It's a.....

Boy!

Sorry, I didn't add the picture of the proof that it's a boy. That view always seems a bit graphic to me. And I didn't want to embarrass the guy before he was even born!

Me, pregnant

I don't have very many pictures, but here I am in all my round glory.

Like the Earth

Nora is laying next to me in bed and she said, "Mom, your tummy is getting real tall, like the Earth!"

It sure is!

Baby Jardine's Quilt

My sister Emmy Jardine is having her first baby. And I give each of my sister (including in-laws) a quilt for their first baby. Emmy had already bought a bedding set that included a quilt, so I made a snugly blanket/quilt instead. I love how it turned out, and it is so so so soft.

Lemonade Stand

When we get to Texas (in a little over a week), Ethan is going to become a business owner. He has been saving for a bike for a little over a month now, and is starting to really really want one. All the other kids in the neighborhood have bikes and ride them everyday. Ethan has his 3-wheeler. It's totally sweet, but he just can't keep up. So we decided to speed things up a bit in the earning money area. Now, I don't have the money to pay him for any little "job" he does around the house, and when I do pay him it's meager. So I told him about Lemonade Stands. he was so pumped. We wrote up a business plan and figured out how many days he'd have to be open and how much he'd have to charge in order to earn his bike.
Today we made some signs. They turned out very nice. He can't wait to get to Texas and open his first entrepreneurial venture. His MBA father is so proud.

Strep

This is me right now.
It's 83 degrees in my house, I'm shivering.
I have strep throat.
Yuk.




Update: Thanks to modern medicine I'm feeling much better today.

When the Family Gets Together...

All my brother's and sister's have/are/were in town this week, including the cousins. We've been having so a great time, and the kids live and die for their cousins. Today was my sister Jonica's birthday, so we had a fun party. (She is the Quality Chick in the picture below)





This is probably my favorite picture of the bunch, I just love how his eyes are closed... And he totally smacked the ball right over the bases.


This is how the boys spend a lot of their time: on the DS, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, or the Nintendo. We make them take potty breaks, food breaks, and playing outside breaks. My nephew Jarus (the one in red) has PJ's that say "If it weren't for video games, I'd never get out of bed." or something to that effect.


One day we went to this park that had an awesome little creek running through it. The kids had so much fun it was hard to get them to leave. The water was freezing! When the kids got home we made them take off all their clothes but their underwear on the front porch, that was a sight! They all ran in and got in their PJ's...so cute.


Nora and Kaiya have been playing house and dress up almost the entire week. I think they are lovely.


Happy Birthday Jonica!

Fun outings

For our first summer adventure we went camping.... Sort of. We went to where my sister and her husband were camping and hung out, ate dinner, star gazed, and then went home and slept in our own beds. I'm pregnant. I'm not sleeping on the ground.



But it was REALLY fun. The kids had a blast. As we left Heber Utah (about a 30-40 min drive from our house) Ethan asked if we could go there every day. I honestly responded that I wish we could.

Bye Bye Love

Bye Bye love
Bye bye Happiness
Hello loneliness
I think I'm a gonna cry
Bye Bye my love goodbye.....

Brian left yesterday to go to Texas for the summer. He got an internship with Pepsico. I, on the other hand, am on Medicaid and can't leave the state of Utah for more than 30 days at a time. Duh! So in about four weeks the kids and I will go down to Texas to visit for a couple of weeks. And then Brian will have about 4-5 more weeks and he'll be back in Utah. I miss him! Waaahhhh! Luckily a lot of fun stuff is going on this summer here in Utah to keep the kids and I busy, so the time should go really fast. I just hope this morning/noon/night sickness leaves pretty soon so I can be a competant parent.

We miss you man! Real bad!

Happy Birthday Ethan

Ethan's Birthday Cake

Same old Same old

Well, no twins. I must admit I'm very very relieved. VERY. And I'm measuring right where I should be. I'm starting to think that the midwife could sense how scared and anxious I was at the thought of having twins that she lied about my uterus measuring two weeks ahead so that there would be a medical reason for me to be able to have a sono and set my mind at ease. (Man was that a run-on sentence!) Sorry, no exciting news. But in this instance I'm very calm and happy about a healthy, beautiful baby that is right on schedule. I'm excited the news is not exciting.

First Doctor's Visit

Today I had my first doctor's visit for this pregnancy. I brought the kids along to let them feel like they are a part of this whole baby thing.... That was interesting. We didn't get in until 40 minutes after our scheduled appointment and by then the kids were going CRAZY. Anyway, I had the midwife find the heartbeat first thing and then Brian took off with the kids. That was worth it. The heart rate was about 170! Whew, that's fast. I remember Nora's was around 165 and Ethan was always in the 150's. The kids loved to hear it. They were mesmerized. And then all day long they were talking about the baby. Nora only ate half of her strawberry and then she gave me the rest and said, "here mom, this is for the baby so he can grow strong." She put blankets on me to keep the baby warm, had me read stories to her that she thought the baby would like, had to say goodnight to my belly, and told me when the baby was born she'd brush it's teeth and put it to bed. So sweet!
Anyway, back to the appointment. The midwife was really nice (I was looking for a bit more edgy and hippy, but she was pretty hip and modern, oh well). After hearing the heartbeat she answered questions and then did an examine... She said, "I don't think you are ten weeks, you are measuring more like 12 weeks." Hooray! That is great news, well sorta, it might also mean that I'm 10 weeks and I have twins. So she ordered a sono for Monday. I. can't. wait. for. Monday.
I promise to blog immediately (well, I gotta get home first) when I find out. Either way it will be a blessing, I'm just tripping out about the twin thing a little bit.

Goodnight

Every other kid: Goodnight mom, don't let the bed bugs bite.

Nora: Goodnight mom, don't let the snakes and bees crawl all over you.

Cat's outta the bag

So, yes, I most definitely am pregnant. We are so excited to be having another baby. We decided to start trying in January, and by February I was pregnant (TMI?). This is the first time I've ever gotten pregnant so quickly and without fertility drugs. I was so thrilled that it happened so quickly. It is heartbreaking to wait month after month and year after year, and I've done that. (Love to all my ladies who are going through that still) I was determined to not to be sad every month this time. I'm still in shock that I didn't have to.

I'm due Dec 1st (or so, pending a sonogram). So I'm 8 weeks.

I'm pretty sure it's going to be a boy. (also pending a sonogram)

We got a minivan, I love it.

Seinfeld Babies

So you might be wondering what a Seinfeld baby is. They are my babies. Well, for some reason my children come out looking like a character from Seinfeld. Let me show you:

First, we have George Costanza





















Second, let me introduce you to Cosmo Kramer




















Next....

Is it going to be Jerry or Elaine?

Nora Lou Retton

Here is my little gymnast. She is the first one to do a somersault in the video. Sorry, no sound. She also decided to go through the tunnel backwards (and cut in front of other kids). Enjoy.

Colorado or Bust

So once again I loaded my kiddos up in the car and took off for Colorado. Now that my brother Ben and his family live so close (only 9 hours!) I visit whenever possible. But this trip was even cooler than normal because my sister Megan and her family were coming up from Austin to visit too! The reason: Russia's first birthday party! And to top it all off, I got to go visit one of my friends from high school that I haven't seen in ten years, Karen Fjeldheim (Hubert). The trip was fantastic. It would have been perfect if Nora hadn't gotten car sick on the way home, 3 times. Well, I shouldn't have left Colorado so late either... I got home at 2:30 am. I just couldn't leave Karen's house. She invited us to spend the night, but I refused because we had already stayed in Colorado longer than I'd planned, so we were out of clothes, underwear, diapers, pull-ups, and other important items like that.

Nora and Ethan were champs on the drive to Colorado Springs. We had so much fun and they were so good. This is them watching Kung Fu Panda, the movie of choice on this trip.

Everytime I pass this sign I want to get out and take pictures (purely for blog purposes!). So, since I was the only adult and my kids liked every chance they had to get out and run around... I stopped and we took pictures. Fun!

We had lunch at the cutest little rest stop. It was so beautiful. This is a pond that connects to the Colorado River. The weather was amazing. The kids threw rocks into this pond for at least twenty minutes.

At a rest stop in Vail, CO (yes, we stopped at a LOT of rest stops), the snow was covering the entire building. The door was dug out so you could get inside. It was really cool, and COLD! Ethan had to do a #2 here, so we were there for a while. I waited outside of the bathroom for Ethan and, of course, when another man went into the bathroom, Ethan decided it was time for details... "mom! I'm almost done, but there's just one little bit more that just won't come out!" The man came out laughing.Nora liked to rub the twin's head for luck. Poor guys.

Sorry for the fuzzy picture. But here is the gang. Kaiya, Ethan, Michael, Jarus, Nora, Russia, Ammon, Lincoln and James. All of my kids' cousins on my side of the family.

The birthday party was fun. Russia loved the attention and the presents... and the cupcakes.

Me and my cool sister Megan. Aren't we pretty!


After leaving Colorado Springs, I stopped by my friend Karen's house in Basalt, CO. One of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Karen is eight months pregnant (due in a couple of weeks). Nora and their daughter Sophia loved each other. Nora also loved Sophia's toys. After we went on a walk, played outside, and ate dinner, Nora and Sophia took a bath. Meanwhile Ethan played Play Station with Karen's husband Brent.

Karen is a beauty! We've kept in good contact through email ever since graduating from high school. I was so glad I stopped to see her. It completed a very fun car trip!

Brian Turns 31

So it's official. Brian is now IN his thirties. And he is a very sexy thirty-something if I do say so myself! As you can tell from the picture he is also getting more and more mature with each year. Someday he'll even start acting like a grown-up. But I hope not, it's fun around here.
Here we are having birthday lunch and eating cookies. The kids were showing just how much they love their aging father.

We had Stake conference (adult session) that night, but right before we went to an MBA talent show. Brian and his band opened the show with a few songs. They totally rocked the house. that would be Brian on drums. Be still my heart.

And this is us. In black and white because it was early and I had puffy eyes, heading off to stake conference. I love my family. And Brian, you just keep getting better every year, I love you, Happy Birthday.