Newport Beach

Once we got to California, we headed to the beach. We found the coolest beach houses and parked near them, then walked to the beach. It was freezing cold. Spencer was the only one who went in the water. Kaylen stayed clear of the water, she did not want to get wet (smart girl). Lindsey wandered around looking for shells. Logan managed to load up his shoes with tons of sand (something he does everyday at school). I wanted to be able to watch the sunset, and we were able to enjoy the beauty of the sunset.

Driving to Cali

The following are pictures I snapped during our drive to California.

Newport Beach Temple

A Return to Exercise

When my {mild} morning sickness started, I used that as an excuse to not exercise. I wouldn't start feeling "good" until late in the morning, so I excused myself from exercising. I decided that enough was enough. I'm feeling good and there's no reason I shouldn't exercise. I also needed to have that time to myself. I went to my pilates class yesterday (it's been 3 months since I've been). I felt like the new one in class. I could still keep up, but it was hard. (In November, when I stopped going, I was doing good. I wasn't shaking - I hadn't for quite a while. I could do all the moves, and most of the advanced moves. I rarely got sore the days afterwards). Yesterday I shook and couldn't hold the pose as long as the teacher. Today my abs are sore; it's a great sore, though. It's crazy how quickly my abilities had changed. Hopefully I can continue going, although once my baby bump gets too big, I'm sure the exercises will be modified into a lot of standing pilates (which I'm not quite sure I'll like).

I also went walking with Eric. I used to be the one in the lead, with Eric lagging behind. Well, this time he was in the lead. He also asked me why I wasn't too talkative. I replied that I was just trying to catch my breath, to which he found comical. I hope to continue to walk with him and become the leader, laughing at him in my dust.

Our 5th Child

We have a new addition to our family that I've nicknamed the 5th child.

This is Eric's new bike that can not be kept outside. We had to replace his bike that was stolen. This bike has stayed indoors for the last month, since we bought it, ensuring that it won't be stolen. It used to be in the kitchen. It has been moved all around in the house, with it's current residence in the game room. Someday Eric will be ok with putting it in the shed. Until then, it will be our 5th child, since it lives inside with us.

If 23 weeks (hopefully 21 weeks) happens to pass and the bike is still inside, I will definitely give it the boot because we will actually have our 5th child to live with us.

Yep....

I am pregnant with our 5th child. I am 17 weeks along, with a due date of August 3. Things have been going really good. Morning sickness has been quite minimal (easiest out of all my pregnancies). I'm finally getting energy back. The only problem is that time is moving way too slow. It seems like 40 weeks should have passed by now, but time is slowly ticking away. I'm not as patient as I used to be, and I'm excited for this new little one and can't wait.

Memorable Monday - High School Music

While driving home from California, we listened to songs on the ipod. Some of them were Eric's songs that I really didn't care for, some were songs that I began to like during the time Eric and I dated, and some reminded me of high school. I thought I would list some of the CDs that I owned in high school, since owning CDs was pretty new for me. It's interesting the variety of music and the influence of where the music came from. Listed below are some of the CDs I had as a teenager.

- Billy Dean

- Bette Midler

- 8 Seconds soundtrack (my best friend and I saw this movie many times - loved it!)

- Celine Dion (2 cds!)

- Beatles

- REM (2 cds!)

- Joshua Kadison

- Reba (she was my all-time favorite singer throughout high school)

- Bryan Adams

- Phantom of the Opera (saw this with my best friend)

- Gin Blossoms

- Scorpions

- Pink Floyd

- UB40 (I later quoted one of the songs in a college report)

- Enya (2 cds!) (my best friend and I would listen to Enya back and forth from our weekend job at the carwash)

- Michael McLean

- Greater Than Us All

- Cranberries

There were some individual songs that I liked, but never broke down and bought the CD. They are listed below. They're kind of quirky songs, but I could still sing the words to them.

- Loser by Beck

- Return to Innocence by Enigma

- What's Up by Four Non-Blondes

- Mr. Jones by Counting Crows

- Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm by Crash Test Dummies

I met Eric right after I graduated from high school (smack dab in the 90s). Eric loved music and had a huge CD collection. Some groups I never have fully appreciated (some heavy metal bands), but others I have grown to love (Rush) and tolerate. It's kind of funny because my favorite band is Bon Jovi and I never listened to them in high school, but after a concert with Eric, they became my favorite (resulting in a "Have a Nice Day" sticker on my car). As new songs came out when we were dating, they became mutual favorites. Those included the songs below.

- Dreaming of You by Selena

- Lump by Presidents of the United States of America

- Breakfast at Tiffany's by Deep Blue Something

- Misery by Soul Asylum

- all songs by Live

Packing

We spent today packing for our trip to Disneyland. Kaylen has been packing her stuff for the last week. She's been so excited about the trip. Each morning she has been able to "show how many days are left until Disneyland" with her fingers.

She has had her activity bag packed since Monday. Inside she had some stuffed animals, her Cinderella dress, and a pair of dress-up shoes.

She then realized that she needed clothes. So she gathered up clothes. Shortly afterwards, she got snacks too. Today when I went to her bedroom, I found all her stuff all laid out by her door. She had packed her things by herself and was ready to go. I decided to look through it. She had a couple of shirts, one pair of pants, 4 pairs of underwear, a pair of capris, a pair of shoes, more stuffed animals, a coat, and water bottles. I thought it was so cute how excited she was to do this all on her own.

Family Valentine's Party

I decided that I would focus on making Valentine's Day fun for the kids this year. I planned a party to have the night before Valentine's Day. I invited Grandma over to join us (that also allowed my parents a night out).

The kids spent time decorating the kitchen and dining room with paper hearts. We made festive napkin rings. For dinner I made bowtie lasagna with heart rolls on top. We had red jello. We also had Cupid Floats (cherry 7-up with ice cream). We decorated sugar cookies. After everything was all cleaned up, we played Bingo. I was surprised at how much fun the kids had with Bingo. Eric and I were done playing after about 15 minutes. The kids wanted to keep on playing; we ended up playing about an hour of Bingo.

Valentine's Day morning I was awakened at 5:45. Lindsey and Spencer were awake downstairs. Spencer was busy working on a banner to hang up.

We ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Then the kids opened up gifts. I bought them each a book. I also decided that since I was ordering Eric some yummy chocolates from Salt Lake (I should have picked them up when I was there) that I would also order the kids some super-yummy, expensive chocolates. So the kids got some too. We went to lunch at a favorite restaurant, Ah-So. It was a fun two days celebrating the holiday.

A Nice Surprise

Thursday morning the doorbell rang. I answered it, wet hair and all. Sitting on the porch was a box FedEx had just delivered. It was addressed to Eric, but it said "fresh flowers, open immediately." I called Eric to see if I could open it for him. The box contained 36 long-stemmed roses for me! I wasn't expecting flowers at all because of our upcoming trip, especially not 3 dozen flowers. It was a great start to my day.

Spencer Softball

Spencer was able to participate in Primary Softball this past week. He was supposed to play 3 days, but one day got rained out. Eric was the coach (a huge patience-tester). Spencer had a fun time. He did really good hitting the balls. One time he hit the ball and it went straight for Eric's shin, leaving a huge bump and bruise.

Kaylen, having fun playing outside during the game

Logan's New Bike

Logan hasn't been riding his bike lately. I finally figured out why - it's a Diego bike. He's way too big to be riding a Diego bike. We went to Target, not telling him why we were going there. As we got to the bike area, we surprised him and told him that he could get a new bike. He was so excited. His choices were limited because he is on the border for both sizes. We went with the bigger size, hoping he'll quickly grow into it (and not finally fit it during the summer when it's impossible to be outside here). Eric had to do a little work and adjust the handle bars so Logan could reach them. While on the bike, his toes barely touch the ground. He was cute to watch ride it around the driveway for the first time.

What's Cooking

I've been trying to take more pictures of the kids cooking (mainly to fill a cooking scrapbook), so below are some that I've taken. The best part about them helping to cook is their willingness to help and learn. It's fun to see how they want to help. Spencer is turning out to be a better griller than me.

Spencer, the master griller

Kayle and Logan licking the brownie bowl

Spencer with his jumbo pancake (he made)

Kaylen helping to make sugar cookies

Photos - Kids Having Fun

Below are some photos I took of the kids having fun this past week.

Lindsey and Logan watching a DVR'd American Idol

Logan playing with the shed box

Kaylen playing with the shed box

Kaylen's version of the froggy slide (at the city pool)

Saturday Play

On Saturday I took Lindsey, Spencer, and Logan to downtown to see a play. The theater was next to an art museum, so the kids had fun with the statues.

Logan and Spencer waiting for the play to start

After the play, with the 2 actors

We saw the play, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." I love the children's book, and thought the kids would enjoy it. We heard some stories before the play, watched the play, and had a cookie and milk. My favorite part of the play was when I would look at the kids and see them cracking up from the mouse's antics.

Random Update / Happenings

Not too much has happened lately, but I feel like I've been so busy and constantly running. The things listed below have gone on during the last week or so.

- I've been to Target 3 times this week so far. My memory is having issues, so I've repeatedly had to go back to the store. I think I've got everything this week and won't have to return for another week.

- I've made a scrapbook; now I just have to fill it with pictures and post it.

- I've dealt with major computer issues.I spent the afternoon yesterday de-virusing my computer. It hasn't helped. I'll probably spend another day going through files and backing them up for when I get a new computer. An important lesson learned: don't let kids or kids' friends play on your computer.

- I've been playing catch-up with birthday presents, buying and wrapping.

- I've been planning family valentine's party for Friday.

- I've been loving the rain we got here! Kaylen didn't like the storms and cried during a thunder episode.

- I've been having "Disneyland talks" with Kaylen. We're going next week and Kaylen wants to constantly talk about it.

- I finally finished Breaking Dawn. I was hesitant to finish because it's the end of the Twilight Saga.

- I went on a date night with my hubby.

- I started typing yearbook school lists and managed to fall off chair in the process.

- I watched Eric put up a shed in our backyard. I was kinda banned from the process because I dropped a brace on Eric head. (oops!)

Salt Lake

Eric and I went to Salt Lake last week (from Wednesday - Saturday). His work's annual Awards Banquet was on Thursday night. Eric wanted to go skiing, so he took an early flight out to hit the slopes early. He went to a very nice, and exclusive ski resort. He enjoyed the day, with the snow falling while he skied.

I took a mid-morning flight to Salt Lake. I picked up the rental car, and drove to a day spa. On the way, I found a unique restaurant to eat at, although it was awkward eating at a sit-down restaurant alone. I then went to the spa and enjoyed 3.5 hours of pure bliss and relaxation. I got a facial, a massage, and a pedicure. In years past, I've been able to pamper myself, but this year I went all out, finding a day spa where I could lounge around in a robe (robe = pure relaxation) and get more than one treatment. Afterwards, while driving with the spa flip flops, I fought traffic and headed downtown where I joined up with Eric and some other people from the "Utah office" for dinner at The Roof in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building - very yummy (and tempting) buffet.

I couldn't believe how pretty the snow was. It must have just snowed the day before, because everything was a beautiful fairy-tale white. I loved it!

Thursday morning Eric had meetings, so I went to the Bountiful temple and enjoyed doing a session there. That temple is probably the prettiest temple I've been in. I actually cried when I was inside because it was so beautiful.

I joined up with Eric and the whole "Utah office" for lunch. Once again, the food was very good - I know I can look forward to good food when we go to Utah for Eric's work meetings.

In the afternoon, I dragged Eric to the Draper Temple open house. This was my third temple open house (I've been to San Diego and Snowflake). It is a very pretty temple. It makes me very excited for the temples that have been announced in my area to be built. I can't wait to take the kids to the new temples while they're being built and to the open houses.

Thursday night was the awards banquet. We sat at a table with the #3 agent in the country, the Utah office president, Penn Mutual's CEO, and another Penn Mutual top guy. It was very nice company. I've sat with them all before, so it wasn't to nerve-wracking. Eric earned 3 awards - one for MDRT (million dollar roundtable), one for making the leader's conference (in the sizzling Las Vegas desert - woo hoo!), and one for qualifying for the Excalibur Sword - a very big deal. We will soon have a 4-foot sword encased in a shadow box to hang on the wall (I think it will go to Eric's office).

Friday Eric had appointments, so I pulled a lazy day. I got room service for breakfast. I lounged around in bed and watched tv. I read. I scrapbooked. Eric was still gone at lunch time, so I ordered room service again. It was a very relaxing day, wearing my robe for some of the time. That night, Eric and I went to the Jazz basketball game. We were given completely awesome tickets - 3rd row, center court. I'm not much of a sports person, but those seats made me a sports person for that night.

Saturday morning we ate breakfast and headed for the airport. I came home to happy kids and a clean house - I definitely found a great babysitter!

The trip sounds long, but we (mostly Eric) had things planned, so I feel bad that we didn't get to visit friends and family who live in the area.

A Bittersweet Experience

Last week and the week before that, I spent 9 hours each day watching my grandma. My parents decided to go to Disney World and take my sister and her husband with. That meant that I was the only one who could help with grandma (my other sister lives too far away and my brother works during the day). At first I was dreading it, wondering what I would do all day with her. When it came time for me to grandma-sit, I would pick her up at my parents' house at 11:00 (some days the time varied) and take her to my house. She would stay at my house until 8:00 that evening until I returned her home to someone who stayed with her overnight. The schedule was supposed to be reversed, with grandma being with me during the nights. I was slightly selfish and said that I would watch during the day because I didn't want to have to get up in the night with Grandma.

Our daily activities were very minimal. We would eat lunch. Grandma would nap. Grandma would either hide out laying down or sitting in a chair in my workroom during the after-school crazy homework/chore time. We would eat dinner.

I've decided the best way to describe my experience was that it was "bittersweet." There were good parts to it and bad parts to it. It wasn't really very hard to take care of grandma. It wasn't really time consuming either. It was just repetitive and slightly depressing. Grandma has never been one who is very active or has hobbies. She is content to lay down or sit in a chair all day, waiting for time to pass. This was the hardest for me to watch, because she is missing out on so much in life. Her memory is also slipping away, and I would have to repeat our "schedule" many times during the day, or repeat what to do with the toilet paper after she had used the bathroom. It was hard to see how her body and her health has declined in the last few months. I would help her up and down from chairs, the couch, the bed, and the toilet. Her movements were limited. To get exercise, we'd walk around the island in my kitchen or walk around the game room. She would get tired after a couple times around.

Grandma was so appreciative of me helping with her. When I dropped her off the last night, she started to cry. That right there made it all worth it. Not the crying, just me seeing how much she appreciated what little I did. She had some funny quirks, that could either frustrate me, or I could laugh about. She'd have to have the cupboards and closet doors all closed. She had to have things picked up off the floor (this coming from a lady who would dustmop her floor 3-times a day). She was very particular about her portion size - very small. Once I offered her Sprite (I didn't have her beloved Pepsi), and she gave me the funniest scowl. She definitely does not like American Idol - "it's all messed up." She was very particular about her hair, she'd touch it up every time she went to the bathroom, clacking her teeth while doing it. The teeth - she has false teeth. One time I went to get her off the toilet and there she was sitting on the toilet with her nasty fake teeth out, sitting in her hands. I don't write this to embarrass her in any way; it was just so stinkin' funny.

I realized how "hard" it can be for my mom to be the full-time caregiver, so I have offered to take Grandma more so that my mom can get the much-needed break. I'll have to write down all the silly/odd things Grandma says and does.