This makes no sense.

The how far along are you question drives me nuts. It is impossible to answer!

I just got my "weekly update" on my pregnancy and it says,

"Week By Week - Week Number 25 -

You're now seven months pregnant! Find out what what's in store this week for you and your growing baby."

Okay, I've still got three and a half months left!! I'm SO not 7 months pregnant!

But, when people ask I'm sure as heck going to tell them I am. Then maybe they'll stop with the "You're so huge!" comments.

Is it any wonder our brain stops functioning correctly when we're pregnant. Before you're pregnant, math makes sense! There is always a right answer! 2+2 always equals 4. There is harmony in the mathematical universe. As soon as you're pregnant, the harmonic mathematical universe flies out the window, leaving you in a hormonal mathematical universe where all of the sudden 40 weeks equals 9 months, and you're technically pregnant 2 weeks before you really are, and at 25 weeks, you are 7 months pregnant, and you've still got 3 1/2 (of your 9) months to go!??!

Completely bizzare.

Anyway, I'm using that as my reason for putting the miracle whip in the pantry and the peanut butter in the refrigerator.

(For my somewhat related kid funny, (that's actually incredibly gross) Sariah likes peanut butter and miracle whip sandwiches. She says it makes it taste like Reses, and that she'd like to sell these sandwiches at a shop somewhere.)

Where are all the spoons?

We've been noticing that our spoons have been disappearing. I had been wondering if I just hadn't packed as many as I thought I had, or if maybe the kids had been bringing them into their room. (My other secret suspicion was that Jerrod had been bringing bowls of cereal to sales meeting with him, and leaving the spoons in his car.) We went through the house and car, I couldn't find any, so I'd just assumed that we didn't have as many as I thought we had out here in Georgia with us.

Then a few nights ago, after dinner, I asked Essi to put her dishes in the sink. She was sweet and grabbed her sister's plate and fork as well. Then she came back for the bowls and spoons, and as she was putting them in the sink, we heard in a sweet little sing-song voice, "Bowls in the sink, spoons in the trash!" Jerrod and I both looked at each other, our eyes got huge, and we both just busted up laughing. We went and looked in the trash, and the spoons were in there, as well as the forks. So, apparently, we have less forks than we started out this summer with too.

Now when Essi puts her dishes in the sink, she always reminds me, "I remember! Spoons in the SINK!!"

Blog Stalking...

Okay, (Well, first an unrelated observation, I seem to start all my blogs with "Okay," then I start talking. What an interesting quirk. What amazing self discoveries that come from blogging. What an amazing form of therapy. I think also the sheer amount of posts that I've put up over the past few days illustrates how much I need this therapy. There's just something SO cool about posting on a blog. It gives me the opportunity to form (somewhat) adult thoughts, and feel like I am actually talking to grown-ups, when really, I am at home with kids all day, every day. It's very nice.)

Now, what I was originally going to say.

Now that I've entered the world of blogging, I've become quite obsessed with finding other peoples blogs. I'm feeling kind of like a creepy stalker, typing in the names of friends and family, and all their kids names (complete with alternate spellings, in case I got it wrong) hoping that they have a blog, and I can spy on their lives! Then, when I find blogs of people I know, I go through all the blogs they have on their blog lists, and find more people.

I love reading about these people, and their lives, but I suppose I'm wondering about blog etiquette. Do I say hi, and let these people know I'm reading, and enjoying hearing about their lives? Do I just silently observe, and know all this stuff about people from reading then when I run into them and ask, "How're you doing?" pretend I don't already know? Is this like eavesdropping on coversations not meant for you, or is it fair game because it's posted on the internet?

A lot of these people are people that I only know, or have known on a very casual basis, sometimes not much more than their name and where they're from. But, I'm really excited about reading about them, and getting to know them better, even if I didn't really know them before. Is it still okay to read these blogs? What about commenting?

Well, now you know. I'm stalking you. If you see your name on my "Blog's I Like" list, well, I like yours! lol! (I suppose if you really don't want me there, you can block me, and I'll completely understand.) If you have a blog, and it's not on my list, I probably don't know about it yet. Please send me your links! I love to read about how everyone is doing!

(Wow, blogs are a great confessional too!)

Tact or "Talking to Pregnant Women 101"

Okay, being pregnant, I'm frequently getting asked how far along I am. This is a fine question for any pregnant woman. (But, PLEASE, do NOT ask unless you are 110% sure she is pregnant.) What is not fine however is when she tells you she's still got a ways to go, to look down with wide eyes at her belly, and say any of the following comments.

(The following are purely hypothetical ramblings, illustrating nothing that has happened to myself. Purely hypothetical.)

"Oh! Are you having twins?"
"So, do you have big babies then?"
"Wow! You're big! My daughter is tiny and she's due next month."
"That is ONE BIG BABY!!!"

Saying those things to a non-pregnant person would be considered incredibly rude. Saying them to a pregnant woman is not any more polite. Though the pregnant body is a miraculous life producing wonder, it simply does not produce whatever hormone or brain connection necessary to deal with peoples tactless comments. All pregnant women are very aware of how their body looks, and probably compare their belly to every other woman they see. They know it may be that they've sent their husbands out at midnight for ice cream too many times, but even if that is the case, it's really none of your business! They know how big they are, and they don't need you pointing out anything.

Any of these comments may get you a polite smile, and a courteous nod. What the (hypothetical) woman may be saying inside is "Bite me." Quite possibly she's making a list of any real or imagined flaws you may have, simply to make her overly hormonal self feel a tiny bit better. Perhaps she's vowing to never go to church again, because every time she does, someone tells her how big she is. If she's tired that day, or if her feet hurt, and her ankles are swollen, or she's feeling just a bit emotional, she may be trying to find the closest exit to get to where no one can see her so she can cry.

Again, all that was totally hypothetical.

Now, for a true story. When I was pregnant with my last baby, I got huge fast. (A phenomenon being duplicated with baby #3) By two months, I was in maternity clothes. I was frequently getting told how big I was. Between all the "You're so huge!" comments, there was one person (one of my high school best friends moms ~ who I will love for the rest of eternity) who kept telling me, "You REALLY don't look big. For how far along you are, you're small. No, you're not too big at all. You look just right." She was the shining beacon in that pregnancy. Was she right, no. I was huge. My body gets really big, and makes really big babies. That's just how it is. But, this one person made me feel like I was okay just how I was, and that it was fine for my body to be big, it was building a baby. She was my pregnancy angel, and I'd like to thank her for her kindness, her example, and for the wisdom she had regarding how to talk to pregnant women.

Growing up, my father used to tell us to only speak when we have something to say that is a combination of the following;

1 - Nice
2 - Necessary
3 - True

If it's not at least 2 of the 3 things, don't say it. (But, you can blog about it....)

It?

Okay, I found this funny... But, maybe it's not really as funny as I think it is. When I set my cursor arrow over the picture of Jerrod and myself, it says "Dad and Mom" in a little white box. When I leave the arrow over the picture of our girls, it says, "Our Girls." When I leave it on the ultrasound picture of our baby, it says, "It\" I assume it has something to do with the titles of the pictures, and the ' in the "It's a boy!" one ends what it shows when you scroll over it.

I just thought it was funny that the cursor was calling our little guy an "It."

That's all.

Family Member Updates!

So.... What we're all up to. I'll start with the kids, because they're FAR more interesting than Jerrod and myself.

Esther ~ Essi ~ is 3 years old now. Daily, she'll remind me that her birthday is in December, and she'll be 12. She was quite upset to learn that she'd really only be 4. I guess Sariah had somehow given her the mistaken impression that she'd be older. Along with the "My birthday is in December." comments, she'll also tell me daily about what she wants for her party, who she wants to be there (everybuddy) and what kind of cake she wants. Jasmine, Polly Pocket, Giselle, Princess, Petshop. I keep telling her that she doesn't have to make up her mind yet, and she can tell me in December.

Her life's ambition at this point is to "Get married in the temple, to a missionary" so she can "kiss on the LIPS!!" For some reason, the idea is quite thrilling to her. When I asked her what she'd do if he had bad breath, she replied, "Oh, Don't worry. I can fix that, I'll take care of it." lol! Okay, well, it's all okay then! Now, if through the teen years, she can continue thinking that she needs to wait to be married to kiss, we'll be doing pretty good!

She adores her big sister Sariah, except when she doesn't. Several times a day, she'll give Sariah a big hug, and say, "I love you Sariah, you're the best sister in the whole world! No one could ask for a better sister dan you!" I think, "Oh, how sweet! They love each other SO much," as a tear comes to my eye. 5 minutes later, "Sariah, you're the annoyingest sister in the whole world." Sigh.

Sariah~ Now 7 years old, and she is my little bookworm. Sariah is almost constantly found snuggled somewhere with a blanket on her lap, and a book in her hands. This summer, she's already read, "The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe," the three "Fablehaven" books, a bunch of the American Girl books, (at least 7, but don't ask me which ones they were.) all her A Beka reading curriculum books, and a couple other shorter books. (Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary) She's also devoured several "How things work" type books and has learned about all sorts of stuff, from bugs, to quicksand. I love that I can have her read books to Essi now! They both love it, and if I'm lucky, I can take a nap while they do it! Thank heaven for libraries!!

Her biggest book accomplishment this year is that she completed the entire Book of Mormon on her own!! It took her just under 5 months, of daily persistent reading. (Well, minus the week where she figured she could just pretend to read, and say she'd read and get on to playing. lol! But, then she realized that it was her goal, and she didn't have to do it if she didn't want to, but she wanted to, so she did it.) She started at the very end of January, with the goal to finish by her baptism the first week in September. She finished early, on June 20, 2007. GO SARIAH!!

Her other big thing this summer is "crafts." Any piece of trash in our house is that gets thrown away is mourned with, "But, mom!! I could use that for one of my CRAFTS!!!" Our apartment is full of pictures, puppets, pop-ups, etc. etc. and we've only been here two months! Oy Vey! Fortunately, I mean, unfortunately, most of these will disappear, or get lost when we move back to Idaho at the end of September.

This last year we homeschooled Sariah, and that turned out to be a really good thing. She's been much happier this year, and has been able to move at a perfect pace for her, and with our moving, it's been great to be able to pick up where we left off before each move.

Mom ~ Me ~ I'm 27 now. I'm staying home with mt chiclets. I enjoy libraries, bookstores, and reading. (I'm realizing it's a LOT easier to talk about the kids, than it is to talk about myself. I'm also realizing I need to develop more interests, hobbies and passions. Yikes.) Okay, well... Next..

Jerrod ~ Dad ~ Dad is working with APX Alarm again this summer. It's going well, and he's on track to do at least as well as he did last year. (But, fingers and toes crossed that he'll do better! Prayers please!) He's planning on going back to school part time in Idaho and starting a new job with a debt managing company. (More on that later, much later, like September or October.) He's a wonderful dad, and the kids adore him. Essi will come tell me a few times a week, "Dad's got a new wife. It's Essi." They love Sundays where they get to be with him the whole day. The favorite game of dad and the kids is "The Sleeping Troll" game. This was inspired one Sunday, when dad just wanted a nap, but the kids wanted to play. So dad got to half-sleep on the couch, and the object of the game was for the kids to come kiss him on the cheeck and get away before he could grab them and tickle them. He's sweet, and loves the kids. We couldn't ask for a better dad (or husband.)

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Now, for a general update on our family. This last year has been crazy. In April of last year, we moved from Oregon to Virginia (Norfolk) to work again with APX (though we swore to ourselves it was our last year the year before!) Then we decided to extend in Las Vegas. That didn't go as well as we'd hoped, so he transferred to Salt Lake for three more weeks. Then we moved to Blackfoot. (My hometown) We lived there from October to the beginning of March, and really loved it. It was quite surprising because I'd always sworn that we'd NEVER live in Idaho, especially not Blackfoot! lol! But, we all loved it. It was fun for the kids to live so close to Grandma and Grandpa, and their aunts and uncles (some just a couple years older than they are.) Then at the beginning of March, we moved to Arizona for a month, and we are now just south of Atlanta until the end of August/first of September, when we'll be moving to the Rexburg area for Jerrod to go back to school. APX has been a unique opportunity, and it's been really good for us. But, I think we're ready to be done. If things go well this fall/winter/spring with Jerrod's new job, we won't have to move for the summer!! But, I think even if we have to do this a few more years, we'll just keep renting a house in Idaho even while we're gone for the summer so we don't have to do all the packing that we've been doing, and we can know who we'll be living by when we get back, what the ward will be like, and start building some stability. (What's that?)

Other family updates. In October, we had Felix, a foreign exchange student from Germany, come live with us. That was a neat experience. We all loved him, and the kids really enjoyed having a "big brother." In January, we got to go sledding a few times with Grandpa and aunts and uncles, and that was a blast! At the end of January, Jerrod and I got to go on our first cruise! It was all paid for by APX, and it was with a lot of the people that Jerrod has worked with over the years. It was really fun, though for some reason, I kept getting incredibly emotional. We went to an art auction, and when the auctioneer was describing the work of this (completely obsure, I've never heard of, and don't even remember who it was) artist, I was just weeping with emotion. Very strange. Also, when our dinner table was pirated, that brought forth fresh tears, even though it really was NOT a big deal. I'm not a teary person, so that was all very very weird for me. We got back from our cruise, and I had bronchitis. We went to the doctor, and found out through a routine screening before getting an x-ray, that I am pregnant! Wow! That was a shocker. (But, it explained the emotional breakdowns I'd been having.) We'd needed fertility treatment before, and were planning to use it again in a few months. The timing is a bit of a challenge, but we're excited to be welcoming our first baby boy to our family in early October!

So, that's what's happening/happened with us for now! (Well, and for the last while) All my posts won't be this long! Promise!

Quote/Conversation of the Week: Stepmothers. (After reading Snow White)

Mom: So, does a stepmother sound like a fun idea?
Essi: I'd want Daddy to marry Aunt TRISTA!!
Mom: Aunt Trista? Well, she probably wouldn't be an evil stepmother.
Essi: No, I'll find a prettier wife who won't throw FORKS at Daddy!
Mom: (laughing) One who won't throw forks at daddy? (wondering where ESSI got this from) Well, that's probably a good idea. We don't want daddy getting forks thrown at him. (Really funny if you know the history)
Sariah: I could probably marry dad, and then I could take care of Essi.
Essi: No, I'LL marry dad!
Mom: How about if I just stay alive..

First Post

My first attempt at blogging... I love checking out other peoples blogs, and seeing where/what they are up to, so I figured it was time to start one for our family.