Ultrasound

I'm not really sure that there's a lot of news to share about my ultrasound. It was fun to see my baby, although it took so long that my neck got tired from being cranked around to see the screen! Craig and I had agreed to not find out what we were having this time around. This had actually been my idea from years ago-- if I already had a boy and a girl, I thought it would be fun to find out the old fashioned way, when the baby is actually born. Doesn't that sound exciting? One last push and then the doctor gets to say, "Congratulations, it's a _____!" I love the idea of it.

And since I now have a boy and girl, this was the pregnancy to do it! It also helps that, after Kendra's crazy delivery, I sort of felt like I needed something that would make this delivery exciting, without Craig wanting to kill me afterwards. So I think this is a healthy way to go about accomplishing that. (The only contingency that Craig demanded before he would agree to having a third kid was that I do everything in my power to go to the hospital this time. I've already been scheming and planning to make it happen. As I was discussing these plans with Craig, he quoted Yoda at me: "Do or do not, there is no try!" He's quite serious about this, so I am, too!)

So the real question going into this ultrasound was whether or not we'd be able to NOT find out. And we didn't!

We told the technician before she could even sit down that we were hoping to be surprised, and she was great about turning the screen away from us any time she thought there was a chance we might see something revealing. And when she typed up her prediction, she even asked (somewhat accusingly) if Craig was reading over her should and told him not to! At one point Craig thought he might have seen boy parts, but the more he watched, the more he decided that he really had no clue what he was looking at. The appointment was peppered with us asking questions like, "Is that the baby's arm?" only to be answered with, "No, that's the placenta," and stuff like that. So we're just as unsure as ever. (And any use of gender-specific words from here on out are to be taken as 50/50 chance guesses. I hate saying "his/her" all the time, so don't read into it now when I stop bothering!)

The funny thing was at the end, when the technician wanted to get a profile shot of the baby. And Lucky protectively hid her face behind her arms the entire time! She was very shy. So it took a long time of trying (and some painful poking at my stomach) before another technician was finally called in to get the shot. By then, I was getting sore from laying on my back and was just as glad to be done. The new technician did get a couple-- I guess Lucky just liked her better. Or maybe it was because she wasn't poking at me so hard that Lucky didn't feel the need to protect his face! Anyway, here are the best pictures (at least, the ones where the baby doesn't look like an alien or Skelator).

Ack. For some reason, the computer wants to make them huge, so they aren't fitting into the frame at all. Grr. If you want to be able to actually see them, you'll have to click on each one individually. Sorry.

Notice the arm hovering above the face.
I think Lucky's mouth is slightly open here, too-- maybe some imminent thumb sucking?

Another profile shot.

This one's my favorite. Little tiny feet! Who doesn't love such tiny feet?

So there we have it! Picture of Lucky, gender still unknown!

It also took the technician forever to find a picture of the 4th chamber of the heart. It finally got to the point where Craig was getting nervous and asked if there was a problem. She quickly said, "Oh, no, everything's fine! I just want a better picture." Then she paused and added, "But I'm not supposed to give a diagnosis." So of course now I'm slightly nervous that perhaps something ELSE was wrong and she just wasn't telling us. But my next doctor's appointment is for the 11th, and I'll be glad to hear a doctor actually pronounce everything to be fine!

You never get to stop worrying, do you?

Interpretation

In my family, we have a long history of getting the lyrics wrong. For years, Rachael thought the song "Rhythm of the Night" was "River of My Life" and Natalie used to sing the lyrics to "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" with some random line she made up about "Why can't you scuba dive down?"

Recently, my kids have fallen in love with the primary song "Follow the Prophet." They mostly sing it in public places, and I have to wonder what other (non-Mormon) people think of this. Especially since Bentley likes to mispronounce half the words, so it comes out sounding more like, "Follow the Plah-set" (at the top of his lungs, of course). Do they understand what he's saying at all? Do they think he's saying "profit"? Do they think we're completely crazy? Or are they just wondering why no one tells that poor, off-key kid to stop singing? Who knows.

This song has approximately 9 billion verses to it, too, which mention some of the major prophets from the Bible. The final verse goes, "Now we have a world where people are confused./ If you don't believe it, go and watch the news./ We can get direction all along the way,/ If we heed the prophets-- follow what they say."

The other day, Craig overheard Kendra singing her own version of it: "We can get directions, go follow the news!"

Ouch.

I guess we need to work harder on teaching our children what we believe...

Rachael's Wedding

I already mentioned that this was coming up, but as planned, my youngest sister Rachael got married last Saturday. I'm afraid I do not have NEARLY as many pictures as I ought to have of the event. Craig was busy filming it, so he didn't take as many still shots as he normally would have, and I was running around trying to keep the kids happy and trying to figure out how to walk in heels (something I've never been very good at, and which was made much worse by the soft grass outside the temple. Thanks to me, that grass is now well aerated. During all this was also when Bentley decided it was fun to head-butt me repeatedly. I think I'm lucky I never actually fell over, although it was close a few times...) So, yes, there should be oodles more pictures than what I have here. If by the end of this post, you're still thirsting for more, say so in your comment and I'll send you the links to the picassa web albums that other members of the wedding party have set up.

So, without further ado:

Samuel, Bentley and Kendra play with cars outside the temple while we wait for the newlyweds to come out.
I am hovering overhead, taking pictures and ready to protect the flowers at any given time.

And here they are! I recommend zooming on this one so you can see the happy couple better!
And on the right, you can see Ian's dad, my mom, and most of Tracy (holding baby Caleb).

Here's a good shot of Rachael. She looked stunning, but I expected no less.
(Kudos to my friend Laresa's sister for making such a perfect veil. Thanks, Heidi!)

My family with Rachael and Ian. L-R: Mom, Dad, Rachael, Ian, me (trying to cover the baby bump with my flowers), Natalie, and Tracy. My oldest sister, Leah, is very much missed in this photo, but since she gave birth approximately 41 hours after the ceremony, I guess she made the right choice staying home!

Bentley found a pair of (ahem, women's) sunglasses and thought they were great fun.
He was trying to be as cool as his cousin Samuel:

See? Isn't he cool? A nice James Bond look, I think.

Craig thought to take this adorable cousin shot.

My Dad takes advantage of the few minutes before the reception starts to make good use of the nearby putting green. Gotta love playing golf in a tux!

After the reception, we put all the flowers in the kitchen. It made it hard to cook anything, but it sure was lovely!

I know, I know-- you're thinking, "Where are the pictures of the actual reception???" I don't know. Not on Craig's iPhone, apparently. But at least you get the idea, right?

For information's sake, the entire day was lovely. The sealing was beautiful, and I managed to keep my usual wedding day sobbing to a fairly low decibel at least. Afterwards we spent way too long taking pictures, which is exactly how a good wedding should be. The weather was perfect Seattle summer: sunny, cloudless, high 70s. Eat your heart out, Virginians! And then while the bride and groom wandered the temple grounds for more couples shots, the rest of us headed over to the restaurant for lunch. Lunch was my favorite Mexican restaurant, Azteca. It was a bit difficult for Craig and I because Bentley had fallen asleep on the way there, and spent the entire meal sitting on our laps and feeling tired and grumpy. Right before we left, he finally ate a tortilla slathered in sour cream and then turned into the happy kid I'm used to.

Next was the ferry ride back to Bainbridge Island. Unfortunately the line was long (Saturday tourist traffic), so we had to wait for the second boat. But this gave us time to hang out with Ian's family in the parking lot and get to know them better, which was great fun. I also enjoyed explaining to them how the ferry worked-- it's nice to be the one who knows what's going on! The wait also gave me time to finish Ian and Rachael's wedding gift, which was an idea I TOTALLY stole from my very-good-at-crafts sister-in-law, Jeni. She did this for our wedding, too, and I loved it so much I copied it: basically I folded up paper to look like fortune cookies and then either placed money or very happy fortunes inside. My favorite fortune was Craig's idea (keep in mind that Ian plans to become a podiatrist): "Many years of foot problems will bring you wealth and happiness." Classic.

Jeni's version was cuter, but I did the best I could.

Rachael and Ian didn't want to be stuck waiting, so they walked on (rather than driving) to the first boat, along with my sister Tracy and the photographer. This gave Rachael the perfect opportunity to get a picture of herself on the ferry in her wedding dress. I love it when things like that work out! It also gave them lots of time to make sure the reception area was all set up and take more pictures, which was what they were doing when we arrived.

The reception was held at the Wing Point Country Club, where my Dad has been golfing since I was about seven. It's entirely possible that he spends more time there than at home (certainly more awake time there!). And-- just for the record-- it's really not nearly as snobby as the phrase "country club" sounds. Trust me on this. Back when my Dad joined, it was because the membership fee was the same as my sister's ballet lessons!

The reception was exactly what it ought to be: good food, lots of friends, and a lovely bride and groom running around trying to meet everyone, cut the cake, have their first dance, toss the bouquet, and then (sniff) leave. During all that, Ian found time to perform some magic tricks for Bentley and Kendra. It was hilarious, actually, because he'd meant for the button he had to disappear and then reappear in someone's ear, but it got dropped on the floor instead and he and I spent five minutes looking for the silly thing. When Ian finally located it, Bentley clapped his hands in sheer delight, then threw his arms in the air and said, "Do it again!" Gotta love an easy audience! Mostly I was impressed that Ian would find time during his own wedding reception to pay attention to my kids. I told you he was a good guy!

Rachael and Ian left with us waving sparklers in the air around them, and I managed not to cry then, too. It was an absolutely beautiful day. And I'm glad Rachael found such a great guy. I wasn't sad to be done with my heels, though!

Opinions

When it comes to drinking, I am an incredibly simple person. My beverages of choice are pretty much limited to water (cold water, that is. I want lots of ice included) and chocolate milk/milkshakes. If I'm eating something über-sugary-- like brownies or waffles-- I might wash it down with a glass of milk. Anything else and I'm probably not interested. Being Mormon severely limits your drinking options (most of which I sort of doubt I'd like anyway). And I hate anything carbonated with a passion.* I would nearly die of dehydration when I couldn't find bottled water and was forced to choke down something as simple as Fanta. And I'm definitely not a juice person. I can handle apple juice, but orange juice just tastes sour to me and cranberry juice makes me gag. And I always figure that water is probably healthier than anything, so why mess with what works?

Anyway. I bought a carton of orange juice the other day as a substitute for cooking sherry. I was trying out this fabulous Mongolian Beef dish (and I can't recommend it enough, by the way). So I needed 1/4 cup of orange juice. 1/2 a cup, if you count the fact that I made it again a few weeks later for everyone who was visiting me. Hardly worth buying an entire carton for, but it was cheaper than the sherry.

I'm now on my third carton of O.J., and my second glass of the day. Apparently someone else has a different opinion than I do about the stuff. It's good to know this baby is already strong willed. S/He will fit right in with this family. Besides, being a third child myself, I can tell you that if you don't have a few opinions of your own, you will probably get beat down into complete and utter insignificance by your older, more domineering siblings.

I already have a soft spot in my heart for this kid and we haven't even met yet!

My ultrasound is tomorrow!






*In high school whenever I would turn down a soda, it would inevitably lead to someone commenting on how Mormons can't drink Coke. And then I would have to explain that Mormons are fine drinking Coke, I just don't happen to like it at all. This drove me bonkers. Then I went to BYU and met super-righteous Utah Mormons who didn't drink Coke because it had caffeine in it. And I sort of wished I liked it just so I could shock those guys. Fortunatley, my sister Tracy drinks enough Coke for the both of us. Thanks for the shock value, Tracy! I love telling people I have a sister who's a coke addict! ;)

Head's Up

I'm back. Just so you know. I've been gone since the 8th-- the longest I've ever been gone since moving to Virginia, come to think of it! It feels so good to be home. And contrary to all my worst fears, the house was not covered in ants when we walked in the door. In fact, our neighbors had even mowed our lawn for us, so the house was looking surprisingly good. Phew! I'm very excited to sleep in my own bed again. Actually, after spending the last few nights on an air mattress, I'm excited to sleep in a bed at all. The fact that the kids will NOT be sharing the room with me is just an added bonus!

We have been out doing way too many fun things and eating WAY too much food with lots of great family and friends in both Houston and Seattle. And I'm afraid that I will have to blog excessively about it and share way too many pictures. And in addition to all the normal fun vacation-y things, we also had a wedding AND another baby born (this time to my oldest sister, Leah). So I've got a lot to tell you about.

Stay tuned. Or if you're one of those people who hates these kinds of blog posts, um, stay untuned? But either way, at least you know what's coming. It's good to be forewarned, right?

Finally

I finally got to meet the guy I've been hearing about for over a year now. And I'm thrilled to say that I completely approve of him! (It helps that he's busy racing cars with my three-year-old right now, thus giving me time to blog about him!) I'm very excited to introduce you to my soon-to-be brother-in-law, Ian Aveytua. Saturday's the big day!




Congratulations, Rachael and Ian! We are SO excited for you!!! And welcome to the family, Ian!

New Addition

Craig has a new toy:


This may be the happiest I have ever seen him. Including our wedding day... Maybe I need an upgrade. (Or maybe I just need to steal it from him!) But at least now I don't think I'll have to wait my turn to use the computer any more! I bet he won't even notice when I refer to the computer as "mine"... This could work.

Thus it begins.

My mom and sister (Tracy) came for a quick visit this weekend. Tracy had the idea that we should all go see Toy Story 3, which was lots of fun (except, in my overly emotional pregnant state, the ending totally had me sobbing. I hate that). It was the first time I'd ever taken my kids to a movie-- it always seemed like too much money to spend when I didn't even know how they'd react. But they were great. I may have made too much of a big deal about how they needed to be quiet, because even when I asked Bentley if he was enjoying it, all he would do was nod his head. But better that than have them whispering all throughout the show, right?

Anyway, right at the beginning, before I passed her off to Aunt Tracy, I had Kendra sitting on my lap, leaning against me. Apparently Lucky didn't like this so much, and gave some hearty kicks against his/her big sister (which went completely unnoticed by Kendra).

It's good to know sibling rivalry starts in the womb.




On a completely different note, I do feel like I should tell the rest of the story of Craig's finger-- I wasn't trying to leave you hanging with that last post, but I guess I did. But if you're someone with a weak stomach, don't read this, because it is a little gross.

Apparently Craig was cutting drywall, using a sheet of metal as a straight edge. Something slipped and he sliced off the very tip of his finger. Ouch. It wasn't big enough for the doctor to reattach it, but we didn't know that would be the case, so I got to put the piece of finger in a plastic bag and pack it on ice, just in case. That just about made me throw up. The doctor took good care of Craig, though, and got him on antibiotics and codine. This is one of those wounds that's more painful than bloody, although it has managed to ooze blood every time Craig changes the bandages. (He thought this was pretty gross, so in an effort to be helpful, I pointed out to him that women bleed for a week every month. He didn't seem to find this very comforting...)

The upshot in all this is that the wound wasn't too bad, but Craig will probably have a slightly weird looking finger from now on. Mostly I'm just thankful he had the good sense to not use his new chainsaw while I was away from the house. If he was having an accident-prone day, this was the better way for it to happen! And he's bought himself a really good straight edge to use now, which I think is a good investment.

I'm not going to include pictures of this one. If you're really curious, just ask Craig to pull off the band-aids for a second!