Aussie's & Thanksgiving

This will be multiple posts in one, as our computer crashed and it's been difficult getting online. We are VERY grateful for Derrick's brother's laptop (he went on a mission and let us use it) as it is our only computer currently. Thank goodness Derrick is good at fixing electronics. Since the two years we have been married, here is a list of the things that have broken (and most Derrick fixed!): television, my laptop (twice), Derrick's laptop (twice), xbox (probably 6 times), & our desk top (twice including this time now). The hard drive crashed so we are just waiting for the new one to come in. And hopefully I can still get all of our pictures off of the previous hard drive.... I am trying to brace myself for bad news of all my baby's pictures being gone, but am still trying to be positive. We shall see how that goes.

With that being said, I have been reluctant to load my pictures off of my camera onto any computer! I am definitely going to start loading them online so no matter what happens to my computer, I will have them. (As I said before, my laptop has broken more than once and I lost a bunch of pictures that way... you'd think that I would've already learned that computers aren't reliable...)

But much has happened! So here is my attempt to catch up on our lives.

I have switched Aaron's crib to a toddler bed! And I so should have not done this by myself. Or at least read the instructions BEFORE I started. I moved the bed part to the lowest level, which is very difficult by yourself trying to balance all four corners right to get the screws in with a big belly in your way. After I got it lowered, I read the instructions and the bed was suppose to be at the level it already was at! So I had to undo everything and put it back to where it was. It was frustrating, but Aaron LOVED watching and "helping" me. Whenever I put the screwdriver down, he would grab it and pretend to screw whatever screw I just finished. It was really cute. Then he'd give me the screwdriver when I needed it, and he would take it back whenever I was done. It was fun.

Having Aaron sleep in a "big" bed has not been what I thought it would be... He has always been a cautious kid, and he is too scared to get out of his bed. He loved getting into it when we were finished and playing, but he continues even today to refuse to try and get out. So nice for me, I can still corral him in his bed.

What I didn't expect was him falling out of it... every night... sometimes more than once! He likes to fall asleep perpendicular to how you should, with his head almost hanging off. I always check on him before I go to bed (just a mother habit I guess) and I move him to where he is more safe (behind the bumper). But he still falls out! Then other times his blanket would fall out but he was too scared to get out of bed, so I am up again putting him back to sleep. It was really rough sleep as I am already not sleeping much at this point of the pregnancy. I have lots of hard contractions that wake me up all throughout the night, as well as just plain can't get comfortable (all you moms out there can relate I am sure). Well, my mum from Australia said to put chairs in the way so he doesn't fall out. I thought genius until we buy a lower bed (We are on a "no buying furniture" mode as we don't know when or where to we will move. We don't want to buy furniture to move in a few weeks if we can help it.) as it's rough on Aaron too. So now, I slide my rocking chair to the half of the bed that doesn't have the bumper after Aaron is asleep, and Aaron has slept through the night ever since. Yeah for good advice! Makes me feel like an idiot for not thinking of something like that sooner. My mum is so smart. :)

So my family from Australia came and visited me!! Their son, James, got married in Canada, and they figured if they were already coming across the globe, so why not pop in to see Salt Lake? And so my two worlds collided... They were able to meet Derrick and Aaron for the first time, as well as some of my family. It was weird to see them in my house talking to my family. But it was SO MUCH FUN to see them. :)

Derrick, Aaron, and I met them in Salt Lake and took them to Tucanos. Funny that they come to Utah and we take them to a Brazilian restaurant, but I guess that's the American way. They LOVED the food and it was fun to chat and catch up on everything. We then separated as they had plans to see other people, but they stopped by my parents house later that night. We all chatted for a few hours and then they were off again. They found out Aaron was learning sign language, and taught him "poop".... which if you know me, I CRINGE at this word (which they know and thought it hilarious to teach my poor, innocent child). Sadly, Aaron caught on fast and still does this sign and laughs so hard every time even though I haven't signed it once to him. Thanks for your help mum!

Thanksgiving was right after that, where Derrick and I went to my grandparents in Cedar City. I can count on one hand how many times I've done Thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family, so we definitely had to go when they said they were hosting one. The night before Thanksgiving, Aaron REFUSED to go to bed. He just cried, and screamed, and cried, and screamed... And we decided that maybe he was teething. Finally after 2am, we put Aaron in bed with us so all of us could get some sleep. And let me say, sleeping with your one year old is not pleasant. He slept perpendicular to Derrick and I, kicking Derrick all night long and trying to use me as a pillow. I didn't sleep much. We were all pretty dead on Thanksgiving. I went down for a nap around 11 with Aaron in his play-pen, but I don't think he ever slept. Derrick came and got him around one and I conked out. My aunt came and woke me up for Thanksgiving dinner, which through confusion she left me and I had no ride to dinner. Derrick came and picked me up just as everyone was dishing out food. Aaron refused to eat, had a major runny nose, started running a fever, and loved to chew enthusiastically on his blanket (which is rare). That confirmed our previous thought of him teething. So we asked my aunt for some tylenol, gave him that, and he started feeling/acting better.

That night, we put him down at about 10, to have him wake up screaming at 11. Nothing I did could console him (including tylenol), so Derrick was off to Wal-Mart at 11:30 pm to see if he could buy some orajel. Thank goodness, there were no lines at the pharmacy or check stands yet, so he snuck in right before the mad rush of Black Friday. (I have definitely learned my lesson to ALWAYS pack medicine even if my child seems perfectly healthy and normal when we leave!) Aaron was out on our bed before he was back, and not wanting to move him we put blankets and pillows all around him and slept in the other room. He slept the rest of the night. :)

The next day, we all went boating and motor-biking near St. George. Weird to do this so late in the season, but it was fun. Derrick and I only boated as I cannot ride being 7 months pregnant and Derrick stayed with me. We both were able to drive the boat (a very first for me) and Aaron loved it. Although his absolute favorite of the day was probably throwing rocks into the water off of the dock. He laughed pretty hard at that.

Derrick then found out he worked Saturday morning when he thought he had it off, so we were off early Saturday to come home. We are all a little sleep deprived, but overall the vacation went well. Too bad Derrick got off of his grave SUPER sick... he's been puking or in bed all day. He started running a fever this evening as well. Hopefully he will feel better tomorrow. And thank goodness Aaron is miraculously already done teething so I only have one boy to take care of! (Aaron's teething was a one day thing instead of his usual week long episode. Yeah!)

Just a little update

So I have tried posting a video of Aaron's words for DAYS!! Tried probably 20 times to upload, including leaving it overnight. Finally, I decided to make a new video and this one uploaded in about 20 seconds! Yeah! :) But this is our progress of talking in just one week. I LOVE signing and the fact Aaron can communicate what he wants without grunting and pointing. I wish I would have done this so much sooner. We are still working on "mama" (he learned that this means "I want something" and not specifically me... close though) and the correct use for it.

I am very happy to report that my Personal Progress is DONE!!! It has been a much bigger project than I anticipated, but definitely well worth it. Young Women in Excellence is in just a few weeks and I was asked to be the main speaker. So I definitely have some stuff to say about this program as my testimony of it has grown so much by going through it as a wife and a mother.

My storage closet is cleaned and organized!! This wasn't as big of a project as I thought it would be. But I have gone through every box, and now have quite the decent box for the D.I. I still need to get Derrick to decide on keeping/chucking some of his stuff, but that's for when he has some free time (which may not be until December). Now I am moving onto the bedrooms... definitely lots of stuff in those closets I can get rid of.

As for the pregnancy, I am getting rid of this rash. The doc didn't tell me anything to do but what I was already doing, and it just wasn't good enough for me. So I figured, my dad is a specialist in allergies. I should go see him. So I did. And can I just say how grateful and lucky I am to have him for my dad? I always sleep SO GOOD (which everyone who's been pregnant knows how hard this is to come by) the night after I get an adjustment. And on top of that, my dad found out my rash is an allergic reaction to my fabric softener that I have recently switched. So I was treated for that yesterday, and it's already almost gone. Yeah! Why didn't I think of him first?!

I've also been having many contractions the last month, and some have been quite strong. Stops me right in my tracks wherever I am. One time I decided to time them (just out of curiosity) and I was having 6 or more an hour (sometimes that many in just 20 min). I had a doctor's appointment on Monday and she said since I had a full term baby, and this is my second pregnancy, there is no big concern about it. But I am suppose to lay down and drink water whenever I start having "episodes" of contractions. If they don't stop/slow down when I am laying down, then I have a problem. So now I am taking it more easy. Leaves my apartment a disaster of toys and laundry, but gives me an excuse to play sudoku in bed during naptime instead of cleaning. :) Hopefully everything will just stay normal and healthy. Less than three months to go... I can do it, right?

The Day.. so far...

We've had quite a day already! And sadly, it's only one! But at least it's nap time where I can relax a little. But thought I've give a quick little update while I was online. :)

Last night, I wanted to go out (I usually baby-sit, but I didn't so Derrick and I actually both had the night off!) but Derrick didn't want to have another night without Aaron (he's had more nights than usual this week of getting home after Aaron has gone to bed), so we compromised on dinner with Aaron being our chaperon.

We decided on Chilis, and to our mistake it was a LONG wait. I didn't ask how long the wait was as I saw a friend that I student taught with so she and I got talking. When she was seated, I asked Derrick about the wait and it was at least 30 minutes! And we got there after 7:30pm! But there was no reason in leaving at that point, so I was VERY hungry by the time we were seated.

And we had an interesting evening. They switched our table since we had a baby, and I think forgot to tell our waitress. We sat for quite a while before anyone came to us. The table behind us sat after us, got drinks, gave their order, and almost got their food before we were greeted with a waitress with news of there were no clean cups and she couldn't get us drinks yet. She seemed pretty stressed and I felt bad. But we got a free appetizer for the delay! Which Aaron choked on, and therefore vomited all over. It was quite the fun night. :) We got out of there at like 9:30. But I managed to remember and get Derrick to take a belly shot. So here I am officially at 27 weeks!

Last night before bed, my belly started getting really itchy. And of course, I think of PUPS as I had this with Aaron. It took a month to correctly diagnose and NOTHING relieved the INSANE itching until I got a steroid cream. Benadryl just knocked me out completely for like two days (I don't even remember much from those days) and I still itched like crazy and the bumps continued to climb over my entire body, including chest, arms, and legs. As I am worried about getting them again, I had Derrick check my belly closer than I could to see if I had bumps. He didn't see any, so I dismissed the itching as just my skin stretching and put on lotion to relieve the itching. Well, this morning I woke up at 5:30 am to this.

It's not a very good picture, but definitely now covered in little red bumps all over my belly. I am just grateful that I already have steroid cream from my last pregnancy (it's expired, so I'm not going to use it unless it gets too unbearable), already know what it is that I have, and have an appointment on Monday to get a new prescription for the cream. This rash won't even know what hit it before it gets too bad lol

But besides trying to not itch all day, I am having lots of contractions. They are just Braxton Hicks, but some are pretty strong. I started timing them just out of curiosity, and I had 6 within an hour, 4 of them within 15 min until I sat down for the rest of the hour. For this, I am also grateful for my appointment on Monday. I highly doubt it's anything more than just contractions (as I had MANY with Aaron but never progressed past a fingertip dilation) but still always good to double check.

And now, as I am trying to rest more today (which doesn't come easy with entertaining 4 kids), Aaron disappeared for a bit and was giggling. It was adorable to listen to. And of course, I wanted to see what was making him laugh so cute. I came to find him like this...

I only got two pictures before my camera died, and they aren't very good ones, but the toilet paper trailed out the door and down the hall. He was so excited about it! It was pretty funny. I am surprised that he wasn't shredding it, so it made quick and easy clean up. And since this incident, the bathroom door has been shut lol

But now it is nap time for the two babies and the older two quietly watching a movie (where the four year old is conked out too I am pretty sure). I am excited to fully rest for the next hour or two. I am hoping for two lol

Trick-or-Treat!

Happy Halloween! We had so much fun this year! On Sunday, we spent the evening at a "Murder Mystery" party that Derrick's mom threw. I was so enthralled by the party that I never took out my camera and took pictures! But dinner was AMAZING that included mummy-wrapped hot dogs, jello worms, spider web cheese cake, caramel apples, and so much more. We then had a murder mystery event where we each were characters in a story and had limited information and needed to find out the murderer. I died in the first two minutes. But then I came back as another character. :) It was lots of fun.

And since Sunday was my mother's birthday and we had the murder mystery party to go to, we combined her birthday with Halloween! We did some tick-or-treating around my old neighborhood and I got to see people I haven't seen in YEARS. It was fun. Here are just a few of the pictures I got (I took a TON).

This is the ONE picture I have with me and Aaron... Aaron only wanted Daddy to help him, and so right after this picture he ran back to Derrick. But at least I have proof I was there, right?

If he EVER had the choice to pick what candy, it was ALWAYS a sucker.

Here's my pumpkin with his grandma, Madam Hooch!

Aaron caught on really fast that he was just being given candy. He kept signing "food" to eat more candy. As soon as we rang the doorbell on each door, he would stomp his feet and giggle. He was SO excited. It took like 3 or 4 doors before we got someone to answer (we were a little early) and I felt so bad that he got so excited each time for us to have to leave!

Sadly, this is the best family picture we got. It's kinda blurry, but we were all smiling.

This one makes me laugh. It's clear, but I am trying to explain to my sister how to use my camera while still kinda smiling and Aaron is signing "food" for more candy lol I love his face... to me it says "Hey mom... I'm signing like you want me to. Give me more candy!" lol

I took a belly shot with Derrick, but with how big the farmer shirt is, you can hardly see my belly! And it makes me look way thicker than I am, so I decided not to post it. I am really bad at taking belly shots (only did it once with Aaron and now twice with this one) but hopefully I will be better the rest of the pregnancy. We shall see.

Here is Aaron trick-or-treating at my mom's house.

Baby Sign Language & Last Sewing Project

Aaron had his 18 month check up this past week and for the first time the doc had concerns. Aaron apparently is behind in speaking. The doc asked if he's talking, and I said mostly just the bird talk. He then asked if he could say at least 6 words, and I said no. I got Aaron to say "ba" (ball) one day, but never since. Same with "nigh-nigh" (night-night), but not since. So I don't count them as him KNOWING the word. Just caught onto the mimicking game that day. So actually speaking and understanding that word, I can only think of "hi" and he doesn't say it much.

He understands A LOT. I can say "where's daddy?" and he will run and tap Derrick or hug him. He understands many things that I say or tell him to do, but he doesn't really talk. I've tried getting him to say words by holding the object "hostage" (like a ball) until he repeats the word, but he just smiles at me or gives me kisses & hugs thinking that's what I want him to do to give him the ball. And then it ends with him getting frustrated because he still doesn't get the ball, so we stopped that "game" after the second time. But if all I do is repeat a word over and over again while holding it, he just laughs because he thinks I am being funny. He doesn't catch on that I want HIM to say it.

The doc said to really work on his language and encourage him to speak. And so I have been researching ideas of games or things to help encourage him to speak and I found this website: http://www.babysignlanguage.com/. I've heard a lot of success stories with signing as well as know babies who do it, but I guess I just never was really motivated to teach him. Well, now I am :) I am excited to try this and see if it helps with him speaking.

The doc also said he is behind on his height. His weight is fine, but we measured his height 5 times using two different methods as the nurse kept thinking it was inaccurate. Apparently it shows he hasn't really grown height-wise at all since his 12 month check-up. So we are "watching this" but I don't know what they will do if it continues. I mean weight, you put them on a fattening diet but height? What can you honestly do about this? Maybe I am just oblivious. But I am not surprised he hasn't gotten taller. His pants that he wore last time it was cold (so before this past summer) still fit him now. I guess we'll just "watch" and see what happens lol

So a complete other note, I wasn't the smartest by starting this sewing project when I had 3 extra kids for 11 hours but I did. And I finished! Was way more stressful trying to sew this and keep everyone else happy and entertained, but we survived. I made a diaper holder!

This was way more complicated than I thought, and since I am not following a pattern, I had to guess everything. So it came out a little big... but at least all the pieces were big together ha ha

And since you can't see what the black fabric looks like, I had to show it close up. I am in love with this!

Here is the crib with the finished skirt and a white sheet (looks MUCH better than blue ha ha)

And just because this was so funny, I certainly finished in just the right time. Look how much thread I had left when I finished! The thread wrapped around only 8 more times lol

Ward Halloween Party

Last night was our Ward Halloween party and Aaron's first time in his costume in public. He actually did very well! We've been practicing him getting use to wearing it, so I am glad that he didn't freak while wearing it. :) Through a lot deciding and even changing costumes, we decided to be farmers and have Aaron be our harvest. Derrick thought of putting a sign on Aaron that said "For Sale: 50 cents a pound." We'll see if that makes it on Halloween.

Aaron HATES wearing the hat, which is sad because it is so cute! This is the best one we got with it on.

Aaron really didn't know what to think about the trick-or-treating or how everyone was dressed up. It was funny to watch. He is just a sensitive and cautious kid.

We let him eat some of the candy that he was getting, and then he was all for putting his bucket out there to everyone!

Some of the "booths" were to just grab what you wanted. It was funny to see that he had an opinion as he sifted through deciding what to get. At one place, he was quick to grab two and hurried and put them in the bucket. We all just laughed.

There was also a fishing pond for prizes. He never did hold onto the stick, but he was certainly curious as to what was going on.

And he got a ball!

Long story short, he didn't care about anything at the party after he got that ball.

He just went to the side and played with it until we went home.

This is the best smile that I could catch on camera. He was having SO MUCH FUN!

There was a "Spook Alley" where they had things to feel like brains (spaghetti), bones (pretzels), guts (inside of a pumpkin) and such. It was dark with little orange lights. He didn't really like this. But we still held up each bowl for him to feel. As soon as his hand touched what was inside, he jerked it back and shook his head no. It was so funny! He soon caught on and wouldn't touch anything we brought to him. He did recognize the pretzels though and grabbed a bunch and threw them in his mouth. Good thing he's got an immune system because who knows how many germs were on those from everyone's hands lol

It was a lot of fun and a big success. It was especially fun that Derrick had work off and I didn't baby-sit so that we could all go together and just enjoy the night.

Gardener Village

Aaron and I went to Gardener Village with a group of gals: Derrick's grandma Glenda, Aunt Kathy, my sister-in-law Nicole & her daughter Ella, and Brittany & her son Spencer. It had so many cute picture opportunities! Just too bad Aaron was like this everytime I set him down...

He was ok, but still a little scared of all the witches, if I was with him in the picture.

But he sure never really looked like he was having fun ha ha

Got a non-crying picture with a witch as long as he stayed in the stroller.

Still kept a watch on them though.

Actually sat by this one, but Grandma Bunn is sitting next to him. Got quite a few of him crying before she sat down lol

He LOVED the ducks though! He kept pointing and smiling at them! Just never caught a smile with the camera of course.

And here's the best (only) picture I got of the 3 mama's and babies.

It was a lot of fun. I just wish Aaron would've cooperated with pictures a little better! And the babies certainly conked out on the way home :)