Quiet Please!

I try to find and plan out quiet activites to keep Matty good during the four sessions of Conference each time. In the past we've done things like a new coloring book, playdough, a book I made with contact paper and pictures of him, and beanbags.

Do any of you have other great ideas? What have you done for your kids to help them be good during Conference?

30 Week Appt

Had another appointment today. BP was better. I didn't even gain a full pound in 2.5 weeks. The real reason I was in there was to see if the baby was measuring as far ahead as last time. I was 33 cm, the exact same as last time, so no change but still big for date. The doctor said he isn't going to intervene yet, but if this keeps up then in a few weeks he may want to "take a peek" in there with ultrasound and make sure everything's okay. I may just have a lot of fluid which could be from her being a big baby, but honestly I don't think she's going to be a "big" baby. I guess we'll see. I wouldn't mind seeing her again on ultrasound anyway. Other than that, we just talked about the nausea I've been feeling again. He offered me a perscription, but since the pills would make me tired and I'm tired enough I decided to pass for now. It just stinks to feel this sick again all the time! It's like the first trimester all over again. The doctor said that it can come back for some women in the third trimester, but usually not til 36 weeks or later. I guess I'm just lucky. Ugg!

So all in all, everything's okay for now. I just feel yucky.

Thankful Thursday

1. Friends stopping by. Both Lisa (an old college roommate) and Maddy (my old upstairs neighbor) came by this past week to chat. It's great to see friends you haven't seen in a while!
2. People who use the shopping cart return. I get SOOOOO frustrated with people who don't return their carts (like the woman parked next to me at Costco this morning who then hit my car with her cart and didn't even apologize!) I'm pregnant and carrying a toddler and I can return my cart, so can everyone else! So thanks to everyone who returns your carts!!! (Okay, so that was a bit of a vent along with a thankful item.)
3. Visiting Teachers. One of mine came companionless last night and it was just nice to have someone to chat with. Women just get eachother better than our husbands get us.
4. Online photo printing. I'm glad I don't have to hang around Costco for an hour waiting for my prints. They're ready to go when I get there.
5. Movie nights. Dan and I rented 3 movies this week: August Rush, Enchanted, and No Reservations. They weren't the most amazing ever (some even a little disappointing after all the hype about them) but we really enjoyed watching them and spending time together. Plus, they were all PG! Yeah for clean, entertaining movies!
6. FHE. I'm grateful for this program and love the time we spend together. I'm glad Dan and I made this a habit when we were first married.
7. The Internet. Have I put this before? It's my lifeline to outside this house. It keeps me in touch with my friends. And I love that I can compare prices and reviews online for purchases instead of going from store to store looking.
8. Clean towels. I love the smell of fresh, clean, warm towels!

Learning the First Presidency

For FHE tonight I decided to teach Matty the names of the new First Presidency so he would recognize a few faces at Conference. He was having a hard time keeping focused, so we turned it into a game. He loves pennies, so we'd ask who each person was and when you got it right you got a penny. We played too so that he'd hear us saying them correctly. Here's our funny boy with the names down:

Easter Fun

It's been a busy weekend with all of our Easter festivities. The Easter Bunny dropped off baskets Saturday morning. (We ask him to do this so that we can keep Sunday more focused on Christ.) Matty sure enjoyed the jelly beans! (You can see he organized them by color even.)Later in the day we had fun dying Easter eggs. Each one of Matty's eggs spent all of about 10 seconds in the dye when he'd proclaim they were done. He was very entertaining. Sunday we went for Easter dinner at my parents' home. We celebrated my brother's 18th birthday while there (which is actually today.) They had set up an Easter egg hunt just for Matty (since his cousin Emi couldn't come.) Since he's allergic to a lot of chocolate items, Grandma put money, stickers, and animal cookies in the eggs. The only thing Matty cared about was the money. :)

Searching for Eggs with the Cadberry Dog

Disappointed look when they were all gone

Discovering the goods!

Thankful Thursday

I think I'm done trying to come up with 10 each week. So I'll just list how ever many I can think of.

1. Passing my glucose test. Wahoo!

2. Cadberry Eggs. My favorite Easter candy!

3. A tissue-getter. Matty used to run from us when we would get a tissue to wipe his nose, but now he'll actually go get the tissue and ask us to help him.

4. Quarterly Enrichment. I know I've put down Enrichment before, but today I feel grateful that it's only 4 times a year instead of every month like it used to be. We had our RS birthday celebration this week and I'm just glad we get some time off before plannning another activity!

5. Fortune Cookies. They're just fun.

6. St. Patrick's Day. I just think it's fun to dress in green. We always have a green dinner, too. The worst was a few years back when I dyed the mac and cheese green. It looked aweful! I've learned since then to choose wisely the foods I dye. :)

7. Good movies. Dan and I love to watch movies together, and I love when we find a really good one that's uplifting! This week we saw Martian Child and we really enjoyed it.

8. Clearance. We were at the store last night choosing another reward for Matty filling out his potty chart again. He chose a water xylophone for the tub that was about $10. When we went to the makeup section, Matty found another one made by a different company that was on clearance for $3! I love that my son found a better deal. :)

I love that more people are playing Thankful Thursday on their blogs. Are you?

Ping Pong Fun

We went to my parents' home yesterday to celebrate my sister Dawn's birthday. Our gift to her was a wooden train set and ping pong set from IKEA. (She wanted "classic" toys for neices and nephews to play with when they visited.) Matty loved playing with her train set, and then we taught him ping pong (with Aunt Dawn helping him hit of course.) He couldn't stop smiling he loved it so much! He thought it was a hilarious game. The net didn't exactly fit on the table, so we had to improvise. Here are a few pictures of the fun:

Sweet Release???

I don't know when exactly going to the grocery store by myself became a greatly desired break and something that I look forward to, but somehow in the last few years it has. Last night I just needed to GET OUT and away from being "Mom" for a few minutes. I ran to the grocery store down the street from us and it was as I was driving that I realized somehow a busy grocery store at dinner time has somehow become something I want as long as I get to be by myself. Weird. I take comfort in knowing a lot of moms feel this way.

Ricks 12th Ward Reunion

We had a reunion for our Ricks College 12th ward back in September at a church house in North Salt Lake, Utah. This was the ward where Dan and I first met. Even though the reunion was months ago, I thought some viewers of this blog who weren't able to be there would appreciate seeing a few pictures. It was so fun to see everyone again and reminded Dan and I what great friends we had made in our 3 years as members of that ward. (If you didn't get an invite and should have, we're sooooo sorry! We tried to track down as many people in the area as we could but didn't know everyone's whereabouts. Forgive us!)

Mingling and catching up with eachother

Here is everyone present who was an official member of the 12th ward including our former bishop who drove down from Idaho.Everyone including kids and spouses Left to Right top: Julie Asay, Bishop Bennion, Nate Palmer with his wife and daughter, Jessica and Randy Farr with their 2 daughters, Trevor and Rachel Hepworth with youngest son, Wes and Laura Jansson with daughter

Left to Right bottom: Our family, Heather and Bryan Brady with Bingham's oldest daughter, Mike and Amanda Bingham with son, Margaret and Peter Tew with 2 daughters, Brett and Christa Larsen with 2 sons, boy in red shirt belongs to Hepworths in top row

Rexburg Temple Pictures

I promised forever ago that I would get the pictures from my dad that he took at the Rexburg Temple dedication. I got them weeks ago but just haven't had the chance to post them. Sorry about the wait! There are over 400 to choose from (my dad is camara-happy) so here are just a few highlights:

Thankful Thursday

So what am I thankful for this week? I'll tell you. . . .

1. 60 Degree Weather. I was able to get Matty out of the house and go to the park twice this week. Wahoo!
2. Public Library Videos. I love that I can checkout movies for free. They don't have the selection of a video store, but when it's free who am I to complain?
3. Family Walks. We all went on a nice walk on Sunday around our apartments. It was a little chilly, but felt so good to get out and do something together outdoors. Matty loved just riding around in his stroller.
4. Competent Lab Workers. I have terrible veins for drawing blood and am a totally wimp about it, so I really appreciate that the lab at my doctor's office is able to get blood on the first poke every time. They do a great job.
5. Internet. With ours being down for a few days this week, I really appreciate a good connection. Some days it's my only connection to the outside world!
6. Appreciation. My RS president dropped off a note this week just to tell me how much she appreciates the effort I put into my chorister calling and the things I'm teaching our sisters. It's nice to feel noticed and appreciated when I really am working hard.
7. Sturdy Dining Room Chairs. We bought them when we were still poor students, but we made sure we bought good quality chairs that would endure. And that they have!! Matty has beat them up so much but they're holding up great (besides a few small dents here and there which aren't entirely his fault.)
8. Google Reader. This has made my life so much easier! I no longer have to click on individual blog links to see if someone has updated. I can just go to my Reader and it will tell me! (Thank you Tib for the head's up!)
9. Costco Churros. Matty and I picked one up on our way out of Costco the other day and then went a few miles to Dan's office to share part of it with him. It was nice to spend some random time together. Churros can bless your family. :)
10. Book of Mormon Reader. We read one verse a day out of the regular scriptures with Matty for years. It was so slow and hard to keep his attention even that long. I found some old copies of Book of Mormon Reader at my mom's house and borrowed one. Matty loves them! When we finish a section, he wants to read another one. And he's learning from them! For example, when I say we should be good going somewhere he responds with, "And not fight like the Nephites?" We're already going through the book for the second time.

Feel free to do Thankful Thursday on your own blog! What are you thankful for?

28 weeks

I took my glucose test today. YUCK! I hate that stuff. I won't hear back from the office if the results are normal, but I plan on calling in a few days anyway because I can't stand not knowing! That stuff makes me so sick, I really hope I don't have to do the 3 hour one.

I had my appointment right after the test. My BP was super high, so they retook it a few minutes later and it was much better. I don't know why they don't just write on my chart in big bold letters "SUFFERS FROM WHITE COAT SYNDROME." That's the only reason my BP is always so high, and I keep telling them that. I take it regularly at Walmart to make sure it's fine, and it always is.

When the doctor measured my fundal height it was 33 cm! I'm supposed to be at 29 cm, and just four weeks ago was right on at 25 cm. He tried to reassure me that it could just be the way the baby's laying or something, but I still kind of freaked out. He wants me to come back in 2 weeks instead of 4 so we can check it again. I really hope it's all okay! It's hard for me not to stress out about it. Matty wasn't a big baby so this one really shouldn't be either (according to the doctor.)

Here's me this past week:

I never took any belly pictures when I was pregnant with Matty until I was 38 weeks. Now I really wish I had because I could have something to compare to! I've tried a lot harder to take pictures every few weeks this time.

Thankful Thursday

It's sad that I really have to think this week to come up with 10. I know I don't have to have 10, but I like to try. I think of things all week and then forget by the time Thursday comes around.

1. A Working Glider. Ours has been broken for several months. We finally got around to fixing it this weekend. It was a pain to fix, but saved us several hundred since we didn't have to buy a new one. Wahoo!
2. Matty Hugs. I love getting hugs from him for no reason.
3. Inexpensive Toys. We got some wood from Home Depot and made some blocks for him. Total cost: $1.87 + time. He loves them.
4. Committee Meetings. I'm on the Enrichment committee. A lot of people don't like having all the meetings, but to me it means a night off from bedtime duty! :)
5. Family Time. We had a family dinner at my parents' house on Sunday because my mom was going in for surgery on her wrist on Monday. I enjoy spending time with my family.
6. Being Told I'm Small. I feel like my stomach is so huge lately, so it felt really nice when someone told me this week how small I look.
7. Husband's Tee's. Some days I just get sick of wearing my maternity clothes and wearing one of my husband's comfortable t-shirts is much more preferable.
8. Breakfast for Dinner. Quick. Easy. Yummy.
9. Two cars. Dan and I had to share a car until Matty turned one. That was a pain, and I'm so grateful to have my own now!
10. The Ensign. My March issue came in the mail 2 days ago. I love getting a new one to read and usually have it finished front to back within a week. I really love that magazine.