Predictions...

So, I'm still pregnant. I think I will be forever. Or for at least another 2-4 weeks. It shouldn't be a big deal, as I'm not actually due until the 11th. (Also, Saturday night I had the worst contraction, and it hurt so bad I'm kind of happy to leave him in here until next March, to avoid that kind of pain again.)

But, I kind of need to get him out.

1- I'm bigger than I've ever been in my life. (Well, it feels that way, but I did actually weigh more at the end (2 weeks overdue) with Essi. But, I started this pregnancy 20+ lbs lighter, so it feels like more.)

2- I really want to meet this little guy.

3- Heartburn sucks. There's no other way around it.

4- He's felt like he was going to fall out since early June.

5- I had a dream (back in July) that seemed very real, and was similar to a previous experience that turned out to be real, telling me that this little guy would come sometime between the 22-29. (Of I assumed September. If my dream meant October, I think I'd like an epidural now just to get me to the 29th of October.)

6- Everyday he's in there, he's getting bigger. The bigger he gets, the bigger his head gets, and guess who gets to push that thing out...

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to let you vote on this.. When would be the best time for this guy to come? What are your predictions? Whoever guesses the closest wins!

So, please vote. Even if you are a lurker, or if you've never commented, please do.

1~When will he come? (Date and time.)

***If you are closest you will win Either a cheap calendar or a cheap watch. (Think dollar store.)

2~How big will he be?

***You'll win a Big Hunk candy bar. (If they still make those.)

3~How long will labor be?

***You'll win a Magic Eraser.

***disclaimer*** It may be a month or longer before you get your prize. Also, only people in the states will be mailed a prize. (the 48 states...)

Some random facts to help you make your decision

*With both previous babies, I've been induced.

*Sariah on her due date, and Esther 2 weeks late.

*Sariah's labor was 24 1/2 hours on pitocin with an epidural.

*Essi's labor was 6 hours with pitocin with an epidural that did not work at all. (I'm still wondering where it all went..)

*This time we will not be being induced. (So, no pitocin speeding things up, or helping things along.) Unless there's some sort of major medical emergency, this will be a 100% au natural birth.

*Sariah was 9 lbs.

*Esther was 9 lbs 5 oz.

*I was 9 lbs 5 oz.

*There is the forementioned dream with the dates predicting the 22-29.

Anyway, so vote away!

Babies and Roses

"What's in a name?" asks Juliet, who continues with, "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

As we've been considering baby names, I've come to fully and 100% agree with Anne (with an "E") Shirley's thoughts,

"I read in a book once that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I've never been able to believe it. I don't believe a rose WOULD be as nice if it was called a thistle or a skunk cabbage."

But, I'm also wondering if the diaper of a Horace/Eustace/Herman/Melvin would smell any different than the diaper of a Aiden/Caden/Braden/Haden/Jaden/Raiden..

Also, I've decided it's a lot harder to pick a boy's name than a girl's name. It seems like no matter what the girls name, the girl can make it her own. (Apple?) But, with some boy names, you really can only do so much, or a bunch of other boys have the name, or for a lot of really great boy names, they've morphed into girl names. I'd feel so bad giving my boy a name, and him coming home from school telling me that he has five other kids in class with the same name, and they're all girls. Poor guy. So, then you have to start making up names, or going with really weird stuff. Anyway, off that soapbox.

Over the course of our baby name discussions, we've had several suggestions that were funny to me.

The first one came from my husband, a few minutes after we found out we were pregnant.

Jerrod: If it's a boy, we could name him Jacob, and then for a middle name we could name him after my dad, and use Edward.
Me: You are suggesting that we name our baby Jacob Edward?" Then I started laughing. He didn't get what was so funny. Then I told him we can't because millions of obsessed Twilight fans would be using the same two names for the next 5 years.

Then, after reading from the Book of Mormon one day, Sariah comes out, and says, "I really, REALLY wish that Kishkumen was a good guy, because he has SUCH a COOL name!" I just laughed as I imagined raising a son named Kishkumen.

Other names that have been suggested by my children (for a boy) in all seriousness are;

From Essi we have Rainbow Brite, Ace, and Prince Charming.

Some of Sariah's contributions are, Crusader, Destroyer, Skywalker, Jedi, (which I actually kind of like..) and Anakin.

There were a lot more, but I don't remember them.

So, what will our little guy be named? Well we have finally settled on what he will be named, (Unless it changes... lol.) but it's remaining a secret. Mainly because if someone doesn't like the name, I want it to be his name before they have a chance to warn me not to use it, then if they don't like it, the only two options are to either be rude and tell us they don't like the name we've given our precious child, or keep their comments to themselves. (Which really are the same options that they had before, it's just some people don't see it that way.)

A clue for those who do want to know or guess, both the first and middle name can be found in the book of Mosiah. If you already know or have been told one of the names, you don't get to guess.

Also, comment and tell me what you love or hate about your name, people with names that have given them grief, or just funny name stories.

Sariah's baptism

Sariah got baptized on September 13, 2008. She was baptized in the Blackfoot Northwest Stake Center. Normally there are a bunch of kids baptized the same day and in one meeting, but because we were in the middle of moving, we were lucky enough that they made an exception for us, and Sariah got her own private baptism. The only people who were there were our family, my parents and most of my brothers and sisters, and my Grandma and Grandpa Fife, Brother Packer who presided, and Sister Lot who played the piano. So, it was really small and intimate. Trista gave a talk, then Sariah was baptized, and then while she was changing back into dry clothes, everyone there wrote little notes with their testimonies, or thoughts for Sariah, that we will put together in a book for her. Then she got confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and after her confirmation, she got the opportunity to speak, and bear her own little testimony. It was so nice, and I can't imagine it going better.

Here's a link for more baptism pictures.

Family update and travelogue

Well, we're back in Idaho. Everything with our move went incredibly smooth. I feel like we were being blessed every step of the way. I was able to get enough of our apartment packed myself before Jerrod was done with work on August 30, that we were able to move out on Sept. 1, as we'd hoped. That was a pretty big miracle in and of itself. I'm still so grateful that that part is over!

Our trip went as good as any cross country trip could go at 8+ months pregnant. Things went really well. (My only problem was that my ankles swelled to about 3 times their normal size. It was SO crazy to look at them.) We were able to take a detour that allowed us to see Jerrod's biological father and grandparents for the first time since we've been married, and they got to meet the kids. It was a really nice trip. I was a little sulky about the whole thing, because I was thinking it was going to add 5 hours to our trip. After feeling sorry for myself for a while because I didn't want the drive, and I didn't want to meet people for the first time as huge as I currently am, I felt good about the trip. Then my angel sister, who just got back from her mission, called and said that she was going to Utah, and could pick up our other car (that Jerrod's co-workers drove there so Jerrod and I could drive home in the same vehicle (another huge blessing..) and drive it back to Idaho! That was SO awesome for us, and it ended up making our trip the same distance, or possibly an hour shorter than it would have been without the detour. :) It was great. It was nice visiting with Jerrod's "other" family. The children's great grandparents were delighted by our kids (which made me like them.. Basically, if you like my kids, I like you. lol.) and they spoiled them with presents and lots of candy. I think these were some of the first people that I've seen gush over my kids to the extent that Jerrod and I do! So that was fun.

Jerrod, Grandma June, Sariah, Grandpa Larry, Esther

Sariah, Grandpa Don, Esther

Also, our detour through Chadron allowed us to see what we thought was the best road sign ever, so we turned around and took a picture of it.

A while later, we saw one better, but I told Jerrod that he'd better not go take a picture of it, because I wanted to get home. Luckily google images provided a picture!


Then when we got to Idaho, everything worked out perfect for us to move into our house immediately, and with my dad's help, and a fantastic husband, we got all our stuff moved from our storage unit and to our home in one day!! I was expecting that to take at least several trips over the course of the month. So, that was another HUGE blessing.

Then with a bunch of other stuff, everything went more perfect than we could have possibly planned. We were able to get Jerrod enrolled in school, and Sariah's baptism planned and done better than I'd hoped. (I'll do another blog with pictures from that..) I met my midwives that I'd talked to on the phone throughout my pregnancy, and I absolutely LOVE them! I'm so excited that we'd decided to go with them, I'd felt good about it before, but after meeting them, I'm just thrilled. The only thing that would be better is if our baby would come. But, actually, I think he's waiting for us to buy him a carseat, so hopefully, this week that should happen.

So anyway, we're doing really really good. We're settled in, we have a fabulous ward, possibly our favorite that we've ever been in. (It seems like we say that everytime we get in a new ward though.)

Belly pictures...

Here are what will probably be the last belly pictures this pregnancy. These were taken at 36 1/2 weeks. I am so excited for this pregnancy to be over and to meet our little guy. Also, a disclaimer incase any of you see me in real life. I made my daughter take like 20 pictures of me. I picked the two where I look the smallest to post on here. I'll keep the others for posterity, or just to hopefully guilt the little guy later.. Whatever, but I'd just hate for you to get the wrong idea and say I look small on here, and then be speechless and embarrassed in real life. In real life, I'm huge. Really really huge. Huge in a way that makes me look really tiny to myself in these pictures. Fair warning.

I thought I did a pretty good job looking serene in these pictures. I was going for the "Oh I'm so blessed to have this wonderful blessing inside of me, and I'm not hating every second of it." look. Between pictures, I was growling at my kids to "stand here, not there, don't get in the picture, hold the camera the other way, oh, ow, another stupid contraction, Essi, keep your pants on, we have to leave soon." Then, like a mother who's voice changes when the phone rings in the middle of yelling at her kids, I'd put on my serene face. I think it turned out quite well.

Oh, and I'm kind of ticked because yesterday, I ripped a hole in these pants. They were probably my favorite maternity pants ever. So, this baby really had better come soon, I've only got one (ugly) pair of maternity pants now!