYTHING, is super expensive.