Baby Shower, Halloween Costumes, and Preparing For Aurora

I love my friends here in Casper:)  Laurie and Steph put together a baby shower for me.  They are fantastic.  I felt a bit guilty because we already have a boy and a girl, but it was fun:)  And Sequoia was born in June, so I didn't have hardly any winter clothes for little one coming.  And I always love having an excuse to have a girls night and chat.  It was super nice that Mike was home and could get the kids in bed and I could relax.

(I'm also super sad because that night Steph told us she is moving to Washington in 2 weeks!  I knew they would be moving, but not that soon!  I'm getting sad; she's been my best friend since I got here.  Now I'll just have to branch out and make some new ones:)

 

The kids were so excited when they woke up in the morning to get to play with BALLOONS!

 

 The cutest baby gift idea!  Cupcakes (onsies and receiving blankets!)

 My friend Holly (and Sequoia's nursery teacher) also brought gifts for Lincoln and Sequoia. How sweet!  

She got My Little Pony

He got Batman cars

They were so happy:)

 Cutest onsie ever! (Thanks Steph!)

The day after the baby shower, I went to Once Upon a Child for a HUGE sale they were having.  It's already a second-hand store and super good prices, but this day was amazing!  10 for $10 sale (0-24 months)  I got ALL of these clothes here for $20!!! (Each SET was $1!) I was trying so hard to contain myself and not freak out in public:)  Now with the baby shower and these clothes, we are pretty much set for a baby to come!

 

 I let the kids pick out a pair of pjs for themselves. 

Quoi is so funny!

From My Phone:

 Monster bottom

 Belly shot of Auri

Quoi got her first salon hair cut.  She was NOT excited about it.

 But she was SO beautiful afterwards.  I love it darling, even if Daddy doesn't like it;)

 Only for school will she look and dress so cute like this!

Our Superheroes!  Batman & The Hulk

 Daddy and the munchkins, loving getting a picture taken!

Picture taken for Daddy while he's gone.  They wanted to show off their "new" pjs.  

I have been getting stressed again like I was before I got pregnant these last few days.  Mike went to St George this weekend to go visit with his friend Brandon and see his parents. Today he left from there and just got to Denver for some meetings this week.  I am REALLY missing him.  He's been home so much, I think I've gotten spoiled.  I guess with little girl almost here (3 weeks) and with so much to do and prepare, I'm gonna freak out.  

I've been super slow with this pregnancy and nap every day.  It's a good dang thing our kids are so good, I couldn't make it without.  They are great about going to their rooms every day after lunch while I nap.  I set a timer and they play by themselves for 30-45 min (the time keeps increasing with the days!), then they get to play with each other for another half hour.  Thank you wonderful children for doing that for Mommy!

Speaking of them, we were having a little Family Home Evening tonight and talking about the Savior and why we would want to be and act like Him.  I was asking them if they would want to be mean, grouchy, unhappy and not nice to other people?  Lincoln said, "Oh no.  That's just you Mom."  Ouch.  They can see the difference in me too:(  I will try harder Buddy!! I definitely need my kids to help me stay on the straight and narrow!

I still have a bunch of things I'd like to get done before Aurora comes, but I only have a good two hours a day in me.  So hopefully when Mike gets home we can do it together!  Oh and one of my goals before the baby is born is to finish two Blog books I have left to make (2010 &2011).  It's been my OBSESSION this past week.  They are so time consuming, but worth it.  I finished one and am SO close to finishing the second.  I'm so excited!  Then I can move on to a ton of other things on the list:)

Michael, I love and miss you!  The kids do too!  I'm excited for our little girl to come so we can have a lot of family time together, probably going crazy with a screaming newborn, but I'm still excited.

Our Crazy Little Girl:)

Sequoia:
*She loves to pretend she is a boy.  Every time the two of them play house, she is either the big brother or the little brother. She is always saying that she is a boy.  Lincoln one day said, "Sissy, do you really think you are a boy, or are you just pretending?"  (He gets frustrated sometimes when she says she is.  He is the boy!) She finally admitted that day that she is just pretending:)

*We have made a deal.  When she goes to school in the morning, she has to wear girl clothes with Mom's help.  Then when she gets home, she can change into whatever kind of outfit of Lincoln's she wants (with his permission).  Its been working fairly well, other than the days we have to run errands later in the afternoon and I'm taking my daughter around dressed like a boy.  I even had a kid comment about it while we were at Linc's soccer game.  They said, "Hey, look what that girl is wearing!!"  I guess she'll just have to get used to comments:)
  *One day while we were getting the kids in bed and Quoi was picking out clothes for school the next day, she said, "Um, I think I want to wear something girly tomorrow."  Inside I was freaking out! Ah!  I tried to be as casual as I could and say, "Ok, yeah that's cool."  But really I wanted to shout!!  She is just too cute. I'm sure when she starts liking boys she will be thinking differently;)

*She LOVES school!  I came to her class to visit for the day.  She was so funny about it. I could see that school is HER thing and she is ok not sharing:)  I'm glad I went so I could get to know her teachers and kids in the classroom, but I probably won't be going back all day any time soon. She loves her teachers (Miss Debbi, Lori and Tiffany), she gets along well with the kids in her class, and also has a friend from church in her class.
*She is doing very well in school.  I talked to one of her teachers one day and said that she might be bored when she gets to kindergarten because she knows almost everything they are teaching. Quoi has her brother to thank for that. Anything that we teach Lincoln, she is right there beside him soaking up every word, even when she pretends she isn't;)
She loves to play with dinosaurs and knows many of their names. 
She likes to go to the library and play with the puzzles there and get lots of books.  She loves to read with Mommy, Linc, and Daddy.
She loves to go to The Science Zone and wishes we went more often.  Her favorite thing there was the sand pit.  She was talking about playing with that first on our way the last time we went, and when we got there, we found out they got rid of it. Her face was so sad! She also likes to play in the toddler section there too.
Her favorite color is Dark Blue.
She still loves her "cold blankie" and will not sleep without it.
She has a few prominent personalities.  (She's just like her Mommy that way.)  She acts like a boy and is super tough.  Then on occasion will be super shy and baby like, especially around people she doesn't know.  Then she is super silly!  She gets in these moods and gets so funny and hyper.  Oh, and I can't forget her smart mouth attitude! Mom has SO much fun with that one!! I love seeing all her different moods and personalities.  She is such a fun little girl!
*One day she was supposed to be in her room for rest time and she kept coming out.  I was trying to sleep on the couch, and Dad was downstairs.  I asked her a few times to go back to her room and was starting to get frustrated with her. She turned to me and said, "Mom, you be quiet!" and pointed her little finger at me.  Mike heard her and from downstairs you could hear, "Sequoia!  You listen to your mom and go to your room right now!!"  She booked it as fast as she could!  Then at her door turned and whispered to me, "Mom, you're lying!"  Oh my!  Of course I was up very quickly and she got a swat on her bottom.  This little girl can melt my heart and make me so angry.  We love her:)
*I look her in for her 3 yr old check up just after her birthday.  She weighed 27 lbs (13%) and I don't remember how tall :/ (9%).  She is a small little girl. When Dr Strand came in, he was concerned with her weight because it was the same 6 months previous. Then he checked her heart and noticed she had a slight murmur.  He wanted us back in 3 months.  That was about a week ago.  She still has the murmur in the same place, so he wants us to go get an echo done.  We are going in next Wednesday for it.  The doctor thinks it is innocent and doesn't want us to be worried at all, but still wants to get it checked just in case. I hope she does well and cooperates for the ultrasound and all is well:)
She is very good at playing on her own and very imaginative.  She can think up of so many different things to play and do. And on occasion has a "friend" playing with her.  Sometimes "Carter" or "Jett" (girl) or her "puppy."  She was devastated one day when we were about to have lunch at the table, I was getting hungry and grouchy, and she kept wanting me to hold her "puppy." I finally took him, pet his back, then "threw" him off the table so we could eat.  I wasn't thinking!!  Sorry I threw your "puppy" Quoi!  I'm sure he was just fine.
*I love having this little girl around.  She is such a little sweetie and always has something going on. She is going to be a fantastic big sister!!

Our Little Man

Lincoln:

*He bore his testimony in sacrament meeting for the first time today.  It was so cute!  Among being grateful for Jesus, Daddy, and the gospel... he is very grateful for "Star Wars."  Loved it!!

*Seriously my favorite story about Lincoln these days... We usually have a teenage girl, London, babysit for us.  She is great and the kids love her. One day at church I was talking to London's mom with Linc, so I said, "Hey Lincoln, guess what? This is London's mom!"  I was so excited to have him meet her.  He just stood there and looked at her and said, "No its not."  (Some background... London is black, and her mom is white. She was adopted.)  So two more times I was like, "Um, yeah Linc, this really is her mom..."  "No, she's not her mom," he kept insisting.  Awkward!  So we all laughed and I gave up.  I was so excited when we got to the car to have a "teaching moment!" and talk to Linc about adoption and people having different colors of skin.  He said ok, asked a couple questions and we called it good. 

So... a couple months later I had to drop off some money to London at her home.  Her mom came out and chatted with me on the porch for bit, then I got in the car.  Again I said, "Lincoln, that was London's mom!"  He said, "No, its not."  (Oh great.)  He looked right at me and said, "No, that is not her mom.  That's her Grandma."  Mike and I have never laughed so hard!

*He loves books!  That is one of our favorite things to do together is read books.  His favorites right now are Mercer Mayer's Little Critter, The Magic Treehouse, Froggy, Berenstain Bears, Dinosaur books, any book from the 100 books before Kindergarten series we read over the summer, and simple ones that he can sound out and read on his own.  He is slowly getting to where he can read.  I don't push him at all, I want him to like to read, and not feel obligated.

*He loves dinosaurs; learn about them, read about them, know all their names, and play with the many that we have in the house.

*His favorite thing to do is play on Dad's Ipad or Mom's Kindle Fire.  He is very good at almost anything he plays.  He loves electronic devices. 

*After lunch, he is wonderful about going to his room for "rest time" for about an hour or more each day.  He will play by himself in his room (usually with his Leap pad) for the first half, then he gets to play with Sequoia in the room of their choice for the second half.  (Mommy really needs it lately with her big fat belly! I sleep during that time and it is heaven.)

*He loves school!  He has the same teachers from last year, so its nice that they already know him well and they get along good.  He is very nice to the kids at school, and tries to help them if they are sad or someone needs help.  He does well in school and is a high achiever.

*One of his favorite days at school was just a few weeks ago when he was the "star of the week."  Daddy and him had sat down at home and made a poster of all his favorite things.  Then the last day of the week, he got to present it to his class.  He was so happy HIS DAD came to school to help him show his class his poster.  Just Daddy.  He later told his teachers, "I wish I could be star of the week every week!" 

*Rules are followed!  Lincoln is very much a "rules" boy.  He is very reliable with many things.  When he does make a mistake, he will admit it and is so sorrowful.  He is such a tender sweetheart. 

*One day he did something naughty and I was getting frustrated with him so I sat down and chatted with him about it.  After I chatted with him he said, "Mom.  Sometimes I make mistakes and do bad things.  And I'm going to make more mistakes too."  My heart was softened. Thanks for helping me little guy.
*He usually doesn't have a favorite color.  He likes "all of them."  But if he does say he has a favorite, its only for the day, the next day is a new one. I like that he is a pretty easy going kid.
*His teachers in primary just love him.  They tell me he is the most behaved in their class. Way to go Buddy! And he loves to raise his hand and answer all the questions (he also needs to learn its ok if they don't call on him to answer everything, even when he's raising his hand)

 *His favorite place he's ever been so far would have to be the Natural History Museum in Denver.  We've only been there once, but he talks about it all the time and asks us to take him "to the museum far far away." One day we will go back!  His favorite section in the museum was the Space section.
*He likes to be by his mom or dad when we are home. And asking what to do, or if he can play on our tablets. He usually needs directed to go play with toys or do something active. I love that he loves to be around us.
*He is a wonderful big brother!  He is so excited to get to have ANOTHER sister!  Him and Sequoia have already been talking about taking care of Aurora.  "Sequoia, I'll do the diaper, and you can do the wipes."  

Induction Date

I went in for my 35 (34 and 6 days) week OB apt yesterday.  All is going well.  Dr Smothers guessed Auri is about 51/2 lbs already!  The other two were in the 6 lb range, so she just might be my biggest baby.  But my best news... We finally got to set a day to induce this little one! November 13th!  I'm due the 20th, but I really like to be induced.  It is less stressful, my mom and Tenille can plan to be here, and I'll have my own doctor deliver instead of someone I don't know.  But, if this little one is anything like Sequoia, she might come earlier.  Quoi was 13 days early and it was crazy.  So I will try to be ready and prepared just in case Aurora decides to come earlier, but I feel so good knowing we have a date set!!

FHE: Pumpkin Night

 Our family favorite breakfast food, Bubble Bread

 Quoi was my little helper.  We made cinnamin rolls for the first time.  She is fantastic in the kitchen!

On one we experimented with apples in the rolls, it worked out ok.  (Lately I've been loving apple crisp!!) 

 Our first SNOW of the season!  The kids were so excited to go out and play!  Especially Quoi.  She could eat it all day.  Actually, she tried to only eat snow for breakfast before school that morning.

By the time school was over and they could finally go out and play, it was almost gone.  They were still happy though! 

This is what happens when the kids get the camera.  They take pictures of the dumpy house!  Lately they've loved to take everything out of their rooms, blankets and all, and make a huge pile out here in the living room.  Yeah.  While they were running and getting everything out today to make their "bed" they said, "Don't worry Mom, we'll clean it up!"  Um hm...

We had Family Home Evening this past Monday. We painted pumpkins (we usually carve them but by the time Halloween comes, they're dead. We actually had more fun painting!) and talked about the Plan of Salvation. Lincoln is so much fun to teach, and to learn from. He loves FHE and talking about the Savior and gospel topics. He ends up teaching us so much. And Sequoia is awesome. She pretends not to listen the whole time, doodling and doing her own thing. Then if we quiz her in the end (with a treat;), she will go on and on about what we talked about, then hurry and eat her treat. She cracks us up!

Lincoln's cool blue pumpkin

 Our Finished Masterpieces!!

 Mom's ghost pumpkin

 Daddy's awesome witch
(and my crafts I made; me and some friends get together every couple months and make a new craft for the holiday/season.)

Lincoln's blue angry boy and Sequoia's green girl
(she wanted a boy pumpkin too, but settled for the Mrs. Potato head pieces. I think they turned out wonderful!!)

We finally have a PANTRY in our kitchen! I LOVE it!  It is so weird now to think we didn't have it the whole time. We also added the black handles and the crown moulding on the top of the cupboards.  It makes the kitchen look so different.  Our friend Colby did them for us.  (The kids adore Colby and his wife Juli.  They have watched the kids a couple times.  Lincoln actually cried one day when Colby left the house.) 

 The new tile and pantry.  We are done with big projects in the house for quite a while!:) 

Today was quite the stressful day!  I have hopefully a month from day until this little girl comes (I'm hoping to induce November 13).  I think I'm just getting nervous with the birth, planning, preparing, having the house perfectly ready, and then having a baby in the house.  It's been so long since I've done this, I'm kind of freaking out.  Maybe it was just a terrible day (conducting in RS, doing the attendance rolls, sending the sign up sheet around to everyone for Super Sat, making announcements in all the other areas, saying the closing prayer when that person left... I ended up being the only one in the presidency today unexpected.  I just about cried, but I made it!)  And now I'm in bed and tomorrow is another day.  I'm excited to start over:)