What a crazy month!

This month has been so crazy, I haven't been on my blog in almost a month!!! We had a very fun Thanksgiving. Randy's parents, older sister, brother-in-law, two nephews, and younger sister all came to our house. We had a great time! The kids loved having everyone at our house, being able to keep a somewhat normal routine.

We are looking forward to a nice, quiet Christmas at home. Randy's squadron is on their GDF rotation (Global Deterrence Force), so we can't go anywhere more than 8 hours driving. We loved our quiet Christmas last year, and I know that it will be very relaxing again this year! Since I was released from my calling, I'm keeping myself busy with doctor's appointments, car pools, etc. and sewing doll clothes for Kate's new doll for Christmas! It will be a very busy month! I have my regular OB appointment this month, one more next month, then it's already time for me to start going every two weeks again! I thought that by Christmas time this year, I'd REALLY feel huge and pregnant. I'm feeling pretty big, but I don't think the reality has totally set in yet!

I am going to be making my blog private. Everyone that I'm aware of who reads my blog will be added to the list. If you don't get the invitation, let me know! I've just heard too many creepy things!

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! I'll get pictures up here sometime soon!

To my disappointment

Quite a few people have asked me when my half-marathon is, which is this Saturday. Last week I had to go see a neonatologist for my level II ultrasound. The baby looks great, everything is healthy and growing like it's supposed to. I just happened to mention off hand to him that I was running a half-marathon in a week and a half. He was NOT happy with that. He told me that I couldn't do it! He said that my body will start sending all of my blood to my leg muscles, instead of the baby. So, no more 13.1 miles for me! I'll have to do it at this time next year. It will just be tough then, because any time I run too hard when I'm nursing, I lose my milk. At least I've had something to keep me in shape during the beginning of this pregnancy! Hopefully I will lose my baby weight even faster than I did with Kate and Luke! So, there's an update for anyone who was wondering. The race is on hold for now. I will do it! Maybe I'll do a full marathon since I won't be pregnant! I'm sure I'll start with the half then work up from there!

Our Halloween and our new baby girl!

No, I didn't have my baby early, we just have ANOTHER new addition to our family. We had a very fun Halloween! Kate was Aurora from Sleeping Beauty (since the movie has newly come out, she was insistent that was what she would be), and Luke, well, he boycotted Halloween that morning. So he wore an orange shirt to be at least a little festive. We spent the whole morning helping out at Kate's school with their Fall Festival. Then we went trick or treating at 5pm (that's when base trick or treating starts, it was so nice to go so early!). For trick or treating, I was able to convince Luke to wear part of his turtle costume from last year (he was supposed to be a really cute lion this year, but he FREAKED out when I put the pants on him for the costume).


Here's Luke before his hair was done, but he's at least in his orange shirt. Kate was SO excited that she got to wear make-up to be Aurora.



Here's Kate at school waiting in line to start their parade.

We only got a few pictures with Luke in his "costume". It was WONDERFUL weather! It was about 80 degrees, sunny, and so comfortable!


Kate was getting annoyed that her hair kept sticking to her lip gloss. I told her to get used to it, that it happens all the time to Mom! Here's an inadvertent picture of my ever expanding baby belly, too! Luke didn't care at all about candy. He just wanted his cheddar bunnies.



Here's our new addition, Kathryn. Kate is the one that named her. She is the SWEETEST little kitty I've ever seen. We got her on Saturday afternoon about 5 minutes before we had 5 extra kids come to our house. As of yet, she hasn't scratched ANYONE! Not even accidentally. She is so cuddly, but still very energetic.


She lets Kate play with her claws, push her around in the doll strollers (although, that doesn't usually last long, she'll just jump out), put her to sleep in the doll beds, etc. She is SO nice!


Kate got a line from the first Madagascar movie, where Gloria says that a critter is so cute, she wants to dunk it in her coffee. Well, all on her own, Kate came and told me on Saturday, "Mom, Kathryn is so cute, I could just dunk her in my coffee!" I got a good laugh at that, then told her that we don't drink coffee, but she could dunk her in her hot chocolate. Kate and Kathryn were very disappointed when they couldn't sleep together last night. Dad wants to make sure Kathryn doesn't have any potty accidents first, (which she hasn't, I love how cats are so good at potty training themselves!) then told Kate they could sleep together. We love our new little baby!!!

We love Fall!

I've been very delinquent in posting. Life has been crazy as ever here, as I'm sure everyone else's has been as well! Kate got to go on her first field trip at school. Luke and I were able to meet her there, and we had a great time! We went to a pumpkin patch and walked around. Luke thought that he needed to be a member of Kate's class. He didn't like it very much when I wouldn't let him in to listen to the stories, etc. because I knew he'd just be a huge distraction to the other kids.

We also went to the fair, which isn't very big here, but we still had fun. They have an exotic zoo with a zebra, two giraffes, camels, a kangaroo, pigs, goats, and more. We also took the kids to see the livestock, which they thought was interesting. Some people let the kids pet their animals: chickens, cows, goats, sheep. They thought that was cool. There was also a free little circus that was quite the experience for the kids to see.

We're getting ready for Halloween. Kate has a party at school on Friday, which Luke and I get to go to. Then we're crashing another ward's Trunk or Treat, because our ward isn't doing anything!! So, we're going to go take part in theirs!


Kate excitedly on the bus to go on her field trip.


Petting a giraffe at the fair


Waiting for the Circus to start at the fair



Kate on a ride at the fair

What a weekend

Randy took leave this entire last week. It was really fun for us to have him around, but it went by WAY too fast!!

On Wednesday (after my shocking ultrasound) we drove to College Station. Early Thursday morning, Randy and I got up, kissed our kiddos goodbye and headed to Dallas for a long, VERY LONG day. While the kids were playing with Grandma and Grandpa, we went to the temple, did LOTS of shopping, and went to the BYU vs. TCU football game. Wow, was that depressing! It was a very sad way to end a great day! It was embarrassing to walk out of the TCU stadium with BYU shirts on. What a game. . . we were planning on staying in a hotel since we didn't get to our car until almost 11pm, but we decided that we were too depressed to spend anymore money on the day. So we headed back to College Station, arriving at 2am. Poor Randy. I couldn't stay awake on the way home! Luke had been up for an hour in the night, so I was VERY out of it by the time midnight rolled around. Plus, we stayed up late playing games with Randy's parents that night. . . so there were a couple of things working against me. Thankfully, he got us back to College Station in one piece, and we got to sleep in (all the way until 8:30! WOW!) the next morning, thanks to Grandma! The kids had a great time playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Kate was given Beary, her classroom Teddy Bear to take on our trip this weekend. He has a journal that you're supposed to fill out and bring back with pictures of the weekend's events. Here are a few of the pictures we took.



This is at the Fall Festival on base. I told Kate that had better be the only time I see her in a police car!


Firefighter Kate. Luke wouldn't climb up because he was so ready for a nap. It was really sad, because he LOVES firetrucks!


Our regular stop at the zoo in Tyler, TX on our way to College Station. Luke couldn't take his eyes off the tiger that was RIGHT against the fencing. I think he was a little nervous!

Kate LOVES the giraffes at the zoo. Here's a picture of my baby belly!



Us before the disappointing football game!


Kate and Luke making Halloween pictures with Beary.


Teaching Beary how to roast marshmallows.

Kate and Luke are enjoying the campfire.

The cruelest thing EVER!

So, I had my OFFICIAL 15 week ultrasound today (the one on Friday was the nurse practioner doing it). . . It's a GIRL!!! Oh my goodness! Randy and I were in COMPLETE shock! We've been telling everyone it's a boy, calling it Jackson. . . poor baby girl is going to have a complex now! We were SO excited for Luke to have a baby brother/best friend forever. Well, now he'll have a little sister he can watch out for. :) So, SURPRISE!! It's a girl! We have to name her quickly now so she won't feel so upset! Now that I've gotten out all of the boxes of baby BOY clothes. . . what a mean thing to do to someone! In defense of the nurse practioner, the ultrasound technician looked at the ultrasound from Friday and said she would have said it was a boy, too. But she said today, there was no doubt that it was a girl. I have a level 2 ultrasound in a few weeks to check the baby for spinabifida (since I was born with it), so I'm not buying a single thing until after that! There was no doubt in my mind on Friday that it was a boy. I've felt like this was a boy all along; I was right about my other two kids! Randy described it well today, by saying he felt like he'd been hit by a truck. Not that we're disappointed, but just so shocked!!!

It's a. . . . . .

I know I've already posted today, BUT! I had another ultrasound this morning, and it's a BOY! He was being SO funny! He even did a headstand for us at one point! He was sucking his thumb most of the time. That would be a change from the two paci babies we've had! I've been feeling all along like this was another boy-- he is just non-stop!!!!! So I thought I'd share the news with everyone. Hurray! Here is a cute video of my two boys together today. Luke thinks he needs to do EVERYTHING that Randy does. He even holds his hands the same way as his dad does during prayers, etc. It's short, so enjoy!

Twilight Trailer

I've never done this before, so I'll give it a try. I love the Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer, and here is the final trailer to the first movie! I have to say, I'm disappointed in the cast. . . . I would have chosen a different Edward, but no one asked me!

We are excited for our upcoming week. Randy is taking the week off and we're spending lots of time as a family before he has a Nuclear Surety Inspection (which means he won't have any weekends or anything for about a month or so). We're going to the BYU vs. TCU game together in Dallas, going to the temple, visiting his parents in College Station, AND having our ultrasound to find out our baby's gender! It should be a very fun week!!
Twilight HD Exclusive Trailer

Watch Day

So yesterday was "Watch Day" at Kate's dance studio. The last 15 minutes of class, parents are allowed to come and sit in the studio and watch their dancers work. It was SO cute!! I was worried Kate wouldn't dance with me in there, but she was thrilled that I was in there, with a camera at that! Here's a little video clip I took:


I'm happy now to know what they've been working on so I can help her. Her class is a little bigger than I would like, so she doesn't get quite as much individual attention from her teachers, but she loves it SO much! They are starting tap next week, which I can't wait to see!

Luke's Birthday

Since I'm a few weeks behind, I'll mostly just post pictures. We had a couple of fun birthdays right in a row. It was SO fun to have Grandma Thomason here for my birthday! Luke's birthday was a few days later. We celebrated it on Saturday so that we would have the whole day to do something fun as a family (we just told Kate that his birthday was Saturday so she wasn't confused why we weren't doing birthday stuff that day). We took the kids to Build-a-Bear, rode the carousel, and had a fun party! Kate got a BYU cheerleader outfit for a bear she already had (it's a blue and white cheerleader, and we just told her it was a BYU cheerleader. She LOVES the BYU cheerleaders. She watches the football games with us and is so excited at the tiniest clip they'll show of the Cougarettes or cheerleaders!). Luke got a cheetah, but we named it Baby Jaguar (from Diego). He carries it around everywhere with him at home! I'm a little nervous about when it will need a bath, because we had the roar sound put in it. . . oh well, I guess we'll see what happens.

Our new baby is growing well and being as active as ever! Instead of going every four weeks to the OB/GYN like a normal person would get to do, mine makes me go every two to three weeks because of how much running I'm doing it. I have to say, it's a really big nuisance! I can't wait to be done with my half marathon (less than six weeks!) so that I don't have to spend so many hours in the doctor's office. We have a big ultrasound scheduled in a few weeks with a neonatologist to check the baby for spinabifida, since I was born with it. I have to take 4mg of folic acid a day, instead of the regular 800 micrograms-1mg. It's a lot of pills!

Alright! Here are the pictures!



Grandma here for my birthday

I had great help with my birthday candles

Kate giving her older bear a bath, Luke giving Baby Jaguar his first bath.


You can't see Luke's face very well, but he was VERY concerned about the burning candle. For those who don't know Luke well, the cupcake is just a prop. He won't TOUCH anything that is sweet-- cake, cookies, candy, ice cream, whatever it is. He HATES sweet things. He'll usually throw it at you and yell, "No way!!" It's much healthier this way! Although, I'm ready to start potty training him, but I don't know how! I have nothing to bribe him with! Kate got a jelly bean every time she went potty. With Luke, who knows. A chip?


Andi and Brookelynn got back just a few days before Luke's birthday. We are so glad to have them back!!!


The giant firetruck that Grandma Thomason got for him. I didn't even need to get him anything else for his birthday. He would have been thrilled with just this, and his new rescue pack that he got. Those are his two favorites.


Here's Rescue Pack! Every morning he wakes up and says, "Where's Rescue Pack? Let's go find him!"

His cool trucks and tractors from Grandma and Grandpa Todd.


Carrying Baby Jaguar up and down the stairs. Doesn't he look so grown up?!

And yet, another hurricane

Our lives have been inundated with hurricanes lately, or so it feels. I could tell how true this was when Kate was coloring a picture in church on Sunday and she told me, "Mom, this is hurricane Hannah and it is going to hit South Carolina". She is very aware of what is going on, especially in places she's been to. She is very good at listening to things that Randy and I say.

We've had a nice relaxing day, just hanging out at home while Ike has pounded away at us. It has been much worse that Gustav. We've had tornadoes in our area. We even had our tornado siren on base going off, which hasn't happened in the two years we've lived here. The young women were supposed to clean the church building today and I canceled it because the winds were so strong, Randy didn't want me out driving in it.

This week has been very busy. Kate is LOVING school. Luke is adjusting to having her gone some mornings. The first day she was at school, he was insistent that Sissy was sleeping. When it was time to pick her up, I said, "Let's go get Sissy!" He started heading up the stairs to her room saying, "Sissy sleeping! Wake up Sissy!" Now he understands and when he's feeling lonely, he'll come up to me and say, "Sissy, school?" Any time we're there to pick her up or drop her off, he wants SO badly to stay and play. Next year he'll be in Kate's class. His birthday is September 26th (I can't believe he's almost two!!!), and the school cut off here is September 30th, so he'll just make it in! I think he'll really enjoy it, and I'll enjoy getting to spend some one-on-one time with the new baby!

The next few weeks will be busy! We're really excited that Grandma Thomason is coming to visit us from Arizona over my birthday (I can't believe I'm going to be 25!), then Luke's birthday is on the 26th, then on the 27th, Randy is going TDY to Alaska for 3+ weeks. By the time he comes back, I should know if the baby is a boy or a girl! I am way too much of a planner to not find out. We need to clean out our garage, and at the same time I'll get out my boxes of maternity clothes, and whatever baby clothes we'll need! I'm excited to get out the boxes of either baby boy or girl clothes. Either way, it will be fun! It would be fun if this was another boy, just since it's next to Luke in age, but Kate is really sure she wants it to be a baby sister.

Alright, here are a bunch of pictures of the kids!

Randy took this picture of Luke. He was dancing around wearing this bib. We were laughing at how tiny it was on him. I got it for a present at my baby shower with him. It used to be GIANT! It's amazing how quickly kids grow up!

Kate was SO excited for her first day of school!

Luke needed pictures on Sissy's first day of school, too!

Kate's first day of school in her classroom.

The kids were really tired after church on Sunday. They both decided to lay down on the dining room floor for a nap.


Kate's first day of dance in her dance studio!


We went bowling as a family this week. The kids loved it!


The kids enjoying our nice, relaxing day during the hurricane.

I'm really not dead. . .

I can't believe how long it's been since I've been on here. Life has been crazy! Kate started school last Friday and she LOVES it! The only problem is that she loves to sleep in, so some mornings we have a hard time getting her out of bed to get ready for school. She feels really big that she gets to go.

I've really enjoyed the one-on-one time I've gotten to spend with Luke while Kate has been in school. I haven't ever gotten any individual time with him, so we've had a great time.

We had quite the week last week. Hurricane Gustav was supposed to be this major ordeal. As I'm sure most people know, the entire coastal region of Louisiana was evacuated. A lot of evacuees came here. Randy spent the entire weekend working in a Red Cross shelter translating for them. There was a large immigrant population that was Spanish speaking. Then we had a lot of the week off because the storm was supposed to be gigantic (we've had regular thunderstorms worse than Gustav, it just stayed here for a really long time). On Tuesday, we were at the Honda dealership here in town and I slipped on their painted curb and fell HARD! It was not a good thing. I spent the night in the ER, was told I may lose the baby, etc. I went to the OB the next day, and he said everything is fine. Great! Major crisis averted. I've just had one giant headache ever since I fell.

Speaking of my OB, today I had a regular visit. My OB has this awesome little portable ultrasound machine. Instead of using a doppler to listen to the baby's hear beat, he just does an ultrasound every time. So today he was looking at the baby and it jumped SO high. My OB thought it was the funniest thing because he said he'd never seen a baby at my gestation jump so high. It jumped 3 inches! He said in comparison, it would be the equivalent of an adult doing a Michael Jordan sized jump. Needless to say, this is going to be one active baby! I told my doctor at the beginning of my appointment that I've already been feeling the baby move around. He looked at me like I was crazy, but then totally believed me once he saw how active it is! I had Luke with me and we were showing him the baby on the screen. I wouldn't be surprised if this is another little brother and he's just anxious to keep up with his big brother!

I'll post more pictures later. I need to go be a mom and fix dinner.

Tid bits from our trip

We had so much fun on our trips. It's great to be home and getting back into a normal routine. I had a doctor's appointment on Monday, and to Kate's disappointment (and our relief!) there's only one baby! My official due date is April 5, 2009. Hurray! I'm so glad to not have to be huge during the dead of the summer like I was with Luke!

Here are some pictures from our trips to Spokane, Washington and Mesa, Arizona.

Karly's wedding reception. All night Kate just wanted to stand by her. She thought Karly was so beautiful in her dress.

At the end of the night, Karly gave Kate her bouquet. Kate was SOO proud of it!


Kate and Luke in front of the Spokane temple. Kate loved hearing about this being where Mom and Dad got married. He didn't want to hold still for the picture and she wanted him to.


Cat Tales (an exotic cat sanctuary) in Newport, WA. We had a lot of fun seeing all of the large exotic cats there! Here we are with Rachel, Luke, Hannah, Josh, Kate, and Zander. We had so much fun visiting with the Whites. They were so good to my kids!!!!!


The nostalgic Spokane carousel. I grew up going to this! It's very fun to me to take my kids there. The last time I took Kate there I was VERY pregnant with Luke.


My kids had SO much fun climbing all over these blocks for some reason.


Luke enjoying Uncle Spencer's pool in Arizona.


Kate giving Randy her treasured rock for his birthday.


Kate and Randy enjoying Spencer's pool.

Where did the summer go?

Since we've been traveling the world (literally) this summer, I am finding myself saying, "Where did the summer go?!" I am dying that it's time for Kate to start school, dance, etc. I'm going to miss her this fall!! It will be really nice that Luke and I will get some individual time before the baby comes. Speaking of the baby. . . I can't believe how sick I've been!! I was puking my guts out at midnight the other night. Hopefully that's the only time that will happen this pregnancy. It was four times with Kate and none with Luke. . . is this a girl? If you ask Kate, she tells everyone that I have a boy baby AND a girl baby in my tummy. I'm already HUGE, so maybe it would stand to reason that there are two in there?! Randy would die, I think it would be fun. . . but wow. I have an ultrasound on Monday after I get home, so we will know for sure! I love that my doctor does an ultrasound on basically every visit. We'll be able to find out early what we're having, too! Anyone have any guesses boy, girl, both?

We get home on Wednesday, and it will be nice to be home and not living out of a suitcase! I'm anxious to get some of the pictures off my camera from this trip. We've been at two different temples and lots of other fun places. Randy will be in Guam when we get home, fortunately just for a week this time. . . then we get to resume regular life!! Hurray!

I finally finished Breaking Dawn. I really liked it. It took me almost a week to read it because Randy always wanted to be on the go while he was here with us. We've had lots of fun going and doing, but I was very glad to get to sit down and finish my book!

I'm a dork, I know!

My niece Rachel and I are counting down until Breaking Dawn is released tonight. I pre-ordered it a month ago, and it is supposed to be delivered to my mom's house tomorrow (the kids and I are headed to Mesa, AZ tomorrow morning), but I REALLY want it while I'm on the plane. I sat and read SkyMall for 3 hours on the way here because my kids were glued to a movie (thank goodness for portable DVD players!). So, I think that Rachel and I are going to go buy it at midnight tonight. I'm so excited for it!!! It's fun to be excited about it with Rachel. It makes me feel like a teenager again (while fat a pregnant, nice!). Speaking of being fat and pregnant. . . my stomach is already HUGE! I'm sure part of it is that I've taken the week off from running, but my goodness. . . baby number three really wants to make itself known! I keep having dreams that I'm having twins. I did at the beginning of my pregnancy with Luke, too, so I'm sure I'm just psyching myself out. I have another ultrasound in 2 1/2 weeks, so I'm sure my mind will be put at ease then!

So early!

I feel very fortunate that my pregnancies are SOOOO easy. I don't get sick (unless I don't eat often enough), just really, really tired. When I was pregnant with Luke and still nursing Kate, I would go to bed at about 8pm during my first trimester. Poor Randy never saw anything of me. This morning I was sitting and snuggling Luke (he rises with the sun in Washington around 6am) and I had to run into the bathroom. I didn't throw up, but it was one of those moments where I really wanted to because I hoped it might make me feel better. Moral of the story is. . . I'm really praying that I have the same kind of pregnancy as the past and that I feel well!! I'm a little nervous now!! I can't believe that it's starting this early!!!!!!!! So here's to early sunrises in Washington and early morning sickness! BLAH!

Coming home again. . . ?

Sometimes I feel like I can't claim anywhere as "home" for growing up. I'm in Spokane, WA right now with my wonderful White nieces and nephews and we're having a GREAT time. It is just interesting to be back here. When people ask me where I'm from, I always tell them Washington. Spokane is the place I've lived the longest in my life, but since we left here when I was 11, it is hard to say this is still home. It feels like home to me, but it still doesn't feel quite right. I'll never claim Chewelah, WA as home (I lived there from 14-16 1/2); I wouldn't claim Provo as home (I lived there from 16 1/2-21 1/2). I went to my sister's ward yesterday, which is the ward my family would have been in had we still lived here. I also went to Karly's wedding reception on Saturday night (it was really fun to show Kate the temple that Mom and Dad got married in). It is so fun to see familiar faces. Most people thought I was my sister, Deborah, since I was with her daughter who was playing the harp at the wedding reception (she is EXTREMELY talented!). It's just kind of an odd set of emotions to sort through!

While I'm here in Washington, I feel like I have TONS of spare time, so I'm trying to freshen up my blog and give it some new life.

We're headed to Arizona from here, so we won't be back in Louisiana for a couple of weeks. I have to say, I LOVE the climate here in the summer. I love how much it cools off at night! I don't like how early it gets light or how late it stays light. I don't miss that part of the Pacific Northwest!

I'll get some more pictures on here soon!

Must. . . Keep. . . Eating. . .

This was over the 4th of July weekend at Randy's parent's house. For those who know Luke, his FAVORITE thing is chips, especially when he can dip them in beans. He hadn't had a nap, and it was about 6:30 at night. This is the first time one of my kids has ever fallen asleep eating.

A Day for Gratitude

Yesterday was a really hard day around here. We received many concerned phone calls, and I want to say thank you to every one! For those of you who don't know, here is a link to an article:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/07/21/guam.crash/index.html

A B-52 crashed just off of Guam. It had six crew members on board, one of which was a flight doctor who was stationed in Guam. The other five crew members were stationed here at Barksdale and were deployed to Guam. Three of them were Randy's squadron mates, two of which he knew well. Our hearts and prayers are with the families who have lost their loved ones.

It was a day for us to be so grateful for what we have. That so easily could have been Randy there. It is his squadron deployed. The co-pilot was one of his peers in the squadron-- they graduated from pilot training together, did their B-52 training together. . . It just makes me SO very grateful for my husband's life. It makes me ache for those who have so much uncertainty right now. Especially since only one person (that we know of yet) has been identified. The other five are still listed as unknown. So please keep the family of those crew members in your thoughts and prayers. I can't imagine what they are going through.

Randy and I were talking last night. He spent his entire afternoon (for the second time) trying to get the alignment done on my van before I drive it to Dallas again. I spent the entire morning having new tires put on it so the alignment could be done. We were getting a bit frustrated about the whole situation, then Randy pointed out, "We shouldn't be so upset. We could be having a lot worse of a day today". I am grateful for the blessing of my family being in tact!

On a happier note. . . Kate has successfully slept 2 nights with no pacifier! HURRAY! I have felt so guilty for almost two years about her still having one. But first Luke was being born, so I didn't want to take it away. Then we were moving, so I didn't want to take it away. Then she finally started sleeping through the night when she turned two (She's only been allowed to have it in bed, so I didn't want to take away the allure of bed). Then we were traveling a lot. Then Randy was gone for a while, then we were traveling, then we moved again, then Randy got deployed. . . the list goes on. I just couldn't ever justify taking it. One night while Randy was in Guam, instead of a story for bed, she and I sat down at the computer and she picked out a toy she wanted the paci fairy to bring to her. I told her the paci fairy wouldn't come until Dad got home from Guam. The other day, she decided she was ready for the paci fairy to come (because she wanted the toy she had picked out). Randy wasn't very sure about her doing it. He was trying to persuade her not to. . . We tried it the first night with her going to sleep with it, then the paci fairy took it in the night. That wasn't a good idea. She was up for about an hour and a half in the night because she was so upset about it being missing. So the next night we went to sleep without it. Now she's SO proud that she's a big girl without it. She is proud that she can swim all by herself (with a life jacket) and that she has no paci. Last night was the first night of normal kid things. She was out of her bed about ten times before she finally went to sleep. It just made me laugh.

Hopefully our day will be a little brighter today. It's cleaning day for me!! I'm trying to get ready to be out of town for 2 1/2 weeks. The kids and I are headed to Spokane for a week, then we're going straight to Arizona for another week and a half. Hopefully we'll actually stay home for a while this fall!!!


This was seconds before he tipped backwards and smacked his head REALLY hard. It was so cute because he was playing in that basket for a good 15 minutes. That's a long time for Luke to hold still!
Kate wearing Randy's helmet. He was supposed to fly with the reserve squadron the next day, so he had to bring his stuff home to take it with him.

Hopefully she won't ever become a fighter pilot. Luke didn't have any desire to put it on.

Please, not yet. . .

I forgot to add this funny little story to my blog earlier. I was reading my friend Natalie Plummer's blog (hey Nat, here's your shout out :) and seeing a picture of her little girl, Lydia, reminded me of this story.

This morning I was having a YW presidency meeting at my house. One of my counselors has two little boys, each four months younger than each of my kids. Our meeting was over and we were cleaning up all of the toys (also present was a 7-week-old and another two-year-old) and Heidi started calling for her son Brandon, but he wasn't answering her. I realized that Kate wasn't around either, so I called her. She promptly answered me that she was in her room. I went upstairs, and she and Brandon were snuggled in her bed (she has a queen sized bed), each snuggling dollies. I'm very open and honest with my kids, and don't beat around the bush about things (we use anatomically correct names for body parts, etc.), but I didn't think that I needed to have the talk with my 3-year-old yet about not letting boys in her bed. So, to copy the name of Natalie's picture. . . and so it begins! Randy and I both had talks with Kate about not letting boys in her room, especially her bed. So please, no headaches about boys Kate! Not yet!!!

Summers are the best

I know I'm a little behind at posting 4th of July pictures, but I'm finally doing it. We spent the 4th in College Station, TX with Randy's family. We did fireworks on Thursday the 3rd at Randy's parent's land, then on the 4th we went to the George Bush presidential library in College Station for their huge firework show. On the morning of the 4th we went to a ward breakfast with Randy's parents. There was a parade that kids decorate bikes and strollers, then "parade" around the church parking lot. Grandma and Kate decorated our stroller, so Randy paraded with them.

We were all so worn out the next day when we got home to Shreveport. Our next adventure begins in a couple of weeks when I head to Spokane with the kids to hang out with the Whites for a week. We are VERY excited for that trip!! It is so sad to me that my kids only know very few of their MANY cousins. Fortunately, they will become better acquainted with four more of them!

My kids are excited that tonight is family home evening. Why? Because we get family home evening treats. My poor deprived children! Oh well, I guess that's what Monday nights are for!


Luke held still for a picture!!!!!!!!!!

Kate was helping Dad dig a hole to make the firework box level by Grandma and Grandpa's pond.



Manliness at its best. . .? They had been playing king of the hill on top of the log. Then they started doing arabesque's for Kate. I had to get a picture of that one. . . This is Randy and his younger brother Ryan.


Luke really didn't care about the sparklers. He just wanted to go to bed.


Kate was the only kid doing sparklers, so she got to do them two at a time.


Out of all of the fireworks that Grandma and Grandpa had, Luke was the most fascinated with Grandpa's flashlight.


A family to-do of Roman candles


Everyone parading around the church parking lot. Luke was mad because the sun was in his eyes.


Watching the fireworks at the George Bush library on the 4th.


This was the first time Luke had ever had an ice cream cone. We had been eating corn on the cob for dinner, so he was insistent that he needed to eat it in the middle like corn (I had to work really hard to teach him how to eat corn last summer-- that we eat it in the middle and not from the top). He ended up dumping his ice cream out, but he didn't care. He just ate the cone and was happy.