Thanksgiving 2011

With labor looming over my shoulder, due to strike at any minute (hopefully); we decided to stick around LA this year.

I toyed with the idea of making a mini Thanksgiving for our little family, which seemed very precious and memorable .... but I won't lie, I was quite relieved to be invited by our good friends the Hollands to attend their little family shindig.

It was wonderful.

Janae and the ladies of her family put together all sorts of awesome little Pinterest gems (like a turkey veggie tray and little mayflower center pieces on each plate), and the food was delicious.  They even put up with Mac attempting to share with Molly .... a few tears interrupted dinner conversation, but not too many.

We ate ourselves sick, chit-chatted the afternoon away, and then were joined by Taylor's side of the family for a mountain of dessert.  I had high hopes all of that would put me into labor .... but alas, nothing yet.

What would we do without the wonderful friends we have here?  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Have I mentioned that I will miss this place?

Ladies' Night

What's the best way to enjoy this awesomely ridiculous little flick?

With about 20 ladies from church and their friends.

We ate lots of dessert before; laughed, oohed, and ahhhed at the movie; gushed over our own Edwards, regretfully admitted the Jacobs of our pasts, and giggled about that first year of marriage.

I love ladies' night.

Yet one more thing to really miss when we move.

Help

Mac can get out of his crib. 

He gets out at least one time each night.

Sometimes two.

He figured it out one day when he was really fighting me over a nap.  He sure did not want to do it, and I sure did.  I tossed him in and left the room.  I hear sobbing, silence, a thump, and then suddenly he is running into my room saying, "I did it!  I did it!"  Sigh.

So far we just keep putting him back to bed, and trying to explain that he has to stay in there until he sees light outside.  But once it hits 5 o'clock, there is no keeping him in bed.  At five o'clock either one of us gets in the bed next to his crib, or we give him the iPod and try to get him to leave us alone.

What else do we do?

I assume he's just getting us ready for the baby ... right?  Trying to make it less of a shock when we're waking up every hour or two?  How very kind.

The problem is, I keep having nightmares that once I get the baby down, Mac will come tip-toeing in, whispering,  "All done night-night." 

No Mac, no.  You have been my best sleeper up to this point ... don't fail me now.

Great With Child

Oh, I am ready to meet this little girl.

And ... this was taken about two weeks ago.  I've gotten a bit bigger, but I rarely wear anything besides sweats these days, so I haven't taken a picture.

I think it is quite common to feel like "it's time" once you've hit those last two weeks.

But I really feel like she could make her appearance at any moment.

My belly has expanded to its maximum.  Plenty of stretch marks have appeared (I'm thinking it's partially due to Mac sitting on me all the time), and I can feel her in every part of me.  She pushes my ribs and punches my bladder at the same time. My belly rolls like a wiggling water bed ... except it doesn't feel like there's even any room for water in there any more.

My cousin-in-law Annie once told me that she feels like there's a time during pregnancy where people look at you and think, "Oooh, what a cute preggo belly!"  And then there comes a point where they think, "Oh poor thing ... you're almost done."  I think I'm getting the pity looks more often these days.  I gave a prayer in church last week, and when I got up to the front, an audible, "Woah," went throughout the crowd.

The fun thing about this stage is how much you can tell there really is a little person in there, about to make her appearance.  The other night Mark was attempting to work out that darn muscle in my lower abdomen that has been a problem throughout most of this pregnancy ... and he stopped.  "Wait," he said, "That's her head I'm pushing on.  That's at least two inches lower than she normally is.  Do you feel like she's dropped?"  Suddenly the burning sensation in the skin of the top half of my belly made sense, along with the progression of pain in my pelvic bones from crumbling to piercing.  He then moved up my belly and showed me each little body part.  "Here are her shoulders.  There's her spine.  And a little bum ... there's a foot ..."  And she immediately moved it across my body, causing my belly to take on plateau-form.  He chased her foot around for a bit, and she responded to every touch.

I love that Mark knows these things.  It has been so nice to have him be a chiropractor during this pregnancy.

My doctor has confirmed that I definitely have dropped, that the baby is in a great position, and that she will definitely be bigger than Mac's 6 pounds 7 ounces.  "But you are tall and strong," he tells me in his thick Japanese accent, "you will be fine.  Easy birth."  I really do like my doctor.

And I really do feel completely confident with this birth.  It must be a combo of this being my second rodeo and all my doula training ... but I don't feel one bit of the anticipation I was completely riddled with before Mac came around.  Perhaps that will change once the real contractions start ...

I've had those braxton-hicks contractions since I was around four months along, but now they hurt.  The trick with labor is to ignore it till you just can't take it any more, but I've got to call my mom once things start up so she can hop on the next plane ... we're hoping she'll get here before I need to go to the hospital so she can take care of Mac. 

It will all work out, right?

It will.

Momentous.

See this face?

This is the face of a man who's been taking tests for the past 22 years ...

And he just finished his last one.

Nice work, my dear.  Good bye student loans, good bye homework, good bye inability to make any money .... hopefully.

Now we are prepping to move on into the real world.  Oh the joys of becoming a small business owner ... anyone need an adjustment?

Injun Mac

In Utah, dark-haired people stand out.  All my life there I was frequently asked "what" I was.  My answer was always:  "Native American."  But then I usually added:  "And Scottish and Welsch."  People always nodded and replied with, "Of course, I can definitely see the Indian!"  What I failed to tell them was that I was only about 1/32 Native American ... and it came from my light-haired, blue-eyed mother's side.  The Welsch and Scottish blood was quite a bit thicker.  But that Pocahontas obsession I had as a kid seemed to leave a lasting impression on me, and I told people that throughout high school as well.

It appears that that microscopic bit of Indian blood has been passed on to my son, however.  Though his hair isn't dark enough for anyone to be curious about "what" he is, the second he opens his mouth you'll hear it.  Mac speaks just like the stereo-typical, cartoon version of the Native American.  Please read the following sayings in a gruff, staccato voice and you'll get it:

• "Dad.  Hit ball."
• "I throw.  Big big rock!"
• "Mommy.  Cracker, Mac.  Please"
• "Blocks.  Now.  Big big tower.  Up high.  Boom!  Fall down."

He really does have a decent vocabulary, but none of the filler words yet.  But for the most part, he speaks quite clearly and most people can understand him.

Of course I don't want him to be talking like this in high school ... but it's a little bit precious.  I don't want him to grow out of it for a while.

The Sad Part

We're moving soon.

And I am really going to miss this.

Utah has lots of wonderful things, but it certainly can't replace the awesome people we've met here.

Or the beach on a "chilly" Tuesday, when nobody is around.

Beautiful Utah

We made yet another trip to Utah in our attempt to nail down our future.

It was so nice.

Matt and Danika took us in, even though they had close to no heads up.  We had a great time.  Mac was so excited he couldn't sleep at night.  He would wake up every two hours saying, "Friends!  Play toys!  Night night all done!"

We talked, played, watched a cow be slaughtered across the street (on Halloween day ... very festive), went out to dinner, and took a lovely little walk through Zion National Park.

Surprise!  We threw rocks.  I particularly love this picture because of Olive in the background.  Danika spent the whole time in this area snatching her out of the water.

Matt and Danika were so very good to take us in, feed us, entertain us, and even show us some sweet neighborhoods close by ... those home prices are sure tantalizing ...

Trick or Treat

He got it. 

Mac finally got it!

Apparently the trick is to head off to Utah where there are some really neat cousins to show him the ropes.

 After each house he would turn around and yell, "Candies!"  Got a laugh out of the homeowner 90% of the time.

 Mark opened one little bag of Mike and Ikes to coax him on to the next house.  Mac tried to sit and eat each piece of candy as it was given to him.

 Mark and I took the littles home after a block so the older ones could race from home to home a gather loot a bit more efficiently.

Thank you Matt and Danika, for letting us join in on your holiday festivities!

We are very excited to live closer to family.

2011 Jack-o-lanterns

Our pumpkins creations were slightly bland this year ...

We spent most of our time making and eating calzones. 

They were divine.

But of course, we can't break tradition ... and although Mac wasn't as into it as he was last year, it was still fun.

The best part was pulling off the top.  I'll bet sister liked it too.

This is probably the reason the boys weren't that into carving pumpkins.  What could possibly top it?

Oh, and take note ... pumpkins mold significantly faster in a humid environment.  Don't leave them out while you go on a trip to Utah.  You will come back to a porch-full of bug-infested pumpkin soup.

Important

I've been meaning to put this up for a while.

Makes me cry every time.