First day of school

Today was a bittersweet day... Makenna started Kindergarten!  She was SOOO stinkin excited.  I was so excited for her!  We walked to school since we only live a block away, and when we got there Makenna quickly found her friend Kyle who is in her class.  I chatted with some other moms until the bell rang.  The teacher, Mrs. Mills, invited the parents in.  The kids found the seats with their names on them, and then the teacher read the story, "The Kissing Hand."  Then the kids gave their parents a kissing hand cookie and walked us to the door.  I was already standing by the door, but Makenna insisted on walking me 2 more feet so I was at the door :)  Then we said goodbye!  I held back the tears until I was on my own on the walk home, then the waterworks started!  I'm gonna miss having that girl around, but I'm so excited for this new chapter of her life!

Bummer Summer

Every year I am so sad for summer to come to a close...  In fact I'm pretty sure I've complained about it on this blog.  However, this is one summer that I can't wait for it to end!

This summer has been a weird one... mostly because I'm pregnant.  We have been home much more.  I can't go to places like the zoo because I feel like I'm going to die of heat!!  So we've been home a lot, or to the pool a lot. We had plans to go on a couple vacations in the last month that fell through which has made this summer even worse!!  Sorry... I just get a little emotional about this waste of a summer!  There have been good parts of it...

1. We have loved going on morning bike rides/walks.  I walk and the kids ride for 2 1/2 miles.  It has been a really fun part of our summer.

2. Being at home a lot has been good for the amount of nesting I have done this time around.  At some point this summer, every single area of our house has been cleaned and organized!  (That doesn't necessarily mean it has stayed that way though!)  I have had a ton of fun decorating the nursery in the last month.  I still have a ways to go, but I love it!  It's neutral to fit whatever form of Lee comes out, but a couple things I'm leaving till the baby comes like the wall-hanging's above the crib, and the quilt.  I can't wait till I finish!

3. We went on some really fun dates and hung out a ton with our good friends, the Reidheads.  We hang out with them at least a couple times a week and always have tons of fun together!  She had her sweet baby a few weeks ago, and that has given me my baby fix for now!

4.  We have gone to the pool a lot, like I said.  Both the kids are swimming well now, and there is nothing better for a pregnant woman than sitting in a pool of water!

Ok, so that is a little sad that I could only come up with 4 things, but we will leave it at that!  Now I will have to wait a whole year to have the summer of my dreams! :P

Well at least I have a lot to look forward to...

Makenna starts school in a couple days.  I decided instead of doing the charter thing like I was going to, that our public elementary school was actually a better fit.  This took tons of thought and prayer to reach this decision, but I know it is the right one for her.  Plus, hello!  It is like 1 block from our house!  We found out her teacher a couple days ago, and she is supposed to be wonderful!  I'm so excited about that because I think that was my biggest hang-up... allowing my child that has been in my care her whole life to go to someone that I didn't trust.  She also has a couple friends from church in her class which makes it even better!  Makenna is SOOO stinking excited and SOOO ready!  Her daddy gave her a father's blessing last night and it spoke a lot of her being a good friend and helping kids that need a good friend, and I just loved that because it is so her!  She is such a good friend and can become best friends with anyone in a few minutes.  I can't wait to see how much she grows and blossoms by starting school.

Our sweet baby Lee is doing well!  I get to see the baby on ultrasound weekly and everything has checked out really well.  Last week, the baby was growing a couple weeks ahead, but they didn't seem worried about it, and I'm not really because my babies always do...  I got to see the baby's face really well at my last one, and the features that popped out to me were a round face, big lips, and daddy's nose.  We will see if the baby really does look like that!  It actually looked a lot like Makenna as a baby...hmmm...  On that note, I was really sure this baby was a boy early on, but I really have no clue! I was telling Scott that sometimes it feels like we are having twins- a girl and a boy because I have planned for both.  We have picked out two names and bought outfits for either.  I can't wait to find out!!!

Gestational Diabetes is going well too!  It has become pretty easy for me now, and I feel like my diet has improved the diabetes, so I can eat a little more.  I was a little worried for a little while because I kept losing weight and went down 11 pounds or so.  I knew I was giving the baby enough nourishment though because I was still eating plenty, so I chose not to worry.  When they told me the baby was measuring big that really put my mind at ease.  I have only gained 12 pounds this pregnancy which just seems crazy to me.  Especially since I'm used to gaining 35-40 lbs.  Hopefully this time the baby weight can melt right off- if anything good comes from all these problems that would be it!  For that I am grateful!

My mom comes exactly a month from today, so hopefully the baby will come soon after that!  I'm expecting I'll be induced early again because I dilate early and because of the baby's size/ diabetes.  Hopefully we planned it right!  Otherwise we will spend that time doing who knows what.

There is a new surgeon coming in September to replace that other surgeon that was supposed to do my thyroid surgery.  I'm hoping the new one is good!  I'm a little nervous!  I will meet with that surgeon next month to discuss when my surgery will be.  Frankly I can't wait to get that over with.

So lot's to look forward to!  I think that will help this bummer summer to not be so bad.  The next few months should be really exciting for our family!  :)

Family Pictures

Sorry these are bad quality... the studio gave me these to put on facebook :)

Lee family reunion

We had the Lee family reunion this week and it was a blast!  Everyone was able to be there except my Brother in Law which is pretty amazing considering how many of us there are!  We went camping at Mancos State Park in Colorado.  My kids are at such good ages that I could basically just let them run around with their cousins and not feel like I had to worry about them.  They had the BEST time playing with their cousins.  I love seeing the bonds they have.  

On Thursday we basically set up camp, ate, and chatted.  After we put our kids to bed, we hung out at the Johansen's campfire till super late- it was a blast!  

On Friday we ate breakfast and started out with the girls putting on a fashion show for us... 

it was so adorable!  The girls were really cute up there!

 most of the girl cousins!

after that we played Minute to Win it put on by the amazing Michelle.  She really did a great job.  Everyone went head to head 4 people at a time in a challenge that lasted a minute.

After lunch we had some chill time which was nice.  We had a lot of fun playing horseshoes.  Tammy and I did pretty good showing the boys our skills if I do say so myself!

We had foil dinners (my fave!) followed by our talent show.  I wrote the Lee family version of the camp song "Boom Chicka Boom," using each family.  Our family's version was "Womb chicka baby chicka baby chicka womb!"  as demonstrated by me in this lovely picture...  :)

 We had a Lee family dance afterwards.  We like to dance!  

 The dance was followed by s'mores, kids to bed, and more adult time by the campfire (my favorite time!) 

With some cousins on the last day.  

My sweet in-laws are going on a mission and as we were leaving we met together for a little family meeting. They bore their testimonies to us which was so powerful.  My mother in law started crying, and one by one about 6 of her grandchildren huddled around her hugging her and holding her hand- it was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen.  The grandkids love their grandma and grandpa so much- it will be hard to have them gone for 2 years!  We are grateful for their decision and example though and know it will be a great experience for them!  The reunion went so great and I'm so glad we got to spend that special time with family.

Family reunion pictures

 Scott's grandma was able to be at the family reunion when we all met together in Bloomfield.  She is one of my favorite people in the world and is still going strong at 92!  We were so glad we got to see her.

 We took family pictures with all 61 of us!  It was crazy, but it worked somehow!  I snapped a couple of the kids afterwards.   

Jace Update

With Stacy's dog Bailey

I have not written much about Jace lately so here are some little tidbits about him:

He loves to fold his ears twice (they are very flexible) and holds it like that with his shoulder.  It is hilarious.

He learned how to swim!  The other day we were at the pool and he could dive down about 3 feet, and could swim to me under water!

He has a problem keeping his pants up.  This must be a genetic thing because so does his father.  You can always see a little bum crack when he bends over no matter what I do.  :)

He loves to ride his bike.  The kids ride about 2 1/2 miles while I walk 2-3 times a week and he does amazing!

He is my cautious little boy.  Once he figures out how to do something he has no fear, but is always cautious at first.  (He got that from me)

He loves oatmeal.  He could eat it for every meal and asks for it more than anything else.

He really likes to make people laugh.  We have recently noticed this about him.  Whenever he is around friends or cousins he is always trying to make them laugh!

Scott can beat up on him as much as he wants, and Jace LOVES it!  It is so crazy.  They wrestle all around and Scott punches him and ties up his little body and pulls his toes to crack them, and he couldn't love it more!  Boys are definitely wired differently!

Jace loves his cousins more than anything else in the world.

He is still my little fashionista.  He LOVES picking out clothes and trying them on.  He is very picky about what he wears every day.  It's hilarious.

Jace is still my little "baby boy."  He know he is my baby and loves that I call him that.  We will see what happens when I really do have a baby!

He is always willing to give me a kiss.

He is my "little shopping buddy."  I love shopping with him cause he just sits so quietly in the front seat of the cart, and tells me every so often if something is cute or not.  I kind of can't wait till Kenna's in school so we can do more shopping together!

He is super sensitive!  If I ever get mad at him at all he cries and says "Yo bein' mean!"  It kind of breaks my heart every time!

Which brings me to his speech impediment.  He definitely has a little lisp.  I love it, but of course hope it goes away at the appropriate time!

He loves babies!  He could love on them and hold them all day.  I think he will be the best big brother!

He is a super special boy.  I'm so glad he's my little guy!

Lost Tooth!

Makenna hit a big milestone yesterday... she lost her first tooth!  We were at the store and Jace was trying to look in her mouth so he grabbed onto her loose tooth, and it came right out in her mouth!  At first she didn't realize what happened and was mad at him because he hurt her, but once she realized he pulled her tooth out, she couldn't stop saying "Thank you Jace!"  It was so funny.  That thing has been hanging in there for a few months so she was glad to have it out!

She was SO excited for the tooth fairy to come.  She left her a note and a gift (a hair tie!) and woke up early this morning at 6:30 and ran into our room to show us her money!  I love when kids get so excited about these things!

Her other bottom tooth is loose now, so we'll see how long that one takes...

RAIN!

We haven't had a good rain in... well I couldn't even tell ya.  It's supposed to be monsoon season right now... not so much!  So when we finally got our rain, the kids ran outside and played in it for like an hour!  

I love that it was raining so hard that you could see the rain coming down in the pictures!

Jace decided he wanted to cover up a little!

Pregnant Woman

I am adding yet one more complication to the list of complications I have had this pregnancy!  I have gestational diabetes!  I could not believe that my tests came back that I had it.  I have changed my diet for the last week which has been really hard, yet easy at the same time.  Hard because it is hard to just figure out what I can eat, and easy because I know it is what is best for baby Lee.  This is a sample of what I eat in a day:

Breakfast: toast with peanut butter

snack: cottage cheese/fruit

lunch: turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread

lots of veggies

snack: piece of fruit/slices of cheese

dinner: salad

meat dish

snack: nuts/cheese

Did you see any sugar in there?  Nope neither did I (besides the fruit) cause there is none!  I have had to cut out sweet stuff completely.  This is semi hard for a pregnant woman to do!  Especially one that craves sugary things all day!  

I have to take my blood sugar level 4 times/day to make sure I'm within good levels.  I'm nervous because I just started today, and my lunch level was high and I was just eating what I always eat... ulllll this is going to be a long couple of months!  Hopefully it will all go away once the baby is born, and the baby will be born nice and healthy!  That is my wish!

This is what we are trying to avoid!  Did you hear about this sweet 16 pound baby that was born to a mother with Gestational Diabetes?  Big babies are a side effect of GD, as well as other problems the baby can have at birth.  Through monitoring on my end we should be able to avoid all complications.

In other news I am feeling a lot less sick since I changed my diet!  I am still sick when I first wake up until I eat, but I no longer get sick because I "eat the wrong thing" during the day!  It was probably the GD all along!    craziness.

Quilt

Made this quilt for my niece's new baby using this tutorial.  So easy and cute!  (Although Scott thought I had wasted my day away making it, the top only took 2 hours to put together!)