Dear Landri

When will we see you? We are all so excited to meet you that we're getting impatient. We've decided to make a game of this. Here are our predictions for your birthday!
Kolbe: March 12th. I think you'll be 7 lbs and 21 inches. I think you'll look like mom, and have dad's nose. She'll have black hair and be a chubba-lunka! I love you and hope you come out soon...
Kenna: March 3rd. I think you'll be 8 lbs, 4 oz and 21 inches long. I think you'll look like me, my pretty nose, green changing eyes and dark black curly hair. I think you'll be kinda chubby, kinda skinny. I'll love you!
Avery: July....(at this point I interupted her) March 9th. I think you'll be 3 oz. (Crap-I've gained WAY more than that) and 5 feet long. (hmmmmmm....)I think you'll have my color of hair and that you'll look like MEEEeeeeee!And your nose will look like MINE!!!!!! Curly hair too!
Eli:March "four" . Her have my nose and my hair. My head. I think you'll be 'dis big~(his hands are pointing to the sky!)
Dad doesn't get to vote again. Because he was onery the first time we did this and voted for March 2nd, just to spite me wanting you out early. And apparently he jinxed this process. So, we're not letting him play! I don't really care when you come, or who you look like, or how big you are...just as long as you come soon, and that you're healthy~ okay, I'd lied...I do care WHEN you come.

I'm trying....

every person who has ever met me knows that patience is not my thing. Not even close. In fact, I am so used to the idea of being done with pregnancy by now that I have managed to cry myself silly multiple times over the last week. So, this must be when other people start to complain about pregnancy. I get it now. My feet are so swollen I think I've got elephantitis. Its sexy. In fact...that would definitely be the word to describe me right now. My stomach is HUGE. She is sitting super low but apparently not low enough to do anything worthwhile in the scheme of getting OUT:) My face is fatter. I'm looking good. My good husband is so tired of my constant whining that he's resolved to be super quiet! But today I woke up(well got up...because waking implies that I slept) and resolved to behave. I showered, CURLED my hair, put on my favorite shirt and went to work. I've decided that I can do this pleasantly. It is afterall, the last week I'll ever be pregnant again.
So here's what I decided to do: I want to enjoy every single movement she makes. Because this is what I love most about being preggo. I love the miracle of feeling life inside me. I love feeling her respond to me. I've been able to grab her little bum as she pushes it against my stomach. I've held a foot or leg after she kicked me silly. I've watched my husband laugh as he shook my stomach and watched her dance away from him. My children have drawn faces around my stomach, using my gross belly button as her nose. Their faces as they watch my stomach shift and the 'face' move are priceless!
I realize that everything is changing, and that this brief time is something I might actually miss. Soon my family will change forever. And I'm completely looking forward to it. I'm even ready. But perhaps my Heavenly Father thinks I need a few more days to practice being patient. So....I'll work on it. At least for another few days: because my doc said he'd induce at 39 weeks....and that's only 9 days from now!

4 today...

I can't believe my crazy man is 4~ it has been a really interesting 4 years! He is the funniest kid. But he definitely knows how to push a button or two too...But there is nothing I wouldn't give for one of his koala bear squeeze you to death hugs...or super duper wet kisses...or to hear him say, 'i yuv you mommy!' or 'what's UP mommy?' He's the best...and I may be too lazy to post any pics right now...but I love him.
I took him to my doc appointment today. When I lay flat I'm pretty much toast...my broken tailbone has caused such terrible siatic(sp?) issues that I can't move my legs if I'm flat. I need to be rolled over or helped up. Its fun. Anyways...I laid down today on the table before the doc came in and then when I tried to move...yep, totally stuck. Its awful. Anyways, he's seen it a thousand times and he said, "I wish daddy was here to help you get up. I'd try but you are just too h00j...."I stinking love this kid! Thank you a thousand times Heavenly Father for giving me this strong willed little spirit!

Nursery: Part one

This is the first wall of my nursery that's done! Two more projects....I can't wait! Thanks to my mom for making the flowers! Now the girls' think they've been jipped in their room...

lets hope the ultrasound is right......

Dear Diary,

Sitting here in the quiet while Nate marched the kids up the dark, cold hill outside to shoot Kolbe's new air soft gun, I feel incredibly thankful for this day. While my emotions have been ridiculously out of control lately, I need it said that my heart is hugely full. I have never in my life felt such an overwhelming sense of blessing and happiness. I know that the Christmas season is a time where everyone feels a heightened sense of peace and happiness because the Savoir is closer to our thoughts...but I am feeling so motivated to keep this feeling a little longer in our home! So many changes are coming our way...we counted off today that its only a few days until Avery's birthday, then a month til Eli's, then a few weeks til daddy's, and then a few weeks until this baby arrives. I see the need for so much improvement in my life before I bring another child into our home...but I am happy for the small successes I see within our family. We finished the Book of Mormon yesterday as a family: a HUGE victory two years in the making! But what an accomplishment! I listened from the other room today as Kenna said to her brother, 'thank you sooooo much for this present Kolbe, I LOVE it! you're the best.' I peeked my head around the corner to watch Kolbe teaching Eli the correct way to position his new GI Joe guys for battle...the small and tender moments that make me so incredibly thankful to be just exactly where I am. The hugest deception is in thinking that life will be filled with non-stop bliss. It is filled with life: the loud, messy and chaotic routines that help us progress from one stage to another. But I was meant to be a wife....and a mother today. And I am so thankful for that.

Christmas Decorating 2009

This was Eli's idea of 'posing' in front of the tree. Believe me, we don't encourage this behavior: its just the way he is!

bUMmEr!

This really makes me look big. Bigger than I think I look: that is just my side note here!

My brother Jerry is one of my favorite people in this world. Every time I talk to him I tell him he's chubby, and he tells me I'm ugly. It really is one of my favorite things to do....I love him! When he tells me I'm ugly, I will tell him he's still fat...and he says, 'but YOU'RE pregnant!' I love it...so I've been teasing him this whole pregnancy that he's bigger than me, and wouldn't you know it???? HE'S NOT! Bummer! It was bound to happen, but I still contend he's sucking in! At 24 weeks, I'm officially bigger than Jer by alot.

Love you my Jer-