Shoes

Owen walking is cute. Owen walking in shoes is hilarious.

I pulled out a pair of Jaxen's old shoes to have Owen try on. He has never worn shoes yet, so I thought it would make an interesting show was about time to introduce them.

In shoes he is stepping higher, taking wider steps, and holding onto everything. It is so stinking cute and funny at the same time. I tried to take them off because he kept falling, but he started crying when I took them off.

I have noticed lately he has been interested in our shoes, so maybe this is just a spin on that.

He is crying now. He probably crashed and burned wearing those shoes! Maybe some lunch will distract him from the removal of them. Gotta go!

Kindergarten Woes

Jaxen goes to school at Broadmor. We don't feed into that school, but I wanted him in half day kindergarten so we put him there. It is the only half day kindergarten in Tempe Elementary District. I kept him at Broadmor knowing that his sister would be following suit in just two short years.

I come to find out that the half day kindergarten is being moved to Fuller Elementary, which, of course, is on the out shirts of the Tempe Elementary District. It is over on Baseline and McClintock, or somewhere around that area. It is not like it is that far of a drive, but dang it, I don't want to drive to two schools! It is bad enough that my crazy self is willing to drive to the school 3 times a day with a newborn in tow, let alone try to add a few more miles, a second school, and more time onto that three times a day trip.

I seriously almost cried about this.

I'm sad. I emailed the district to find out what in the world they were thinking, but I don't think my little voice means much in the grand scheme of things.

So to save some brain cells (me), some gas, some time, and some energy...I have decided to put Ember in full day at Broadmor. I am bummed. However, I really like Broadmor and don't want to drive to two schools or take Jaxen and move him when he is doing so well.

I guess I wanted her to do half day because it was a good transition for me and for her. Right now she goes to preschool two days a week for two hours. It is hard for me to throw my kids right in, but maybe this is the Lord's way of making the decision for me because He knows what is best for Ember and for me.

Going for a Ride

Yesterday we decided to go out and have some fun on everyone's day off. The kids have been fascinated with the light rail so we decided to ride the light rail into Downtown Phoenix to catch a movie.

After a slow start at getting everyone out the door we headed toward the nearest park and ride. We happened just have just missed the train, but it didn't take long for the next to come. You purchase your passes at these automated machines outside the platform. As I got on I wondered how they knew if you had purchased a ticket or not. We found out later, that assistant police officers randomly get on board and ask for passes. I hear there is a fine of some sort if you are on the train without a pass. But since we had ours, we were OK.

We made sure to bring a few toys and books for the kids to make sure they didn't get bored on the ride. They did really well. Owen only hit the emergency button once. We got to our destination in about 20 minutes. Minus the fact that we got off on the wrong stop and had to walk about a mile to get to the theatre all was well.

We watched Hotel for Dogs. It was surprisingly better than I thought it would be. I got teary in a couple of part. Pregnancy hormones in my guess. Owen fell asleep after eating way to much popcorn and PB&J crackers.

After the movie we walked around a bit and then decided to head back. We thought about stopping for lunch somewhere, but we were all full on popcorn. We had to eat the second bag, because we don't go to AMC so no point in saving the refills for the next movie we go to see. Right?

Owen decided to do most of his screeching on the way back. That has got to be my newest number one most annoying sounds in the world. Grunt, point, do anything but screech!

We made it home without incident and overall it was a fun experience. Maybe next time we will take the light rail into Downtown Phoenix and hit up the Science Museum or something.

Wake up call

If you need a swift kick in the rear to start on your food storage, all you have to do is read this book:

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer.

Granted I didn't read all of it, only got about half way through. I wanted to finish. It is a really good book. But seriously, with these pregnant hormones, I was starting to totally freak out. I was an emotional wreck...thinking about food storage and how this is all possible. I do plan on going back and reading it all later (read: not pregnant or hormonally challenged). Gets you thinking that anything is possible and you really never do know when something can happen. Do I have enough cans of tuna?

Here is a snippet about the book. Read it and let me know what you think.

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-8–Pfeffer tones down the terror, but otherwise crafts a frighteningly plausible account of the local effects of a near-future worldwide catastrophe. The prospect of an asteroid hitting the Moon is just a mildly interesting news item to Pennsylvania teenager Miranda, for whom a date for the prom and the personality changes in her born-again friend, Megan, are more immediate concerns. Her priorities undergo a radical change, however, when that collision shifts the Moon into a closer orbit, causing violent earthquakes, massive tsunamis, millions of deaths, and an upsurge in volcanism. Thanks to frantic preparations by her quick-thinking mother, Miranda's family is in better shape than many as utilities and public services break down in stages, wild storms bring extremes of temperature, and outbreaks of disease turn the hospital into a dead zone. In Miranda's day-by-day journal entries, however, Pfeffer keeps nearly all of the death and explicit violence offstage, focusing instead on the stresses of spending months huddled in increasingly confined quarters, watching supplies dwindle, and wondering whether there will be any future to make the effort worthwhile. The author provides a glimmer of hope at the end, but readers will still be left stunned and thoughtful.

Is that an...

umbilical cord or a penis? (Click on picture to see full size.)

The red lines are showing the legs, criss-crossed. I mean, my boys don't have any trouble in that department, but that seems pretty big to me. Plus, it seems pretty far away from the legs. I thought it would be closer. I think it is the umbilical cord. That doesn't mean that I still don't think it is a boy, just don't think we have a boy parts shot.

Thoughts?

It's a...

BOY!!!

Not much of a surprise there, LOL. I guess my dates were off too. I am only about 14 weeks and 4 days. The tech was 95% sure it was a boy, we go back in 4 weeks to do another check up on baby. They will do a few more ultrasounds (2 to be exact) to make sure things look OK. One at 18 weeks and one around 26-27. Just a precaution because of all that happened with Owen. Oh, in case you were wondering, things looked wonderful right now. Everything looked as it should...except that extra appendage. ; ) I have come to the conclusion I was meant to have all this testosterone in my house.

I looked back at my calendar, and apparently I thought my last cycle was August 29, when it really was September 29. Oops. Apparently I hastily looked at the tab on the left (which said August) instead of the tab on the right, which was the right month. *blush* That is what put me so much smaller than anticipated, but at least we know that things are looking right on target for where they should be!

Works out better anyway. Each kid will have their own birthday month. Our new due date is July 3rd. Which means this kid will probably make an appearance around July 17th give or take a day. Hopefully I can go into labor on my own and not be induced at 42 weeks.

New Year's Weekend

This past weekend we went up north to visit Shaunton's grandma. We left Thursday night and come home on Sunday.

Thursday night we finally got out of town around 7:30, we decided with the snowy weather and chance of slippery roads on the reservation (they aren't paved), that we would just hole up in Flagstaff at Shaunton's uncle's house. We went to bed around 10:30 sweating to wood stove 5 feet away from us. I always say I would much prefer to be hot than cold, but in the situation, I am not sure I can keep from changing my mind.

We left at 5 AM the next morning to beat the sun to Grandma's house. We knew as soon as the sun came up we were chancing slushy or muddy roads, which are no fun, trust me, I know. We made it the Grandma's house at about 7:30 and had a nice hardy breakfast.

That day Shaunton herded sheep, while his Grandma went to visit relatives in nearby cities. I stayed to watch kids and prepare dinner. His Grandma didn't get back until relatively late, and we stayed up to watch a movie (Hellboy II).

Saturday was colder and it started snowing rather early, though lightly at first. Ember went with her Aunt Charlotte to herd sheep while Shaunton and Jaxen went to take care of the sheep in the corral. They were blind and Grandma had to give them medicine to help their eyes.

Jaxen and Ember enjoyed a four wheeler ride, a rock climbing expedition, and a snowball fight with their dad. Owen tried to escape the whole time, but the only outing he got was to go to the corral and see the sheep for short periods. He really enjoyed watching the dogs, seeing the horses and the sheep, he is fascinated by animals.

We came in later and I prepared a turkey stew while the others took a much needed rest. Grandma never gets to just lay down and relax. She is either herding sheep or cleaning chapels in cities neighboring hers, which take a while to get to. That night it was just our little family and Grandma watching Wall-E and going to bed early.

Sunday we got up rather late, 7:30 AM. We wanted to beat the sun to the paved road. Shaunton went out the start the van and got nothing! Eek. Our battery was cracked and pretty messed up. We managed to get it started with a jump. Only one broken door handle later. Shaunton is apparently stronger than he thinks. It is amazing what a man with muscles can do to a frozen van door handle. I am sure the cold might have had some factoring into that. It is still functionable, so I don't want to think about how much that is going to cost if and when we get around to it.

We finally left Grandma's at around 9:30. We made it into Flagstaff and got a new battery, and ended up stopping for lunch. I know, I know, it was the sabbath, but by this time it is 1 PM and the kids are fidgety and ready to get out of the van for a while. I am glad we stopped because we didn't even get into Phoenix until 4, and home around 4:30. It was snowing relatively hard in Flagstaff, so driving slow was a must.

Overall, it was a nice trip. The kids loved the snow and we enjoyed visiting Grandma and helping out where we can. Next time we go up, it should be around sheering time.