Check out this Gut!

I decided that I should take a picture of my BIG belly. Maybe someday when my daughter is a teenager, I can show her this picture and say, "look what I went through for you!" Although a picture of my stretch marks and labor might be more effective.

Keep in mind as you look at this picture that a 3 year old took it AND I am 39 weeks pregnant. I don't normally look this fat! It took a few tries for Bridger to get my head in the picture but after he mastered that they turned out OK. Bridger was getting frustrated that he had to keep trying so I gave him the incentive of taking a picture of whatever he wanted. That's how we got the second picture and third picture. (My in-laws just told me that it is hard to tell what the third picture is. It is the inside of the toilet.) He is such a boy!

What did I get myself into?

I mentioned doing a preschool co-op in one of my last posts. At the time I loved it. Maybe after I recover from my week of teaching, I will love it again. But right now I'm not so sure. It might have been easier if I wasn't 37-38 weeks pregnant when it was my turn.

I taught the boys about fire safety. My main motivation for doing this is that Bridger has been obsessed about firemen lately. He really wanted to see the fire station and I was too embarrassed to just take Bridger. So I had this great idea that I would use one of my days to take the preschool group to the fire station. Thus solving the problem of taking Bridger to the fire station and keeping my house from being destroyed on one of my days.

Day 1: I though I would go through the basics: Stop, Drop and Roll, Stay low and go etc. I had tons of ideas and thought it would go well. The thing I was not prepared for was the fact that I had seven boys that thought they knew all the answers. Most of them did know a lot and I was happy that they had such great moms that taught them about being safe (Good job moms!). The problem was that I had to continually break up arguments between the boys about who was right and who got to talk. They would just start yelling at each other to be quiet so they could say something. So what did I do? I joined them! I had to keep telling them that THEY needed to be quiet so I could say something. Circle time didn't last long. We moved on to games. We practiced crawling under smoke and rolling to put out fire. That went much better.

Day 2: We went to the fire station. I think the boys had fun. They were really polite and good most of the time. We started to lose them at the end. The firemen were VERY thorough about the tour. We saw the office and the computer in the office and the telephone and the bathrooms and the lockers where they put there clothes when they showered and...you get the point. The kids just wanted to see the fire truck and the firemen's clothes then leave.

Belly Talk and Getting Ready for Baby

We're down to counting days. I have 14 days left. Yes, I know, I could just say two weeks. But somehow saying 14 days makes me feel better.

Not only has this pregnancy been really miserable- morning sickness that lasted all day for 7 months, three sinus infections, back problems, hospital for preterm labor, bed rest, etc. But out of the past 19 months I have been pregnant for 14 of those. We lost a baby when I was about 4 months pregnant and then had another miscarriage shortly after that. My poor body needs a break! I don't want to be pregnant even one more day.

I have definitely started nesting. Problem is I don't get much done anymore. My to do list is getting longer instead of shorter. I just can't move fast enough!

Unfortunately for Derek, HE is the one doing most of MY nesting. He has been such a great help this past year with all the stuff I have been going through and dishing out.

This past Saturday Derek, with the help of a man in our ward, put up bead board in the baby's room. I have always wanted a room with bead board. So I am so excited. I got the room I wanted and Derek learned a new skill...Did I mention I wanted bead board in my bathroom?

Preschool

Bridger has started preschool. He loves it! Mom loves it too! I get four hours a week to actually accomplish something without fighting and trying to distract a three year old.
I am involved in a co-op preschool with 5 other women in our ward. We each take turns teaching. So far we love it. We'll see if I still feel that way after I take my turn teaching next week. Having six VERY energetic boys in my house might change my mind.

Bridger's Great Grandparents visit

We were soooo excited to have my grandparents come for a visit. They just celebrated their 85th birthday's! My mom also came.

We had so much fun with them. I have fond memories of my grandpa teasing me as a kid. It was a joy to watch him tease Bridger the same way. Bridger also had a good time teasing grandpa!

My grandpa was a dairy farmer. So we thought he might like the Tillamook cheese factory. They at least enjoyed the ice cream!

My grandma LOVES the ocean. It had been 10 years since she had been to the beach. So we spent some time at a Cape Meares. We visited the lighthouse and the beach.

My mom, grandma and I played hours of boggle. I learned a lot of new words some of which I am sure were not real words. But I wasn't about to say anything!

Our one and ONlY camping trip this year

After many months of being sick. I was begging to go camping. (I had big hopes of sqeeezing in as much fun as I could before we had our baby. Didn't happen.)

We went camping at Gales Creek with our friends the Nielson's. Despite the fact that Jenny forgot her kids sleeping bags and we had two pregnant women sleeping on the ground, we had a great time!

Peaches, peaches everywhere!

One of our favorite things about Oregon is the pick-your-own fruit farms. Every summer we spend hours at different farms picking strawberries, raspberries, marionberries, blueberries, peaches, pears, and apples. There is something about picking your own fruit that makes it taste better. Bridger has a hard time not eating while we pick. For the first five minutes, I pick as fast as I possibly can and I just barely stay ahead of him. Luckily, the farms don't mind kids eating while they pick. I have seen many kids walk out with red-stained faces! They couldn't hide their guilt if they wanted to.
    This year, even though I was 32 weeks pregnant, I decided to bottle peaches. So Derek, Bridger, and I headed to the farm. We only picked for about 15 minutes, but it was so quick and easy that we got more than we bargained for. We thought we had 50-60 lbs, which seemed like more than enough. When they weighed them, we had picked 110 lbs!! Yikes!
    So I spent EVERY available minute for the next week canning peaches. Where is your family when you need them? I tried to vary what I did because we are going to be eating peaches every meal for the next 5 years. I made several kinds of peach jam, peach-vanilla syrup, frozen peaches, etc. What a nightmare!
    By the end of it, I needed help. Derek now knows all there is to canning peaches! He was a good sport and spent many hours late into the night helping me.
    Peaches anyone?

Who would have thought that being obedient about food storage could put you in the hospital? I sure didn't.

The day we picked peaches, I had called the doctor with some complaints about a possible bladder infection and cramping. Turns out I didn't have a bladder infection; it was the baby's head. The baby had dropped. I was up on my feet so much with the peaches that the cramping turned into major contractions. The doctor decided I should go in for a visit. What I thought would be a quick appointment turned into an all-day stay at the hospital. I had to be monitored to make sure I wasn't in labor. I am now on bed rest to make sure the baby is not born for at least another 2-3 weeks.

Good news, my doctor (who is a stake president) said I could pay him in peaches!