Tums. . .my new best friend!

I'm only 8 weeks away from delivering this little guy. We're so excited, but can't believe how fast time has gone by. Since some of my friends/sisters have commented that I haven't looked pregnant in a picture yet, I decided to post a couple where you can really see my belly. I am DEFINITELY showing and I can DEFINITELY feel it after each meal. . .hence the title of this little post. :) I just can't believe how much fun I'm having being pregnant again. I love feeling him move ALL the time and preparing for another baby in our family. I just turned 36, but I don't feel much older than I did with Mark at 25!

Sea World

We really enjoyed adding 2 days at Sea World to our family vacation this year.

We found that feeding the dolphins was the best way to get to touch one! We did that both days and all of us loved it!

We also watched the Shamu show both days. After watching it from very far away the first day, the kids wanted to sit up in the "soak" zone for the second show. Dave and I weren't about to chance getting soaked and having to walk around uncomfortable the rest of the day, so we put ponchos on the kids and sat them right up front, then we went to the back again. They LOVED getting splashed by Shamu! And, Dave and I were amazed that all of our kids are (for the next two months anyway) old enough to be without us for a whole show. We enjoyed watching them have so much fun. :)

If you look close you can see Kyra's hands up egging Shamu on. This was the big splash that got them all wet!

We also got to see the Sesame Street characters at Sea World and ride a few rides.

 

Enjoying the *MAGIC*

As always, Disneyland was *MAGICAL*! The kids LOVED meeting, hugging, and getting kissed by the characters. We really enjoyed our time at the Mickey and Friends character breakfast where they got to dance, play, and take pics with the characters. Mark was especially excited to see Daisy because he hasn’t been able to find her except in the parades in the past. Goofy teased Darci a lot so she had to stop and hug him every time we passed him during the following four days! Kyra was overjoyed to see Jasmine as she knew that after the HOUR long line she would have to be happy with whatever three princesses were available at that time. . .and Jasmine is her favorite. We did get to see Jasmine in the Aladdin show also. I wasn’t sure I wanted to sit through the production again as we’ve seen it the past two visits to Disneyland, but Mark insisted, so we went. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it the third time! The genie makes the show so funny. We loved It's A Small World, they've incorporated many of the characters into the ride and it was fun finding them among all the dolls. We enjoyed the Disneyland parade this year as the kids got to get out and dance a little with the characters. We also got to see Disney's Electrical Parade for one of it's last showings as they're taking it to Florida next week. I'm glad we stayed up late for it, I loved it. Well, I've posted most of our character pics as my kids love to see what characters others have seen, so just scroll past if you're short on time. . . :)

We've made it a family tradition to go to Disneyland every other year for the past 6 years, so this is our third trip. We've absolutely loved it every time! Our first time was when Darci was 6 months old and that was perfect because the kids could ride every attraction twice as we did the "parent swap". The second time the kids were all old enough to really enjoy themselves. . .although Darci was a bit scared of the characters at that point. This trip also turned out well because since I'm 7 months pregnant and can't go on very many rides, I was able to run around and get fast passes so the kids didn't have to wait in such long lines for the more popular attractions. We've always enjoyed California Adventure as much as Disneyland and end up spending just as much time there as we do at Disney. We see a lot more of the characters there and we love the shows: Turtle Talk with Crush, Aladdin, It's Tough to be a Bug, Playhouse Disney, and Drawn to the Magic were the ones we went to this time. And, all of us loved the ride Soarin' Over California! At Disneyland, the kids spent a lot of time in Toon Town playing in all the houses. Darci just LOVED Minnie's house and couldn't get enough of it. I just can't believe how enjoyable it is to sit back and watch my kids be so excited and have so much fun! We can't wait to visit again in 2012!!! :)

Call Home!

Yay for Spring! I've been loving the weather. . .warm, snow, warm, cold, rain, sun, etc!!! It's made it very interesting for Rachel, Irene, and I trying to figure out where and when to workout each day, but we've been able to go to the park a few times, and we've really enjoyed that! I've been pregnant for 27 weeks now (87 days left as of today--hee hee) and have still been running, OK, so I've been getting slower and slower, but nonetheless I'm pretty proud of myself. :) We found out we're having a boy. I really can't believe it. Kyra and I were both so sure he was a girl!! But, I'm very excited to have another little boy--I can't wait to see what he looks like. Well, we made it through our remodeling projects (not that we had to do much but move furniture--which Hobie and Irene did lots of-- and stand by and watch, and be without stuff here and there, but it still seemed like a long time and a lot to deal with!) and our house is beautiful! I almost feel like we moved into a new home. We got new flooring throughout upstairs, new bathroom counters, a wood fireplace mantle, painted the bedrooms and bathrooms, and got new couches. Very fun!

Last month Dave and I went snowmobiling for Valentine's and Dave ended up in the ER for stitches. We had a great time until then! :) This set him back in his training enough that he won't be able to compete in April afterall, but he'll still go to the tournament to coach his team.

We got to have Megan and Jacob stay with us for a week while Kim and Jon went to Hawaii. We had a really fun time with them. Dave still mimics Jacob and asks the kids who he's being. Having Megan here made me realize how much my kids are dropped off at their cousins and how routine it has become for them. I'll ask them to get in the van, drive them to Rachel's, drop them off and drive away, all with no explanation and they don't even blink or think twice, they just run into her house and continue whatever they were doing the day before! Or I'll tell them to run to Irene's and they'll just go without wondering why or for how long! Until I tried to do the same with Megan who wanted to know why, where I was going, and when I'd be back, etc. I didn't realize how common and comfortable it had become! :) We loved having them here, and miss them already.

We took Mark to an ear specialist to see if surgery or a hearing aid could help his hearing. They ended up finding a cyst on his ear drum that must be removed. It'll take two surgeries--a year apart--to remove it, and he won't be able to go in water for 3 months after the surgery, so we're thinking of scheduling the first one at the end of this summer. But we also found out that there is a kind of hearing aid that would help him hear!! It's called a BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid). It sits behind his ear and hooks onto a screw that is anchored to his skull. We're looking into that now. It's very expensive and we've been told that insurance does not cover the procedure, so we'll see what we can do. . . !

We're looking forward to our vacation coming up. Mark and I are going to Catalina Island with his school for a few days, then meeting up with dad for a couple days, and then meeting up with Dave and the girls to go to Sea World and Disneyland for a week. Can't wait. :) I guess that's it for now.

A New Genre?

I just finished reading three books that I really enjoyed: The Alliance by Gerald Lund, and Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. I was about to say that these were a totally new genre of book for me because I usually think of myself as only reading historical fiction or non fiction, but on second thought, Harry Potter and Twilight would both fit into this type too. So can I now say I like to read science fiction? That sounds weird. Anyway, I recommend these books to all of you, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on them. Now. . .what to read next?

Happiness

Is it a choice? Is it a consequence? Is it a gift? Is it perspective? I have to admit, I’ve always basically thought it was a choice. And, I’ve read in the scriptures that it is also a consequence of righteous living. But is it that simple? Over my MANY years (hee hee) I’ve come to think that maybe it’s not. I’ve met so many good people who struggle with being happy. . .and it’s never seemed to be that hard for me. . .which leads me to believe now that maybe it’s a gift too. We are told that we can and should be happy in this life, and obviously NOT only when life is easy, because it never is! So why is it so hard for so many people? I don’t know the answer. I’m curious to hear what you all think. All I do know is that I’ll continue to consider my happiness as one of my gifts or blessings, and thank Heavenly Father for it every day!

and the bedrooms. . .

Since we found out we are having a boy before we painted, we got to paint a cute blue in the soon-to-be nursery! It goes well with the girl's bedding until then too! I love the walls being tan and having one accent wall so I can change a room easily by just painting one wall if I ever want to. :)