It's a . . .

BOY!!!  Yep, we'll have 3 boys!  I have to admit, I was completely shocked when the doctor gave us the news yesterday during my ultrasound.  I had convinced myself more than I had realized that we were having a girl.  After all, I come from a family of girls!  We shop together, talk on the phone for hours, swap recipes, share decorating tips and ideas, and discuss female-related issues.  Just last week I found myself browsing the pink fabrics at the craft store thinking how fun it would be to choose girl things again.  Well, I guess not!  You could hardly wipe the grin off of Brandon's face until I reminded him of missions, scouting, and all the fun he'll have at father/son camp-out's while I'm living the easy life with Sarah.  It was then I saw a look of being a little overwhelmed.  I feel a little overwhelmed myself when I think about nursing another boy (my boys have been pretty difficult to breastfeed).  And Jonah was SO big, and my guess is this boy will be even bigger!  He's already measuring a week ahead.  Part of me thinks that one reason Jonah's delivery was so fast was because he was so big!  It's scary to think about how fast this next delivery could be.  We may not even make it out of the driveway this time!

But all of that aside, I LOVE my boys!  Yes, they're busy, loud and throw everything (sorry to anyone who may sit in front of or behind us in church getting constantly clobbered by Geotrax trains and matchbox cars), but boys really are fun!  And I know that Heavenly Father knows what's best and I completely trust in that.  I know that once this little guy finally gets here we won't want it any different.  And I hope that maybe Jonah and our new little guy may have that best friend relationship that Brandon has with his brother and has always wanted for our children.  Yes, I think having a boy will be just great!

Missing Daddy

This week Brandon's been out of town.  He only goes out of town twice a year:  once for this engineering conference and once for the deer hunt.  I'm so grateful to not have him gone weekly, like my dad was growing up.  I've found that my reliance on him has made me weak, so that when he IS gone it's a HUGE deal to me and the kids.

Brandon left me these chocolates at the beginning of the week to get me through the week.  He knows chocolate is one of my true loves.  The problem is, and I'm embarrassed to admit, that this box was empty after the 1st afternoon!  Ahh!  What to do the rest of the week!

One of Brandon's concerns about me when we first got married was how independent I was and that I wouldn't need him.  After all, I'd lived on my own and far away from home for 8 years by the time we got married.  It's amazing how quickly marriage can change all that.  Normally he takes care of all of the little problems with the house and helps at night with the kids.  I'm so spoiled!

I've tried really hard this week to take things easy so there's more of me to give to my children.  I thought about taking on some projects while Brandon was away, but consciously didn't so I wouldn't be at my wits end with the kids.  So even with the temper tantrums, Jonah throwing hard objects at my face, pulling my hair and dumping out a large bag of pearler beads, fighting with Jacob to do his homework, the wild, silly run around screaming rough-housing where someone always gets hurt and mommy wants to pull her hair out, finding water in the basement, and our furnace going out in the middle of a cold night I was still able to remain calm. 

Do you ever get the feeling that the kids purposely conspire against you?  I think they gather when I'm not paying attention and discuss how their usual antics didn't drive Mommy crazy this time.  So it's time to pull out the big guns.  A sure-fire way to get her to crack:  total sleep deprivation!  Jonah pulled out his insomniac routine with a comedy hour from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. full of loud laughing, kicking and banging on the walls.  Then Sarah got up with a nightmare and would NOT go back to sleep.  I got the feeling that Jacob, being the oldest and smartest, laid smug in his bed watching Mom crack while his brother and sister got in trouble from all the tricks he orchestrated.

Hurry home, honey!  If the incoming storm down south keeps him from getting home tonight, you may see a couple of kids up for auction on this blog!  (And they'll go to the faster bidder, not the highest!)

Jacob's Testimony

Jacob made this in Primary on Sunday.  It says, "I know that my Savior lives."  This was always my favorite stage of children's writing as a teacher.  It's called "sound spelling" because kids write so phonetically.  You can see Jacob trying to experiment with some of the phonics rules he's learning.  Sometimes kids' writings show how messed up the English language really is with all of its exceptions to the rules.

Anyway, I'm so grateful for wonderful primary teachers who love and teach my children.  And I'm especially grateful that at such a young age my son already has a simple testimony of his Savior.

Helping Haiti

I, along with many of you, have been anxiously watching the devastation in Haiti this week.  My heart goes out to those suffering people!  I feel horribly guilty sitting here in my comfortable home, wasting plenty of clean water, and eating way too much junk food.  Sometimes I wish I had the means and resources to jump on a plane and go down there to help, like you hear of many selfless people doing.  It's at times like these I'm SO grateful to be a member of the LDS church with its AMAZING Humanitarian Center, near perfect organization, and no political "red tape" to work through to dispense resources!  I know that my monthly contributions are spent wisely and honestly.  Our Church is always one of the first on the scene for relief for any major disaster.  It's times like this I think of the scripture in the book of Matthew ". . . by their fruits ye shall know them," and I know I belong to something great.

And a big thanks to Circe for organizing her own efforts and sharing the opportunity with the neighborhood.  I look forward to being able to teach my own children about helping other children in far away parts of the world!

Cravings

The last several weeks I have been going increasingly mad over some food cravings I've had!  But when I'm out and about with the kids and dreaming about that certain sandwich, the thought of unloading 3 kids, hauling them into the restaurant (because I could never crave anything as easy as going through a drive-thru), placing an order, waiting for food to be prepared while the kids run around screaming, and then loading 3 kids back into the car seems so exhausting that I push my cravings to the side.  And then there's the practical side of the issue:  the kids are tired and hungry themselves, I shouldn't be selfish, and do I REALLY need to spend money on my silly little cravings?

In the evenings I've been craving Jamba Juice.  Can I just ask WHY the closest Jamba Juice is a whole 10 minutes away (making a full trip about 30 minutes long)?  By Tuesday night I was pulling my hair out over this silly craving, so when my sweet husband walked in from meetings at 11 p.m. he was more than willing to run to the store to buy ingredients.  But, again, trying to be practical, I thought of the late hour and that I really should be heading to bed.

So last night Brandon came home from work with 2 bags full of ingredients to make LOTS of smoothies!  And what did I do in all my practicality and raging hormones?  I got after him for spending too much money!  Ahh!  What's my problem?  While he was off to meetings and the kids to bed, I made not one, but TWO large smoothies for myself!  And seeing how quickly I would be going through the ingredients and oh, how heavenly they tasted, by the time Brandon got home he was quickly forgiven and praised for his foresight and generosity!

Do you see what he has to put up with?  Thanks, Sweetheart, for understanding and always bending over backwards to make me happy!

My Sweet Boy

Lately it seems like I can't drag myself out of bed before 8 o'clock.  Lucky for me I only have to get 1 child off to school by 8:40 a.m.  Even though my children wake up early (they're not allowed out of bed until 6:30 a.m.), I have a wonderful husband who supervises them until he has to leave for work, and then parks them in front of a TV show entertaining enough for them not to bug me until 8 o'clock!

This morning at 8 o'clock my sweet little son came to wake me up.  He informed me that he had showered himself, done his morning jobs himself, and gotten breakfast ready by himself.  Sure enough when I walked out into the kitchen Sarah jumped out from behind the wall shouting, "Surprise!"  And there were bowls of cereal already poured, even for me.  The table was set, OJ was in glasses, everything was ready.  Jacob told me, "Mom, I wanted to help you out since you have a baby in your tummy."

What a wonderful family I have.  I'm so grateful to have such a sweet son, who as far as boys go, is probably a little more sensitive than the norm.  I attribute that to his father, who is also more sensitive than most men I know.  Days like this give me hope after days like Sunday when I really wondered what I was doing wrong to have children misbehaving so much, that maybe I'm doing something right after all.  Thanks, Jacob, for the cereal and orange juice!  It was just what I needed.

Christmas!!!

We had a picture perfect Christmas this year!  I couldn't have asked for any more!  For starters, Kent and Donna stayed overnight with us, which was a treat for all of us!  I wish I had taken more pictures, but I was lucky to get these with all the excitement.

We started Christmas Eve dinner at Benihana with Kent and Donna!  Thanks for dinner!  It was yummy and LOTS less work for me!  Yeah!

After dinner the kids opened their Christmas pajamas from Mommy.  The UPS man put Sarah's cute slippers on a slow boat to China, but luckily she was a great sport about waiting a little bit longer.  Mommy and Daddy even got new jammies this year (and no, we did not take pictures of that)!

We played a little Jenga (the kids favorite new game).  Thanks to a little . . . ahem . . . cheating we got our tower to double its original height.

Here's Sarah with her loot:  a microphone, Sleeping Beauty piggy bank, princess puzzle, Strawberry Shortcake Cafe & a new book!

Jonah loves his new tool bench, ball, movie, book and train!!!

Jacob got walkie talkies, legos (even an old set in mint condition from Daddy's boyhood that he was ready to pass on), movie and some easy reader books!

We had yummy cinnamon rolls for breakfast, complements of Rhodes Dough (sorry to break the home-made tradition, Mom), and quiche (which I actually DID manage to make myself).  After a slow day, we packed up off to Shauna's to show off our toys to cousins and pick at Shauna's left-over's for dinner.  It was a fabulous and relaxing day.

Oh, and what did Mommy and Daddy get?  Well, mostly new front room furniture.  But Daddy did get a Blu-ray player and tickets to see Brian Regan.  Mommy got TWO boxes of chocoloates (man, have I been craving those!), a beautiful picture of the SLC temple, and TWO purses!  And Brandon's parents continue to add to our "Hopefully One Day We'll All Take a Fabulous Cruise Together Once Everyone's Done Having Babies" fund.  Thanks everyone!