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!

Down and out...but hopefully not for the count

Pregnancy is whooping my behind this time around.  I don't remember being this tired and out of it with either of my past two pregnancies.  Maybe it's because I'm trying to keep up with more kids.  I sleep pretty well at night, even if I do have some very strange dreams (that's not really anything new for me).  But I have to just drag myself out of bed by 8am to get Andrew to preschool on the days he goes.  By the time I get myself showered and dressed, I'm sick to my stomach and need to eat something.  And then I'm pretty well wiped out.  Yet, I have to drag myself through until Luke naps in the afternoon.  Most of the time, I take a nap when he does, but Andrew always finds a reason to come in and wake me up no matter how well I plan.  My house has been a disaster.  I finally forced myself to deal with the three weeks worth of clean laundry that needed to be ironed and put away.  I feel like I've succeeded when I get me and the kids dressed in clothes and fed three meals a day.

It hasn't helped too much that I'm having a "Luke" pregnancy, rather than an "Andrew" pregnancy.  Other than being a little tired, I felt great with Andrew.  No morning sickness.  Toward the end, I had heartburn every night, but I just kept a bottle of Tums by the bed and I was able to deal.  Luke was a different story.  I started to get nauseous early on and it lasted at least the first half of my pregnancy.  No sacrifices to the porcelain king, but just a general gross feeling all day.  It's that way this time also.  I start feeling really sick about 2 hours after I eat and it's at its worst right before bed.

And to make matters worse, add to that the fact that I had a bout of vertigo kick in Saturday night that just about took me out for good yesterday and it's been pretty rough going.  The vertigo is a little better today, but I have a headache that just won't seem to go away for long.

It's days like I've had lately that make me wonder why it is we women go through all of this to bring kids into the world.  I guess it's a good thing our brains block out the "trauma" of it all so we'll do it again.

Kids say the darndest things....

Here are some of Andrew's latest quips:

After being told to get dressed and brush his teeth to go to preschool:  "Mom, I can't handle you telling me what to do anymore!"

After asking to ride his bike to preschool, which is about 3-4 miles away, and being told it's too far:  "Mom!  It's not that far.  It's in Arizona!  It's not like it's in Nevada or Idaho!"

In response to being told he needed to rest because he wasn't feeling well and it would help him get better:  "That will help me, but Heavenly Father and Jesus can make me better, too.  I think I'll just let them make me better.  I don't want to rest."

"I shouldn't have to clean up the toys."  "Who should?  Should I have to pick up your mess?"  "No, let's just not clean it up."

"I'm going to have a blue neatbot and a yellow neatbot when I'm a grown up and I live in this house."  "When you are a grown up, I think you'll move out and live somewhere else."  "But, Mom, I love you!"

And Luke is finally starting to form words: 

Last night after Daddy left to go on Elders' Quorum visits, he went to the front door and said, "Dada bye bye!" 

After talking to Daddy on the phone at lunch time today, "Dada bye bye!  Ome!" waving and then pointing at the garage door where Clayton usually comes home.