We made it to June!

After the Heidi birthday extravaganza we still have half a cake to eat.  So like a good parent I plopped it on the table and told the kids to have at it, anything left in an hour goes in the trash. 

The kids were in a state of shock that morphed into heaven.

 We have started to pack up and purge and while we were going through the dungeon we found an old fanny pack with ASAY written on the back.  It was gifted to Alex who thinks it is the most marvelous thing in the universe.  We are bringing fanny packs back.
        Tyler found a pair of hand me down shiny leather high heel boots that were Heidi's size.  She thought they were the most marvelous things in the universe and has tried to wear them everywhere no matter the temperature, and usually with super short skirts.  I finally had to confiscate and hide them.  She looked like a hooker.

 Mother's Day this year was fun, the kids bought me a margarita cup and made dinner with Tyler.  Everyone was happy and kind and helpful and we had pie and ice-cream.

 Alex has been waiting months for corn on the cob and we made corn husk dolls while they cooked.  Quinn couldn't even wait for the cooking part.

 Heidi LOVES helping in the kitchen.

 The following week the weather dropped back to livable, after some pretty terrible hot and humid days.  After a month of searching I was able to find some super cheap AND modest summer dresses for the girls.  3 girls, 3 colors each, I can't ever figure out which one belongs to which child.  They wear them nearly every day.

 Quinn thinks she is so big, and so brave.  I'm a bench rat at the park and Quinn is great at getting grandma's and other mothers to push her on the swing.

 Tyer and Heidi went on a date to the Monongahela Incline and found a cookie spot where they bought me a baby carriage cookie cutter and a carrot one.  So we made sugar cookies and decorated them and it was fun and exhausting.

 I ate most of them.

 Heidi took the extra dough and made whales and princesses.

 Alex and Heidi also completed the season of soccer.  Our goals at the beginning were quite different by the end..... "Just have fun and don't cry."  It worked for Alex, in the final game she scored a goal and didn't cry or run to me a single time.  Heidi cried and refused to play, but annoyed the coaches instead of finding me to cling to.  I considered it a success.

 Memorial day was the start of Tyler's week off of school and we spend the week house hunting for a reasonably priced rental near Tyler's new job (more on that later).  The ward had a picnic at a fantastic park and the kids found about 40 caterpillars that we got to take home.  They all accidentally drowned the next day and Alex discovered that Caterpillars don't need much water to survive.  Many, many, tears accompanied this discovery.

 Miss Vicki my co-nursery leader, brought some crafts and taught Alex some new fun things.  It was adorable.

 I got to lounge around and hold babies while the other adults played ultimate frisbee and the kids ran around in a giant pack.  It was a great day.

 Thursday Tyler took us on vacation and we drove to to Lake Erie for a couple days of fun.  The weather was perfect and the kids went nuts over the giant sandbox.

 They ran and played and laughed and ran and I got to sit and enjoy it all.

 Tyler announced that perhaps a sidewards slouch isn't my greatest angle.  The baby has dropped and turned into a cinderblock.  I also got a haircut.

 We all started out pretty clean and dry.

 Quinn was just in heaven.

 They made chairs to lounge in and we ate Sandwiches, some more literally than others.

 Heidi spent a good hour of the day running into the water then rolling in the sand, then running back into the water to wash off, and then back to the sand........ endless entertainment.

 Tyler tried to teach a lesson about tides with sandcastles but Quinn wouldn't let them stay standing long enough for the waves to take them.

 best buds.

 Tyler was super dad and did EVERYTHING for everyone.  After the beach we went to dinner and then at the hotel he took everyone swimming while I got to sit and watch.

 He scratched backs and made dreams comes true right and left.

 Oh how I love this family of mine.

 Heidi has no qualms about getting dirty or wet or both.

 She is so fun to watch.

 While Heidi was playing clean and dirty, Alex was digging in the sand for rocks and dragging them around the beach.  Quinn was content to sit and fill a bucket of water up with sand.

 Day 2 we all woke up with sunburns, but no one quite like Tyler!  It was almost amusing, think the ice-cream tourist on Lilo and stitch- it was that level of red and white.  We swam after breakfast and then headed to the beach again until the rain came.

Everyone was pretty worn out after 2 days of beach and swimming and running around in the sand so we drove home and crashed in our beds that night.  It was a wonderful vacation, we love lake Erie and being together without homework and the internet.

Tyler officially took the ER job in Butler.  He won't be able to start until after he takes his certification test in August and gets the scores and paperwork back, so we are thinking it may not be until October that we get into the groove of what "real life" is like now.  Classes start again for him tomorrow June 1st, and go for the next month, at that point he will just need to study like crazy for the big test in August.
  I can't believe we made it to this point and I really can't believe we made it to June!  Only 11 days until my due date hits and only 7 until Mom comes!  The weeks have been flying by so I feel like any day now baby boy will arrive!  We are trying to get Quinn into the bottom bunk which is actually working out fine so far (I can't believe it).  The house is clean and baby ready so I really just have to keep everyone OUT for the next week so it will stay that way.  If we can just get a rental home set up for August then I can relax, have the baby and all my jobs will be done for a bit!
       It's going to be a great month.

Heidi's 5th Birthday

 Finally, after everyone else birthday's, it was Heidi's turn!

 Tyler had worked a 12 hour shift the day before and promptly fell asleep when he got home after the hour commute so it was up to Alex and I to decorate.  Usually this wouldn't be a big deal but I'm not so agile anymore.  We made up for the lack of streamer mess with balloons and even got some of the long skinny ones to tie into animals and such with the aid of you tube.

 Quinn is starting to really love birthdays, she has made the connection between the birthday song and cake, presents, decorations and fun and has started to get really excited about birthdays!

 Heidi was the SWEETEST birthday girl ever.  Super generous with all her things and time- she was just a doll the whole day!

 She got lego's from Alex and Grandma, and more lego's from Daddy, and used birthday money to buy herself a beautiful fancy necklace for church and a dinosaur bone excavation kit.  That's my Heidi!

 Oh and bubbles, she got bubbles and wanted nothing more than to go out and blow them, which Quinn loved, and which gave Alex the chance to go to town on the legos.

 The best part of the day was her friends princess party!  Kori's parents had promised her a princess party when she got potty trained and we were lucky enough to be invited!  Heidi was convinced it was for her birthday and I was fine with that.

  All the little girls in the ward came dressed up in their princess dresses and pinks, Alex and Heidi decided to wear their halloween costumes, vampire princess and pirate princess.
 Lisa had gotten some of the younger ladies in the ward without kids to dress up as Elsa, Ariel and Rapunzle post hair cutting.  They were perfect for the job and I think they enjoyed the attention.  Later I overheard Heidi telling her friend "Can you believe that Alex's piano teacher is the grown up Elsa!!!!!!"

There was crown making and delicious cupcakes, the sun was shining and the yard was full of wonderful friends. It was a great morning.

 Plus there were princesses to push my children in the swings. Awesome.

 Here are Heidi with some of her very best friends.  Bri on the left is about to turn 4 and is who Heidi chose to take on her birthday date.  Next to her is the party girl Kori who is the quietest child ever and my shadow in nursery.  She follows me everywhere and helps me with jobs or reads books with me.  They just moved out of the ward to this new house with the great backyard, but I swap babysitting with her Mom so we still see them all the time.  Jack and Heidi just go nuts around each other, it's hard to even explain.  My children are ALL enamored with Jack and can't get enough of him, chasing him, wresting him, and laughing and laughing and laughing.  He is 4 like Heidi and they always say that together they are "Quackers".

 I'm not sure Quinn cared about what was going on, but i was thrilled to get to use Heidi's old halloween dress one more time.
 I stole Heidi and Bri away from the party, while Jen took Alex home and dropped Quinn off at our house with Tyler.  Heidi decided that instead of a birthday party we would do a date and we went to McDonalds for happy meals and ice-cream cones and then to the children's museum for 3 hours!  It was so fun watching Heidi and Bri together,  since Heidi is a year older she takes on a very sweet/bossy tone with Bri, she is 1/2 her equal and a great playmate and 1/2 a child that Heidi needs to protect.

 Friday we had gone to Costco for the express purpose of buying this cake.  Heidi had seen it during a previous trip months before and declared THAT was the cake for her birthday, and she kept reminding me.  So we made the journey only to find out there were none and had to talk to the bakers who happened to have one in the freezer!  They even wrote Heidi's name on it which made her shudder with joy.

Heidi had also gotten an apron, a chef hat, old fashioned egg beaters and a chocolate sucker making kit for her birthday.  She loves to help cook.  Quinn was very excited for cake time.

 Very.

 Heidi was not very happy that Quinn was trying to blow our her candles.

After cake and ice-cream the birthday goblins dropped some clues and had us all over the house and neighborhood finding goody bags.  Then Tyler took Heidi to the store to spend her birthday money and I put Quinn to bed and crashed.  I love birthdays, but being the fun mom at 8 months pregnant, is not so fun and pretty exhausting.

Sunday we played pin the tail on the donkey because there had been no time the day before.  Sunday was the actual day of Heidi's birthday but we decided to celebrate early.  That evening we had friends over to help eat cake and had 9 kids and 15 adults crammed into our tiny backyard all at once!  It was a fun weekend, the weather was great and Heidi was a wonderful and gracious birthday girl, it was such a joy to celebrate her.  I decided that the reason she just shone that day is because we all did everything she wanted all day, which is exactly what she always wants us to do.

We were able to get our Landlords to extend our contract through August thank heavens, which has completely taken the pressure off and calmed my mind a bit.  Tyler has been offered a job in the ER he is currently doing his rotation at, about an hour away, and he has 2 interview in the next week.  The first is in SLC for transplant surgery, and the second is in Columbus, Ohio for Cardio-thorasic surgery.  We don't have a lot of details on any of the jobs yet, and our preference is still to move back West, but there would be a lot of benefits to taking the ER job here.  Although I'm wondering if the pre-humidity warm sunny weather has lulled us into a state of Pittsburgh bliss.

I've got about 4 weeks to go until baby day and I'm feeling great as far as hips and back go.  When I lay down on my back I'm still stranded if i stay there for more than 30 seconds.  When the baby moves it moves my entire belly and I think I'm starting the uncomfortable ribs stage for sure.  I know I need to start getting things ready but Tyler's schedule/ my immobility is creating problems.  On his work days when we don't see him from 6 am until 8 pm, I'm just trying to survive.  Quinn usually choses these days to be extra whiny or sick and needy so we are in complete survival mode.  Then when Tyler is here we all just want to be with him and nothing gets accomplished that needs to.  he has become the master of laundry, Alex is great at sweeping and mopping, and Quinn loves unloading the dishwasher.  Heidi is great at cleaning up the living room if she comes up with the idea on her own, and she likes wiping things with a wet cloth and babysitting Quinn, otherwise most things are torture.  I am a great delegator.