Wish I had a picture!

Every night before I go to bed I like to make sure my kids are tucked in and warm. Last night, I went into Boston's room and his blankets were kind of tangled around him. I walked over to him and started moving the blankets arounds. Oddly I felt something scratchy, I pulled on it to get it out from under the covers, but it was completely stuck. So I pulled a little harder, still didn't really budge. So i pulled back the covers only to discover that Boston was wearing Maddie's ballerina/princess dress! I burst out laughing because when he went to bed he most definitely didn't have it on. So there was my little guy with super hero toys all around him, spiderman pajama shirt and a pink toole skirt/tutu for a bottom. I took it off him, tucked him in and left the room giggling to myself. It wasn't until a couple minutes later it dawned on me that it would have been an awesome picture! I was almost tempted to go back in and put it back on him just to get a picture. lol. But the risk of waking him up wasn't worth it. 

My goodness I love my kids! 

(Here's the dress he was wearing. You can also find Maddie in this dress on almost any given day.)

The craziness of Sunday Morning. :)

Does it ever seem like Sunday morning is the craziest time of the week? No, I'm sure for most of you, you do it just like the primary song says and get everything ready on Saturday so your Sunday morning is peaceful, and spritual.

Well, I ahve not figured out how to do that yet. One day maybe.

Funny story about this morning, which starts with last night. We stayed out late last night watching fireworks with dad at Cedar Hills days. The kids LOVED IT!!! Maddie would say after every firework "Ya see dat!??!!" And Boston has always loved fireworks. In the first couple though there were some big Merigolds and he kept saying "Aghhh! They're going to get me!" Then dad realized what he was nervous about and reassured him that even though they look like they're going to get you, they never will. Anyway, we stayed out late from that so we were pretty tired  this morning.  So we all slept in to about 8:15 or so. Church is at 9 and I had agreed to lead the music in Sacrament meeting today. So I woke up, got Maddie up, made breakfast, got Boston up and sat down to eat myself. Boston and Chris were upstairs in the bathroom, I could hear Chris talking to Boston but I couldn't tell what he was saying. Only that was a little frustrated. After about 10 minutes, Chris called down to me saying he needed my help. Apparently, Boston had been playing with the door while he went potty and locked himself in the bathroom. Chris couldn't pick it, and had been trying to tell Boston how to unlock it, but Boston wouldn't listen. Well, I've had to pick the locks in our house before so I went upstairs to help out. Boston was panicking a bit (Especially after Chris jokingly told him he was going to die in there, thanks Sweetie),  After 5 minutes I still couldn't get it unlocked. Boston was beginning to panic more and saying things like "I'm going to be locked in here forever, and I'm probably going to die in the bathroom." Then he started pounding the door and after a minute said "I tried to break down the door, but it was too strong." 20 minutes go by and we still can't get him out. We decide to let Chris try again to pick the lock, and right before Chris took over I hear Boston say "Mom, i went a lot of Messy, so I had to use a lot of toilet paper." I didn't think much of it because I was thinking about how it was now 9:45 and that Chris was the only one dressed and I had ten minutes to be at Church.
Chris finally picked the lock, and Boston was so relieved to be free. I sent him downstairs to eat breakfast and I continued to quickly get ready. I went to use the bathroom right before I went back downstairs only to discover that the toilet was completely clogged with toilet paper. Boston had used an entire roll of toilet paper to wipe himself after he went potty. Not only did he use an entire roll, he used the LAST ROLL! Which means we had ZERO toilet paper to use, and I would have to wait until we got to church. So I left the toilet clogged, grabbed Maddie's dress and two small ponytail holders and ran downstairs. I told Chris he was going to have to get Boston dressed and come to church and that I would take Maddie.
I quickly put Maddie's dress on, which wasn't a problem because she loves dresses. But when I tried to fix the mess that was her hair, she very bluntly told me No, and wouldn't even let me near her. So I put the elastics around my finger, grabbed her and ran out the door, hoping she'd let me fix it at some point during church.
We got to church and I ran up to the front carrying a child who looked very much like an orphan with no shoes, honey and toast stuck to her face, and hair that was sticking straight out in every direction (she slept in pigtails the night before and her hair kind of help the position...kind of).
Soon, it's time for the opening hymn. Chris is not there yet to take her, so I decide it's a good idea to hold her while trying to conduct. Note: Holding a child while you conduct a song in 6/8 is never a good idea.
She was wiggly, and constantly using my shirt as leverage, attempting to ruin my modesty in fron tof the ward. Then as I'm trying to sing to help keep the awkward timing of the song, she starts yelling at me to stop singing, and puts her hand over my mouth and says "Stop it! No singing!! SHHHHH!!!" So I start laughing, lose track of conducting and have to find the next place I can jump back in. Then she tries to stop me from conducting, and basically it was a disaster. We finish the song, and I sit down hoping Chris comes in soon so I can hand her off, and save some of my dignity. But all too soon it's time for the Sacrament hymn and Chris is still not there. So I pick her up again and try to convince her to help me lead. Luckily it 3/4 time so basically I have to make a triangle, easy right? Nope. Maddie is having a hard time doing it so she starts yelling "I can't do it! I can't do it mommy!" And since she can't do it, she doesn't want anybody else doing it either and tries to stop me. Then she decides she wants down and tries to use my shirt as a ladder pulling it down a bit too far in the process. Chris comes in sometime during the song, but it's too late to take her to him. So after the hymn we quickly sit down, but still on the stand, as there was no time to get out of the public eye and sit in the pews. During sacrament she's singing and dancing and just loosing focus and the ability to be reverent quickly. I had made a couple attempts to fix her hair again and she threw a fit each time, so I decided to distract her I'd let her play with the hair elastics I brought for her. It worked, other than she talked very loudly about the color of each one. Then she dropped one and when she found it again loudly shouted "I found it! I get it! I get it" I felt like I was saying Shhhh the entire time. Finally sacrament was over and we were able to sit down in a bench. At one point we had her distracted well enough that she didn't notice me putting the elastic in her hair...and then the elastic snapped. Game over.
I ended up taking her to the mothers room and getting her hair wet in an attempt to calm it down a little. It only half worked. I did manage to find a clip and use it to tame the part of her hair that refused to be tame.
Let's just say it was quite a spectacle today.
Your niece and nephew certainly keep us on our toes. But we laugh a lot at the things that happen. You guys are going to get a kick out of them. And you'll know exactly what I mean about maddie's wild hair when you get home and see her after nap time or first thing in the morning. It's pretty awesome.
Well I hope you both had great weeks! Sorry this letter was more like a novel.  But that's what you get when you have a Boston and Maddie around. 

Love,
Rachel

PS. even though the ox was in the myer with the toilet paper. I didn't go to the store. Instead I had the awesome task of asking My neighbor if I could have a roll of TP. That's a proud moment, let me tell you. :) 

My Maddie. :)

 This girl. I seriously just love her. See that sweet smile? Don't let it fool you. 

Whenever we're at a playground one of the first things she does is find something to hang on. She'll hang for 5 minutes straight. :) 

Tonight after we got the kids to bed I went downstairs and began editing some pictures. Within 30 minutes Maddie started crying but I decided to wait it out and let her got to sleep. Being filled with more than her fair share if determination, 45 minutes later she was still crying. So I figured something was probably wrong, like she had a messy diaper. So like a fool, a rookie patent fool, I went into her room. I was immediately greeted with Maddie saying "mommy I broke it." I couldn't see what she had so I walked closer "what did you break?" Although I couldn't see her I could tell by her voice she was smiling. She new she had won. "I broke it, dolly." And she handed me her dolls pants and her half naked doll. I laughed a little and said "is this why you've been up here crying? You took the pants off your dolly?" To which she responded "yup. You fix it!" I dressed the doll again and as I laid the doll down Maddie three her arms around me and said "I carry you" which means you carry me. I knew I had already blew it by falling for her crying and going in the room in the first place, and rather than fight with her on going back to bed I told her she could hang out with dad while I went to the bathroom but then she had to go right back to bed.

When we walked into the room she jumped out of my arms and snuggled right in to her dad. He laughed when I told him what happened and said she could stay with him. I went to the bathroom and heard her chatting away to Chris the whole time. When I came back out and said it was bed time she burrowed into him even more. We all know Chris has a weak spot for Maddie, especially when she cuddles into him and they both have me puppy dog eyes that said "please can we stay just like this a little longer?" I gave in and said they could hang out but Chris had to put her to bed. I heard him take her to bed around 10, about 40 minutes after I left them. Then as I climbed into bed tonight thinking how much I lived my kids I stepped on something (or somethings) odd. I grabbed my phone and lit up the floor to find that my tums we dumped out all over the floor. evidence that my sweet, determined, and mischievous Maddie had been playing and not cuddling like she was supposed to be while spending quality time with her daddy. Oh how I love my kids and the evidence they leave behind. 

Today's evidence of Maddie: tums dumped out twice all over my room, downstairs sink clogged with shredded toilet paper and toys, nesquick dumped on. Dried poptart on the bathroom door, and sink. The kitchen floor and wet paper towels smeared with chocolate in her attempt to either paint or clean up, at least a gallon of water all over the bathroom floor thanks to a purple bucket I left with in reach during bath time and two completely soaked towels from said bucket and bath time. Those are just the ones I can think of right now. 

Boston's evidence: Spider-Man masks and toys all over the house, multiple changes of clothes from changing into different super hero themed pj's through out the days. Pillows from the couches all over the floor. Leftover quesadillas under a "fort" (cup) on the kitchen table. Spongebob yogurt and fruit snack wrappers in random places around the house. Hulk hands and toys everywhere, jake and the never land pirates battleships left in the hall, a beach ball sprinkler in the living room, and very dirty toilet from missed attempts aka distracted aiming  while going to the bathroom. 

Nothing much.

I don't know about anybody else, but for me it's been HOT lately. I'm sure it's because I'm pregnant, but I swear every day is sweltering.

So far this pregnancy has flown by. I can't believe I'm 30 weeks, and that it's June already! This pregnancy has been mostly uneventful. There was a week where I was having contractions, and had to go in for a stress test, but then everything calmed back down to boring and normal. We have no names yet, although Boston is now calling the baby Savannah. He also tells everybody that his new sister's name is Savannah. That's probably the top name on our list right now, so it very well could be.

He's so excited to have another sister, and LOVES to feel her move. Every morning he comes into my room and puts his hand on my stomach and tells the baby to wake up so he can feel her. Then he waits for her to kick, and when she does he gets so excited! Then he grabs my hand and puts it on his stomach and says "Mom, my dragon wants to move, you have to say wake up, so he'll kick you" and then we both act surprised that the dragon kicks his tummy. He is also getting so courageous. For the first few years everything scared him. Many things still do, but he conquers new things all the time. While in Colorado this last week he took a ski lift and went down the Alpine slide and Loved it so much he could have done it all day! Then, the next day we went to the carnival and he went on the ferris wheel and was beaming the whole time. A year ago he would have been petrified, in tears, and probably would have forced the workers to stop the ride to let him out, but not this year. Afterward he used his last three tokens to go on this big slide that you had to climb up to through a mini obstacle course. I was pretty sure he was going to freeze in terror at some point and we'd have to climb up and get him, but he didn't. Not even once. I think I was beaming bigger than he was by the end of the night because I was so proud of him! It blows my mind how quickly he's growing up. As we were walking home that night after the carnival he said "Mom, I was so brave! I wasn't even worried, and i never even cried!!"  I love that little boy!

Maddie is just Maddie. Cute as ever, but is a tornado with attitude. I spend so much of my time either stopping her from creating a disaster, or cleaning up after her most recent one. She's always got the sweetest little face, and it's so easy to be taken in. It doesn't help that she is usually is some pretty pink princess dress, so you just never suspect her of being so mischievous.  She is quite the instigator. Most of the fights that break out between my two kids Maddie is the one who starts it. Don't get me wrong, Boston plays the role of the big brother really well. Maddie is my dace buddy. She loves watching SYTYCD with me and it's so fun to watch her twirl and move all over the room. Her favorite new past time is jumping on our neighbors trampoline. She probably asks for it 100 times a day. Thank heavens we have a good neighbor who lets us go over and jump, or we'd have one upset girl all the time. She is so much fun, and keeps me on my toes, and even though her little stubbornness can drive me up a wall, I love seeing how much fire burns within her all the time! She reminds me of me and that's fun. (Especially since neither of my kids look anything like me, it's nice to see me in their personalities)

We're adjusting to Chris's new schedule, and though we don't see him nearly as much (which wasn't a lot before) we are glad that he's much more alert when he is home. He has said so many times that he is blown away at how nice Canadians are and how is really enjoying working with them. What's also nice is that as of right now, he doesn't have any business trips scheduled for the rest of the year. And even if a few get added, they're not going to be long business trips like when he goes to Europe.

Our yard is finished, I am growing things in a garden (Yikes), and our basement is underway. We are probably the most excited about the basement! I'm going to have to do a picture update this next time. I have so many, but most of them are on my phone, and I'm too lazy to get them on my computer right now).

Girl Trapped & Some deep stuff.

Well, if you haven't heard the news, we found out we are having another GIRL today! So Boston will be out numbered. He will be surrounded by pink, and princesses and sparkly things. But if anybody can hold their own in the middle of all that girlyness it's Boston.

This little girl gave us the clearest shot I've ever seen at her gender. Even before the Doctor said it was a girl, we both knew/saw she was clearly a girl. lol. We are both excited. Chris said he's so glad Boston came first, but that he's going to have more of a balance than what he grew up with (6 boys and one girl for 18 years, then one more girl). He did say that we'd better have #4 be a boy or I'm going to make him keep going until we get another boy, and before we know it we'll end up with 6 kids.

Honestly I'm relieved and soaking it in. I've had so many emotions going into this. First, it seems like I know quite a few people who have had babies with health problems lately and for some reason I was so worried about that. Not to say that it's not a possibility still, but so far everything looks good. I was more worried about finding out if something was wrong than finding out what the gender was.

The other thing I'm soaking in really feels like it's been two years in the making. It goes back to the day I had Maddie. I remember with in hours of having her I knew without a doubt I was supposed to have another baby and that it was going to be a girl. I remember telling Chris, and he just said "No, you just had a baby. Let's not talk about another one." Then month after month I knew there was another little spirit who was just dying to get down here, but Chris was not even close to ready so I started praying that Heavenly Father would help him be ready by the time it was time. When Maddie was around 8 months or so I had a surprise pregnancy, but miscarried. Then a couple months later Chris knew what I had known for a while, that it was time to have another baby. I got pregnant again, and quickly miscarried. I was so confused because I knew that there was a baby that was supposed to come to our family. Then I started to wonder if maybe that little girl wasn't going to be coming to our family anymore.

Then when I found out I was pregnant again I completely disconnected from the pregnancy. I was just waiting to miscarry again. When I didn't and we started to tell people, I always felt like I had to semi-lie when I got asked the question "Are you excited?" The truth is part of me wanted to be excited, but most of me was still just waiting for the crushing disappointment of miscarrying again. So I put up an emotional wall in between me and the baby. I felt like I was lying each time I told somebody that I was excited. Then as time passed, and I got farther and farther along I let myself be excited a little, but was still really worried that even today we would go in and there would be no heartbeat.

And when I started getting the question of what I thought I was having I honestly didn't know. Part of me wanted so badly to believe that it was a girl, the same girl that I had felt wanted to come to our family for so long, but I felt like if I said it out loud and then found out it was a boy I would be so sad that the little girl I knew I was going to have might not come to us. So I started believing I was having a boy. That way if it was a boy I would really happy about it instead of disappointed/sad. I'm guessing most of this doesn't make sense to anybody else, but I'm trying to make sense of it all in my own head.

When I realized we were having a girl, I almost started crying. I didn't, but almost. And now, I'm just trying to let it all sink in. I feel like I had trying to push off what I was had been hoping for, and now I'm trying to let those walls down and believe that it's happening.  I'm pretty sure that this is the same little girl that we've been trying to get here for over a year now, and she's the same little girl who has been anxiously waiting her turn since the day her sister was born. I've been so looking forward to meeting her, and now I'm having a hard time believing it's actually going to happen when for so long I was worried I lost her.

Now I feel like I get to focus on much happier things like what colors her baby blanket and nursery will be. What it's going to be like having two girls so close in age as teenagers (Uh-oh) and what a fitting name will be for this little spirit who has been patiently waiting to come to our family. Boston said Ice  a few days ago, but now is saying her name is Avery, which is on the list of names we like. We'll see. Until a few hours ago I hadn't put much thought into it, but now I feel like I'm allowed to believe this is real, and actually safe to be excited about it.

So there is the deep stuff I warned you about in the title. If it doesn't make any sense to you, it does to me. I wanted to write it down right now, and then later on I can add it to my personal journal with some clarifying thoughts.

I'm just so thankful to be a mom, and all the blessings that come along with it.

Success!!!! (I'm beyond thrilled tonight!)

Boston had a MAJOR breakthrough/accomplishment today. He went Messy on the potty!!!!! This was a huge moment for our family! He was so proud he said "Mom, I did it, and it wasn't that hard! Mom, we should tell Mary and Destin (My siblings on missions). I want to draw them a picture of it for them!" Chris and Laughed at what this picture might look like, but I told them that I'd write them in their emails tonight. :) lol. 

While Chris was in London a couple weeks ago I took Boston to Toys R Us and let him pick anything he wanted but told him he couldn't play with it until he went messy in the potty for a full week. He picked a toy he's been talking about for two years. He calls it the biggest lightning McQueen. It's a $70 remote control car that apparently can talk and literally will move his eyes and mouth. Luckily for me it was on sale for $45, so I said ok. I figured if we can get him out of pull ups it would be worth it. So we bought it, took it home and set it high on a shelf in our family room where it just sat. Boston tried sitting on the potty once. But that was it, one time. He obviously wasn't motivated enough to really try and earn this toy that he had been talking about for two years. 

What happened was a couple days ago I finished changing a messy pull up and just blurted out "Boston, you're too big to be messing in a diaper, and so because I know you know better, I'm going to take away your biggest Lightning McQueen. And every day after that  that you go messy in your pull up I'm going to take away one of your toys. And for every day you go messy in the potty you can pick a toy out of toy jail" Well Boston started realizing what that meant and started crying and got very worried. He asked through tears "And you're going to take away my Hulk?" 

"Yes"

"And you're going to take away my spiderman? and Dolly? And puppy? and Blanket?" 

"Yup, I will"

"And you're going to take away my hand?"

"What? No, I won't take away your hand."

"And you're going to take away Maddie?"

"No I won't take away Maddie."

"And you're going to take away my house?"

"No I won't"

"And My food and chocolate milk?"

"Boston, I promise I won't take away any family members, your house, or food, I won't take away your milk, but I will take away the chocolate to make the chocolate milk. I'm only taking away your toys. But if you go messy on the potty I won't have to take away any more toys, and you'll be able to get your biggest lightning McQueen out of toy jail." 

Fast forward three days, (today) and he hadn't gone messy at all. Not in a pull up, not in the potty. He had been holding it. So today at mom and dad's house I noticed he started doing a bit of a potty dance and asked him if he needed to go. He answered no, and kept dancing. Then he came up to me and said it was getting dark outside and he needed a pull up. I reminded him that if I put a pull up on him and he went messy in it I was going to take away his Hulk. That's all it took. He thought about it for maybe three seconds and said "mommy, I need to go potty, I think the messy wants to come!" So i jumped up and took him into the bathroom where I sat with him and talked him through what was happening. He started to panic a couple times, but quickly saw it wasn't too bad. When he finished I showed him how to wipe and then he wanted to see his accomplishment. When he saw his messy in the toilet, he was beaming with pride! He kept saying it wasn't too hard or scary and that he could do that again. Then we got to take his lightning mcqueen out of toy jail. It was a great night for him, and for Chris and I. We are hoping this is the beginning of the end of two kids in diapers...at least until August. :) 

Oh Life

Life has been nuts these last few days. Maddie has suddenly decided to get an attitude about everything. She is also finding new ways to keep me on my toes every second of every day.
Boston has always been a rule follower. I knew all my children wouldn't be like that, but I don't think I realized how nice a rule follower can be. In stores he would always stick by me, and if he ever wanted to do something questionable all I had to say was "that's the rule" and he would go along with it.
Maddie is the opposite. Taking her to the store always sounds like a good idea at the time, but then we get there and she's gone. I chase her down, and within 1 minute, she's gone again. A trip to Costco now takes me three times as long. I often find myself leaving Boston to guard the cart while I go running through the store to chase down my fast little girl.
She has also discovered how to stick her hand down her diaper. She especially thinks it's interesting to do it when she has a messy diaper. Between the two of my kids, it seems they are finding new ways to gross me out every single day. Maddie is a tornando, and is constantly into anything she can be in to. Whether it's sticking her hand down her diaper, dumping rice all over the kitchen, smashing macaroni into the carpet, or dumping water on the couches, she's constantly on the go. The sneaky part of it is she always has the most angelic face, and so she just looks too innocent and sweet to cause so much destruction.
Boston has been great. He's such a good kid. Both of them are, but it's so fun watching him develop into a big brother. And he's stepping into that role whether Maddie likes it or not. Sometimes I have to remind him to let me be the mom and he quickly responds "Mom, you just let me be the boy!" I have loved watching them become playmates and friends, and my favorite thing is when Boston teaches Maddie new things. He's so patient and talks her through step by step. It's so cute. Tonight, I put him to bed in underwear. I'm trying to get him out of holding "it" until he has a pull up on. So I got rid of the pull up...until he's asleep that is. My plan is to sneak up long after he's asleep and slip a pull up on him. We'll see how it goes.
After days like the last three days I don't know how in the world I'm going to add a third child in the mix. I don't think I have ever been more nervous about anything in my entire life. But, I know that we'll all adjust, and it will be fine. I will survive, and my kids will survive. Maybe I can get my act together a bit more before this next one gets here so I can keep up...and maybe this next one will be the best baby in the world who sleeps, rarely cries and is just content to be around people he/she loves. :)

We find out April 10th, by the way!!! I was thinking about waiting and having it be a surprise, but Now I know there is no way I could make it. I'm dying that I have to wait a week as it is!!!!

A sort of update.

So this week was long. Really good but long. Chris was in London all week, so my adult contact was extremely limited. When he's there, and we're here, our schedules are so different. He calls right before he's going to bed, and that's usually around 3 or 4 our time (sometimes later) which is a very busy/cranky kid time. So while he's gone most days we barely get to talk for 5 minutes, and even then I usually have kids jumping on my head or someone wrapped around my legs crying. Can you guess which child would be jumping on my head, and which one would be around my legs crying? 

But on a positive note when he's gone I get so much done!! It's amazing! I probably shouldn't say Chris being gone is the entire reason I got anything done this week. This week was the first week since Christmas that I have had the energy and haven't been sick to actually get moving and get something other than just being a mom done. At the beginning of the week I was listening to Dave Ramsey talk about tackling one thing at a time because if you try and tackle everything at once you never accomplish anything. So I took that concept and applied it to an extremely messy house and mountains and mountains of laundry. When I tried to tackle everything in one day I never got anywhere and it was completely overwhelming. So I picked one chore a day to complete. First it was the kitchen. Then the rest of the down stairs, just picking up and vacuuming. Then, once that was done I polished the kitchen cabinets, cleaned the downstairs bathroom, cleaned my bedroom, cleaned my bathroom, cleaned the kids bedroom, dusted everything, cleaned the kid's bathroom, vacuumed the stairs and upstairs (except for Mary's old room) then I mopped and steam mopped the tile downstairs, then I spent 4 days on laundry. But I'm finally caught up, and I've been able to keep it spotless for over a week now. I'm seriously picking up and working all day, but it feels so nice to be getting stuff done instead of lying on the couch because you feel horrible or you barely have the energy to lift your arms. The second trimester is so much better than the first! Even the kids are getting into the habit of cleaning up one mess before they move onto another. And the other wonderful thing about having the house clean is that I'm such a better mom! It's kind of nice doing one chore and one load of laundry a day because sometimes when you start getting overwhelmed by everything you have to do, you just finish what you committed to do, and then you can turn whatever it is you're wanting to do into your chore tomorrow. Chris has been laughing at me because I've been on his case about every little thing he leaves out, but I remind him that he's less stressed when the house is clean and he does whatever it is with a smile on his face. 

He got home on friday and it is wonderful having him home. The kids miss him so much when he's gone, and I miss having a grown up to talk to. Plus I like being around him, and I sleep better when he's here so that plays a part in it too. 

Almost the entire last week was amazing outside!! We played outside almost all day, everyday! Then on friday it was cold and rainy/snowy. Then Saturday we woke up to two inches of snow on the ground. We were all so sad. It's hard being cooped up again after you've enjoyed sunlight and the park for a week. I'm really hoping this next week will be much better. 

Life here on the home front is basically the same. Boston LOVES the avengers right now, especially the Hulk. He carries around his hulk toy and spiderman pretty much all day, and he's taught maddie how to say "Hulk, SMASH!!" You guys are going to be blown away at how big Boston is getting! He's such a good helper! And he's super excited to have a new baby around. He is going to be an awesome big brother and a huge helper to me! Every week he asks to go to Babycenter.com and see the baby. They have videos of what the baby looks like and is doing at each week of development. He's convinced that it's a girl. But we won't know for a couple weeks and both Chris and I have absolutely no idea one way or the other. The other funny thing is if you hug him too tight he'll say "You have to be careful because I have a dragon in my tummy! So you can't hug me the tightest hug, or it will hurt the dragon!" He says the dragon's name is toothless, and that only boys can have dragons in their tummies. lol. It's so cute. He LOVES babies right now. Maddie loves carrying her dolls around and loves little babies, but we'll see how she responds to a new baby. The difference between the two of them is crazy. Boston is such a boy and Maddie is such a girl. Maddie flocks to anything pink/sparkly/glittery/flowery/or princessy, and Boston...well I saw him playing with Maddie's Rapunzel doll and Tinkerbell doll, and they were beating eachother up. I think Rapunzel won. Today in Church he made me draw the hulk, Ruby (an assassin on the avengers) Captain America and Iron Man. I'm not an artist, but I was actually impressed. He was sort of impressed. He mentioned that Iron man was wrong, but he was satisfied. lol. 

 Maddie's silly face

They LOVE this little table! 

Random

Here is Boston ready to defend the world with his sword, and whisk. :) 

 His new silly face! 

Maddie's crazy hair. I seriously LOVE it! 

Some awesome at home, no equipment workouts. 

 My mom and nephew celebrating their birthdays together. :) 

Not the most awesome post, but it's something, right? 

And for Pregnancy info: I'm 16.5 weeks along, due Aug. 22nd, but will schedule a c-section for the 15th, but I'm hoping for the 10th-12th so that my mom can help a little before school starts. 

I'm feeling good (other than fighting a cold for a month), and had to start wearing maternity clothes around 9 weeks!!!!!! I have been eating everything I can get my hands on, and it's showing. :) 

But life is good, and I can't complain. :) 

Ewwww gross!

This is probably not a post is you are easily grossed out. But in sharing.
So remember how a few months a go I posted about an elder on my mission who taught my companion and I how to halk (?) a loogie?
So tonight I thought I'd really give it a go to clean out some of this left over cold stuff that's floating around in my head.
Bad idea.
If you don't know how to halk a loogie and are pregnant at the same time it's not a time to begin.
Why you ask?
Three words:
Sensitive gag reflex

Yup. I tried it, and it was a FAIL. I ended up throwing up because it got caught.
 The only time I throw up during this pregnancy is all because I suck at being able to get glen out of my sinuses like a man.

I immediately went into the kitchen and used a nasal spray. I should have done that from the get go because it work like a charm and I didn't have to...well you know.

Just thought I'd share this lovely moment with everybody. :)

Hopefully now you all know if you're pregnant, use nasal spray and don't think you can get rid of flem like a man.

Warm weather, good friends and beautiful beaches!

While still on our amazing Maui vacation last year Chris decided that we were going to go on a cruise for our 6th anniversary. :) 

I didn't complain one bit...I mean who would? 

So we convinced some of our friends from Chris's work to come with us and headed off to the Carribean for 8 days. Then we thought, why not add an extra day in Orlando so we can play? Who doesn't like to play? 

We scored some free tickets to Universal studios and had so much fun on all the rides. 

 I was the camera woman for this ride. They were completely soaked and somebody had to take the picture right? 

Hogwarts! I'm such a Harry Potter nerd, so I had a blast! 

 Frozen Butterbeer. It was so yummy! Kind of tasted like Butterscotch candy in liquid form. :) 

 Luckily the lines for all the cool rides weren't too long. Especially since I had to wait for everybody else for the majority of them. 

Like this one. I couldn't go on. Chris chickened out. He said it looked like a throw up ride.  

Couldn't go on this one either. We all decided against it, because the wait was the longest in the whole park. 

 Kim and I sat out on this one. It was either ride this ride, or watch the parade. We chose the parade. It was an easy choice for me. Since pretty much 100% of the rides have this outside. 

Wait, Zoom in a little closer. 

 See it yet? 

No? Zoom in a little closer....

 Yup, that is why I was the photographer for the first ride, and hung out enjoying cauldron cakes, and basking in the sun for the other rides. Apparently once you find out if you're pregnant, rollercoasters of ANY kind are out. Especially if you are past 12 weeks, which I am. :D 

We are super excited, and I was happy to sit out on the rides for this particular reason!

On Sunday, Feb. 3rd (our Anniversary), we boarded the boat, and I called my kids to tell them goodbye for 10 days. I will admit, I cried when I heard their little voices. It was so hard to think I was going to have no contact with them for a week. It took me about 10 minutes to get myself back under control. 

But as the week went on, I somehow survived. Being in beautiful places and doing fun things with awesome people sure helped. 

Our first stop was Labidee (?) a private island off of Haiti. We got our own private cabana and it was incredible! We had sun chairs, cold water, a shaded couch and out own little swimming area. 

 The view

 Our cabana, and everybody getting lathered up because most of us are so white. 

Our next stop was Jamaica. We were a little nervous because we heard that Jamaicans don't like Americans at all. We decided just to do our excursion and go back to the ship. We were glad we did because a family on our ship got robbed by the cops while exploring. 

 The view from our room. 

 Ready for the ATV tour! 

 Our group with our guides. 

The next stop was Grand Cayman, and it was seriously INCREDIBLE!!!!! Everybody else went scuba diving, but since I can't Chris and I did our own thing. 

 Our ship.

 Our first stop was Snorkeling at the island's barrier reef. It was awesome! I normally don't care for  snorkeling, but I LOVED this! The water was so clear and you could see forever! 

 After Snorkeling we went over to this beautiful sandbar and swam with Sting rays. We got to hold them and feed them and pet them. They are so gentle and get so BIG! It was one of Chris's favorite things! 

This was one of our guides, he literally dove off the side of our little boat while headed back to shore to pick this up from the bottom of the sand bar. Awesome. 

 Then we had a few hours to kill, so we hung out at this beach. I could live at this beach for the rest of my life. It was so nice.

 We headed over to Cozumel the next day, and long story short, our original excursion plans fell through so we ended up swimming with Dolphins. Cross that off my bucket list. I LOVED it! 

I would have pics but they were $30 for ONE, and $400 for all. Lame. 

 These are the dolphins we were with. Lingo, and his girlfriend. They are expecting a baby later this year. :) 

 Finished up the week with some rock climbing and sun bathing. 

Vacations really are the best! 

The only thing that's much better is getting back home to my kids and them being beyond thrilled to see us! After hugs and kisses Maddie just kept grabbing our faces and looking at like "I can't believe you're back!" In the last three days I have lost count of the hugs and kisses she's given me, which is a big deal because she never gives kisses.
Boston just keeps hugging me and saying "I'm so happy we're together!" or "I'm so happy we're home!" 

They make this cold weather totally worth it. 

Advice

I need your advice. I'm not quite sure what to do. 

Boston will be 4 in May and it seems that everybody has their kids in preschool at this age...most since they were three. 

So I've started looking into some of the preschools around here and they range from $90 to $130 a month. FOR PRESCHOOL. 

My first car payment was $130. 

We've got some incredible preschool teachers with amazing preschools all with in three houses of where we live in one direction or the other. 

But I feel like that's a lot each month. So I'm debating on putting Boston in an actual preschool, or keeping him home and doing something like Joy School. 

I did Joy school when I was four and loved it. 

Joy School is a much smaller group of kids (5 or 6) and you rotate going to different kids houses each week. Along with numbers and letters you also have a theme each week like "your Body" or 

"Sharing Service". It's $140 fro the entire program, but once you have it, you always have it, and through out the year you only put as much into it ($ wise) as you would like. Usually you meet twice a week for a couple hours. 

What would you do?