Playing Catch Up

I had forgotten that I even had a blog until my sister reminded me about it the other day. I realized that since I have been pregnant my blogging has dropped off the face of the earth. So I am now playing catch up. I hope to get some of the bigger things done and then fill in with the day to day of the last 5 months. Here are a few highlights that after I finished blogging I realized was a short novel causing my children to eat cereal for dinner so.... if you love me you will read every word because I think of myself as quite clever. Let us begin.

We are having another boy in June. I knew it would be a boy but a tiny part of me was still hopeful that a baby girl would come. After finding out 100% (our boys aren't shy) that this was another boy I was so relieved. This is perfect. We are so excited and still trying to decide on a name for the little one. We have been getting many ideas from people so we can continue the "theme" we have going on. Here are a few suggestions: Sprint, Pace, Trotter, Bolt, Zip, Cletus and call him Cleet, Race, Blaze and Ender. Dashiel wants to name the baby Flash and Myles's vote is for Superman. Needless to say we are still looking.

Being pregnant I am therefore excused from having to: remember anything, not whine, watch what I eat, feel guilty for sending the boys down stairs to play wii everyday during Chasers nap, cooking, doing stinky dishes, knit things that fit adults (I just knit tiny baby stuff), being productive in any way and not eating at church. All things I take advantage of.

On the other hand having 4 kids in 5.5 years has taken a toll on my body. I have been having SI joint pain which I thought was just "part of being prego" that turned into muscle and joint pain which escalated to nerve pain which immobilized me. I suffered for a long time until I saw that my cousin goes to a chiropractor when pregnant to help with the SI (thanks Mindy). I went and after 5 appointments in 2 weeks I am feeling soooooooo much better. I now am going less and less and hopefully will make it to the end more comfortably. I love my Chiro! He is now my best friend bumping Morgan down to second since he got me this way in the first place. Just kidding, Morgan has been perfect, he is very patient with me and does all the things I can't now that I have to "take it easy" which is hard to do with three little boys.

In January I found out about flylady.net. She has been such a lifesaver. I looked up her web page and saw that the goal for January was to have a shiny sink. I didn't really look more into it realizing I didn't even own what I needed for me to get a shiny sink but it just kept coming back into my mind. I went ahead and made a trip to the store and shined my sink. It made such a huge difference. It made the whole kitchen cleaner. I was so much better at loading because I didn't want dirty dishes in the perfectly shiny sink. I got back on her web page and started the program. She helps you to get rid of CHAOS which is "can't have anyone over syndrome." I get a daily email with a morning routine (start a load of laundry, wipe down the bathrooms, unload the dishwasher etc.), questions for the day like "what is for dinner?", a daily chore, a reminder to declutter for 15 minutes and spend 5 minutes on one room of the house that needs it, an evening routine and lot of cheesy praise. I am not a great self-motivator but I find that I do what she tells me to. I have always had a straight and pretty organized house but I didn't feel great about it and I never thought it was very "clean." Now I know that little by little the house will be clean and I am allowing myself to be proud of what I do even when it isn't much. I would recommend this to everyone with the reminder to make it suit your situation and life so you can feel successful.

I got a new van. The Mazda had 175,000 miles and needed a lot of work just to even get it to pass safety and emissions not to mention the broken heater so Morgan and I decided it was time for an upgrade. I spent a lot of time on the computer doing research and then my Mom came down one day, my friends watched the boys and we went test driving. We looked at a lot of different things but nothing stood out so we came back to my house to figure out what the best deal was. I decided to hop on KSL to get some price comparisons and the first van to pop up was a 2003 Honda Odyssey with only 66,000 miles. I wanted a Honda but couldn't afford one with low enough mile for me to comfortable but because this was an older model the price was perfect. It had only been listed to 1 hour so I made some more phone calls for a babysitter and my Mom and I hopped back in the car and drove to Orem. When we got there the van was getting a new rear break pad but it was perfect. Morgan was very trusting when I called him on the phone to decide what to do. I started signing papers and and put money down before I even drove it. I feel so blessed to have this van. It is perfect for our family.

Morgan got a new car too! It was a very stressful three weeks buying the van and then looking for a car for Morgan. I wanted to be excited about getting new cars but I still grimace when I think about going from no car payments to two, but that is what happens when you drive your cars into the ground. I again spent a lot of time on the internet and then Morgan and I went driving. We found a 2007 Honda Accord with 37,000 miles priced below blue book. The car looks so nice and Morgan doesn't have to be embarrassed if he has to take clients around. I am so grateful for Morgan and his hard work that made it so we can deal financially in situations like this without having to sell my unborn child.

I got a perm. I know what you are all thinking but it isn't like that. Marie my neighbor and dear friend gave me a loose perm and it looks like my natural curl if my natural curl would actually go curly when my hair gets longer. With shorter hair I can do my hair curly just fine but there is just too much of it to do curly when it gets long enough to be in a normal looking ponytail. So now I have the best of both worlds. I can do my hair quickly curly and still pull it up when it bugs me. I am very pleased and might have made a permanent style change. Time will tell.

I have been working on redecorating the basement. I moved out the desk we weren't using and ordered some fabric for valances. I am grateful for Corinne and Julie who have done this many times before to help me sew. I reorganized the boy's toys, brought down another book shelf and an looking at rugs for the tile area down there. I also moved the small dresser into the nursery and bought Chase a toddler bed and got a bigger dresser for the big boys room. Things are starting to come together so we have room for number 4. I have been plugging along slowly but surely.

Thanks for your time but that is enough about me I will dedicate future posts to the other members of my family another time since I know you all just want more pictures of Chase being cute.

If you made it to this point I am so proud of you for hanging in there.