coloring Easter eggs

Mathias was seriously so excited to dye Easter eggs this year. He kept on trying to get started before we even had anything set up. We attempted to do some tye dye ones this year but I don't think any of us had the patience for it and only ended up doing a few that way.

This was the first one and Dev was trying to show Mathias how to do it the tye dye way. It was kinda a pain because you had to put a little dropper into some very tiny holes.

Here was my attempt at the tye dye egg. I love how I am just tall enough that my big preggo belly just rests on the counter. Only 4 more days!

Mathias decided that he wanted to try one on his own. After a few attempts at getting the little syringe thing in the tiny holes, he was so excited that he was able to do it, and all on his own. I just love watching the excitement of this kid.

Showing off the eggs that he has done so far.

Mathias and the final product!

A closeup of the final product. As you can see we only ended up doing 4 the tye dye way but it was still fun!

The eggs weren't the only thing to get dyed! I love it though, it is all part of being a kid.

Battle Creek

Even though it was a little chilly today, we decided to head up to Battle Creek and play with the RC crawlers. I see this happening a lot in the future. The boys just love it and I am so happy that they have something that they just love doing together!

Playing in a puddle.

I don't know who loves doing this more? Seriously Mathias is a mini Dev. Love it.

Do boys ever grow up... I think not.

Mathias and his jeep. The radio controls no longer work on it but it was still fun to push around!

So excited that it made it up without falling! I love the excitement on his face.

39 weeks

please excuse the messy hair and the pajama bottoms, the pic was taken at 10 p.m. and it is all about comfort these days. I was also having a contraction during this picture. I am seriously glad I only have one week left, I don't think I can get much bigger!

Before anyone asks...again... YES I AM STILL PREGNANT! I am pretty sure the whole world will know when we have this baby. Sorry I am just kinda getting tired of people asking even though I know it is to be expected. Thanks for the quick vent.
Anyways I went to the doctor yesterday. Not a whole lot new to report, pretty much everything is the same. I am only at 1 cm and 50% effaced. He set an induction for our actual due date if we don't have her before then. I am thinking that she won't come before then, my babies seem to be pretty comfortable in my stomach. I have been having a ton of contractions but they will go for maybe an hour or so then stop and they usually aren't painful. I did have a few yesterday though that were kinda painful. Lets hope they are making some kinda progress and not just bugging me. Anyways that is all that is going on for now. Hopefully the next post about this baby will be about her arrival.

Miss Izzie Kitty

Miss Izzie kitty seems to think that all the baby stuff is for her to lay on. Should be interesting to see what happens when this little lady gets here! For now it just creates a lot of laundry for me.

Ward Easter Egg Hunt

We went to the ward Easter Egg Hunt this morning. When we got there they had the little kids decorating little bags to put the eggs in. Mathias brought his own Easter bucket so he did not decorate a bag, which then led him to be kinda bored and very impatient. He really wanted to go "find" Easter eggs. We had to tell him over and over and over again that we can't do it until they tell us they are ready. They had the big kids find there eggs outside and the little ones get theirs in the gym. They had them start in ten minute spurts. It was kinda chaotic this year because it was the first year that they put it together. The kids could only get 10 eggs (which is how many we all brought) and one toy or treat that was lying around. Mathias quickly got his eggs and came to use as soon as he got ten. He counted and stopped all on his own, I was pretty impressed. We then went over to the tables they had set up and he quickly dumped out all his eggs to see what he got. He was pretty excited that he got a ton of chocolate, his favorite. They then handed out prizes for a bake-off and as soon as that was done we got to eat all the yummy treats. It was pretty fun to get out and Mathias had a blast!

38 Weeks

I am 38 weeks today. We had a doctor's appointment this morning as well. I have gained about a pound since last week. My blood pressure and the baby's heartbeat are still great. This was the first time the doctor checked me and I am sad to report that not much is happening. The doctor seemed surprised at how high this baby is and that he couldn't feel her head. I am not too surprised about that. I carried Mathias really high and he NEVER dropped on his own. I swear this baby carries lower than him but apparently not by much. He talked to me about inducing but that was before he checked me and now he wants to wait another week to see if she will drop a bit first. I doubt that she will though. So for now, no baby and really no sign of her coming anytime soon - apparently she is nice and comfy in there. I kinda figured it would be like this since Mathias was a day late but was seriously hoping she would come early. I guess we still have two weeks to see what happens. For now we are scheduled to go back to the doctors in another week.

For fun lets do another poll. What color of hair will she have?

snuggles

The other morning Mathias drug out all of his stuffed animals, covered them up, and then told me that he needed to go get his blanket and my pillow because his rocking horse was cold and one pillow was not big enough to snuggle on. He laid like this for a while snuggling his rocking horse and watching cartoons. I seriously love this kid!!

37 weeks

I went to the doctor's again this morning. Everything is still awesome and not much has changed so I don't really have anything new to report.
The doctor did give me his estimate on how big he thinks this little lady is going to be though, so I thought it would be fun to do a little poll and see what you think. I will put it up on the side bar. If you want to be more specific leave a comment with the exact amount you think she will weigh. I think it should be interesting to see who is the closest.

Baby stuff

This weekend we brought in a bunch of baby stuff from the garage - baby swing, bouncer, bassinet, bottles etc. The kitty was seriously going crazy checking everything out. We got everything cleaned and washed and put away, now we just need to get a few little last minute things and then this little lady can come.

update* the kitty thinks that the bassinet is her new bed and has been sleeping in there almost every night. She also sleeps on the changing table all the time too. Should be interesting to see what happens when the baby comes.

Movie night

The other night Mathias wanted to watch a movie so I told him to pick one out and he could watch it in my room. Dev went in there to watch it with him because he didn't want to watch whatever I was watching on TV. After a little while I noticed that it was really quiet and wondered if they both fell asleep. Dev had but Mathias was still just watching the movie (that doesn't happen too often). I love that Max (the puppy) is snuggling with them as well. I seriously love these boys!!

36 weeks

We are 36 weeks today. I went to the doctor's this morning. Everything is still looking good. I have not gained any weight since January, however the doc thinks this baby might be on the bigger side. He asked how big Mathias was, 7 lbs 12 oz, and said this one might just be bigger. Seriously not what I want to hear. He estimated that she weighs about 6 pounds right now and that they put on about a half a pound a week for the last month. I am seriously praying that she is not huge. I guess we will just have to wait and see. He did not check me for dilation and said that he usually doesn't until 38 weeks unless you are having a ton of contractions or if you want to be checked. I have been having contractions almost every day but nothing regular and probably nothing worth checking over. Plus Mathias was born the day after his due date and I am worried that if he checked me now I would just be disappointed, so we will wait a couple more weeks. We are now onto weekly visits. I cannot believe how close we are now. I am so ready to meet her but not sure if I am prepared for her yet.

baby shower

We had our baby shower this afternoon. It was so cute and so much fun. I have to say a huge thank you to Barbara for letting us have it her house as well as making most of the food. Also a big thanks to Kelly, Melanie, Kelsey, and Lori for helping out with the food. Seriously so delicious! It was so fun to see so many friends and family, some of which I don't get to see very often. My mom also was able to keep a secret (surprise, I know) and showed up with Mike. When I saw him walk in the door it was all I could do not to cry. I don't think I have seen him since my wedding. He lives in Virginia and had a business trip in Seattle and made it so he had a layover here for a few hours. It was so awesome to see him! Wish it could have been for longer!

Thank you everyone for coming and for all the cute things for this little lady! She is already so spoiled. We only have about a month left and I just cannot wait to meet her!



My cousin Leann and I are due with our baby girls just 2 days apart. It is just crazy to me how differently we carry. Can't wait to meet these little girls!

Family / Maternity pictures

We had my awesome friend Emily take some family/maternity pics for us. She took some maternity ones for us when we were preggo with Mathias and they turned out awesome so we just had to do it again. I am 35 weeks in these. There are a million pictures so I tried to break it up a little, however the last slide show still has like 75 pics in it. I just could not decide which ones I liked the best and they are all so different that I just had to put them all on here.

These are just of Mathias.

These are the ones we had done as a family.

These ones are mostly just me and my belly but there are also some really fun ones in there with Mathias and Dev.

new bike

Mathias got this bike for his birthday and unfortunately it has been super crummy weather since. Today was finally nice enough that he could ride it. He rode it all the way around the condo complex and around the park... a couple times. He did really well. I love that when he concentrates he sticks his tongue out, I think Dev does the same thing!

Haircut

I finally got my hair cut! We are doing family/maternity pics soon so I had to hurry and do something with my hair. It has been another long 9 months (not sure why I wait so long) since I have had it done and it was in desperate need of a change. I told the lady that I don't really care what she did as long as I can pull it up. She cut off about 8 inches and added some layers and long, side-swept bangs. I love it and it is so easy to do, which is an awesome bonus.

34 weeks

Yeah 34 weeks. Only 6 weeks left!! I went to the doctor's today. Everything is looking awesome. Her heart beat sounds good. I am measuring right on this time. I was so glad to hear this since last time I went in, 4 weeks ago, he said I was measuring 2 weeks ahead. I have also not gained anything since my last appointment. He said that it is common for the weight gain to slow down or stop and that some even lose some weight in the end. So far I have only gained 10 pounds. She is in the head-down position but that can obviously still change, however let's cross our fingers that she stays this way. I go back in two weeks, then I think it is every week after that. We are getting so close but I still can hardly believe that it is all happening.

Mathias' Birthday Party!

Holy cow my baby is 4!!

(sorry I didn't get a picture of the girls here)

We decided to have his birthday party the weekend after his birthday since his birthday falls so close to Valentine's Day. This year we decided to take the kids to Kangaroo Zoo, which is a big warehouse full of blow-up jump houses and slides. The kids had a blast running around and going on all the slides.

Then after they were worn out we headed back over to our place for pizza, cake and ice cream, and presents. I usually try to make a really fun cake but I used the excuse of being 8 months preggo to make a really simple one this year. Mathias still loved it. As long as it had to do with monster trucks it was all right by him.

Here he is opening all his presents and playing with them. As usual he got pretty spoiled. Thanks to everyone that came!!

Grizzlies Hockey Game

We took Mathias to his first-ever hockey game last night. At first he didn't want to go at all, but that was probably because he woke up on the wrong side of the bed after his nap. Once we got him there, he was pumped! He didn't take too much interest in the game, but at four years old you really can't expect him to sit still and focus on one thing for two and a half hours. He helped me cheer on the few fights that broke out, but I still haven't figured out if encouraging the fisticuffs was a proper parenting move. As long as we can make sure he understands it's okay for professionals to do it, why not?

It was definitely a fun night to get out. We love to spend time together, and what better way to do that than to do it watching hockey?!

Snuggles

I love that Mathias has always been such a snuggler and that he still is. When he wakes up in the morning he comes straight into our room to snuggle us in bed for a bit before starting the day. He also will snuggle you for a bit when he gets up from his naps, like today. He will even come ask for snuggles randomly throughout the day as well. I sure hope our little girl is a snuggler too!

Sprawled out

For as long as I can remember Mathias has always sprawled out in bed. For this reason we hardly ever had him sleep with us, even as a baby because then none of us got any sleep. I walked in to wake him up from a super long nap and this is how I found him. I just had to take a picture. I sure do love this little guy!

33 weeks

Well here we are at 33 weeks. Things are still going pretty good. I am feeling huge and getting to the point of done being pregnant but I really cannot complain to much. I can't believe that there are only about 7 weeks left. It kinda seems to be flying by, which I have mixed feelings about. I cannot wait to meet her and see her but at the same time we are so not ready for her to be here yet.

Mathias turns 4!!

I know that I say this on every birthday but I cannot believe that my baby is growing up so fast! I can hardly believe that he is 4 already.

When I was growing up my mom would always decorate our rooms for our birthdays so I decided to do that for Mathias this year. However, he is kind of a light sleeper when he wants to be. He woke up to me putting up streamers on the outside of his room, so decorating the inside was out of the question. He did not know what to think when he woke up and came out through the streamers.

So instead I blew up a bunch of balloons and left them in the living room. He had so much fun playing with them all day.

He was a little disappointed that I had already made the cake and frosted it but when I told him that I had some blue (his favorite color) sprinkles that he could put on, he got so excited.

We did not do much on his actual birthday (the party is next weekend since this weekend is Valentines day). Mema came over and we had some cake and opened up a few presents. He got a huge rubber snake and some candy from Mema and a marble track from us.

He was so excited about the marble track that he only took about one bite of cake before wanting to open it. When we finally let him open it he was really excited to help Devin put it together. He thought it was pretty cool toy and the cat likes it too. She chases the marbles everywhere.



I wanted to write down a few things about Mathias at this age so I can remember them.

He loves preschool! He is so excited when it is a school day. He tells me all the time that he likes his teacher and that he loves learning. I hope this continues! He is such a smart kid and the teacher told me he is at the top of his class and she is also impressed with how polite he is. Glad to know we are doing something right! ;)

He loves to sing!! His favorite songs right now are 'Real Gone' Performed by Sheryl Crow from the Cars soundtrack, 'I Gotta Feeling' by Black Eyed Peas and 'All I Want To Do...' by Sugarland. He also lately loves to act like a rock star and dance on his bed while singing. I love it.

He still loves jeeps, monster trucks, motorcycles and so forth. Right now he is kinda obsessed with hitches. He keeps telling Dev that we need to build a big blue monster truck with a hitch so we can pull things.

He is a ladies man. The only way we got him to go into sharing time for primary for the first time was that we promised him that he could sit by the girls. Half way through he turned around to Dev and told him he wanted to sit by all the girls not just one. He also tells me about some girlfriends that he has at school. Man are we already in trouble!

He loves books. He is constantly asking for us to read to him and he is attempting to read to himself. So far it is only his favorite books that he basically has memorized but I figure it's a start. Sometimes when we tell him that time out is over (which is in his room with all of his books) he will tell us that he is not ready to come out because he is not done reading his book.

Also we got his stats from his 4-year well check up. They are...

He is about 43 pounds, and that is at the 91st percentile for weight.

He is also about 43 inches, and that is at the 94th percentile for height.

So yes, he is still pretty big for his age.

Sickie

Poor Mathias does not do well in the winters ever since he was born. It all started when he was just three weeks old and got bronchialitis (which is just a step below RSV) and we had to do breathing treatments. For the next couple of years we have had to do breathing treatments (Albuteral, which is a steroid, and Pulmicort, which is a preventative) all winter long and into the spring because anytime he would get a cold it would go straight to his lungs. A lot of this is asthma-related. We were told that he will most likely grow out of this. We thought that this was the year where he was starting to grow out of it because we have not had to deal with it all.... until January. We had made it almost a whole year without having to go to the doctor's, which for us is a miracle. We went a total of five times between January up to his 4-year well visit.


1. The first time we went was because he was complaining about his ear hurting. That is the one thing we have been lucky about. This kid has had EVERYTHING except an ear infection. Turns out he had a very little one that did not even require meds and we were told to just wait it out and if it gets worse, then we will do antibiotics.
2. The next time we went in was for a cough that was not going away. We were told to just start doing breathing treatments round the clock again. Luckily that helped for a bit.
3. We ended up going in again for a cold and some labored breathing and a really high fever . Usually we can take care of his labored breathing with the breathing treatments but it didn't seem to be going away. Also he had a fever of over 104 for a whole day. We would give him Tylenol or Motrin and it would go down for a few hours then shoot right back up. It turns out he had a bit of pneumonia in his left lung and a pretty good ear infection in one ear and a mild one in the other. He had also lost just over a pound in just over a week. He was not eating very much. Poor thing. We got some antibiotics that we had to give to him twice a day along with doing breathing treatments every 4 hours round the clock.
4. Our doctor had us come back just two days later to check on the pneumonia. She wanted to be extra cautious of it because of his asthma problems. She said that his lung was making some noises to where it sounded like his lung might have collapsed a bit due to the pneumonia and that it was pretty common. She told us to have him try and blow up balloons and at his next appointment, which was the next week, we would check it again.
5. This appointment was his 4-year well checkup and to also check out his lungs. It turned out everything was fine (thank heavens!) and we have not had any problems so far since (knock on wood).

(poor thing slept a lot for the first couple of days of being super sickie)

This was not a very fun month for us . Mathias and I just kept passing the sickies back and forth, although I think he got the worst of it. Also having to pay 5 co-pays for him alone in one month was not fun.

Like father, like son!

Dev got the brilliant idea to make a house and a garage big enough that his micro rc could fit in it. Mathias LOVED this idea. He was even able to park the car in the garage a few times without wrecking anything. Once the house was wrecked it was all about making log ramps and trying to drive up them. The boys sure do have a lot of fun with this little rc car!

"helping"

On Sunday, Brian came over to help Dev work on my car. They replaced one of the belts and also the thermostat. When Mathias heard that they were gonna be working on the car he could not gather all his tools fast enough. He was so stinking excited. I love that he loves to get out there with Dev and "help" work on the vehicles. Hopefully this means that he will learn everything he needs to know at a young age so that he can work on his cars when he needs to. I love in the picture with him and Dev laying down checking out the underneath of the car that Mathias has Dev's gloves on. Too cute.

This picture just makes me smile. When Dev was draining the antifreeze, Mathias said, "Look dad, the car is going potty." How funny is that?

While the guys cleaned everything up, Mathias decided to go and grab his jeep and play in the snow. This jeep has seriously been through so much, I can't believe it is still around!

31 weeks

I had my doctor's appointment last week and all is looking good still. I was measuring a bit big at 32 weeks though. He said that it is nothing to worry about unless I start measuring really big. Hopefully she isn't huge! I have been feeling huge and I guess that just confirmed it for me. I have still only gained about 9 pounds total though. I have been feeling a bit better. The only complaints this week are heartburn and a sore back and sometimes not being able to fall asleep for a while, you know - the typical third trimester stuff. I am so excited that we are down to a single digit week countdown!