Belly Pics- Almost 21 weeks

So if you are scared of bare belly pics, this post is not for you. I have family far away who does not get to see me and my growing belly. So my parents and fam wanted me to post these pics....which will be fun for me to see later too. It is not like I am sexy right now anyway!

But I am almost 21 weeks...gaining weight in my tummy and everywhere else. My butt and legs are now joined as one. I have no definition between the two. My waist is about 32 inches and should get to be about 38-39 like my other kids.

We did find out it was a boy the other day, so that is exciting, but now I feel like the rest of the pregnancy is going to creep by too slowly. But I guess we do have the holidays coming up which keeps me busy and keeps my mind off the forever 19 more weeks. I am also noticing that it is getting harder to get out of bed, get off the couch, and bend over. So I am also a little more mean with my kids because I am always cleaning up after them...having to pick stuff up off the floor which is so hard, and clean up their messes on the floor after meals, which is hard too. So I am trying to be patient.

Oh and you have to love the cold sore on my lip. This last 3 weeks has been rough for me ....Yes I am going to complain right now, so feel bad for me.......Not only am I prego, which I did on purpose, but I have had the worst allergies the last 3 weeks so sleeping has been terrible. I have also had this ugly cold sore for the last week and I just barely got over a stiff neck. So this last 3 weeks has not been my favorite. I have never wished for cold weather, but I am excited now...ready for these allergies to go away and ready to wear long sleeve stuff and pants to hide my growing fatness.

IT'S A BOY!

I was really anxious all week for this 20th week ultrasound. Nervous because as parents you always hope that the baby is healthy and has all its organs in tact and working right. I was also nervous for the gender, only because Matt and I are pretty certain this is our last baby, so if it was to be a boy, I would be sad for Corey's sake and sad that I do not get to dress a little girl again. I guess I just always thought I would have another girl. So this morning, I was really on edge and just ready to get this over with. So we sent the kids off to school and Casen to Lynleys house and headed to the dr's office. I even got a little emotional in the car, as I said a little prayer to myself that everything would check out OK. I was not ready to handle the news of anything being wrong.

So the ultrasound went great...the baby's heart and brain and all its major parts looked great. And his weight was measuring only 12 oz.....the size of a pop can. Funny, huh? He got some pretty cute pics of the babys' face...he would not move his hand away from his face. He looks alot like my other babies in the womb pics. The due date is pretty close to the date the ultrasound tec gave also.....Feb. 7th. So I looked over at Matt and could tell he was relieved that the baby was healthy too. He usually does not have a preference to gender...he already got his boy. He just wants the baby to be healthy. I was sad for a little bit....just because I was thinking of Corey and how she would handle it. I got over the "no more girls" thing fast, but I just kept thinking of Corey. I had a really good hunch that it was a boy this whole time, so I was not surprised. And I asked the technician how accurate he was. And he joked that "unless that thing falls off before he is born, it is 100% a boy." The ultrasound pic displays the BOY PART quite nicely.

So I texted and called all my family and friends and let them know the news. I walked to get Cade at the bus stop at 12:30 and told him. He was not surprised either, but wondered what Corey would do too. So I waited around till 4:00 when Corey gets home and tried to ease into it with her..."Do you remember what mommy had to do this morning?" She immediately asked me "What is it?" And when I told her it was another boy, she actually handled it really well. I could see the disapointment in her eyes for about 2 minutes, and then as we got talking...I told her we were wishing Casen was a little girl too and look how much we love him and how fun he is.... And I told her that her friend Shaina has all brothers and she is doing just fine. And I tried to tell her she would get to do alot of girls trips and shopping trips and be kinda spoiled being the only girl. So I was totally surprised at how well she handled it. And it took such a burden off my shoulders with how well she handled it.

And now I am excited and my head is spinning about what I have to do before the baby gets here and how I want to decorate the room different. And who is going to sleep where and the babys' new bedding. And where I am going to put his clothes...running out of closet space, etc.....All of that. So we are excited and now we have a whole 20 more weeks to get through. UUGGHH!

Family Night in Wellsville

We got invited by some friends to go and enjoy the Redneck Waterslides in Wellsville for Family Night. We all just brought a bunch of pizzas and drinks, ate a quick dinner, let the kids and the adults slide for a couple of hours and then we finished the night around the campfire warming up. The kids loved it and so did the adults.

It was the craziest waterslide I have ever seen. I was a little nervous for my kids because I have heard that alot of people get hurt on these slides. But I guess it is when the kids start rough housing and going down in trains, etc.....which people actually did, but no one got hurt. I could not believe how brave Corey and Cade were. It amazed me. There was a big slide and a smaller slide. They all started out on the smaller slide and then made it over to the bigger slide. Matt took Casen over on the smaller slide, but Corey and Cade loved the big slide. They went as many times as they could until they were too cold. There were about 5-6 families there and all the adults were loving it too. It was so fun to watch. I didn't get to go cause I am prego and did not want to take the chance of getting hurt. Maybe next year. It did look fun, but I think I would enjoy it more on a HOT, HOT, Day. I hate being cold and everyone looked pretty cold....that water splashes in your face the whole way down. It was a fun night and I am sure the kids will be talking about it forever!

Fun Weekend at Cherry Hill

Had alot of fun this weekend with family and friends at Cherry Hill Campground in Kaysville, Utah. Ok so first of all, some people might not call this camping, but this is my kind of camping....fun for kids, grass. not all dirt, bathroom close by, paved roads for bikes, showers, etc. The only bummer part is you cannot build a fire, which stinks cause a fire really makes camping....well Camping! But I love Cherry Hill and so do the kids. I know this is lame to admit, but I can actually fall asleep peacefully and not be thinking of wild life coming and attacking me and my family.

We went with our family, Toph and Brit, Mandy and Skye, Dan and Marsh, Ammon and Alison, Nate and Kristy met us Saturday for the day, and then my sister Becca and JR met us Saturday night. The first night, Friday...we got there around 6 or so, set up camp, cooked up some MEAN Fajitas and Quesadillas on our little burner and just waited for everyone to arrive. We let the kids play and explore a little and then we could not settle down to rest until Matt got a piece of his famous PIE. He is not really even into pie, but the PIE PANTRY there is known for its pie and he wanted to try and piece. So we walked over and got some ice cream for the kids and pie for us. It was really good! Casen was so cute too. He was loving all of it....the trailer, the campground, everything. It was so fun to watch him experience something new to him. Casen did not sleep great that night either. I would love to be able to sleep by Matt, but of course the little tykes come first and I had to sleep with Casen...he kinda tossed and turned all night. It was a little chilly that night too, but we did learn how to use our little heater in the trailer and it worked awesome. (Prego (me) even got a little too hot.)

Saturday, we woke up around 8 Am, Cooked some eggs and sausage and then we vegged around camp till about noon. Then we took the kids swimming all day at the water park. They loved it. I think the Dragon Slides were the favorite of my kids. Casen was loving the water too. He loves jumping in to the pool and is not afraid to go under the water. And Cade was so brave....going on all the rides by himself....Corey eventually warmed up throughout the day and was going on everything by herself too. I was so happy to see them growing up and getting brave in their OLD AGE. We even had Nate and Kristy and their kids join us at the pool that day. I think all the kids and adults had fun! After we had all had enough sun, we went back and showered and decided to go out to dinner instead of cooking our own. We all met at Applebees in Layton....(the perks of camping so close to town). Food was good, kids were a little grumpy and hard to handle, but we made it through. Becca and JR met us for dinner too. My kids were happy to see them too. Then we went back and went minature golfing at the camp. The kids loved that too, except I had to stay clear of my kids for half the time because Corey gets competitive and they were driving me crazy. I thought I would let Matt handle it. And Casen was serioulsy loving it too, with the two golf balls he took and his mini putter he got to use. I wish I had some pics of golfing. It was at night and I did not think the pics would turn out.

That night, all the kids were exhausted and fell right to sleep. Casen fell asleep in the stroller...Corey on dads lap, and Cade watching a movie in the trailer. Easy night for me. That night the adults just sat around and talked and then a few of us played a short game. I think the adults were all warn out too and ready for bed!

Then Sunday, we kind of just woke up, ate breakfast from McDonalds, packed up, and headed home. I love Cherry Hill and really want to make it a tradition every year. This year was nice too cause it was the last weekend the water park was open, so it was not crowded at all. It made it alot easier to let the little ones run around and ride bikes and not have to worry about them getting hit by a car. The water park was not crowded either, which made it nice too. I think we survived camping with the kids and might try to squeeze one more weekend of camping in before it gets too cold.

A Little Something Fun...

So I had some neighbor friends tell me about this pajama outlet in town, that makes cute, cheap pajamas. So we went and took a look today and I let the kids each pick out one pair. So cute! They are the pajamas they sell to gift shops in Jackson and places like that with all the bears, and moose, and fish, etc. The kids were super excited and they all looked so cute I had to get a pic.

Labor Day in Wellsville

Another Labor Day Party at Grandpa Allans house in Wellsville and my kids were excited!

First of all, my Aunt Janice and Uncle Brett were in town from CA. with their son Brett and his girlfriend Shauna. So we got to spend some time with them Sunday and then the whole day Monday at grandpa's party. I love having family here for the Labor Day Party to liven things up a bit. And the B Allans help to do that.

My kids were super excited for the parade, which started at 10. So we got over there for that. And daddy even came this year, which the kids were excited about. And so did Auntie Becca and her boyfriend JR. (I am sad that I did not get any pics of all the adults.) But it was fun to see Casen get excited about the parade this year. This is the first year where he was aware of what was going on. It took him a little while to see why everyone had bags and what they were collecting and then once he caught on, he was loving it. Halloween is going to be a blast for him this year. Cade was a little viscious with collecting candy. We had to keep reminding him that once a kid has it in their hand, he can't take it from them. And Corey had fun too. Casen did run out in the middle of the road once or twice and everyone got to see a pregnant woman run as fast as she could to rescue him. It was not a close call or anything, but enought to still scare any mom. He also loved all the horses, but was a little nervous when all the indians and pioneers shoot off their blanks in their guns. He would come running back wanting me to resuce him.

After the parade, we skipped out on the Sham battle and went over to the Tabernacle Grounds and let the kids go on a few rides and looked around a bit. And then it was time for lunch. Lunch was yummy as usual, with all the good summer salads and dips. And it was fun to sit around and talk to Brett and his girlfriend and get caught up. It was fun to see them again. And my kids were playing with this puppy that someone brought, for most of the time (even Casen was loving the puppy.) Around 2:00, Casen was falling apart and my kids were all ready to go home. So we said our good-byes and thanked grandpa for another good party! Maybe one of these years, I can get up early enough to run in the morning race with Aunt Janice.

Cade's First Day of Kindergarten

So Cade finally got to start school and boy was I glad. He had started to tease Casen all day long and he was bugging me too. I could just tell he was READY! On Thursday, Sept. 2nd., he started his first day of kindergarten. The night before, which was Wednesday...I thought he was going to have a hard time falling asleep, but he is not like Corey...he fell right to sleep. And it was so cute.. in the morning, after my alarm went off and I had to wake the kids up, when I went into his room, Corey struggled to get up, but Cade was up and out of bed in a matter of 5 seconds. He was so excited. And he was just beaming all morning from ear to ear.

He wanted to ride the bus with Corey and his friend Mathew, so we let him do it. We drove down to the bus stop..with Casen too and watched Cade get on the bus. I think he was more excited for the bus then he was school, but it still all sounded fun to him. I think he is feeling more grown up and he wants to be like Corey in all that she does. So I just told Corey to make sure he got to class Ok and did not get lost.

It was weird... I thought I would be more sad when my kids started kindergarten, but I can tell how happy and excited they are, so I feel happy and excited too, for them. I was so excited for him. Standing at the bus stop, he had the biggest smile on his face. I was just laughing. I have not seen him that excited in a long time, except for at Christmas time.

After noon, I went and waited at the bus stop for him...only had to wait 20 minutes or so. They were just a little late. But he looked so cute getting off the bus. You could tell he had had a fun day and coundn't wait to go back. He was pretty bummed too when he found out they had no school Monday for Labor Day. He was too excited to go back and didn't want a day off. He loves his teacher, he loves the bus, he even went on a Bear Hunt the first day. He told me the only thing he was bummed about was that he wished he could eat lunch at school, in the cafeteria. I am so glad we started him this year. He was so ready. He would have been so bored in another year of preschool. In fact, at his kindergarten assessment with his teacher, Mrs. Peterson, the same teacher Corey had....he knew 21 Alphabet letters. I was amazed. About 2 months ago, at his other pre-k assessment, he only knew 7. So the summer was good to Cade. Not sure how....but he got smarter.

And lastly,did you see Casen in the porch picture? So freakin funny...Apparently he was excited for Cade to go to school too. No more Cade teasing him for 6 hours straight!