STILL PREGNANT

For those of you who may have been checking anxiously -- I'm still here -- still pregnant. It's good because I know the baby just keeps getting more and more healthy the longer he stays in there, but......... I want him out.

I just thought he'd be here by now. Griffin was 5 days early -- Kai was 3 wks early -- and I figured this one would come somewhere in between those two, but sooner rather than later. I was really hoping for May 2nd. That sounded like a good birthday date. Nope didn't happen, despite my trying. I didn't go to the extremes of caster oil or anything. I guess he's just not ready.

Jeff's in the middle of finals right now and it doesn't help that he's feeling awful. It's like, "Here, if the stress of finals and a baby due any day aren't enough........ let's throw on this great stomach bug that's been going around. That will make things easier." He really has been working hard on school and I'm happy for him that it's almost over. Hopefully we'll have an enjoyable summer and be able to find a place to live in the valley for all of his internships. I'm excited to be close to family again. Griffin and Kai really miss the grandparents and cousins.

I'll keep you posted. By the way, if any of you out there know of someone trying to rent their house or a cheap apartment with 3 bedrooms, let me know. Gilbert or Mesa area is our preference.

Oh, the masks we wear.

Yep, we're still into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles around here. This past Sunday the boys found some elastic headbands of mine, similar to these:

They were using them around their foreheads as the ninja turtle masks. Kai's kept falling down over his eyes and wouldn't let me fix it. I think he realized that's where an actual mask should sit. So after watching him run into a few things, Jeff and I decided that we'd better make them some real masks.

My improvisational skills kicked in and I found some old spandex to use. We cut the bottom of the legs off and cut out eye holes as well. Jeff was our color artist and the boys loved them!!

Something to hold me over:

Thanks to my friend Shanon Scott -- I have been able to get some of my TWILIGHT yearnings calmed by watching some clips from the movie coming 12~12~08 !!!

I am VERY excited to see how it turns out. There's a little more action than what I pictured, but maybe that means Jeff will go see it with me.

If you're interested, or semi-obsessed like me, I have posted the link below.

http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1585900&vid=226476

Tagged by Celynda:

7 WEIRD AND RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME

1. I prefer Dairy Queen over Cold Stone, Baskin Robins and Golden Spoon, however Nielsen's and Mesa Frozen come in a close second.

2. My shirts are color coded. I got this idea from my sisters. They used to do this when they roomed together. It helps me to put away my clothes faster. It goes white to black, short sleeve then long sleeve, and there's always a hanger waiting for the shirt in the exact place I took it from. Tah-dah.

3. I love to go bowling. Sometimes I'm good, sometimes not -- but I love it none the less. When we were little my mom signed up my brother and I in an after school league. At the end of the league we each got our own bowling ball. Mine was pink and I named it the "Pink Panther". It's still sitting in my hope chest, unused, because I never took the time and effort to get finger holes drilled in it.

4. I drink my milk with ice in it. I can drink it "normal" if I have to, but I don't like it.

5. One slice white bread, peanut butter, mayo, tomatoes, salt. This is one of my favorite "go-to" sandwiches when I don't know what else to eat. Don't knock it until you've tried it!

6. I have double jointed toes.(first picture) This comes in very handy (along with the length of my toes) when I need to pick something up off the ground and have a baby in my arms. I remember grossing out my family once, asking them what they thought it would be like if we only had one toe (second picture).

7. I can turn my tongue 180 degrees both ways. I was going to post my very first blog video of this, but it turned out looking kind of........... weird.

So there you go. I probably lost some respect from a few of you -- but that's me -- take it or leave it.

I tag Jenny Kempton, Jennica, Jen Reynolds, Jen Layton, Jennifer Badgett, Jen (Rob's cousin) -- and anyone else who's name starts with J-E-N. :)

Fo' Shizzle !!

Okay, so not the pattern to pick if you were trying to come off as a tough-guy, but this sweet textbook cover made one SLAMIN' doo rag.

Here's Kai workin' it on his pimp-phone.

And Griffin, not wanting to miss out on all the cultural action, wanted to throw down a few breakdancing moves. Now, he's just a beginner, but I'd say he has excellent form on this "Suicide Sweep Drop", don't you think?

OH BOY!!!

Today, I feel nervous. I've been spending most of my anxiety thoughts lately on ......

... Who am I going to call, when it's baby time, to come stay with Griffin and Kai? .....

.... Do I have the "volunteers" home phone and cell phone numbers? ...

..... If Jeff is at school, will the pre-paid cell phone I got for him have reception in his classroom?

With most of the above questions answered, I was able to think about the actual task ahead of me. For those of you who don't know, I tend to have very fast labors. Since before Griffin was born, I had NO second thoughts about epidurals. If it's going to feel better and make the experience more enjoyable -- BRING IT ON!!! However, I've never been able to get one.

My labor with Griffin was 3 hrs. total. With Kai, it was 1.5 hrs total. Yeah, you could say I barely make it to the hospital in time. With both boys, I've been a '9' when I arrive, so there's been no time for pain meds. I definitely look at that as lucky AND unlucky.

So, while watching the Discovery Health Channel today, I saw a mom going through the pain I will be probably be facing here in the next few weeks. It was unnerving. Especially since I go so fast. There's no time to think or control ANYTHING!!! I'm a little scared.

Then comes the fear of, "Is the baby okay?". Kai was in the NICU for almost a week and it was super hard! Even though he was the baby there with possibly the LEAST serious condition, all of your post-labor emotions erupt at the slightest problem. I pray I don't have to go through that again.

Tugs at your heartstrings, doesn't it?

ENVY

I don't get it.

I envy how some of you find the time, energy, motivation, and subject matter to blog almost every day?

I feel like...... unless I'm going to put something up on my blog that is super interesting and has great pictures to go along with it....... there's no point. I need to do more rambling though. I think it would help my mind relax and give me somewhere to write out my frustrations.

CREATION DAY

This past Sunday, I created two things I am extremely proud of. The first happened BEFORE church. Jeff was at a meeting and I got out Blokus so the boys and I could play with the pieces. Griffin and I built a fairly nice looking house, but it wasn't exciting enough for Griffin. He wanted me to make a turtle. So I did. It wasn't a NINJA turtle though, so he asked me to try again. I was worried I wouldn't be able to find pieces to work and we would have a HUGE breakdown fit. But, because of my Mom's wonderful creativity, passed onto me -- I did it.

Pretty sweet, huh.

Then AFTER church, Jeff wanted me to make a cake. And not just any cake, something we hadn't had before. So I went online and searched for a recipe that contained ingredients I already had (it being the Sabbath and all), and found one called a "Dump Cake". -- Sounds appetizing doesn't it? -- It was named that because you basically just dump all the ingredients in a bowl and stir. I DID have to borrow some chocolate chips from our friends, but I had everything else. And to my surprise it turned out really good. Personally, I think it could have cooked another 5-10 minutes and been better, but Jeff liked it and that was my main goal.

The glaze was NOT in the recipe, but how can you have a bundt cake without a nice glaze on top? The picture wouldn't have been half as pretty without it.