Pumpkins

I remember talking with my husband about pumpkin carving before our first child was born. We both agreed that it was a rather messy and pointless practice. Well, five years and two kids later, we have realized the point: to make the kids messy and frustrate Daddy. Anyway, I think that Justin did a great job on both the kids pumpkins. (He had to do Thomas the Tank Engine free-hand because the pumpkin was too small for the outline.)

Updates

Well, apparently the "false" contractions that I have been having are not exactly false. I am now at 2 cm and things are thinning out. Hopefully the baby won't see this as a sign that he needs to come out. He just has to hang on for four more days.
In other news, Jericho has a nice bite mark on his cheek. No, it wasn't a rabid dog; it was the more dangerous wild Hero.
The large fire that is just over the mountains is still raging. Thankfully the wind was blowing more to the west so the ashes were not as bad today. The kids were still covered with the stuff after they played outside, though.
That is all the exciting news for now. Hopefully nothing too wonderful will happen until next Wednesday.

Baby Shower Pics

Here are some pictures from the baby shower last Saturday. My Aunt Lynn did a wonderful job hosting the party. It was nice that so many ladies were able to attend. I think everyone had a great time. 

Check-up

Well, technically I have 2 weeks and 4 days to go. I am just hoping that I make it till November. I am already at 1 cm and the baby is definitely headed the right direction but no other progress other than that. At the very least I am praying that he will wait until after the baby shower on Saturday.

Pumpkin Patch

Here are some pictures from our first field trip with the Mom's preschool group. We went to a pumpkin patch. The kids had fun although it was a lot different from what I expected. Oregon definitely wins in the pumpkin patch competition. 

The Scary Part

Today, while we were practicing her verses for Awana, Hero asked me to tell her about the "scary part". Not knowing for sure which part she was referring to, I asked her to explain to me what the scary part was. She said, "You know, the part where it says that if you do one thing wrong, it means that you did all the things wrong and you are going to the lake of fire." Okay... I didn't realize how much she had understood when we discussed this verse yesterday. What a great opportunity it was to point out to her our inability to save ourselves and point her to the one who can save us!

James 2:10

"For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all."

Quote for the Day

"You hold onto my shoulders and I'll jump."
This said by Hero to Jericho while on top of the bunkbed.
(Jericho's response, "No, no thanks.")

Good Deal

Yes, its time to talk about Craig's List again. This time the credit goes to my wonderful husband. He found a post for 50+ baby boy's clothes for $25. All of the clothes are in great shape and some of the stuff is brand new. What a great deal. The best part of all is that the lady lives right by our church. She has a daughter a little younger than Hero. I was able to invite them to the African Safari we have coming up on Oct 31. It is great how God works in ways we don't expect. I had only planned on going grocery shopping and doing laundry today!

The Local Church

In my MIT class at church, we are studying the role of the local church. I was encouraged by this article: http://www.towersonline.net/printer.php?grp=news&id=375

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Happy birthday, Dad. (Don't worry, I won't say how old you are.) Sorry for the not-so-recent picture. It is a cute one though. 

Coffee Ants

Ants don't like coffee...however, they do like the white chocolate syrup that you can add to it. My day had already started out not so great. Not much sleep last night, woke up too early, painful braxton hicks, a stuffy-head cold, and little things that do not add up to a happy camper. So, imagine my joy upon finding a long trail of ants leading into my coffee cupboard. The ants had attacked my bottle of white chocolate. The good news is that the syrup was basically gone already, so I felt no guilt when I tossed the bottle in the trash and sprayed the thing with half a bottle of insecticide. Even better news, upon cleaning out the cupboard I found one last packet of Earl Grey Decaf. One cup of that and I can handle ants any day.

A Helping Hand

Today my aunt was kind enough to come over at 6:30 am and watch my kids while I had my check-up. While this in itself is more than I could ask for, I came home to a clean house. My aunt had spot cleaned my carpet, folded my laundry, and dusted. Hero said that they worked today so that I didn't have to. What a great gift!
(Oh yeah, my doctor's appointment was fine. Everything is progressing along great so far.)

Happy Birthday!

Today my husband is 28 years old. Only two more years till thirty!
BTW...this picture is taken from a 3 year old's point of view. 

Owies

Today was a day for owies. Hero got her DTAP vaccine and her flu shot; while Jericho got his flu shot. Unfortunately they didn't get too much simpathy from mommy. I started laughing when Jericho got his shot because Hero was crying louder than he was and she hadn't even received hers yet. The tears didn't last long. Each of the kids got a sticker and a sucker. Jericho even remarked to his sister on the way home that it was fun. Hopefully he has the same attitude next month when he goes in for the flu-booster shot. 

Craig's List

Due to our diminishing amount of space, we decided that purchasing a changing table would be better than trying to squeeze a desk back into Jericho's room. The thought of buying a brand new one seemed a little extreme since this is our third child. I tried to find a cheap used one on eBay, but the shipping was outrageous and the "pick-up" only ones were not worth the drive. So I tried Craig's List. I have never used it before and, I was a little nervous to try it out. It turned out great! I found a changing table for only $15 and I was able to pick it up right away. How great is that?!

Birthday Pics

The top pictures are from Hero's fifth birthday party which was on Saturday. On Sunday, Hero's actual birthday, she wore her new dress that Grandma made. Daddy also bought Hero some beautiful pink flowers.

 

Hiccups

The other day I mentioned to Hero that the baby had hiccups. She questioned, "How can it have hiccups when there is no air in there?" I told her that the baby swallows the fluid and it probably gets hiccups when it gulps too much. I looked online later and found out that while we know what hiccups are (involuntary contractions of your diaphragm), we really don't know for sure what causes them. Here was one possible solution: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9685564&dopt=Abstract

Try explaining that to a kindergartener.

34 1/2 Week Check-up

Today my check-up was at the doctor's new office. This office is definitely better. Better location, better drive time, better parking...
Anyway, the baby is in the head down position. I was pretty sure of this all ready because of the more frequent trips to the bathroom and the fact that I now walk like a duck. The baby weighs about 4.5-5 lbs. (We're not going to talk about how much mommy weighs.)
So, everything is going just fine as far as baby is concerned. Now, if only we had a name...

Name Game

Well, the baby is due in just over a month and we still don't have a name. Everytime one of us thinks that he/she has the perfect name, the other will come up with about 5 different reasons as to why it doesn't work. So, we know what names we don't want (sorry, sis, no "Ziggy".) We just need to find the one that works best.

Little Photographers

This is what happens when you take a shower and forget to put the camera out of your kids reach. (BTW, there are about 50 more. Good thing the camera is digital.)