At the Close of February

Happy end of February, another month closer to giving birth! Let me tell you, I am ready for that big day. I may not have a single stitch of blue in the house, and we still have to get a new crib, but I'm already slowing waaaaay down. The house has become messier, the girls are a bit slimier, and I'm needing at least three 15 minute naps a day to keep functioning (of course I don't get three naps...) I still have a little under three months to go! In my third trimester, this little guy is amusing the family by kicking and moving quite frequently. I think we have another Gwen coming! Woohoo! Anyway... This kid is quite a mover. I roll over in the middle of the night to snuggle as close as I can with my husband man, and Logan gets kicked in the back over and over again. I can't wait to meet my new baby! My sister-in-law just had her baby boy last week, and it made the whole having a new baby become more of a reality for me. Now I'm super excited, not just nervous to have three kids.

Enough about me. Here are some things that happened/are happening in the past couple of weeks:

As I said, my sister-in-law gave birth to an adorable baby boy last week. His name is Greysen. I haven't had a lot of time to spend with him yet, since the girls have colds and so do I now (of course), but here are some pictures we managed to snag while we could.

This pic of me is horrible (half my head is missing), but it's the only one I have of me and him. 

Greysen! So far I think he's a healthy mixture of the two parents (though, a tad more like Ronnie) but he'll change very fast in the next couple of months. We'll see!

Phoebe getting a closer look at her cousin.

Gwen was looking at him, but then got in trouble for trying to climb in...

Grandpa, Greysen, and Logan's thumb!

Auntie Maci with her first nephew.



Hopefully, these colds that we've had off and on since Christmas (no exaggeration) will clear up and we can spend a little quality time with the family soon.

My own children are going through some changes. Last night, we converted Phoebe's crib back into a toddler bed. She didn't sleep the entire night in it since she's not sleeping well with a plugged nose, but she loves her new bed.

Gwen loves it too. She wanted to sleep in it with her sister, but Phoebe would have none of it. I don't blame her. The both of them are awful to sleep with.

As a lot of you know, my three and half year old has still yet to make a thing in the potty. (On the floor, toy box, and table - yes. Potty - no.) We've become pretty frazzled around here, trying everything and anything to get her to go, but she's stubborn. (She started saying, "I don't NEED a Buzz Lightyear. I'm done with the potty!) We've finally had to go the messy method, which I'm not thrilled about, but we've become desperate. We told her that Walmart ran out of daytime, size six diapers. At first, she said she would have to wear size four like Phoebe, but we wouldn't let her. She's in her Elmo panties in the day time. Absolutely no diapers. No matter how many messes I have to clean up, I'm going to get that girl over this fear and out of diapers! I can't have three in them once Isaac is born! Heck no! So the super goal is to have BOTH my girls out of diapers by the time their brother shows up. Right now, we're concentrating mostly on Gwen, but Phoebe sits on the potty a couple times a day. She makes us sit her on the potty, because she got into the phase of stripping off her diaper and happily running naked through the house. I've been cleaning a lot of pee off the floor... But we're determined!

Determined, I tell you!

How He Plays with Mr. Potato Head

While I sat with my visiting teachers downstairs, my husband played with the girls in their bedroom so we could have peace and quiet. Well, play time with daddy is very different than play time with mommy, apparently. When I put them to bed that night, this is what I found:

Eyes in one ear hole, a nose in the other, and armpit hair! My husband: the imaginative genius.

Phoebe and Valentine's Day

This past Sunday we celebrated Phoebe's 2nd birthday! I feel like we've had her forever, so it seems like she should be older. Maybe it's denial - another year of 2?!  She had no idea what a birthday was, even though we kept telling her all day that she was now "Phoebe 2!" (Whenever we ask her what her name is, she answers "Phoebe 1!")  I tried to make certain things for her special that day. During the girls nap time, Logan and I had blown up a bunch of balloons, so when Phoebe came downstairs, her eyes nearly popped out of her head. She has a passion for balloons. When Gwen came down to join her, they made up their own game of catch and played for a good hour while I finished prepping for the party. We had a fun party with the whole family which greatly excited Gwen. She was talking about seeing everyone for days. But as soon as they arrived, Phoebe naturally clammed up and wouldn't say a word. In fact, she clung to her daddy for a while until she got used to all the attention. (My girls are such opposites, it's unreal.) During the party, she opened up a bit more, I think. She loved every gift she got. She's been playing with them nonstop for two days straight, and hasn't gone back to her "old toys" yet. Maybe this means I can pack up more of their stuff. I hate all the clutter!

We certainly love our precious, petite Phoebe. She brings so much laughter to our family and does something new and hilarious every day that gets us talking. (This morning, for example, she woke up at 6:30, and instead of crying, she yelled out, "Mommy! Help!! I'm awake!") I can't imagine our family without her. She completes us perfectly.

Yesterday, for Valentine's Day, we didn't do much since we did so much the day before. But the girls did get large stuffed Valentine's Day animals which thrilled them to no end. I presented them at nap time, almost as a bribe to keep them in their room. Didn't really last long, though. Phoebe was sure Gwen would steal her "doggy pup" and kept screaming whenever she got close. To make the day even more special, Logan got off work super early to take an assessment for a potential job, so we were all excited to have him home hours early. Because of the lack of rest, Phoebe was out by 7:00. I prepared a late dinner out of habit, but when Gwen saw her beans and cheese in her bowl, she said, "I am NOT eating" and left the table. Today we didn't fight with her, so Logan and I had a little dinner date in our own kitchen. Then the girls went to bed, and we cuddled on the couch and watched some Psych. It was a good day.

I didn't take many pictures at the party, but here are a few in case you didn't see them on facebook.

The birthday girl! Two years old, can you believe it?

Posing pretty with her daddy. I was very proud of Gwen for not ripping Phoebe's presents open as soon as she saw them. Then again, we did bring them down when she was miraculously passed out on the couch.

 Clinging to daddy because there were people in her house. She's wearing an adorable Minnie Mouse hat her grandma made her. She was getting jealous of Gwen's homemade Grandma hat, so she got her own too!

Opening presents. She kept that hat on for a long time.

She loves puppies. She was enthralled with her walking furry puppy.

This pic is kinda blurry. But it shows how nicely Phoebe can share all her toys!

I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day with their special ones!

Happy Birthday to Me

Yesterday was my birthday! It was a pretty good day, too. Logan had to go to work, but I had fun baking my own birthday cake. It turned out delicious, if I do say so myself. (Logan wouldn't know, because he wouldn't have any. He's not a big fan of too much chocolate. Crazy man.) The girls were over the moon about it. Gwen kept giggling and telling me happy birthday all during the process. She was so excited to gobble up my birthday cake.

Logan and I had a real date night for the first time in a long, long time. Lindsay was able to baby-sit for us, and we took advantage! We went to our favorite restaurant (Garcia's) and afterwards browsed Target. We heard that season 4 of Psyche was on sale really cheap, so we had to get it. We also got a few other things too, like a season of 24, a Blake Shelton cd, and a new Trivial Pursuit game. But these were just fun splurges, not my birthday presents. Logan completely floored me with his gift! I had been complaining about how slow the delay is on my camera, so my man went to the store and browsed cameras like the hot stud he is! It makes me smile to think he took time off from work to secretly compare cameras for me. He got me a bloggie touch, which I had never heard of before, but is awesome. It's as small as a cell phone, but takes very clear videos and sharp 12.8mp pictures. And it's a touch screen. Love it! He's certainly spoiled me the past couple months. A nook and a camera, he's so sweet! And the day before my birthday, he took me to Walmart so I could pick out a webcam. My dad has a skype account now, so on my birthday we were able to see each other! I haven't seen my dad since I was 16. He moved to Virginia when I was in middle school, and I visited him only a few times after that. With the webcam, he was able to meet his granddaughters and my husband. It was a great gift!

Oh - a random funny story. While I was getting ready for my hot date, Gwen was looking at my belly, thoughtfully. She finally said, "Mommy... are you 200 pounds?!" I tried not to laugh while I answered. "No way! I'm 100 pounds! Get it straight!" I think she thought she hurt my feelings, and after I finished getting ready, she gave me a big hug and said, "You're beautiful, mommy!" She's the sweetest little girl, even if she thinks I look 200 pounds.

Here are some pics I took with my bloggie. I think I'll be able to take a lot more pics now since there is hardly a delay.

I wish it could be my birthday everyday! But there are a lot of birthdays coming up. Phoebe's turning 2 in less than 3 weeks, and most of our family members turn another year older next month, too. It's a time for cake! Woohoo! Now if Logan would just eat chocolate! And he swears he's not a picky eater... (He's going to get so mad at me... hehe.)

Found My Camera Cord!

So here are a few pictures to illustrate my last couple of posts. It's about time I get to post my Christmas pictures!

The Primary Issue

Yesterday, Gwen graduated from nursery and started Primary! This feels like a major milestone, parent wise. I mean, my child is starting a class where she is required to sit and answer questions and learn. She's with other children who will be with her throughout her primary years and will become her best friends. I know it's silly, but I actually bought her a bunch of new outfits for church that aren't babyish anymore and have a bit of style, so the other three-year-olds will like her. Haha, I know, it's silly! They're three-year-olds! But Gwen needs a bit of something going for her. That came out all wrong. What I mean is, Gwen is VERY social, but she doesn't follow the normal rules of social engagements. Like... yesterday while all the kids were trying to find their new seats, Gwen got up into a six year old boy's face (she was as tall as he was almost) and said said, "Hi! What's your name? I'll help you find your seat!" It was extremely cute to me, but whenever she goes up to kids, no matter what their ages, they never fail to give her an apprehensive look and back away. I guess people don't expect a three-year-old to not be shy? Or maybe it's because she looks like she's almost six but still sounds like she just turned three? Whatever, but I just want her to be accepted and not judged for something as stupid as appearance. (She's three!) Anywho -

We were a  little nervous for her to start primary full time. She had a difficult time with the rules when she was just visiting for twenty minutes for a few weeks last month. (She ran laps around the primary room.) We were especially nervous this week because I was called as the CTR 5 teacher, so I couldn't really help out. Logan wound up sitting with her for the entire two hours of primary, and Gwen did super well! She still wanted to run around and get into the popsicle sticks with the children's names on them, but Logan had a good hold on her. What we loved about her sunbeam class was that her senior nursery teacher - whom she just loves - moved up with the three-year-olds and is now her sunbeam teacher. Gwen calls her Prince, for some reason. (I'm sure she can't pronounce her name. I barely can.) Logan said Gwen did great in her class, and "Prince" was a great teacher for her. She had the kids do multiple games and was very patient. So for her first full two hour primary, Gwen did fabulously! All the primary children were given a cd with all the songs they are to learn this year, and when we got home she stayed in her room for a half an hour singing all the songs. When I called her down for lunch, she said, "Okay, I'll come in a minute! The song needs to finish!" We are very excited for Gwen, even if it is just primary. She's already learning so much about the gospel, and it touches me. Inspires me even to be better at home. I love my little girl.

Phoebe is still in junior nursery. She'll be a month away from turning four when she starts primary. She has a long way to go. She'll just be exceptionally reverent and bright for a sunbeam. This little girl amazes me everyday. She still looks like a baby, but she acts like she's Gwen's age. Her vocabulary blows me away. She already speaks in sentences, even if Logan and me are the only ones she talks to. She's stopped calling me mommy. She calls me Mom now. "Milk, please, mom!" "Hi, Mom!" "What am I going to do now, Mom?!" She's hysterical, and she knows it. She already tells her own jokes. "The horsie flies! Hahaha!!!" And she must know she has gorgeous eyes, because sometimes she'll just look at you, sigh, and bat those long, black eyelashes at you... for no reason. Most people don't know the Phoebe Logan and I know, because she is also very shy. She doesn't speak at all to strangers, and she speaks only sometimes to other family members. She takes after her mama, I guess. She turns two next month! I can't believe it!

I love how the girls interact. They can fight like cats and dogs already, but most of the time they are so protective of each other. Because Phoebe is very sensitive (read: diva), when I scold her for, say, throwing hard toys at my face, she'll pout, hang her head, and start to cry. Gwen is by her side in an instant, saying "It's okay! Don't cry!" and she'll kiss her. Phoebe's the same way to her big sister. If Gwen hurts herself, Phoebe is there to kiss it all better. Sometimes though, Gwen's just grumpy because she isn't getting her way, so when Phoebe asks, "Are you okay?" and Gwen says, "no" Phoebe will keep asking the question and Gwen will keep answering "No" and growing progressively angrier and angrier. I find this hilarious, because Gwen used to annoy Logan and me the same way. The girls are best friends. I wonder how they are going to take to a boy.

No new pictures again, because I still can't find my camera cord. But here are some of Gwen's baby pictures, just because I can't believe she's turning four later this year. Preschool is just around the corner, and oh my gosh... can she really be starting KINDERGARTEN NEXT YEAR! I need to find a paper bag to breathe into now.

Oh BOY!

I'm bummed. I can't find the cord to transfer my pictures onto the computer, so I can't post any Christmas pictures. And they were cute ones too! I guess I'll just have to push forward and do without.

We spent the holiday in Soda Springs and we all had a great time. The food was excellent, LOVED the prime rib for Christmas dinner, the company was great, and the girls just loved all their presents. They were even pretty good on Christmas morning, taking turns opening their presents. Once Gwen lost her will to resist temptation and tore off most of the paper to one of her aunt Maci's gifts, but other than that she was pretty good. Phoebe didn't care much about opening presents. She just wanted to play with all the toys inside them, so Gwen got to open a few more. A few things they got were a dollhouse and accessories, toy horsies, moon dough, an easel, doctor kit, a Mr. Potato Head, Toy Story 3, and other stuff. Logan got me a Nook and I got him a very heavy collection of all the Far Side cartoons ever penned, published and not. We're also enjoying the first two seasons of Psych, a deep fryer/steamer, and a cutlery set. We made ourselves leave on Tuesday, mainly because we had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. I'm not sure when the appropriate time to take down a tree is. I'm ready for it to go now, but I'm afraid the girls will mutiny.

Anyway, yesterday at my appointment I had my ultrasound. The girls were allowed in the room with us, and they were so good the entire time. They didn't once try to smash their computer and take the ultrasound stick thing, such good little girls. The technician had to run through some checks, like brain fluid, eyes, kidneys, fingers, etc. Finally she got to the good ol' between the legs check. And for the first time, we heard the words, "and there's the third leg." Not like she needed to say anything. There was no mistaking it! We were thrilled! I personally didn't think it would happen. We would have been excited for a girl too, of course, but we were hoping to have at least one son. Now we're getting him! We stopped at a few places after the appointment (Pizza Hut to celebrate, the mall to look at baby clothes :) and I couldn't stop looking at the ultrasound pictures. I still can't believe it! As of right now, we're calling him Isaac Douglas. (Douglas is Logan's middle name and his father's first. Isaac isn't after anybody really... it's just the only boy name that we both liked.) So we're getting our first son three days before Logan's birthday, May 16th. Well, that's when he's due. Both my girls came a day early or a day late of their due dates, so I'm guessing the 17th is when we'll get to meet Isaac. We'll see! Now I get to spend the second half of my pregnancy shopping for boy stuff. I want to get him tiny little suits and vests.

Isn't he handsome? He looks like his daddy already. I love our BOY!