My little Girl

We went to get our 2nd and "real" ultrasound on Wednesday. Poor Steve had to stay in the car with the kids because all kids have been banned from the office thanks to H1N1. The technician said its made a HUGE difference and there has been a lot less sickness. I'm glad for that but sad Steve had to miss Heidi and her gymnastics.

Everything was great. She decided that she was going to roll up into a ball so her feet were clear above her head!!! It was hilarious. She refused to move for a while so it was hard to get a few things like a picture of the umbilical cord but it was sure funny to see her playing peek a boo. She even covered her face with her hands a few times!!

They still have her due date as the 8th of March which isn't quite as good as February 20th but whatever works. I supposed I can wait a couple extra weeks until she's born... HAHAHA. We'll see how I feel then.

Anyway, here's a picture of the ultrasound. I LOVE the picture of the toes!! And just so you know, you want to scan an ultrasound in grayscale and not black & white... works better.

Update

Just so you know before grabbing the torch and pitchforks, Andy just has a cold. My other kids had one - he decided to get a fever. We checked him out at the doctor today and he has no strep and no flu. We wouldn't have taken him out if he'd had his fever at the time. So don't hurt me. :)

The Money Flu

Want to know how to get rid of the flu? According to Andy its by winning money... here's how he came to his conclusion.

Last night (Sunday) after the farewell party for the Kelley's, Andy decided to have a fever. And not just a small one. 102 was where I finally just stopped. My kids are great at wearing themselves completely out, end up with a fever and headache and by morning they're up and ready to go. I was HOPING that's what it was.

Nope. 8:00 rolled around and poor Andy still had a fever. This time a little higher. He still wasn't very hungry but ate okay. We kept him home from school like good parents - or so we thought. We got a phone call from the school informing us that Andy had sold the most items in the whole school for Sally Foster!!! So they asked if we would be willing to run him to the school for a 30 second chance in the money machine. He managed to catch $13 but the fundraiser lady gave him $20!! He felt MUCH better after that. We told him it was just enough to get Lego Batman if he wanted it - or he could decide on something else.

The kids went down for a nap with Steve and I went to pick up Jakob. Andy woke up happy, alert and feeling better. So off we went to Jakob's school's carnival. Jakob had a BLAST with his friends and we all enjoyed ourselves. Andy had no appetite but the others ate their fair share of pizza. They played with hula hoops. Here are a few pictures.

I wish I could figure out how you get video on here because I have an awesome one of Gavin doing his hula and a nice little dance in between. They had a blast.

We even tried our hand at the auction. We had a gift certificate for our store that sold for $20 which is cool. I did get a desk and chair set but someone came in after the auction was supposed to be done and outbid me - which is what they saw when they came to "close it." Oh well. Why? Because I got what I REALLY wanted.

With 15 minutes left to go in the auction I sat right by the baby basket I wanted. The principal wanted it for his daughter's new baby and a few others were interested in it. I played the sympathy card and it helped that my round belly is rather noticeable. So no one bid after I did and I got it. After wondering if the basket was worth it we took it apart. We totally got our money's worth and so much more!!! Heidi's going to be in good shape with supplies when she's born - although I'm thinking one package of diapers may not cut it. ;) But I was thrilled.

Afterwards we let Andy get Lego Batman. In the car he declared "I think this was a Money Flu because as soon as I got money I felt much better!!!" What a cute boy I have! Unfortunately by the time we got home and were ready for bed, he was starting to shiver and was slightly warm. Poor kid. Off to bed he went after a happy day in the life of Andy. So I apologize to everyone we were around. We wouldn't have brought him out and about if he hadn't been doing better!

The Results are In...

So here is where I would put the cute little ultrasound picture to help us show what we're having - except that our scanner has gone on strike and won't work...

The answer is: 64% of you were right! We're having a girl.... Or at least we about 95% positive we are. That little girl wanted to be very modest and we could only get glimpses. But there were certain parts that were definitely missing. The technician even tried tickling her with the ultrasound tool to get her to move around. She sure kicked a lot but refused to show her immodesty. Such a good girl. :)

We also found out that we have to wait an extra two weeks for Heidi Pearl to grace us with her presence!! She is due on March 8th now which is fine because our birthdays in our family will be March, April, May, and July. :)

We will go in again on the 21st to check all the vitals and measurements etc since 18 weeks is a little too early to look closely at her heart chambers, etc. I'm excited to see her again in two weeks. :)

Good job all 64% of you that voted! Only Andy was a little sad to not get a brother but otherwise everyone was very excited. Ashley's SOOOOO excited to get a sister! And I can't wait to redecorate the nursery. ;)

POLL TIME!!!

Well its that time in, uh, life again! We get to have an ultrasound done on Monday the 5th so I decided it was time to start a poll. Boy or girl? Not sure if I have a prize. I'll think about that part. Now, remember that even though you know what I WANT, make sure you vote for what YOU think we'll have. :) Due date is February 20th.

In unrelated news, we finally have a store for our store. And it should be open by the end of October... we hope. :) Its been a long time in coming but we're very excited and can't wait to get started!! Website is www.dragonsandfairytales.com

Kids are doing awesome. Life is good. Its rainy outside... I'm done. Don't forget to vote!!!

The Wedding Cake (and Wedding)

My sister got married this last weekend and we wanted to make it a nice celebration for her.  Everyone pitched in and did the different preparations.  Invitations, flowers, decorating, etc.  My job? The cake - which is why I have so many pictures of it. :)  I had lots of help and with my sisters and Mom we ended up making a great cake!!!  Here are some pictures of both the cake and the wedding.

I made the lilies a few days before out of gum paste.  So first a picture of those:

I was going to try the fondant for the two styrofoam layers at home before leaving for Idaho but it was rough because there was too much icing.  So off it went and I waited till Idaho.  The first layer I had everyone helping me roll out to get the right size before putting it on the cake.  Kristen helped me smooth that part out! With help from Mom and Jill too. :)

The second layer I did myself and got the rolling out down better and smoothed it a little easier.   With critiques coming at me from family members I got that one smoothed out.  It was all in good fun and everything turned out great!!

Then on to the last layer which was the actual cake.  I've decided real cakes are SO much easier to put fondant on than styrofoam is! It just plopped right one and smoothed out perfectly.

 

Next came the stacking and the ribbons.  All of us made sure it was all even, and then it was time for the flowers:

And here is the finished product:

The ring ceremony was beautiful and my dad did a GREAT job with his speech and the ceremony part.  One that will never be forgotten - by anyone. ;)  Jeff and Rachelle looked so happy and Zoe and Emily were adorable in their white dresses with their flower baskets!!

The weather was perfect, the food was perfect, the decorations were perfect. It was great!!   Here are some of the pictures from the wedding. Sorry, they're a little smaller than the rest.  They didn't want to get bigger for some reason. It was a great day and I'm so happy we got to share it with Rachelle and Jeff. Congrats! We love you guys!!

     

My Soccer Girl

We've hoped since last year when Ashley started dribbling the ball between her feet, that she'd be good.  She didn't get it from me! Considering I've never played before. ;)

Last week she had a rough time. She didn't like being pushed around but held her own.  This week was a different story.  Daddy had a little pep talk with her and told her to go for the ball and run.  She did!!  

We missed her FIRST goal for various reasons.  The other team was great at scoring goals in our goal in between.  her teammates made several goals.  With a few minutes left to go in the game, Ashley decided to take over.  One time down the field she got within a few feet of the goal when the other team got it from her and scored - in our goal.   The next time down the field she was about to make a goal when a member of the other team decided to pick it up... Whoops!!  She decided to make up for it and took off down the field and kicked it in!  So the last time down the field she was running after her teammate who was about to score, he missed a kick, she took over and scored.  So yep, THREE goals for my little girl!! She just can't seem to stop beating the boys. ;)  That's my girl!!

Oh and just and FYI, this picture is from last week.  I wanted to get a picture of her adorable pigtails with the orange and blue ponytail holders but she took them out too fast!!  We decided they are her good luck charms!!!  She also had a super cute orange skirt too. Quite the clash. ;)

Conversations with 3 year olds

Sometimes I forget how much Gavin knows.  He started talking early and his first sentence at 15 months was "don't do dat!" Just as clear as can be.

So today I was trying to get Gavin to eat his spaghetti. He wants a ding dong for his dessert and knows there's two left.  I told him he needed to eat fast or someone would eat them.  He thought for a second and asked if Jakob and Andy were going to eat them.  I told him maybe a monkey would eat them.

He thought again for a second and started eating pretty fast.  

G:  Mommy, there are no monkeys in the house.

M: They could come through the front door. 

G: Monkeys only eat bananas.  

M: Well what if they want a Ding Dong?

G: They only like bananas!!

 

M: Well then maybe a cow.

G:  Cows only eat leaves.  No giraffes do.

M: How do you know giraffes eat leaves? 

G: I don't know.  Cows  say MOOOOO. Mommy say Moo(he wanted me to put food in his mouth).

A few minutes later he decided he better hurry and eat so that the monkeys won't come.   Guess it WAS the monkeys!!

Lightning Fears and Ear Infections

We've had interesting times in our home lately.  Well, with 5 kids and one on the way that's to be expected. Add 3 kids in soccer and getting a bookstore started up, we're quite busy! But that's not what I'm talking about.

Jakob had a HUGE fear of lightning storms for a while.  He watched the weather like a hawk and if there was even a slightly dark cloud he would get very anxious.  A few Sundays ago I thought he would have a meltdown because of the thunder booming. 

We had to talk to him many times and finally starting showing him that while yes, lightning is dangerous, you don't HAVE to be afraid of storms!  That started as we were driving to Ikea last week. The weather was TERRIBLE and he was looking at all the lightning.  We got out of the car and I had him inhale the wonderful smells that lightning and rain bring. He LOVED IT.

So then comes today.   He had a scrimmage for his Arsenal soccer team and it was rainy.  Lightning was everywhere and he sat there being goalie just as calm as could be. HE learned to enjoy the lightning.  I had to keep telling myself that I couldn't freak out for his sake. It worked for both of us!!  The lightning never got close but they did get dumped on.  Jakob was great and even stopped a goal with his head!!  So I was very proud of my son and his overcoming of his fear. If only I could do the same with heights and spiders...

On to the ear infections.   We have gone swimming a lot lately and forgot Ashley needed ear plugs with her tubes.  WAY TO GO MOM AND DAD!!  The first time we went, she complained about her ear and after that there was no problem.  Then we went to the lake last week. I didn't expect her to go under so I didn't worry... I forgot that I have 5 little fish.   

A couple days later her ears started draining. I was thrilled because I knew the tubes were doing their job and all was great - until Sunday in St. George when I noticed it wasn't so... fresh. BLECH.  So on our way home(We had an AWESOME time in St George by the way!!!), we took her to the doctor and got drops and medicine.  

Her ears are finally doing really well after 4 days of drops and medication.  One awesome thing came from all this.  My little 4 year old can count to 60!!! And I have to stop her a lot of times because she keeps on going.  Its because she had to let the drops soak in for 60 seconds so I had her count.  For the first few times she missed all the 4's.  She'd miss 15 and then 24, 34, and so on.  I noticed last night she was counting perfectly all the way!! Probably not the most ideal way to teach your child to count but it worked for her!!

New Table!!

Today we decided to go to Ikea (sorry Katy, I know you wanted to go!) to check out the bookshelves for good ones for our store.  We found some awesome ones and can't wait to get them.

We found a few really nice tables and fell in love with one. $599 wasn't too bad for the size but we knew we couldn't do that for now.

We were down next to the checkout and decided to check out the clearance items - and there was our table!! It was bein

g discontinued so we got it for WAY cheap and we were THRILLED.   After maneuvering things around in the car Steve managed to get the whole thing(gotta love Ikea and their do-it-yourselfness) in!! 

We got the whole thing put together and it is SO NICE... Here is the table we had before. Don't mind the knife on the table. The kids were in bed and we had to use the knife to open the box...

And here is our new table. the picture doesn't do it justice. Its a good 8 feet long and will be 10 if we put the leaf in it!!! The whole china cabinet and cupboards we were thinking of doing may have to change a little but its so worth it!! Now we just have to work on the folding and patio chairs we're using...