Baby Simonds 3.0

Thank heavens it's finally official that baby 3 is a BOY! The official due date is June 11th which means I'll be scheduled for surgery sometime around June 4th. 

Our ultrasound around 16 weeks wasn't conclusive though the NP said she thought it was a boy but we had better wait until the next appointment to be sure. We had an insurance lapse because of the job change so it was about 6 weeks until our next appointment.

At the next appointment we had the older screen and ultrasound machine and a different NP who said she was 80% sure it was a girl but I was so surprised and just wasn't sure I believed it that we decided to wait until we had the outsourced anatomy ultrasound the next day to be positive. 

I was pretty thrown when she said it was a girl because I really felt and thought it was a boy. It wasn't that I didn't want a girl, it was more it made me feel like I didn't really know the little person growing inside me after all. 

That night I worked on getting in the frame of mind that we'd have another little girl and not boy and tried to start thinking of girl names.

The next day we did the anatomy ultrasound and low and behold, it was very definitive that it was actually boy after all and I felt much better about my mommy instincts. 

I love the last one of his little crossed legs.
During most of the ultrasound he was popping his head in and out between his arms like 'peekaboo' which was pretty adorable.
I'm mildly terrified to have a third child for whom I will not have a third hand, especially since Thea still hasn't gotten down the stay by mommy thing when we go out, but we'll just have to work it out somehow. We look forward to having this little boy in our family!

Update on the Kiddos

Since Dorothea is getting older, she and Henry are getting to be better friends. I love when I hear Dorothea say, "song. dance!" and they run into Henry's room, turn on the music and dance around on his bed. It's pretty cute. 

 Baking some chocolate chip cookies with mom

 Grocery shopping is a million times easier when I have both of them with me so they can entertain one another. 

Playing outside. I can't wait until Thea is old enough that I can just let them both out together and get some stuff done around the house inside!

Henry Hippo

Henry is still his own man. We're getting into what I swear is his every six month hormone swing though. We've had some openly defiant moments where nothing works but sticking him in time out and then having him sit in his room until he decides to take a step back from the attitude. It's incredible how he can be that way one minute then totally helpful and fun the next. I still don't love that school gets the best of him every day but hopefully the older he gets, the better that will be, the less tired he'll be.

Right now his favorite things to do are play games, especially Headbandz, read from The Imaginary Veterinary series (we're on book 2) and play outside. He is finally doing a really good job swinging himself and has a lot of fun doing it and trying to figure out how to jump off the swing. He's also doing AR now and was happy to tell me he got a perfect score on his first book. I've tried really hard not to push him with anything in school because his personality will definitely resist, so I'm glad he's getting excited about reading on his own more. 

Thea Bea

Dorothea is growing up in leaps and bounds. We're starting to be able to do a little bit of art/crafts here and there, mostly little things like her favorite, Dopper Dots.
She's also out of the highchair/sassy seat and into a booster (when she sits at all).

One of the the most noticeable changes is how much more she is talking now. Some of my favorite things to hear her say are, "bubble bath," "what happened?" "where daddy,  Henry (Henny), grandma (da-ma), uncle (she actually says this one clear as a bell)," and "ah poopoo." It's just funny.

Sadly, I think her vocab explosion led to some sleeping issues. She was sleeping fine after the room switch and then one night we heard her crying and then the crying got closer and closer to us in the living room until she showed up. She had used her bumper to climb up out of her crib, which she had never done, and onto our bed then slid down. So I had to take off the bumper and move the crib away from the bed but she kept crying and crying. I let her stay up with us that night thinking she'd just sleep in my arms but boy was I wrong. She decided it was like having a little party and for the next few days and nights we couldn't get her to sleep. Even if we were in the bed with her she would toss and turn and recite all the words she could think of. It reminded me of Henry practicing sitting up and standing in his crib during nap and bedtime.

Thankfully she seems to have gotten over it and will now nap well and go down at night, though she will still initially cry and comes into our bed sometime during the night but she'll be out soon so we're trying to enjoy having the cuddle bug in our bed.


I certainly love these little tyrants and can't wait to add baby 3 to complete the triumvirate.

Weekend Outings

We got so use to being busy on the weekends that a couple weeks ago we weren't sure what to do when we found ourselves with a mostly free Saturday. We lazed around the house then finally got ready and left to check out one town close to Johann's work. We decided it definitely wasn't for us fairly quickly (*all* dirt roads) and headed back toward home. 

 Since it was still the middle of the day we thought we'd take the kids to walk around the mall. We use to do that a lot in Provo, we haven't really here since the mall isn't the greatest but the kids had fun playing at Barnes and Noble and looking at the different stores. We ended up getting Henry the first book of a three book series since they had it there in paperback (only hardcover on amazon). Johann and Thea picked out two shirts for her and then we went to Freddy's for dinner and a treat.

 (the shirt Johann picked out-llamas...ha)

A couple weekends later we took a little picnic to a park on the outskirts of Apple Valley that they use for rodeos and bmx racing. After we ate and the kids played a little we went on one of the little trails.

The park wasn't all we were hoping for but it was still fun, especially just to get out all together.

What kind of things do you with your family when you find yourself with a free weekend? Hopefully we'll have more soon!

Changes

With the new baby coming in June we had to figure out the living situation. We're very slowly deciding where we might want to live and where we don't. But in the meantime while we save up for a house and figure out and area, we're still with my mom. 

We've had the master and Thea in with us but have realized there is no way it's going to work with her and the baby in there, especially since she'll still want to be in our bed and she's a light sleeper. I finally accepted we wouldn't be moving into our own place soon enough and had to make some changes.

I didn't feel comfortable moving Thea into Henry's room and having them both in a room across the house from us. So we decided to switch rooms with my mom. She now has the master and we are on the other side of the house with the kiddos. Since she has the big room she agreed we could move the office and sewing stuff into her room and use that space for a play room for the kids. It wasn't really being used anyway and she ended up getting rid of the huge desk and credenza. 

In the next couple months we're going to try to move Thea out of our room and into Henry's but we didn't have the time or money to get twin beds for them this time around. This little house has had so many changes in the last few years! 

What was previously the office space:

The chaos on the day we did all the moving

Our stuff moved into what was previously my mom's room 

This cracked me up-Johann needed to move a giant box of books and so he 'leg pressed' them across the floor. Thea thought it looked like fun and sat on him for half of the way. 

The office space now turned play area:

I have a lot of ideas for making the playroom nicer but it's hard to want to go through the cost and effort when we still just aren't sure how much longer we'll be here. I'm pretty sure it will be until the end of the year but that's still not terribly long. 

Here's to another change, with many more to come, I'm sure. 

Christmas Goings On pt. 2

Warning: Again, LOTS of pictures. 

The weekend after Christmas we went to spend a quick weekend in San Diego, per my mom's request for her birthday. It was interesting figuring out how to wrangle a group of 7 adults and 2 kids especially since we're all use to doing things a certain way. It was also hard since it was such a busy weekend in SD, they had about a million events going on. But by the last day or so, I think we figured it out. haha. 

Saturday morning we arrived in Cardiff by the Sea where my mom and dad first lived after they were married. We use to go there a lot as kids to visit the beach and some of their old favorites, one of which was VG Donut and Bakery. So good! 

I remember as kids we would go to the beach, go have Besta-Want Pizza and then get VGs for dessert and drive home. We didn't go to Besta-Wan because it was super crowded and one of my brothers said people can take in their wet dogs now and it kind of ruins it. I still think I'd like to go back and try just for the memories some day. 

Then my mom wanted to go by and see the house they first lived in. She *thinks* it's the one on the left, but isn't positive. She is sure it was on the street though. haha. 

Then we headed over to Old Town-which was our first realization of how crazy crowded SD was that weekend-and took the Mormon Battalion tour. Henry got to be dressed up as the soldier. 

After the tour we spent an hour trying to find parking (not allowed to stay parked at MB) and Jacob chased a non-existent taco/tamale cart he thought he smelled...

When we finally were together again we found a mexican restaurant and had a late lunch. 

I think next vacation I'm going to bring some kind of smock for eating out with Thea, she seems to know I have a limited supply of clothes with me and just how to stain them eating out. 

We separated after dinner to go look around Old Town a bit while the group headed to the hotel. We let the kids run around in the plaza and Johann got a bunch of old/different root beer to try out. He was a happy camper about that. 

Then we grabbed some hot churros for a treat and walked back to the car to get settled into the hotel. 

Henry, as usual, was more excited about the hotel than I can explain. 

We settled in and rested for a while. I wanted to go to Noodles and Co (we use to go in Utah as a treat when we were in school there and this is the closest one) but the kids and grammy and uncle hamp and anna were tired. So we left the kids with them and Johann, Aaron, Jacob and I went to Noodles and Co. 

It definitely wasn't as good as I remember it, sadly, but it was still fun. 

We also went to find these 'magical' desserts Jacob's friend told him he had to try but the line was out the door-forget it! So we walked around different areas of the city trying to find something not ridiculously priced to no avail. We ended up heading to target to bring back to the babysitters, but not before Aaron and Jacob made sure to embarrass and scare the heck out of me multiple times. I'm not a night time city person. Too sketchy!

Sunday morning we had our donuts from VG's and you can see Dorothea thought this was the way life should be lived-donuts, in bed, with milk while getting to watch a show. 

We went to sacrament meeting at a nearby building then took off for a little family history tour of SD. 

Below is the elementary school my mom went to, Hazelwood Elementary. She said it was the first place she heard about the church. She was in 5th grade and one of the teachers was showing pictures from her vacation and there was a picture of the Salt Lake Temple and she explained how only mormons are allowed inside it so she wasn't able to go. My mom said she still remembers hearing in her mind, "some day you'll go inside that temple," and the warm feeling she had about it though she wasn't introduced to the gospel and baptized for another 7 years in Ohio.  

Then we went and saw the house she lived it while there. 

Her elementary school. 

Then we headed on the coast and went to Balboa Square (more crazy amounts of time spent trying to park). 

We went through the botanical garden. Below they're checking out their scent plants. 

 They had some exotic birds out and I thought about slipping away...

Probably the coolest part was seeing this guy on his didgeridoo--leave it to Johann and my brother Aaron to know what it was and tell us about it. It was really fun to hear and see him play it.  

 Hamp's toe was having some issues so most of the group went back to fetch him and head back to the trolly and parking lot while we attempted to find a pretty walk back with Jacob but there was some construction so areas were shut off. But it was pretty and quiet for the first time all weekend! 

When we got back we took the kids to the pool but it was FREEZING so we mostly hung out in the spa until it was dinner time. We all gathered in my mom's room and had pizza and watched shows together and talked until both of the kids passed out (very, very rare!). 

Monday morning we went to Hash House A Go Go which was a giant success. It was even worth almost getting attacked by a very belligerent, mentally unsound homeless man right outside. Seriously one of my worst fears that I always told myself was irrational. 

But look at this this deliciousness: 

 It was so.so.good. Even the leftovers later that night were still so good. 

After eating it up there we went to the hotel, packed up and checked out.

We drove over to Seaport Village to walk around which was also crazy crowded because the bowl game teams were there. 

But it was pretty. 

No one was hungry yet since we had such a big breakfast so we decided to head home by way of Oceanside and stop off at the beach and walk around a bit. It was really pretty and relaxing. 

 My mom said she thinks for next year we'll avoid a big city stay and maybe just try to get some rooms by the beach. We'll see what we can find! 

We stopped at D'Elia's for dinner--mmm and picked up some cupcakes for mi madre's actual birthday that we had once we got home. 

The next morning, New Year's Eve, things were back to the usual routine...

That night we had some roast, opened poppers, played UNO Attack and went to bed early like the party poopers we are!

A new year-a new National Gallery of Art scheduling book! 

Later that week we went with the Simonds and Jones families to the beach. It was coooold in Newport so we didn't stay at the beach or go in the water much (well, Johann did because he's crazy) but it was fun and the kids are definitely fans of the beach, so I'm going to have to learn to love it instead of just be surprised when I don't hate it! =) 

 There is nothing cuter to me than this little chubs in a swimsuit!

We found a couple hermit crabs in their shells. This one was huge and hairy and started coming out while I was holding it---gaaah. 

The rest of the week was spent getting ready to go back to school and work and trying to get our lives back in order. Still working on that. 

The Sunday before school and work started back, Thea started nursery and did great! She's only cried once when we were leaving but she got distracted and was fine the rest of the time. 

We had a nice Sunday, complete with naps! I slept almost two hours. It was glorious.

That evening the kids helped me try to make some ice cream with the new ice cream/froyo maker I got for Christmas. It wasn't what I was expecting (it takes WAAAY too much time) but they had fun. 

And then we went back to real life.