Snow Days

Can we just say SNOW STORM!! We have had some major snow this week. I would say we've had around a foot...then this morning we woke up...to about another foot!! Craziness, let me tell you. They canceled all local schools. Matt was getting ready for school and went to catch the bus. Right after he left the radio said WSU was canceled too. I had just seen the bus drive by as he walked out, so I knew he would be waiting for about 10 minutes. I decided to hurry and rescue him from the bus stop, so I quickly put the boys in their snow pants and we ran outside. The car was totally covered, so it took a few minutes to get it free. When I walked around the car, the snow was almost to my KNEES!! After a few attempts of backing up I was able to get the car free from all the snow. I actually rescued Matt too. Then I let him drive. He didn't know if he should believe that school was canceled so we drove through campus. Malcolm was yelling in the car anytime we saw someone, "schools canceled, go back home!" So Matt stared rolling down the window and he would yell it at all these people. They mostly just laughed, but I'm sure once they got to school, they wished they would have listened!!

So here are some pictures of the snow. The snow plow in our parking lot has been plowing snow all around Matt's motorcycle. Which he doesn't really like, since when there isn't snow on the ground he'll still drive it. The snow close to the bike is all the snow that has fallen recently though. Well here's his bike....I don't think he'll be driving it until July!!
Here's our sidewalk. The snow is so deep from all the snow that has accumulated!!
Our friends Erica and Shane came over since we were all stuck at home. Shane made Lilly some snow pants so that she could play in the snow. I think she loved to play in the snow...I don't know about the snow pants.
Lilly fell in love with Quinn's bed! She decided to take it over along with his sippy cup of water. Sweet girl!!
After Quinn's nap we decided to make a quick trip to Moscow in search for some snow boots for Matt and I. We took the back road...it gets really crazy snow drifts on it. Notice the snow is almost all the way up to the sign. Crazy huh!?! Oh and Matt and I found some snow boots...they weren't very easy to come by though since everybody was buying them today!
This first pictures if very dark, but it gave a better view of how deep the snow is right in front of our apartment building.
Matt's one leg is down as far as he could push it...to the top of his thigh! The kids thought it was pretty fun to be stuck in the snow too. Supposedly according to the online weather channel, it's suppose to snow clear up until next week. Do you think it would be a good time for the baby to come? I'm thinking he's going to want to stay in for a while with this weather!

Just Hanging with the Boys

Saturday morning I had a Stake Women's conference. There were many great speakers and "classes". I left feeling very uplifted.

While I was having some time with women, Matt and the boys had time to hang out together. They went to the Science Center again, and Matt took the camera with him. He took some really great shots.
Quinn being himself...silly. I think this is soo cute. I do need to edit it so his face isn't so dark.

Malcolm doing what he loves best...playing on a computer. It's a good thing we don't let him do it very often. He gets soooo drawn in.


I've been wanting to get a shot with the mirrors ever since I started going. Matt ended up getting a whole bunch. Way to go Matt!!


I love my boys...all of them. Matt is such a great father who loves to play with his kids. The boys are just so stinking cute, how can you resist them!?!

On Saturday night our great friends Mandy and George offered to watch our kids so that we could go on our "last date" before the baby is born. This was actually the first time we've ever gone on a date here in Pullman, let alone have someone other then family watch our kids while on a date. The boys did great and didn't even care that we were gone. Quinn was even comfortable enough with Mandy that he crawled up to her table and asked for a pancake. Luckily she had some frozen ones. Silly kid, even though we fed him before going over there, he still wants pancakes. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner without kids at our favorite restaurant here, Sangria Grill. We would have hit a movie too, but nothing exciting was playing. Thanks so much Mandy and George. You guys are great friends.

39 Weeks

One week to go...well at least to my due date. I went to the Doctors today and we're finally seeing progress. The baby has finally dropped and I'm dilated to 1 cm. Not much, but better then the last two weeks when the baby was still high and he couldn't even get to my cervix. So I wasn't expecting a change, but it was great to hear that my body is doing something. I tried talking to him about inducing me a few days early this weekend, these were my reasons for wanting it. Matt's week next week is really busy, I have group B strep, he's going on vacation starting Feb 11th (my Dr that is), and it's suppose to snow everyday this week, so I'm afraid our parents couldn't make it down unless planned. Needless to say, he said he would rather me wait until my due date. He said he would rather induce me the next weekend. Oh and also I want to go on a weekend so that my step dad can be here. So with every other pregnancy I would have been absolutely discouraged and disappointed. This time, I was totally fine about it. I really do want to go on my own, I'm just nervous about the timing being right. I guess this just gives my body more time.

Things I have loved about this pregnancy.

-I haven't worked. With the other two I worked as a full time 911 dispatcher.

-It's gone by so much faster then the other two. I can't believe my due date is next week.

-I haven't been that uncomfortable...of course I have my days, but I don't feel nine month pregnant.

-I've worked out nearly the whole pregnancy. I'm still doing my aerobics and walking. The only time I didn't work out, was for about 6 weeks during the summer. I'm not bragging or trying to talk myself up. I've really seen a difference with this pregnancy. I'm not carrying as big. I haven't gotten as much "baby fat" as I have with the other boys. My arms are still mostly defined (as good as you get with 3 lb and 5 lb weights), and the same for my legs. It has been really hard, but I'm so proud of myself for keeping it up. It has been kind of an experiment for me, and I'm happy I tried it. We'll see if there's a difference after delivery.

-I've been pregnant with everyone!! 4 out of the 5 of my Mom's kids were expecting all at the same time. First to go was my younger sister Leisha in October. Then my sister in law Melanie 2 WEEKS EARLY in December. (I'm jealous!) Then my sister in law Holli a couple of weeks ago. I'm the last of that pack. I've also had tons of friends and people I know expecting too. It's really nice to be pregnant with other people. I haven't felt quite as frumpy and fat. We are all growing together. My friends Erica and Mandy went through this all a year ago, so I'm sure they are loving being skinny with all us pregnant girls around.

-I've never been so prepared for one of my babies. Everything is ready to go. Plus my house has been totally cleaned top to bottom. Now if only the baby would come while I was all prepared!

Date Night with the Boys

On Friday night Malcolm's school had a "Male involvement game night". So Matt and Malcolm went and spent a couple hours playing games. They had door prizes and Malcolm got to help draw the names. He ended up picking his own and of course picked out a Lightening McQueen toy to bring home. Also each child was able to pick out a game to take home. Malcolm picked the Backyardigans Memory game. They had a really enjoyable time. Matt took the "little" camera to take some pictures.Malcolm took all the pictures, except for the one above, and he did a really good job. Here's a picture he took of his friend, Georgey, with his dad, George.
While Malcolm and Matt were away, Quinn and I had the opportunity to have a night of our own. We started out making a cake. Then we ate dinner and cleaned up. We were also able to play some games of our own here. Quinn wanted to play Candyland Castle and Break the Ice. We had a fun time just the two of us. Here's Quinnie helping me mix the cake. For Christmas Cynthia made the cutest aprons for the boys, including one for the baby. They are too cute, don't you think!?!
Quinn was so excited to use the beaters, his hand was totally shaking. Yeah, I know, very unsafe to let him use it himself, but it was only for the picture.
He then thought he needed to stir it with the spatula before we put it in the pan to bake. He had a great time, can't you tell!?! He's stinking cute!
After the boys came home from game night we had some friends over. Since I had a cake and didn't need to eat it all by myself, I invited the Anderson's and Poteet's over to help us eat it. We had a fun time visiting, and we also played a little Guitar Hero. George stole my camera and captured the moment of is lovely wife Mandy playing.
Here's Erica and Shane's baby girl Lilly. She just turned a year in December and is such a cute, fun baby. I love to make her laugh, when she does she squints her eyes to the point you can't see them. I wanted to capture a picture of it, but this was the best I got from her.
Mandy and George's little Grayham is such a good, content little guy. He's gonna be 9 month here in a week or so, and he's bigger then Lilly. He's just starting to crawl, and it's so fun to watch him trying it all out. He's also a great subject for pictures!

Sad Story and Weekend Doings

So I first have to start out by writing the saddest thing that happened to Quinn this morning. The boys have bunk beds, and to make the top bunk bed everything has to be totally tucked in. Well I do the same for the bottom bunk too (where Quinn sleeps). The blankets are always really tight, so we have to really yank them out so the boys can get under the covers. Quinn, still being so young, moves a ton while he is sleeping. Always in the funniest positions. This morning around 7am I heard someone crying, so I went into the room to see why. Quinn was underneath his covers, all the way at the bottom of his bed, head way down at the bottom. He was bawling, he didn't know how to get out of his bed. The covers were so tight, there's no way he could have pulled them out himself. I had to grab his feet and pull him out. I felt sooooo bad. I'm sure he was so scared just waking up and being so disoriented. I cuddled him for a long time. It was so sad...yet it's pretty funny now.We've had a pretty lazy weekend. I told Matt that on Saturday I was just wanting to clean, so he could go out with the boys if he didn't want to be bored at home. I woke up not feeling that great, with an annoying headache. Matt took the boys to the science center, and stayed there for about 2 hours. I stayed in bed the whole time. So needless to say my day was wasted, I didn't get anything done. The boys had a great day spent with Matt though.

Sunday, we of course went to church. It was great. The boys were very reverent and I was thinking how nice it was. We don't give them snacks or let them color before sacrament, and they really didn't ask. Then Quinn has finally started going to nursery without crying or really whining at all. Finally we've started enjoying our meetings again, only to have a newborn and go through it all over again!!

After dinner, I had what Matt calls a pregnancy craving, and decided to make "spudnuts". Melanie put an awesome recipe in our family cookbook. I only made half the recipe and it made over 2 dozen doughnuts. They were so good with the maple glaze frosting!!! Since we had way too many I decided to share some with some neighbors. I took some to the Campbell's and to the Anderson's. I hadn't talked with Erica for a week, so when she invited me in, I couldn't resist. I ended up being there way too long. I'm sure they were wondering if I was ever going to leave. I had a great time visiting with Erica. I don't see or hang out with her nearly enough, so it was so fun to visit with her, especially without any kids. Thanks Erica for the good time, and for taking some treats off my hands!

Today was a lazy day too. I went to bed way too late last night, and had to get up and go to my Dr appointment this morning. When I got home I napped for about an hour. Then we decided to head over to Moscow for a little outing. Before heading over there we went on campus and launched the boys' rocket again. They think it is so fun, and they stomped around the snow retrieving it. We then went to Walmart for somethings I need for the baby room. I couldn't find anything I needed! We decided to eat lunch at Applebee's. All our food was barely even warm, my soup was pretty much cold. I'm glad I said something and had them warm up my soup for me. They ended up giving our lunch to us for free. Good thing we didn't have to pay for a crappy lunch, I was feeling discouraged to have to pay for something we didn't like! We then hit the mall and walked around a bit. Then across town at a really small "mall" they have a really fun inside play area. It's like the play area in Spokane at the Northtown Mall, only smaller. We just recently discovered it and have been there once before. It's so fun for the boys, and they get their energy out. I think it's worth it, even if I have to drive a ways to get to it!! Since we had been out all day, Quinn fell asleep on our way, when Matt pulled him out of his seat he stayed asleep in Matt's arms. Our kids NEVER do that! We finally woke him up and he played his little heart out with Malcolm for about 2 hours. The picture above of Quinn is from his "nap" today. I can't resist pictures of my sleeping boys! These other pictures are Malcolm playing at the play area. His face is so funny in both. I was hoping to have some practice with my camera, but then my batteries died right after taking these. Go figure!!

38 Weeks

38 Weeks...wow. I can't believe how close it is until he's going to be here. Matt says I've been nesting. I've been scrubbing the house down. Started with the organizing of the baby's room. Then I moved onto the kitchen where I pulled out the fridge, cleaned under the oven, wiped down walls, cupboards, organized the cupboard under the sink, organized the "laundry room" closet. Then I moved to the bathrooms and scrubbed both of them, cleaning the walls, organizing under the sinks. Of course this wasn't all in one day. A room a day was my goal. I want to continue on with the rest of the house, but I've been busying doing other things instead. I'm sure (or I'm hoping) I will finish later this week. And then the surface cleaning has to be done all over again. Ugh! Last Wednesday we went to the hospital's birthplace to get a tour and fill out paper work. Everybody raves about the birthplace here, and now I can see why. I wanted to go into labor on the spot...just so I could have a "vacation". That's how comfortable it made me feel. The rooms are huge. With a couch (with the bed that folds out for dad), table, chairs, glider, small fridge, microwave, TV and DVD player. Plus you stay in one room for the whole process. Moses Lake isn't like that. They bath the baby right in the room, have a warming bed. They also have the garbage and linens in a closet that the staff can access through the hallway so they don't have extra people coming into the room. Then the bathroom is huge, with a nice shower of course and a jacuzzi. Not only that, in the main hallway they have a big fridge stocked with all kinds of snacks, from sandwiches to cakes, that the patients can have at all times. Plus the meals you get to order from the cafe. Man, this was feeling like a 5 star resort. I wanted to go in early just to have a break before hand. So the next couple days after that I was very anxious to have the baby. I'm over that now, for the most part. I highly doubt that I'll go on my own, let alone early. I'm still not uncomfortable. I'm carrying smaller than I did with Quinn, I don't know about with Malcolm, too long ago to remember. I can still sleep at night, when I'm not up going to the bathroom that is. I know my body isn't ready yet, even though I have tons of contractions. They just don't get painful, or stay consistent for very long. I'm okay with it though. Although I'm sad to think that I'm just going to have to be induced, my babies just need some help out I think. Well I'm totally rambling. I just can't wait for my 5 star resort experience!!

Just for Paka

Yesterday Cynthia told me that Merle is always checking mine and Laura's blog for pictures of his grand kids. Well not much is going on here, so I thought we'd just take some pictures to share. The first few pictures are just of Quinn from the other day. Then the rest we took this morning.




Matt put this hat on Quinn. He had it when he was a baby, and so it doesn't really fit. It totally left a red mark on his head...but he thought it was pretty funny.
Malcolm wanted a picture with the hammer, and thought that I need to put it on the blog...he's such a funny kid.



Typical monkeys...I mean boys. Malcolm thinks it's fun to climb all over the bunk beds, it drives me nuts!

Field trip and Craft

Last Tuesday Malcolm's class went to the Bishop's Center on a field trip. This is an assisted living and retirement home. They made a craft...which was to hard for them. The adults had to do most of it. But regardless, they loved it. It's always hard for me to go on the field trips, because it's right during Quinn's nap. Whenever I try telling Malcolm maybe I shouldn't go, he's so sad, so I can't resist and go anyways. I am glad that I have the opportunity to go and participate with his class.
Even Quinn (or me) was able to do the craft...he really enjoyed it!
Malcolm's best bud Georgey. He's always so willing to pose for me.

37 Weeks

Well it's coming to a close. I got the babies room all organized and ready. Baby clothes are washed and put away as well as they can be without a dresser. Car seats all cleaned and ready to go with the winter cover, and head support in. Finally found all the remaining blankets, burp rags and hats. I don't have as many blankets as I remember...I feel like I've lost some. Hmm! Cribs not made up with bedding yet....but I feel like that will wait since he'll be in my room for a few weeks...at least while we have company. This is the first pregnancy that I have really weird dreams. Some aren't related to pregnancy, but then I've had that are. I had a dream a few weeks back that my water broke at 36 weeks and I just kept thinking it was too early for him. Then I had a dream a few nights ago that I went into labor and had him at 37 weeks (right now) and still I did not feel ready for him. The dream just left me feeling really uncomfortable about it too. I talked to my Dr. today about wanting to go into labor on my own. He said he wouldn't let me go past 42 weeks...and I'm sure I wouldn't want to at that point either. Then I found out when I was scheduling appointments for up until my delivery, I was told my Dr was taking vacation the week after my due date. So I guess I won't be going much over my due date. I don't want some on call Dr to deliver me! Thanks Mandy for watching the boys today! I'm glad they are so comfortable with you...or maybe it's just Georgey!?!

Newest Nephew

My little brother Landon and his wife Holli had their baby. They had him on January 10th at 7:29 am. He weighed in at 6lb 14 oz and 19.5 inches long. They named him Grayson Michael. I of course won't get to see him for quite some time, but Mom says he is very cute and is a good mixture of the two of them. That's 3 out of 4 of the babies being born in the family. I'm now the last remaining pregnant in the family. Surprisingly enough, I'm not feeling to bad about it. Maybe in a week I will be. Anyways, congratulations Landon and Holli. We love you and can't wait to meet our new nephew in person!

Photo shoot with Emma Jay

I was able to take some pictures of baby Emma before Richard and Leisha left to go back home. It was fun...for me at least. Here's my beautiful little sister Leisha with baby Emma. I love that she's looking straight at the camera with her beautiful blue eyes. I love you Leisha and miss you already.The day of Emma's blessing they weren't able to get any pictures of her, so we took her pictures in her sweet little dress. She's so adorable with her little bow. Someday I hope to be able to put bows in one of my babies hair!!


After a while Emma totally had enough, but once Leisha had her dress off, she was happy again.
We tried to get a picture of Mom with Emma, but Emma just wasn't cooperating. In fact neither was Mom, she gave up. But I think Mom looks so beautiful in this picture, besides the fact that the back drop is falling in one corner. I could edit that of course!
Thanks Leish for giving me the opportunity to have fun with baby Emma. I loved holding her, especially when she would sleep. It was so fun to babysit her too. She was too cute and so good for me. I can't believe how big she's going to be the next time I get to see her!