Growing

I was going to start a pregnancy blog-but just haven't had the time to do more then create the page, so for now I'll add them on here and if I get around to it, I'll move them over.
I am now 16 weeks along and loving being pregnant. I feel great (finally), my energy level is back to normal and I'm not too big to be uncomfortable. The past week or 2 it has become obvious that I haven't just being eating donuts and adding weight-but rather adding inches from a growing baby.


~Corrine kissing the baby~

I've been feeling the baby move for a few weeks, but they haven't been strong enough to feel by putting a hand on my stomach, until this week. Tonight I even felt hiccups-which because of the babies position (really low) felt pretty strange! The kids want to feel it kick, but haven't yet. I told them in a few weeks it will be strong enough for them to feel it.
Friday I went in for my 16 week check up. I was measuring right on, and the scale had slightly gone up some. (I struggle with gaining weight for the 1st 5 months-after that it's NO problem) The heart rate was 144 and really loud. Ammon came with me. I asked him what he was hearing, and he grinned from ear to ear and said "the babies heartbeat!"
This month bagels with cream cheese, cheetos and fruit punch gatorade are my favorites. I really don't have cravings-just LOTS of things that just don't appeal-mostly sweets. I'd rather eat fruits and veggies then sugar.
I set up the ultrasound for Feb 25th. The kids are more then excited to go get a "peak" at the baby. Ammon told me that my belly button is the spot where you can look in and see the baby. I told him I wish we could do that.
This weekend Corrine and I did a very good clean out of her room. We are going to need to rearrange things in her room for the crib. There isn't enough room for the changing table, so we're going to use the dresser for the changing table and she likes to put things up there, so were working really hard on keeping it cleaned off. She told Papa tonight she's always going to keep it this clean, and she told me that at the end of the month we can get the baby clothes out.
We are all very excited to find out what the baby is. As the day draws near we'll have a prediction as to what the kids think it will be. As of now they all want to have their "Lucy", so they can play Narnia and have all 4 of the kids!

Escaping Hibernation

Today was the most BEAUTIFUL day we've had in months. The temps reached 50*. Spirits were lifted high. It was a SPRING day in Iowa.

~Simeon playing football with Joe and dad~


~Corrine going on a scooter ride around the block~


~Ammon found a puddle~

Corrine and I had been wanting to walk around to a few houses to sell cookies, but it's been so cold we hadn't been able to until today. Corrine & Ammon both got on their scooters and went around the block with me. Ammon had dressed in head to toe snow clothes because that's ALWAYS what he has to do to go outside, and partway through our walk he had to take the jacket off. On our walk he found a puddle of melted snow. He stuck his hands into it, and they got cold. Corrine asked if he wanted her mittens. So she took them off and gave them to him. He promptly stuck his hands back in the water and guess what-they got WET! Then it became a game and getting them wet and then wringing them out. By the time we got home his toes and fingers were red from being so cold.

We were so spoiled today with a hint of what is to come in a few weeks. The temps are suppose to drop back into the 20*, so this day was so nice.

BUBBLES BUBBLES BUBBLES

Tonight in the bath Corrine & Ammon had fun with lots of sudsy bubbles from shampoo. Somehow they were able to get it to really bubble up, and they were covered from head to toe.


I had to run fresh water and rinse them off many times to get all the shampoo out of their hair. But hey they were definitely clean!!


I think this picture of Ammon was too cute to not post. He wanted the bubbles away from his eyes, and as soon as I cleaned his face off he added more bubbles to his head resulting in more bubbles by his eyes.

The PERFECT day for sledding

Today we went sledding with some friends from MOMS Club. It was the nicest day we have had in weeks. It was 41 degrees, blue sky, bright sun, and because of the temperature the snow was starting to melt. This made it easier to make a fast path and to make jumps that stayed together for the whole time.

On our way there we were watching the temperature in the van and Corrine kept saying over and over "It's hot!" I'm not sure 41 degrees qualifies as "HOT", but compared to -30 with wind chills, 41 degrees was "HOT" to us!



I wasn't sure which of the kids would like sledding the best and it was a 3-way tie! They all LOVED sledding. The hill we were at was the perfect size for the kids. Big enough to get some good speed and to go for long enough, but not too big to be intimidated. I went down a few times, but coming back up the hill totally exhausted me.



We could only find one sled, so we brought along some blow up pool toys. The little blow up raft was the favorite one. The intertube we brought was so little that the kids were too big for it, but some of the younger kids liked it.



Corrine and Leah had a fun time going together on their gigantic tube. It hoovered over the snow and hardly made a path.


After we had enough sledding (or rather I was to tired to stand anymore) we walked around the corner to one of our friends house for fresh baked gingerbread and hot cocoa. It was the perfect way to end a perfect sledding day.

Longing...

for more bright sunny warm days to open the doors and let the sun in. It was a beautiful day with the temperature hitting 40 degrees.

Back to school

HIP HIP HOORAY-today the kids get to go back to school!! They ended up with only a 2 day school week last week. Weds we had a snow day because of a snowstorm during the early morning hours. Thursday and Friday school was cancelled due to extremely cold temps. The high for the day was -10 with wind chills down to -30. Those temps are dangerous in just a short amount of time-so the kids got to stay home.

We stayed pretty occupied during the 6 days the kids were home and we were mostly cooped up in the house. We watched movies, played Wii, played board games, read books, cooked, and cleaned.

Corrine loves to make us cards and write us notes inside. She also drew a palm tree and a coconut on this card.


Simeon won the trophy in the jousting competition-they did that with light sabers and there were no injuries or fatalities reported!


Corrine & Ammon both enjoyed getting all jeweled up playing Pretty Pretty Princess-Simeon played, but just left his jewelry on the ground!


Our enchilada making station. The kids all made their own enchiladas-leaving rice out of them. We made a total of 20 pork enchiladas Friday afternoon. Most got frozen for later dinners. The ones we ate were oh so good!!! I love to load them with pulled pork, black beans, corn, rice, cheddar cheese and lots of sauce.

On Thursday the kids wanted to make chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies- so we started getting ingredients out and realized that we only had 2 TBS of butter in the house. We had Crisco though. So we ended up making peanut butter cookies, with and without chocolate chips to satisfy everyone. They turned out good despite not having enough butter!

Yesterday we had a big push to get the house cleaned. Each of the kids had their chores to do.

Simeon cleaned the hall bathroom, cleaned his room, and vacuumed the stairs. Corrine cleaned her room, cleaned mom & dads bathroom, and vacuumed the hallway. Ammon emptied the bathroom trash cans, made his bed and emptied the silverware from the dishwasher. They also all put away their laundry.
Ammon was so excited to do his chores that he tried to start emptying the trashcans Sunday night. I told him we don't do work on Sundays, so he put it away. Monday morning he saw the chore chart and raced to empty the trash cans. He is a great helper-when he's in the mood.
Then in the afternoon when the temps hit the high teens they went outside to play in the snow. They hadn't been outside to play in well over a week-they were so excited to get out!

And today it's just Ammon and mom. Quiet-but nice-the way it's suppose to be during the day!

Laundry RULES

A few months back I bought a very stylish 3 part clothes sorter/hamper. The kids caught on pretty quick about which clothes go in which spot. Ammon will still ask sometimes even though he knows-just to be cute! I am pretty picky that they have to put their clothes right side out to have them be washed-or they end up in front of their door unwashed. (Tough love I know!)


A few weeks back I decided it was time the kids also put away their own laundry. I fold it and put the ones to be hung up in their basket-but then they are in charge of putting them away. I even went so far as to label each basket with their names- so they could tell real quick which was theirs. (I don't think Corrine would ever have a problem finding her basket with all the pink she has in it!)

It's been a few weeks and the novelty hasn't worn off yet. Simeon & Corrine will see who can put thier clothes away the quickest. Ammon thought he could be the fastest last week by dumping all his clothes on his floor, then returning his basket to my bed!
Ammon loves on laundry day to check my bed and see if his basket has clothes in it. If it does he right away carries it by himself to his room to put them away. He needs more help then the others do-but for being only 3 1/2 years he's doing awesome! Corrine needs the least help-even hanging them up, and Simeon needs guidance with hanging his shirts up.
I'm trying to help them learn valuable lifeskills, but also to help ease the load this summer when the baby comes.