Birthday Bowling pictures

Here are the pics. Not so great, cuz they were taken with my phone. We're kind of having camera issues. Long story. But at least I have some!

Here's Christopher about to give Daddy a high five after knocking down some pins (notice, with bumpers AND a ramp : ))
After a while, for some reason he just wanted to roll the ball down the gutter, which was a challenge considering the bumpers came up for his turn. So, he and Joel switched turns so Christopher could do that. Weird kid.
He celebrated for everyone pretty equally. And he doesn't really understand the whole concept of a Spare. He thinks if anyone gets all the pins down, even in both rolls, it's a strike.

Christopher is 4!

Yesterday Christopher turned 4. It was a busy day. I had a hair appointment in the morning (to get mine done, not to do someone else's), during which time Joel and Christopher put up Cameron's crib and rearranged the room so the boys can share. This may not seem necessary yet, but the crib has its own storage and we have nowhere else to keep Cameron's clothes and such. So even though he won't be in there for a few months, now we have all of his stuff in there and out of boxes in our living room! Christopher was not completely thrilled at first to rearrange his room, but then he warmed up and helped and now he's really excited. I'll try to get pics of that up here soon.

Anyway, after that we headed out to order Christopher's cake for the weekend "party." We ordered it from Sam's and then headed down to where my doctor's appointment was. I have to see the doc every week now, so Tuesday is appointment day until this baby is born! Which is nice, because Tuesday is also Joel's day off and he can come with me. We had lunch at Costa Vida (this will also be a Tuesday ritual until the baby is born : )), which is a couple blocks from the hospital. Then we went to my appointment, and C insisted on coming in to see the the doctor with me. This is good cuz then Joel can come in, and C can hear the baby's heartbeat and such. My doctor said I'm definitely progressing (I don't want to gross anyone out, so I'll spare you the details!) and that she'd definitely consider inducing me a week early if I'm really uncomfortable. I'm thinking we may take her up on that! She said it would be really easy this time considering my body is already starting to do what it's supposed to. I have to admit, when she said last week that things were starting to happen, I was excited, but also unexpectedly scared. It suddenly hit me that I don't know what it's like to go into labor! With Christopher, I was induced from scratch! So, this compromise would be nice. I just want to get through the Cubs series at work. Cubs fans tend to make our lives interesting and I don't want to make the guys do my job that weekend! We'll see what happens as we get closer.

After that, we went bowling, which is what C really wanted to do for his birthday. My mom and Dad met us at Brunswick and we bowled a couple of games (well, not me, I'm not supposed to bowl) and played in the arcade. Christopher loved it until he realized Shauna and Lily and JoJo never showed up (they all had things come up). I felt so bad when he cried because his friends weren't there! But Saturday we're going to do cake and presents and they promised to be there. Plus, Shauna came this evening and took him out for Cold Stone, so he got to spend some time with her. After bowling, we went to Pei Wei (otherwise known as "Jaime's work," even tho both Jaime AND Mitchell work there) for dinner. Then we came home and let C open his present from us, which was Pirates of the Carribbean Toss Across, which he has already made me play several times!

Today his package from Joel's parents came with 3 more presents which he couldn't wait to open and loved. I'm a little worried about what will happen when he's not getting mail everyday, because he sure has loved getting all of his cards! I'll post more and pics after we have his little party Saturday. We wanted to do something on his actual birthday, and were kind of afraid to put all of our eggs in one basket considering something could have happened with the baby.

Randomness from June and July

It's been a little crazy since we got back from our trip. We've all been working hard, trying to get ready for the baby, etc. So, I thought I'd just try to record some things to remember/ inform people about.

Pregnancy-wise, things are pretty good. As the doctor I saw yesterday said "On paper, this pregnancy is perfect." However, being that I had a very easy pregnancy with Christopher; and with this one I've had anemia, swollen feet, braxton-hicks contractions, and now acid reflux- none of which I had ever had before- I feel a lot less than perfect! But we are getting really excited about Cameron joining our family. It can't be soon enough for me! Christopher hugs the belly several times a day and lovingly says "Cameron," and is always telling us all the things he's going to teach his little brother to do. The doctor said the baby is in the right position and everything, so now it's just seeing the doctor a lot and waiting!

Denise has been visiting the past few days from Utah. She will be here until this coming weekend, and Christopher started bugging her right away! He woke her up the first morning she was here, and just hung around wherever she was in general. Not sure what that's all about!

Oh yeah, I turned 30 on the 28th of June. I asked my siblings to give me money to get my new phone, a Palm Pre I'm hoping to use as my scheduler and everything. So far I'm having fun learning how to use it. I also got some great gift cards. Jaime gave me a movie one (that will be used for Joel and I to see Harry Potter!), and one to Olive Garden. And Joel's parents gave me a giftcard to Kohl's. Joel and I went out to dinner at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants on Saturday (the day before), and on Sunday my mom made one of my favorite dinners. All in all, it was a nice, fairly low-key birthday. I don't really feel one way or the other about turning 30, tho I joke about it sometimes. Mitchell says I'm officially really old now.

Joel started new classes in school, and is plugging away at work. He also just got a new calling as a Sunday school teacher, and is a little daunted about being asked to teach Gospel Doctrine in our ward. I think he'll do a great job. He knows the scriptures really well and is a good teacher.

Now for some really sad news. I got home from work last Thursday (the 3rd of July) to Denise telling me that some of our friends in Utah had their house basically gutted by fire. This family, the Derflers, used to be in our ward. When I was a teenager, I nannied for their 4 children a bit a couple of summers, even living with them for days at a time, and then Denise and I both baby-sat them. They moved to Utah a few years ago, and are basically Denise's family out there. In fact, Denise's car was parked in front of said house. They have determined it was an electrical fire, but their house is a total loss, as is just about everything that was in it. So sad. Here are some pictures:

I have never seen this kind of damage to a house, and definitely never thought this would happen to someone I know! Our prayers are with them. From what I know, they will be totally rebuilding and renting in the meantime.

On the 3rd, I started working a homestand that will have the Rockies here for 10 days in a row. Considering the first 2 were fireworks games WITH rain delays, and then a day game, the week already seems really long! I'm planning on working right up until I have the baby, both at Rockies and in the salon. It's becoming increasingly more difficult, but I'm determined to stick it out!