Long Holiday Weekend and Ryan's Collection

I had such a fun holiday weekend :) I'm hoping that everyone else did too so that you can share in my joy!

On Saturday I woke up super early at 5:30 a.m. to get ready for the day. This isn't unusual for a Saturday morning. Ryan doesn't understand how I can barely dddrrraaaggg my butt out of bed at 7:30 on workdays, but I can be bright eyed and bushy tailed between 5:30-6:30 every Saturday morning. I'm just so excited to have an entire day to play! Going to work gives me nothing to live for, and therefore, I just want to stay in bed. Saturdays are a completely different ballgame. The sooner I get up on Saturday, the sooner I get to start playing and the longer I get to play! I love my weekends!

Anyway. Back to this last weekend.

Ryan was cooking at the Boy Scouts' breakfast so I headed over there at 7:00 to grab a bite to eat and then went to pick up my new friend Jenice at 7:30 so that we could go YARD SALING!!! I'm so glad that I found a buddy that is willing to get up early and come out looking for deals with me :) She brought her adorable little boy along and we had a lot of fun. I think yard saling is even more awesome when you have a baby or toddler because almost every sale has something for kids. It is a good place to get new toys and clothes on the cheap. We both found a few things so it turned out to be a good day.

We quit yard saling around 9:30 so that we could run and get snacks to eat while watching the Vernal parade. My niece Karlee was with her cheerleading group on a float, so we went to watch and support that. Unfortunetly we were on the wrong side of the street to be able to see Karlee on the float, but her teacher told us later that she got off at one point and walked with the older cheerleaders while doing a few cheerleading moves! Super awesome!

Jenice and I went back to Roosevelt after the parade so that she could put her little boy down for a nap. I'm so glad that she was able to come with me and I hope that she had fun too!

That evening Ryan and I went back to Vernal to have a barbeque with Andy and Tawnie. Their neighbors, Stacy and Mason came with their children and it was fun to get to know new people. After dinner we lit off a few fireworks and the kids got to play with some sparklers. Here were two of my favorite pictures of Brooklyn and Karlee:

We had such a good time and we are so grateful that we have family and friends close by that we can see anytime we want!

The next day, Sunday, was fabulous. The kids did a really good job in primary during singing time and I am having a lot of fun in the calling. Just watch, they will release me now that I am feeling good about being up in the primary! Ha ha!

I realized on Sunday evening that I didn't have to work the next day because of the holiday, so that pretty much made my weekend even more awesome than it already was! Woot!

Monday also turned out to be a wonderful day. I used my morning to clean and organize in preperation for our baby coming. I had boxes and boxes of children's clothing that I had to sort and put in the laundry and a nursery to get slightly cleaner and organized. We have this large bookcase up in the baby room that I had decided needed to be moved to accomodate the crib. I took down all the books and the decorations off the top and then proceeded to move the book case. About half-way across the room to my destination I really started to wonder if I should be doing that strenuous of an activity. Next time, I'm just going to wait for Ryan to get home from work. Anyway. It is done. I have the bookcase, crib, and changing table where I want them. I also have gotten pull-out storage boxes underneath the crib and cute black Ikea boxes under the changing table so I have places to put things. Ryan also hung the curtains on Sunday afternoon, so we are well on our way to having the nursery finished! I will post pictures just as soon as we are completely done. I didn't want to spoil the surprise!

So now a little secret spilling time. Ssshhh....this is Ryan's secret! ha ha! I know I have told you guys about how Ryan never likes to throw away old clothes. I decided that I would show you just how many pieces of clothing that he has! Please observe pictures #1-7.

3 HUGE draweres filled with socks, shirts, and underwear :) he he!

An entire dresser filled with more clothing....

His nice clothing hung up in one half of our master closet.....

His pants and sweatshirts thrown on the top rack of the spare room's closet....

Coats and more random clothing in the spare bedroom closet....

load of clean laundry still sitting on our bed....

And one more load of his clothes in the dirty hamper!

Can you believe how many clothes he has?! Most of them haven't been worn since we got married. Ridiculous.

I'll now show you my clothing collection so that you have something to compare his to:

My clothes on my half of the master closet....

And my three large drawers not even entirely full.

That is it!

And he says I have a clothing addiction.....I'd say that's the pot calling the kettle black! Ha ha!

Urges

Sometimes I have the urge to blog, even when I don't have anything to tell people about.

Like today.

I know I love it when people update their blogs on a daily basis so I'm just assuming that you guys like it as well. About 27 hours after posting a new blog post, I will start feeling the pressure to come up with the next thing to tell you guys about. Let me tell you.....most of my ideas are crap.

I once contemplated telling you about my dishwasher loading skills. I'm pretty good at it. No lie.

It is usually the reason I tell you guys embarassing stories or overload you with information.

I'm sorry about all that. I wish I could say that I will stop, but I don't think I will. It's just one of those things....

Urges.  

Panic Mode...and Making Plans

I just realized last night that if our baby stays in my belly for the entire 40 weeks, I only have 9 weeks left to get ready.

That is only if he doesn't come early. Yikes!


My list of things that I need to get done before I go to the hospital makes the national debt look insignificant.
Well....maybe not. But I really do need to kick it into high gear. I have a hard time accomplishing anything because I come to work and sit around thinking about all the things I could be getting done at home and then I usually go up to my parents house and do hair all night (which I love!) and then by the time I get a chance to be at home, I don't have an ounce of energy left to do baby stuff. I also might be a little bit of an over-achiever when it comes to all this baby preparation. Being a first time mom, I really want everything perfect. I'm sure that by the time we're on our 3rd or 4th child, I'll be doing good to make sure the car seat is with us when we leave for the hospital, but for this one, I have great expectations.

I've decided there are a few things that are really important that I get finished before the birth, and a few things that are just "bonus" if I get done.

1-Get baby blanket top quilted. It is all pieced together and I have the batting and the back, but I need to find someone with a long-arm quilting machine to do something cute to get it all finished.
2-Find short dresser to replace our changing table. There is only room for one and I'd rather have a place to put the baby's clothes than a "special" place to change him.
2.5-If I find this dresser at a yard sale, I will probably have to clean and paint it.
3-Find Glider Rocker.
4-Wash and organize all baby clothes. A lot of our stuff has been sitting in our parents attic or I have bought it from a yard sale, so I really need to get it clean.
5-Get in parent's attic (what a joke. If I try to climb into my parents attic, I will make a video and post it so everyone can get a good laugh.) and get down the car seat, baby swing, bath tub stuff, etc., etc..
6-Clean everything mentioned in item 5.
7-Clean everything. My nesting phase hit about a month ago and things were looking good. Now, not so much. Our house needs a scrub down and so do our vehicles.
8-Hang blinds and curtains in baby room
9-Get ahead with items at daytime work. This should take up about 5 bullets because there is so much I have to do at the UBATC before I take my maternity leave! I will be gone just as high school gets back in session, and I do everything for the high school classes! They literally cannot function until I have put in all the information for the classes. I'm going to be so crammed during the last of August and the first of September!
10-Make sure to get all hair clients done right before the baby is due! I have this plan that if I can do everyone's cut and color about 1-3 weeks before I have the baby, then I can take my 6 weeks off and be ready to do hair just as people are starting to see regrowth. Brilliant!

Oh my heavens! Maybe this really isn't that much to do, but I feel like it is! Ha ha! And that was just my "must get done" list! I have a whole other list of things that I would like to do, but I'm not going to be crushed if I don't get around to it. Things on that list are all my fun items! I want to make my own hospital gown so that I can look totally swanky while I am in labor (in my dreams)! I want to get the nursery fully decorated. I want to get all my closets organized. I want to etc., etc., etc.

You get the idea.

I'd like to see Ryan's list of "Things to Do Before the Baby Comes..."
I imagine it looks something like this:

1-Make sure I'm in town when the little squaw goes into labor.


Ha ha! Sometimes I think I am so funny:)

But this seriously could be an issue. Ryan is going to be building a cabin for his Uncle Jared this late summer and into the fall. Guess where this cabin will be located? North slope of the Uinta Mountains.

*Side Note*
Did you guys know how the Uinta Mountains got their name? So these explorers are wandering around in the mountains and they come across a few indians. The explorers ask them, "Where are we?"
The indians give each other a confused look and reply, "You-in-ta Mountains."

Say it a few times kinda slow. Did you get it? Ha ha ha ha ha! You in the mountains! I really do think I'm funny:)

Anyway. We have a plan for if I go into labor and Ryan is in the Uinta Mountains (I'm still laughing!). My brother-in-law Benson owns his own plane and there is a small airport in Robertson, Wyoming. If we need to, he will just fly up and get Ryan when I have the baby. It'll take him like 30 minutes there and 30 minutes back. I think it would be kind of cool if we had to do this. Its an adventure and a race!

So really, Ryan's list is pretty much taken care of.

I feel a sense of accomplishment already!

Doctor's Have a Sense of Humor Too!

"Here. Take this slippery little plastic cup, hold it down in the toilet bowl, and while you try to breathe and squat at the same time, aim as best you can."
"Oh! What was that? You are a woman and you can't aim? Um....that's too bad."


I don't think they are really testing anything. They just think it is funny to imagine all these pregnant women struggling to figure out how they are going to get a sample for the doctor.

I'm just sayin.....


Anyways. Maybe that was too graphic of a story to tell. Oh well. I'm sure someone out there can relate.

Moving on.....

I got a new haircut! Yes folks, I finally cut it off. It was a long time coming, but yesterday I got up my courage and had my hair snipped above my shoulders. If any of you are wondering after looking at the picture-yes, it is longer on one side and yes, it is that way on purpose. I asked the hairstylist to do it that way:)

Here is a picture. It isn't that great (of a picture...) because I took it in my work bathroom, but it gets the job done.

I am feeling like a new woman! I might color it brown this weekend. Can you guys see my regrowth? I haven't colored my hair since Ryan and I decided to have a baby. I have occasionally thought about waiting to color until after the baby comes, but it is totally safe, so I might as well do it whenever I have the hankering!

I Don't Really Want To Do This....

but I will anyway.

I feel quite large. My belly has really, REALLY, popped and I think I look quite "thick."

I don't know how it happened so fast.

And I've lost all sense of fashion. Nothing really fits, but I'll be a monkey's uncle if I have to go out and buy new maternity clothes for the last 2 months. That is ridiculous. I kind of want to though :). I saw this lady at Wal-Mart last weekend that had the biggest pregnant belly I have ever seen, and she was still rockin some super cute clothes! Very, very adorable looking with her hair all done awesome and cool earrings and fun outfit. I'm standing there with my hair in my messy bun (see below), no makeup, and I'm pretty sure I was sporting Ryan's t-shirt. I just drooped my head in shame and walked by, trying not to let my envy show.

How do some women do it? It is like pregnancy is the most natural thing in the world for them! They have no problem adjusting their sense of fashion to stuff for a belly. Maybe I could hire a personal stylist next time around! I should also get my hair done. By a professional. I have a bad habit of cutting and coloring my own hair. Some people might think, "That makes sense. You are a cosmetologist." I still shouldn't do it. It is like a dentist filling his own cavaties.

Okay. Enough delaying. I'm just going to post this picture and be done with it.

Here I am at 29 weeks. In non-maternity clothes, cause ya know, I just can't seem to adjust.



And here I showing off my sweet dance moves at 21 weeks. Just for fun. Look at how skinny my legs look in these pants! I heart my thighs in this picture (is that too much information??)! Heidi Klum just really knows how to design a good maternity skinny pant. But she should make them longer. I washed these after wearing them in this picture, and they got a bit shorter. Sad face.

Ahhh....I love the above picture. I know it is blurry, but it is still really fun and I look back and feel really good about myself:)

Now I just want to blab a little bit. These next items are going to be random and possibly have no correlation to each other. Just hang on for the ride!

• We had a yard sale and we sold our old recliner. I think the new owners will really enjoy it. Now we have room to buy a glider/rocker! yay!
• Our birthing class starts tomorrow night. Mom says these are very, very important if I even want to entertain the idea of not getting an epidural. Serious business right here. I'm very excited:)
• I've been trying really hard to make friends at church because I feel really isolated from our ward and I realize that it is my fault. My efforts have paid off! I had a new friend ask if I would tend her little boy while she spoke in Sacrament meeting in a couple weeks! Yay! No one has trusted me with their child before!
• The Primary President called before I left for church yesterday morning and asked if I wouldn't mind doing the sharing time for the junior and senior primaries. I already lead the singing time for both hours (aka-stand and sing by myself a lot), but I said sure. It turned out pretty good. I was exhausted from standing for the better part of 2 hours after church, but I'm glad they called me. I need to build up a bit of good karma for all the times I ask people to fill in for my singing time:)
• Ryan is going to be gone for 2 weeks this month on various scout camps. He left this morning for his first one. I hope everything goes okay for him. He has a pretty unique set of scouts and some might have a more difficult time than others. Keep your fingers crossed!
• Because of Ryan being gone to scout camps, I have a lot of free time in the evenings! I think I'm finally going to get caught up on my house cleaning and my netflix dvd's. I also might go through Ryan's clothes and throw out a few things. He has a couple pairs of pants with holes in the knees, butt and crotch, but he keeps them because, "they are my favorite pants!" He doesn't ever wear them though. For obvious reasons. I think it is time to rip off the band-aid.
• I'm really excited for my friend's baby shower this weekend. I still need to get her something fabulous. She is having a girl. Any good ideas?

That is probably all I should bore you with. I sometimes feel the need to share stuff I don't need to on this blog. Like the entire bulleted list above. I just like it though:) he he:)

Peace out!

Cassie....this story is for you

But everyone can read it:)

In fact....maybe those people who have children or are planning on having children, or even those that have ever had it cross their minds to have children should read this story.

It can give you a little taste of what you might be dealing with someday.

Now.....please raise your hand if you have knowledge of my nephew Roman. If you don't know him, don't worry. You can picture Calvin from the comic strip 'Calvin and Hobbes' and get a pretty good idea of the kid in my story. Everyone can now put their hands down.

Let's begin.

A few nights ago, our family joined into the national festivities and lit off a few fireworks to celebrate our craving for pyromania.

Oops! I meant to say Independance Day.

We were at my sister Katie's house and her children were running around having a lot of fun. My bro-in-law had bought some really cool aerial fireworks (as I assume almost everyone in Utah did since they weren't illegal this year....) and we were having a ball watching them. With the exception of one that went off immediately after leaving the tube and had us all hitting the deck, it was a pretty normal fireworks night. After running out of big, cool fireworks, my nephew Roman starts turning his attention to more devious activities. Spotting his dad's private collection of firecrackers, he grabs them and announces he going to blow something up.

We believed him.

Benson decided that supervised destruction was better than letting the little 5 year old sneak off with a few and light them himself, so he volunteered to help. They start to blow small items up. Great fun.

After a little while, Roman finds a fly.

Sorry little fly. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong kid.

Roman proceeds to rip off it's wings.

He then says, "Hey Dad, can we blow up this fly?"

Benson asks (thinking he will preserve the fly's life from his bloodthirty child), "Does it have any legs? I don't think it will really work because he will just crawl off the firecracker."

Roman, cupping the fly in his hand, turns his back towards his father, and before Benson can stop him, quickly pulls off the fly's legs while replying, "Nope."

And then they blew up the fly.

Cassie-here are a few more stories involving Roman that I thought you should hear (again....feel free to read even if your name isn't Cassie):

Later, after my older brother Conrad found a salamander and gave it to Roman, I discovered that salamanders can regenerate lost limbs. I didn't tell Roman for fear his curiosity would win out over his love for his new pet. However, this little skill just might save that salamander's life someday.

Last story:
Roman needed a haircut and Katie really wanted me to do it like Kent's. All the cool kids are doing it these days. Dylion (Shalese's boyfriend), Carson, Cole, Kent, and now Roman. I called him on the phone to tell him to come over and get his haircut.

Roman replies, "No. I hate haircuts."

Can you believe this is the same child that at the tender age of 2 would get the cape on himself and call me 'Aunt Haircut' until I pretended to cut his hair, yet again? Oh well.....

"Okay, but I think your mom is going to be mad that you won't get it cut. She really wanted you to have rockstar hair." I say back to him.

We ended the conversation.

Pretty soon, here comes Roman and Katie. He is ready for his haircut.

I'm a little suprised at the quick change of attitude in the boy and asked about it. Katie tells me that when she came into the house and found him playing instead of riding his bike over to see me, she asked why he wasn't over getting his haircut.

"Carolyn called me on the phone and told me that she wouldn't cut my hair, so I can't go over there." he smoothly lies.

Katie, knowing this is false, decided to turn the story around on him. "Oh that makes me so mad!" she replies. "She told me she would cut your hair tonight. I'm going to go over there and punch her right in the stomach."

Roman, panicking for just a moment because he already is quite protective of my unborn child, thinks for just a moment before saying, "JUST KIDDING MOM! I'M GONNA GO GET MY HAIRCUT!" and with that he swooshes out the door.

Oh that kid. The things he does.

Hope you liked these stories! Cassie-I hope Germany is treating you well. Have fun!