Happy New Year?

So our new year didn't start off so great - messed up plans, kids not doing what they were supposed to, raised voices, tears, etc.  I hope that isn't a sign of what's to come this next year!

I've always been the kids to set goals.  I haven't been so good at keeping them the past few years.  This year I am hoping it will be different.  I'm not going to overload myself with goals.  Just a couple in each of my categories.  And I'm going to work on things just a day at a time instead of trying to look ahead to the future and becoming overwhelmed.  We have some exciting things to look forward to this year.  And at least two of them are going to happen in April.  We will be welcoming the newest, and most likely, last member of our family.  I'm due on the 24th, but I'm already measuring big so I figure I'm looking at another early induction to deliver a good sized baby. 

About the same time we will be finally paying off the last of our student loans.  We have worked hard to get our debts paid off.  We followed the advice in "One for our Money" put out by the LDS church.  It's simlar to other programs out there.  You start by paying off the highest interest debt, then you roll that payment into the next highest interest debt, and so on until you pay it all off.  The idea is that you are already used to the money being accounted for and you have to pay less interest this way.  We started almost as soon as we got married.  I had a student loan and Clayton had a couple of them so we consolidated them since mine had a much lower interest rate than his did and it brought the average total interest down a lot.  We had a car payment.  We had a small credit card debt.  So we worked to pay them off.  In April, we will make our final payment on the one loan we have left, paying off Clayton's student loans more than 4 years early.  This will leave us with only one major debt - our mortgage.

It is going to feel so nice to have these paid off and not feel like I have a ball and chain wrapped around my neck.  It will give us money that will go straight into savings and retirement (since we won't be used to having the money to spend we are just going to save it all).

Clayton is also up for a pay grade promotion that, if it comes through, will also begin the in April.  So if you see us in April and we can't stop smiling, you'll know it's because we have a lot of great things happening.

In July, I get to look forward to Andrew starting kindergarten.  I'm so excited for him.  He loves to learn, is already reading at a pretty high level, and needs constant entertainment.  All day kindergarten, here we come!

So what about you?  Anything exciting coming up this year?  I'd love to hear about it!

Maybe yesterday was just a fluke and isn't a sign of things to come.  I'm doing to try my hardest to make sure that isn't the case!

Happy New Year everyone!

Busy day...

Yet another one out of the mouth of Andrew.  We were discussing his day at preschool while we were eating dinner tonight.  I asked him who his favorite preschool friend right now is.  "Abby."  Then he leans over and says in a whisper, "You want to know a secret, Mom?  I love her!"  And so it begins!

Of course, then there is Luke.  He needed a diaper change at church on Sunday.  We left the diapers in the car and Clayton had the key so I was looking for him.  I found him talking to another guy from the ward in a room.  So I waited outside.  Next door was one of the Young Women's classes and they had the door open.  Luke kept going over to the door, peeking around the corner, smiling, waving, saying "hi".  Back and forth, flirting like you wouldn't believe.  And of course the girls loved it.  Though I'm sure their teacher, who was trying to talk to them about the importance of finances, didn't appreciate the distraction and disturbance. 

Am I sure I want another boy?!  Guess it's a little late now!

Kids say the darndest things!

Clayton is off work today.  I guess he was wandering around the house with his head and shoulders hunched over.  Andrew said, "Dad, you shouldn't walk like the guy on Hunchback of Notre Dame.  You walk like that and you'll end up living alone in Paris." 

I laughed so hard when Clayton told me that I was crying. 

Baby Boy #3

Today was the big day.  We had our ultrasound and we also found out the gender of the baby.  I was very relieved to find out that everything is okay with the baby.  I've been really worried that the baby wasn't growing right because both of my other boys carried way out in front and I was in maternity clothes by 2-2 1/2 months.  I'm 19 1/2 weeks pregnant and I've been in maternity clothes for a little over a week.  I still have some of my regular clothes that I can wear.  It freaked me out.  Of course, when I told people that, they all assumed I was having a girl.  I have never thought we were having a girl.  I just knew it was another boy.  I learned when I was pregnant with Luke that you can't base it on how different your pregnancies are.  I wasn't sick at all with Andrew and I was nauseous all the time with Luke.

So all is well with the baby. 

A couple of pics of our cute little guy:

He's so excited we know he's a boy.  We even got video of him pulling his arm down as if to say, "Yes!!!"

Looks like we've got another little button nose!

Two months...really?!

Where does the time go?  I knew it had been a while since I posted last, but had no idea it had been almost three months!  Good grief!  It's been a little crazy around here, that's for sure.  Shortly after my last post, my grandma passed away, somewhat unexpectedly.  She was 92 years old and had lived a good life, but hadn't really had any terminal health problems.  She went to sleep one night and the next morning the staff at her care center couldn't wake her up.  They think she may have had a brain hemmorage or something during the night.  She passed away two days later.  I know a lot of my family had a hard time with her passing, and I admit I shed a few tears, but it was such a relief to me.  She was a farmer and lived a very hard, but active life.  She grew beautiful flowers and amazing gardens.  I don't remember a time going to her house as a little girl that we didn't find her tending her gardens or out shoveling the snow off her sidewalk.  In recent years she had lost nearly all of her sight and hearing and had such bad knees she could barely walk.  She had suffered through some depression.  I know she must have felt like she was trapped in an old body with a very young spirit.  I was relieved to know she no longer had to suffer with those maladies.  She was also reunited with my grandpa who died 14 years ago.

We talked back and forth about going to the funeral, which was not scheduled at a very convenient time for my dad or any of his family (the only ones coming from out of town), but decided I would regret not going since I had missed my grandpa's funeral.  He died during the middle of finals my freshman year in college.  Through some miracle from above, both of my dad's kids who live out of state were able to make it.  I was so glad we did.  My dad really needed the support of his family because of some ugly drama that was occuring among his siblings.  It was fun to get to see my brother and his family for a few days and for him to meet Luke.  Living so far apart, me in AZ and him in Washington and now Arkansas, has made getting together hard.  My boys loved that their uncle Vance would get down and wrestle with them and play with them.

By the time we got home, I was completely exhausted.  It's been nearly 6 weeks and I still don't feel like I've recovered from it all.  This pregnancy is wiping me out far worse than my last two.  I get winded really quickly and have no energy to do anything.  On a happier note though, I'm nearly 17 weeks along and I'm still in my regular clothes.  Sometimes I wonder if I'm really still pregnant - I am, no worries. 

Halloween was fun for Andrew, not so much for Luke who was sick and missed out on a lot of the festivities.

Luke was Superbaby and Andrew was a pit crew worker for Lightning McQueen.  He even corrected some guy at my mom's trunk-or-treat who dared to call him a Nascar driver.  That kid is funny!

We also put up a new play area for the kids and they LOVE it!

Now we are preparing for Thanksgiving and I'm finishing up my Christmas shopping.  I bottled some pickles, which wasn't smart.  The lingering smell made me want to vomit just being in my house.  Next time the pickles will wait until I'm not pregnant anymore.  :o)

Okay, I think I'm caught up for now.  I'm hoping to do a better job of staying caught up.  But I'm not making any promises!