Real Life Expecting Baby #4-31 Weeks

I don't think its any secret that this pregnancy has been so different and difficult from my others. Don't get me wrong none of them have been a walk in the park but this one has been harder in some ways. I have spent more time "taking it easy" than I have in my entire life. That has been so hard for me. I have had to pace myself for a long time and just realize at times that I have to rest and certain things would have to wait until later or until Matt could help me do them. The girls have been so great and have just entertained themselves and helped each other. I am so proud of them. I have to remind myself that this too shall pass and that this is just a short time in all of life and will be worth it in the end. Nothing glamorous about pregnancy for sure

Gracie is Leader of the Pack

Im not going to lie every time I get a phone call from the school while the girls are there I kinda hold my breath hoping everything is ok. I got one of those phone calls this afternoon only to find out that Gracie was named Leader of the Pack. Her teacher nominated her for being a good friend and always being a leader in including everyone. We couldn't be more proud of her. She was given a certificate, got to have lunch with the principal, and got this fun picture that the principal text me.

Hallie's 9th Birthday Week

Happy Happy birthday to the first little girl that made me a mom! I can't believe she is already 9! In some ways it seems life never existed without her but at the same time that just yesterday she was born. She is so into rocks right now. Kimber asked what she liked and then found her some geodes that she would actually have to break apart herself so the minute they arrived in the mail she of coarse had to break them open.

Her birthday fell on a Wednesday this year but luck would have it that she woke up in the night not feeling well and running a fever. She stayed home from school and helped me with Emy while I went to the Dr. They stayed with Matt at his office since I had an OB appt. As long as she had medicine in her she felt and acted fine but once it wore off the fever would come back and she felt crappy.

She did at least like her birthday decor.

On the way home from the Dr. we stopped at Smiths and Hallie was wanting a doughnut and little did we know she would find one as big as her but it was the one she wanted so we got it. She was happy to share with her sisters so it was a good deal for everyone

That night after Gracie's gymnastics, per Hallie's request, we had dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe with Joy. After getting our fill of pizza, pasta, salad, and even a birthday skookie we headed home to open presents. She received a certificate to go to lunch and a pedicure with Joy, a science set from Gracie, a jog suit, shoes, and books. She was pretty thrilled with how the day had gone.

The next couple days she still fevered on and off but was in good spirits. She missed school Wed and Thursday so Matt took her to school Friday to take treats to her class and stop for breakfast. When I asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday she said to have a play date with Paige, Rigs, and Kinners. Since her birthday was the middle of the week Nic made plans to bring the kids up Friday after school so that s when we planned for cake and ice cream. She said she loved it since it had been her birthday all week.

She requested rainbow chip cake and frosting

Matt was also able to take Hallie on a date Saturday morning to go mini golfing and to lunch. They had a great time.

Happy birthday beautiful girl...you are such a blessing in our lives

Father & Son Trip To See The Braves

When Matt was 11 his dad took him, Chris, and Tiff to Colorado to watch the Braves play. He has such great memories of that trip and has talked about going to do something similar again. This fall presented the opportunity so he took it. Matt had to visit clients so Kerry went along for the ride and they were able to attend a couple Braves games and spend some real quality time together. I think both Matt and I have realized lately that our parents are getting older and wont be around forever. I think we have realized this more with Matt's parents. Their bodies aren't as young as they used to be and its starting to show. I was completely on board wit Matt doing this and the memories that they made were ones that will last a lifetime.

Stampin It Up

While I was doing some blogging this little one was playing with stamps on the counter and after a few minutes came to show me what she had been working on...her forehead! This was a little out of the ordinary for her so we had to have the talk again about not coloring on ourselves and how our body is a temple. I may have laughed a little under my breath because she did a pretty good job getting it right in the middle.

29 Weeks

I have resorted to taking my own pictures since I don't get ready everyday and sometimes when I remember to take a picture no one else is around. Anyways we are now at our 29 weeks mark and have started getting out of the dangerous space of this pregnancy. I still feel pretty good. I have been sleeping great and he is definitely an active little friend. He is still measuring 10-14 days ahead which still has me worried about how big he'll be but there isn't much I can do at this point. I still feel like Im carrying my weight mostly in my tummy and behind. The story remains each days seems so slow but when I think about how far we've come its gone fast.

Pink Panther Soccer Season

I don't think Matt or I was surprised when Hallie chose soccer as her activity this year. It's her favorite and she continues to get better and better all the time. Matt was able to coach again so that makes it more fun that they can spend that extra time together. They seem like they're going to have a great little team and several of the girls from last year on on the team again. 

Emy's 1st Day of Preschool

If Im being honest a month before school started I never had the intention of sending Emy to preschool but as school got closer for the older girls Emy started asking when she got to go to school. I started to feel like maybe she needed something of her own. I talked to Matt and he said he was on board with whatever I thought. I put a call into Ms. Syrina in the ward and asked if she had any openings. she really didn't but said she would take Emy knowing how great Hallie and Gracie both were and if she had issues we could reevaluate after a month. Em was so excited until the first day of school and then she totally freaked out that I was leaving her somewhere. I took her and stayed for about 15 minutes before she told me I could leave if I would come back. Another nice thing is that she is in the class with Eden and Gretchen so that we can carpool. She goes one day a week on Wed from 9-12. We will see how it goes as I think some weeks I may have to wake her up since she sleeps til 9 but we'll work thru it.  She is 3 years old, favorite color is pink, she wants to be a kitty when she grows up, and her favorite book is The little mouse, the red ripe strawberry, and the big hungry bear. I know she'll do great and will have such a great time

Gracie Starts Gymnstics

Each year before school starts we have a conversation with each of the girl about what they would like to do for their activity that school year. Matt and I are pretty open to them trying whatever they have interest in. This year Gracie decided she wanted to try gymnastics. Britt was pretty disappointed that she didn't want to do dance again but Gracie was consistent in what she wanted so thats what we signed her up for. She is taking at Powerhouse Athletics in North Ogden. Brit recommended this place because its also where Alivia takes. I hope she loves it and Im excited to see what she learns

Las Vegas/Tahiti Village Trip

Last year after we visited Tahiti Village in Las Vegas we knew that we wanted to make plans to come back so when we found out we were pregnant and were unable to do Mexico with the kids this was an easy plan B. So we made plans to go a little sooner in the fall so the weather was a little warmer and it ended up being perfect. We booked a larger room with a kitchen and it was so perfect for us. After Labor day the room prices during the week are a third of what they are on the weekends and prime time. We flew in late afternoon and headed to the hotel. I left Matt with the girls and ran to get groceries for the week. When I got back we made dinner and got everyone ready for bed. Hallie said she wasn't feeling well and come to find out had quite the fever but with some meds she was good as new. Hope it stays that way. We flew in  Kimber was able to take some time off work so she and the kiddos could join us. I love Kimber and I's relationship. Throughout the years we have grown closer and she has become one of my very best friends. I look forward to our visit. She is one of the very few people who just get me. We had a fantastic time swimming, doing crafts, and catching up.

One afternoon my mom joined us for a couple hours. The kids loved getting to see her. My dad even got to sneak away from work to spend some time with us.

They had cookie decorating in the kids club. The kids had more fun eating the gummy bears than actually decorating I think.

The next morning we had plans to head down to the strip and see a few touristy things. The Bellagio is always a fav but since we went in the morning  the fountains weren't running but we got to see the flower display. Its always so cool to me what a great job they do. We timed it just right as they were closed the following week to switch the flowers over to fall.

Matt is such a great sport and was up for whatever we wanted to do and where we wanted to go. He was in a conference last year so he hadn't gotten to go anywhere with us

The sour lemon face

M&M World was next and we hit it just right. We were able to see the M&M display, eat some, catch the character meeting, and watch the movie. It was fun and this is one of the kids favorite places.

Emy was initially terrified but once we tried to leave without her meeting her she wanted to give it a try

Matt was so great and went to get the car so I didn't have to walk to freaking far. Parking in Vegas is one of the worst things ever...never anything close and everything is expensive. While he was gone he ran into this crazy dude.

After some lunch and swimming we got ready to head to tournament of the kings at Excalibur. It was an early birthday present for Hallie. They even announced her name over the intercom. We were lucky enough to have Kimber, Ez, Luke, Mom, and Dad join us. It was such a fun time. We ate tomato soup, a small chicken, roll, broccoli, and apple turnover. Em ate 2 servings of tomato soup(that was definitely her favorite, the girls ate some of their food but everyone seemed pretty distracted by the show. It was pretty pricey for what it was but it was a great time and a very fun experience. 

After the show Em insisted on meeting one of the dark knights. I was sure she would be terrified but she wasn't the older girls had no interest in meeting them so so that was kinda a surprise. The show didn't leave much time for visiting but it was fun to be there together anyways.

Friday morning we had to get up and going so we could check out. We left with plenty of time so we made it to another stop we had on our list...the chocolate factory. We got to sample a couple chocolates and see the cactus gardens. 

Then we did some shopping while we waited to see the mermaids at the Silverton. The kids always think they're so cool but they didn't stay in very long this time. We stayed around for 2 shows and still only saw them for a couple minutes each time but the girls seemed to be happy with that and getting to see the sting ray(Hallie's favorite) 

After our couple stops we headed for North Vegas to Mom and Dad's house. We brought food to make lunch and dinner before we needed to leave for the airport. We had lunch before we did some swimming in their above ground pool. Mom had bought them some treats for the flight home that the girls were pretty excited about eating them. Our flight ended up being delayed so we got to stay a little longer. Then we were headed home and back to real life just in time for the weekend. It was a perfect little getaway and Im sure its not the last time we will stay at Tahiti Village. I love this little family of mine and all our adventures both big and small.