US-Week 9

We honestly did nothing this past week.

Ben: Once again put together another piece of furniture for our new baby. I think we are pretty much done with that! I am sure Ben is tired of being bossed around. He has been a good sport though!!

Jessica: The highlight of my week was a date Ben took me out on. We went out on Saturday and enjoyed our "last" alone time for a while. We went to Johnny Carinos and it was oh so wonderful!! Then we went shopping together-not too exciting necessarily, but it was fun to be together...alone! I love how Ben loves me unconditionally all the time and makes it a priority to spend time with me. I couldn't ask for a better man!

Emily: This girl really didn't do too much this week. Her highlight has to be a new dress her Grandma Sheri bought for her. Ben's sister Stephanie is getting married in June and Emily got a "fancy" new dress to wear. She looked SO beautiful and just like a princess!!!

Caleb: One cute thing Caleb did this week-We were watching Facing the Giants and the end was a happy that makes you cry ending. Ben looked over at Caleb and he was on the verge of crying and Ben said "Whats the matter Cabbie?" and Caleb said "Na-ting" but I knew it touched him. A few seconds later he was watching the couple and then started saying "Don't Kiss, Don't Kiss" So cute!

Baby Boy: Ready to make his appearance!!!!!

This week we watched 2 different movies as a family. Facing the Giants (as mentioned above) and Fly Away Home. Both were such good movies and we were able to enjoy the fact that they were adult movies, yet my kids could watch them with us. I love being able to teach Emily about feeling the spirit and feeling good from bad. It was nice to not have to worry about what words they would or would not say and so on.

Anyway this is my last night as a pregnant girl and I am excited and very nervous! Ben gave me a blessing tonight and in it he blessed me that I would be surrounded by angels and have faith that everything would go well. I love that man!!! Adios Amigos! Next post will be pics of new baby!!!! Yay!!

US-Week 8

We had a pretty typical week. Not much of anything, but every day is new and fun in our household.

BEN: I think Ben had a pretty fun week this week. Friday night he had a Wii night with the Elders in our ward, he said it was a lot of fun. On Saturday he went to the Gun Show at the Shilo Inn with Caleb, my dad and Ben's friend Kieth. Afterward they went and shot guns. I am glad he got to do something "manly" and fun before the baby is born!

JESSICA: This week was a busy week of running errands, cleaning, shopping and working on Young Women stuff. On Saturday while Ben was off doing "manly" things I kidnapped my Mom and took her all over Idaho Falls. It was so much fun-at least for me. My poor Mom got stuck helping find a new pair of shoes (which I am so picky about)! We got so much accomplished. While we were driving home it started to snow and the snowflakes were seriously the size of golf balls, it was crazy! Thanks Mom for going with me.

EMILY: This week she got to do a few fun things. On Tuesday she had her friend Violet over to play. This was fun for me because I met Violet's mom Vanae in Preschool in 1986 and we have stayed good friends ever since. It was fun to see our little girls play together like we used to do and I also got the chance to sit and talk with Vanae for a couple hours. Adult conversation can do wonders for pregnant women (which we both are). Emily also got to go to the dentist on Wednesday and then shopping with Mom and Grandma on Saturday. I enjoyed spending time with her!

CALEB: The highlight of his week was going "gun shopping" with Daddy and Grandpa Empey. He is such a boy and loves guns. I think he even got to shoot of couple of guns while he was with daddy. Very scary thought! Caleb also got to go have his teeth cleaned for the first time. He has been 1 time before to have his teeth checked, but this time they cleaned and polished his teeth and gave him a fluoride treatment. Plus, he had X-rays taken. He did so good and held so still. I had a hard time not cracking up the whole time. By the time he was done my cheeks hurt from smiling so much!

Baby Boy: Still in the oven....

That was pretty much US in a nutshell. And JUST IN CASE I haven't said it enough....ONLY 8 MORE DAYS (hopefully less)!!!!!!!!!!!! YAHOO!!!!!

Is this really real??

So I decided to just sit here and post something...anything, mainly because my kids are asleep, my house is cleaned from top to bottom (in hopes that I end up in the hospital first thing in the morning) and my husband is off at an Elder's Quorum party. BUT I really have thought ALL day about this little guys being born and it seems SO unreal to me. I am not sure why. I have looked at several of my used-to-be-pregnant friend's blogs today and to my surprise and unbelief there really was a healthy baby inside of them that came out. Sounds silly coming from someone who has done this 2 other times, but I really am in denial that this child will ever come out! I think my anxiety is getting the best of me and it takes all I have got to not burst into tears at any given moment. I know I have done this for 9 months, so 10 more days should be a breeze, but really I think they can also be the very hardest.

So to get my mind off of baby, I am taking my mom shopping tomorrow. We are going to get all of the "last minute" necessities. I am going to walk and walk and walk in hopes it will bring on labor...we'll see how that goes! If you are wondering, yes this blog was pretty much part of having the "whine flu" but now I am done and I think I will go take a hot bath and scavenge through my house to find some chocolate-possibly even break into some frozen cookie dough that has been calling my name for almost a week. YUM!

US-Week 7

I can't believe it is already the 2nd week of February! I can smell, feel and see that Spring is closer. I think it is funny that 37 degrees feels like a heat wave to all of us. I am excited for what Spring has in store for my little family.

BEN: This week we spent a lot of time together. Ben didn't end up going on visits, which usually happens on Wednesday. It was a nice night together as a family. Ben also took Friday off work and spent the day helping me get some things done like grocery shopping, laundry, entertaining the kids, etc. He helps me in so many ways (which is in almost everything I do at this point in my pregnancy)!

JESSICA: I had my 36 week doctor's appointment on Tuesday. My due date was set back a day (March 1st) so I would be 39 weeks ON THE DOT when I went to the hospital. I was close to tears, but in the long run I am sure it is for the better. This baby really should cook as long as possible-and really can any woman ever be completely prepared to bring home a new baby?? I am sure I will find something to do! One highlight of my week was a spontaneous Family Baby Shower my mother-in-law threw for me. She called it a "Downpour of Dinners". It was a blast!!! The idea behind the shower was to have everyone bring frozen meals instead of gifts. I thought the idea was awesome! She had a waffle bar there and a few games. My freezer is now full of cookie dough, casseroles, enchiladas, soup and so many more wonderful foods. This will help my family so much for the first month, I can't say how much I appreciated it!!!

EMILY: This past week was Emily's first time to celebrate Valentine's Day with other children. She was SO excited!! On Wednesday night we sat down for over an hour and made homemade Valentines.  I got the idea here, we made the owls for all 19 of her classmates. It was fun to see her bring home Valentines the next day. She even told me that a boy in her class said "I love you Emily" She said she ran and told her teacher. I laughed so hard! I know she secretly liked it!

CALEB: I love how this kids watches and learns so much from his sister. He is telling me all kinds of things that he has learned from Emily. This week in Sacrament Meeting he looked at the picture of Jesus calming the sea of Galilee and told me that in the picture Jesus was saying "Peace, Be still." Pretty good for a 3 year old. Last night we were all laying on our bed watching Chronicles of Narnia and Caleb started rubbing my legs (Ben rubs my legs a lot because of those darn pregnancy leg cramps) and Caleb leaned over to me and said "You like it when I rub your legs? I love your legs!" He is so sincere and sweet!

BABY BOY: This kid is still moving and grooving. Although on Thursday night he moved, squirmed, wiggled and kicked for almost a hour straight. So on Friday he went most of the day without hardly a kick-I think he wore himself out. I was really worried up until about 10 p.m. when it started all over again. I was so relieved. Pregnancy can be really scary at times! 

As for us the funnest thing we did was pop popcorn and play UnoFlash. We all love to play that game and it is easy for even Caleb to get the hang of it...sorta. I recommend it for all ages!

Here are some pictures from my Baby Shower-of course I forgot to take pictures, so a big thanks to my mother-in-law for taking these:

 

Here is one of those awkward pregnancy pictures...my belly is H.U.G.E.!!

US- WEEK 6

It has been a week of staying in the house away from the bitter cold and wind. We also have been trying hard to avoid illnesses, that is the last thing I want with a new baby. When I was pregnant with Caleb, I got the influenza 2 weeks before my C-section-it was miserable! As for us here are our "adventures beyond belief" for the week....hahaha

BEN: He is currently Elder's Quorum President in our ward and I admire his diligence! He is always thinking about how to help his quorum whether it be visiting someone, calling someone or preparing a lesson or activity for them. They are planning a Wii night in a couple of weeks and he hopes to get a good turn out, not just because "the more the merrier" but so they can feel more like a quorum and learn to care for each other. I feel like Ben is really good about balancing his time and making sure he spends time with me and our kids. He truly is a wonderful husband and father!


JESSICA: This week seems to have drug on a bit (just like any other 9 months pregnant girl's week I am sure)! I think it took me all week to do our laundry. YET despite all of my set backs my house remained fairly cleaned and I had dinner ready 3 out of 4 days this week...wahoo! Ben and I made the final rearrangements for this baby to come. My bassinet is set up and my basement is completely cleaned up and arranged the way I want it. As the days go on more and more people glance my way in pity and most of them even comment on my "can't walk so I waddle" or the "I'd rather be at home sleeping" look on my face. Today a man at church offered to "roll" me out the door instead of having me walk...how generous! I sure do want this baby to come NOW...but I know it is better if he cooks longer-dang!

EMILY: This girl has become more and more help to me this week! One of her favorite things is to clean the toilet and I decided to take FULL advantage of this while she "likes it". The things she has helped me with this week are: putting away the laundry, dressing Caleb, vacuuming the floor, putting away the dishes and dusting anything and everything. One cute thing she did this week was on Friday morning she woke up early and made me breakfast. It consisted of a carton of yogurt with a big blob of cool whip on top. When she brought it to me I said thank you and then noticed the bowl it was in was not looking so clean. When I asked her where she got the bowl she said "Oh, it was in the sink, but I washed it out in the bathroom." It is the thought that counts, right! Oh how I love that girl!

CALEB: One thing I love about Caleb is he always wants to be my "big chef" as I call him. Whenever I am cooking something he is on a chair next to me "helping". I hope he keeps his love for cooking as he gets older. Today we made cookies and I smiled because he knew how many were in a dozen. I love the "Mommy and Caleb" time I get to spend with him while Emily goes to preschool. I love to see him be himself and not always follow what his sister does. He is always doing something funny! This morning while get ready for church I couldn't find him and so in my searching I saw these big blue eyes poke out from inside the bassinet. He knew it was naughty and got out of being in trouble but flashing me the big pearly whites. Needless to say I got him out while laughing.

BABY BOY: He of course can't speak for himself, BUT if he could he would be saying "Need more room, need out soon!"


This week as a family we really didn't do anything spectacular. We have played the Wii a lot because sledding, bowling, swimming, skating....yeah pretty much everything is out for me. My family are all good sports and we can make fun out of pretty much anything. I love them and appreciate thier patience so much!!!!

I am trying to work on my scrapbook pages more. Here are some I have done recently:

US-Week 5

Last week was busy and COLD! We once again tried working on getting ready for our baby to arrive, yes that is pretty much all we do these days.

BEN: On Monday he took the day off work to spend some time with our family. He took the kids swimming, played games with them and read books to them. Surprisingly this took up much of the day but he really enjoyed it. He really didn't have a ton the rest of the week. He is patient and never gets bothered by my whining...well at least he doesn't say he does, hahaha!

JESSICA: On Tuesday I went to my 34 week appointment. Everything looked good and I was measuring 37 weeks. I want to carry this baby as long as I can, but having him right now sounds pretty fabulous! I laugh at all of the things I am told like "Oh, well that won't go away until AFTER you h ave the baby" or "That is caused from hormone levels, you SHOULD return to normal after delivery"- I am starting to wonder if I will ever be normal again. My wonderful Mom came down and helped me all day on Thursday. We washed baby stuff and started a quilt top that I have wanted to get done. It turned out really cute, I need to put a back on it but I love how it looks so far.

EMILY: This girl has been recovering from a sinus infection and has had a long couple of weeks. I can tell she isn't quite up to par, I hope she recovers soon! I learned this week that she knows the Pledge of Allegiance and the First Article of Faith and can recite them really well. She also informed me this morning that Pres. Obama is the "President of the Earth", it cracked me up. She is so smart and teaches us so many thing every day. She loves to play "Simon Says" and is very good at telling us what to do-I think this is her ideal game for life. I have no idea where she learned to be so bossy.....

CALEB: He is just busy being a little boy. I am trying to break some bad habits Caleb has. Every night around 3:30 am he thinks it is time to come climb in my bed. It was much easier to bring him back to his room when it was right down the hall, but now that he is downstairs it takes a lot more effort to get up at night. Persistence is the key, right??? We were playing a game with Caleb and Emily on Monday night and Caleb always has to be a jokester. He decided to try and laugh like we laugh and it only made us laugh harder. They faces he was pulling and the noises he was making made us laugh harder. Never a dull moment in this our as long as this boy is around.

BABY BOY: Still not sure on a name for this kid. I keep praying for some needed inspiration!!

FAMILY: One fun thing we did as a family this past week was to go ice fishing in Mackay. A "first" for us and so much fun! We went with our good friend Dustin and his 2 kids. The kids all had fun playing with the fish that were caught and sledding down the ice. It was a little chilly at first but turned out to be a beautiful day. We were all so tired when we got home.

Here are some random pictures: