It's Almost.....

Spring is right around the corner...tomorrow! This week has felt very spring-like. I've enjoyed the sun and have been trying to enjoy the weather. Although, I admit, certain days I have almost felt hot! I should not even say that, especially beings that this will feel quite mild compared to the 30 degree warm up that will soon happen! I am a wimp in the heat, and being pregnant makes it ten times worse.

Today the kids decided it felt good enough outside to put on their swimsuits and play in the water. They each had a hose and had lots of fun, except when Lyric thought Paxton would enjoy being squirted on the belly with the hose. The water still feels chilly, so he was not thrilled! I need to buy a huge hammock that I can just lay my huge belly in and watch the kids and absorb some rays!

Hair

Sometimes I get a kick of seeing how big Paxton's hair can get. This was taken before his most recent hair cut and before his sister played beauty parlor with him.

I am constantly amazed at the comments I get about his hair. The other day at Costco, this lady asked if his hair was real! That gave me a good laugh. His hair is such a part of who he is, I can't picture it any other way.

Obedience

Earlier this week, Jamie made me this adorable obedience chart. I've been wanting to try this concept out for a while, and had no reason not to when she brought it to my house! Lyric was so excited and Paxton gets the concept as much as he can for a two year old.
Once she reaches thirty, Chuck E. Cheese will be the "prize." Some days I wonder if we will ever make it that far! She gets so excited to move forward spaces, but sometimes her attitude gets the best of her :) Just proves to me time and time again, that she is a full blown girl!
At dance class, they are learning their routine for the recital in June. It's a spunky little song that goes pretty fast. The teacher is always telling them that they need to be "sassy" for the routine. I often have to remind her that the sassiness gets left at dance and is not allowed to come home! It comes a little too natural for her. It scares me sometimes when I think of her getting older!

Birthday Boy

On Sunday, Mike had his 29th birthday. Only one more year until he's thirty! Dang, he's getting old :) We had a yummy dinner with cake and ice cream at my mom and dad's to celebrate. According to Mike, life ends once you turn thirty, so he better live up this last year of life!

Softball

This was taken at their first game. So cute!

Up to bat at her game last Saturday

Waiting for a ball to come her way

Paxton spotted Mike at first base, so he darted right in the middle of the field during the game. Once again, pink helmet in tow. We got a good laugh out of it!

High-fiving the opposing team after the game

Striking a pose. He's so ready to be on his own team!

Back in January, we signed Lyric up for softball. It was the first year she was old enough to play. She was very excited. Mike practiced in the backyard with her for a few months.

They started official practices in February. She had her first game and opening ceremonies on March 6th. She was a little nervous, but loved it once it started. She is on a 6 and under team. Her team is called the Rugrats with pink shirts. She recognized a few of the girls on her team from this year and previous year's dance classes. Her cousins, Jordyn and Lexi, are also playing this year, except they are in the 8 and under group.

Each Saturday they will have two games through the end of April. Paxton absolutely loves going to her practices and her games. He brings his own little bat along to it all.

This past Saturday, her games were back to back. We were eating a quick lunch, and then crossing back over the field to where her next game was going to be. I thought Mike had taken Paxton with him across the field. When I realized he hadn't, I got a little panicky. I started scoping out the huge field with lots of other games going on! Soon enough, I spotted my little boy in his sister's bright pink helmet and bright pink glove. He had spotted pink shirts and thought it was Lyric's team. It ended up being older girls. Thank goodness, a nice lady was walking him back over.

I should probably just get the kid his own glove and helmet that aren't pink! He doesn't seem to mind though :)

Laundry Man

This boy is obsessed with helping out with the laundry. It all started at the beginning of my pregnancy when I was sick and he and Lyric would go to my parents'. He would help my dad do the laundry just about every time. He became known as "wash" because that's all that he'd talk about with my dad. It was a deep rooted passion! He still loves to help and cleans out their dryer lint every time we are there.

At home, he loves emptying the dryer when he hears the buzzer go off. This is good motivation for me to make sure the clothes aren't sitting in the dryer too long! He also discovered the fun of crawling into the dryer. A little scary if you ask me, so I don't encourage it much!

I sure won't mind if his interest in laundry carries on throughout the years!

Life

Lately, I've been following that saying, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." Therefore, I haven't been doing much blogging. I've got fun stuff and cute pictures to post, but am lacking what it takes to do it!

My memory could very well be failing me, but I don't remember the other two pregnancies feeling THIS challenging. I actually feel like someone took a hose and sucked every single thing out of me, and now all that's left is a shell. I "only" have three months left, and really, that's not too bad. I'm not in a hurry for her to get here. I know the reality of it. I'm excited to meet her, but this is also my third, so it's no longer a fairytale of wondering what life will be like with three kids. I've got plenty of things to keep me busy these next three months, softball, dance, Harmony, appointments, Lyric's little surgery, Mike's birthday, my birthday, Jordyn's baptism, starting swim team, the dance recital, and the list goes on. I'm grateful for these things that help me stay a little distracted from my brain.

I'm not to the point of feeling way uncomfortable yet, although I think I look ridiculously big. Everyday just feels so taxing to just exist! I feel like it takes everything in my power to make it through the day. I'm past the physical sickness, so I can't really complain about that. It's just now more mental and emotional, I guess. I would like to avoid human life at all costs for the next three months! I despise the phone, I struggle getting to church and doing my calling, I struggle going to the grocery store! I just want to be a hermit, yet that doesn't make me feel good either!

I think the most challenging part right now is being a good mom. Some days I feel like my kids are reverting a few years! Granted, Paxton is only 2 1/2. On Monday, Paxton got my laptop and decided to take about ten keys off of the keyboard, just for fun, not cause he's interested in how things work! Then he found my Weight Watchers calculator and thought it'd be fun to break it into about four pieces. Then, that evening they were getting ready for baths. He ran into Lyric's room and peed on the floor. When I asked him why he did that, he said, "Cause I wanted to." Alrighty, then!

Tuesday morning my FIVE year old found a pair of scissors and decided her and her brother needed a haircut. I almost lost it! She cut off enough hair to make a wig for a little kid! Thank goodness Paxton's isn't too noticeable, because of his curls. Unfortunately, Lyric's makes me want to cry! She cut the sides so it cannot go into a ponytail. All I can really do is put it half up. If I left it down, it'd look a little like a mullet on the sides! But hair grows, right!?!?!

I know all of those things feel twenty times bigger than they really are to me right now. I know I'm not the only human on this earth to feel this way while pregnant. I know all of these things logically, just somehow, right smack in the middle of it, it feels really hard to remember that! I feel like putting an "Out of Order" sign on my forehead for the next while! But, life goes on, this is a phase, and I will make it through the other side, hopefully :)

Have you ever.....

Blankets & burp cloths

Onesies
Dresses

More onesies and bibs

A "pillowcase" dress

Have you ever seen tiny clothes this cute in you entire life? My mom has been on a sewing kick and little miss Kylee is benefiting from it! I couldn't believe the cuteness of it all. My mom pulled out her handy sewing skills from years ago, and has been going at it. Little girl clothes are just so fun. I have to say, I get excited when I think about all of the fun stuff to dress little girls in! Don't get me wrong, there is cute stuff for boys, I just find it way harder to come by! Thanks mom :)

Ears, Nose, & Throat

Waiting for the doctor. They let her choose a Beanie Baby. Just her cup of tea!

During her hearing test.

In November 2008, Lyric had tubes put in her ears. She had been having some speech issues and after a hearing test, it was determined she had a significant amount of fluid built up. It was a pretty quick procedure that only took about twenty minutes. It was nerve wracking for me, because she had to be put under.

We continued with speech therapy and it helped so much! Over the past nine months, she's started having some more issues. She tells me her ears hurt and feel "cloudy" all the time. She had strep three times within 2 1/2 months. Her breathing has been way more labored and it's really loud! Anytime she starts getting a cold, it goes straight to her throat. It automatically gets swollen and sore. We've also noticed that she doesn't always hear us, and she seems to need to look at us and pay close attention when we spoke to her. I knew it wasn't just kid selective hearing :)
So, today we went back to Valley Children's for another hearing test and to see the ENT. I have to say it really tugged at my emotions to watch her during the hearing test. They tested the vibration of her eardrums, which didn't exist. The results are supposed to show a mountain type curve and hers didn't show anything! He then put on some headphones and had her repeat numbers and clap when she heard a beep. It was sad to hear her repeat the wrong number or not say anything because she couldn't hear the man.
He basically said that her hearing is equivalent to putting both of your fingers in your ears. That's how she's been hearing. We headed up to the ENT to discuss the results. Adding everything together, he suggested removing her tonsils and adenoids and putting in a new set of tubes. It sounds so scary, but I really feel that this will help her so much. I want to get this all taken care of before she starts kindergarten in six short months. I would hate for her to fall behind simply because she couldn't hear well enough. She was such a trooper during the long appointments.
I feel very fortunate to be in tune with her and to have known that something wasn't right. Valley Children's Hospital is such an amazing place. I know she will be in good hands. The surgery isn't until April, so I've got plenty of time to obsess about it in my mind!

So Cal Day #4

Friday morning, we woke up and got ready to head back home. My grandma lives about a mile from Disneyland, so we stopped by to see her for a bit on our way.

It is such a head trip to know what I picture in my mind as "grandma," and then to actually be around her and see the changes. She's in her early 80's and has Alzheimer's. It's not to the point where she has no idea who you are, but I could tell the difference. I was very cautious as we walked in to let her know who I was, "Pam's daughter." I knew she could relate to that.

I introduced my kids and Mike. My mom had bought her a bunch of bouncy balls to throw. The whole time we were there, her and Lyric threw the balls back and forth to each other. It was really cute. Lyric was having a great time, and "great-gram" was loving it! She loves to do this. I think it's a good little exercise for her.

She was in good spirits and was glad we stopped by. I'm not down there very often, but always make a point to see her when I am. I'm so glad Lyric will have fond memories of her. She was so excited when I told her we were going to visit great-gram. She would've loved to have stayed so much longer.

We took off and continued or journey home. We had to make one last stop, which was to Fuddrucker's! We both love that place and couldn't leave without eating there!

So Cal Day #3

We took a few pictures in front of the 'L' at California Adventure before we went in.

With Donald! (Shocking to see pictures of myself right now. My face looks HUGE!)

Waiting in line for Toy Story

Paxton on Toy Story

Lyric on King Tritan's ride

Paxton on King Tritan's ride

Lyric and Mike on the Jelly Fish. Paxton was too short :(

Lyric and Mike on the Bumper Cars in Bug's Land

Paxton driving the Bumper car for usThe three on the Ladybug at Bug's Land.

Paxton and I on the Cracker Boxes at Bug's LandLyric and Mike on the Cracker BoxesWith Chip and Dale!

If you can spot them, Lyric and Mike on the raft ride, they got wet!

Dancing while waiting for Playhouse Disney!

Waiting for Playhouse Disney

With Pluto!

With Goofy!

Thursday we got up and went to California Adventure. Mike had never been there, so I was excited for him! We got there at about 8:40, and it didn't open until nine, so we had time to take some pictures. They had some fun characters out, so we took some pictures with them!

I heard someone suggesting to go to Toy Story first, so that's what we did! I am so glad. The two times I was there last year, the line was just too dang long to wait! I have a limit of how long I'm willing to wait, no matter how awesome the ride is! Thank goodness, our wait was only about ten minutes. That was such a fun ride! I would have loved to do it over and over! Of course Paxton loved shooting at all the the stuff with his 3D glasses on.

One of the workers told us that it was supposed to be an exceptionally slow day, and boy it was! Lyric and Mike went on a few rides while Paxton and I waited. He was too short and I was feeling to pregnant and dizzy! I just knew at some point I was going to pass out right on the floor, thank goodness I didn't! Something about being pregnant and getting a little too warm just doesn't do well with my body.

We went over to Bug's Land and did all of those fun little rides. Next was High School Musical 3! We saw this with my mom last year, and of course we had to see it again! It's a cute twenty minute little performance they do with some of the songs from the movie. Mike did Hollywood Tower of Terror while we watched this. I knew that if I went on that ride, that the baby would actually fly out of me! I did it once last year, and that was enough for me! I'm getting wimpy in my old age!

We went through the little tortilla walk through and the sourdough bread one and got the samples. It was yummy and actually pretty interesting to watch them making the stuff.

We were able to see Playhouse Disney, which is another one the kids really like. It was probably Mike's favorite ;) We found a few more characters to take some pictures with. We then took turns doing Soarin' Over California, by far the most awesome ride in the world! Paxton was too short, so I went with Lyric, and then Mike went by himself. Lyric decided she wanted to do the roller coaster, California Screamin', but she was two inches too short, next time!

It was closing at seven that night, and by 5:30 we had done everything and were ready to go! We had five minutes to literally run across the whole park and catch our shuttle. I'm embarrassed to say that I think I slightly pulled my calf muscle doing this! Mike carried Lyric on his shoulders while I pushed Paxton. It must have been quite the scene! We didn't want to wait a whole extra hour until the next shuttle came!

We decided to go to Cafe Rio one last time since it was still pretty early. We went back to the hotel and crashed!

So Cal Day #2

Waiting for the shuttle to go to Disneyland!

In line for our first ride, Peter Pan.

Mike and Lyric getting ready to take off on Peter Pan!

Paxton on the Carousal

Lyric on the Carousal, she loves this one!

Mike and Paxton on Dumbo. The sun was a little bright :)

Thank goodness he crashed for a bit while Mike and Lyric went on some rides.

In line for the Jungle Cruise. He stayed like this for almost the whole ride. Lots of things freaked him out a little!

The longest wait of all- the Beloved Princesses! Paxton was way too scared!

We spotted Jasmine and Aladdin with practically no line!
Getting off Small World. He really liked this one.
Paxton got this Buzz Light Year shooter.

Lyric chose this baby Minnie. Number 600 to her collection of stuffed animals she sleeps with. Pretty soon, she'll be on the floor!

On Wednesday, we got up and got ready for Disneyland! This was our third time staying at this hotel. We really like it because they provide a free little breakfast and a free shuttle to and from Disneyland. I like saving the time and money by not having to park there! We left at 9:30 and were on our way!

The weather was so incredible. We always hit up Peter Pan first. I love this ride! Paxton did good on this one. Lyric is Little Miss Fearless, so I wasn't worried about her. Plus, she remembered going last year, so she knew what to expect on most rides. Next, we had to do the carousals. This is one of Lyric's favorites, which is kind of funny to me. After that we did Dumbo. The lines were all so tolerable. It was so nice to not have to wait forever with two little ones.

Mike and Lyric were able to do Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Star Tours, Indiana Jones at one point or another throughout the day while Paxton and I waited behind. They had fast passes, so it made it even faster. She was Mike's little side kick. I wanted to feel really protective and not let her do some of the rides, but she was gung ho!

We did most of the other rides together. I have to say, I was surprised at Paxton's reaction to most of the rides! He would bury his head into Mike and not want to look up. He didn't cry, but you could tell he wasn't loving it! On Pirates of the Carribean, he clenched Mike's arm so hard at that first dip! I wonder if he'll eventually be like Lyric and like all the rides, or if he'll always be fine just doing Dumbo and the carousal!

We ate lunch at a place called The Golden Horseshoe. They had a little show they put on while we were eating. They pulled up some people from the audience, and Mike was one of them! I had left my camera in the stroller and couldn't go out to get it because they shut the doors, I was so sad I didn't get any pictures! It was a pretty funny little skit they did. Mike enjoyed himself and was a good sport.

By 8:30, we had done all of the rides and were ready to head out! The day went so smooth and everyone had lots of fun. We wanted to get to bed a a decent hour so that we could wake up refreshed for California Adventure!