Who will the winner be?

I'm sorry its all about me lately... but here's a bit more...

I thought it would be fun to look at your predictions and see who is still in the running for winning the "when our baby will come game." Keep in mind, I knew from the beginning I would not go early so I'm not the least bit concerned that I'm still pregnant, I planned on having a July baby from the get go. However, there were some of you that were very kind to think so positively for me. Thanks to Joni, Cali, Adrienne, Gaye, Laurie, and Debbie... sorry my body didn't cooperate with your guesses. :)

There are still 10 of you that could win it if I have the baby between now and Sunday someone will get the date right on (3 of you guessed this coming Saturday-don't know how we'll choose a winner, maybe the first one to guess it?).

We're personally praying for a July 2 baby because Ethan is off Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, so he wouldn't have to use any leave or change any appointments. My mom flies in on Saturday so she'd be here before I come home from the hospital. And I guess Jane must be our favorite, she's the only one who guessed July 2. ;)

Of course, I'm just kind of planning on July 7 and if he comes before that then great! I'm going to pack my hospital bag today (Ethan made me commit) and wash the car seat up... other than that we're "ready." Then I think I'll go get a pedicure or something tonight to commemorate the due date coming and going... anyone want to join me?

A Cool Blessing

Today is my due date and in honor of it coming (and going) Texas is being kind to me... the forecast says its only supposed to get up to 78 degrees today!!! Isn't that amazing?!? The rest of the week we won't go above mid-80s! What a blessing!

As promised.

Ethan made me this gorgeous bench for Mother's Day. He finished it a couple weeks ago and we have loved using it!

To see some of the projects I've been working on, check out my book blog.

A few random thoughts and events from the past few weeks:

• How on earth do people actually "nest" before having a baby? I can hardly get myself to make dinner, let alone clean the house. I'm so exhausted. Besides that, I've never had so much pain in a pregnancy before... is it because I'm getting older, its my 5th or just the position of this baby? Who knows... but one thing is for certain, its making for a lot less clean house.
• I told my mom I don't want to come home from the hospital until she's here because I don't want to come home to my house as dirty as it is. How bad is that? Good thing she loves me.
• Levi almost died last week. We were at a friend's house swimming (she babysat while I went to the doctor) the kids got out for a snack and when they were finished wanted to swim some more. She and I both thought Levi was still outside the pool gate in her yard... I was doing a quick scan of the pool and saw these big eyes bobbing with some flailing arms. I realized it was Levi and was no sooner running into the pool, clothes and all. I got him and he was fine, we figure he must have just mistakenly thought he had his life jacket on still. He wanted to get right back in, after putting his life jacket on, but I wanted to go home and get dry clothes on (and not have to worry about saving any more lives). I honestly, truly didn't think I could move as quickly as I did and I know the Lord blessed me to get to him fast. When I got out of the pool, I could hardly walk, but it was so worth it (to say the very least).
• I went to the doctor yesterday, he's ready to induce me anytime but I'm being stubborn and really want to go into labor on my own. However, we talked about setting up a time for an induction nonetheless since I've had to be induced every other time. I don't want to go before my due date because then I'm really not giving my body a chance to do its own thing, but the week after is a holiday weekend so... I wasn't able to get scheduled until July 7 (yep, that's 8 days after my due date!). If any of you guess July 7, not only will you not get a prize... but you will get shunned. :) I can't even imagine how big this boy could be if I go that far over! Pray for me.
• The kids are getting really excited. They all share a favorite name for the baby and it makes me nervous that they'll be disappointed if we come home with a baby of a different name. Although when we talked to them about it, they all came up with several other options they'd be happy with... Anakin Skywalker W, Luke Skywalker W, Jack W, Rhino W. That's all I remember, but you get the idea... letting the kids name this baby could be dangerous.
• My most awesome friend here planned a surprise baby shower/girl's night for me last month. It. was. fab.u.lous. We went to dinner and a movie (Letters to Juliet). I got gifts of 1)clothes for the baby since I got rid of lots of stuff after Levi and 2)money to go toward a double jogging stroller.
• In the fall all the big boys will be in school, so I'll only have 2 kids at home (hence the double jogging stroller). I plan on training for a half marathon. Any tips and/or support from all you pros would be greatly appreciated!
• The kids have been obsessed with the wii lately (Lego Star Wars, anyone?). I have been hating it. BUT, I figured a way to use it to my advantage and boy am I loving the results. The kids have to make their beds, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush their teeth, do their chores and read before they can play. The reading bit is just Bryant's rule for now, he can play as many minutes as he reads. He loves playing so much that he doesn't complain about any of the work leading up to it. AND, I was able to use it as a threat last night when the boys were being rowdy at bedtime. Maybe the wii isn't so bad...
• I moved Bryant into the same room as the other boys in preparation for baby coming. He'll share a room with Eliza. I finally got curtains up in one of the bedrooms and am just about finished sewing the other curtains. Now I just need to get some paint on the walls and some decor and the kids' rooms will be complete!
• However, 3 kids in one room is too much for me. I told Ethan our next house has to have 5 bedrooms! It is a requirement I'm set on!
• We are looking forward to visitors this summer and a family vacation in September... hopefully we'll be able to survive Texas one year more!

This one goes out to the one I love

I have such a great husband. My kids have such a great dad. He's so great it makes celebrating Father's Day extra special (with an extra amount of pressure to make it so).

I got up Sunday morning and started working on baking some pies, one to take to church and one just for Ethan. I also started working on breakfast and was feeling so good, emotionally, that I had locked the door so Ethan could sleep in. We all know that's what he really wanted for his Father's Day, right? Once the kids got up they were entertained for a bit, but then remembered they really wanted to give their dad the presents they had made for him (thanks to an extremely kind and generous lady in the ward). So they started knocking at the door. I told them to leave him alone, but once that daddy heard his baby girl's voice outside his door he couldn't resist. He let them in and they started opening presents. I, of course, was stuck in the kitchen stirring my butterscotch pie filling and couldn't join in the fun. When I could take a quick break I ran in to express my frustration at being left out. I wanted to see him open his presents too. Waa! You'd think I was 4 years old. So they waited to open the last present until I was ready.

We had breakfast of biscuits and gravy with fried eggs. A good Southern breakfast for hopefully our last Southern Father's Day (one can hope!). Then Ethan opened the last of his presents from the kids and I got a nice just woken up picture of him with his adoring children. They each painted a frame for him and their picture is in the frame they painted. They all made him a card too. They were so excited! Its so fun to make things for people we love... I'm glad they're learning that early on.

Saturday while Ethan and I were shopping we found a good deal on the cordless drill and tool set he's had his eye on for some time, so we bought it. This made for a very happy Father on Father's Day. I also have been working on a painting of the Preston England Temple for him. He served his mission in Manchester England and was there when the Preston Temple was built, he worked the open house for a couple weeks at the end of his mission so it has special meaning for him. He informed me late Sunday night that Jonas had spilled the beans on my surprise telling him that I was painting a picture of the Temple for him. That boy can not keep a secret!

We went to church and had a nice time. The men got to eat pie during the last 20 minutes of meetings and I think Ethan enjoyed himself. When we got home he said, "I think for Father's Day dinner I should grill us some steaks... unless you had something else planned." Steaks sounded fabulous to me (and so did not making dinner to be perfectly honest) so off to work he went. And let me tell you, our dinner was by far the best Father's Day dinner I can remember ever having. He grilled up some onions and a zucchini from our garden as well. I mashed some potatoes and we feasted. It was one of the best steaks I can remember ever having. Good on ya, babe. He told the boys they didn't know how good they had it eating this well, and he was right. Hmmmm. We finished the night off with peach pie and putting the kids to bed. Then we just hung out, talking about things we need to do and baby names. It was a great way to end the day.

Of course, I've been thinking of Ethan and what a fabulous dad he is and I thought (with the new baby coming) it would be fun to showcase Ethan with each new addition to our family. I love that we have this same picture at the hospital with all of them. So sweet.

First time daddy, you can see how happy and proud he is. Such fun memories of that time.

Ethan and Bryant, March 23, 2003 Utah

The proud papa with a baby number two.

Ethan and Jonas, March 17, 2005 Oregon

Boy number three and fireworks to boot. A perfect day for this daddy.

Ethan and Levi, July 4, 2006 Oregon

And finally this daddy was blessed with his baby girl. He still adores her in every way.

Ethan and Eliza, July 17, 2008 Texas

I love the look in his eye in each picture. You can see the love he has for his kids. That's what makes him such a good dad, everyone, including the kids, can see and feel the love he has for these sweet children. We are so blessed to have him as the Father of our home. Happy Father's Day Ethan! You're the best!

By the way, if you'd like to take a guess at when this next baby will be joining us go to this link.

Offline & Taking Guesses

We took last week off. No computer was on all week long and to tell you the truth it was quite nice. I have been so inconsistent on the blog lately I doubt any of you noticed... unless you posted on your blog and are still waiting for a comment. Sorry if I disappoint. I had over 45 posts to catch up on so some of you got comments and some didn't, but know that I love you!

And just for fun, I love the "predict when the baby will come and how big he'll be" game. So join in the fun...

Some pertinent information for your predictions:

• This baby is due June 29.
  
• I've consistently measured 4-6 weeks bigger than "average."
• I've been induced with each baby.
• Bryant was 8 lbs. 6 oz. born on his due date.
• Jonas was 9 lbs. 3 oz. born 2 days after his due date.
• Levi was 9 lbs. 8 oz. born 4 days after his due date.
• Eliza was 7 lbs. 13 oz. born 3 days before her due date.

I am hoping to come up with an awesome prize. But I may only be able to come up with something lame, so play for the fun, not the prize. :)

Looking forward to your guesses! Love ya!

Memorial Day Weekend

Last weekend we took the kids camping at our local state park~about 15 minutes away from our house. They were so, very excited for it and it was lots of fun. I didn't get as many pictures as I should have, but we were mostly just enjoying ourselves (and when I finally did get the camera out the batteries died before I was ready). Of course, there are still more pictures than the average family... I just tend to go a little crazy.

Now before you all go crazy thinking how cool I am (or how ludicrous) for camping this late in my pregnancy let me tell you that we rented a trailer from the base to make sleeping arrangements more comfortable. Of course, they told us it slept 6 and when we got it all set up we learned they were WRONG! It slept 4.And Eliza had a fever Friday so I chose to take her home to sleep. It worked out really well. Saturday she was feeling better so we attempted to sleep at the campground. She was having a hard time settling down. I was sleeping in the little tent with Levi and kept hearing her crying in the trailer. After I'd been asleep for about an hour I woke up with a full on claustrophobic panic attack. I couldn't sleep in that tiny tent, in that heat. I jumped out of the tent and got Eliza and we headed home for the night again. I didn't even attempt to sleep there on Sunday night.

We got there Friday evening and had hobo dinners cooked in the fire. I must say they were quite possibly the yummiest hobo dinners I've ever had thanks to a tutorial I watched on YouTube done by some scout kid. They were good. Then we roasted marshmallows and had s'mores. It was de.lic.ious.

Saturday morning was lazy. The kids made friends with the neighbor campers and we took them all up to the playground. They had fun climbing the "watch tower" and trying to scare each other with ghost sounds.

Then we headed over to the lake and went fishing.

Can you see how excited they were to be here?

Bryant and Ethan were the only ones with fishing poles and they didn't really feel like sharing, so the rest of us were left to our own fun.

We collected rocks to try to skip in the lake. I got one skip out of one rock and I was the only one... that's pretty sad. Skipping stones must be a skill that takes perfecting.

We went on a nature walk and tried to find interesting things to take pictures of. I found this creature hiding in the weeds.
We found flowers or "wowies" as Eliza likes to call them.

But then everyone lost interest in exploring and wanted to go bug Dad and Bryant... by playing in the tackle boxes...

... splashing in the lake and "scaring all the fish."
By that point even Bryant was done fishing and thought it would be more fun to get wet. Because, "fishing is boring, unless you catch fish."

That evening we roasted hot dogs on the fire and then, of course, more marshmallows. It was camping bliss.

Sunday was my birthday. I came back to camp and Ethan made me a yummy breakfast of pancakes and then provided entertainment by playing baseball with the kiddos.

I wish this picture was more clear, but I LOVE Jonas' face!

Levi was up to bat and Jonas and Bryant are the umpire and catcher (I don't know if they even knew which was which).
Elilza was just happy to be outside. There are few things she loves more.
Happy that Dad showed him the correct way to hold the bat.
Realizing that after he got a hit and ran the "bases" it was no longer his turn was a less happy event.
The camera batteries died right when I was trying to take pictures of Bryant up to bat. I was bummed big time! He is really getting good at keeping his eye on the ball and "hitting home runs!"

I took some other pictures of our "hike" on our phones, but haven't been able to get them on the computer yet. And boy do I have a story to tell along with those photos, so be on the lookout. It made for an adventurous birthday.

After our hike we headed home to get ready for church. We stayed home the rest of the day because it was too hot and I didn't want to go back to the campground. Ethan took the boys at bed time and then cleaned up camp in the morning, took the kids fishing again and came home. It was a fun camping trip (and an easy one for this momma!)!