What Did Your Amazing Husband Do This Weekend?

My amazing husband put in the edging stones around the flower bed, added some sprinklers, and laid down a path from the porch to the kids' playground.  I keep going to the backyard just to see what a great job he did.  See how level and perfect that path is?  I love it, and I can't wait until the filler between the stones sets up enough that we can walk on it. I might look for excuses to walk to the playground.  Up next: putting down the ground cover, planting a snowball bush, some lavender, and tomatoes, then covering it all with mulch.

Progress Report

Fence - Done!  It is absolutely finished!  It's so nice to let Sadie outside without worrying about her running off, and to let the kids play, knowing they're contained as well.  We still have some clean up to do: resetting the sprinklers, filling in the gaps by the mow strip, etc., but it is just so wonderful to finally have a fence.

Homeschool - Alyssa is done with Math, Science, and History.  We have a lot of Language Arts lessons left, so we'll be focusing on those for the next few weeks, then once those are done, we'll go into summer school mode.  Summer school will just be practicing math facts, along with regrouping and borrowing, reading books and doing story maps and book reports, and working on the spelling words we'll be missing in the next couple of weeks from doing language Arts so fast.  Once the baby comes, summer school will be over, and we'll enjoy our official summer vacation.

Nursery - We haven't done anything in the nursery lately.  The fence has taken top priority.  We need to set up the crib, put up the curtains, put in the changing table, etc.  I did get some cute outfits on Clearance at target last week, so I think this little girl only needs a few more pajamas and some cute summer time onesies, and she'll be taken care of clothes-wise for a while.

Pregnancy - Only eight weeks left!  Sometimes that feels so close, and other times it feels forever away.  Today marks 55 days until my due date, and I can't wait.  For a while I was doing really well with trying not to throw up in the mornings, but now it's getting harder. Oh, I just can't wait until this is all over.  I have a huge list of things I want to eat after the baby comes, because once I'm not pregnant anymore, I'll actually be able to enjoy eating.  But don't ask me what's on the list, because I won't be able to pinpoint something - it's basically comprised of everything.

Sadie - We've discovered that Sadie likes to bite.  I know, all puppies like to bite, but she really likes to play rough.  She's a smart dog, and she's doing really well with her training.  The only problem is that she sees the kids as large, loud chew toys, and she doesn't back down once she starts playing rough.  We had someone come from Pawsitive Effects Dog Training, and she worked with us for an hour or so on how to get Sadie to back down.  It's helping a lot, and I'm glad we had her come.  I've been working with Sadie on "Leave it" and "Drop it," and responding always to having her name called, and she's catching on.  She's getting better on a leash now, too.  Our walks started out just going around the back yard, then around the cul-de-sac, and this morning, we went a full mile around the neighborhood.  She still likes to cuddle before bed time, and she definitely likes to be with us when we're working outside.

Yard - Now that the fence is complete, we have tons of ideas for the yard.  A pergola in the back corner, flower beds and vegetables all along the fence, Ethan wants a trampoline but that ain't gonna happen, etc.  The main problem is that we ran out of project money building the fence, and the next couple months of our Usable Savings needs to be stockpiled to pay to have the baby.  I've already paid the doctor for the whole pregnancy, but we have no idea what the hospital bill is going to be, and that scares me.  We've got the enthusiasm and momentum from getting that fence up, though, so whatever project that doesn't take a lot of money will at least be started.  We have one flower bed that we've already bought the edging stones for, so that's going to be put together first.  Mostly I'm just excited to have a place to turn some sprinklers on and let the kids play this summer.  It's going to be wonderful.

Wonderful Weekend

On Thursday Brian and I went in for my ultrasound.  We're 100% sure now that our baby is a girl, and of course, she's very cute.  I wish the picture I took of the picture turned out better, but, well, that's what happens when you take a picture of a picture.  This must be why I can look at other 4D ultrasound pictures online and think the babies look like blobby aliens, but I stare and stare at the original copy the doctors office gave me and think, "She's so beautiful!"

Friday we got up early to (finally!) pour the cement for the mow strip for our fence.  It was exciting to watch it go in, but it was stressful to try to get it all in and smooth before our time with the truck ran out and the concrete dried.  John (the guy in the yellow shirt) was amazing!  First of all, he's a contractor, so he's the one that arranged to have the cement truck come on such short notice.  We were going to borrow a truck from Brian's dad and just get a rental cement trailer from Pasco Rentals, but we were having a hard time getting the truck at the same time we could get help to pour the cement.  So John said, "No, you don't want to do that," and called to get a truck to come to us, and he came over to help.  He was the one that took the time to smooth the patio where we're going to put a pergola.  Watching him, Brian and I realized that we didn't have a clue as to what to do for that, and if it was left up to us, the patio would have looked horrible.  As it is with John's help, it's beautiful!

Once we were done with the concrete, Brian loaded up the boys in the van and drove to Spokane.  Our friend, Will, was running a half marathon, and he had to bring his son with him, so Brian went to keep an eye on Grant while Will was running.  The boys had a blast!  They swam in the hotel pool, played in the park, rode a carousel, and just had a great time relaxing.  Brian said the best part of the trip was not having any responsibilities - they could just do what they wanted without worrying about being anywhere at certain times and things like that.

Alyssa and I also enjoyed our time alone.  We went to my sister's house for a cousin play of "Sleeping Beauty," went out to dinner at Teriyaki Grill, got our hair cut, picked up some goodies and a movie, watched Megamind while eating those goodies, went to ballet with my niece Marian, and went out shopping for some Spring and Summer clothes for Alyssa, which she was badly in need of.  Before we went to sleep on Friday, Alyssa said that it was the best day ever and that she loved spending special time with me.  I loved it too!

While we were out at Red Robin after shopping at Target, Brian sent me this picture and said, "We're having fun."

So I sent him this picture back, saying, "So are we."

It really was a great weekend.

Yeah, I Guess It's Not A Good Idea To Hide The Candy In My Closet

Marcus can get into everything.  I have to lock the pantry and the fridge, and even that doesn't stop him sometimes.  Last week, after I told him he couldn't have an yogurt (or yo-yug, as he calls it), I found him hiding behind a chair in the quiet room, happily downing a tub of vanilla yogurt - his favorite.  I called my parents house to rant for a minute, and my sister-in-law, Erin, answered.  She suggested putting the refrigerator on top of the roof.  My mom says that it probably wouldn't do any good.

These are all my maternity clothes.  My real clothes are folded on the shelf for the time being.

So we hide the candy on the top shelf of our closet.  It's not exactly hidden, but there's no way for the kids (i.e. Marcus) to reach them.  Although there was one time that he drug a chair in from the school room to try.  As you might be able to see, Brian buys his candy in bulk.  Red Vines from Costco, large boxes of Cadbury eggs (He brought home regular for me and caramel for him.  His are gone.), and hidden behind the vitamins and under the licorice are boxes of chocolate covered cherries he got me for Christmas.  There's also a box of Phineas and Ferb candy I got for Easter, but Marcus found it before the Easter Bunny could distribute it, so it just became family candy.

The point to all of this is what is missing from the picture.  There used to be a semi-full bag of Kit Kats sitting on those two folded sweaters.  It wasn't bulk, though - not that big.  Anyway, I got out of the shower this morning, and I was feeling pretty sick.  I knew I had to eat something right away, or I would throw up.  So I grabbed a Kit Kat from the top of the closet, ate it, and thought, "This is so good."  And then I finished the bag off while I got dressed.

I guess the real question here is: Who's going to hide the candy from me?

30 Weeks on Mother's Day

 Yesterday, on Mother's Day, I officially completed thirty weeks of this pregnancy.  Thirty weeks, with seventy days on the count down until my due date.  We're getting there!  I've been trying really hard lately to not throw up in the morning, so I'm down to throwing up just once every few days.  I've discovered that sitting in the passenger seat in the car makes me really sick, so yesterday I started driving even when Brian is with me.  (I guess I knew that it made me sick a long time ago, but yesterday was the first time I decided to do something about it.  It helped a lot.)  It takes me five minutes to roll over in bed now, and even longer to get out of bed.  Okay, that's an exaggeration, but it feels like five minutes.  I waddle more often than I walk.  The baby is big enough and strong enough for us to be able to watch my tummy bounce and stretch from her movements.  I suppose this all means that this pregnancy is well under way.  I have a 3D ultra sound scheduled for Thursday, and I'm so excited.  Our insurance doesn't cover ultra sounds, so we were thinking of canceling it, but I've never had a 3D one before, and this is our last baby, so last night Brian and I decided to go ahead and do it.

So this is the first belly shot I took when I was around six weeks along.  This was back when I was so excited to be pregnant and I just knew that this pregnancy was going to be different.  I wasn't sick yet, I was still running three miles every day, and at this point I decided that I was going to write in a pregnancy journal and take a belly picture every week.  Other than yesterday and today, though, this is the only belly picture I've taken.  But having such a large gap in between pictures sure shows that difference!

This next picture I took this morning.  I took a couple yesterday, but I forgot to turn the flash off my camera, so they didn't turn out so well.  Please ignore my scuzzy hair and such.  I ran out of clean underwear, so I'm waiting until my clothes are out of the dryer to take a shower.

Anyway, I am so excited to have gotten this far.  Every day I go to bed thinking, "One more day done.  I made it through another day."  On days when it's warm and sunny outside, and it feels like summer is coming, it feels like it's so close to when we'll get our baby.  Also, with the dog and home school keeping me busy, each week is flying by, so I know we'll be at the end soon. 

When You Have A Puppy...

...you wash loads and loads of laundry (especially towels from cleaning up puddles) but never get around to folding those clothes.

...you trip over a fluffy black mess of energy while preparing breakfast, lunch, and dinner, because that fluffy black mess of energy loves you a whole lot, even after you step on her tail.

...you find yourself saying, "Sadie, don't bite!" ten thousand times a day, and as you pry a dirty sock from her mouth you find yourself wondering why you spent big bucks on chew toys and rope toys and kong toys when for the most part, they're ignored.

...you watch from your dining room window as your kids build a boat out of the playground set and the dogs follows them around the yard, wagging her little tail.

...you end up with a huge dog crate in your bedroom and another dog crate in the school room and still search Craigslist for another one to go in the family room.  You look at the family room, which doesn't have a couch, but has a a large, circular dog pillow from Costco, and wonder why the dog has more furniture in the house than you do.

and of course

...you never blog, because you have a brand new baby to take care of, and unlike human babies, puppies can walk and bite and chew and need constant - CONSTANT - supervision when they're not in their kennel to keep them from piddling on the floor.

*     *     *

So we've learned a lot since getting Sadie two weeks ago.  Puppies are a lot of work!  Between Sadie and the kids and home school and household chores and being in charge of Activity Days at church, I don't have a minute to spare.  I'm currently writing this blog post while the kids are having read-aloud time, and now they're actually done and I need to do Phonics with the boys while Alyssa reads silently.

Having a puppy is not all bad, though.  Sadie is down to waking up just once or twice a night to go potty, and Brian takes one shift and I take the other, so I'm not as tired as I was last week.  As you can tell from our multiple dog crates, we've gotten more serious about kennel training in the last week or so, and it's cut down on the amount of accidents in the house, and it's also helped Sadie to be a part of the family when we need to concentrate on things other than her (like breakfast, lunch, dinner, and school) while keeping her from wandering around the room, chewing on things she's not supposed to chew on.  The last couple of days, she's slept happily in her crate while we do a little bit of school, then she and the kids take a recess in the back yard, then we're back to school for a while, then another recess, etc.  The kids are enjoying it, of course, because they never got so many recesses before Sadie came along.

I love watching Sadie play in the back yard with the kids.  I love cuddling up to her when she's sleepy before bed time.  Even though I trip over her, I love that she follows me around the kitchen, because it means she likes me.  Overall, we're really enjoying the new addition to our family, even though she is a lot of work.