I Looked Out the Window and What Did I See?

I L.O.V.E. our backyard. We back up to a small grove of trees and because of that, our backyard is also home to deer, racoons (who have helped themselves to our trash many times), wild turkeys (this is the only animal we haven't yet seen with our own eyes, only neighbors have seen them), garden snakes (I found this out the first time I weeded our landscaping beds as he came out to say hello...eww), and these little creatures that Daddy caught for the girls to keep as pets for a little while:

A cricket named Chipper...

And a frog named Flower... who we actually saw eating that fly in his water dish. The girls were pretty fascinated with it, surprisingly.

Is Summer Over Yet?

I think I'm ready for kids to go back to school. Hallie's getting pretty anxious for school to start, but I'm pretty sure that this Mommy's even more excited. During the school year, I only have to be the following:

• Mommy
• Maid
• Chauffeur
• Cook
• Disciplinary
  
• Boo-boo kisser
• Mess cleaner (caution, this does include cleaning wet puddles not caused by water, for this reason I have not put it in the "Maid" category)
• Teacher
• Tea-party guest
• Reader
• Friend/Playmate
  
• Bather
  
• Wife (sorry Cam but you always seem to come last :( thanks for being a good sport about it!)
  

But in the summer time, my jobs seem to multiply by adding one busy, time consuming, creative job: the ENTERTAINER and I think I'm all out of ideas for the summer. I'm pregnant, hot, tired and lazy, so I feel like closing up shop and putting out my "closed for the year" sign. We've been to water parks, pools, the beach, the zoo, splash pads, parks, parks and more parks, the zoo again, the beach again, friends houses, and even a fair here and there.

Every once in a while we'll have a hot or rainy day that keeps us indoors so I scramble to come up with a few activities for them to do: a craft, painting, playdoh, a puppet show, and a tea party. "Phew!" I think that will keep them busy for most of the day. An hour later, they've finished my brilliant activities and are chanting these words that are quickly becoming swear words in my mind: "I'm bored!"

So the past few days we have had incredibly hot temps here--and I mean so hot that there are heat advisories every day-- and being the worn out Mommy that I am, the girls have had to come up with ways to keep them--and the lazy Mommy-to-be-again-- entertained. This is what they came up with...

Yes, those are straws. Why didn't I think of that!? For this adorably cute and creative reason, I've decided to open up shop again... just for a couple more weeks, the Entertainer is back in session. My customers are just too funny to ignore.

7 Months Prego

Or 28 weeks for those of you who are counting... okay I know I'm the only one, but I went to my doc appt. today and everything is going well. It's a little nerve wrecking to see the words "quick labor/deliveries" written in large print on the inside of your folder and every appt. I seem to see a new doctor in the practice so each of them make their comments about how quick my deliveries are and they always remind me that with this next one, I shouldn't waste time at home, I need to get into the hospital quick.

I should tell you though, that I really don't think my labors are that quick, Hallie's was the average 10 hours and Sydnee's was 4, so only one has been quick, but I wasn't worried about this one until the doc. reminds me to go into the hospital as soon as I know I'm in labor. I feel like shouting OKAY!!! I GET IT!!! Oh well, I'm not going to worry about it until it's time. Plus, an under-four-hour-labor is what I'm hoping for anyhow, what's so bad about that!?

Raspberry Picking

I wanted to take the kids raspberry picking so we could make homemade jam, so we turned it into a playgroup event... sort of. We went to a lady's house in our ward who let us pick some of her raspberry's and it was so fun. They have a huge garden in the back so the kids and I went to town and collected about 2 lbs. of raspberries in under 30 minutes. They were literally falling off the plant they were so ripe. Brother Talbot's showing Hallie which ones to pick.

We went with my friend, Tiffany and her kids too. Anna and Sydnee add to our bucket.

Six Months Prego

24 weeks and growing....


This pregnancy has been so much more enjoyable than the girls' were. I feel great and the best part about it is I've only gained about 16 pounds so far and it's all in my belly... woo hoo! All the running I did before getting pregnant and during the first four months seems to have paid off. Not that I'm doing much of any exercise now, I selfishly hope that my good streak continues.

I've been so busy throughout this pregnancy that I really haven't had time to think about how many weeks I have left until I walked into JoAnn's the other day and they had all the Halloween decorations out on the shelves!! I literally stopped and I think I may have had a slight panic attack. Do you know what that means? I'm due days before Halloween and now taht stores are stocking their shelves for that holiday means I'm due a lot quicker than I thought! Naturally my panic continued as I walked faster through the isles of the store collecting the fabric, thread, and glue sticks I needed to quickly finish the things I wanted to make for this little guy. I hurried home and got to work and within a few days I finally finished most of the little stuff I wanted to make:

binky straps: I'm tired of stores only having one kind that fit all brands except the one binky that my child happens to use; Yes two of these are for a baby girl that I made for my friend who's due next week but I couldn't help but post them too since they turned out so darling.

baby hats: you can never have enough of these! Again, the two girl hats are for my friend.

and these cute little onesies: saw them online and I just had to have them for my little man.

Still working on that blanket, but we'll get there some day since I think these little treasures cured my temporary panic attack for now.

On another note, we've decided on a name for this little guy and before I say what name we've chosen, you must know that this has never happened before. With our other two, I would practically beg Cam to go through the baby names book to pick a few names he likes and you'd think I was asking him to give up a kidney. So the week before I am due is when he finally sits down with me and chooses a name but only because he's literally running out of time. This time around it's been quite different, obviously since I'm only 25 weeks and we've already settled on a name! So this is me writing it down in case this never happens again. I secretly think we've chosen a name so early because Cam is so thrilled it's a boy, but I'll take it any way I can get it!

We're going to name him Bentley Cameron Voge. We just love that name and I love that it's different. Can't wait to meet the little guy.