The Kids Draw

I've had these in my bedroom for a few months now. I was going to save them and put them in a scrap book, but lets be honest. I don't scrap book. I think they're cute, but I don't have what it takes to be able to produce such a product. This is as good as it gets.

Jason's painting (I think)
Somehow I'm getting the impression that this one was by Jason - I'm not sure why...
Shelly drawing a person. Sorry about the re-used paper showing through. I was too lazy to figure out how to get rid of that when I scanned it.
I tried to get rid of it on this one, but it didn't work too well. I like the 'ears'
Judging by the mixing of colors I'm guessing this one is Shelly (maybe I should have written this down somewhere??)
I'm pretty sure this flower is above and beyond Shelly's ability - but it was in my pile, so I scanned it. My guess is that it's Katie. I could be wrong. Shelly could be a prodigy!

Jason's B-Day Cake

But first - Random pictures from an FHE with Dad's ward.

Jason is a 'pole hugger'
Shelly was doing something memorable that I've since forgotten...

I told my adventurous story of Jason totally not wanting my homemade cake that I slaved over (ungrateful wretch!) but I didn't have the pictures off the camera of the actual cake. I now have them. It's not the best cake, because, as you'll recall, I tore the cake in about 3 different pieces and then frosted it to sorta cover it up

Jason wanted whoever was taking a picture to 'stop' doing something...

At least he fed it to me, even if he didn't want any himself

And the rejection is complete. See the cake in the foreground and the pickles on his plate... Tragic.

Here's a video of him blowing out the candles. I'm not sure why he was so bugged that he blew them out. Crazy kid! :)

Pickles and Ice Cream

One of my mother's favorite sayings while we were growing up was 'pickles and ice cream.' I'm not quite sure where it came from, nor can I narrow down what she uses it for. Sometimes it's when she's frustrated, others when she's telling us what's for dinner (maybe that's frustration too...), and often times it just for fun. She still pulls it out and dusts if off from time to time, but not as often as when we were younger.

So, Jason's birthday was on May 16th and I made him a cake from scratch (not a box). It was the first cake I'd ever made from scratch and I was quite excited about him trying it. I won't tell you all the great details about how I tore it into 3 parts trying to get it out of the pan, back into the pan, frosted, etc. I was even going to make some homemade frosting to go with it, but it ended up being a busy day so I settled for stuff from the plastic jar. We finally found time to sit down and enjoy it, and I was waiting to be able to see his face when he realized how tasty it was (I was guessing at this point - no one had tried it yet). Much to my disappointment he decided he wanted nothing to do with the cake. Wouldn't even look at it. Since it was his birthday and not mine, I decided to let him have what he wanted. He ended up with pickles. Sliced dill pickles. Yup, icky, not-desserty-at-all, store bought, dill pickles. I've heard that kids humble you, but I confess I was not expecting that. After he'd had his fill of pickles he decided the ice cream everyone else was eating sounded good (notice he wasn't interested in the cake that I slaved over, but the store bought ice cream). He still had a pickle or two on his plate with his ice cream, and we couldn't help but take a picture of one of the infamous sayings we grew up with!

Fun Stories

So, I've been worried about Jason's speech for a while now. I've tried my best to keep in the background, but I can't help but laugh when I think of this funny story! The other morning Jason came into my room and asked so nicely ['eeeeze'] for a marshmallow (I have a bag in my nightstand that's been there longer than it should have - the kids are really the only ones that eat them, and they only get about 1-2 a week each - they're rather sticky at this point! anyways, not the story...). When I didn't respond to him immediately - I was asleep after all - he asked again so nicely 't - eeeeze!' There was such an obvious pause between the 't' and the 'eeeze' it was rather comical. I laughed enough it woke me up, and who can resist a cute 2 year old asking for sugar so early in the morning!

Another story:
Shelly has been completely potty trained for quite some time now. She's been doing good at taking naps during the day and not making a mess and I haven't even thought about it for so long I completely forgot what to do with her when she makes a mess... In the last 2 weeks she's decided that diapers are more her style and when we try to put her in panties in only results in a mess for us to either clean up or wish we could find so we can clean it up [icky!!] Just this morning I rememered the book that my mom-in-law lent me for potty training and was about to go consult it when I remembered what to do!! [go me!] So the next time I found Shelly with wet pants we 'practiced' about 4 times (it's supposed to be 10, but I ran out of places to practice from upstairs and I can't run that well anymore!) and she's been good so far since. Granted, it's only been most of one day, but compared to almost never using the toilet over the last week or more to using it 4-5 times and even interupting an activity to go potty! I'll take it! I might have to 'practice' with her a time or two more over the next couple of days just to make sure it sticks, but it's such a relief!! I just hope I rememeber to do that sooner the next time one of the kids has a regression like that...

Doctor's Appointments!

Can I even begin to explain how exciting going to the doctors all the time can be? Probably not. I should save that for someone who likes going to the doctors. I must say one thing though - it's made the time go quite a bit faster. I've had a doctors appointment almost every week since early April just with the random doctors they've tried to send me to, and now I get to go in twice a week until I deliver. This newest development is kinda fun though - as long as I don't have to take the kids with me. I get to do NST testing twice a week. I keep getting different answers as to why I get to start so early - at the doctors office before we started scheduling apts they said it was the diabetes [GDM] (which I still don't think I have, really - I'm determined to not get diagnosed with this again... I know tricks now! ;), but then when I called to set up appointments, they said it was the hypothryoidism - they didn't normally start so soon for GDM.
For those who don't know what NST testing is [I've had them with two kids, and I still had to be reminded], I get to sit in a comfy chair and have some monitors strapped to my belly measuring the baby's heart rate and my belly's contractions. Then they do a quick ultrasound to measure amniotic fluid. It takes anywhere from 20-45 minutes depending on how quickly the baby does what it's supposed to do. Quite relaxing if I don't have two kids to chase around while sitting quite still and not interupting the measurments!

Adventures! :)

Becca got her Masters!

After years of hard work Becca earned her Masters from SUU! It worked out that when Shelly went up with Cindy, she was able to come back with my folks after they went up to attend her graduation! Here's some of the highlights of Shelly's adventures from the fun day!

Shelly with the new graduate!
I have no idea what prompted this, but I think it's cute!
Who knew the kid was camera shy??
There's the Shelly I remember!

Congratulations Becca!!

Whale Watching Trip

Ok, so I had to miss this one. I was rather bummed! I had planned on going but at the last minute had to schedule a class on GDM so I knew how to control my blood sugar and couldn't make it! It worked out well though, and Becca, Emily, Mom, Doug and Dad took the kids while Mark took time out of studying to go to the class with me. Since the class wasn't really picture worthy, here's some pictures that Mom took on the Whale Watching Cruise!I have no idea... Some bird on a boat?

Jason trying to get a better view out the window on the floor of the boat
Grandpa trying to show Shelly how to look for whales
Doug being such the awesome uncle that he is!
Apparently they didn't see any actual whales - but all these seals seem pretty cool!Jason having a hard moment - he was probably either exhausted or bummed at the lack of whales, or Doug's shoulder is just that comfy! One of the three!