Ben's First Time To Attend the Temple

Ben got to go do baptisms at the temple for his very first time last month on November 28!! Rob and I went with him to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and it was a day I've long looked forward to and it didn't disappoint! It actually turned out to be much more meaningful than I had ever imagined it would be!

We went on a Saturday while Rob's parents were working their Saturday shift. We thought it would be really cool if his dad was working his shift in the baptistry when we were there but we didn't anticipate that actually happening. When we got there, we asked if Ben could do baptisms, if I could watch, and if Rob could help, they said certainly. There were several groups ahead of us so we spent a while waiting for our turn, 45 minutes to an hour. It didn't seem long though, it was a really peaceful, serene time for the three of us to sit together, thinking, pondering and quietly talking about the significance and symbolism of baptism and the temple. At one point I was thinking about how happy I was to be there in the temple sitting between two of my favorite men and I think Ben was touched by the same spirit because he put his arm around my shoulders and said some really sweet things to me. After that I just couldn't stop the tears!! It was such a happy day, Ben was a little perplexed by my tears until I told him that they were tears of happiness. :)

When it was our turn for Ben to do baptisms, we were pleasantly surprised to see Rob's dad, Ben's grandpa, working in the baptistry!! Rob got to baptize Ben and I got to hand them towels when they got out. :)

Ben told me that he thought we should go to the temple every Saturday. He's such a special kid!!

A fun visit with Peggy and Rhea

We had so much fun visiting with Peggy and Rhea when they came to stay with us.

One highlight was the night Molly and I got to babysit Rhea while Peggy took Paula to see "A Christmas Carol."

We gave her a bath when she got a little sad, missing her mom, but, as you can probably tell by her wide-eyed looks and solemn face, I think she was a little weirded out by the conspicuous substitution of Molly and I for her Mom in this daily ritual. :P

There were lots of other fun things about Peggy's visit...you can read about some of them if you have access to her blog. :)

38 Weeks....2 more to go....or less...f/c

Look at that big ol' belly!!

• The bassinet is all ready, my mom finished making the bumper pad for it tonight.
• Her bag is packed for the hospital is in the bassinet. It's been packed for a while since she doesn't need to use all the stuff right now. :P
• Mine and Rob's bag just got packed this weekend except for a few things like our camera/charger, etc.
• Going to see my midwife tomorrow and have 3 questions to ask her:

1. Do we need to register at the hospital (fill out any paperwork)? because I've heard/read that registering ahead of time is standard but we haven't been asked to do that, or sent anything yet. :-/
2. When does Gretchen (our midwife) want us to call her? (ie. when active labor starts, or when we're actually on our way to the hospital, etc.)
3. Which pediatricians does she recommend?

35 Weeks

Ooops!! I let week 34 slip by without taking a belly shot. :-/

Oh well. 35 will have to do....and actually it's 35 and 1 day.

And, I'm too lazy to insert all those other pics for comparison purposes so you'll just have to check em' out by clicking here and here. :)

Midwife Visit

I saw my midwife, Gretchen, last Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving). She checked my cervix and said it was very soft and that I was 60% effaced. Dilation was 1+ cm. Then she said she was concerned by this and that this baby might be coming right away. Rob said my face went very pale at that point and I think she saw that too because she suddenly became very reassuring and told me that she's sure everything is going to be great. I feel mostly calm now, trying to not be freaked out. :P She said she'd like to see me make it at least another 2 week.

We talked to her about our birth plan, I feel really excited and positive about the hospital's policies and the how supportive she is of our desires. Gretchen is going to be with us for pretty much the time I am laboring and delivering our little Sweet Pea so she's going to be doing all of the exams, as well as be our advocate with the hospital staff (some of the perks of having a midwife). On top of that Gretchen said that the hospital a really great staff that are open-minded and supportive of "prepared" births and that some of our wishes are basically standard procedure (ie. waiting until the cord has stopped pulsing to cut it). Because of the hospital and Gretchen, we feel that we can really simplify and pare down our birth plan.

These are some of the things we feel need to be on the birth plan:

Labor:
• Inform/ask our consent prior to ANY procedures/interventions, especially but not limited to episiotomy.
• Mobile baby monitoring when required ("T" monitor....what's it called? I forgot) :P

Delivery/Post Birth:
• Immediate skin-to-skin contact between myself and the baby- no weighing/measuring/washing/testing etc. until baby has a chance to nurse
• Rob to cut umbilical cord (after pulsing stops)
• Reserve the right to waive Hep B vac/Vit K/Eye goop/etc.
• Rob be with the baby at all times if the baby needs to be taken anywhere
• Rob to wash the baby

Who Needs Pockets!?!?

Due to all the little girls I know, and have yet to know, ;)
this little video just cracked me up!!!

Some Highlights of Summer Vacation

Summer Vacation!!

Although I always mean to blog/document the activities that we do, I rarely do. And I'll never catch up if I try to go back and recap even the ones that I was diligent enough to get document digitally, so....I've decided to condense the whole summer into one post and just touch on some highlights:

June:

We went to an amusement park called Boondocks. Ben, Molly and cousin Cambria spent several hours riding rides and playing video games. Thanks Grandma Paula for the fun Christmas Present!!

We had our annual Dalton Family Reunion at East Canyon. As always swimming was a main activity, they just can't get enough. :)

Ben, Molly, Grandma Paula and I went to the Gateway Mall. The kids enjoyed some time at the Children's Museum there and then we stopped and let them play in the water feature at the mall. Ben enjoyed it, and played in the water quite a bit more than Molly. :P

Ben and Molly got to dress up as pioneers and go to This Is The Place Heritage Park and experience a day in the life of a pioneer. (Their cousins Emily, Alex, Cambria and Aunt April were volunteers all summer. They invited them to come along one Friday).

July:

We had a Dalton Family Summer Party. One of the games was bobbing for apples, after which the kids got to put their face into a bowl of powdered sugar to hunt for m&m's...eeew...sounds like a germ pool to me. :)

We went to the Children's Museum at the Gateway Mall with cousins, Dalton and Lindy.

August:

August 10 was Corporate Olympics again, and Rob participated in the Rifle shooting event again. The kids always like to go watch, but this time I watched from a distance so little "Gunnar" wouldn't be bothered by the loud noise.

We spent many days at the beach this summer, but this particular day there were sink holes in the sand that the kids just spent hours in and got really nice and dirty...blech. :) My sister April and her kids were with us at the beach that day.

We toured the Kennecot Copper Mine which happens to be one of the only man-made structures you can see from outer space. Ben was particularly fascinated by this experience and has added a few careers to his list that he'd like to be when he grows up: a mining engineer and a driver of the mega huge dump trucks. My sister Julie and her kids: Dalton and Lindy went with us on this trip.

We went to the Ancient Life Museum at Thanksgiving Point. We went on 2$ Tuesday to save a few bucks and we brought Ben and Molly's cousins: Lindy and Dalton with us. I don't know if the money we saved was worth it...it was a madhouse!! But the kids said they had fun, so I guess that's the important thing. :P

September:

September 15 was our deadline from the HOA to have our yard finished, Ben and Molly spent several hours helping in this endeavor.

A Rockin' Rollin' Halloween

I just realized that I started this post over a year ago and never posted it!! :P

So here's our last Halloween: (I haven't downloaded this years yet....look for that in November 2010!) :)

So Rob was James Hetfield from Metallica and I was a Metallica groupie
Ben was "Logan" or "Wolverine" from X-Men

Molly was a bride

Me and all my sisters:
We went to a family Halloween party at my parents house.

This was the Karaoke portion of the party.
Sing James!!! (He thinks he's so bad!) ;)

32 Weeks (Yesterday) :)

She's breech right now... :-/
She loves to hang out (with her head) right under my right ribs...she's been there for weeks! :P
She gets the hiccups frequently. :D
She has really cute little chubby cheeks. :)

Happy Third Trimester/28 Weeks To Sweet Pea!!

15 Weeks / 24 Weeks / 28 Weeks (oops, I turned the wrong way)

P.S. I have Braxton Hicks that just won't quit!! Is that normal? :P

The First Day of School

My kids went back to school August 31st. They started a new school. It's a charter school here in Daybreak and so far it's really been great! They miss their old school and friends but there are so many great things about this school that make it worth it!!

• We love having it so close
• The kids can walk home after school if they need to (I usually pick them up before they've gotten very far tho)
• There are a bunch of kids from the neighborhood that go to the same school (especially some of Ben's friends from the ward)
• They have a great facility and lots of neat technology (like Smart Boards in every classroom....Ben's all over that!!)
• Their uniform rules offer a little more variety
• Oh and did I mention I don't have to drive clear across the valley to take them to school and pick them up!?!? I love that part....especially not having to take Bangerter Hwy everyday!!

The kids were very excited to go on their first day, as you can see in their faces. :) And they still love it 3 weeks later.

I first took a picture of the kids only but then as we were saying family prayer I looked at my family and thought it was funny how they all seemed to coordinate so I insisted on another pic. ;)

A Few Tidbits

• I had swelling in my legs and feet yesterday, is that normal?
• I had a charlie horse last night when I was sleeping, is that normal? :-/
• I had a dream that I went and had little Sweet Pea and then brought her home but I wasn't ready for her (no crib or bassinet or anywhere to lay her) so I laid her on my bed. But then I was so incredibly tired that I couldn't keep my eyes open to take care of her and I fell asleep. When I woke up I was frantically searching for her and finally found her lost in the mountains of pillows that I sleep with. She was under all of them, as well a small upturned box. :( I felt so bad that I'd lost her.
• I'm almost to my 3rd trimester!!! Hurray! :)
• My next OB appointment is Monday

24 Weeks!

I'm 24 weeks today so I figured it's time for another belly shot. :P Only I just remembered before bed, so it's a lovely end of the day, in my pajamas shot, courtesy of Ben (my son). :)

Also, according to the poll, it seems that "Gunnor" lost the contest...by a long shot....sorry Rob. :P

One more thing. The adoption agency let us know that we're not eligible to adopt since we're prego, and won't be until Dec. 2010. I'm honestly relieved to not have an infant right now. We would have taken him/her if we felt right about it and he/she had been offered to us, but deep down I'm glad to only have one baby to get used to at a time!!

DOCTOR...TODAY?!?! Ooops!

I had another baby doctor appointment last Friday, August 21st...only I forgot about it until Rob texted me (which I only noticed AT the TIME of the APPOINTMENT....ooops!) They let me go anyway. I was loading up the car to go look at change tables with my mom (and Julie's kids, whom she was babysitting) when I noticed the text and then the appointment reminder. The crazy/pregnant-brained thing about it is that I was DARN sure my appointment was for Wednesday, August 26th and that I'd even looked it up on my phone calendar recently to confirm it. (FYI: it wasn't, nor was there a reminder on my phone for that day....I think somebody is messing with my brain!) :)

My mom and Julie's kids (Dalton and Lindy) went with me to my appt so that we could just go to the Wood Connection afterward. It was fun to have my mom there to see little Sweet Pea on ultra-sound, (is it normal to do an ultra-sound at every four week appointment??? Sweet Pea is going to have a huge photo album of just her BEFORE birth!!) and Dalton was fun too because he was very curious about the whole thing.

Sweet Pea was VERY wiggly and entertained us all with her antics, including shooting completely off the screen at one point.

Also: She's still a girl. And: The new, un-official due date is Dec. 24th!!! :-/ (My mom piped up and said, "That was Misty's due date!!"....only my Dr. induced labor because he didn't want to be in the hospital on Christmas.....unfortunately, neither option sounds appealing to me. Oh well, I would have to have a little me!! Including the insane due-date!!)

Afterward we did end up going to wood connection and ordering a dresser that will work for a change table as well as a dresser for later...the only problem is I can't decide what color/stain!! This is my dilemma: Molly and Sweet Pea will be sharing a room and I want something that will look good in the room, not necessarily match anything specifically.

(Molly's furniture: Bed: Green, Dresser: White washed pine with pink/green/purple accents.










Sweet Pea's furniture: Walnut-ish color crib.)


I thought about having the dresser painted plain white and antiqued and glazed but the lady pointed out that since it'll be made out of pine the knots will bleed through after a year or so...if that matters. I'm not sure if it does. I also thought about doing it a beautiful walnut stain with glaze/antiquing...there was a dresser like this on the show room floor that I just loved! What would a little girl want long term???


The following are color options I'm considering. Input anyone?












P.S. This is our T.V. Amoire made of pine and painted cream colored....an example of the knots bleeding through.