The one to you

My Dear Baby Boy-

I finished decorating your bedroom today.
Then I packed my bag for the hospital.
Your car seat is in Daddy's car.
In other words, we're ready for you.

So could you come out now?

Pleeeease?
. . . . .

I thought you might like a sneak peak of the fun things we've been doing to be ready for you to come home to us. . . .


First of all, your big sister Halle, made this hat. Didn't she do a good job? She spent days and days on a hat loom, getting it just right. It's so soft and fuzzy, I know you are gonna love it.



Your aunties, Autumn & Ora worked for two days painting your room while I stayed downstairs and entertained your crazy cousins. I about lost my mind during the 1,798,763,001th rerun of the song "Jingle Bells" with Halle on the piano and everyone else on (very LOUD) vocals. But aren't you excited to join this cousin collection?



Anyways, I've been busy sewing up a storm! Burp rags. . .


and changing pads. . .




diaper/wipes containers . . .



your quilt . . .



crib bedding . . .





I designed them all without even a single pattern! Cool, eh?

So here's the way your room looks now
(though the pics are NOT as cute as in real life...I can't get a good angle tonight). . .





Daddy was up in the middle of the night on Saturday, painting your crib brown. Auntie Autumn and him painted the rest of the furniture last month.

See, can't you tell how much we love you already?

I also designed these gears for your wall. Then my friend, Shelly cut them out for me on vynil.



Daddy says that even though they're not
"orthogonal to the circumference".
they still look
"awesome."

(!?!)

I guess that's just what happens when someone goes to school 40+ hours a week. Smart-person- gibberish. Don't worry, I don't get it either.

Anyways, I'm gonna go upstairs now and wait ever so patiently for you.

Oh, and one more thing- would you mind doing me a tummy-tuck while you're in there? That, my Son, would be awesome. I'll pay ya back, I swear.

Thanks and Loves!

Mommy

The one with maternity pics

Maternity pictures . . .they're something you never feel like having taken of yourself, but end up regretting not doing them later.

I bit the bullet this time. We set up my photog stuff in our living room last night and called my sister in law (the wonderful Tiffany) over to snap for me. She did awesome. Here are some of the faves:

The Farr 5!


Have I mentioned that I like this guy???


Teeny-tiny DKNY shoes. LOVE 'em.

Drew's already playing cars with the little man. . .


She's so pretty. . .


And a few of just me and my new little guy . . .



We can't wait to meet you, buddy!


See you in a couple of days!

The one where I have to brag. . .just a little

A week and a half ago, I had piano student over who is learning "The Hokey Pokey."

After she left, Halle started figuring it out -which is typical after a day of teaching- for Halle to try to pick out what she's heard me teach that day.

Just for fun, I sat down with her and showed her how the chords worked, etc. I reeeeally wasn't expecting she'd get it - since it is a Level 4 song, with syncopation and a walking base line that jumps around, etc. Besides Halle is still in Level 1 - not to mention she's only in kindergarten.

Anyway, she floored me. I mean, these kind of rhythms usually take weeks for students to get their first time. . . and she just gobbled them up. You'd probably have to teach piano to fully comprehend what I'm talking about. . . and I swear I'm not just being prejudiced here. I seriously couldn't believe it. She flawlessly took the rhythms and jumps, without hesitation.

What?!?

"Holy cow, Hall," I said, "You are amazing. How about if/when you can play this whole song, I give you 5 bucks. You have to have it perfect though, k?"

1 1/2 weeks later- I had to pay up.

Check her out on this facebook video. . . she makes it look so easy. :)

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=567314198&k=5YB6XZVR4T2AXABBPDZVPVWTRPGE43&oid=330378242117

THANKS Tiffany for uploading it for me!! Love you!

Rock On, Halle Girl! You make me proud!

The one about taking it easy

Well, I am supposed to be "taking it easy."

Which I am. Though I think I've gotten more done (sewing projects, taxes, this blog entry. . .) since Dr. B told me that, than I have in months.

And speaking of months, it's been a couple of stormy ones.

For example, in January I was driving to my sister's house, when I hit ice and the car went sliding into oncoming traffic. I crashed head into a truck, and then a car behind them slammed into their back.

The blessings have to be mentioned first here: FIRST OF ALL: Halle, Bailee (my niece), Baby and me are all fine. SECOND: Though it should have, the air bag didn't go off- which normally would be a bad thing- but with my baby belly inches away from the steering wheel, I'm sure I would have been in bad shape if it had. THIRD: Our insurance has been amazing to work with (Bear River Mutual. . if you don't have it, I'm telling you- you are missing out!), and FOURTH: my SWEET SISTER is letting me borrow her car until we can find a new one. I LOVE YOU AUTUMN! I don't know what we'd do without you guys.

NEGATIVES INCLUDE: Though our car was the least damaged, it was totaled. Which is really bad timing, just weeks away from having a baby. Kev's really not around to help me find a new one, and I really did NEED that darn car. ALSO: I got a ticket! How lame is that? The cop said, "I know it's like pouring salt in the wound, but it's just standard to get a ticket when you're in an accident." WHAT!?! For sliding on ice? Silly stuff. I'm going to court on March 5th to appeal it. I'll let you know how that goes. AND FINALLY: just the overall anxiety of driving now. Sheesh- I didn't expect it but suddenly I hate driving anywhere. Realizing how easily something could hurt one of my kids or someone I love. . . I'm hoping those nerves calm down soon.
Here's a pic of the kids from when we went to clean out the car. I guess they were kinda emotionally attached to it, because they kept hugging it and they're still saying they "miss" the car. Lol. Funny kids.

Another stormy patch hit us last week when half of the dental work that was done in Drew's mouth abscessed. He had three molars with boils underneath them, oozing disgusting infection, and putting the poor kid in totally-unfair-for-a-4-year-old agony. I called several dentists to see what we could do. . .but it was unanimous. ALL THREE teeth had to be pulled on Wednesday. He now only has ONE molar on the bottom of his mouth. Again I will start with the blessings:

FIRST- he is not in pain anymore. SECOND: They are not permanent.

NEGATIVES (I get to be a little negative right?!?): I will NEVER forgot how Drew on the way home from the dentist realized they'd pulled out his teeth and cried, "Mom! They took my teeth! They are out! Why did they do that?!" and then put his head in his hands and sobbed- and I sobbed with him. I feel like such a bad mom. First of all, like I should have been able to prevent it in the first place. . and also that my kid is running around toothless. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. But the hardest part for me now is that there is some unfinished fillings he needs to have done. . . and I AM SCARED TO DEATH. Why did the other fillings go bad in the first place? Will it happen again? Will he lose more teeth? HOW COULD HE POSSIBLY loose more teeth???!?!

Of course, everything I'm blabbing on about wouldn't have been as hard if A) I wasn't sooo pregnant and B) Kev was able to come home more. This has been the hardest semester so far, Kev mostly getting home between 3AM-11AM in the morning. (Yes, I am serious. 11AM from the day before.) Weekends have been way to short, and filled with everything that keeps us away from home or being together. . . there has been no break and I can feel it all the way down. He's exhausted, I'm exhausted. . .all the prego symptoms just keep getting worse and worse and now my blood pressure has been climbing (thanks, Toxemia) and I'm supposed to be going to the dr's every few days to take tests etc and somehow "take it easy" at the same time. Not so easy to do it all by yourself with two other kids and the emotional stability of a . . .hormonal pregnant insomniac.

But it's all good. Really. Because, today I read NieNie's blog and there it was - the will to get through it all and see through to the blessings in the mean time.

(Thanks Nie, as usual)

So I am going to count my blessings and enjoy having a reason to let the clutter in my life go for now, and maybe one of these "easy days" I will be able to catch up on this blog. Let's just not count on anything, k?

The one wish

If I could only wish for one thing for my Halle, it would be that she someday find someone just like her Daddy.

Here's a typical example of what I'm talking about:

Yesterday was a long day.

Not to whine too much or anything, but I've been feeling worse and worse every day. I know it just comes with the prego, but COME ON! Heartburn, acid reflux, back ache, pinched sciatic nerve, various veins, heaviness, and swelling all mixed with insomnia is all only the tip of the iceburg. . . I feel like I've been in a wreck. Everything feels bruised, achy and miserable. Somedays aren't so bad....and then there are days like yesterday. Emotional. Exhausted. Completely drained and overwhelmed.

Well, I sat on the couch for an hour last night trying to get over the fact that at some point I would have to LUG this body of mine down to the grocery store (cupboards have been bare since Christmas) with the two kids - one of which has been sick and cranky the last few days. It seemed like the hardest thing in the world to do and I felt like crying every time I thought about it. I had been planning on going earlier that day, and I just could. not. do. it. In the mean time we didn't have milk. Or bread. Or eggs...

Anyway. I knew that Kev would go for me if I asked him to. But he is back to work and school full time and there was NO way I was going to ask him to do any more than he's already got going. So I didn't say a word about it.

Well, at 1AM this morning the phone rang.

Kevin had just got off work and was at Walmart, ready for me to give him my shopping list.

He went up and down each isle, me on the phone, asking what I needed. My list was super long and he still got every item. He didn't get home until after 3AM. Afterward, he put the groceries away, held me close for the little bit he got to sleep, got up a few hours later and went back to school.

I don't know what I did to deserve the best life in the world. I would NEVER ask him to do as much as he does for me, he just . . .does it. Selfless. We don't have a perfect marriage, and we have definitely been through some insanely hard times, but all day long I've been thinking about how blessed I am to have such a good man in my life. I know my kids are going to grow up being good people, because they have their dad to look up to.

I'm not trying to be mushy by posting it to my blog, but I feel like I had to write down these feelings I've had all day. For Halle. And for Drew.

Life is good.

The one with a CHRISTmas

Here's an email I wrote to a friend with some ideas to help Christmas be more centered around Christ:

Hi Di!

This is the topic to get me started on! I'm over-flowing with ideas!!! Hopefully I don't overwhelm you. lol

I LOVE having a birthday dinner for the Savior. Christmas Eve we have a whole feast, our very best dishes, food and of course the Bday cake. We write Bday cards to Him and put them in a special box under the tree, as a gift for Him. When my kids are grown I will give them their own box with their old letters. Maybe they'll keep the tradition going in their own families.

This year I've come up with a new idea. . .haven't done it yet so I can't swear by it- yet. But I was thinking of tying in the 3 gifts He was originally given (gold, frankincense, myrrh) with 3 service-type gifts for Him. (The whole "if you've done it unto one of these. . . you've done it unto me" idea). And then having the theme of each represent one of the gifts. For example, GOLD could be pulling our money in together and then secretly delivering to someone in need. FRANKINCENSE was a spice so it could have something to do with food (serving at the Food Bank, delivering a secret dinner to someone) . . . MYRRH was an incense. . something you feel more than see. . so I'm thinking something like visiting some older widows in the ward, or ? I dunno. I'm still brainstorming here. I think we'll plan the specifics of the 3 "gifts" together as a family on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. . .after we've put up the tree. Just to start out the season on a spiritual theme.

Is this too long already???

I also like to decorate around a Nativity theme instead of Santa/elves/etc. . .

One of the kids faves is our Nativity Advent calendar which puts another character at the manger scene every night.

Another idea. . .I find a story to read to the kids every year, and I always make sure it's got a really good message. We read a little bit (almost) every night and finish sometime around Christmas. They LOVE it and the Christmas spirit feels really strong.

We still do the Santa stuff, but it's just not the focus of the season. And I twist a few of the traditions. For example, instead of the kids writing Christmas wish lists to Santa, we write Thank You notes to him and leave them out with the cookies on Christmas. Trying to spin as much as possible away from the "me, me, me, I want, mine, mine, mine" part of Christmas that leaves us all so empty.

We've been doing the "warm fuzzy jar" from President Monson's conference talk. So we're going to use those warm fuzzy's (pom poms) this year in the manger (similar to the straw in the manger idea)to make it soft for the baby Jesus. We'll read/act out Luke 2 right before going to bed Christmas eve, using the soft manger.

Ok, I'll stop there. I'm sorry to write so much! I didn't mean to, I swear! Hahah. I've got more, if you want 'em. Maybe I'll do a blog post about it one of these days. Or write a book. HAHAHA! What mother has time to write a book!!??! Give me 20 years.

Good luck! Hope you guys are doing great. Talk to you later.

The one about forwarded emails

I'm not really one to forward the emails. Honestly I delete probably 99% of the ones forwarded to me. (Sorry everybody!) But Autumn called about this email she'd sent, and so it got opened.

I love it.

Maybe why it's so funny to me is because this is TOTALLY the type of thing Kevin would do - if he had the time. Ahhh, the things that man will think up . . .

Which really is why I'm posting this. Once he reads it he's gonna start getting those kinds of ideas again (thanks, Autumn lol) - and this is my way of "spoiling" the joke before he can even pull it- which hopefully will be a great point to consider when I'm convincing him that this is NOT next years outdoor Holiday Decor.

Sorry hon.

Anyway, here you go. Here's my blog-version-way of forwarding a funny email. Make sure to read the bottom part. :)


"Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever. Great stories. But two things made me take it down.

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.

Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn't realize it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn't take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard."