Hit Me Baby One More Time

(This is a trial run-if the vid's are missing I'll fix it soon)

I'm starting to feel like I should change my blog name.  I'm thinking "The Baby Channel: All baby, all the time."  :)  In honor of being down to the last month, I'm sharing one of my favorite songs.  Too bad, Britney fans, it's not her singing. But-it is her song.



I'm thinking Fran and co. will be going to the hospital with me.  They relax me.  And I have lots of good memories with Travis (the bands name) as the soundtrack. 

I think Jars of Clay will be with me as well.  And since it will be in November, their set will include their Christmas album, quite possibly my favorite album of all time. 



Keane will be there too.  They have a different flavor to their music and suits me. Plus, that's what I was mostly listening to when I went to Hawaii earlier in the year.  (And "The Frog Prince" will remind of me of my other cutie pies at home who love the movie The Princess Frog.)




The delivery room is getting quite crowded I think. :) I've never brought music with me before. I have no idea why. Right now it seems extremely useful.

What did you take with you to the hospital to keep yourself comfortable and entertained (either while in labor or for whatever reason)?? Obviously I'll be bringing my pillow and those essentials. Oh-and any others I should be inviting to the labor party?

P.S. If you liked that Keane song, go ahead and plug your headphones in, sit back, close your eyes and enjoy this one. It was my first known Keane song I fell in love with.

Remember this Teaser?

Click over to Twiddle Thumbs for the reveal!

This Pregnancy

is almost over!  But some things will definitely stand out to me about this pregnancy:

1.  For months, I was completely disgusted at the idea of running-other people or myself.

2.  Cheddar cheese sticks and pretzels- both from Costco.  These were staple foods for me April and May.

3.  Lime.  Anything lime flavored.  Not sure what it is, but if it was lime, I had to have it.  Even lime ice cream.  Yes, ice cream-not sherbet.  And it was really good.

4.  Surprise.  I had nearly given up getting pregnant and had started looking into other options and getting excited about it. 

5.  Surprise again.  It's a girl!  Honestly, I would've been surprised if it were a boy, too, but I had at least
picked a boy name out that I loved and McKay had been praying for a little brother.  Even the girls were on board with the idea of boy.  McKay was convinced that the Dr. had made a mistake until the sweet nurses took a 2nd peak and the nurse and PA both gave the same outcome.

6.  Great music.  Early on I got to go see two great (though very different) concerts-Michael Buble and Muse.  Fantastic.  And very glad I was barely pregnant for both.  Not too sick.  Not even close to showing.  (Very handy at the Muse concert as we were only 10 feet or so from the stage.)

7.  Wiggles.  Not The Wiggles.  This wiggly little spaz inside.  It's been four years since I was last pregnant, but I do not think any of my kids moved as much as she does.

8.  Love.  I have been smitten with this little nudger for months now.  Absolutely in love.  And so have her brother and sisters. 

9.  Fear.  I've never been an anxious pregnant woman.  (Well-except worrying that I wouldn't be capable of loving baby #2 as much as baby #1-how silly of me. :)  This one though has thrown me for a loop.  I still feel completely unready despite the fact this baby could come as soon as 2 or 3 weeks from now. I think I've mentioned before (either here or facebook-perhaps both?) that it felt wrong to buy diapers and wipes.  I've been nervous about her health, her life and even nervous about my nights.  The last week or so I have started making more effort to be physically prepared for her arrival.  Finished up some baby-related sewing, washed both baby bottles and baby clothes, have done some more baby crafts and put the changing table in the baby's room.  It's helped a lot.

10.  How people have reacted to my belly.  Even up through my whole 6th month I had people look at me like I was crazy when I told them i was pregnant and how far along.  They didn't believe me.  Then blessed September hit.  I had a few complete strangers congratulate me on the baby and then they both asked (completely different situations) if this was my 1st.  I just giggled and held up 4 fingers.  Can I just say they are my 2 most favorite strangers I ever met?  Now-5 weeks from the big D-day, people are telling me I finally look pregnant. Love it.  I also have loved how the kids have loved feeling the baby move.  It's so fun to see their faces when they recognize her movements.

Hunting Witches

Sophie's sneak peak revealed.  I took this pile:

and turned it into this:

And even had a little extra for this:

(Which may or may not have been a great idea.  On the one hand-Sophie loved it.  On the other-I woke up this morning to two more costume orders for Lyndsi's AG dolls. Oops.)

Now you may notice that some materials in the pile don't show up in the costume, like the yarn.  Well....We made this really fun wig, but as soon as I put it on Soph I knew she wouldn't like wearing it.  And, the costume didn't really need it.  Into the costume box it will go. Someone will wear it one day.

My friend Cami and I decided to take our little preschoolers out for a little witch hunt all dressed up.

The two littles had a great time running crazy around Gardner Village hunting for different witches while we moms tried to either keep up or keep them moving.  :) 

And of course we enjoyed a little treat afterwards from the bakery there.  Sophie is looking forward to another witch hunting trip with her brother and sister and Grandma. 

Sneak Peak

I have a few projects for baby Chloe that I'm really excited about.  Only 7 more weeks til due day!!

Sneak peak #1:

Sneak peak #2:

Oh-and one for Sophie:

As you can see, I have lots to keep me busy this rainy week. 

Lessons in Selling a Home

First off, thanks for all the diaper bag thoughts.  I've been looking through pages and pages of different materials (so many cute choices!) and thinking about how to best incorporate pockets and maybe a few other things.  I'm planning on doing a mock-up for practice and then if that works I'll buy the fabric and get going on it. :)

Now.  Selling a house is not fun.  I'm sure lots of you know this. We've done it twice before and twice before we sold within a week. (We can attribute that to impeccable timing as the St. George market was really heating up then.)  It's been about 6 weeks.  We've had some people come.  One came twice.  One submitted an offer.  Wish we could have taken it, but it was too low.  I feel like I'm on pins and needles all day everyday waiting for our agent to call with an offer, appointments, feedback or just some random bit of business that needs dealing with.  It is an all consuming venture.  It's starting to wear on both Jeff and I some.  It's boring around our house.  At least half of our stuff is packed away in storage.  If we don't faithfully attend the library at least every week/week and a half, we're in trouble.  Thankfully the fall line-up is starting.  Sadly one of our favorites has ended, leaving us only 1 network show.  USA's season is over till November which is happily only one more month.  Anyway.  Despite this report of the doom and gloom of selling a house (and we haven't even touched the market issue), there have been lots of positive things I've seen.  And here they are in no particular order:

1.  The house is always clean.  I am just now realizing how small our house is for the stuff we have.  And how we are lacking sufficient storage (or maybe just organizational skills) to manage.

2.  If the house isn't clean, it can be sparkling in about an hour.  Without extra help.  INCLUDING: mopping and vacuuming all 1924 sq ft.

3.  The kids play with their toys more.  They only have a few things left out.

4.  Lyndsi reads more.  See explanation of #3.

5.  The kids play board games together.  See #3 again.  This one has been particularly fun.  I enjoy watching them play together.

6.  I hate to harp on the cleaning thing, but MY CRAFT ROOM IS CLEAN!  It's so much more pleasant to work in there on crafts now.  Glad I thought this room through when packing up.  I was sure to leave out a few things of the different crafts I enjoy doing the most.  There are lots of things I wish I had access to, but overall, the room is delightful to work in and easy to pick up.  It makes me really look forward to having a bigger and more fully dedicated space for my hobbies.

7.  I attend the temple more regularly.  Part of this has to do with all three kids being at school at the same time for at least a few hours a week.  But, I have enjoyed going while I have this brief opportunity before the baby comes.

8.  I pray more frequently.  Honestly, I have been surprised at what a spiritual journey this has been.  I need someone to talk to that can help me not get to anxious and to plead for help and guidance.  This is something I've been working on for a long time, but am finally now getting consistent with.

9.  I am learning to follow the spirit with more exactness.  I started noticing if I had a feeling to get the house clean and vacuumed in the morning and I followed through, usually by early afternoon our agent was on the phone scheduling appointments with me.  This lesson has started overflowing into other areas and I try to work harder on following through with thoughts that come to me.

10.  I have learned to appreciate my current house more fully.  It really is a great little house.  Especially with the new carpet.  So many great things and so many hard things have happened here.  It will be hard to leave, but it's time.  I really hope a special family/couple/person gets this house.  It has been our home, our haven and our safe harbor for 5 years.  We have struggled, laughed, rejoiced and grown while here.  It will always be a very special place for us.