Why women who are 9 months pregnant shouldn't cook!

Today I am making a potato salad for a luncheon tomorrow after Candy's baby blessing. I put the eggs in a pot of water and started the fire. There was one cracked egg in the carton so I took it out to the dog. All of a sudden I feel my belly burning. Matt was outside by the dog's kennel and I call out, "Why is my belly burning?" At the same time he is staring at me saying, "Why are you on fire?" I quickly put it out baffled at how I did that. I guess I was just standing too close to the fire after I lit it. I really liked this maternity outfit too!

Angelique's creativity

This afternoon Angelique decided that she wanted to make some Barbie clothes. So she found some of her old holey socks and made some clothes out of them. She hand stitched them with needle and thread. She did a pretty impressive job, if I say so myself.

Boysenberry season

The boysenberries in our patch out front were ripe and ready to be picked. I decided this year that I want to try boysenberry freezer jam. We were able to pick almost 6 cups of berries to make a pint jar plus three 1 1/2 cup bags of jam. It is so tasty and yummy.

Like sister, like brother

Beau has learned from the best how to make messes. I left Jileigh to babysit one afternoon this week and Beau escaped out back and managed to dump fertilizer all over the picnic table and the ground. Jileigh got to clean it up.

One miserable night of False Labor!

Yesterday afternoon I started with some contractions but very inconsistent, like 1 per hour. So I made bread, prepared the song list for Relief Society for June, and figured out and downloaded my hypnobirthing CD on the new MP3 player that I just bought yesterday on the way home from my appointment. I knew I needed to take care of some priorities. By the time I was ready for bed, I was having contractions 10 minutes apart. I fell asleep from 11:30 to 12:10 and woke up to a hard contractions. Again they started coming between 20 and 5 min apart. I slept from about 3am to 4am and then had some more painful strong contraction 10 minutes apart until 5:30am. I lost my mucus plug at 4:30 and thought that just maybe they would be more consistent, but they weren't. Matt left to work at 5am and I slept again from 5:30 to 8:30am. So here I am at 9:30am still pregnant and no contractions. I we move on. Now I get to clean my kitchen from yesterday's baking and cooking. I was looking forward to not having to do it, thinking I would be in the hospital holding my new baby.

almost 39 weeks check-up

Well, I am almost 39 weeks and my doctor says it could be anytime now. I am dilated between 2 1/2 and 3 cm. He went ahead and stripped my membranes. Hopefully I will be done being pregnant soon.

Sunday afternoon fun

All I can say is that my kids are goofy.

Baby stuff ready!

Saturday I went to Target to buy some Cheer Free and spent the rest of the day washing baby clothes and blankets, the car seat, the swing, and the bassinet. Now I feel a little more prepared and that this really is going to happen soon. I filled up one bin with 0-3 month clothes and the other with 3-6 month clothes. I think I'm good on clothes!

Progress report at 37 1/2 weeks

Today was my doctor's appointment. Matt was able to go with me because it was 45 minutes before he had to be to work. Anyway, my belly measured 37 cm. I was 50% effaced and dilated to almost 2 cm. My blood pressure was normal and I gained 3 pounds in a week and a half. I ate too many carbs this past weekend. I have been having a lot of braxton hicks lately. Again, progress is good and exciting. I guess I should start thinking about pulling out the baby clothes and baby paraphernalia from the attic and get them all washed and ready.

(Picture taken at 38 weeks)

Beginning of summer fun!

A lady at Matt's work brought this Bonzi slide to him to borrow for a little while. Most of the kids were feeling better today, so Matt set it up. Angelique is the only one still sick. She sat on the porch swing so pitiful saying that she wished she weren't sick. The kids had a lot of fun on it.

Memorial Day weekend.

We went to the ranch for Memorial Day weekend. We left Saturday early afternoon. It always seems to take us way too long to get out of the house. Talon was sick with fever the day before, but the fever seemed to have passed and so off we went. It wasn't raining when we got there and unloaded, but it rained the rest of the day. The kids still had fun though. Their favorite thing to do in the basement is to play with all the dress up clothes. Talon was still pretty sick and slept most of the day. Sunday morning I had Jileigh help me get the kids bathed and then we went to sacrament meeting at the local town. The day was sunny so the kids got to go down the zipline several times each. They even had Beau go down it. They told me afterwards. I would have loved to have taken a picture of it. Monday was a beautiful day too. Matt and his cousin Dave worked on building a new ladder to get up to the zipline over the pond. I helped clean up as much as I could in the basement and main floor living room. I couldn't even begin to go in the kitchen. The other ladies had all sorts of cleaners being sprayed to clean the oven and the cupboards. Talon was able get up some and play with the kids, but still didn't have much of an appetite. We drove home that evening and made hamburgers for dinner. Then we all crashed in bed. Sorry I was lame and didn't take any pictures.

Tuesday morning Jileigh, Talon, Angelique, and Jaren were all sick running fevers. They watched TV and slept a lot that day. Tuesday the fevers were mild, but they were still down with no appetite. By Wednesday, Talon, Jileigh and Jaren feeling better, but still coughing. Angelique is still down with a fever. I basically have to make her drink and eat a little bit of food. Amazingly, Safia and Beau haven't shown any signs of sickness. Usually the littlest ones are the most susceptible.

Last day of school!

Hooray! Today was the last day of school!!! I get to sleep in!!!!! Actually, Talon woke up with a fever and had to stay home today. They weren't doing anything anyway. I just went down there to get his report card. Jaren had a water party and Angelique's class just played games. Jileigh goes to the intermediate school and they only had a half day so that they could sign yearbooks. Today were are getting ready to go to the ranch tomorrow. We are really hoping Talon feels better then.

Meal masterpiece #2 - Chicken enchiladas

Yes, that is TWO 9 x 13 casserole dishes to feed my crew. One has the green enchilada sauce on it and the other does not so my little kids will actually eat it. We ate about 3/4th of it and had enough for lunch leftovers. Matt loves to be able to take leftovers to work. Several of the workers like to come around him and check out what he brought that day for lunch. Matt recently had a work party, and I received several compliments on what Matt brings to work for lunch.

36 week check up

Today I had my 36 week check up. I measured 36cm on my belly, I was 30% effaced, dilated to 1 cm, and the baby is head down in position. Progress is good!

Girls night!

Friday night, Matt took off with all three boys to the Fathers and sons overnight camp out. Marni, my sister, with her three youngest girls came to stay overnight with us on her way down to see my parents. We had a nice visit and the kids played well together. The boys made it home Saturday morning in time to see them before they left. (You can see our little guinea pig in the picture in front of Beau's shoe.)

Chicken broccoli noodle casserole

This post is for me. I just had to take a picture of my masterpiece. Some people can draw, paint, scrapbook. I create large, masterpiece, tasty meals for my big eaters. That is my little talent. I also love to share my recipes; so if you are interested in this one, just email me.

Jileigh's band concert

On Wednesday, May 13th was Jileigh's Spring band concert. She has really enjoyed learning how to play the flute. We rented a flute this year from the school with its little problems, but it worked out ok. I have been keeping tabs on craigslist hoping to buy her one someday.

Happy 2nd Birthday Beauchene!

Since Beau's birthday was on a Monday, we had a Family Home Evening with Ben and Nate's families and Matt's mom. I gave the lesson on testimony based on Elder Oaks talk in April 2008 conference. It went over really well. Then we had the party. I forgot to practice with Beauchene on how to blow out a candle. After relighting them 3 times from other kids blowing them out, we finally just let all the kids blow them out together. Beauchene never could understand what he was suppose to do. He kept trying to touch the flames instead. I can't believe my baby is 2 years old. That little guy is the love of my life. He is such a joy to have in our family.

34 Weeks - Only 6 weeks left!

One Hot Momma! I have happily gained 50 pounds since getting pregnant! Fortunately, my dear husband tells me that I am beautiful in all my different stages, shapes, and sizes. People in public say to me, 'Looks like you are due any day now.' NOT quite yet!

Jaren's Kindergarten program

Jaren had his End-of-the-year kindergarten program on Wednesday. They sang several patriotic songs. They got to design their own t-shirt for it. He had a good time.