Abundant Recompense Copy

I'll let Michelle tell the whole story, but here's the short version and a bazillion pictures. As previous posts testify, Michelle was a tad sick of being pregnant, and we invited Mom up from St. George for the weekend, if for no other reason than to change things up. I worked from home Friday afternoon because Michelle was having some pretty strong though irregular contractions. We decided to go out to dinner when Mom showed up. So she pulled into the driveway about 5:00 and we left for some Chick-fil-a shortly after. Michelle brought the hospital bag along just in case. After dinner we planned to go for a walk and Michelle suggested some place close to hospital. We decided to go to Weber State, but by the time we drove past McKay-Dee she said we should maybe walk around the hospital. There's some woods and a pond nearby so we walked around there and then needed to make a pit stop, so we went into the hospital. (Little by little we were committing ourselves.) It was rainin...

Well here we are, two days from baby #4's due date. My body is trying in every way to convince me that yes, the baby will be here soon. My mind, on the other hand, is beginning to leave me. You can only take so many nights of late-pregnancy sleep before that begins to happen. Last night I dreamed I was in a long line of girls in hospital gowns (they all looked about 20 years old), waiting to have babies. And everyone had their baby except for me. It was crushing. And then I had to wake up and still be pregnant. Pretty much I'm really really tired, really sore, and really just ready to be out of this holding pattern and move on with life. The kids are very patient with me, for the most part, but let's be serious, they just don't understand. They have really been enjoying the tirade of mommy-has-no-desire-to-cook dinners, though. Last week we had pizza three times! And bean burritos and spaghetti, I think. No complaints about that from anyone. Nate is rocking the house by...

Easter this year was absolutely wonderful. The weather over the weekend was amazing, and we were able to spend most of Saturday and Sunday out in the yard. On Saturday we dyed eggs. They loved it. Saturday night Nate gave me a minute to hurry and finish making Leah's Easter dress so she and Bryn could be twinners. And Addison got a new yellow tie to match, too. They were cute! I actually love the dresses. They're very simple. My goal was to make something comfy, easy to get on and off, and long enough that they will be able to wear them all summer long. I think it was a success. Addison gave a talk in Primary and did a great job. Nate had to be at the church at 8:00 for choir practice, so we waited to do Easter baskets until after quiet time. They were very simple, but the kids had lots of fun with the contents. I say the kids, but Nate spent a lot of time with Addison's refill darts that he got for his nerf gun. The results of 51 shots at the tv. Leah got to join the fun a...

Michelle informed me we couldn't go on a road trip to southern Utah every month for the family adventure. It took a while, but I got over it eventually. One Monday in March, we spent the afternoon picnicking and bird-watching at Jensen Park. Bryn is crazy about birds, and for Christmas she got a field guide to Utah birds. We had a great time checking feathery friends off the list and enjoying the warm weather.

We've been talking to the kids over the past few days about what to expect when the baby comes. Where they'll go, who will take care of them, how long Mommy will be gone, etc. Addison has been a little nervous about it all, but I think the talking is helping. The kids were all riveted during family night (I know, amazing already, right?) when we talked about the plan of salvation and where we were on the little map and where our baby is right now. Yesterday he heard Leah crying in the morning and came downstairs and asked me if his new brother was born. He was really disappointed when I showed him my tummy and assured him that the babe was still in there. This morning Addison, Bryn and I had a delightful conversation over breakfast. They're becoming interested in what we're going to name the baby.  Nate and I usually keep our "name cards" pretty close to our chests, because we don't want to be unduly influenced by outside opinions. And also because we neve...

Lest you think I'm done being excited about spring, here's a picture of Leah and Addison looking out the kitchen window at the popcorn popping on our apricot tree. Every time Leah sees the tree, she says "popcorn!" with great enthusiasm. It took a while to convince her that it was not, in fact, actual popcorn, and we wouldn't be eating it. And now, on to the post. Our kiddos are growing and doing monumental things left and right. Sometimes I want it all to just slow down! They're getting so big so fast, and occasionally I feel like so much is going on that I'm missing it. Here are a few pictures of our big kids' latest feats. Firstborn first: Addison is somewhat notorious around our house for not enjoying chores. Don't get me wrong, he does them daily, and has gotten pretty quick at them, but you won't ever see him scrambling for the chance to do extras. Well we recently got an awesome book from the library about all sorts of plants and animals...

Ah, pregnancy. Three weeks and four days left until we're due. When I find a moment to ponder the fact, I can't decide if I wish it would hurry up and come so I'm not pregnant anymore, or if I am alarmed that the day is approaching so quickly. In the throes of spring break, I'm leaning toward the latter. Unless I sit or lay down for more than 20 seconds at a time. Without fail, I am an emotional basket case during the last month of pregnancy. Delivery date is a great source of anxiety for me. Addison was 2 days early, Bryn was 27, Leah was 4 days late, for crying out loud!   I just have no idea what to expect, which is not a huge deal, except that I'm afraid labor and delivery will be on the speedy side, and my husband works an hour away at best. And I know it's going to happen the day  before  bathroom cleaning day, so whoever ends up at our house will be totally disgusted by how nasty we are. I promise I clean them every single week! Last week we had a false a...

Back in February I was determined to take my older kids sledding. So naturally I picked a Saturday when there was hardly any snow on the ground and the weather was rotten. We tried to go up to the North Ogden Divide, which is quite a ways up the mountain. After 20 minutes of trying to find the right road while Bryn grew increasingly certain that we were lost forever, we started up the windy road, only to be turned back by several inches of snow on the road, no traction in the minivan, and a couple heart-racing moments close to some pretty serious-looking drop-offs. So instead we found a nice park in North Ogden with some fun hills. The only problem was that by this time it was raining and we got soaked. In fact, when we would reach the bottom of the hill it sent up a blast of water, like we were riding Splash Mountain. I lied. There were two problems. The other problem is that whenever I take the kids sledding, we always start on a perfect-size hill and have a blast but then I get this...