My life would be so boring...

I just don't know what I'd do without my kids. I love when you can tell they've been listening to what you say...and to know that they are so protective of me...it's great.

We were in the parking lot yesterday getting ready to go back home. Jon started the car while I was buckling in the boys. Topher apparently thought that Jon was getting ready to drive away. Topher: "DAD! WHAT'S THE NUMBER ONE RULE WHEN WE GET INTO THE CAR?!?!!?!? DON'T DRIVE OFF UNTIL MOM IS BUCKLED!"

While he was sharing the Cookie Crisp with the other boys: "Alright guys, you can have ONE MORE, but no more or you are going to turn into cookies."

And I don't know what I'd do without the oldest "kid" (you know, the one I married). I was in the dollar store (looking for candles...see my previous post) and suddenly I hear the loudest "WAHHHHHHHHHMMMMMMPPPPPPP" (one of those really loud toys)...then I hear a "FFFFFFMMMMMMMPPPPPP....Daddy, I can't do it."

"Here, put your lips like this...now do it."

"WAHHHHMMMMMPPPP"

"Yeah, good job."

I just kept walking right past the toy isle. Oh, I love these guys. I can't wait for the next one.

Just had to share

I've been trying to keep myself busy lately so the days will go by quicker and then it'll be time to see my baby before I know it. (Just on the ultra-sound, you guys haven't missed THAT much). I learned a new (and really easy) technique for stamping on candles. I just wanted to show what I made today. (Assuming blogger will let me load my pictures this time).

This was the first one I did using the Circle Circus Stamp set. It's quickly becoming one of my new favorites. I can use it for almost anything, it's really great.

This one I did because, any of you that know me know that I will add sparkle to anything I can. You can't see it real well on this picture, but it's got the rhinestones and it really is sparkly. I really love it.

This one was fun (but very time consuming to do). This is my "Tote-ally Tess" stamp set. I wanted to see if the Stampin' Up! markers worked for this technique. I was glad to see they did. I think this turned out well, although Tess is really hard to cut out when she's stamped on tissue paper.

This one I did because we STILL don't know if we are having a boy or a girl. I was complaining on Facebook that my creativity was being stunted because I wanted to do all this baby stuff, but I didn't know if I should make it blue or pink. Cassandra suggested I do something "gender neutral", but I'm not a big fan of the greens and yellows. But when I saw my fox and friends stamp set it always reminds me of a baby project so I thought I would do that because it seems pretty gender neutral but it got my "baby project" fix for now.
If you want to know how to do these (super simple by the way) go to http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/karenegeland/blog?directBlogUrl=/blog/2041982/entry/stamping_on_candles

Oh and I don't think I let everyone on here know that I got a promotion (I thought Mary especially would be happy to hear that). I'm WAY excited, it seems to have sparked my creativity all over again. :)

So now we have to head to Wal*mart or the dollar store and get some more candles and whatnot so that I can keep myself busy for a few more days. I REALLY hope the baby cooperates so that we can start calling the baby something other than "the baby" or "he/she", we can actually call him/her by a name. Speaking of which, if you all have any baby names (boys or girls) that you like...that you don't intend on using...leave them in the comment area. We have a few names picked out, but we still aren't settled on any one name for either gender.

I had to make a "calendar" for the boys. My count down calendar just wasn't doing it for them. They asked me about 100 times a day if it was the "let's go watch the baby on the TV at the Doctor's Day". I made a make-shift one with labels on it like "No School Day", "Daddy's Home Day", "Karate Day" etc. that way it's easier for the kids to keep track of how many more days we have until we get to see the baby. I'm not sure who's more excited about it me or the kids. I'll make sure to let you all know when we find out what we're having though. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

SOOOOOO SLOW!!!!!

Uhhhhh...these days seem like they are taking YEARS to pass. Mama, you're right, I can't wait 9 months for anything. In 2 weeks I get to see if we are having a boy or a girl (or both as Eric informed me, lol). I've got my count down calendar and I love waking up in the morning and flipping one more number over. I think maybe it'll seem to go a little faster once the numbers get into the single digits...probably not, but I can wish.

Ethan is still completely convinced that he's got a baby too. We always make sure that the new baby brings a present for the other kids, it seems to ease the transition...maybe the baby will bring a doll for Ethan so he doesn't get upset when I have a baby and his is "still in his tummy". When he got out of the tub today he quickly wrapped his towel around his belly and informed me that he "had to cover up his belly so his baby wouldn't get cold." He tells me all the food that he can and can't eat because this food will make the baby sick (aka "morning sickness") or this food is good for the baby and his baby wants more. Yesterday after his 3rd bowl of cereal I told him that he needs to eat some toast or something, he's had enough cereal. He started throwing a fit and yelling "but Mom! My baby is HUNGRY!!!!" I really hope this is a phase because if this keeps up after we've had the baby I don't know what I'm going to do. :)

But, all in all, everything seems to be going well with this baby. Hopefully it stays that way.

It's about time...

I have been such a slacker on blogging. I was thinking "Well, I have an excuse..." but then as I was checking all the blog updates of friends and family, I saw Nina's blog and decided that I have an excuse...it's just not a very good one. :)

We finally got to see our baby on Dec. 22. (And yes, since everyone keeps asking, we are further along with this one than we were with Elizabeth - our last baby). I was all excited about posting "pictures" - but our scanner is broken. Darn the luck. So you'll just have to believe me that we have the ultra sound pictures. That is one active little guy/girl. The baby kept moving and shifting and kicking...it was very reassuring and real nice to see. I don't know when we'll find out if it's a boy or a girl. For sure not our next appointment, but maybe the one after that. I was so pleased to find out that we can go to our same Dr., but to a different office (as long as we are not having an ultra-sound done). My OB is 2 hours away...and on these Wyoming roads in winter...not fun. But this other office cuts off about 45 min of drive time for us. Yeah-a-h! Jon's not sure whether to be happy about it or not. A closer office means less driving for him, but it also means that it's close enough that he doesn't get the ENTIRE 1/2 of the day off of work...it means we're done in enough time that he has to go back. :) Jon always comes with me because if I leave the kids with someone that's an all day job. Since the Dr. is 2 hours away (on good roads), that means 2 hours up, 2 hours back, plus the time in the Dr. office and usually a stop for something to eat. It's a minimum of 5 hours for babysitting. I hate to ask anyone to do that.

I thought it was SO adorable though. We've FINALLY convinced Topher that boys can't have babies. He was thoroughly convinced that the Daddies had the boy babies and the Mommies had the girl babies...like I'm going to let Jon get the credit for all that hard work I did. lol. Ethan hadn't said much until about a week before the appointment. He's convinced that he's also got a baby in his tummy as well. So when we were ready for the ultra-sound the nurse went and got Jon and the boys. They were thrilled to see the baby on the "TV". They thought it was so cool. Then when we were ready to leave, Ethan started to walk into another exam room (thankfully an unoccupied one) and started to climb onto the table. I said "Ethan, what are you doing? We're all done, it's time to go home." Then he started to throw a fit (not a big one, but big enough you could tell he was MAD). He said "MOM! It's MY TURN NOW!" and he pulls up his shirt to show his belly "It's time to watch MY baby on the TV." All the nurses had a good laugh watching me trying to convince him that there was no baby in his belly. Then the next morning I was feeling pretty sick so I figured the TV could babysit for a little while until I was feeling better. I pulled out the DVDs and asked Ethan what he wanted to watch. He searched through the DVDs for a while saying "Nope, it's not that one...Nope, not that one." Then he hands them to me and says "Mom, I want to watch the baby on the TV." I thought that was so stinkin' cute. So that's the main things that have been going on in our family.

I love this family!

My boys are the greatest! Ethan was sitting on a stool and leaned over to get his blanket that was on the floor. Obviously, he tipped over, then as I was heading over to see if he was alright I could see the stool going too. He flipped head over heels on the way down, so when the stool fell it landed right on top of him, hitting him in the head. As I scooped him up in my arms and was cradling him and checking that he was alright I saw Topher JUMP UP from the table (he was eating lunch) and run over to Ethan. Then I saw Justin running as fast as his little legs could carry him, both were coming to see if Ethan was alright. Justin gave him a hug and said "Brother OK? And then Topher got up and spanked the chair yelling "Don't you hurt my Ethan! SHAME ON YOU!" Then Topher picked up the blanket that Ethan was reaching for when he fell and wrapped it around him. Then Topher went and got 2 of HIS favorite blankets so that he would feel better. Justin saw this and decided to follow suite. He went and got Ethan's frog blanket and gave it to him. It was so stinkin' cute. Apparently Topher went and got 2 pillows because they are laying on the kitchen floor together showing each other their owies. :)

Haven't posted for so long

So I've been feeling guilty about not blogging. I've just been so busy (such is the life of a mother I guess). Oh, before I forget though, I wanted to share a recipe that I got from Ranee' (yeah, it's pretty much the best). For pumpkin bread. Take a box of spice cake mix (by the way Ranee', they just started stocking it - or it was hidden behind the stinkin' yellow cake...grrrr...anyhow I found some). Pour it into a med. size bowl, mix with a can of pumpkin (the small can...15 oz I think). Then put it in a bread pan and cook at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Yeah, it's SOOOO good. And Michelle, I love you for introducing me to that Resolve, deep clean. It got all the spots up (well, all of them that I have cleaned so far). I've been living in this house for a year and a half (give or take) and I have tried EVERYTHING to get those up, nothing has even lightened them! And that carpet cleaner took those spots up almost instantly! And you thought getting your freezie stains up off your carpet was impressive.

So now to the fun stuff...although right now I can only think of one incident that I wanted to blog about. We were in Wal*mart and Jon remembered that he needed shampoo. So we were over there looking at the gazillion different kinds of shampoos when the fire alarm suddenly goes off. We look up and (to my horror) there is my son, standing with the door propped open - you know the one with the "Alarm will sound when this door is opened" sign on it? To make matters worse he has a hyper-sensitivity to sounds (the Dr. said it's due to his PDD). So it's got this high-pitched shreeking sound and of course everyone back there is looking trying to decide if there's really a fire. They saw us doing the "What are you doing?" "Why did you do that?" thing...I guess they decided there was no fire because they all went about their shopping. It took FOREVER before we could find a Wal*mart associate to shut off the noise. I felt so bad for my little guy, he's over there with his hands pushed against his ears as hard as he could, trying not to cry (he tries real hard to be "tough" when Daddy is there). It just made me want to cry. So that was our most eventful trip to Wal*mart...so far. lol.

Check out my newest creation!

I thought this was so cute, it was worthy of sharing with this blog too. (Sorry to those of you that are following both blogs, you can see it twice...and those that are following me on FB too...sorry, but it's too awesome not to share with EVERYONE! If you want to see how I made it go to http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/karenegeland/blog?directBlogUrl=/blog/2041982/entry/halloween_cake

Happy Halloween everyone!