Easter and Spring

Between a school Easter egg hunt for both kids, random hunts at our own home, hunts at grandparents, and a friend's party... the boys got a LOT of egg hunting in this year.

Cousins
The couch picture is one day after school last week - they were both so tired! Not even wrestling or arguing with each other. I loved it that Grant's feet, which wouldn't be comfortable, were Kyle's pillow of choice!
Kyle's prize egg from his school hunt
Kyle has started his first-ever season of soccer, and it's his first time to be on a team. His Daddy is also his coach, which I think may be his favorite part! They're the Red Tigers! Here he is in the first game appearing to hustle... however, it is quite funny to watch him - he "stutter steps" around the field and doesn't quite yet know what to do when the ball gets near his feet. But at least it's a cute picture!

my comforts

I really haven't craved much food during any of my pregnancies, except for the items below during the past three weeks. Combined with no exercise, my body is just adoring my food decisions, I'm sure! Also, I love hot cheese - queso, enchiladas, etc. Yummm!

I sometimes...

• go upstairs at night and wake my kids up simply to have them be their deliriously tired selves and to just cuddle and stroke their smooth skin.


• sneak candy from the kid stash.


• laugh at stuff when I know I shouldn't. aka - Kyle being chased by a big dog at the park (I myself can be terrified of stranger dogs so it's not funny). It was a nice dog. It started out playing with him and Kyle took off running, and the dog followed, and you could see his face change from happiness to sheer terror. I grabbed him and once he knew he was safe, I laughed. His reply: "I think that dog was going to eat me!"


• stay in bed in the mornings when I know the boys are awake.


• look at the caller-ID and don't answer it!


• tell white lies to the kids


• buy stuff not on my grocery list


• get amazed at how much and how fast Grant has learned so much in kindergarten. I truly think I have the best kids in the world (that being said, I would feel sorry for the family that doesn't feel this way!)

Burn Ban

Oklahomans - did you know there is a state-wide burn ban right now? In fact, our town has had less than 3" of rain (not counting the snow/ice) since September?!?! that's 7 months! Not only does that mean "ah, shucks - our weekend camping trip with a campfire should probably be cancelled" but also "hey, don't drop the cigarette out your car window on to the dead grass." TWO fires in town over the weekend due to cigarettes. Jason put it great "too bad there isn't a cure for stupidity!"

Size of a "large jicama" (a what?!)

Measuring in at around 16 3/4 inches and just under 4 pounds!

baby love

I remember thinking to myself during both of my previous pregnancies that I wanted to remember every little detail and attempted to keep track of everything happening with both my body and the baby's development. I have said it again this time, but this time, I am really attempting to treasure it as we are pretty darn sure that our family will be complete with five members, assuming God agrees with us! Currently, I am transitioning from "feeling okay" to "my belly is getting in the way of a lot of stuff, don't sleep, and can't breathe deeply!" It is harder for me to bend over, I run in to the cabinets countertops now, and let's not even talk about how difficult it's become to shave my legs, much less "up there" - just glad I won't be sporting a bikini anytime soon! :) tmi? perhaps, but it's my blog! Most evenings for the past few weeks, I have felt the sweet little fluttering of baby hiccups. They are so precious. Times of "oooh, I just felt the baby move" about 3 months ago have now become instances of me trying to push him out from under my rib cage as it just plain hurts and is uncomfortable! But, that's the blessing of the third trimester, which for this pregnancy, has been a blessing to be at 32 weeks today! It never ceases to amaze me when I look at my stomach and see my shirt moving around, or the television remote that I propped on my new shelf wiggle up and down and side to side! My feet and legs are perhaps getting a little swollen, and especially having not done a bit of exercise since 25/26 weeks, my body had become mushy. yea for post-pregnancy exercising - it's too bad that I have to live through the hot Oklahoma summer before that time arrives! No (new) stretch marks to speak of yet, and as of last week, I had gained right around 23ish pounds (but started about 12 pounds more than I did with Grant!) Guessing now that I will be challenging myself to shred around 45 pounds at the end of this journey. I love being pregnant. Lots of joys and special memories! The above information is just for me to always have a written memory of how I feel at this time!

Been reading!

I've used the last few weeks of forced laziness to catch up on some books and reading, which is something I love to do, but usually use that available time to pick up the house or do dishes or snuggle up and watch some television or piddle on the internet. The books I have read in the past three weeks are:

• The Pioneer Woman by Ree Drummond


• Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese


• Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson


• Shattered by Karen Roberds (Jason was at the library getting me a Nora Roberts and went too far w/o noticing it but I found her writing to be quite enjoyable if you're looking for a new author).

Any other suggestions? My library card loves to be used!

Current happenings...

Seems I haven't written much about what is going on with our family. Partly because there isn't much; partly because there is a ton! I know, it doesn't make sense. Today, we are 30 weeks and 6 days pregnant. As I posted 3 weeks ago, I was on mild bed rest then. As of Thursday, I am on "take it really easy" which for my husband has translated to "total bed rest and I am not going to let you do anything that I can do for our family myself." And my Mom. I was still having contractions, and after checking, my cervix has thinned and softened and the baby has dropped. This explains why I feel like he's going to fall out anytime I am vertical and uncross my legs! but, yes, I do know that he can't literally "fall out".... My mom cleaned our downstairs on Thursday for us. Jason has taken over laundry, kitchen duties, random errand running, t-ball carpool, and school meetings for me! hey hey! so that is the baby update! Just hanging out in my bed or on my couch if you want to talk! Grant and Kyle are doing fabulous. We (and I mean Jason) had our parent-teacher conference for the spring with Grant. He is well above average on everything, except on learning money (which is partly our fault as we use debit cards). His reading ability, counting, spelling, social, etc is doing great! First grade, here we come! Kyle has had fun hanging out with GG lately and his friends have been super about having playdates with him so he doesn't have to hang out with 'ol mom while I sit on the couch. Thanks, friends! Over the weekend, Jason pitched the tent and all three boys slept both nights out there. I hung out until about 11 pm last night trying to stay until both of the little kids fell asleep. Jason was inside playing a computer game, and I really had a nice time with the kids. Don't worry - I was quite comfy on my husband's much-needed air mattress! I would have stayed if there was a toilet in the tent but there wasn't... I know that today they're all sleep-deprived and probably ready for our attempt at family Sunday naptime. That's our written update. I haven't taken many photos lately!