Hmmm....I'm tempted!

Went to the doctor today - I'm now 34 weeks pregnant...and it is a wonderful milestone to reach. If the baby were born now he would have as good a survival rate as if he were full term. Whew! I'm so excited to be that far along...although it also makes me nervous to be that close to delivery! I'm not sure I'm ready to have a newborn, but I'm definitely ready to have my body back so I guess it's one or the other!

Everything is looking fine and normal with the pregnancy - and the doctor confirmed that I am indeed carrying the baby really low...thus all the nerve pain in my back and legs. He is head down (low low down) and he has a favorite position with his rear end on one side of my tummy (making me all lopsided) and his feet pushing against the other side. You can actually see these two little bumps where his feet are pushing - it's crazy! Dr. said that usually when women carry a baby that low it means a quicker delivery...here's hoping.

So the reason I'm tempted is that he also gave me the option of being induced early to avoid the chance of being in the hospital for the 4th of July holiday (I'm due on the 7th). I've never had a doctor offer to induce me early purely for convenience and I must say at this point it sounds really appealing. I've been all gung-ho this time for laboring in the tub and trying to avoid an epidural. But if I get induced that concept is out the window. I was induced with Josh and I know how much more painful it can be. But the trade-off of delivering early may just be worth it. AND even more of a consideration is that if I am able to schedule the delivery, I can plan for babysitters and eliminate all the worry of wondering who will be available to help with my other kids, as well as making sure Mark is nearby since he works in SLC and normally rides the bus which might make it tricky for him to get home if I were to go into labor mid-day. Then again, maybe I will just go into labor early on my own and that will answer the question for me. I was a week early with Holly and Ammon...so there is a good chance. Mark is on a business trip in Mexico City so I haven't yet gotten his opinion...any advice anyone?

Preschool Graduation

Ella was so proud to graduate from preschool Wednesday. They had the cutest ceremony and I could hear her singing nice and loud (she loves to perform). We are grateful she was in such a good program and enjoyed herself so much. I can't believe my baby girl will be headed to kindergarten in a few months! I would love her to stay little forever...

I have some really cute video clips but blogger is giving me troubles...I'll try to post them again soon! Congratulations Ella!

Once in a while...

you get the chance to experience the perfect Spring day. That happened to us a few weeks ago when Mark was gone on a scout campout and I decided to take the kids to the "Baby Animal Birthday Party" at Thanksgiving Point Farm Country. As you can see the skies were blue and clear, the sun was out, and it was absolutely beautiful. This was a fun event with lots of activities for the kids. One of the favorites was the "cow train" - they drove it around the pasture and it was really bumpy which made it lots of fun...even Mommy rode it and was laughing!

Ammon still talks about the cow train...he LOVED it

Some of the babies were in cages, but we did get to pet a cute little goat

Cute little fuzzy ducklings

Bubble gum & whipped cream "pig trough"

Hooray for a great family outing!

Happy Birthday Ella & Josh!

Do you think Josh was excited to go to Pirate Island for his 9th birthday? We had a great time - our first time there and loved the atmosphere, were pleasantly surprised that the food was yummy & reasonably priced, and of course had a great time in the arcade (although it could have been a little less cramped). We will definitely go there again.

Mark was really excited to get his boy some "GEAR" for his birthday. I have a feeling Josh was excited too!

It's always fun to get something you were hoping for!

More gear - a headlamp - think he likes it?

Percy Jackson books - he wasn't expecting - he LOVES to read

More fun at Pirate Island...

Ella hit the jackpot on this game and it gave her 100 tickets! She was thrilled!

Ella also had her 5th birthday two days before Josh's - this girl had been counting down to her birthday for MONTHS! So much fun!

She wanted a strawberry cake with a heart on top

We celebrated her birthday at Chuck E. Cheese's. No pictures, but we had a great time (especially since we didn't eat there!) and then had play time with a cousin. All this made for a fun-filled week of Spring Break! We also headed to the zoo on Friday - I'll post if I can get the pictures off Mark's phone!

Spring Happenings

Last Friday night we dyed Easter eggs. Nothing too fancy but the kids had a great time. There's something a little magical about traditions. The Easter bunny comes to our house each year on Saturday instead of Sunday - helps differentiate between the bunny/eggs/candy stuff and the real Easter celebration. We don't really do egg hunts...but the bunny does hide the kids' baskets in the house and they have to find them...Josh figured out the "truth" about the bunny this year and thought that was pretty funny - luckily he can keep a secret! (but he made sure to inform me that he definitely believes in Santa)

Everyone feeling baby Bryce kicking in Mommy's tummy...around 25 weeks I think

A few weeks ago we had a tractor in the backyard digging a trench for Mark's water feature (his dream is finally coming true!) The boys sure loved watching & sitting on the tractor...Ammon still hasn't stopped talking about it!

More posts to come soon for Ella's & Josh's birthdays!

Updates...

Seems like life has been pretty mundane lately, but I guess there have been a few fun things to post about. Last week Mark's sister Heidi had her birthday and she requested that we all go bowling. This was a fun outing (sans Mark who had a late work meeting) and the kids had a blast. Josh totally beat me (although he did have help from the bumpers) but I guess all that Wii bowling has paid off for him! But in my defense, bowling while prego did seem a little awkward.

We recently learned that Ella's best friend, Gracie, will be moving out of state in a few weeks. We are really sad but trying to get in as much play time as possible before they go.

Ella came up with this number on her own one day - she came upstairs and announced that she was a sunflower!

Couldn't believe the huge snow storm we had last week...getting all these kids ready to play in the snow first thing in the morning was quite the task but they sure had fun!

Mark decided the kids should help him stain a bar stool. Don't mind Ammon's pink shirt - we grabbed it out of our rag box for him! Mark is always great to involve the kids in things like this. I don't always love the messes, but at least the memories are made!

In February the PG library had this great little "Fancy Nancy Tea Party." I took the girls and they had a fun afternoon of fancies and sweets.