Trying to be prepared

Well, I'm just about 36 weeks now. So, we're getting down to the last few weeks. I'm just trying to finish all of my last minute projects and preparations now. One of the things I'm working on is making double of all my meals so I can freeze a bunch of meals for after the baby. Cooking is not my favorite thing in the world, so I'm trying to eliminate as much of it as possible after the baby when I'm tired and things are crazy. On Saturday we took the whole family to the grocery store so I could stock up on ingredients and things like cereal and stuff so that I won't have to go to the grocery store for a LONG time! We had 2 entire carts full of stuff!! It was crazy. Anyway, by the time I make all the meals I have planned, I'll have at least 3 weeks worth of frozen meals in our freezer, maybe even more, for after the baby. It will be well worth it!! And I shouldn't have to go to the store except to restock on produce for about the same amount of time. I'm really excited about this! Going grocery shopping and cooking are two of my least favorite things to do.

Anyway, as far as the baby's room goes, it's all finished, except I still need to fix a few ties on the bumper before I put it on the crib. As soon as I do that, I'll take some pictures.

Other than that, I feel pretty prepared for this baby. Except for the fact that we've had a bunch of sickness in our house the past week or so. Joshua seems to be ok now, but Jared still has a sore throat, and today I've got a sore throat and a headache. I hope it all goes away soon so that I can lysol the whole house down before we bring our baby home! And I really hope that mine doesn't turn into anything more than this. My energy level is low enough as it is. I don't need to be sick on top of that!

So, I'll try to keep you all updated on my status! The way I look at it, even though there are about 4 weeks until my due date, I figure the earliest they'll let you go without it being preterm is 37 weeks, and the latest is 42 weeks, so more technically I have about 1-6 weeks left until this baby is here!! I'm hoping more towards the lower amount of course. I think 38 weeks would be great. So, cross your fingers for me!

Quiet time

Yesterday John took Joshua with him down to Springville (about an hour away) where his family lives. His brother Ben is in town for about a month (he's been stationed in Japan for 6-7 years), so he wanted to go spend some time with him. I didn't really want to go because we've been down there the last 2 weekends in a row, and his parents only have one tiny tv in their room. Because of conference, I didn't really feel like piling all of us on their bed to watch. Plus, I just hate sleeping anywhere else at this point. I hardly sleep as it is, let alone in someone else's uncomfortable bed. So, anyway, Jared stayed with me and John and Joshua went down by themselves. Can I just say, it's been heaven! You would think that Jared would be harder because he's in that 3 year old stage, but he's not. He is so easygoing, it's been so quiet around here! I love Joshua to death, but he is very high maintenance. He's got a very strong personality that we are constantly trying to work with and help him to hone his emotions into positive outlets. Jared and I had some fun last night, too. After the afternoon session of conference we went to a few stores so I get the last few things I needed for the baby's room, and then we went to Taco Bell and ate dinner, and then went and got an ice cream cone. Then we came home and he took a bath and went to bed. I finished cleaning up the baby's room (it's almost finished!), and then I watched a girl movie, since we usually pick something in between when we rent movies. I watched Becoming Jane. It was pretty good.

Anyway, so now that I've had so much quiet time, I decided to take a few minutes to post. Some of you have requested pictures of my pregnant belly. At this point, I'm not sure if I will. Maybe. I'm just feeling so fat and huge. And I'm starting to get swollen all over. I have a little less than 6 weeks until my due date. I gain a lot of weight when I'm pregnant. I've all ready gained about 40 lbs. I always get comments about how huge I am. It makes you feel so good. :) John says it's because my head is small, so the huge belly throws people off. Just to put it in perspective, when I was 32 weeks I went to the hospital for a tour. I went into the wrong doors, so I was asking where to go, and the lady at the desk says, "You're not delivering today are you?" Hello! I still have 8 weeks to go. Thanks a lot lady!! But she doesn't stop there. No, she goes on to say, "Well, do you need a wheelchair or something?" What??? Do I look that terrible that you think I'm delivering today AND that I need a wheelchair??? People, don't they think before they talk?

But that's just one example. Here's another. Yesterday I was at Saver's returning a picture. I guess the policy is that you have to exchange within 7 days, they don't give you store credit or anything. So she's explaining to me that she can extend it for another 7 days if I don't find anything I want today. Then she adds, "Hopefully you won't have your baby before then." Uh, yeah, hopefully, because I still have almost 6 weeks left!! So, anyway, I'll think about posting a picture, but based on these comments from people, I'm not sure I want the rest of the world to see how huge I apparently am!

I'm alive!

Sorry it's been so long! Now that I'm done working, I thought I'd have tons more time, but I've been spending the last month trying to catch up on all the things I've neglected for the past 4 months! And, to make it even better, it seems like the first day I was home all day, the 3rd trimester symptons kicked in full gear. I've been tired, tired, tired!! I think the Lord really blessed me while I was working so that I could get through it. Cuz I'm exhausted all the time now that I'm home. Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that I'm alive still. :) And I'm down to about 8 weeks until I'm due! I can't wait! I'm tired of being tired! Anyway, our biggest project right now is decorating the baby's room. My wonderful dad helped me paint and refinish the wood floor in there (who am I kidding, he did the whole thing!). Now, I'm working on getting it all decorated and cute. I'm really excited because this is the first time I've actually decorated the baby's room with cute stuff. John was in school when I had the boys, so we didn't have much money to spend decorating and getting nice furniture. :) I'll post some pics once it's all finished.

Tagged

I was tagged. I've read a lot of other peoples "tagged" blogs, but none of them ever tagged me by name, so I always ignored them. :) But, thanks to my wonderful friend Jana, I can't ignore this one. So, here goes.

A. The rules of this game are posted at the beginning.

B. Each player answers the question about themselves.

C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, and then leaves a comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog to get the directions.

Questions:

10 yrs ago: I was a sophomore in high school. I think I'd rather forget the details of that year. Not my best. :)

5 Things on my list of things to do today: call Qwest because they screwed up my bill again, make dinner, have FHE, make Joshua a paper airplane, relax

Things I would do if I suddenly was a Billionaire: pay off student loans and our mortgage, go on a fabulous vacation, not cook dinner for a year

3 of my bad habits: being TOO organized and structured, splurging on eating out because I don't want to cook, not getting out of bed when I should

Places I have lived: Las Vegas, Ohio, California, Arizona, and Utah

Jobs I have had: receptionist, library clerk, piano teacher

Things most people don't know about me: I got married when I was 18, I have to pick up my house every night (unless I really don't have enough energy). I hate having anything out of place!

I tag Debbie, Kendra, Steffani, Tiffany L., DeaAnna

Almost done!

So, I have 3 more weeks until I get to quit working! By the end of this month (between tax return and all of our hard work) we will have paid off our van and our credit card, and have enough money saved for the hospital bill. So, with that being accomplished, the hard work is over! I get to stay at home with the kids all day every day again. I'm so excited!! It's been a long 4 months, but totally worth it in the end. I'm not going to know what to do with all my free time!

Pictures

We got some pictures taken at Target a few weeks ago. Although we didn't buy these special prints, I thought they were some cute arrangements of the boys.

Life's crazy

I suppose it's time for an update to my blog. Life is just so crazy. It's hard to find any free time to do anything. I've been working parttime in the mornings while Joshua is at school on M-Th. It works out well because Joshua is gone for most of the time, and my dad watches Jared. We're trying to paying off some debts before the baby is born so things won't be so tight then. But it sure is keeping us busy! Between working in the morning, a few piano lessons some afternoons, cleaning the house, cooking meals, and playing with the kids, there's not a whole lot of time left for anything. But it will all be worth it when we don't have to make those van and credit card payments anymore!

Besides all that, December is an insanely crazy month for us anyway! We started off our Christmas festivities the day after Thanksgiving by going out and choosing a Christmas tree. From that day on it was constant shopping, planning, and wrapping gifts while trying to maintain the true spirit of Christmas. On the 17th Joshua turned 5. He had a few friends over for a small birthday party. He sure is excited to finally be 5! Then on the 20th John and I celebrated our 7th anniversary. My how time flies! Then, of course there was Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. My mom flew up from Arizona to see us for about 2 weeks. It was nice to see her and for her to see the kids. She sure has missed them! After the Christmas celebrations we had to gear up for another birthday. Jared turned 3 on Dec. 27. Whew! And just when we thought all the fun was over, John and I left the kids with my mom on New Years Eve and went down to Springville to have a New Years Eve get together with John's siblings. It was so nice to have an evening out without the kids and to be able to sleep in the next day!

Although it was a fun month, it's nice to be back to a normal schedule. I'm 22 weeks along now, so about 5 months. I'm so glad to finally be past the halfway point. It all ready seems like I've been pregnant for forever!! I guess I have been. I found out when I was only 4 weeks along, so it's taking a long time to get anywhere with this pregnancy. I'm feeling surprisingly well. I've had a decent amount of energy and have managed to get by with only a few naps a week! This is quite surprising compared to my other pregnancies where I was dead tired the entire time. I guess I am being blessed so that I can accomplish all the things that I need to during this crazy time of our lives.

We still haven't decided on a name yet, although we have narrowed it down to three.

Ethan
Isaiah
Noah

I'm really not sure which one I like, but that's ok. I still have plenty of time! Anyway, I'll try to keep things a little more updated, but I'm not making any promises!