Slow week and a fair poll

So, not much to report this week. Somehow the whole week slipped by without a single photo being taken! We went to MOPs, and later to Grandma Ward's house, and visited with Kari Jo, Jeremy, Jesse and sweet baby Bethany. We had Mima over to play and I got to watch all three nights of American Idol (I'm rooting for David Archeleta if you're interested). I did some reorganizing of videos, cds, printed photos. I got an upper respiratory infection. I started packing my hospital bag. We ate birria (goat stew) at the Gallego's house and some fantastic homemade tortillas, but other than that we really took life slow this week. I forgot to set the clocks forward last night so Jason got to church late and I didn't go at all. I'm just not into rushing lately. Instead, this morning, we had a leisurely walk to the lake near our house and ate sandwiches while we watched the coots and ducks dive for - well, whatever it is they were diving for - and then we walked back to our park and played "Ariel and Prince Eric" for a while. When we got back it was time for stories and bed -- so now the kids are on the "right" time schedule and I get a break. I'm going to take a nap now, but just as an update: I've gained 30 pounds total in this pregnancy so far and I'm still feeling pretty well. Some Braxton Hicks contractions, but nothing serious, and we might almost have a name. This week, vote on the meanings and we'll see what gets the highest vote. I think there's someone out there trying to sabotage a fair poll by voting too many times, butI won't say who I think that is. Thanks to everyone who partcipated, though -- it was fun!!
Sarah

Ezra sings with soul

Water, Water Everywhere

We had an exciting week starting last Sunday. I noticed while I updated this blog that the floor under my desk was damp. I pointed it out to Jason and we both wondered at the oddity of it. After returning from our weekly visit to "Lily's house" we came home to find that the floor was then sopping wet and that the floor in the play room (adjacent to our master bedroom where the desk is) was damp too. Jason went outside and figured out that the leak must be in the wall between the two. We shut the water off and the next morning called the builder. Plumbers came out right away and cut a hole in the wall, fixed the leak and left. Then the restoration people came out and moved everything that was in the way, pulled back the carpet, tore out the pad, put more holes in the walls and set up six fans and two dehumidifiers, and left. I spent the rest of the day feeling deaf and trying to rearrange the "stuff" in our house so we could function for the next week. We really didn't do too bad. The kids adjusted really well to the chaos and actually enjoyed the big windy spaces between the fans. The house was nice and warm with all the heat made by the fans and it was a lovely week of sunny weather so they got to spend a lot of time outside. I pulled weeds, we found lots of worms and on Tuesday night Jason set up the 14 foot trampoline he found on a job so the kids have really been enjoying that. They have to take turns though, because our yard is really not big enough and I'm afraid that Ezra will get bounced right off. He had to learn the hard way (a few times) that if he doesn't sit down during Reia's turn, he doesn't get to jump anymore. The fans left the house on Thursday, but we found out that although the builder would cover the work that had been done, the rest was our responsibility due to an oversite when hooking up our sprinklers. The warranty was voided, but I'm so thankful that what WAS done was covered AND taken care of so quickly. We already replaced the pad and will have some help patching the wall and restretching the carpet, so soon we'll be back to normal. God is so good and takes care of us in all things. I praise Him in the middle of the "troubles" we've had this week -- it's just life, and things like this make life more exciting. There have been so many good things too. We got to see our friend from WA, Mark the Wharthog and eat Jason's yummy potato soup; we played the piano more than it's been played in a long time because it's in the middle of my living room now, we rearraged toys and played with some that have been in hiding for a while, and the carpet will get vaccumed in places that haven't been for almost two years now. Funny things to enjoy, but there you have it. Enjoy the photos and the video of Ezra "singing the Alphabet song." Sarah

Have your Eclipse and Eat it too!

I hope you didn't miss out the full eclipse of the moon this week! Mima and I bundled up the kids and went outsite to view the "disappearing moon" while Jason was at youth group. The sky was pretty clear while the moon disappeared and then it got really cloudy so we went inside. Then we watched the moon reappear through the window (when we weren't watching American Idol). It was so beautiful! Aurelia kind of understood what was going on, but I don't think she really understood how special it was that the moon was going to disappear and reappear all in a few hours (we watch the moon's cycle all throughout the month). Ezra was really affected by the experience. He wanted to go out first thing the next morning and see the moon and he has been talking about "see the moon" all week, He even puts on his boots at random times so we can go outside and see the moon, even if it's not out.


See the cake? See the frosting? Auntie Becky came over Saturday cake in hand to let Aurelia help decorate it for Jason's birthday (which was TODAY!) Aurelia really got the handle of making flowers and leaves with Auntie Becky's experienced help! Aurelia was SO PROUD when Jason came home and saw it sitting in the fridge.

Ezra enjoyed "being a tree" everytime A/Becky put leaves on his fingers and let him eat them. He IS the cutest tree in the world (if I do say so, and I DO!) We got to eat the lemon cake with lemon pudding filling today after singing to Jason and relighting the candles two times so the kids could blow out the candles too.

So you see that Jason keeps his head shaved. That's because his hair is much sparser than in was in his younger days. The kids have never seen him with hair, which is what made me laugh this morning when Aurelia found a picture of Jason next to our bed. The picture was taken when he was only 18! She said, "why is he wearing a helmet?" She didn't realize that thick mop of blond blond hair was growing from his head. I laughed so hard I cried. Happy Birthday, Jason! Helmet Head! That was pretty good.

What else did we do this week? Oh yeah, My Aunt Betty had a birthday party this week on Monday. We had BBQ and potato salad and lots of fun with the Aguilar family. I found out that Cory has tried lettuce ONCE in his life and Aurelia spent a lot of time caressing the back of his head. Hair on a guy, what a novelty for her, poor thing. And Ezra did alright without a nap.

That's pretty much it. Have a great week! Sarah

Valentine's Week

Good Sunday Morning! It's week 34 for the prego and it was a fun week too! Now, Jason and I don't do much for Valentine's Day and we kind of like it that way -- no crazy expectations to keep -- so we can just enjoy the day with each other; Aurelia and Ezra made some cards and got some candy from extended family, but the REAL excitement this year was getting to be part of our neighbors' engagement. They've been dating for about two years and since Christmas I've known that Dai was going to propose to Lisa on Valentine's Day *which incidentally is mine and Jason's anniversary of engagement -- 10 YEARS!* It was SO hard for me not to say anything, but it was fun calling Lisa and telling her to hurry home because her dogs were barking a lot. Really, Dia had come home from work early and was making dinner, etc. . . They came over later in the evening and I got to see her GORGEOUS ring. So much fun! Now I can hardly wait for the wedding.
(making cards)
More fun we had was playing with the doll house books Auntie Becky gave Reia and Ezra for Valentine's Day. The books open up in three directions to make little rooms. There's furniture and stickers and little people and pets. Ezra loves the car and motorcycle that came with his garage house and it was so neat to see Aurelia walking her little people around in the house and making them talk.

Anyone this side of California would tell you that this was a beautiful week! The sun was shining and our ice cream was melting all over the place. Aurelia and her friend Adam spent one afternoon licking drips and tracing each other with chalk on the sidewalk.

Lastly, here's a picture of my belly and my hair. Only six more weeks to go!

Saw the baby

I had my appointment this week and actually got to see MY doctor and the baby. The technician said that he's growing well and that there's plenty of fluid around the baby. We got to see the heart beating strongly and his arms and legs moving wildly (although, you could just look at my stomach and see that). The doctor told me that the baby's in the 75% percentile for size and that if he keeps growing at this rate he should be between 7.5 and 8 lbs at birth (which is right where the other two were, so that makes me happy). I'm finally "starting to look pregnant" apparently, because that is what multiple people told me today at church -- so my question is, do I normally look pretty large or what?? because I KNOW I definitely have looked pregnant for some time now --or -- well, whatever. Don't answer that.

Aurelia and Ezra finally ended up with a cold after two lovely months of wellness, but Aurelia seems to be doing better already. Ezra's snotty and has a cough. His little cheeks are all chapped from wiping the snot on them, but aside from some whining he's pretty happy. The weather has warmed up to a very comfortable 55 plus degrees and we've been able to get out of the house and ride bikes and go for walks. This has really made a difference in our attitudes -- I love the sun and so do the kids. The other day they wanted to be outside so bad, ALL DAY, that I finally just bundled them up at five o'clock at night and they sat at the patio table and colored while I barbecued. Which was a first for me --barbecuing on coals, that is -- I've only ever barbecued on a gas barbecue before, but I actually got the coals going and cooked right on the open flame (so to speak) and the meat turned out all right too! Whoopee!

Aurelia's excitement (last week, but I wanted to include it this week) was finding some Clifford pj's in the box of clothes from cousin Eli, and coloring her face and hands with markers to make herself look like a dog while I visited with our neighbors. Also, the kids are getting prepared for the baby's arrival by playing with their babies. So, those are the photos I've included in this week's blog. Also, I got my hair cut -- but I don't have a photo of that. Hope you all have a great week! Sarah

Full Time Fun!

Hello, again! Hope you all enjoyed the Superbowl yesterday! We had a great time at Jason's long-time friend, Nate Dunn's house. Thay have kids the same ages as ours so they all had a great time playing together. Jason and Nate were SO happy the Giants beat the patriots. I enjoyed my two plates of nachos and visiting with Julie.

Also, on Saturday we had a great dinner at the Golden Dragon buffet with our good friends and neighbors, Dai and Lisa. Aurelia and I had a big plate of crab legs -- SO GOOD (I forgot pregos are supposed to stay away from shellfish, so don't lecture me) and Mongolian stir fry, yum!

We visited Mima at her school to wish her happy birthday on Wednesday and ate lunch with some of her teacher friends so she could show off her grand kids and my blooming belly. (see videos below)

And, on Tuesday we went to Chuck E. Cheese's with Nana and Poppa! We ate pizza and used up at least a hundred tokens -- Aurelia really likes to chuck them into the chance games. Ezra likes to put the coins in the slots and walk away. Aurelia played air hockey with both Nana and Poppa and she thinks she won - so we'll just leave it at that. We "earned" over 300 tickets and Aurelia got to take home some markers and a bath toy and some stickers. Ezra got a tootsie roll. Those of you who are family may see the date on the photos and understand that it was hopefully, (at least for a few hours), a good way for Mom and Dad to spend some time on a sad day. We miss you, Phil.

It WAS a busy week and this week will be no slower, so I'll blah blah blog at you later. Sarah