Ward Campout

It is the first week of school, but we have our ward campout on the weekend. I was really excited to go. I had heard that the campout is really fun. We camped up Heber canyon. It was a lot of work for me though! I had to pack up the car all by myself, then set up camp all by myself when we got there. Needless to say, I was exhausted. I am used to doing most of the work, but usually there are a few people around to pitch in and I am not pregnant! I was so exhausted by the nighttime, I could hardly keep my eyes open! It poured almost the whole time we were there. It rained all night long. At night we gathered in a covered pavilion that has removable walls for some skits and fun. We had picked up Pizza Hut on our way up the canyon, which was a blessing because I never would have been able to cook food too! The kids were still eating the breadsticks during the program!
The night was horrible. Gavin had a really hard time sleeping in the sleeping bag. He was up most of the night. Luckily he didn't wet his bed in addition to being up all night, but when he got up in the morning he was beside himself he needed to use the restroom so bad! I was trying to get dressed and he was whining and holding himself, so I was as quick as I could be and then ran him to the potty!
The ward cooked breakfast for us in that morning.
It was really really good. It was the Bishop's birthday so we sang and had him run through a birthday tunnel.
Then just to make my life even better, the kids wanted me to row them around the lake! It was fun, but very VERY exhausting. I am glad they got a chance to go though. Maya even went across the lake on the zip line! By the time we got back from the campout it was all I could do to just make it to my bed! Then get up the next day to speak in church! What an exhausting weekend!

First Day of Second Grade

I can't believe Maya is in second grade already! I put her on the later track this year so she could ride the bus with Kaitlyn to school. We weren't sure what time the bus picked up, so we missed the bus on the first day! It is going to be a great school year, I can tell already! It was fine to drive her to school. She has lots of cute new clothes to wear to school so she was excited to start. She has had a lot more homework already so she is very busy after school. She tries to get some of her things done in the morning before she leaves for school, but between reading, dance, scriptures, piano lessons, and homework; there isn't much time left for playing! I can't say I feel too bad about that! That's what the weekend is for!

An Official Announcement

The secret is finally out. We are pregnant. We found out between our two family reunions that we were pregnant, but when we got back from the second family reunion everything went downhill. I have been in and out of the doctors' office for several weeks. They thought I was miscarrying at first, and then they found some other complications. Anyway, to make a long story short everything worked out fine. We kept waiting to tell people because we weren't sure what to say. The kids have known for awhile now, but they were sworn to secrecy and they did awesome. We finally told family this last week so we are now letting other people know. I am already out of the 1st trimester. We are due in February.
I think I would have been emotionally better off if we had not had all these scares and complications in the beginning. Now I am just holding out for the best. We have had many conversations with the kids. We all spoke before we decided to go ahead and try, to make sure everyone was ok with it. We have talked about the reality of something happening to this baby, but I'm not sure it would soften the blow if something does happen. The kids are super excited, so I am hopoing things go well. As far as we know there is only one this time, but that has not been confirmed with an ultrasound.
Luckily for me, I have an awesome OB. I don't know if I could do all this again without the care and support of my awesome physician. His nurse and him have been really supportive and overly cautious. He has given me permission to call and come in anytime. He expects me to be a basketcase and is willing to do whatever it takes. Right now I am pretty detached from the pregnancy. As bad as that sounds, I can't emotionally go there. I think it will probably be like this until I hold that baby in my arms and everything is fine. For now it's going to be a long six months!

Potty Training Success!

Gavin has been ready to be potty-trained for a while now. I have been holding out because it was so difficult with the girls, and I had heard boys were harder. I wanted to wait until he was closer to three, not 2 and 2 months. Finally I gave in and bought some Thomas underwear last weekend. It took him less than a day to figure the potty thing out. He was by far my easiest and youngest to potty train. The bowel movement thing is a little challenging, but he sleeps in underwear at naptime and at night with no problems. He doesn't get out of his bed after sleeping until someone comes in there to get him so some mornings he calls out to me saying, "Mommy I got go pee!!" So I have to rush out of bed and run him to the toilet, but it is all worth it! Still have not bought any pull ups for any of my kids! We have been really lucky with the potty thing.

End of the Birthday Week

We finished out birthday week with a big party for Uncle Bradley, Uncle James, and Aunt Lindsay (plus the girls too)! They all got their own candle on their cakes!

The kids played in the pool and on the trampoline. We had a fun dinner and lots of fun. Happy Birthday everyone!

Super Swimmer!

Maya had her final swim party this week. She got several ribbons and a plaque from the county meet. Plus, she got a trophy for qualifying in 3 events. She was pretty excited that she got so many awards. We are so proud of her. She really put in the time and effort to do her best! She can't wait for next year. Then they got to swim in the outdoor pool. They went down the big white waterslide many times! When the sun went down, they got really cold, so we didn't stay very long!

Kaitlyn's Birthday

Kaitlyn turned 5 on Aug 10th. I convinced her that it would be more fun to have a girls day out, than to have a party. I have to admit that it was actually really fun for me too! We started out the day by going to breakfast at Denny's. If you know Kaitlyn, she absolutely loves breakfast especially orange juice! Going out to breakfast is huge for her! Then we went to the mall to get her ears pierced. She was very talkative and brave. She picked out really expensive earrings to be put in her ears! I didn't even know studs could be that expensive! She is obviously going to be our high maintenance person. After getting her ears pierced we went to the nail salon to get Gel toes done.

I thought the nail technician was going to have a nervous breakdown by the time they were done. Kaitlyn talks non-stop, asks lots of questions, and rarely sits still! I tried not to laugh as the woman tried to hold Kaitlyn's foot and answer all her questions. We grabbed some lunch and then went to Build-A-Bear. She got to pick out a really cute bear to stuff and dress. It was pretty fun. She had a little bit more money after all that so she got to go to the store and buy herself a barbie. She said over and over, "This is the best day ever!" How can it not be when you get to do whatever you want all day and get pampered?! That's my ideal birthday every year. We finished off the night with banana splits. (I was way too tired to make a cake by then!) Happy birthday girls!

Birthday Week Begins

Maya's birthday is Aug 8th. She had a party on Saturday at the Legacy Center. It was really fun and really easy for me. They all got to swim and had pizza. All I had to do was bring cupcakes! The price was really reasonable though. She had a blast with her friends and got lots of fun gifts! I can't believe she is already seven years old. They grow up so fast!

The 24th of July

We had such a crazy 24th of July! We did fun things all day long. We started off the day with a neighborhood bike parade. The kids had a lot of fun decorating their bikes and then riding them around the neighborhood. The donuts helped a lot too!
Then we went to the Lehi Foam day. The firefighters spray out foam all over the grass for the kids and adults to play in. There were tons and tons of people there. The kids loved playing in the foam! I was seriously impressed with the activity. What person doesn't want to play in soap bubbles?!
That night we got to do some fireworks with the neighbors. Some of the neighbors were lighting illegal fireworks, so we got a little visit from the police as well! One of the police officers happened to be the home teacher of the family that was lighting them! It was pretty funny. Luckily, all they did was confiscate the fireworks, but they were fun while they lasted!

Matthew Freestone is Here!

Matthew was born on July 21st. He is my sister Lindsay's third boy. You might remember that she had a baby this time last year. Yes, her boys are 13 months apart. She is crazy! I couldn't do it! She now has a 2-year-old boy, a 13-month-old boy, and newborn. Lots of boys! Should be fun! Congratulations guys!

Adding to the Obsession

It was time for Gavin to be in a bed. I normally do not buy toddler beds because I think they are a waste of money. But, in this case, we just couldn't pass this up. He has been excited about it since the day we bought it. He sleeps just fine in it. In fact, he waits in his bed in the morning until someone comes in there to get him, just like he did with his crib. He even takes a nap on it! I was really worried we were done with naps and sleeping through the night with the bed, but he has been great. I guess that means it is all worth it! Especially since he is stoked about his Choo Choo bed!