Life moves at an incredible pace

One of the benefits of living in a small town: Free eggs. I hate chickens and would never keep them as pets, but I love neighbors who have chickens and so many eggs that they don't know what to do. Thank you neighbor!




It is time to start getting ready for "Hershey" to arrive! I still have 11 weeks left, but my how time flies and truly, nothing is ready. I haven't sorted clothes or unpacked blankets and burp rags. I need to do a major inventory check. For now all I can think of that we need are a few new crib sheets. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want a new double stroller. Our stroller was a double hand me down (meaning two owners before us) and while it still functions it doesn't have trays and one of the canopy's is missing and it would be nice if my two youngest didn't have to fight over shade.
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This is the first time I have ever had a 3D ultra sound. I guess Hershey wasn't being very cooperative- she was hiding all the parts they needed to see (lips and spine) until the very end. I couldn't believe how hard the technician would push on my belly to get her to move. It didn't hurt but feeling Hershey move away from the pressure was really weird. At one time the technician gasped and said "Look at her diaphragm, she's breathing! We call those practice breaths!" He chest was rising and falling like she had just run a race. I be panting too if a technician was intruding on my safe spot in such a manner!
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Can you make out her little face. I got all teary when I saw this picture. It is so cool to see her not looking like an alien!


This is the only thing I have been stock piling for Hershey. I have been trying to build her very own collection of hair accessories. At least her hair will be ready to come home from the hospital!

We had my sister in law Candy over to visit with her new baby, Kona. Bubba loved holding him and kept asking for more turns with Kona. It was so nice to visit with Candy. We hardly ever see each other and this inspires me to invite her more often.

Kona is so little and precious. I just love new babies!

While Candy was at our home, Bubba decided that he needed to pass her the sacrament. She is agnostic and was such a good sport. She said Bubba found the tray (which Kai uses after church on Sundays to take sacrament to those who are sick and unable to attend church meetings) then he got the bagels out and realized that was the wrong bread. He took those back until he found our Sara Lee soft and smooth whole wheat bread. He then broke the bread sans a prayer and began to distribute the pieces of bread. It was really quite funny. Can you tell how close we sit to the deacons on Sunday?

This is my Cambria wearing the apron skirt we got form honeybear lane! We love it! I'll have to get one of Kiera in hers too for Heidi. Thank you so much Heidi! Now that I am writing this I realize that I didn't post a picture of her cute onesies . . . tomorrow for sure!

My Parents made a really quick trip to Vegas last weekend for Lexi's baptism. Lexi is our new niece- we got her in the marriage of Sean and Shannon (which is good because I kept telling him that my kids need cousins. I just didn't think he would provide one their age! He really delivers!)

Lexi really was happy, but I can never get her to smile. The only time I saw her smile is when she announced around the dinner table that her mom and new dad are expecting a baby! Can we say "honeymoon baby" everyone . . . I told you, Sean really delivers on the cousin request. And just to clarify . . . they insist conception happened a few weeks after the honeymoon.

I made my mom pose in the girl's bathroom so I could take a picture of her cute new haircut! I love it. I think she looks so good!

It is so good to have skateboarding uncles! After the baptism we decided to tail gate in the church parking lot. Doesn't everyone do that? Oh, I guess it's just us. The weather was nice and the park we were at across the street was too scary (we'd witnesses a fight earlier that some teenage boys with UFC dreams were recording- it was not a great sight to behold. Oh- and the park bathrooms had no doors- just three open stalls- which is really not good for a pregnant woman. I had to "go"- there was just no avoiding mother nature's call. As I sat in the doorless stall I prayed that no one else would come to use the restroom. I also tried to pretend I was on a trip in a third world country and just experiencing some other way of life. It almost helped because I have a pretty convincing imagination. And thankfully no one came in.

Ew, gross! Can you believe how dirty those feet are?! I kept telling Kiera that she need her shoes on and you can see how well she listened. Oh, well, what does a mother know anyway?

Much to the dismay and unconcealed anger of my folks and Ryan- we convinced Chris to stay with us for the week. He doesn't have anything going on right now so we thought it would be the pefect time. I think Ryan cried the whole car ride home- he has been having so much fun with his big brother back in town. We had a great day with him too. While he was here, we had a BBQ, went shopping in St. George since he only had one outfit with him, went 4 wheeling twice, played a game of sand pit volley ball and had a great time hanging out. He also did a ton of work on my house, but I'll get to that later:)

In this picture Kai and I remind me of that nursery rhyme. You know the ones that goes: "Jack Sprat could eat no fat, his wife could eat no lean and so betwixt them both, you see, they licked the platter clean." I'll have to post a picture of that next time- Mary Engelbreit has a great graphic of the rhyme.

We watched my brother's give the kids rides on the skateboard for an hour! The kids were having so much fun and I think we were all stalling because we didn't want to say good-bye. Bubba kept yelling "Yahooooooo!" Today was the first time I realized that Bubba got the whole "yahoo" thing from watching Toy Story. It is his new favorite movie.

I love when my mom and dad come to visit. Though his tool collection now consists of a hammer and three different types of screw drivers, Kai was not raised to be a "fixer" aka the do-it-yourself-er. He'd like to do it himself he just lacks the training. So when my dad comes to town we have a list of to-do's a mile long. This time it was my front door and porch (if you can call it that). It needed to be sanded, puttied and painted. My dad spent hours sanding and puttying. We got one coat of paint on the pillars before we had to call it quits. Then the door sat for a week until my brother Chris came to visit. He finished the job. He painted the porch and the trim around the roof and my door! He is a do-it-yourselfer and what is even better is that 5 times a day he'd ask me, "Amy, what can I do to help?" Awe, so refreshing to hear those words. He did dishes, hard labor and he entertained my kids for hours upon hours. We had so much fun with Uncle Caca and wish he could come back right now! We have decided to send Malachi to California in the summers for a handyman summer camp with Papa.

Before:

After: Whoops! I didn't get the trim!

Now I just need a few flowers and pots to decorate!