I have a 5 year old!

Its crazy for me to think that my Jack-Jack is now FIVE years old.  I can hardly believe it!

He turned 5 on July 11th.  With the heat and being pregnant I put off planning his party.  I really didn't have a huge desire to have a backyard party like we planned and then Aaron suggested that we go somewhere to have his party, like the Cache Valley Fun Park.  So we had his little birthday gathering there.  It was super fun for the kids and the best part was all we had to do was show up.  No prepping or cleaning up afterwards.  It was the best.  To make it even better it was indoor and air conditioned.  

They provided lunch, cake, ice cream and the kids got to play on the soft play for a couple of hours. 

Here are a few pictures.  Excuse the quality, the lighting in there is pretty bad.

 

On Jack's actually birthday we had his little friend Tyler and his family over for dinner.  We have a tradition that on your birthday you get to pick what we have for dinner.  Jack chose tri-tip.  Good boy!  It was so yummy.  Since we had to change plans for his party I made him some special cupcakes.  He wanted a dinosaur water party.  He told me that he wanted cupcakes that had dinosaur nests on them.  I was more than happy to fulfill that request.  

These babies were a hit.  Jack loved them. 

I am so blessed to have Jack in my life.  He such a great big brother.  Although he has his mood swings, when he is in a happy (and feed) mood he is so sweet and caring.  He enjoys trying new things and has such an amazing memory and knack for learning.  I have seen him grow up so much this past year.  Even though he won't be starting kindergarten in the Fall, I still feel like he is all grown up enough to start school.  I am glad that I get to have one more year with him at home.  I love you Jack!

Pool Fun

A few weeks ago we decided that we needed something to help cool us off.  Since it seemed that the kids were pretty comfortable in the water we decided to get an above ground pool.  It is about 30 inches deep and 12 ft in diameter.  It is the perfect size.  Both Jack and Paige can touch and there is enough room for them to swim and float around.  We have been having a lot of fun with it.  Plus its super nice to get in the pool at night before bed.  Its a great way to cool off. 

 

Miss Paige

I caught a little video of Jack swimming.  We did a second session of swim lessons.  He is even better now.  His teacher taught him the free style stroke.  I told Aaron that watching him learn to swim and actually swim is like watching your child walk for the first time.  Its awesome!  Paige has gained more confidence in the water as well.  I love that they both really love the water.

At the request of Mom

My mom requested some pictures of my pregnant state.  I am currently 37 weeks.  The bitterness of last weekend as subsided.  It is obvious that the baby wasn't ready yet since I am still pregnant!  LOL

Hopefully this week we will get to meet this little baby.

Rockin' the shirt you made for me mom!

Just a Preggo Update

This past Friday (so two days ago) around 12:30pm I started feeling contractions.  I laid down and drank some water.  They continued to come and be consistent.  They were not too strong.  I called my doctor and the nurse told me to go to the hospital and get checked out. 

I called Aaron and we went to the hospital.  Aaron wasn't convinced that the baby was coming and I was sure hoping that this would be it.  Well as the nurse was getting all my info logged into the computer, she realized that I was not quite 36 weeks.  I was actually 35 weeks and 6 days.  Come on!  So because I was not technically 36 weeks, the on call doctor decided to give me a shot of Terbutaline to slow down and hopefully stop the contractions.  Well it worked, my contractions started to slow down and then stopped.  I was discharged from the hospital.  Before I left they gave me two loritab and an ambien as well as instructions that if I wake up with contractions to come in and they won't stop them. 

I slept REALLY good Friday night.  We have some amazing friends who took the kids while I was in the hospital for about 3 hours.  I woke up Saturday with no contractions!  Total bummer.  Yes I know it is better for the baby to stay inside as long as possible but really it is 95 bagillion degrees outside and double that inside the house and I am feeling rather large and pregnant.  So rationally I know that it is a little too early for the baby to come but I really want to be done being pregnant. 

So Saturday I was a little pretty grouchy.  Ok really who are we kidding?  I was a total beast.  (Aaron approved)  It all started to hit me that because I was less than 12 hours from being 36 weeks along I did not have a baby the day before.  The nurse and doctor both said that if I was 36 weeks plus they would have not stopped labor.  URGGH!!!  My fear now is that the baby will be stubborn and bitter and not come until August.  Just to spite everyone and mostly me.  Now it is just a waiting game. 

All day today and yesterday I have been just lying around, hoping that contractions will start again.  They have not!  I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow morning and I am wishing that he gives me some good news.  However I am not going to hold my breath, you know that whole stubborn bitter baby idea.

Aaron asked me yesterday if I could think of anything positive.  At first I told him no, life sucks right now.  But then I thought more about it and here is what I cam up with:

I am now dialated to a 3 instead of the 1.5 that I was at last Monday
I have the chance to finish getting baby clothes, carseat cover and stuff washed and ready
I get to have a baby (even if its not when I want)
The baby and I are healthy
I have a great little family and an awesome husband

And now at about 9:30pm it is a million catrillion degrees in the house Aaron just called an audible and pulled the kids out of bed and got them in their swimsuits so we can take a little night time dip in the pool before we melt into sleep. 

Hopefully this baby comes soon!

Pirate Tuesday? & a project

Yesterday while I was working on one of the many projects that I want to get finished before the baby comes, the kids decided that it should be pirate Tuesday!

They are just too cute sometimes, that I just had to take their pictures.

Onto the project that I was working on during pirate Tuesday and the first one that I have finished!  Yippee!!!!  1 down about 10 more to go!

My grandpa (my dad's dad) made this cradle for my parents when I was born.  It got handed down to me when Jack was born.  I have been wanting to re-finish it ever since I got it, but was afraid to in case one of my other siblings didn't want it to be changed.  Then I found out that no one else even wants it!  So I decided to re-finish it.  I gave it a quick sand and then spray painted it a dark brown.  Then I made a little bumper for the inside and of course had to make a fitted to sheet to match.  I have to brag a moment here, because I am not a great sewer by any means and I usually call my mom like a million times during a sewing project.  I have to say that I only called my mom to ask if it was possible and easy enough to make a fitted sheet.  That is it, one call!  The best part is that it turned out pretty awesome if I do say so myself.  

Anyway I am pretty pleased with the end result.  Now onto to the rest of my to do list before the baby comes!

T-Ball

Jack also played T-Ball this past spring.  I thought that I had lost the few pictures that I did take, but I fond them!  Jack seemed to like T-Ball just about as much as he liked soccer.  And it seems the only part he enjoys is being social.  Jack is more interested in talking with the other kids, both teams, than actually learning how to play.  As the weather warmed up Jack opted out of going to his last few games, he would rather stay home and play.  

Since the weather has been warming up and all his games were at 7pm, he usually fell asleep as we drove to his games.  We just played too much during the day I guess.

  

He sure looked cute in his little uniform.  Maybe next year we will try both soccer and t-ball again.

Maximus

For awhile Paige has been asking for a dog (so has Aaron).  In fact she has been requesting a chihuahua.  Not sure where she came up with that.  Either way it got me thinking, I could do a small dog and I have heard that chihuahuas are hypo-allergenic.  Plus I thought maybe a small enough dog would also not cause my allergies to go wild.  Of course Aaron was all for this idea.  Let's be honest its a lot harder to say no to Paige than it is to Aaron.  Plus Jack started chiming in.   

I did some research and found that chihuahua are not really good dogs for families.  I searched a little more for other small dogs and found that toy poodles, well poodles in general are great family dogs and they don't shed!  Aaron and I asked the kids if they would rather have a toy poodle than a chihuahua, of course they said yes!  

That is how we got Maximus "Max" 

(named from Tangled, but it fits because he thinks that he is bigger than he really is)

He likes to lay flat out on his belly.  It makes me laugh every time I see him laying like this.  He was about 3 lbs when we got him and is now about 4 lbs.  His dad was only 3.5 lbs and his mom was about 8lbs.  So I think that he will be somewhere in between but maybe closer to the mom.  

My mom asked me how I like having a puppy and I have to say that I do actually like it.  He is so happy when I come home.  He doesn't talk back and yell at me.  He doesn't slam doors and scream that I am ruining his life.  He is my little companion during the day, Max just follows me around the house and when I sit down whines until I put him on my lap.  

The kids love him.  When we first got him, we took him to get groomed and Paige didn't realize that we left him there.  She started crying, and was so worried that they would hurt him.  She promised she would take care of him and that she would always love him.  A few nights ago as Aaron and I were getting ready to go to bed we heard Paige screaming and crying.  I went in there (followed by Max) to check on her.  She was having a nightmare that she would never see Max again.  I picked up Max and put him on her bed and he immediately went up to her face and licked her and laid on her chest until she calmed down and realized it was a bad dream.  Jack is great at cleaning up after the dog.  He does it sometimes without being asked.  Not a a normal trait for Jack!  He is also really good about playing with the very energetic puppy and making sure the dog gets let out when he needs to.  So far Maximus is fitting in wonderfully with our family and we really do enjoy his company.  Hopefully once he calms a little he will stop thinking that Paige is a toy.  He often nips at her and her clothes (especially skirts and dresses).  I think that since she is the closet to his size he thinks she is his constant playmate and Paige doesn't really play with him very well yet.

Wow this ended up being a really long post about a dog!  What has happened to me?!  

Swimming Lessons

We signed the kids up for swim lessons again this summer with the lady who taught them last year.  She does it in her backyard pool.  I am very impressed with how well she teaches the kids.  This time around Jack and Paige got to be in the same class.  This is made is super nice and convenient for me.  There were about 8 kids in their class.  One of the 'rules' is that parents are not allowed to watch until the very last day of the session.  Aaron and I went to watch and we were pleasantly surprised that Jack is swimming!  

Look!  There he is swimming all by himself!

After seeing that both Jack and Paige are getting more comfortable with water, I felt that I could take them to the pool by myself being 8 months pregnant and all.  So Friday we went to pool with some friends and we ended staying for 5 hours!  At one point Jack and the other older kids wanted to jump off the diving board.  I asked the life guard if I could get in the pool to catch Jack and help him to the side.  I was told no.  So I told Jack that if he wants to do it he has to do jump in all by himself and swim to the side all by himself.  He did it!  Actually he jumped off about 7-8 times.  He swam to the side each time.  Each and every time I was standing close to the side of the pool in case I needed to jump in and pull him up.  It about gave me a heart attack or induced labor!  LOL!  

I am so happy that both kids are learning how to swim.  We are signed up for another session of lessons and I am hoping that it will help enforce the skills they have already learned this summer.