February Thaw

As much fun as winter can be, by the end of February we're thrilled to find out that there still is grass under all that snow. With temperatures hitting 50 today, we headed to one of our several neighborhood parks (hooray!) to enjoy the sunshine.

I just took these pictures of Nathan and Maggie to prove the sun really did show itself today. I have to admit I was too busy enjoying its warmth and gabbing with the neighbors to take more photos. I couldn't get Matthew to hold still long enough to snap even one of him--he was racing laps around the park on his scooter with his friends.

C'est Fini

Not that I'm one to obsess about things...but when I woke up last night at 1:30 a.m., like usual, instead of going back to sleep after my customary trip to the bathroom I started thinking about all the things I've got to do to get ready for this baby. Finish painting the chest of drawers, arrange and finish decorating the nursery, set up the bassinet I borrowed from my sister, pull out the baby clothes and blankets and figure out if I need anything new... And then I started, well, not panicking exactly, more like stressing out about how little time there is to finish it all (4 or 5 weeks). And then I was wide awake--at 3:30 a.m.

So, I decided I might as well use the time to check something off that to-do list...and hopefully calm down enough to get a little more sleep before the alarm clock went off at 6:30 a.m.

With paintbrush and polycrylic in hand (and Brian groggily wondering what the heck I was doing), I tackled the last stage of painting the girls' chest of drawers...in the middle of the night. I even managed to catch a few winks on the couch after I finished the first coat.

After another coat this afternoon, and some quick help from the boys attaching the drawer knobs, the project is finished! Some sanding and dent-filling, a coat of primer, two coats of light ivory craft paint, antiquing gel brushed on then carefully rubbed off, and two coats of satin polycrylic make this old chest of drawers look new, well, old-new again. Unfortunately, I approached this project like I do all my painting projects--just get in and get it done--and I ended up with the same results I always get: it's not perfect, but it'll do. I'm certainly not going to start over on 6 coats of paint. Besides, the dust and dried paint flecks caught in the finish just add to it's antique character...right?

Tomorrow, I get to sort through tiny pink onesies and itsy-bitsy socks!

Mid-Winter Florida Break

Well, it rained a good chunk of the time we were in Florida--but rain at 70 degrees is pretty comfortable. On Friday the sun came out and it was hot and it was humid and when my feet and hands swelled up to resemble tennis balls, I suddenly remembered how much I appreciated spending my eighth month of pregnancy at Utah February temperatures. My mom and sister, Sariah, (both from Idaho) and I kept complaining of how the humidity was wrecking havoc with our hair--and then reminding each other that it was part of the reason we came: to get a little summer in February!

Actually, it was more like spring in Florida. The redbuds and cherry trees were in bloom which created a fascinating contrast to the palms and fruit-laden orange trees. I didn't get a picture of the flowers, but here's a sample of the lush greenery everywhere. Many of the trees had new green leaves coming out.

In spite of the rain and the humidity, we had a great time. It was fun to see my sister, Tori, and her darling baby and her great husband, Ryan, who was good enough to play with Maggie when she was so homesick for her daddy. And it was so nice not to feel the pressure of a million and one things that need doing. Overall, it was a wonderful trip: exactly the rest and rejuvenation that I needed.

Maggie was a great traveling companion. She was so excited to ride on an airplane...until we sat waiting at the terminal for five minute while they prepped for the flight. Then she got "rolly, rolly, rolly scared" and started to cry and begged to "drive" instead--I think she was afraid the airplane was going to shoot off suddenly because she kept calling it a rocket ship. When I explained that riding in an airplane was just like riding in a really fast car, she calmed down and actually enjoyed take-off.

Thursday we went to Anastasia State Park and played on the beach a little until Maggie tripped in a wave and "fell off the water". She soaked her pretty dress right up to the neck, but luckily I'd brought a towel and change of clean clothes and since she hadn't gotten her face wet, she was okay. Right about then it started raining pretty heavily so we drove around historic St. Augustine admiring the ancient fortress, Mediterranean flavor, and beautiful old houses with these gorgeous private gardens before making the hour and a half drive back to Tori's house.

On Friday we headed to the Mall for some old-fashioned girl time. There are not many two-year olds who love to shop as much as Maggie. In an accessory store, she picked out giant sunglasses, a necklace, and bracelet and announced she was "ready to go". We managed to talk her down to a single hot pink bracelet (on clearance). She would not take it off for anything so grandma had to find an identical one to take to the cash register.

Maggie played hard at the mall playground for a few minutes and then we all headed to the nail salon for pedicures! Maggie sat on my lap while I had my feet done and kept asking when it would be her turn. The nail technician finished my toenails and announced he had a customer waiting for him and someone else would have to do Maggie's. After Aunt Tori and Aunt Sariah and Grandma were all sitting at the nail dryer, we finally found someone to take care of poor forgotten Maggie. "Whoo-hoo!" she whooped and galloped back to my pedicure chair for her turn. She was fascinated and very well-behaved while her toenails were painted red. The rest of the trip she hardly ever wore shoes because her toes were "so pretty".

While we waited for baby Owen to eat his lunch in the mother's lounge, Maggie and I played at the fountain. She had to see for herself when I told her I didn't have any more money left in my wallet (she'd already thrown in all my pennies and nickels). Big surprise, she found my dimes and quarters and they all went to Habitat for Humanity (if that's really where the fountain money ends up). That's what I get for being cheap...and a liar.

Thanks for a great trip, all of you who made it happen!

The Chest of Drawers, the Pregnant Mom, and the Poor Family

Once upon a time, there was a big, fat pregnant Mom. One night she was blissfully painting a chest of drawers for the expected baby while her other children entertained themselves downstairs. When she finished her antiquing, she cleaned her brush and went downstairs to get the children to bed. Lo and behold, she found two little boys who'd ignored her instructions to take a shower an hour ago and a little girl who'd sprinkled apple juice all over the couch.

The big, fat Mom was not happy. Her pregnant came out.

After making all the children cry and scurry like little ants to do their monster mother's bidding, she started to feel badly. But her pregnant hormones were still gnashing their teeth and so, no matter how much it hurt her aching back, she had to storm around cleaning the house to try to work off the steam.

And when the little girl started yelling "Shud-up" to the little boys because she was just trying to be like Mommy, the big, fat, sore, monster Mom felt really badly about her own behavior. But it just made her crankier.

Finally, all the little children disappeared to their beds quietly if a little nervously. All except the little girl who cried in her bed for half an hour until Daddy came and rescued her.

Even though she had washed the dishes, cleaned the kitchen, picked up the family room, swept the floor, ironed four shirts, and tried to relax by watching a lame home-improvement TV show for a few minutes, the big, fat Mom still had not totally conquered her raging pregnant hormones. And when she realized that the little girl was still not asleep at 11:30 pm because she'd been watching cartoons with Daddy, those always-to-blame hormones woke back up. So when the little girl finally got settled back in bed for good at midnight, Daddy did not get much of the back scratch he'd been promised earlier. And the big, fat pregnant Mom did not sleep very well because she was still so MAD.

Sometimes I wonder why I ever try to do anything more than dishes, laundry, and children.

Called to Serve

After eight months and two ward splits, I've finally been given a job to do at church:

...drum roll, please...

Relief Society Photo Directory Coordinator.

What???, you ask?

It means I get to put together a phone directory, complete with mug shots, of all the women who go to church from our little section of the neighborhood. Since we're quickly approaching 700 members (that's about, what, 200 sisters?) in our new ward (three weeks old), it'll be nice to put a face with each name.

I'm excited: I like organizing stuff, I like doing stuff on the computer, and I won't have too much extra stuff--like lesson plans--to worry about as I lug my four (!) kids to church every week.

But I have to admit I've been chuckling about it because...well, it all feels a little bit like I'm back at BYU. If you've been in a college singles' ward, you'll understand what I mean. There are so many members, they start making up job titles just so everyone has something to do. In my second freshman ward, I requested the job of Relief Society Greeter. It was my responsibility to say hello to all the girls who filed into Relief Society from Sunday School. That was one of my all-time favorite callings.

But after six years--on and off--of teaching songs to Primary children, stressing about the music for the yearly Primary Program, and wracking my brains for new ways to musically entertain kids for 15 minutes (oh, no, sorry, can you take the whole 40 minutes today?), I'm looking forward to some Relief Society sister time!

Our Own Holiday

I'm just not a sentimental person. I tend to throw away keepsakes and trophies and old high school T-shirts that most people horde in storage boxes forever. I prefer practical gifts like Kitchen Aids and trees over jewelry. And I just don't get the hype about Valentine's Day.

I mean, I think it's a nice day to show someone you love them. And it's really cute when a certain second-grader gets a Valentine from a girl--I mean enemy--on the bus... But I don't need flowers and chocolate to feel secure in my relationship with my hubby. Ok, I really like flowers and chocolate--but they don't have to come on Valentine's Day to be special.

So we celebrate The Day After Valentine's Day. (Flowers are cheap...and so is the good chocolate.)

We decided last year to make it an official holiday--I don't remember why. And then Brian forgot about it. How can you forget The Day After Valentine's Day? You have a whole extra day to remember! That's half the point of it! So he got in trouble for that one. But this year, he's been building it up all week. Yesterday, he wished me a Happy Day Before the Day After Valentine's Day!

Today I have a beautiful bouquet of roses on my kitchen counter, two yummy boxes of chocolate, and I feel very loved--not because Brian bought me stuff but because he knows how much I like flowers...and chocolate.

So maybe I'm a little sentimental after all...

And now he's cursing me for the Cherry Cheesecake I made him. Hehehe.

Happy Day After Valentine's Day!

Paint: Third Time's the Charm

When you're pregnant, you do whatever it takes for a little peace of mind. If you're out of cream of chicken soup and you're craving creamy chicken noodle soup, you call your neighbors begging for a can. If you're having nightmares about the crib you bought because the one you really wanted was more expensive, you take it back to the store and buy the expensive one. And if you want your daughters' room to be a nice soft rosy pink, you keep painting it until you get the right color. (Pregnancy can get a little pricey...)

Ok, so I admit it. I've painted the girls' room six times (two coats of three slightly different colors) in the past five days. Brian thinks I'm absolutely out of my mind.

"What do you think of this color, dear? Is it too bright?"

"It's pink."

"And what do you think of this second color, dear?"

"It's PINK."

I didn't bother to ask his opinion of the third pink.

The truth is, I don't really care what Brian thinks because I'm finally very happy with my new rosy pink nursery. The second color probably would have been alright, but it wasn't what I wanted--it was still too bright and a little lighter than I had in mind. The third color is actually very similar to the first color (and it was exactly the same as the second color when it was wet--I couldn't tell where I had painted and where I hadn't), but it doesn't glow at you in a menacing way when you walk in the room. Nursery walls should not glow menacingly.

No, I'm not crazy. Just pregnant and enjoying a little peace of mind...

I'm It

My dearest sister Tori (sorry, her blog is private) tagged me to answer a bunch of random questions. So, here goes...

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the game the player tags 5 people, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Where were you 10 years ago: Ha. BYU...freshman...trying to figure out how to ask this guy named Brian in my astronomy class to the Sadie Hawkins Dance. First--and last--time I ever asked a guy out.

Five things on my to-do list today: 1. Buy paint. 2. Tape Maggie's room off, again. 3. Teach a little math class at Matthew's kindergarten. 4. Paint Maggie's room. 5. Clean up the paint mess and walk away from a beautiful, perfectly colored room. (Update: checked all of them off but number five... *sigh*)

Five snacks I enjoy: 1. Apples and peanut butter--lots of peanut butter. 2. Cold cereal--Strawberry Yogurt Cheerios being the fave these days. 3. Graham crackers and milk. 4. Graham crackers or teddy grahams dipped in yogurt and cool whip. 5. Texas grapefruit with a little brown sugar on top--I eat one almost every day lately.

What would I do if I were suddenly a billionaire: Pay off the house. Put Brian and I through graduate school. Invest in...something. And furnish my front porch.

Four of my bad habits: 1. I'm a very slow person. I just take a long time to do things, usually because I'm busy thinking about stuff... 2. When I'm in the middle of a good book, I drop everything else until I finish. 3. Lately, I'm a very lazy mom: "Don't hit your sister. I said, don't hit your sister. Alright, whatever. I don't care anymore. See how loud you can make her yell." 4. And yes, like my sister, I have a weakness for junk food, too. And chocolate.

Five jobs that I have had: 1. Sales clerk at Bruce Alan Bags: the first real job I ever had. 2. Laminator at a paper place: the most motivating to get a degree job I ever had. 3. Taking incoming phone calls at Experian (yes, that credit reporting place): the shortest lasting job I ever had. 4. Event scheduler at the Museum of Art at BYU: the best job I ever had. 5. Full-time mother: the hardest job I ever had.

Five things people don't know about me: I have a hard time thinking of things that people don't know about me--I blab about myself too much.

If you read this, and you feel like playing, consider yourself tagged.

Paint: ARGH!

It never fails. Every time I finish a house painting project, I regret something about it. When I painted some accent walls in my kitchen red, I loved the color but I was upset I'd used semi-gloss paint because it was so distractingly shiny. When we painted our bedroom in our old house, I was mad that I'd bought tinted paint for the ceiling instead of plain old white. I can never get it right.

Well, this time around, after spending all day Saturday clearing furniture, taping, and painting two coats in the girls' room--while the kids were at Grandma Swings and Brian was moaning with a man cold on the couch--I stepped back and realized the color was horribly wrong. It was so beautiful when it was wet, I wanted to lick the walls. But it dried to a hideous, shockingly bright pink. Instead of thinking "yummy strawberry ice cream" when you walk in the room, you think "save me from the scary bubblegum glare!"

Probably your computer screen doesn't do it justice. It's awful, trust me.

You see, in our old house I had painted Maggie's room a yummy pink color that I absolutely loved and wanted to duplicate here. But after searching through my stash of paint chips, old drop cloths, and even my spattered paint clothes, I realized that I don't have a sample of that color anywhere. I don't even have a photo of her old bedroom! (And it was so cute--it looked like there was eyelet lace hanging from the ceiling over that delicious pink.) This is the only picture I could find:

Awe, look at baby Maggie with her Grandma Camper...

Anyway.

The funny thing is, this bubblegum pink is very, very close to the old pink, it's just too bright. If a color overpowers you with a sudden desire to run to the nearest basin, you know it's too bright.

So, there's nothing to do but re-tape and re-paint the room tomorrow. I can't have a nursery that I have to run out of as soon as I walk in. Hopefully, a) I get the right color this time, b) Maggie and Matthew feel like spending a day watching cartoons, and c) my back holds out (I am seven and a half months pregnant and very fat these days...).

Power Sledding

Remember how all the stuff that didn't fit in the PODS or the storage unit when we moved out of our old house was parceled out to relatives around the valley? (We have a lot of stuff.) Well, after 3 months of snow, Brian finally went around looking for the sled today. Lo and behold, it's been in our garage this whole time.

So, he tied the sled to the back of the four-wheeler and the boys jumped on and away they all went through the slushy streets. The streets were completely covered in snow this morning when Brian planned this activity. Can you believe we've actually had a sunny day so things are finally starting to melt? But there was plenty of snow left for a plastic sled and a few boys determined to take it for a ride.

The question: who had more fun, Dad or kids?

Puddle!

When they fell off, Nathan and Matthew laughed and scrambled to get back on--arguing over who got to sit in the back out of the snow spraying from the four-wheeler tires.

And then Brian high-centered in a snow bank. Luckily Grandpa Swings had come to watch the fun and helped dig him out.

The boys were soaked from falling in puddles. I think that was half the fun.

It was funny to watch Sparkles trying to keep up with the four-wheeler--her ears flapping up and down and her tail going ninety-miles an hour.

Matthew and Nathan: two very happy boys.

Sunshine, Here I Come!

I'm going to Florida, baby.

When I heard that my mom and sister, Sariah, got plane tickets to visit my other sister, Tori, in sunny Florida it just about killed me. I want a break from the snow, too!

So, just to torture myself, I looked up the price of plane tickets. What do you know, Southwest is having a big Wanna Get Away promotion right now...

Ok, so I called my doctor thinking he'd say, "No way can you fly across the country 6 weeks before your baby is due." Except he didn't say that. His nurse (who I actually spoke to) said, "Go for it!"

Grandma said, "Sure, I'll take Matthew to kindergarten." My generous neighbor said, "Sure, I'll watch the boys after school." Brian said, "Actually, we have a free plane ticket with Southwest. You could use that."

Which made me realize I could bring Maggie very affordably--we could take a mother-daughter trip! She's very well behaved when she has your undivided attention. And I wouldn't have to feel guilty about leaving behind a two-year old drama queen for someone to deal with.

Bring out the sunscreen, tennis shoes, and maternity capri pants because in two weeks I'm taking a break from all this snow!

I bought Maggie some polka-dot flip-flops today.

Matthew's Tooth

A few days ago as I was talking on the phone, I became aware of Matthew leaning on me. Now, Matthew is a loving, snuggly child although he sometime makes me feel claustrophobic in church meetings because he has to lean on me, or sit on my lap, or have some sort of physical contact the entire service and usually I have Maggie squirming on and off my lap as well and then there's this growing belly that doesn't leave much room for two other children...

Anyway, the other day I discovered Matthew leaning very heavily against me as I sat on the floor, talking on the phone. When I asked him what the matter was, he got all choked up and told me he had a loose tooth. This is his first loose tooth so I tried to congratulate him, but it turned out he was really worried about it because he was afraid it would hurt when it fell out. I assured him that it wouldn't hurt and throughout the day he got more and more excited about his tooth, wiggling it constantly and asking every half hour if it was ready to fall out yet.

Well, I kind of forgot about his tooth after that first day until this morning. Matthew was sitting on the couch watching Sponge Bob with Maggie (a daily morning ritual) and suddenly announced, "Mom, I can't feel my loose tooth!"

Sure enough, it was gone. And it was nowhere to be found: not on the couch, not at the table where he'd just finished breakfast, not in his bed... That tooth had mysteriously disappeared--my guess is that it went down with Matthew's cereal this morning. So, we'll write a note to the Tooth Fairy and I'm sure she'll understand the situation.

The best part, though, was when Matthew said, "Mom, you were right! You said it wouldn't hurt when it fell out and I didn't even feel it fall out...!"

It's always nice to be right.

Snowy Day

We woke up this morning to snow blowing sideways past our house, drifted against the doors, and stuck to the windows. Church meetings were canceled which was a good thing because I won't be able to get my four-wheel drive Explorer, let alone the other car, out of the garage until they plow the alley (which will probably be...Tuesday?). So we all got our winter gear on to help Brian dig us out of the snow. Ok, Brian did most of the work while the kids played and I shoveled the front porch. Yes, shoveled the south facing, covered front porch.

Look at the snow drifted along our fence.
That's the gate latch in the foreground of the first photo...
and yes, those are Christmas lights still strung on the fence.
I suppose we won't be taking those down anytime soon.



Our back door and front porch.

Nathan built an igloo on the back patio.
Matthew demonstrated how deep the snow was in the front yard (past his knees).
Maggie got some snow pants out of the closet for Daddy while I was taking a nap--we call her bubble legs. At least she was warm.

They learn to tattle so young...

Maggie coming up the stairs, crying: Mooooooom, Nay-nay threw meeeeeee...

Me: Did you get hurt?

Maggie: Yeeeeeeees...

Me: Where does it hurt?

Maggie: Cooouuuch...

Since it appeared that her feelings more than her couch were really sore, I prescribed an immediate nap.

A Birthday List

How to celebrate your 29th birthday when you're great with child number four:

1. Give up doing laundry because child number three desperately wants you to sit and watch cartoons with her and you don't feel like arguing with two-year olds who always win anyway.

2. Give up trying to make yourself a birthday cake because you really should do that laundry and you'd just eat the whole thing yourself.

3. Drop the kids off at Grandma's house to go on a hot date with husband: ordering cabinets for the laundry room and apartment (question: will new cabinets suddenly help the laundry do itself?)

4. Wander rather painfully around the mall for an hour while you wait to get your buzzer to wait to hear your name called to wait to be seated at the Cheesecake Factory. (Brian was wondering why my birthday had to be on a Friday. And we were both wondering who shells out $228 for a shirt at Nordstrom.)

5. After a very delicious (and being pregnant, well eaten) dinner, order a slice of Chocolate Tower Truffle Cake for your birthday cake. Yum!

6. Stop by Home Depot to pick up some Fresh Pink paint for the girls' nursery and come home to hear husband say, "I didn't do it." Uh huh, and where did most of my Chocolate Tower Truffle birthday cake go?

7. Climb into bed at 10:30, realize how achy your swollen body really is, and look forward to cashing in your birthday present from a wise but dessert-hogging husband: massages at Massage Envy! Ooo, that'll be nice... (And did I mention he brought me tulips? My favorite!)

I think I'll go make a chocolate birthday cake now...

Matthew's Project

Matthew finished his polar animal project for kindergarten on Wednesday. After a couple of days of tinkering with it, carrying it around the house and showing it off to everyone he could, Matthew can finally bring it to school today. Hooray!

Matthew's project is about the arctic hare and comes complete with cotton batting snow, white rocks (they're covered in snow, you know), bits of rose twigs for bushes, and a frozen "tiny river" and waterfall. Nestled in the middle of his frozen wasteland of a pizza box you can find a rather large arctic hare made from cotton balls and googly eyes--Matthew insisted on the googly eyes although he gave up trying to get me to put feet on it.

The paper in the background, written in Matthew's best handwriting says:

NAME: Matthew Matthew
[Matthew thought it would be cool to write it twice]
Arctic Hare
1. It tucks in its ears and tail to sit in the cold wind.
2. In winter it is white with black eartips.
3. It digs in the snow with strong claws and teeth.

And now you know all about arctic hares.