And we are done...

October before last (2008), we started reading the Book of Mormon as a family. It was a daunting task given that our children were only 1,1, and 3. Lucky for us, my Mom had given us a copy of the "Book of Mormon for Families" and we decided to just read what we could each night... even if it was only a few verses. The very first night we started reading, Logan asked us "when we would be done?". I remember trying to figure out how long it would take us to read the entire book and I could not decide how long it would take so I just threw out "when it snows".

We finished the entire Book of Mormon tonight.... and this picture was taken just a little bit ago... (they are calling for 6-8inches).

I have to admit that I'm pretty proud of my young little family. It wasn't easy. Some nights we only read one verse. Most nights we didn't get through what we were reading without someone deciding they would rather sing or yell or cry or hum. Some things went over my head, most things went over Logan's head and everything went over the boy's head, but I really feel like it was beneficial for everyone.

SO, now the question is what book do we read now? I say the Old Testament and Abinadi says The New Testament.... Logan is in favor of "Red Fish, Blue Fish, Old Fish, New Fish".

Picture answers

Ok, so let me clarify a few things.

First, the pictures were from "Th.e Pic.ture Peo.ple"

Second, I took them from their we.bsite.

Third, I may burn in hell because of it.

Fourth, I did buy quite a few sheets, so it's kind of ok.

Fifth, I'm not profiting from them, so it's even more ok.

Sixth, yes Mom, you are getting one (so is my Mother in Law in case anyone wants to know)

Seventh, I have run out of items.

My i.lle.gal ph.oto.s

SO, how many people are going to get mad at me that I'm posting these here... oh well. They are too cute not to publish.

This one reminds me of a picture my family took when I was younger.. like three of us had shocked expressions on our faces.
This one is my favorite... I mean, can we get more character in this photo?
OK, Cooper cries pretty easily in situations that he's not comfortable... like, the doctor's office, and apparently getting pictures taken. He cried for about 10 minutes and then he was fine. Ironically, I would do the same thing when I was his age.
Logan was not sure about the whole kissing idea.


In birth order.
Cooper is working on his double chin look.. it's important in this family.
Ben had just finished kissing the floor.. yes, gross.
Cooper was waving to me... he loves me.

I've said it before...

and I'll say it again..

John Edwards.. you are a shmuck.

(and no, I didn't waste post 900 on shmuck boy.. I deleted some draft posts and it brought down my total posts to 891... )

This and that

Yeah, one of those posts. I was going to split it up, but this is post number 899, and if I do more than one then post 900 will be some dumb post about nothing, and I would like to save it for something special. I'm not sure what that is yet, but something. Anyway, here's a rundown of what we have been up to... sorry to those of you on facebook.. these are nothing you haven't already seen.

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I finally got around to getting Logan a few new dresses. I have put this off for SO LONG. At first it was just me forgetting to look for a good deal on a dress, then it was me putting it off because I couldn't find a good deal on a dress. I went over to my favorite 2nd hand store here in Raleigh and EVERY SINGLE DRESS that they had was sleeveless. EVERY SINGLE ONE. What's wrong with that you ask? Well, I don't allow Logan to wear shirts/dresses/uniforms that are sleeveless. I just think that if you start your little girl off dressing modestly, it won't be as hard to get them to dress modestly when they are 13 and 17. My little soapbox, I know, but hey, it's my blog. Anyway, I found two dresses that were sleeveless that I figured would look fine with a white shirt under them. I was pretty excited b/c I only spent $10 on both of them. A few days later we found this brand new Wal-Mart over in Morrisville that had such a nice selection of dresses and they had this one style that had a little coverlet with the dress... only $7. I was stoked. I would have paid $7 for just the little coverlet. Here's Logan in the dress... she's adorable in whatever we put her in, but she's just extra cute in this little springtime dress. (Yes, I'm aware it's January)

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The same Sunday that Logan wore her new dress, the boys looked extra snazzy in their little outfits. We had a little photo shoot.

Seriously, could my children get any cuter? Look at that girl. Little firecracker that one is.

Cooper has gone from HATING his tie to wearing it around the house during the week. Ben is ambivalent toward his.

You can't really see Ben's outfit in this one due to "tags", but trust me, he looked adorable. Oh, and "tags" is blanket's new name.

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If you notice in the photos taken above, we finally have closet doors on the closets in the kid's room.. Why did we decided to do this after living here for 4 years with no doors? I'm glad you asked......

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Cooper has decided that he is done with cribs. He started climbing out of the big crib (climbing out is a stretch.. he would balance on the railing and then crash to the floor) so we put him in a pack n play thinking that it would be a harder feat to achieve (or at least a little closer to the ground).. boy were we wrong. He climbed out of the pack n play in about the same amount of time it took me to walk to the door of the room. He was pretty proud of himself and I believe we heard the phrase, "I got out of my bed" about 15 times in the next 15 minutes. The next day we headed down to get doors for the closets and we set up his "big boy bed". He LOVES it. We haven't had any problems with him getting out at night.... yet. Mostly because he no longer takes daily naps and he's zonked by 7PM. Here are some pictures:

Do you see the little door locks that we got to keep the kids from getting into the closet at night? Well, Logan figured out the two button release in about 10 minutes and Cooper had it cracked the next day. A stern warning after that has pretty much kept the closet doors closed, but still.. we figure the only thing left to do with the locks was this:

The first night Cooper slept in his bed was great. We went in to check on them before we went to bed and found this:

Abinadi was concerned that the circulation would be cut off from his arm, so he tucked him back properly. A little while later I went to check on him one more time and found this:

We aren't sure how he ended up on the floor.. it hasn't happened since. We were laughing so hard we almost woke him up. I put him back in bed and now he just likes to look at this picture and say, "I fell out of bed". Hilarious.

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Along the same lines of the new bed for Cooper, we finally got Logan's new sheets put on that she had gotten for Christmas. The boys decided that it was a new playground.

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Ben and Cooper take about 3 baths a week... and they LOVE their towels.

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In pregnancy related news, I'm now 30 weeks and some change. I'm measuring about a week bigger than I am, but I'm still going to have a growth ultrasound in two weeks. I guess they do it because of my history of growing small babies. I'm still committed to trying to have a VBAC, and so far, my doctors are all on board. We'll just have to wait and see what happens as I get farther along. I can not be induced, so if I'm not budging at 41 weeks, then they will go ahead and take the baby via a section. I won't cry a river if that happens.. it will just be the way things will happen. Either way, I'm walking out of that hospital with my baby... and baby is kicking me hard to tell me she agrees.

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Can I tell you how much I love being pregnant? Going from thinking that you will never get pregnant to having premature twins to being pregnant with a healthy singleton is an emotional roller coaster that I would have preferred not to ride, but I think it gives me such a different point of view of the whole pregnancy thing. Sure, I have aches and pains, and sure, I'll complain about it if you want me to, but I LOVE it. I absolutely LOVE laying in bed at night wondering why baby has chosen that minute to start to kick. I love not being able to get my whale sized body out of bed. I love the stretch marks that I didn't think that I had... thanks Abinadi*.... I love having to visit the loo 18 times in one day. It's all so worth it to have a happy healthy baby in the end.

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*Wondering what Abinadi said to me? Well, I was telling him that I was pretty excited that I didn't have any stretch marks that you could see and he responded, "Well, I don't think that they become noticeable until they aren't being stretched anymore.". Wives, take the time right now to tell your husbands that saying that something will only get worse does not make a wife happy. Oh well, I don't care. Stretch away skin.... stretch away.

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Oh, and here's a current "me" shot... one the doesn't feature my greatest asset.. my belly.

To go where no Ana has gone before

Pregnancy, the final frontier...

As of this moment... 7:05PM, and I am now more pregnant then I have ever been.

That's right, I'm 29wks19hrs5min pregnant. When I delivered the boys, I was 29wks19hrs4min pregnant. I'm really bursting with pride over here... you should be too.

Now, although I have now made it further than my previous pregnancy, I have no intention of having this baby any time soon. I am pretty sure I will be quite content to last another 11-12 weeks and be happily complaining the entire time....

BECAUSE...

I'M STILL PREGNANT!!!!

(Oh, and Baby is happy too.. he/she is kicking the laptop that I now have to hold at an odd angle to fit in my lap)

Also, we will see just how determined I am NOT to find out the gender of this baby... I have another ultrasound scheduled for the 3rd of February. ;)

Oh, and did you know that after 28 weeks you start to see the doctor every two weeks? Yeah, didn't know that......

Logan's view...

You've got, Abinadi and Me (I'm the one that has a baby in her "circle"), Logan and then the boys are hanging out over on the left. I love it.

Goals Accomplished...

Well, I'm not sure how your goals are coming along, but mine are done. Check, check, check. You see, I only make goals for the few days after the new year.. once Abinadi starts back to work, goal time is over. Let me tell you what we accomplished this year.... (ok, so maybe we cheated and started last year).

*Installed an outlet in the bathroom- I like to have a space heater in there when I shower and since we moved here, I've had to string an extension cord across the vanity area into the shower room... it was truly annoying. Anyway, we Abinadi put in the new plug in about an hour and now I'm extension cord free in the bathroom.

*Changed over the rest of the bathroom devices to Decora- The outlets and switches in our bathroom have been the yucky yellow old ones that came with the house. We finally got around to changing them to the "Vanna White" switches that I like so much. Now we just have to do the kitchen. Ugh.

*Put away the Christmas stuff- I know, you are saying that putting away holiday decorations shouldn't be on this list.. I must refute you and say that yes, it does belong here b/c it's something. Crossing something off a list feels good.

*Cleaned, organized, rearranged, and started baby prepping our bedroom- Because this little one was totally not 100% thought through, we are lacking a room to put her/him in. So, the little guy will just have to hang out here in my bedroom until Nan moves into her new room. I have shelves up for the little kicker, and a crib. I'm determined for everything to be ready by the end of this month so that I don't have to do anything but sit on my rear for the rest of this pregnancy. This is a slight upgrade for the baby as we had originally planned on putting it (I hate having to call my kid an "it") in our closet. After reading online about how firefighters really don't recommend putting kids in closets, I rethought things. The only unfortunate thing about the rearranging of the bedroom is that my sewing stuff is now up in the closet. I think that baby will be happy I chose him/her over my Singer.

*Hung out with lots of Family- My parents were in town, as was my sister. We saw Abinadi's family twice at planned gatherings and then a few times impromptu when we showed up without calling before hand. My family made some tamales on New Years Day, which I hear are good, but seeing as how no one has brought me any, I can't be 100% sure.

My mom is coming back at the end of March to help with all things new baby and then we are trying to arrange for my Dad to come and stay with us for a few weeks in the next few months to help with the addition, which, might actually happen. More on that later.

*Purchased ridiculously cheap jackets for the boys- We were over at the store on Saturday and we saw that they had "Cars" jackets on the clearance rack. There was probably 15 jackets on the rack and not one of them had a tag on them. We found two for the boys and took them to the register to see if they could tell us how much they were. Well, as luck would have it, they let us buy them for a buck. I really wished that they would have had Logan's size too, because, dang.. a dollar? It's worked out well... the boys won't let me take off the jackets... they love them. "CARS!"

You see, I don't make insane goals like, eating healthier, or loosing weight, or not spending as much time on Facebook. I make regular goals one could accomplish in about a week and feel good about myself the rest of the year. ;)

One More Sleep Til Christmas!

I can't remember if my Mom made these PJ's for me for Christmas or not, but regardless, it was a LONG time ago... and I love them. I don't actually sleep in PJ's... (a topic for another day) but I do like to throw this bad boy on and get warm once in a while (Mom totally invented the Snuggie before it was um, "cool"). I didn't have a thing for teddy bears... I'm pretty sure the fabric was just on sale (score MOM). Anyway, this is me at 26 weeks... Christmas Eve... in all my unkempt glory.

Merry Christmas everyone...

WAHOO!

Abinadi's home for two weeks! Abinadi's home for two weeks! I get Abinadi home with me for TWO WEEKS! Did you hear that?? TWO WEEKS!!!

Presents!

Logan found our stash of presents... which really wasn't hidden all that well, but whatever. Anyway, once she found them, she started to take them, one by one, downstairs and put them under the tree. We had told her that we couldn't put any under the tree b/c everyone (aka her and the boys) would open them all. She's been doing this now for three days... literally, it's like one or two every few hours... she's sneaky. I told her that it would be funner to come down and see all the presents there at once on Christmas, but she dismissed that as fact and has set upon her own course. Abinadi told her that Santa wouldn't have any room to put his presents if she did that, and she replied, "Santa doesn't bring presents for under the tree.. he puts his presents in the stockings".

Santa thinks that's a GREAT idea!

P.S. We don't put names on our presents... each person gets a different wrapping paper and only Abinadi and I know who's is who's... it's awesome.. because Logan doesn't want to open the boy's presents, so she's been good about not opening anything. Now, you would think that one of these years she's going to catch on to the fact that the Disney Princess wrapping paper is her's but whatever.

Pregnancy Brain

Is this even a real thing? I'm here to submit you that it is...

An example-

The other day I poured myself a tall glass of milk. Yum. I'm pretty sure I had some sort of chocolate as a nice addition to my calcium drink, but I can't be sure. Because it was my free time ... aka the boys were in bed and Logan was at a friend's house... I was upstairs catching up on some mind numbing entertainment. Well, I took said glass of milk and headed upstairs. I was about halfway up when, instead of walking, I decided that it would be a good idea to skip up the remaining stairs. I'm not sure if I was singing to myself or not, but I seem to remember some distant music. I swear to you, I hopped up 4 stairs before I realized that the milk I was still carrying was sloshing all over myself, the wall, and the carpet.

I had another example, but I've seemed to forgotten what it was.

(and yes, it is 5AM)

Random

SO, does it bother anyone else that my son's favorite toy at the moment is a wrapped tampon? Knowing my "circumstances", one would wonder where in the world he got a tampon. I did too. Then I found the stash in our travel bag. Ugh.. shows how much we travel these days. :(

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My favorite treat of the holidays thus far is the Hershey's Chocolate bells. Um, YUM. I think they must be made out of the Symphony Bar chocolate, because it's not the ordinary Hershey's Chocolate (which I enjoy, but not this much).

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We are actually attending all of the holiday party festivities this year. We went to the Ward Christmas Party Friday night... Logan commented afterward, "that was fun, they should do that all the time". They do Logan... we just don't attend! Yikes. We have an "adults only" party this Friday, sugar cookie party #2 next week and then I do believe that Santa is coming to pay my kids a visit on the 23rd.

Speaking of Santa... remember the pact that Abinadi and I made to just not talk about Santa because he believes one thing and I believe something different? Well, HE broke it and basically told Logan that Santa wasn't real. I retaliated and told Logan all about Santa and how cool he was and how he was coming to visit. She totally digs it and now keeps asking how Santa is going to come down our chimney if there is a fire there (we've been doing a few fires). Abinadi just glares at me, but I could care less. He broke the rules and now he has to suffer. (Insert evil laugh).

Again, speaking of Santa... I came across this article recently from another blog... it basically talked about "Santa" being more of the Spirit of Christmas and how Santa symbolized "anonymous giving". I like to think that in our family we focus more on the birth of the Savior, but that there is really no reason not to have fun with a little "anonymous giving" around the same time. Besides, I like filling stockings too much to give up "Santa".

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I made a ham bone soup last night. I'm not sure if it's this pregnancy, or what, but I normally like bean soup like that and I was NOT into it last night. I ate a roll and some chocolate. Abinadi and Nan both had two bowls, and Logan even ate a few bites, so I guess it was OK.. but ugh.. me, not a fan.

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I'm beginning to really worry that this baby is a boy. I know that sounds terrible, but I have really thought from the beginning that this kid is a girl and all of a sudden I'm like, "oh crap, what if it's a boy and I'm all sad about it?". Truly, I don't think that I will be, but I just have so many plans for another girl! Also, if it's a girl.. I'm pretty sure we are DONE.. but a boy? Well, that will throw another "possible" into the ring. Ugh. I'm SO glad we aren't finding out.. but the wait is KILLING ME!

It can happen to anyone

Hopefully all will be ok.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34379874/ns/today-parenting_and_family/

Thanks boys

Ok.. so, if you saw my last post, you were probably wondering what in the world was wrong with it. Apparently the boys got to the laptop before I could post.. so they actually posted the post before I was done with it.. and they added their own little pizazz to it. Enjoy.

Letting Go

This morning I had to let go of Ben. It wasn't easy, and I didn't like it, but in the end, I think it was worth it.

Ben has several therapies... he's got Physical, Developmental, Occupational, Speech, and Feeding. Lately, he's only been doing the PT and DT because good old Mom couldn't handle all the traffic coming into and out of my house.... and really, those two teachers were the only ones I liked. Anyway, he really needed to get Feeding Therapy going again, and I just couldn't find a therapist I liked! Enter the Developmental Preschool....

Both of Ben's DT and PT therapists worked out of a center here in Raleigh that specializes in kids with developmental delays. Up until today, I have been taking Ben over there once a week to get his therapies. When it became apparent that Ben needed to really start refocusing on the other therapies, the idea was presented to me that Ben would go to this preschool two days a week for all his therapies.

At first, I was really excited about having him go and get the therapies and I wouldn't have people coming over 5 times a week... then I realized that taking him to the center would involve me actually leaving him for three hours two times a week. YIKES.

Well, today he started at the center. I dropped him off at 9AM and he ran in there just as happy as could be. Keep in mind, we had been there before on a weekly basis, but there were never any other kids there. Today there was about 10 or so, and maybe 4 or 5 in his "class". He didn't seemed fazed by the kids (thanks nursery) and I was thankful that he had one of this favorite therapists there that would be there with him the whole time.

I still wasn't prepared for how HARD it was to leave! I guess looking back, I had never really left any of my kids like that before. Logan is in preschool, but it's just around the corner and the teacher is a member of my church.. and she's always been with friends. Ben doesn't know anyone but the one therapist (his DT therapist is on maternity leave).

I suppose that this is good practice for next year when Logan goes to school ALL DAY LONG.
"',[

Som[kedays I wish that I still had it in me to homeschool.

[k[;k;k;;k,,

0g

B)o 0

Thanksgiving pictures!

The obligatory sister's picture taken up close.. the outcomes of these pictures has widely varied over the years...
The boys were NOT happy to be in the stroller.. but since Ben had fallen into a puddle butt first... they had no choice...
Rose-Marie and Mason
The was the only geocache that we were unsuccessful at... Abinadi had even gone out to the far pillars to find it...
Too much turkey.
Nan is waiting patiently...
Who knows who had gleeked on my shirt.
MC and Tyson and a mega can of beans.
Emily and her girls

The day before Emily's birthday!
Finding that cache was pretty hard work.
This isn't the puddle that Ben fell into.. but it was close in size. The kids were good sports about the parents running all over the place looking for who knows what.
Forever a child of the 60's
I'm not sure what was so interesting.
Someone tell that woman to pull down her shirt.
The Grandgirls.
The men at our first cache.... We need some more men in this family.

A Month of Thanks: Pictures

November 30th, 2009: I'm thankful for Pictures!

I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Making the gingerbread for the houses!!

(I know I said that they would do the talking, but this one needs to be explained... they aren't allowed in my room anymore.... and this is their reaction. Cooper is like.. "whatever".. Ben.. not liking it so much.)

As long as Logan is obedient, she can come in to color and be quiet...

A Month of Thanks: Music

November 29th, 2009: I'm thankful for music.

I'm a big fan of all kinds of music. From my girl Taylor Swift to the Wicked Soundtrack to some old school New Kids on the Block... if I like the music.. I listen to it.. I don't discriminate. I remember my Mom had this tape of old music called "Fun Rock". We would listen to it all the time. It had classics like "Itsy Bitsy Teeney Weenie Little Polka Dot Bikini" and "Monster Mash" and "Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda". When we cleaned the house she would put the record of Donna Summer's "On the Radio" on the record player and we would jam while dusting (and complaining). Lately, I've been into some Queen and David Bowie singing "Under Pressure". It's a great song to drown out the screams and cries of the children. Awesome! I'm thankful for music and I'm thankful that my kids appreciate my music. (Check out my music player to hear some Queen)

A Month of Thanks: Christmas Lights

November 28th, 2009: I'm thankful for Christmas Lights!

I have a strict rule that Christmas DOES NOT start until after Thanksgiving. Most years it starts the Saturday after Thanksgiving! Before Thanksgiving, I cannot listen to Christmas music on the radio (yeah, they have it), and I hate that they start decorating the stores right after Halloween. For some reason, the switch flips right after the turkey is digested... and it's go time for Christmas. I break out the Muppet's and Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass. The complaining that we have too much Christmas stuff begins and the begging for Abinadi to bring it all down commences. There is just something so calming about looking at a lit Christmas tree in a dark Living Room. We went with colored lights this year after a few years of white. We lucked out last year after Christmas and got about 10 boxes of LED lights for around 30 cents each.... I'm grateful for after Christmas sales and lots and lots of Christmas lights!