the daily reeder: Catching up...just in time.

Warning: very long and somewhat rambly. This post must be a journaling effort by me because it's long! Scroll to find pics- I know that's what you do anyway.

Hello hello. I find myself "catching up" again- although this is a good thing. I made the goal to catch up before the baby is born THIS FRIDAY, and here I am, Tuesday afternoon. Plenty of time. I've been working on a couple other projects the last month or so, and blogging just hasn't been one of my goals until now.

I was two years behind with editing our home movies and getting them on DVD. I told myself completing that project was of paramount importance before the baby was born. This proved an overwhelming goal at first since I was working with new software, but once I figured it out just good enough- (learned to edit clips and throw them together on a DVD with no frills whatsoever)- it went by fairly fast. Especially since I don't record as many home movies. I think both 2012 and 2013 were summed up in about 45 minutes a piece.

Since I finished up this project with a couple weeks before the baby, I decided to take on another project. I'm crocheting my first blanket. I found a simple pattern on Etsy, and with my mom's help getting it started, I've been working on this for about a week now. I have about 6 more inches to go before it'll be a good size baby blanket. I've really enjoyed this project. I've learned how to crochet this last year and it feels good to be able to give something handmade to our new baby girl.

Now I just need to get a few other things checked off the list before Friday, such as washing baby blankets, setting up the baby's sleeping arrangements, update my kids journals and pick up a journal for the baby, squeeze in a last trip to Costco and the grocery store, and I will feel real good come Friday morning at 5:30 when we are to be at the hospital. Since it's a scheduled C-Section, it's been weird to know the date (April 11th). I didn't get that with either Mitch (6 days late) or Luke (11 days early). In many ways it's like knowing that D-Day is about to happen rather than being taken by surprise. We're thrilled to have her here, just a bit nervous.

Nervous mostly because Luke is just 15 months and still such a baby in so many ways. He's still not walking which is going to be tough in some ways. He knows how to walk holding hands, and he can cruise along furniture. And, he's been waking up about 6:30am (or earlier) for the last few weeks. Morning time is the time I'm most nervous about with a new baby. The baby will probably need to eat sometime in that early hour, Luke will be awake and screaming, and I won't want to be awake at all. Plus, Todd will already have left for work. Best of luck, right?

Let's catch up on the kids a little bit. Like I said, Luke is still not walking, and thus, surpassing Mitch's standard at 14 months. However, he could win a race in crawling. That kid is fast on all fours! He's also a little terrorist, getting into absolutely everything. His nickname is Demo. My personal favorite is each morning when I get ready, I have a little buddy right with me, pulling everything he can out of the bathroom cupboards. He also loves any kitchen drawer and cabinet that we can't lock. He just had his 15 month appointment today and is in the 95% for weight (27lbs) and 93% for height (33"). He's a fun loving boy and thinks just about anything and everything you do is some kind of game. He loves my parents and is so excited when they are home. Since he's been getting up pretty early, he sits outside their door each morning until my mom comes and gets him for a few minutes before she needs to leave. When he hears the garage door open- indicating my parents or Todd is home- he starts breathing really excitedly and makes a beeline for the door. I've been old news for quite some time now. He still loves Mitchell so much and definitely knows how to interact with him at times, mostly in a game of chase. Eating is still somewhat of a challenge. He loves certain foods one day, and hates them the next. And then decides to love them again. He definitely keeps me on my toes when it comes to eating. We thought Mitch was a problem- eater. Oh yeah, he learned to say "Gram-PA" last week. This is his first word other than "mom" and "dad"- and he won't even really say those, even though he knows how.

Mitchell still lives in an imaginary world of pirates, ninjas, knights, zombies, Lego guys, Super heroes, and ninja turtles. Absolutely everything is about good guys vs. bad guys- and he usually takes more joy in the bad guys victory. He truly feels that Todd is his personal playmate each day when he comes home. Todd has always been a great sport about playing with him for a bit before dinner is ready. This is a such a blessing, but it sure makes me feel like a chump when I need to get other things taken care of instead of being the preferred playmate! Mitchell is crazy about his friends as well. He asks several times a day which friend he can play with that day. I usually try to arrange a friend coming over a couple times a week. We'll see how this pans out with the new baby. Also, we're moving to our first home in May up in Cache Valley, so that will be hard for Mitch to start over again making new friends. Mitch has been learning to read and is making great progress with that, knowing how to read simple sentences and stories. He still loves preschool, and it will be a sad day when graduation comes come mid-May. Mitch has been involved with tumbling this school year and he looks forward to that each Tuesday. This month, I signed him up for indoor swimming lessons. I wasn't thrilled with the pool he went to last summer, so I wanted him to be in a pool where he had to put skills to the test. So far, so good. I'm not sure when I'll figure out what to involve him with when we move, so I'm grateful he has these activities for now. He always has a positive attitude with preschool, tumbling, and swimming lessons. I'm very grateful for this because I know some kids have a lot of anxiety or just don't want to try new and hard things. He isn't crazy about learning new things either, but somehow, when it comes down to it, he really does have a positive attitude. He's pretty perfect, but has a couple faults here and there. He can definitely work on listening- the first time. And, he still takes FOREVER to eat his food. It's usually just dinner he takes forever with, but sometimes breakfast and lunch are real trouble as well. I'm curious when the light bulb will burn bright for him and he'll finally understand the concept- "the faster I eat, the faster I can go back to playing."

Todd has been real busy at work lately. The end of the fiscal year is next week, and I guess this means that the couple months prior are crazy busy. He's worked overtime each week for at least 6 weeks now and hasn't taken his off Friday in a long time. We're looking forward to our "vacation" next week when he gets to stay home with me and the kids and the new baby.

Well, that's about it as far as catch-up. As indicated earlier, we did buy our first home recently. We'll move up to Cache Valley at the end of May. Quick specs- it's 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. It's a tri-level, which I've never super loved that lay out, but this one doesn't feel like the usual tri-levels I've been familiar with in the past. It's not huge, 1760 sq. ft, but it is laid out really well. The kids bedrooms are big which was a big selling point for me. It was built in 1999, so there are aspects that are definitely getting outdated. It's a 1/3 acre, fully fenced and we're thrilled about that! It has a big dog kennel, a storage shed, a good sized garden, and raspberry bushes that line the back fence. We paid a great price and we're excited to make it ours!

Okay, here are some pics. Nothing too crazy, just some pics on some regular days. And I apologize- I have not yet learned to do the "collage" thing, and I like my pics big, so sorry to those who don't love that.