A weekend away

Last week Cory and I were planning on driving to visit my parents for a couple of days for a VERY quick visit. However, when I went to my doctor visit on Thursday he discouraged me from going. He said it was technically my decision, but that at 35 weeks he'd say NO (I was hitting 34 weeks), and that he just didn't think it was a great idea to travel by car 7+ hours (that's if we didn't stop at all....ha!)



Anyway, after much debating and even some tears (mine...hey - I'm 8 months pregnant, I deserve to cry a bit!), we decided it was best to not risk it. And I did agree that if something was to happen, Kayenta Arizona was NOT the place I would want to deliver my child!



So since I was so bummed Cory came up with an alternative - a little mini-family vacation closer to home. So we packed up the car Saturday morning and headed off to Tropic, Utah. It's a little over an hour from here - right outside of Bryce Canyon. The drive was gorgeous, and he had arranged for us to stay at a nice little bed and breakfast . We went on rides on the ranger, enjoyed a night in Panguitch for their awesome balloon festival (they do a nighttime hot air balloon lighting - where they line the balloons up all along Main street and light them up as it gets dark), explored at Tropic Resivoir, saw some awesome deer (including adoreable babies), enjoyed Kodachrome State park (GORGEOUS!), spent time out on the lawn at the B&B playing ball with Gabe, and spent some fun time with our friends the Springers. Lots of fun.



So thanks to Cory for making a fun weekend for the whole family. Gabe had fun, I enjoyed it, and I'm pretty sure Cory had a good time too. Now we'll be sticking close to home and waiting for baby boy #2 to join us.



(On a side note, since I've been getting bigger with this pregnancy I have started snoring horribly again (much to poor Cory's dismay). Anyway, I guess last night it was really bad, and kept Cory AND Gabe up a lot. Cory told me this morning that when I'd start to snore really loud Gabe would start laughing. Then I told Cory that at one point I woke up to Gabe talking in his sleep - that I woke up and heard him yell out "NOSE!" and go back to sleep. Cory just busted up laughing. I guess that when I'd start snoring Gabe would start laughing and saying "Mommy's nose!" - since that's where the sound was coming from. It's a good thing that I am here for everyone's amusement....(too bad it doesn't amuse poor Cory, as he looses sleep).

Doggie love

This morning Gabe and I were getting ready to go run some errands. I was ushering him out the door, trying to get him to move a little faster. I turned to see where he was and I saw him going into his room. I told him to hurry his little hiney - let's go! But he ad other business to take care of.

He said, "Girls - Girls. Bye, wuv you!" And then had to wave to both of our doggies and tell them again good by that he loved them. So cute! The best was to hear him call them the "girls".

Then in the car we were once again having the "what to name the baby" conversation. His latest addition is, "Hammer Bob"...at least we're getting away from the animal sounds (Did I mention that earlier in the week he wanted the baby's middle name to be "meow"?)

(Edited to add: Check out the "widget" thingy I have with the countdown to the baby. The floating baby is supposed to stay in the little 'bubble' - at least all of the ones on other blogs do. But if you notice - the baby on our blog will occasionally bounce out of the bubble - a foot here, a head there...It is a little creepy to me that our baby can't stay in it's little 'home' - it is also indicitive of how I've been feeling lately - I could have sworn on Monday night that this little guy was going to punch a hole into my ribs!)

Summer Solstice

So this evening when Cory came home from work - totally stressed out and grumpy I made the comment about it being the Summer Solstice today, and said that meant it was the longest day of the year.

He looked like the light went on and said, "So that's why everything went so crappy and felt like the longest day of the year today!"

Poor guy. Wish him luck - he's been busy and stressed lately. I'm lucky to have a hard worker for a hubby, even when the days are long and hard.

Getting too big

No, I'm not talking about my huge pregnant belly (although...it's getting too big too. Actually this morning my doctor complimented me emensely about where my weight gain and everything is this pregnancy and told me that I'm doing "awesome")

But GABE is getting too big! Too grown up.

I was reading a post on another blogger's blog about her little boy going down a slide at the swimming pool by himself - and it made me cry. It's so hard to let go, and let our kids do something by themself - I really struggle with that.

However, in the coming weeks and months that will be the story of our life! Like it or not Gabe will be growing up more and more.

This past week his favorite word seems to be "TRY" (or twy in Gabe speak) - or "Try it". If he's really into it, and really wants my attention he says "Babe twy" (Gabe try), and he's trying to tell me that he wants to try to do something. It can be that he wants to eat something, wants to try playing with something, wants to climb up on my lap and play on the computer - but he is really venturing out and wanting to "TWY" more things. Breaks my heart one minute, and makes me so proud the next.

He's really starting to socialize and loves other kids! He is particuarly in love with my good friend Denae's little girl Olivia "Wivvy" who is exactly a year older than him. He LOVES to play with her, pretends he calls her on the phone, calls out her name if we turn down her street, and gets so excited to see her. She has 3 other sisters too, and they all adore Gabe. Today I went to pick him up from playing at their house, and the oldest sister Mariah (who's 7) got so upset that Gabe had to go home. I explained to her that Gabe needed to go home for a nap. She looked totally upset and said, "But he's happy right now - he doesn't look like he needs a nap to me!" It's fun to see other kids enjoy him too.

And a couple of nights ago Cory had Gabe out on the Ranger (our favorite thing in the cooler evenings) and they stopped to talk to someone who's kids were out. Cory said that Gabe kept yelling out, "Hi kids! KIDS - play! HI KIDS!" He was upset because they weren't saying hi back to him. I hope he'll always be friendly and have fun with other kids.

Another sign of him growing up makes me really sad, and kind of makes me dread time to come. This week my friend's little boy who's a couple months older than Gabe was over for a few minutes. They were playing cars and trucks. The little boy that was visiting had a car Gabe wanted and Gabe walked up, took it from him and shouted, "MINE". Now you're reading this thinking - totally normal for a 23 month old little boy. But it wasn't normal for Gabe. He will see something he wants to play with and just look at it normally - not take it, and not yell, "MINE". I was so sad. But since then he's taken stuff from my lap or hands and yelled "MINE" as well. Bummer....we'll be working on the sharing concept at our house in the coming days.

Gabe also LOVES babies - which is a good thing right now :). Every day at one point or another I find him climbing up on our barstool so he can get to the laptop in the kitchen. He tells me he wants to look at the babies. That means he wants to look at pictures of himself when he was a baby. We pull them up and he makes the cutest sounds and faces. "Ahhh....baby!" I am really excited that he is enjoying baby pictures, and hope he's as excited as this new one comes into our home and life.

Anyway - just a few things that are cute about Gabe. I find I rarely write in a journal, but this blog helps me keep track of milestones and things for Gabe - as well as sharing it with you all - so I hope that's ok.

Have a great day!

Cousins

I had to post these cute pictures of Gabe and his cousin Linzy. They are just about a year apart, and cute little Linzy is almost his size! (in fact, I am pretty sure her feet are bigger than his!) Linzy will have a cousin a year older (Gabe) and one a year younger once this little guy is born. It will be fun when they get older.

Thanks Ashley for sharing this cute picture on your blog! What adoreable kids we have huh?

Happy Father's Day Cory!

This afternoon, as a birthday gift to myself, I let myself have a little scrapping time. It had been a while since I've sat down to do a page or two, and it felt good. I was really excited about sharing the layout with you all too - but after trying to scan it (scanner issues), and then to take a picture of it (which never worked either) I gave up. The pictures didn't look right, the colors and everything looked skewompus.

So - you will just have to close your eyes and imagine what these cute pictures and journaling look like in a scrapbook layout. I used cream, red, brown and blue colors, Pepples Inc supplies, a little ribbon and a couple of stickers and brads...I'm sure you're probably imagining it much better than it even looks :)

So I hope Cory had a Happy Father's Day - as well as all of the other Dad's in my life. I have been so lucky in life to be surrounded by good men - a great father, amazing grandpa's, an awesome father-in-law, brothers, brothers in law - etc. I hope they all had amazing days and know that I am blessed to have them in my life.

You never say to a pregnant woman.....

a lot of things....but today I was reminded that you never tell them that they are huge.

I was at church and a woman who lives down the street from me (and incidentally is my visiting teacher) came up to me and started patting my tummy. She asked me when she could come to visit teach me. I said, "Anytime - you tell me what works for you, and I can make it work". She looked concerned and said, "But when is your due date?" (as if she didn't want to schedule to come visiting teaching, because I might be busy having my baby). I told her not until August.

Then she got an even more concerned look on her face and said, "Wow! You look like you could go any day now! I mean some people look tiny at this point - but you are huge." Another deeply concerned expression crossed her face and she said, "Is the Doctor concerned? I mean, like are they worried that you're so big?" I told her no, and that I just carry really big.

She then goes on (and I'm actually not in tears yet) and says that it's great because when a woman is pregnant is the only time you can tell them that they're huge, and it's a compliment. I firmly told her, "Well, I don't particularly look at it as a compliment - someone telling me I'm fat is just that - telling me I'm fat!". That didn't even seem to phase her.

And as we finished our conversation she reassured me that if I went into labor and needed someone to watch Gabe, that I could call her any time. (Won't she be disappointed that that won't be happening for at least another month +)

Anyway - moral of the story is - if you know a pregnant woman, don't comment on her size, don't tell her she's huge - because chances are, she probably won't look at it as a compliment!

I knew it wouldn't happen...

Ok, this morning we were running around to get ready to go up to Brianhead to ride our Ranger while Cory had an appointment up at a cabin up there. I told Gabe like 5 times, "Ok, when we get home - we have to remember to call Alli to wish her a happy birthday". We even practiced singing, and saying Happy BIRTHDAY! And I had that sinking feeling that if we didn't make the call quickly this morning - that I'd forget.

Well - I didn't forget...however, I remembered when Gabe was taking a nap, and wanted to wait until he got to call.

And then I also remembered about 5 minutes ago - and it's 10:15 in Dallas. My guess is that even though Miss Alli is getting old (3 years old!) that she's probably not up partying still.

So - Here's a post dedicated to Alli. WE LOVE YOU! We'll call you tomorrow, and tell you again how much we love you, and hope your birthday was spectacular.

Love,

Aunt Joanna, Uncle Cory, and Gabe

Tagged - FAVORITES

My buddy Maggie tagged me, and I'm supposed to list 8 of my favorites. This is going to be tricky. They are in no particular order, and not necessarily my TOP 8 favorites - but a fun list none the less!

1. Being a mom/wife - I've worn out saying this on my blog, but I love being a mom to Gabe. I am anxious and excited about adding one more to our family and know that my love for all of the boys will just multiply! I love Cory to pieces too. He may frustrate me at times (that's normal - right?) but he works so hard to please us, and wants to be the best husband he can. Thanks sweetie!
2. Diet Dr. Pepper - Ahhh......the juice of the god's.....I love to pour one into my frozen mug - the perfect way to relax and feel refreshed.
3. Reading - I love, love, love reading some great LDS fiction....I love anything that is realistic (can't get into fantasy like Harry Potter - I just don't 'get' it - my mind is too realistic, not enough imagination I guess). I have also been enjoying books by Jodi Piccoult recently, and I did even venture into the "Twilight" books (going against my better judgement to stick to 'realistic' stories...). Once I get caught up in a book though I have a hard time thinking of much else - so it's hard to give myself enough time to read as much as I'd like.
4. Hawaii - Cory and I have decided recently that our favorite vacation spot is definetly Hawaii. We went in Oahu in 2001, Maui in 2005, and this fall we're going to Kona with our good friends Trent and Melissa. I am craving the sounds of the ocean, the blue sky, pineapple, and the sounds of island music wafting into our room at night. Ahhh....
5. Scrapbooking - Man I wish there were more hours in the day. If I could add 3 extra hours, I could get some scrapbooking accomplished. But since that's not the case, I will still enjoy buying scrapbook goodies, looking at scrapbook magazines, and dreaming of a day when once again I can scrapbook to my hearts content. (but as you see in #1 - I'm pretty happy with the reasons I don't have time to scrapbook as much...)
6. Bubble baths - Once again, if I had time - I'd either start or end every day with a luxurious bubble bath. I love soaking in the tub (with a diet dr pepper and good boo) and just letting go of the stresses of the day.
7. Evening rides on our Ranger. I love in the evenings when Cory asks Gabe if he wants to go on a ride on the Ranger. I love when it starts to cool off, the sun is setting, and we have some family time outside. If I wasn't quite so gigantic and pregnant we'd go on more adventurous rides in the evenings, but since I am....we just go on little rides around the neighborhood, or close by. I love driving past pastures with horses and cows and seeing Gabe get excited, and just feeling like we're enjoying our time together - it's a great way to end a day.
8. Sleep - can't get enough of it lately, and I know that isn't about to change once the baby comes.

Time with the cousins

Gabe had so much fun with his cousins last week!!! He loves them and loved having time with them, and with other family. We feel so blessed that he has time to see them and do fun stuff with them. Thanks to everyone who made it possible for him to have so much fun! And thanks to Aunt Ashley for thinking to take pictures and send them home with us! It was great for us to get to see the fun he had!

Thanksgiving Point

Part of our little trip up north was to take Gabe to Thanksgiving Point's Farmland. They have animals, exhibits, stuff like that. And we ended it all with a pony ride. Gabe LOVED riding on the horse!

Happy Happy Birthday!

Happy, Happy Birthday Chase dear.

Happy days will come to you all year.

If I had a wish than it would be -

A very happy birthday to you from ME!

We hope that yesterday was a fantastic birthday for you. We love you and are so lucky to have you as a brother, uncle, brother-in-law, and friend. Lots of love!

A little depressing

So today I had a visit to the doctor - just a regular old routine visit. However, as the nurse came in she said, "Wow - you hit 32 weeks today! That's great!" I looked at her like she was nuts.



Wasn't I at 32 weeks last week?!? Wouldn't today officially mark 33 weeks?!?



She checked her chart, and sure enough, I am 32 weeks pregnant as of today. What a bummer. It's like having a birthday and finding out you're a year older than you thought...

Vacation from vacation?

Have you ever felt that after a vacation that you need another vacation to recoup? That is totally how I felt this time around. Last week Cory and I went to Boston on an incentive trip we earned through one of our blind suppliers. I had really been looking forward to the trip before I found out I was pregnant. In fact, Cory didn't really care much about going to Boston, but picked the trip because he knew it was one of the few places in the United States I REALLY wanted to go, but had never visited. (My family went to Boston and the New England area for their first family trip after we got married...without me...I've always been a bit sad that I missed that trip - it really meant I was growing up)

Anyway, after realizing that I would be ENORMOUSLY pregnant at the time of the trip, the novelty of it started to wear off. Everything I researched about our trip pointed to the fact that Boston is a "walking city". Yup - you can get to anything if you walk to it. Between the heat, my back, and the lovely job of swelling that my body does - I was pretty miserable. I felt bad that Cory had to be there with me while I was so crabby. Mostly I was just upset that I couldn't run and run around like I wanted to. I hated having to take breaks, put my feet up, and deal with swollen feet/legs/hands at the end of the day (or all day really).

We did see some great stuff though. The highlight to me was probably a whale watching cruise we took. I had never seen whales in the wild, and it was AMAZING! We took a boat out about 1 hr from Boston, and then watched the whales for about an hour - seeing TONZ! I'll get some pictures up soon. It really made me grateful for the beautiful world Heavenly Father has blessed us with - so awesome to enjoy something new like that!

Gabe had a GREAT time while we were gone. He stayed with his Mullen cousins for a couple of days, and then Grandma and Grandpa came down to pick him, and his cousins - Lexie and Lincoln to come up to Logan to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa for a couple of days. He had so much fun with his cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles. He keeps talking about them with the biggest smiles on his face. He got plenty spoiled with attention, loves, and fun books.

Speaking of Gabe - what a character! He just says and does the funniest things. I can't wait for more of his antics - becuase I'm sure that they'll just keep getting better as he works on putting sentences together.

• Today I was talking to Cory on the phone. Cory was at Walmart and was picking up some stuff. I looked at Gabe and said, "Do you need anything else at Walmart? Can you think of anything you'd need if you went to Walmart to go shopping?" He looks at me with a huge smile on his face and yells out, "MONEY!" So either he wanted Cory to pick him up some money, or knows that we always end up dropping a lot of dough when we hit Wally-world. (speaking of money - Gabe LOVES change. One of his favorite things to do is sit down with a pile of change and his piggy bank to play. He loves the sound it makes when he places money in the bank - he is his father's child...)
• Yesterday he kept telling me that he wanted to wear "alligator shoes". I could not figure out what he meant. Then he went into my closet and bought me out a pair of my "CROCS". They have a little picture of a crocodile on them - but seriously, how can you tell the difference between aligators and crocodiles? I even have a hard time. So I pulled out his pair of crocs we bought him a while back - but they're still too big. He insisted though, and actually figured out how to put them on himself. He was pretty proud of them as he sloshed around the house trying to keep them from falling off.
• Colors. Gabe is really getting a hang of his colors. He goes in phases where he'll point to a color (orange for instance) and know what it is - then a week later if you ask him to point to something ORANGE - he'll look like you're crazy. But for a few days at a time he knows colors really well. The color of the day has been green and brown. Oh, and I asked him to pick up the BLUE crayon and he handed it to me and said, "Wager" (water). So he's catching on! He loves crayons, but more than that he loves to draw with pens. In fact, I can't even take a notebook and pen with me to the grocery store with my list becuase he insists on checking off things on the "wist" with the pen. He loves lined paper and pens. Maybe he'll be a list freak like his mommy. Gotta keep an eye on the little guy!
• On the night we took Gabe to Ashley's house - before we flew out of Salt Lake City on Thursday - he would NOT sleep! He wouldn't go to bed at all. Finally, since Ashley's kids were all asleep we settled him down with us on the airmatress to watch a movie. We don't have Peter Pan yet so I thought that he'd go to sleep. But as soon as it started Gabe yelled, "Pan! Pan!" Then I realized that we'd read Peter Pan books - so he was 'hooked' and had to watch most of the movie before going to bed. (And then later woke up for most of the night...little stinker!) It did make me happy that he's remembering the things we're reading though.
• On our trip up north we took Gabe to Thanksgiving Point in Lehi to go to their petting zoo/barn. He loved seeing the animals. I think his favorite was the Donkey - he thought it was like the donkey from Shrek. He also go to go on a pony ride and loved that. I felt bad that our trip there was probably his "summer vacation" (with the baby coming and all) - but he had a good time. Plus we ended the time by letting him pick out a tractor and dump truck at the gift shop, so what could keep him happier? That kid loves any kind of farm equipment - must get it from Uncle Coby. He loves his "umper" (dumper), "woader" (loader) and the multiple tractors we have running around the house. He is really all boy!

Well I will work on getting some pictures up to share up on the site shortly.