Thursday, January 31, 2008

I'm in for it

Did you catch yesterday's "Baby Blues" comic strip? I swear, they write it just for me. In case you missed it, here it is. You might need to click on it to read it:

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Baby Name Poll

We thought we had a name figured out, but now we are second guessing it a little bit. It was so much fun having a poll guessing if we were having a boy or girl (even though most of you were wrong) that I thought we'd try again!

So, which name do you like better?

Sara Lynn Swenson

Callie Lynn Swenson


PollPub.com VoteWhich Name Do You Like Better?
Sara Callie

View Results

Poll powered by PollPub.com Free Polls

My Girlfriend

Shanna had a rough time with a friend yesterday, and after a good cry in the car, we had some girl time. Tyler took Kaci to "Old McDonalds" and Shanna and I had a "girlfriend's date" at home. She was very grown up and made a salad for both of us. I made quesadillas and virgin strawberry daiquiris and we had a great time. Her smile started coming back and I told her that my Mom used to make me feel better after a hard day. She said "Me too" and gave me a big hug. It is fun now that she is getting older to feel like she's my friend as well as my daughter! When Kaci came home, she and Shanna helped me piece together the quilt I am making for the baby. Hopefully she'll feel the love of all of her girlfriends!!

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Another Conversation with Kaci

Kaci: Mommy, what is the baby wearing?

Me: The baby is naked right now

Kaci: Isn't she cold?

Me: No, she is very warm and cozy.

Kaci: How does she take a shower?

Me: She doesn't. She will get a bath after she is born.

Kaci: She's gonna be stinky after being in there for so long!

Back to normal

I have most of our furniture back in place. Let me tell you, getting the flu in the middle of rearranging your house (while being pregnant) is not advised.

But, the girls room is all set up and (minus the crib) the workout room is very user friendly. (It will be torn apart again in the future, but for now it works. In fact, listen to my new "mean mom" policy. If Shanna wants to watch her shows.... she must be on the elliptical machine to do so! On Friday, she walked for 30 minutes, then I showed her some exercises with the exercise ball and had her do some free weights. She might complain a little bit, but it is so good for her! (Tyler and I have been using the room too.)

Yesterday, it snowed here. (And rained and hailed and was so windy that trampolines were flying over walls. Not ours, thankfully) The school is very thoughtful and kept all of the kids in the gym and had a teacher come up to each car asking who they should send out. That would never happen in Colorado! :)

Kaci and I went to the fabric store and bought some cute pink and brown fabric to make some blankets for the baby. Tyler gave me a hard time because I just got rid of a bunch of old blankets from the girls' closet last week. But, girl #3 does deserve some new things of her own... right??

That's what's been going on around here.. .time to get a princess to her dance class!

Friday, January 25, 2008

How sweet is this?

Today the kids at Shanna's school were supposed to dress up as their hero. Awww.... I feel so honored!

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Mommy Love = Immunity? Not so much

Yesterday I wondered why my nausea was so much worse. As the day went on, it became apparent that it wasn't the normal pregnancy nausea... I had gotten the flu. It has been pretty horrible, and to make matters worse, Tyler came down with it last night too. If it weren't for my friend, Robyn I don't know what I would have done! She showed up with bread and Gatorade this morning and then a sack full of kid friendly dinners, ginger ale and crackers tonight. She's the best!

Hopefully everyone will sleep well tonight and be back to normal tomorrow. Shanna has been gone so much at school and dance, hopefully she won't get it. I did a quick cleaning of the house before she got home tonight, cross your fingers that it will keep the germs away from her!

On the bright side, I am 20 weeks pregnant today! Halfway there!!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Real life movie effects

We took the girls to see the movie "Enchanted." Shanna took a friend, we all had a great time. We had the normal excitement with drinks being spilled, sharing popcorn, etc... but the real excitement came at the end scene when the prince was fighting a fire breathing dragon when... the fire alarm went off. At first I thought, "wow, they have realistic effects in this movie." Then it registered that the noise and lights were NOT part of the movie! We grabbed the girls and the popcorn and left to go outside. It turned out fine... (some mother out there had a very bad movie experience when her son pulled the fire alarm though.) After a few minutes, we headed back into the theater to finish the movie, missing the scary fight scene and arriving back when they were having their "happily ever after moment."

It was a great movie. Seeing it again might be a little melodramatic though~

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Sweet Dreams














Oh, aren't they sweet sleeping tonight?





















Don't you just love the step stool that Kaci snuck next to her side of the bed?

Mean Mom

It was not a fun day to be my one of my kids. We have been moving furniture, cleaning closets, organizing drawers, etc... No one likes to do it (me included) but it has to be done every now and then. First I should say that I didn't expect the girls to help. It is actually easier if they stay out of the way. But, last week I did an overhaul on their playroom. Today, they undid it. Then I came undone. They were supposed to clean up. This resulted in 5 hours in the playroom (doing anything but cleaning up), followed by Daddy going in with a trash bag and collecting most of their toys (don't worry, they can earn them back, we're not that mean) several time outs, a "talk" and two very sweet apology notes.

Not a fun day for anyone.

But, they are now sharing a queen bed, they have a very clean closet, and drawers which are organized. Last night they were so sweet snuggling next to each other while they were sleeping. How is it that they can look so sweet when they sleep and be so ornery during the day? I guess it erases your memory of their orneriness and fills your heart with love and lets them start fresh the next day. It must be part of that amazing "Mommy Love".

Also, Happy Birthday to my little brother! If I would have known we were going to be such good friends as adults, maybe I would have been nicer to you when I was little. I love you Bryan!

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Baby Names

I read in a pregnancy magazine that 31% of parents have their baby's name picked out before conception. WHAT?? I thought we were always ahead of the game, knowing what the baby's name was before she (yeah now "she" is a general term in our house) was born. I have known people who have left the hospital with "female" or "male" on the birth certificate and have had to change it later!

I came up with Shanna's name when I was a few months pregnant, and then spent the rest of the time convincing Tyler he liked the name too! We both decided on the name Kaci at the same time, so hers was pretty easy. But this time.... it's not so easy. There is a name that Tyler really liked when I was pregnant with Shanna that is starting to stick, but it's not very unique like the other two girls' names. Will that make the baby feel like we ran out of good names the first two times around?

We still have lots of time to decide, but it feels like you bond better when you can call this person who is kicking you by a name other than "baby. She can hear our voices and definately has her own personality already.

I'll let you know when we decide... Don't hold your breath for it though, it might be in June!

Friday, January 18, 2008

Look Who's Feeling Better!





She's happy, eating and even reading the morning paper!

Happy Friday!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

The love of a mommy

Before I had kids, I was afraid of what I'd do when they got sick. Well, it doesn't take long after having a baby to get over that fear. The "Mommy Instinct" takes over very quickly and you do whatever it takes to get them better.

Kaci woke up in the middle of the night with the stomach flu. We were up ALL night... you know what that consisted of. But, the love that a mom has for her child somehow gives you the strength to deal with it all. She is on the mend (I hope) and hopefully no one else will get it. I disinfected the whole house this morning and have done probably 10 loads of laundry since it all started, but I also lay with her in my arms, sharing a pillow telling it would be "all right" while she slept. Hopefully that Mommy Love is enough to ward off the germs.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Marching to the beat of her own drum

Kaci was supposed to be changing her clothes... she thought a naked tap dance would be more fun.

I had a doctor's appt today, everything is looking great! They moved up my due date by a week since the baby is measuring big. I look like I have a ball under my shirt. Yesterday some maternity jeans came in the mail, bless you GAP Maternity! I guess 19 weeks isn't too bad for breaking out the maternity jeans. I think I was in them much earlier with Kaci. I am still walking about 3 times a week, thanks to my walking buddy, Robyn. I am thinking about starting to swim again, that was great exercise when I was pregnant with Shanna.

Shanna has been having a great time back at school since the break. She played with a new friend on Friday and went to her birthday party on Saturday.

Here's one more naked tap dancing picture. Maybe these will come back to haunt Kaci when she's a teenager and she isn't listening to me!

Monday, January 14, 2008

The weekend

We had a busy weekend. I wish I had some pictures to post of it, but it was so busy I didn't think of taking any!

Shanna had a birthday party on Saturday followed with a dance practice, and then two performances for half time shows for Dixie College's basketball teams. They did their hip hop routine and it was really cute. Basketball isn't as great as football, and we missed the Patriots game, but it was still a good night.

Then, we had this "to do list" about 10 miles long. It seems when you go out of town, that things that you are responsible for don't slow down. We made progress on the list, and now most of our Christmas stuff is down. I still have the tree to get back into the box, but at least all of the ornaments are off and the lights are off the house.

Tyler and I are both still getting used to the idea that we're having another girl. With the other two, the names came pretty quick and easily to at least one of us. This time it feels as if we're fresh out of girl names. So, if anyone has any favorites, let me know. There is one that we've been throwing around, but so far it hasn't stuck. I think we're going to get bunk beds for Shanna and Kaci and put the crib in their room too. We've been talking about putting hardwood floors in the guest room with a big mirror and bar so that the girls can practice dance here.

And then there were some football games, but I think everyone already knows how those went!

Friday, January 11, 2008

The Results Are In.....

Would someone please call the dance studio on my behalf and request a recliner chair to be installed with my name gold plated on it? Also a reserved parking spot up front?

Yes... We are having another GIRL!!!

Oh my goodness. Um.... those teenage years are going to be crazy... and then there are going to be three weddings....

Really, we feel very blessed. Everything looks great. She has all her fingers and toes and arms and legs. She is measuring a little bit big, her heart looks great, the fluid around her is great... We are very excited and happy. (Kaci being the most excited. She danced out of the ultrasound room, singing "it's a girl!")

So, life is good. Maybe Tyler had 4 sisters so that he would be ready for the 3 girls and me. He is such a good man and I am lucky he knows how to do braids and pony tails!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Boy or Girl?

So tomorrow is the big day! I don't know who is more excited for 4:00 to see our little baby on the ultrasound screen! To make the waiting a little more fun, vote on what you think we're having. Tomorrow night I'll post the results!

PollPub.com VoteGuess our baby's gender
It's a girl It's a boy

View Results

Poll powered by PollPub.com Free Polls

Sledding Pictures

Here are some pictures from sledding in Colorado. It was definately a highlight of the girls' trip! Make sure to turn your music on!

Party at our house, 3am

For some reason, I missed the invitation about the party at our house in the middle of the night. Kaci was the first to arrive. Being dead asleep and wishing to stay that way, I put her in our bed and thought that was the end of it. Just as I was falling back asleep, I felt the foot of our bed rustle. (Shanna thinks if she sneaks in from the bottom of the bed and wedges in between us, we won't notice that she's there.) I sat up and said "NO WAY. EVERYONE OUT." (I have already been kicked out of my bed once this week, and I was not up for sleeping on a twin bed again.)

Tyler (being the sweet husband he is) took both girls back to their room, tucked them in, snuggled them, got them a drink and came back to our bed.

Not 20 minutes later, Shanna came back in. She had a tummy ache. I told her to get a Tums and go back to bed. She turned on the bathroom light which shines right into my eyes and dinked around for the next 30 minutes until I firmly told her to go back to her room or use her own bathroom.

Less than 15 minutes after that, here comes Kaci. I don't remember what she needed, she probably doesn't either. As tempting as it was to snuggle her in next to me, I carried her back to her room where she starting crying loud enough to wake up our neighbors.

After leaving her room, I walked back to our room, shut the door (I did restrain myself from locking it) and fell back asleep. Who knows what happened after that or how long before the party goers were asleep, but I was DONE. I was even nice and let them sleep in a little longer this morning.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Tapping Girl

Here is Kaci, so excited after her first tap class. It was pretty cute, this is at a new dance place. She had only 3 other girls in her class, and she had a great time! I am still working on sorting through pictures from our trip. This week has been crazy playing catch up!

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Questions from Kaci

I love my Kaci. She makes the most ordinary tasks of the day fun. We were in the car (we seem to be there a lot lately) when she started with some questions. Here are three of my favorite. These might seem random, but she was thinking very hard before asking each one.

1. How do trees grow?

2. How do you paint if you don't have paint?

3. How do you close a car door if it isn't on?

Don't you wonder what goes through the head of a three year old the rest of the time?

Monday, January 07, 2008

Back to the real world

We are back from a great trip to Colorado. Everyone stayed well, (a first for Christmas time) we had some quality time with each of our parents, the girls had plenty of snow and we had 2 dates while we were there! Now it is back to the real world, getting stuff put away, getting the house stocked again and back to school and work. I will download some pictures from our camera later and post them.

It should be a good week though. Friday is the big day to find out (hopefully) if our baby is going to need dance shoes or football cleats. The girls start their new semester of dance. Kaci is so excited to take tap like her sister! I need to go find some tiny tap shoes today. And it's time for me to lace up my walking shoes again and try to work some of this vacation off my hips! I am lucky that normally it is fairly easy to stay in shape, but there is something about being pregnant and packing on the pounds quickly. (I'm sure our 10 days of vacation, eating and sitting around had some part of it too!)

The girls have been having a bit of a problem getting back into their schedule. The first night, they both ended up in our bed, I ended up in Kaci's bed. Last night, there were tears from both girls at bed time. (and the hour after) Kaci said she was lonely and Shanna said she saw ghost faces. Then after I thought all was clear, Kaci woke up crying with leg cramps. Lucky for me after about an hour of getting kicked, Tyler took her and somehow got her back to sleep in her bed. I woke up with just him next to me. That's got to qualify for a good way to wake up on a Monday!