Home from California

We just got back this afternoon from a 3.5 day trip to the sunny California. We flew out of Austin Wednesday night and home early this Sunday morning. Why the quick trip? Michael's lovely sister, Joanna, got married. When she told us last November that they planned on a mid April wedding, I informed her that I'd most likely not be able to go with the baby due just a few weeks later. I did not want her to feel she had to change the date for us, but I guess 2 others in the family had a difficulty with the time, too. So, she moved it up a few weeks, so I figured 7 weeks before my due date was plenty of time to travel safely!

I wish we could have stayed longer, but with my "condition" it wasn't the best plan, besides...we have to save up days for Michael to take off when the baby does arrive. In the week before I kept thinking..."please, baby, just wait until after California, I really want to go." After all, my last 2 babies were 3 weeks early and 8 pounds, so it wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility to have a baby 7 weeks early. I had an ultrasound the day we left and the sonographer said it looks like the baby (she still said its a girl) weighs approximately 4 pounds, 9 ounces. She also said the babies' head was really low (she wasn't too sensitive to the pain as she pushed hard on and around my bone "down there"). I am carrying really high, as I have with all my babies, and a lady at the store says I don't look much past 5 months along. So I was glad to see the baby weighed a good amount, especially since I've thus far gained 47 pounds. Yep, thats right. But thats pretty consistant with my other pregnancies, too.

I just emptied all of my camera cards to the tune of 556 images from that 3.5 days. I couldn't pass up the chance to photograph such a lovely bride and her groom on the beautiful Oakland California Temple grounds, even though I was a big 'ole pregnant lady. Besides wedding day images, I also did a photo shoot with Michael's youngest sister, and she truly knows how to work it for the camera! Julie is starting her photography business, and I'm so excited to see where her path leads her with that. She graduates from BYU in a few weeks, so this was a more "mature" Senior Portrait Session! Then we have cousins playing pics, Golden Gate bridge pics, meeting up with an old (and very pregnant) college friend, and a very toned down Bachelorette party. Julie and another sister of Michael's, Karen (also a budding photog) took some maternity pics of me in a field of yellow flowers....so exciting images to come for this blog...if only I had space in picasa--and now I have to wait to post on flickr, too. I am quite annoyed and not sure if I want to pay $20 a year for more storage space for my images, but I think I will end up doing that. Boo hoo, I like free.

I'm also kinda bored with my blog recently...maybe because I feel I am just purging pictures to get the journal keeping done....maybe because of the pictures...maybe because I feel that out of my 100 invited on my blog...only a few are listening. Thank you to those who let me know you are listening:) My little camera is having problems and I'm annoyed with the images those give, but I'm just too lazy to lug around my "big camera" to all of our adventures. So I'm less than happy with the image quality of the pics on the blog.

I've got BIG plans for "nesting" in the next couple of weeks. Getting our home ready for baby. So excited for labor (weird, huh?) and to hold that little one. I smelled something last week that totally reminded me of the hospital smell and I got all excited. My kids are also very excited, and Alyssa keeps talking about things that will happen "when she is a big sister" in May. There is always a twinge of longing when the family dynamics change. I remember just before Alyssa was born, looking at my boys and thinking....it will all be different. A good different, but yet different. I've thought the same thing recently. Everything is so wonderful with our family of 5. Things will be different. But I am very excited for that. Sooo excited to have a sweet little baby in our home--even if that means I may get more cranky with my older kids when they are loud and the baby is sleeping. It will happen. I know it will. It may be my last baby, and I want to remember it all.

Sleepy, Volcano, and an old friend

Look at this adorable sleepy head
Just wrapped around my belly.

The volcano. Matthew got it as a birthday gift and we finally assembled it. First day was making it, then a few days later had it erupt. I love Alyssa intently watching with her hands in front of her face.

Both Tyler and Matthew are collecting quarters, but we put this together for a scout project Tyler was working on. It now hangs in their room.

Alyssa playing with her babies.

My friend Wendy came to town and spent a few hours with my fam...then we went out to lunch. We danced together in high school--back in the day. It is so easy to chat away like we used to, even though we don't get to talk much. I love that she knows whats going on with me because of this here blog, but she hasn't quite started one yet.... Love this girl. To see us in our drill team getup, click here.

The love of a big brother

I was at the school taking pictures for the yearbook the other day. Tyler at recess playing his favorite, wall ball. Alyssa wanted to join in and it was so cute to have him take her under his wing. When he caught the ball, he'd give it to her to run it up to the wall. I was talking to his teacher for a bit and she commented on how sweet he is with her. It was cute to watch.

I wish I could make this bigger, but dang flickr.....he just gave her the ball and its in her hand and she is running it up to the wall. The other kids were good about giving it to her, too.

LOVE this one:)

Texas Hoedown at school

Is this the cutest little cowboy or what???
The last day before Spring Break, our elementary school does a hoedown. In the month or so before, their PE curriculm is to learn square dancing. Tyler was not interested in dressing up, but Matthew was excited to do so. I got these boots at a garage sale years ago and was shocked and pleased that a) they fit Matthew perfectly and b) that he was actually excited to wear them!
The kindergarteners have a whole Texas day where they learn and do activities to do with cowboys (I'm Texan and not a cowboy, but I will just this once accept that stereotype).
Alyssa even joined in the fun.
Here is Tyler line dancing with Alyssa by his side (they invited the parents for this one).
Matthew and a bunch of kids from his class.

Here I am sort of dancing...

Tyler doing the chicken dance. All the kids loved this!
Matthew--chicken dance.

I just like this one of my kids mesmerized by television. The boys don't get to watch much, and they are all zombies when a show is on.

Spring Break Day 5--Park and headed to Grandma's House

Friday morning I got a phone call at about 9:15am from my friend Nicole. She lives in LA and was in Austin for the day and wanted to drop by. We grew up together in Houston, and its always fun to catch up with each other. She stayed for just an hour, but it worked.

We were a bit late to our park excursion after our visit, but that's ok. We met up with friends at the park and the kids ran around and played.

We got home around 12:30 and I told the kids to get packed because when daddy comes home (2pm) we were headed to Grandma's in Houston.

Spring Break Day 4--Jumpy Place

Alyssa asks often to go to the "jumpy place" and I told the kids we'd go over spring break. It is more than I usually like to spend for an activity, but I decided one day was ok. My kids are old enough that I don't worry, nor do they need assistance, so it was nice to just hang with a friend while they all played.
We even had major junk food for lunch.

I love the comfy couches at this jumpy place....I sat while the kids played. So nice!
This is Tyler smiling for the camera....

Spring Break Day 3--Gattiland, Pokemon, Daddy's work, Rodeo

When Alyssa was invited to play at a friends home, I thought it would be fun to let the boys decide what we'd do. They really wanted to go buy some Pokemon cards with their money. So we made a trip to Wal Mart.
I then suggested we go to Gattiland for pizza since they got free passes from school. The only sad part is Alyssa before and after kept asking when we were going to Gattiland and I had to deflect. I had the boys promise not to tell her we went. They got their beloved cheesy bread.
We got Alyssa at about 12:30 and headed to Michael's work for the end of his lunch. I think children love to see and need to see where their dads spend so much time. Besides, his work is prettty fun.


Since we were in the neighborhood, we went to Babies R Us and picked up the stroller system I'd been planning on (pictures later, not putting it together yet). Thanks to my friends out of state for the gift card to cover it, AND I even got it on sale! The kids found some books to read.
Came home....took a nap while the kids watched a movie....played outside with our neighbor, Michael came home, we went to the Austin Rodeo. He got "free" tickets from work, which ended up that they weren't completely free. Little did I know about my city/Californian husband, it had been on his "bucket list" to attend a rodeo in his lifetime. Huh.
This is the first event we saw: pig races. It was fun to cheer them on....

You can barely see the little piggies in the bottom left corner here.

The main event was in the arena. The free tickets we got were in an upper room overlooking the arena from windows. We watched team roping, sheep riding, and other fun stuff. We left for a bit and came back to the bleachers and watched bull riding and a few songs of the Clay Walker concert. It was pretty fun. Everything is more fun seen through the eyes of a child. Matthew was a bit concerned about roping and wrestling the calves, but the next day he was making his own lasso.
Here we are with some cows.


I even dropped $6 bucks at the end for a yummy funnel cake--love those things! My body was hurting throughout the night, but I endured and made it.

Spring Break Day 2--St. Patricks Day Party

It started the night before, when we let the boys stay up late and we tie dyed shirts for them to wear on St. Pat's. I planned to do it before, but you know how that goes.....

I got the green die and shirts and rubber bands all ready. We started about 9pm (after Alyssa was safely asleep) and Michael helped us brew green stuff over the stove. Matthew was pretty skeptical with the whole idea, but I told him to trust me--it was going to be awesome!
Here they are with their shirts all banded up about to go in the brew.
They took turns stirring over the next 20 minutes or so....then we rinsed them out and washed them, to examine in the morning.
I spent the morning making treats: dipping cookies and pretzels in green chocolate (got that new Wilton chocolate melter and loved it. Figured I like to use those chocolates and will get good use out of it).


Funny--I don't think I even tried them. Didn't seem appetizing at the time of consumption.

Here are the boys in the shirts they made and Alyssa in her St. Patty's Day shirt she had been anxiously waiting to wear for weeks.
If I didn't have Michael help me with the shirts the night before, I would have had him hanging streamers. But I ran out of time and energy and did it myself in the morning (picture large pregnant woman getting up on chair, in socks, hanging strings from the ceiling). I was mostly pleased with the streamer job.
Then the masses started coming. I told the kids they could each invite 3 friends (then it turned into just a few more). Everyone that we invited came. I maybe would have done games, but I decided to do a movie: Darby O'Gill and the Little People. A movie my sis in law, Kim, told me about (that she loves and watches every year). It's a Disney movie, and though I'd never watched it before, showed it anyway. The kids came in and out of the movie room.
Here is our group shot--someone said we had 30 kids total, but this is less than that here.
Then we had a green lunch. I just made the treats--other friends brought all the other green things.
It was yummy.
I wanted to share my green outfit, even though I'm not a fan of what I look like here. I wore a shirt from last year, with a maternity shirt under it. I realized later I shouldn't have done that...I just didn't think it looked too flattering. I got worn out, but it was worth it. I love getting together and celebrating like this.
Later in the evening, I got a cuddle with my little one. (If you can see my socks, michael gave them to me just after we were married and had to order them because he couldn't find them in any stores).

I even made twice baked potatoes in the evening and went to a recipe club swap. I just can't pass up a chance to socialize, no matter my "condition."