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!

Florida Trip part 5

After our Disney adventure, we went back to stay with Joel's parents. Most of the rest of the trip, we took it pretty easy. We did a lot of shopping (but not really much buying : )), and hanging with his family.

Saturday we slept in after all the exercise we'd been getting at the parks. It was raining quite a bit that day, so we just went out to lunch at Panera, went to the other outlets in town, and I did my sister-in-law Jody's hair.

Sunday we went to church, but only sacrament, as Christopher's been having a hard time adjusting to Primary at all, and we didn't want to confuse him further. (We moved just when he was getting used to Primary instead of Nursery, and he's still "not finding new friends, mom!" : )) Joel's Grandfather came to visit from about an hour and a half away for dinner, and then we went to the condo my parents were staying at, as I wanted to spend a little time with my Dad on his birthday. Christopher swam in their pool and we watched the Magic in the NBA Finals.

This pic is from one of those chillin' with Grandma and Grandpa days. Grandma got a book about Prairie Dogs (an animal Christopher is pretty familiar with. Has anyone seen Buckley road in the summer?? It's like a Prairie Dog Graveyard!) He made her read it several times, I believe... Monday we went to a place called Monkey Joe's, where they have a bunch of inflatables for kids to play on, plus some arcade games. Christopher had lots of fun there for a couple of hours. Joel and I went to the local mall just to hang out together a little bit. I liked walking to get excercise as long as it was in air conditioning!!

Tuesday we went to Sea World with Joel's family. His parents and sister Jody and brother Jacob. My friend Melissa and her daughter Angelina also met us there for the morning. This is the day my camera was dead until I found a place to plug it in, so hopefully Mel will be sending me the pics from the kids feeding the dolphins! It was so fun to meet up with them. This also made me want to move back. C loves hanging out with all these girls, and baby Max too.

I have to say, Sea World was probably the hardest day for me. I love it, but being pregnant it was hard! Not as many places with air conditioning, and to get in some shade in the stadiums you watch shows in is a bit of a hike! Joel had fun because his siblings could go on the thrill rides with him. They got to try to new Manta coaster which I really want to go on!

This first pic is from a new little aquarium right next to the Manta ride. It took us forever to get Christopher to go in there, and looking at the picture just now he said "I didn't want to go in there, mom!" and when I told him he didn't have to again, he said "Okaaaaay, next time we go to Sea World, I'll go in there. Let's go now!" so accomadating, my son!

The Shamu picture.....

His favorite thing was feeding the dolphins, but later in the day he also got to feed the Sea Lions, this is from that. Jacob is holding him and Jody is just to the right. I'm glad they did both with him, because those fish are stinky!!

Joel's family all left a little early, and then we went to the kids area. Christopher had ridden the Goofy kiddie coaster at Magic Kingdom, and liked it, after being terrified. He said he would ride the Shamu one, but got cold feet. Another thing he's been telling me we have to go back to do! Right before we left, we tried to go to the Dolphin Nursery, but it was closed because they'd had a baby dolphin ONE HOUR earlier! So cool... you could kind of see the baby swimming with it's mom, or at least, I'm told tall people like Joel could : P.

Tuesday night we also went back down to the Disney area to hang out with my Dad, because he was all alone after Mom and Jaime had already left. Another Magic game was on that night, so Joel's family was watching that. We played miniature golf at the "Pirate Place" (C's words) and ate one last meal at Ale House.

Wednesday we had to leave. We met up with Joel's Dad at his work to have lunch with him one last time. Then it was off to the airport and back home!

Florida Trip part 4

Our last day at Disney we did Disney's Hollywood Studios (still getting used to that name change) and the Magic Kingdom. This was really the only day we saw any characters. It was pretty crowded, so we didn't want to wait in character lines, and Christopher certainly wasn't asking to see anyone. He's seen 'em before and he'll see 'em again. Mostly we only saw characters at all because we went to Playhouse Disney Character Breakfast at Hollywood and Vine at the Studios. Christopher loves the Mickey waffle, and I knew they had that, and thought it would be fun to do the Playhouse Disney thing. He loves the show at the Studios, and Cast Members from the actual show come out every little while and dance and sing with the kids. Most of these pics are from that...

First to stop by our table was Goliath from JoJo's Circus (I haven't even seen this show on for a while. Maybe really early in the morning....)
Then JoJo herself. Christopher would only take the pictures if one of us was holding him. He was a little tentative around characters this trip. Another reason we didn't try to see many of them.Then came Leo and June from Little Einsteins.....We had lunch on the dining plan at Mama Melrose at the Studios. It's kind of italian themed and was really nice. C even liked it. Here are my boys coloring and doing the activities in the kids' menu. They like to do those together. When we left the restaurant it was pouring rain! It rained almost everyday we were there. But usually just enough to make it even more muggy!And here they are with Lightning McQueen and Mater from Cars.

The ONLY thing Christopher really wanted to do at Magic Kingdom was "drive the car." So, here they are after finishing up that ride. He loved it and even got a fake license.

We met up with my cousin Becky, her daughter Audrey, and our friend Robin and her daughter Ella at the Studios, and briefly with my friend Melissa and her friends later that day at Magic Kingdom. It was especially helpful at the Studios, because Joel got to go on a couple of the thrill rides with Becky and Robin while I watched the kids for them. I really don't mind at all, our whole attitude is that we'll be back, so what we get to do or not do is all fine. We just love the parks and the ambiance and everything. Christopher was kind of low-key about everything, but ever since, he's been asking to go back and go on the Toy Story and Figment rides, to the Monsters Inc. show, and lots of other stuff. I keep having to explain to him that we'd have to get back on a plane and it takes a long time to get there. He's not quite getting it yet!

Florida Trip part 3

Our first Park Day was Animal Kingdom and Epcot. Joel's Dad came with us, and they did the roller coaster I couldn't go on. Sad day. We also made sure to do the Kilimanjaro Safari. Here are Joel and Christopher on the ride:They had a baby elephant. Cute, huh? At Epcot, Joel and I had a nice lunch at the Coral Reef (Christopher really wanted to see the Nemo musical at AK, so Mike, Joel's Dad, stayed with him and then they met us at Epcot. Here is the required picture of Christopher being eaten by Bruce the Shark:This is at our resort and I just had to include it. Inside this bucket o' soldiers are the stairs to our floor. At first, Christopher was all about the "elegator," but then he would say "mom, can we go up the bucket?" Kind of funny...

Florida Trip part 2

On the 3rd, we checked into Disney's All-Star Movies Resort for a couple of nights, explored the area and did some fun stuff around Disney property....


At All-Star Movies, we got to stay in one of the Toy Story buildings, which is exactly what we wanted. Here are the boys walking into that area of the resort. The door says "Andy's Room" and when you get inside the area, there are giant replicas of lots of the toys from the movie. Way cute. We were actually in the Woody Building, on the 3rd floor.

Here is Christopher in the little car from the movie that always sits on the "road" to the Toy Story area (Joel knows the name of this car, I can never remember it):

And here is our little fishie swimming, which he just LOVES. This was a big reason for staying at the resort at all. He never really gets to swim when we go down there, so I thought it would be fun for him to play at a fun pool. This was the Fantasia pool and had a big Sorcerer Mickey that sprays water all over. Mission accomplished, because Christopher loved it, even though before the trip every time I showed him pictures, he just said "Mom, I just want to go back on the Mickey boat." Crazy kid!

Christopher and Kitty jumping on the bed. I only condone this until you're about 6 or 7......Shauna!! Notice the towel mickey head on the bed.

We also played miniature golf at the Winter Summerland Course next to Blizzard Beach (one of Disney's water parks). Christopher really likes miniature golf, we actually ended up doing it teice on this trip. Here he is concentrating on setting up his shot. Ok, not really, but doesn't it look like that?? So cute!

Mom and I had to send Shauna a picture of us having fun at a Disney Property without her. She does it to us too. It's just one of the many ways our family shows our love. It's also one of the very few pictures I'm in, so I thought I should include one in all my pregnant glory! I was almost 7 months at this point. We met up with my parents that evening at Downtown Disney. They had arrived in town the night before. Jaime would get in late that night.

Next time we think we'll stay on property more. It's really fun to just be guests! They were also running a great deal on the resorts (I assume because of the economy), and we discovered we really like the dining plan as well. Over the next couple of days we did the parks....