Our Favorite Hike / Free of Bed Rest!

I am free! In my doctor's words, "Game on." It is so nice to be free from the bed rest prison. I am having a hard time being patient now, though. I know it is best for the baby if labor waits another week or two, but I am so anxious to meet him that I find myself wishing it would come now and getting frustrated when it doesn't. Patience...patience...so many lessons in my life require me to develop patience. Maybe if I would hurry up and learn how to be patient I could stop having my patience tested.

Several weeks ago (before the bed rest) we went on our favorite family hike...Devil's Kitchen. It was a rejuvinating family adventure!

Happy 5th Birthday Nicholas!!!

Nicholas turned 5 yesterday! We had a friend birthday party last Friday. It was very fun. Nicholas is lucky to have so many good friends. We started off making crowns. Then we did a picture treasure hunt. The treasure was a fun colorful ball for everyone. After they found the treasure we played group games with their balls and some without. I think the two favorite games were red rover, red rover, and ring around the rosies. After games we had cupcakes and opened presents. I think everyone had a good time.

Nicholas had a well child checkup last week at he is 43 1/2 inches tall and weighs 39.6 lbs. Yesterday he kept saying, "I don't feel like I'm 5! I still feel 4." He got the biggest grin whenever I asked him how old he was and he could say "5!" He likes being 5 for sure!

Siblings

Daddy Love

These sweet children are so lucky to have the daddy that they have. He loves them with everything he has. He sacrifices many personal wants to be sure they have what they need physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. This morning he gave them all father's blessings. The spirit was present. The blessings were beautiful.

Thomas has been anxious about going to first grade. He doesn't want to be there all day. School starts tomorrow. For the past three days or so he has been acting out uncharacteristically. It wasn't until this morning that I realized it was because of his fears about going to school. He was very happy when I explained that he could have a blessing and told him how blessings have helped me. After he was finished he looked visibly more relaxed and calm. He told me that the blessing made him feel peaceful inside. I am so thankful that Jackson is worthy and willing to give this service to our family.

These children's lives will be easier because of their dad...maybe not easier...just more peaceful and joyful.

Lovely

Bill Peet

We love Bill Peet! If we had to choose a favorite author as a family it would be Bill Peet, hands down. Every time we go to the library, we search the Bill Peet books for new finds and old favorites. I think we just might have read all that our library has in the children's section, because we aren't finding any new ones anymore. This past week when we went to the library, Nicholas was searching in the Juvenile section for Magic Tree House books for Thomas (he loves to find one that Thomas hasn't read...which is also a bit hard). As he was looking, he came across a new Bill Peet book! The Whingdingdilly. I'm not sure why it was in the Juvenile Fiction section instead of the children's section...maybe because it is a bit longer than most picture books. At any rate, we were all thrilled with Nicholas's find! That night as I was reading it to the kids, Jackson took some pictures.

Nicholas found the bracelet I am wearing in the pictures at a soccer game last year. He wanted to keep it, so we asked everyone around if it was theirs and no one claimed it, so I let him take it home. After a day or so, Nicholas approached me with a sweet look on his face. "Mommy, I want to give this to you." He really loved that bracelet, so it was a big sacrifice for him. I was flattered. I wore it for a few days straight. The first day I didn't wear it, Nicholas sadly asked why I wasn't wearing it. I explained that I still really loved it, but I don't wear the same things every day. He accepted that, but is always very happy when he sees that I have it on. He is such a giving and thoughtful boy.

Bed Rest

I am now officially a couch potato for the next week and a half at least. I had been noticing contractions all morning (and also through the previous night because I was awake so much). I drank as much as I could and then took a nap after lunch thinking that would be the end of the contractions. I woke up at 2 and they were still coming, so I began timing them. I timed them for a couple of hours while trying different methods to get them to stop. They just kept coming consistantly every 6 to 10 minutes. They weren't intense contractions at all...very mild, but they weren't stopping. After dinner, I took a bath as a last step to get them to stop. It didn't work, so I finally called my doctor. Luckily, he was on call and was at Labor and Delivery. Jackson and I dropped the kids off at his sweet sister's house and went up to see the doctor. I was dialated to a 2 and 60% effaced...which doesn't say much because I could have been like that for weeks now without knowing it. My doctor said that this late in the game (I am 35 weeks and 4 days) the drugs to stop labor are less effective than bed rest and have undesirable side affects, so he prescribed fairly strict bed rest until I am 37 weeks.

We are lucky that Jackson's job hours are flexible and much of his work can be done from home. He will be able to help a lot. Jackson's mom already took my laundry and is taking the boys on a hike in the morning, bringing lunch, and bringing dinner tomorrow. She is so kind.

I am not looking forward to this next week, but I am determined to do everything I can to keep baby Alexander inside where he can develop the best until it is safe for him to come into this harsh world. After Estella's long bed rest, a week and a half seems easy. The things that make it harder are that we are busier...soccer practices and games, back to school nights, school starting on the 23rd, music lessons, birthday parties...all things that are important to the kids. Soon enough it will just be a memory, and it will have been worth it.

Please calm down, uterus!

Blue

Our JoAnn's store is relocating and had a huge inventory clearance sale. I just happened across it on one of their last days, so the pickings were slim, but very very cheap! Everything was 80 - 90% off. I bought a large piece of blue felt...I'm not exactly sure why...probably because it was so cheap, but I decided to try it out as a backdrop. It's not my favorite, but I think it was worth the $2 I paid for it. Here are a few shots of the kids as they were on this particular afternoon.

Joy

I think I am growing into my role as a mother. To be honest, it has been very emotionally challenging for me in a lot of ways to be a full time mom. I am noticing, though, that instead of feeling empty at the end of a day as a mom, I am feeling fulfilled and full of happiness more and more often. I think I am beginning to understand that this is my calling...this is what my Father in Heaven wants for me...there is no better way to use my abilities than this...these children are incredibly amazing and I am responsible for raising them. Of course I logically knew these things before. I'm not sure what exactly is different. All I know is that I am happy. I am full. I don't want anything different. I am changed in a good way. I love being a mother. Of course things aren't perfect and I don't feel this way all of the time, but I feel it more often and I am thankful for that.

Here's to hoping I don't change my mind after baby #4 arrives :) Kidding, of course.

24th of July Parade

Our ward had a "Bishop's Breakfast" this year on the 24th. There was plenty of yummy food, an air compressor rocket launcher, and most exciting for my kids...a bike parade.

A neighbor gave Estella this adorable little two-wheeler she had outgrown. Estella felt like such a big girl riding around with everyone. It was adorable!