Hewy favorite story

Hewy loves the story of the three little pigs. He asks me or someone else to tell him the story several times a day. I have never had a kiddo before that was attached to a classic story like this.

This morning I woke up to a Hewy that had crawled into my bed, snuggled up into my back (which meant I had baby feet/knees/elbows in my belly and Hewy feet/knees/elbows in my back - Wo, is me the mother of small men), and he was telling me the story of the Three Little Pigs. Oh, too cute.

34 years

That's how old I turned on my birthday last week! It seems such a good age. Not too young, not too well, ahem, old. I still can't run for President - Alec pointed that out to me. (Ahem, I am [a] President, just not "President" as in "of the USA")

The only thing I really have to say about this year - is I have always said that I would be finished having kids by age 34! Good thing Baby #4 jumped off the cloud and into my uterus when he did huh!?

The flowers were sent to me from my in-laws. I love Lillies. They are my favorite flower. I had more Lillies at my wedding than roses.

I had a great couple days to celebrate. Friday I went to Lunch with a couple friends at a yummy restaurant and got not only a good amount of my required protein for the day but a yummy chocolate dessert. Friday night Alec and I went out with my parents for even more protein and another chocolate dessert at a Brazilian BBQ place. (For those that have not heard... I am on a high protein diet to keep me from losing weight - and yet I think it's making my BIG baby bigGER, which isn't what the doctors want either...)

Saturday, my actual birthday, we went to the free festive pioneer party that our Stake hosted. Then we went swimming as a family, weightlessness while swimming while 8 months pregnant is a wonderful thing! Then to a great new Orderup food stop. (Great cheese fries and super yummy chicken tacos! oh, and super yummy chocolate chip cookies!) I also took a nap, again doctors orders to get more sleep - "Oh, I'm sorry I can't do [that] right now, I HAVE to take a nap" has become one of my favorite things to say recently. And that night Alec and I went out to the Melting Pot. Yes, I really do eat this much and I was still losing weight. We tried to see a movie, but that didn't work out - I wasn't too sad as Movie Theater seats are not so comfy to me these days. And so we went baby shopping. We bought a super cute bear outfit to bring our baby home from the hospital. Apparently he is going to look like he has been eating mass amounts of protein and eating six times a day.... :)

Pioneer Day Texas Style!

I have strong feelings about Pioneer Day, which is July 24. It's the day before my birthday and growing up in Utah I associated it with my birthday. The parade, the fireworks and picnics, my parents always had it off from work - it was an awesome day. All for me. All in celebration of me and my birthday! (No, not really, but you get the idea.)

And then we moved to Texas.
WHAT? July 24th is NOT a state holiday?

But alas, we live in the most awesome stake and they
host an incredible Pioneer Day party-picnic.


They have cotton candy, kettle corn, pony rides, snow cones, hot dogs and hamburgers, kid games, bounce house, tilt-a-whirl, lemonade, softball, sand volleyball, so much to do!
Can you see the four suckers that Hewy has in his mouth.

Liam enjoys unlimited free cotton candy dressed like a pioneer.
Does he know it's 100 degrees in South Texas?

Oh, and unlimited slices of watermelon.
I think Noble had SIX slices!

Too Cute Tee

If you stalk my blog or see my kids often enough you have probably seen my kids in vanity shirts. I only buy the ones that I really think are true for them or that make me laugh, I do not buy the ones that make fun of learning or are just plain stupid.



I picked this Onesie up for the Little Mister that is soon to arrive to our family. Am I putting the cart before the horse a little? Maybe. Haven't even seen the kid but I am certain he is gonna be a cutie. Have you seen my other babies?

Can Anyone Explain This?

I noticed something a couple weeks ago that surprised me.
Did you know that Chocolate Milk is cheaper than regular (white) skim milk?



And not just a few cents.
At my local WalMart I paid $2.98 for a gallon of Skim Milk and $2.50 for the Chocolate milk. So why have I been buying milk and chocolate and mixing my own?
AND - when they have it, CocoLoco that is made by Oak Farms (a local Dairy) is even cheaper than the Great Value brand - but they don't always have it.

Isn't it beautiful?

I received this surprise gift in the mail last week.
It is a thank you gift that someone's father sent to me for my
generous caring for of his daughter and her family a few months back.

Now I know where this so-sweet friend gets her so-sweetness
and her good taste in thank you gifts, it's from her father!

I can just imagine wonderful cheeses or breads cut
and laid out on it for some dramatic dinner party.



It's one of those gifts that wasn't necessary at all -
but Ooh, I'll take it.

But now, what kind of thank you do I send in return?

I will treasure it forever.
Thank you So-Sweet and So-Sweet's Dad!

Little H-y

Hewy loves to play with Shaving Cream.
Hewy is 3 1/2 and all attitude these days.
When I wrote his name, which I rarely if ever write his full name, he said "My name has two H's?" because I crossed the double "t's" together. Whoops.

A Special Glimpse

We had an opportunity to get a 3D ultra-sound this week.
Baby #4 is 32 1/2 weeks in these pictures.
I labeled the first one for those that might have trouble seeing him.

Look at those cheeks!
You can certainly tell he is my baby!
Here's the thing. He is big.
This does not surprise me - but it does surprise me that it surprises the doctors. Right now they estimate that he is between 6 and 7 pounds. I thought, yeah, that's about right. I failed to realize that for most people that's a full size baby. There were all kinds of wide eyes between the nurses and doctors in the room. So in the next 6 weeks how much more will he gain?

And he was sleeping. Soundly.
His heart was beating, but this kiddo was not about to move. Not a finger, not a toe. We pushed and bumped and jiggled and when we finally buzzed him he more or less covered his face and went back to sleep. I hope he sleeps like that when he is born!

Oh, and he has hair, lots of it!
All in all, he looks really good.
Just big.

Utah Trip - July 4th Fun

The night of the 4th Brent and Shauna had us over.
We had fireworks and glow necklaces to light things up.


I think the boys favorite part was lighting the fireworks.

Utah Trip - Raging Waters

We have a tradition of going to a Water Park July 4th in the morning. It is a tradition we started in Utah years ago at Raging Waters. So this year it was like we were going back to our roots.
The weather was cool and slightly rainy everyday that we were in Utah and the 4th was no different. That meant that Raging Waters was not very busy at all. No lines, no waiting, no crowds.


Hewy got cold easily. He would lay on the turf and absorb the sun/heat from the ground or we would wrap him in every towel we had and keep him warm. He kept wanting to get wet and play in the water, so he must have been having fun!

da Momma and Hewy spent a lot of time together while the boys and Daddy went on the rides and slides.

Liam and Noble really had a great time this year on the rides. Alec got banged up more than anyone, his elbow (still two weeks later) is still sore and bruised, he split his shin and cut his toe open.

After several hours at the water park we left and we all took naps!
We were worn out!

Utah Trip - Temple Square

After we went to This is the Place we headed for Temple Square.
One of the things we miss from Utah living here in Texas.



Look at these hollyhocks!!!!
I loved the Utah flowers, I hadn't realized that I missed them so much!

This is the temple that Alec and I were married at.

We went to the North Visitors Center and saw the Christus, the Relief Map of Jerusalem and watched a wonderful presentation on the Proclamation on the Family. We had a great time and felt the spirit. It was a good experience for our family to be there together.

Utah trip - This is the Place & 'The K's"

Alec, Hewy and I flew into Salt Lake and Grandma Laura, Noble and Liam met us at the airport! So sweet to see our boys! From there we went directly to Cinegrill, a restaurant that I have to eat at every time I am back in Utah. The Kristensen's, or "K's" as my kids shortened their name some time ago, met us there. After filling my tummy with the yummiest salad and hot corned beef ever, we drove to This is the Place Monument/Park.

We wanted to bookend our Nauvoo trip. If you remember as we left Nauvoo we drove down the road that the Saints left Nauvoo from to cross the Mississippi on their trek west. So we wanted to start our time in Utah together at the place where the Saints entered the Salt Lake Valley and where Brigham Young saw Ensign Peak, the dome shaped mountain that he had seen in a vision. When they came out of the canyon, now appropriately named Emigration Canyon, he saw the dome shaped mountain behind what is now the capital, and declared, This is the Place!


Best Utah Friends
The Kristensen's and Dunn's
(l-r) Mark, Emma, Noble, Hewy, Poul, Liam, Konner and Lance.

Emma and Noble are the same age
Liam and Konner are the same age

The Date and What’s Your Guess?

We scheduled the c-section!

Right now, baby four will arrive on August 26, 2009.

Unless he grows faster than anticipated.  He is already big, no surprise, but if he continues to get bigger faster than anticipated the Doc may take him earlier.

But for now, August 26th is the day we are aiming for.

So knowing that the Doc says he is big, and that Noble was 11 pounds 7 ounces, Liam was 9 pounds 6 ounces and Hewy was a solid 10 pounds even…. what’s your guess for this baby?

What about hair color?  Two boys born blond, both have gone or are going dark.  One born with dark brown hair.

Eye color?  One blue and two very different brown eyed boys so far.

I know. . .

I know, I know, I need to update the blog.
I see how often some of you check to see if there is anything new. :)



We are back from our Utah trip.
We had a great deal of fun, did a bunch of fun things and enjoyed escaping as a family.

I can't say I came home with tons of pictures.
I guess that I just wasn't in a picture taking mood.

But I do have things to write and pictures to show.
You just have to wait while I catch up with my other duties.

For now, I gave you a beautiful picture of Utah flowers.
We just don't have color like this in Texas. Especially with the drought - right now things are uh, brown. This picture of course was taken where there are wonderful gardeners and the grounds are always beautiful.
i.e. Temple Square.

I must report, that in the four years we have lived here in Texas and our many trips back to Utah, this was the first time that I had serious thoughts of moving back. However, when the day came to get back on the plane - I was ready. I spent a lot of time thinking about it. Did I just want to be "home" in my house with my things? Or did I really want to come back to Texas? Of course there are people here now that I would miss just as madly as I miss those Utahan's if I was away too long. Interesting. It was different this time.

Some things just can't be replaced.
The Mountains
Straight Streets with ordered numbering
BYU
Temple Square

What do you miss or love about the place you call "Home?"