School, Baby, and Catch Up

Well, the long awaited goal of being full term has come. Unfortunately this little boy is apparently quite content in there so, no baby yet. But before he comes I need to catch up on a few things!

 This is my most recent belly pic. I can't even remember how far along I was. I think 34 weeks. Here we are a month later and I am MUCH bigger than that! I will take one last picture before we finally have the guy.

 This pregnancy started out going really fast and really well and now things are getting a bit rocky. My fluid is way too high so that is why I'm so big. It also means that about every other day or so I stretch and am so sore I can't get out of bed. At my appointment on Thursday I was dilated to a 3 and about 75% effaced. I have never gone past a 2 without an epidural so that was encouraging but still no baby. I just hope if I go into labor on my own that Mark will have time to get home from the site before he comes. It's kind of stressing me out but there's nothing I can do about it so we are just waiting (I would say patiently but that's a down right lie) until he comes on his own or until the 18th comes and they induce me.

In the mean time we have been lazing around. Falling asleep on your daddy in the middle of the day is good proof.

 And passing time playing with cousins too. Whatever I can do to not make my kids' lives horrible with their grouchy, good for nothing mother. Hopefully that will be changing soon.

 Weston started kindergarten last week! He had an open house on the 3rd but we didn't really count that as the first day. He definitely got more comfortable though.

 

Then the next day he headed out on his own to begin his new adventure of school life! I did just fine until I was driving away and I looked in my rear view mirror and saw him standing in line with all his class mates. Then I cried all the way home. It definitely felt like the beginning of the end. And being pregnant with another little boy and remembering when I was pregnant with Wes didn't help much. But we survived and he had a great day! Now I just have to get used to him going every single day! That's going to take a while.

Other than that life just keeps going, whether you want it to or not. We potty trained Jonas about a month or more ago and he is doing fairly well with it. Potty training is always a long process but he was definitely ready so we took the plunge before he changed his mind. Saydi starts preschool on the 17th and she is ready this year for sure. Mark changed jobs at NRF and is the respirator administrator now meaning that he is in charge of all the gas masks and training and such. He is really liking it and it got him on a regular schedule of day shifts only which is better for our family now that Weston is starting school. Now we are waiting for fall and all the fun that comes with the changing seasons. I'm glad my kids like the changes as much as I do. We are eagerly anticipating playing in the leaves, going to the pumpkin patch, Halloween, and cold weather. And of course, baby #4! So, that will be the next time you hear from me. Let's all pray it's sooner rather than later. For my family's sake. =)

Grammy's 60th Birthday

I am so behind with my blog this year. I guess being abnormally large with your fourth child will do that to you. The beginning of the month Mark's mom turned 60. For her birthday she wanted all her kids to be together so she paid for hotel rooms for us all in Utah. We got together and played and went swimming the next day with a bbq that followed at her brother's house. It was great. We appreciated her generosity when it was her special day. I didn't get many pictures and somehow most of them ended up being of Jonas but what can ya do?

The ride down was great. My kids have always loved the car. They're all saying "Utah!" Love my little travelers.

 Jonas got antsy so he had a ring pop. This picture does not even kind of capture the mess.

 Once we got there the kids had fun running down the hall and jumping on the beds and going from room to room (we had 6 reserved for Mark's whole family). We had dinner and then followed that with swimming at the hotel. Jonas was incredibly upset when we hauled him out.

 But they were exhausted! It took a little bit for them to settle down but when they did, they were out.

We went to this great water park last year for the Norris family reunion and we all wanted to go back. They are super cheap and they have a section for everyone of every age. My kids loved going down this slide with Mark and then, much to my surprise, Weston ended up going down this slide over and over all by himself!! I was so proud of him. Mark would catch him but even if he didn't Wes would pop right up and start doggy paddling to the side. So glad we did swimming lessons this year!

 

 Jonas stuck to his daddy like glue. He loved the little kiddie area where he could splash all day long.

 

Marlene requested that each family choose a color for a group picture. So here we are at her brother's house. The food was great and the company too but we didn't get to stay long. We had to get back for church the next day but next time we will make sure we plan more time there.

 The siblings. Not very often are they all together.

It was a great trip and we were glad to have a break in our every day life. I will have to do one last post before the baby comes with updated belly pics (mainly just to capture the shock of how big I am) and my big boy starts kindergarten on the 3rd! We most definitely will be documenting that. For now we are just surviving summer and waiting for fall to get here. I'm ready for cooler weather and a new baby boy!

Girl's Camp

Not very often in life do we get second chances. Fortunately, I was given just that when I was called to serve in Young Women's. For many reasons I won't get into, I never did go to girl's camp when I was growing up. As an adult it's always been something I kind of regretted. A couple weeks ago I got to go for the first time, and it did not disappoint.We started out with nine girls (which is actually quite a lot for our ward) but three ended up going home sick. Love these girls. Every one of 'em. We went to Wright Creek, which is owned by the church. Hence the random board we found laying around. =)

I missed the first day and a half so by the time I got up there it was mostly Megan Dixon and I. I just love her. She is such a special person and a wonderful example to the girls. We had a great time together.

The girls got to go rappelling (I tried to convince them to let a 30 week pregnant lady go but in the end figured it wasn't the safest thing for my little bambino). This is my niece, Hannah, and Megan Stephenson who also happens to be my neighbor. Her mom is my kids' preschool teacher too. It was super special to be there with my niece and hear her testimony and watch her grow and experience things on her own. She is a special girl.

Bishop's night was one of the most spiritual experiences I've ever had. Someone used the phrase "sacred ground" and that was certainly how it felt. I have only ever felt the spirit that strong when I am in the temple. The things the girls shared were wonderful and our bishop and a member of the Stake Presidency shared great messages too that we so perfect for what our girls had experienced all week.

A lot of people expressed how crazy I was to go camping and sleep in a tent for two nights when I was 7 months pregnant but I am so glad I went and didn't miss the opportunity. I have been hurting a lot with this pregnancy and for the two days I was at camp I had no pain at all. Except my feet from all the walking but that was manageable! As soon as I got home it came back. But I suppose that could've been because I came home and found out my kids had been barfing the whole time I was gone! Way to break daddy in kiddos. ;)

I Gots Cute Kids

 I love that these three always like to be by each other. For the most part. =)

 They slept in the tent outside with daddy and while Mark was inside talking with me Jonas got up and went and fell asleep by Weston. Adorable. I love how Saydi worked her way all the way up to the top too. She is a crazy sleeper.

 I already posted some pictures of the company picnic that Mark's work did on Jonas' birthday but we got the ones back that people took professionally and I wanted to add those to since they are much better quality. Jonas was so tired!

 Jonas' dog didn't last very long before getting smeared everywhere!

 Mark's work got us tickets to a Chukar's game and provided pizza and drinks. It was fun and the kids enjoyed it!

 The next morning his work gave us free tickets to go see The Croods. This was our first time going to the movies as a family! Probably one of the last too since having a baby will bring this to an end. They loved it and except for some musical chairs before Jonas finally fell asleep the kids behaved perfectly.

 Mark keeping the kids entertained.

 Weston isn't just an amazing brother. He's a wonderful cousin too.

 The kids started swimming lessons this week and after our first day yesterday Saydi was so tired she just crashed in here! Pretty adorable and hilarious.

Coming soon: girl's camp, a family trip for Marlene's 60th birthday and lots of other summer fun. Anything to make the time go faster until it's time to welcome this little boy to our family!

4th of July

We love July 4th! We had a busy week with Mark's sister and brother in town and we loved it. We started out our morning at our church breakfast and then went to the parade. Things started out great and then ended with me getting into an argument with some people so that was interesting! Long story short, I don't understand why grown people think it's ok to send their older children to stand in front of smaller children who were there first. And, maybe parades aren't my scene when I'm grouchy and pregnant.

 We had some quick naps and then headed to Mark's Aunt Chris' house for the annual Carlson bbq and water fight. It always starts innocently enough with the kids getting out water balloons and the slip 'n slide. My kids had a great time!

 Weston being the polite boy that he is would run up to someone and say, "Can I throw this at you?"

 But then things escalate quickly. This year Taylor (Christie's daughter) started it by getting Mark's dad wet. And then things really took off when Mark snuck up behind his Uncle Carl and turned the hose on him. Mark ended up getting every one of his uncles wet. Including those that were hiding out in the garage! What really took the cake though was Barb (Mark's step-grandma) turning the hose loose on just about everyone! Including Mark's grandpa. It was pretty fantastic.

 And here's our little fam. Which really isn't little any more. Or at least not for long.

Mark's mom took her trailer and parked in the shade in the roundabout by the freeway for us to join them for fireworks. We had a great evening visiting, playing frisbee, and eating hot dogs. We might have left once there was a delay but we were trapped in our little area and I'm glad because I was grateful we stayed. The kids loved the fireworks the best of all and it was worth the late night. I was worried I might roast to death being 6 months pregnant but luckily I was able to spend most of my day in the shade so I didn't mind it at all. We all were exhausted the next day and it was nice to be lazy and spend more time with family. Definitely one of our favorite holidays!

Jonas' 2nd Birthday

Two days after Saydi turned four my "baby" turned two! I can't believe Jonas is two already. His small head makes him seem younger than that to me. =) On his birthday we woke up and after breakfast got busy opening presents so that we could get ready for the day and go to the employee picnic that Mark's work was doing for the day. They had face painting, balloon animals, bouncy houses and lots of food. The kids had a great time and it was a great way to celebrate his special day! After he had a nap he got to open a present from grandma and grandpa Anderson and then we spent the afternoon in the yard cutting down some huge branches from our trees. That was fun for Jonas so he enjoyed the project! After dinner we had cake and baths and pretty much all collapsed into our beds for the night. It was an exhausting week!

Jonas got this dog that barks and wags his tail from his Auntie Amy. He is obsessed with dogs for who knows what reason so he has loved this little guy!

 Opening presents with the help of big brother.

 New bedding for his big boy bed!

 Half the time Jonas was in his stroller while we were at the picnic. The other half he was up here. Cute boys.

 Despite daddy's best efforts I really think Weston's favorite super hero is Spiderman. Whenever he gets a chance to choose something, Spiderman is what he requests.

 As mentioned in the previous post, Saydi has taken a liking to monkey's. Pretty cute.

 And surprisingly Jonas just sat on daddy's lap and held perfectly still while the lady painted his face! I was surprised. This lady was amazing too!

 I know I'm biased but I'm pretty sure this is the cutest thing I've ever seen. I couldn't get enough of him. Much better than an actual dog in my opinion.

 The gang. Notice Weston keeping his distance from me? This pretty well describes how he has been lately whenever daddy is around. There's no question who his favorite parent is!

 A month ago or so we were talking about Saydi's birthday (of course) and she actually came up with the idea of doing a dog cake for Jonas. I decided it would be perfect considering his current obsession. Not to mention the fact that I was fairly certain I could manage to at least make a cake that looked similar to a dog. I have yet to make a cake that turns out the way I see it in my head but Jonas loved it and more importantly, could tell it was a dog so we'll call it a success. 

 He thought it was pretty funny when we started singing to him.

 This picture doesn't do the mess justice. There was cake and face paint ALL over him, his shirt, the chair, and table. Hence the reason for his happiness. I've never met a kid who loves to be messy as much as this guy does.

 That night daddy convinced me Jonas was ready to join big brother downstairs in his big boy bed and since we only have 2 1/2 months until the baby is here I decided it would be good to transition now so that he will be fully adjusted by the time the baby comes. With my other two it was no big deal but for some reason I had a hard time! I kept wanting to go get him and bring him back upstairs. =) He has been wanting to sleep in the extra bed in Weston's room though and after we first got him in bed I kept hearing him just randomly giggling over the monitor in my room. I snagged this picture after he finally fell asleep.

Overall he had a great day and we all slept hard that night after an exhausting week of birthdays! I don't know if we'll ever get used to this two birthdays in two days thing but the kids had the time of their lives and that makes it all worth it.

At two years old Jonas can say too many words to even write but some of my favorite things he says are: what doing, why, Weston, Saydi, baby, sandals, mom (yes, mom, not mama; he only calls me mama when he is sad which sometimes makes me sad but the way he says mom is adorable) read it, kay, I love you, and thank you. He LOVES dirt! I can not keep him out of it no matter what I do. And he is pretty much happy as long as he is doing whatever Weston and Saydi are doing. He says please and thank you without being prompted to do it most of the time and he loves being outside. Not sure if this was a fluke or not but yesterday I heard him counting to 8 with Weston. We'll see if I can get him to do it again. He is a smart boy though and has an adventuresome spirit. I can not imagine our home without him and am looking forward to seeing him as a big brother. Love you Jonesy!