Family/Tyler's Birthday/Easter

I suppose I should post again at least once more before life gets crazy with a newborn.
That is assuming that this baby is ever going to come out.  I had a pre-postpartum depression stint this morning and as I was bawling and going on about being pregnant forever, Alex walked in, gave me a sweet hug and said "Mommy, why do you want to get the baby out so bad?"  She then went on to rat me out to Grandpa in the kitchen a little while later.  "Mommy was crying this morning because of the baby" she said.  I don't think I'm as unhinged as I probably sound, but you may have to ask Tyler.
     We've had a good week here although I can't remember many particulars.  Tyler's brother Sam and his family have been in town so the girls have been able to spend lots of time with their Tennessee cousins who they adore!  I unfortunately haven't taken a single picture.  Heidi follows Christian around, Christian wants to play with Alex and Alex has a crush on Nicholas who just wants the adults to play boardgames with him.  The adults want all the kids to go outside and enjoy the nice weather without getting too dirty.
        The week has gone by quickly with plenty of family around and adults to talk to which has been nice.  Yesterday was Tyler's birthday and we spent the whole day doing whatever he wanted!  I made biscuits and gravy for breakfast and then let him read and relax for a few hours.  Next was legos with the girls, followed by lunch and Easter Egg dying with those junky kits that don't really dye anything.  The girls loved it still.  After lunch we went to Toys'R'us so Tyler could spend his birthday money on more Legos.  I was pleased a it's something the kids LOVE to do with him and him with them.  They can all individually sit and play for hours while I lay on the couch and read.  We came home and had a feast of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, then played more Legos and had our Easter Egg hunt in the backyard.  Alex and Heidi filled up on Chocolate and spent the next 2 hours outside looking for the missing 4 eggs and playing around until a late dinner and bedtime.  Meanwhile Tyler and I both got to sit and read.  My dream birthday was lots of delicious food and plenty of time OUT of the house, Tyler it seems is my opposite.
     Today Sam and Natalie's baby, Madison Mae Brady- my newest and only second Niece, was blessed in church.  She looked so sweet in her white dress and is such a good tempered child!  It's been a fun day sitting around and chatting with family, while dreaming up ways to induce labor.  On a whim I bought a pineapple yesterday and have since been told 3 times that fresh pineapple can start contractions!  I may eat the whole thing myself.  So here is hopefully the last post before baby comes.

March 25th

We are all anxiously awaiting the imminent arrival of munchkin 3.  I've officially become the most pregnant woman in our ward for 2013.  Not that anyone is keeping track except me. One baby in February (came early) and of the 4 women due in March- we've had a birth announced every week the last 3 weeks and I happen to know that none of them has made it closer than 8 days to their due date.  At 7 days to go- I take the gold!  I also apparently need to get some of the water they are drinking on the other side of center street.
    Sunday the girls spent probably 4 hours playing legos.  I had assembled a basket of "Sunday toys" so that they wouldn't pull everything out of the toy room and destroy the nicely cleaned house within 24 hours.  It worked!  This was the point at which Tyler decided instead of a pistol for his birthday, he would settle for legos.  After a bit of research I discovered the two items cost about the same.

Monday the girls spent the morning on puzzles and lego's and then moved downstairs for the dollhouse.    Alex set the whole thing up and then took me on a tour.  I had to take pictures.  Here you see the children eating breakfast.  Note the kitchen is full of pies. Tons and tons of pies.

The Mom, Grandma and ? are sitting down watching Conference.  Alex yelled down the hall to me that  "We need to get a TV for this dollhouse so they can watch TV."  Fantastic, I thought.  But when she later explained it was General Conference on the TV I felt like a better parent.

 Here is the garage.  There is no room for the beds anywhere else so the family sleeps in the garage with the animals.  Here you see the Daddy with a bucket of flowers for the Mommy.

 This parting shot is my favorite.  I laughed and laughed when she explained.  Here you find Grandpa going to the bathroom.  The toilet seat is even up.

So as not to forget Heidi's cute moments as well-  We were in the car on a return trip from the doctor where she had received a sucker for being good.  From the back seat I hear "Mom!  Look! I'm decorating myself with sticky!!!!"  I'll let your imagination fill the rest in here.  She was so proud.

March 20th

I've been bemoaning myself lately.  My body is constantly in some phase of discomfort.  It seems that I can't find a way to do the things I want to do because my body no longer allows it.  Most recently this seems to be sitting on the floor and laying on my back.  It seems so many women around me are having their babies, and I find myself imagining (although I know it's not true) that once the baby is out, my body will be perfect once again and the world will be nothing but sunshine and lollypops.  I do still remember all the pain of labor, and the discomforts that follow, but I am a creature that thrives on moving around DOING things, and I can see my children suffering while Mom lays and waddles around, unable to keep up all day.
        Our birthday weekend came and went and once the festivities were finally done I didn't immediately go into labor like I had hoped.  I struggled for a minute, and then decided that instead of treating the next 2 weeks like a burden, like every second was a countdown to something better, I would treat it like the last 2 weeks of my life.  My attitude changed.  I still can't move very well, my back still hurts and there are a variety of other pains, but even though it's raining outside we are going to have a great day.  I have no reason to think that these will actually be the last 2 weeks of my life- but if they were I would hate to think I spent them moping around and wasting each precious moment.  I'm hoping I can find a way to serve someone each day, make by two current children feel super loved, and maybe even check a few things off that big todo list of mine.  I'm sure the next two weeks are going to fly by too fast anyway and then I will be moaning about the loss of my arms, my sleep and my free time!

Since we had missed Temple Square yesterday, I promised Alex if she wasn't throwing up, then today we would take pictures at the Provo temple.  Unfortunately it was suppose to rain so we left early to try and beat it.

 If it hadn't been so cold, we probably could have stayed forever.  The girls were having so much fun.

 Heidi was running around, talking to herself and pointing out every little thing she wanted Alex to take a picture of.

After the Temple we drove around while Alex took pictures of random houses, and I freaked everyone out (including myself) by driving up to the Y parking lot.  Yes, just the parking lot.  Apparently with each pregnancy my fear of heights multiplies by 10 and I was nearly paralyzed parking in a stall next to the edge of the lookout.  

 

Birthday weekend 2013

This was the whirlwind weekend I knew I had to make it through before I could really start hoping Baby 3 would arrive.
   Tyler has been sick or working full schedules and weekends the last 3 weeks and so I was especially tired and excited for Saturday March 16th when he had pledged the day to me!  We started out with cleaning and got the house spick and span for the weekend festivities.  Next we drove around town enjoying the time as a family and running random errands.  The rest of the day was a mix of bike riding, cake decorating and house decorating as we prepared for Alex's birthday the next day.  Heidi has been so interested in riding Alex's bike for the longest time, so we picked up an extra set of training wheels to mount on Alex's bigger hand me down bike and got them both set up.  Alex biffed hard once and suffered scrapes and bruises from it, but got back on and went on a ride for a few miles with Daddy and the neighborhood girls.  I was very proud.  Heidi spent the day trying to learn how to pedal forward, but I can happily say that by Tuesday afternoon she had mastered it.  While everyone was gone on their bikes, I tried to finish the cake.  I'm such a perfectionist when it comes to cakes usually, but at 38 weeks pregnant and decorating at the end of a long day, I was done in and not very proud of what I had accomplished.
    Sunday was great.  Alex woke up surprised that the house was decorated, we went to church and had family over for dinner that evening.  It was fun to have family around to celebrate with- something I'll miss next year.

   Monday was the day of all days!  Tyler planned it out, pulled it off and was super Dad the entire day!    Since Alex's birthday was Sunday, mine was monday and we wern't sure how baby arrival would effect Tyler's birthday at the end of the month, we decided to do one big party fun day on Monday and celebrate for everyone (Since Tyler didn't have any classes to teach because of Spring Break.)

I'm loving having another photographer in the family!

        The girls slept in until 8:30!!!  At which point we almost had to drag Heidi out of bed so we could go to breakfast.  Tyler had printed out "Clues" from the birthday Goblins and put them in envelopes.  Alex found the first one which led us to IHOP where we cashed in our free birthday breakfasts.

IHOP was also the place we had to talk to Alex about camera etiquette.  Mainly because she tried to take pictures of EVERYONE eating ALL around us, and the server.  It was a bit awkward.

The next clue was to the disney store because the shoes I got her were too big and we wanted to find a smaller pair.  We walked out with two tiny sets of princess slippers the girls wore EVERYWHERE the rest of the day.  Next we went to see Grandma Jake and show off the glitz.  After that was Sonic for drinks and then a park.  At this point Alex was having a blast (and we were running out of clues!)  She would ask if we had seen the birthday Gobblins and if we could ask them for the next clue.

    Lunch was Tucano's which I was able to enjoy despite my limited stomach space, and then we did the coolest thing ever.  The Provo Beach Resort has a giant play place that even adults can play in (with their kids) and we had the whole place to ourselves!

Tyler and the girls ran them selves crazy for about 2 hours going up and down the 4 levels, and playing all sorts of games.  It was fun to watch and they were so exhausted by the time we were done.   The last clue was hidden in the maze of a place and when Alex found it she yelled "MOM, DAD, I found something amazing!  I'm coming to show you!"  She brought it down to us and opened it up to reveal icecream.  We went to Coldstone and then came home for a quick cartoon and then early bedtime.  Everyone was so well behaved and happy the entire day.  Tyler took care of almost every child issue and I got to just waddle around and enjoy my family.  It was the perfect day.

   Tuesday was suppose to be a pretty good day as well.  I had a early morning OB appointment and was surprised to find that despite all my discomfort and contractions the last 7 days, there was no change expect that the baby was once again measuring small.  About 35 or 36 weeks instead of 38, which officially squished my hopes and desires to go into labor early.  Of the 4 women in the ward due in March, 3 have already delivered and each one was 8-14 days EARLY!  I'm trying not to be jealous or hopeful and am now settling in the for the full 40 weeks.  The rest of the morning was rather hurried and chaotic for no reason really and nothing really went as planned the rest of the day.  The girls were excited to visit Temple Square before Alex's hip appointment that afternoon, but we got off late and promised we would go afterwards.  After 2 hours at Shriners with girls who bounced between crazy and too shy to look at the doctor or answer questions, we were told Alex's hips were looking pretty good, but we still have go back in another 18 months- 2 years for another check up.  We love Shriners and the amazing staff there.  It was a terrible wait, but would have been 100 times worse if everyone hadn't been so kind and helpful and thoughtful as always.  They even noticed it had just been Alex's birthday and gave her a gift and did an x-ray of Heidi's hips and said she had no problems!


      After the doctor I was exhausted and we decided to skip Temple Square, much to Alex's disappointment.  I felt terrible about it because she had wanted to take pictures with her new camera, but it was rush hour and we just wanted to get home.   The last stop of the day was going to be a stop at IKEA to get my birthday present (a yellow duvet and down comforter), but Alex threw up in the parking lot which stopped those plans.  So we drove home, Alex with a big gulp cup in her lap and me trying not to act like a 3 year old who had her toy stolen (I blame the pregnancy).  She's been fine since the incident and so it was probably a case of over indulgence the day before- too much birthday!

Alex's 5th Birthday

 Alexandria turned 5 on Sunday!  It's crazy to think it's been 5 years since she was born!  She woke up and crawled into bed with me.  The night before, Tyler and I had decorated the upstairs to surprise her and I expected her to notice right away.  But I cherished the minutes in bed while she was so content to cuddle in bed with me.  Finally we got up and she noticed the stack of gifts on the floor.  I told her to find a basket to carry them upstairs and she immediately ran to wake Heidi and enlist her help.

She had chosen Trix as her special birthday cereal and we were joined at the table by some animal friends in party hats.

 Tyler's family's tradition is to open all the gifts after breakfast, so that's what we did this year.  Heidi was pretty good at standing back and observing, but you could tell she was frustrated that everything good was happening to Alex. 

I asked Alex a few weeks ago what she wanted for her birthday and she gave me a very specific list.  So a few days later I asked again and she told me the exact same things.  In the past we had gotten her what we thought she would like, but this year we just got her what she wanted.  Overall I think it worked out, but you could tell there wasn't a lot of surprise and excitement as she opened each gift which made me a little sad.

One of the things she had asked for that really surprised me was a camera.  I did TONS of research and decided it was better to buy and kidproof a real camera than to buy a junky kid one that was almost as expensive.  We attempted this last year with a used camera, but it never worked very well and ended up breaking within a few months.  So far this one has been 1000 times better!  She walked around the house taking pictures of everything and loves sitting and scrolling through the images and laughing.

The best part of her day was when I let the girls decorate some scrap pieces of cake with the leftover frosting.  They had a blast working on their cakes while I finished ours.

 There is this cake in the old Wilton cake magazine from the 80's that I've always wanted to make.  So this year since we were sort of clumping all our March birthday's together into one party, I thought I'd try it.  Oh man- It took FOREVER and didn't even turn out!  Alex was happy which I suppose is all that matters, but I was sorely disappointed.  As someone at the party said "It looks......well you can tell what it is!!!!"

 After opening gifts and decorating cakes, we went to church.  Alex was so excited to have the Primary kids sing to her and told me all about it all day.  After church we played house a bit, she had gotten a baby cinderella doll from Grandma Brady and some Rapunzle shoes from us to match her dress up dress.  She had also asked for some play food which Heidi got her and we bought another St. Patricks day shirt like we do every year.  

 That evening all the family that was in town came over for dinner and cake which was a lot of fun.

We sat and chatted and ate.  It took awhile to blow out the candles because the cake was so big and they were so far away!

  Heidi latched onto Alyson as usual and completely monopolized her the rest of the evening.

 I think Bridger fondly remembered the cake from his own birthday not long ago.

 Kate and Ben had sent Heidi's birthday gift early so she would have something to open while everyone else was getting spoiled.  It worked so well!  It was a little pack of books that she made Alyson read to her over and over for an HOUR!  You can see she spent the day as Tinkerbell. 

Alex got a little purse with chapstick, tissues and some money- which she has carried around constantly ever since.  She also got some flipflops, a couple pairs of pants and a play-doh Cinderella dress thing she adores.  That night we had one more gift for her, a nightgown she was over the moon about and got to sleep in that night.  By the time bedtime hit I was completely exhausted.  2 days of birthday and party prep had worn me out and everyone slept well that night!

Marking the days of March

Last Sunday Heidi requested that I curl her hair.  This child will RARELY let me take 3 seconds to place a clip in her hair to keep it out of her face.  I was stunned.  Especially when she sat quietly through the whole thing!

 It was so adorable I had to catch a picture as she was chewing a cracker and we were running out the door to church.  The first thing she said when she looked in the mirror she said "I look like Grandma Asay!"

 Heidi and I have been enjoying our time together while Alex is in preschool.  On this particular day we were doing some project when she requested a bagel.  When Heidi asks for a bagel what she really wants is lots of cream cheese to lick off of the bagel.  I prepared it for her and then she disappeared.  I found her in lounging in my closet, to my surprise- actually eating the bagel.

 Every now and then we babysit Bridger and the girls love it!  Bridger is getting big and can really hold his own in the chaos.  Last week Alex decided she needed a picture with her cousin, and then she couldn't stop.

 She made me take about 20 pictures of her and Bridger in different poses.  While it looks like I'm being a terrible Aunt here, watching my daughter strangle her cousin- he was happy to go along with it!

But just in case, Alex made sure she had his hands AND legs secured while she pulled each pose.  

 Here we have 36 week belly.  Tyler tells me that it's grown exponentially in the last week.  I don't know if I've seen it, but I've felt it.  The kids can easily outpace me on our walks and we spend a few hours a day in the lounge chair reading books etc.  The weather has been so nice and so I've been able to set them free in the back yard until their fingers are frozen from making "hot chocolate" from sand, grass and ice melt in various pots and puddles.

Heidi LOVES to read and requests at least 3 books be read from everyone, everyday.  She loves reading the same books over and over and over again and will on occasion grab a pile and sit on the couch to read to herself.  It is by far her favorite thing to do other than watching movies, which she asks for daily but only gets once a week (well, maybe a couple times a week these days.)  She is happy and content to play with her fingers like they are spiders anytime and can make up a game about them in 2 seconds flat.  She loves to run and ride her scooter and smile and is eagerly awaiting her baby sister so she can be a big sister!

The Wedding Dress

When Alex was blessed as a baby she wore the dress my mother was blessed in.  When Heidi was blessed, Tyler's Mom made a beautiful little crochet dress.  So when we found out we were in for girl number 3, I knew I wanted her to have a special dress of her own to pass down to her kids. 

 It just so happened that my Mother was getting rid of her wedding dress, after holding onto it for 25 years in hopes her only daughter would wear it- and getting rejected.  It's almost too pretty to cut into, but I know it's going to make the perfect blessing dress for our next daughter.  Before I took to the scissors I let the girls play dress up.

 Alex was a natural at posing.

 I thought it would be another 20 years before I was taking her Bridal pictures.

 I had to pry her out of the dress so Heidi could have a turn.

 She loved the hat,

 loved the sleeves and all of it!

 Heidi was much less cooperative when it came to pictures.

 Part of me wanted to let them run through the house playing bride all night, and the other half couldn't wait to get them out of the dress before it got ruined!

 Heidi wasn't as keen on wearing the hat.

 I'm excited to get started on the dress, but it's going to be hard to cut this beauty up.

Ladies beware, this is what happens when your dress is too long and you get all tangled up.