bloodline

This is my new favorite song. I really can't listen to it without crying.....maybe because I am pregnant. But if you have time and want to, you have to really listen to the lyrics. They are really beautiful and the song is just amazing to me. You need to download it on itunes because I like it even better than just him singing it acoustic. It is SO good!

My baby isn't going to be my baby anymore.....

So! I am so excited to have another little baby to love. I have wanted to have this baby for a REALLY long time now (way longer than I have been pregnant) and am so excited to FINALLY have her here to hold. I wasn't sure for a long time if I would have another little one and I am just so so so happy that she is almost here. I am also excited to think (if Dustin and I have anything to do with it.....and I think we have a lot to do with it) this will be the last time I have to be pregnant! WOO HOO! So here are a few pictures of my current baby who was pretending to be the new baby in the new baby's new car seat!

It has been a little maddening to me because a couple of years ago we got rid of a lot of baby stuff....again. We got rid of the big strollers and just kept the umbrella strollers. We got rid of the car seat we got rid of the swing you get the idea. So it is killing me that I have to purchase so many things for 1 baby! Because I don't think there is going to be anyone else to pass them down to and it is so annoying! But she obviously needs a car seat and I was thrilled to find this car seat on clearance at Target the other day for %50 off! It wouldn't be the one I would have picked for my little baby girl.... but I guess that is the benefit of having a girl. You can kinda go either way with stuff, blue or pink, as opposed to having a boy.....you can't really go pink. And thanks to a gift card from my dad and his wife this Christmas we didn't have to pay a dime for it! So thanks for the car seat dad! And then I saw a stroller that the car seat can click into on clearance as well for half off and was able to use a bunch of prescription transfer coupons to get that for free as well! And they match to boot.

Here is Lilly showing me how cute she is going to be next to the baby in the car seat.

And here is Lilly's "cute" face. This girl can either take a really cute picture or a really scary picture.....you can decide where this picture falls.

This is Lilly today as we were getting ready to leave. She is obsessed with being a "ROCKSTAR". So she has to wear things that pass her rockstar criteria. This outfit passed the test and she was so proud of it. So I made her take a nice picture and then she was allowed to do a serious rockstar picture......

and here it is.....a little scary in my opinion.

She thought it was pretty awesome! She is going to be such a great big sister I just know it......that is what I keep telling her......and myself!

And if you want to see a REALLY scary picture then scroll down........

AAAAHHHHHH! Attack of the cankles and clubs! I have NEVER had swelling like this before with any pregnancy. In fact I don't really ever remember swelling much with ANY of my pregnancies, even with Josey who was born in the middle of the summer. And don't worry they have checked my urine and my blood pressure and everything checks out apparently so there isn't anything seriously wrong.....but actually...... this IS just WRONG! I know that many many women swell during their pregnancies, especially in their feet but I just haven't experienced this before. I have NO shoes that fit and it is the middle of winter! I would wear flip flops around but really I need to go get a pedicure first because I can't reach my toes and they are really really scary which is why I intentionally cut them OUT of the picture. If I do ANYTHING the next day my feet are huge and I can't walk very well. Yesterday I went to the store and cleaned my kitchen and made dinner and just tried to do the usual things and this morning when I got out of bed my feet ALREADY hurt. It is so annoying.

And here is my oldest baby who came home sick after school yesterday running a fever and hasn't been feeling well. I SERIOUSLY said to Dustin about 3 or 4 days ago that I couldn't remember the last time the kids were really sick and had to stay home from school and that it was great. He told me to not say that because someone is going to get sick and.....well he was right! I REALLY can't remember the last time Maddy was sick. She just doesn't get sick very often. But poor girl is not feeling well. I really really hope I don't get it though right now.....I don't think I could handle it.

let the nesting begin

OK so I think that the "nesting" thing has finally begun to hit. I was awake this morning at 5:00 with my head racing about all the things that NEED to get done NOW. I had to find a pencil and paper to write them down to get them all out of my head. It included such things as fix the doorknob to the office and take back a lamp to IKEA. Seriously these are things that at 5 in the morning really felt like they needed to get done. And if I was in any shape to have run out at 5 in the morning to start on these projects I would have. Unfortunately the thought of walking around IKEA to exchange the lamp and shelves we have is more than I can bare so I think that Dustin is going to have to take care of this one. Now I really need the cleaning bug to hit so that I will clean my kitchen.....but now I am really tired from being up so early this morning.





And on a side note.....is there ANYTHING more frustrating then getting all ready to run an errand that you have planned to do and getting in your car to find that the keys are missing?! SERIOUSLY!? I NEVER take the keys our of my car because I park it in the garage and frankly if I take them out then I usually lose them. So probably one of my lovely children took the keys out......for some unknown reason......and now I can't find them anywhere......and someone is going to die!!!! The sad thing is that Dustin is really good about having a spare key for all of our cars. With this new van we went to go get a spare key made and realized that the kind of key that the van needs requires a microchip key that you have to order from the dealer and they are expensive so we haven't done it yet. Meaning I have NO KEYS!!! AAAARRRRGGGGG!!!!


UPDATE: We found the keys. A neighbor had them seriously is one of the most ironic stories EVER! But I am glad that I have a car!

Last but not least

I can't say I am a particular fan of watermelon. If it is REALLY good then I do really like it but it always seems so hard to find a good one! But this so embodies what a nine month pregnant woman feels like! It feels like a watermelon is in your belly and it doesn't feel good! I can't wait to get out my big fat watermelon and see what she looks like. Sometimes I can't hardly believe that in a few weeks we will have a new member of our family. CRAZY! It has been almost 4 years since we had a baby in the house and I really hope that it comes back to me.

And for any of you close enough to visit me in the hospital I am throwing out an open invitation. Seriously, ESPECIALLY if I go early and my mom isn't here yet because the hospital won't allow ANY children under 18 on the floor.....which means I am going to be sitting there alone with the baby for most of the time, while Dustin is home with the kiddos. So please come and visit!

What we have been up to.....besides waiting.

So besides doing A LOT of laying down and putting up my cankles and clubs (feet), Maddy and I took on this project. Maddy was so nice and has been saving her money to buy fabric to make Josey a little quilt. She has been SO excited about this and we put the new Christmas sewing machine from Dustin to good use! Here is the finished product. Josey loves it of course. And I have been also stockpiling a lot of these.....

Here is what I have so far over the last few months. Like I said maybe this will get me though a few weeks? I plan on going to get a few more this weekend cause there is another good deal going on! And as you can tell in the background I haven't been doing a lot of the dishes........

The Ingalls Effect

Why does every episode of Little House on the Prairie make me cry? And it is NOT because I am pregnant. It has always been that way. It is one of my favorite shows ever that I can't pass up when it is on and I always end up teary-eyed EVERY TIME! Does this show do this to anyone else?

The "F" Word

In our family there have been words that we have deemed "bad" words. They have consisted of stupid, hate, shut-up, and butt mainly off the top of my head. While Maddy and Josey have ALWAYS complied with this rule, Lilly of course has struggled with not saying a few of these choice words, much to the HORROR of Maddy and Josey. Lilly's words of choice are stupid and hate. And let me tell you it has frustrated me to no end trying get her to stop saying these words.



Now cute to a few days ago. Maddy was up helping me fold some clothes and I had the news on in the background. There was a blurb about how a teacher had taught her second grade class to spell the F-word (I didn't see the story so I don't know the whole story). Maddy looked at me and asked what the F-word is. I tried to get away with just saying it is a really bad swear word. And she said, "OH! Like S-H-U-T-U-P?" And at that point I decided to explain the difference between a "swear" word and just a not nice word to say. She didn't know what swear words are and I tried to explain to her that the F-word was a swear word, and swear words are words that we DO NOT use. Luckily I wasn't forced to go into detail about what all the swear words are. HOWEVER I didn't seem to be able to get away with not telling her exactly what the F-word was. She just kept asking me what the word was. I tried to tell her it was just a really bad swear word and that it really was like the worst of the swear words but that didn't cut it. So finally I asked her if she had any idea what the word was. She tentatively asked if it was f***(to hear that come out of my 9 year olds mouth was VERY disturbing by the way). And I told her that was the word. She told me it was written on the back of a seat on the bus and that her and another friend had changed the F to an E but that she didn't know what the word was. I am assuming the friend must have! So then she wanted me to explain what the word meant! Like this couldn't get any worse. So again I tried to just say that people use it in a lot of different ways to be really crude and it is just a really bad word. But that didn't cut it! So I had to tactfully explain what the word meant. And then she told me she wished she didn't know. GREAT! I try to be honest and educational with my daughter and that was what I got!



Cut to tonight. We are sitting around the table and Lilly is now naming off the words that we don't say because they aren't nice. She is telling us that we don't say stupid and hate.....and then asked me if there were anymore words that we don't say and I told her she pretty much had it covered. But then Maddy pipes in with, "And we don't say the F-word." I flipped around and said, "Maddy! we don't need to bring that up!" And then Maddy's little friend who happened to be sitting there asked her what the F-word was to which Maddy started replying that it was a really really bad word. And I cut her off asking her to please not bring it up. So sorry to our friends family if your daughter comes home asking about the F-word. I am just hoping that she doesn't tell her mom that we were talking about it at the dinner table! What makes me laugh though is that there are A LOT of words in between stupid and the F-word to not say, but Maddy wanted to make sure I guess that it was not being said as well.

Maddy and the rat

I know this grosses a lot of people out. I get all sorts of different reactions when Maddy brings the rat down the stairs. But it really has been a great pet for the girls and especially for Maddy. So I came in the room the other day and I found her just cuddling the rat. He was so cute. He was just sitting there on her chest while she pet him. It was really cute. And here is Lilly with the presents from daddy from his trip. She loved them.

What a difference a day makes...

So as you could probably tell from my last post I was feeling a little overwhelmed! And now after a few days and some really good friends and family and a little retail therapy I am feeling SO much better! So let me start off by saying thank mom for the cleaning ladies. I didn't know what a difference it would make in my morale but I feel SO much better! I don't know how to thank you enough!

And thank you to some good friends who were willing to ACTUALLY come over and mop my floor (I really was just kidding about that) and helped to organize the babies room and just make me feel like I am one step closer to being ready for this baby.

And last but not least I decided to just go and get a few things for the baby. Because really even though this is my 4th daughter and I really have clothes coming out my ears, sometimes you just need a couple of new things to make you feel a little more excited. So I stopped in at Target and shopped the clearance sections and found this cute bedding for a total of 30 dollars! I was so excited. I wanted to do something brown and pink and the bumper pad, 2 sheets, and the crib skirt was all on clearance. So now she has a bed and a few new little onsies and sleepers and I am feeling so much better about things.

So then I started to pull out all the clothes and organize them and get them all washed and put away. SO MANY CLOTHES! But they are all washed and put away. I just need to hang up the cute little dresses and then I think for the most part I will be set. And on a side note I went to the store today and tried to stock up on even more diapers. I got 4 jumbo packs of diapers and 4 packs of wipes for 20 bucks! I was rather thrilled!

Now just a month almost to the day to go! WOO HOO!

I really need to clean my nest......

So I keep waiting and waiting for that wonderful "nesting" instinct to take over. I have had this with the other pregnancies and it always seems that just before the baby is to arrive I am able to kick it into high gear and get all the laundry clean and done and the house scrubbed. However I am just a little over a month away from the arrival of our little new one and I have no desire to.....well frankly move. I am so tired and uncomfortable. I am uncomfortable sitting, walking, standing, sleeping, you know the nine month pregnant disease where everything hurts and all you want is to just experience the pain of labor in order to get the baby out. I am there.

However, there is SO MUCH that needs to be done! I can't even walk in the babies room! (That is my goal today) I keep telling myself that I want everything else clean before I tackle the room but I can't seem to get everything clean at the same time. Either the downstairs is relatively clean or the upstairs is relatively clean but NEVER it seems at the same time! So I am giving up on that and just going to tackle the babies room. Besides that I haven't pulled any clothes out to wash and get organized, I don't really have anywhere for the baby to sleep yet and we don't even have a car seat yet. SERIOUSLY? What is wrong with me?

I know that the baby won't know or care where she is sleeping or what she is wearing but I have never been this unorganized before a baby came. I remember with Maddy I seriously think that I thought that I would not be able to go to a store to get anything. I felt like I needed EVERYTHING you would EVER need for like a year before she came. And then after she came I realized that Dustin or I could always run to the store to grab the "essential" baby finger nail clippers! jk But maybe with number 4 I am a little too relaxed? This time I keep thinking I guess I will just wait until she comes out because I will at least be able to bend over and walk up the stairs a little easier.

So if anyone out there wants to come and scrub a kitchen floor that I can't remember the last time it was mopped feel free to stop by. You will probably have to sweep it first though! OR if anyone has a bassinet or something that the baby could sleep in in my room then I could put off cleaning the babies room a little longer......let me know. How sad is this?

My melon belly

Alright so only one more of these LAME baby bump fruits to watch for. I haven't kept track so the last one will probably be posted soon after this but our little baby food is a melon right now and it is SO feeling like it. If she comes out anything like Maddy or myself her head will be this bald and probably this big. Maddy had a HUGE head and was totally bald for a couple of years as was I. This really concerns Lilly when she sees babies. She can't figure out why baby girls are bald and it disturbs her deeply. My body is completely ready to have this baby, however nothing else is in place. No car seat, can't walk in the babies room right now (it has turned into a storage room), haven't pulled out any clothes yet, my house is still a perma-disaster, all things we really need to get too. However I have started stockpiling diapers over the last 6 months so I probably have a couple of WEEKS of diapers....they go through those so fast! Please come early, please come early, please come early......but not before grandma gets here!

back in the saddle again.....

So this post is more for me than anyone else. I am really trying to be motivated and keep going with my coupons. When I have a good trip to the store it motivates me and something about taking the picture of the loot makes me feel happy. SO! My trip to Albertson's today was a great one! Here is my stash..... 10lb bag of potatoes
one onion
20 Yoplait yogurts
1 can cream of mushroom soup
4 Skippy peanut butters
5 boxes of fruit snacks
2 whole chickens
2 boxes of bisquick
2 1lb bags of parmesan cheese
4 bags of Nature Valley Nut Clusters
1 bag of 18 ct cookies
1 box of big pasta shells
1 jar of honey

For a grand total of........$25.00

It made me happy. This was 1 hour at the grocery store and 4 transactions later but you have to do what you have to do right?

And Josey was having a great time helping me with the cutting the coupons and matching them up at the store. Lilly kinda helped but I think got distracted.... and yes that is my big fat pregnant body underneath her. Just deal with it people.


Here are a couple of funny things my kids have said lately:

Maddy: "You know the church is a place that really warms my heart. I was in the hallway and it was dark and I wasn't even scared!"

Lilly: I was trying to make her put her coat on to go outside and play in the snow the other day. It is a big thick coat. She told me that she didn't want to put it on because it would make her look fat. She said it was too poofy and made her look fat! I couldn't believe it! I assured her it doesn't make her look fat and then she asked me if it made her look like a cutie. I of course told her it would TOTALLY make her look like a cutie and so she was happy to put it on.

By the way she is obsessed with my pregnant belly but keeps asking me question about my "big fat belly". It always makes me feel really good! And she asked me if when the baby comes out if I was still going to have a big fat belly and frankly I wasn't sure how to answer that one!

some of my thoughts....

Thought #1: So I have recommitted to the coupon world again. After taking a good 6 months off after moving and vacations and pregnancy woes and school starting etc. I have decided that I NEED to get organized and motivated again. I am tired of spending way too much at the grocery store for things that I need and my supply is GREATLY diminished. The only upside is that I have really been able to gage my three or six month supply of stuff. I was really surprised at how fast some of my stockpile items were used and how some are still sitting out there. It has given me a better idea of how much of certain products I really need to stock up on. SO! I went today and had a spectacular coupon visit to Albertsons that helped reignite the fire. Hopefully I can stock up as much as possible over the next 6 weeks until this baby decides to pop out. At which time I will probably be taking a minor break again.

Thought #2: Lilly is a sunbeam.....what the heck! Last Sunday Lilly started Sunbeams and it wasn't all bad but it wasn't quite as smooth as it could have been either. Since I lead the music it is virtually impossible for me to take care of her during certain parts of primary. So Dustin had to step in when she started making growling noises at her new teacher. Now she is not one of those kids that is yearning for nursery because for the last few months I haven't been able to get her to go there either. BUT once Dustin came and sat with her she did fine and was quickly volunteering for every opportunity she could to participate. Then daddy had to go to class and I quickly had a little sidekick with me. Luckily she kept quiet and behind me the whole time (as opposed to a couple weeks earlier where someone had to drag her out screeching and crying). I then walked with her to her class and once we got in there and her smart teacher whipped out the bag of toys and snacks and handed her a stuffed puppy and a My Little Pony, she looked at me and said, "BYE MOM!" and I quickly sprinted out of the room. Apparently she did great because I didn't see her for the rest of church and when she came out she had a Sunbeam crown on and a picture she had colored and was all smiles. Hopefully next week will go even better.

Congratulations!!

My brother Jeff and his wife Missy had their third child and their second boy (unheard of for the Rebers) yesterday. Welcome to the family baby Will!