MONDAY NIGHT MUSINGS

Tuesday August 30 - Monday September 5

- (8/30) CJ had his first playdate today. Yes, he's had friends play here and he's played at friends' houses, but it's always been when we've been there (like the parents were getting together) or a situation when he's being babysat (like sometimes my friend, Lana, will watch the kids while I run to the doctor). But today was different. Bennett, one of CJ's friends in his Sunbeam class, invited him over to play today. Well actually, Bennett's mommy asked me if CJ could come and play. Of course we said yes and CJ was so excited! Especially because Bennett's birthday was a few days ago and CJ had gotten him a gift and was really excited to give it to him. Jamie (Bennett's mom) even came and got CJ and fed him lunch. It was great! I've noticed some unattractive behavior in CJ lately (taking toys, spitting, play hitting, silly name calling) and was worried that CJ might act up a little bit, but Jamie assured me that the boys played really well together and that CJ did great. Maybe he does listen when we have our conversations about how to act. Hopefully that means that those behaviors are mainly reserved for Mattie? I dunno. I know he needs to play with others so that he can learn those vital social skills, but I just hope he's not giving anyone a headache. Sounds like he was pretty good, which is a relief. So next time (like after I have the baby), we'll have Bennett over to our house.

- So I've been waking up at 4 AM every night to go potty. It's been like clockwork for the last couple of weeks. But the last couple of days I've now moved up to waking up twice a night. Oh yea! :( Shouldn't women be able to get a decent night's sleep just before they have the baby since, once the baby's here, there's no sleep at all to be had??

- I've been a really boring Mom the last few weeks (or months, for that matter), and have been trying to liven it up a little around here. It's too hot and I'm too big to take the kids on walks anymore, or to go to the park by myself with them, so I've been trying to come up with something fun to do that won't require me to feel like I'm going to burst (from bending over, from lack of breath, from heat exhaustion, etc). I saw someone on Facebook comment about how they took pictures around the house and then made a scavenger hunt for their kids using the pics (the kids had to find where in the house the pic was taken). I loved the idea and copied it for my kids a few weeks ago...and let me tell you, it was a HUGE success! CJ and Mattie LOVED it!! Ever since then, all CJ can talk about is whether or not we're going on a "bear hunt" or a "scanjaber hunt."

- CJ and Mattie's dreams finally came true this past weekend when they got to ride Zacky's car (it's really Gramma's car for her grandkids :)! It's a red convertible mustang that even has a radio! I remember I wanted one of those battery operated cars SO badly when I was little, but those things are expensive! So I'm glad that our kids now get to enjoy one at Papa and Gramma's house. Just one more reason that they love to go over there. I'm just kicking myself for not having my camera on me when the three kids were cruising together...

- We had an eventful Labor Day weekend: Cameron's wedding reception/open house in Redmond, Woodland Park Zoo, Reese's b-day party, another scavenger hunt, and the splash pad. Busy, busy. But probably the best part for us (as in Bryce and me), was getting the long side of our fence finally finished! Now, when you turn down Maple Street and can see the back of our house and fence, it looks nice! It's pretty! Now we're super motivated to finally get the last side finished (we're about 1/4 of the way there). At least it's the side that no one sees. My goal is to for sure have that side finished, which means the entire outside perimeter finished, before the baby comes. Then hopefully finish the inside before winter (we're a little over 1/3 finished with that as well). Wish us luck!

- Speaking of baby, I went to see the doctor last week for my 36 week check up. Gained a pound and a grew another cm, putting my huge belly at a full 40 cm! And that was the day they checked my cervix for the first time. I went in with mixed emotions. Knowing that we were heading over to Seattle for the weekend made me not want to really be progressing too much. However, at the same time, I've been feeling so lousy lately that part of me wanted to know that it was because I am progressing. Anyway, turns out I'm dilated to a one but not effaced yet, so that was good news considering our travel plans. The baby's head was down, but not too far, which the doctor said was good since I was measuring 40 cm. He didn't want to see me measuring that big and have the baby's head be really down (that would mean a huge baby!). So hopefully when I go in this week I'll maybe be measuring a little smaller because the baby will have a dropped a bit. Though I'm SO ready to be done being pregnant, my mom gets here in two weeks, so here's hoping that our little guy can hold on until then (and not a day longer :).

- Mattie loves horses! I loved horses too when I was little, but I was quite a few years older than Mattie is, but that doesn't change her affinity. She sleeps with a large plastic horse that was a hand-me-down from a family friend. And when she plays pretend, it almost always involves horses. And if there are horse toys around, that's all she wants to play with. And if Daddy is taking requests for pictures to draw during church, it's a horse. She LOVES horses...and I love that she has something that she enjoys so much (and it's not princesses ;).

- Mattie has also been putting her toys to bed lately, and it's super cute. She has a bed for her dollies, but she actually uses it for her JJ (her stuffed dog) and her other toys (like Buzz, her horse, her small kitty, and her small, soft dolly). She puts him in there and covers him with her blanket and then whispers to everyone, "Shhh. JJ's sleeping." Then she'll lie down next to him. Sometimes she'll even lie down with JJ in her own bed while JJ naps. So sweet and loving.

- And speaking of sweet and loving, our kids were so cute with baby Domenic (their new baby cousin) this last weekend. Mattie has really warmed up to him and likes to look at him and help him bounce in his bouncer. And whenever she hears him cry she talks about it and wants to go check on him. So far, she's been nothing but sweet to him. But if you really want your heart to melt, you have to see CJ with Domenic! He is so tender with him and so fascinated by him. For a whole 10 minutes Friday night after the reception, CJ just stared at Domenic, while Gramma held him, and commented on how cute his nose was, and then would lightly touch it, or how cute his little hands were, and lightly touch those, or his cute little mouth. It was adorable! He also made some very astute observations, like that our baby wasn't going to have hair like Domenic, which is very true :). We're all very excited for our baby to get here, but maybe none more than CJ. He has even gotten to the point where he is almost sad or frustrated that the baby isn't here yet and made comments all weekend about how he wanted to see his baby brother, and how he wanted to hold him, and how he wanted his baby brother out of Mommy's belly. I hear ya, CJ. I hear ya.

- (9/4) In CJ's Sunbeam class today they learned about friends. His cute teacher, Sis. Curry, made these sweet little flower boxes with paper flowers in them that said "If friends were flowers I'd pick you." The kids were supposed to give it to a friend, and CJ gave his to Mattie. Awwww. Love it!!

- (9/4) CJ spoke in Primary again today. We weren't sure how he'd do and were totally expecting to have to give his talk for him again, but not this time! CJ had told us that he wasn't going to be shy, and he wasn't! I knew we were off to a good start when he actually sat in the chair up front designated for the kids giving talks...last time he didn't want to leave his class. Then, when it was his time to get up there, he walked right up with me, stood on the stool, and to our surprise, actually repeated what I was whispering in his ear. The first couple of phrases went well, but then he started to turn away from the mike toward me and was whispering really quietly. I was a little worried, so I decided to just speak a lot louder so that if he didn't repeat me, at least the kids could hear what I was saying. But again, to our surprise, me speaking louder was just what he needed, because then he spoke louder as well. He finished the rest of his talk without any problems. Bryce beamed in the back of the room as he watched CJ talk about Mongolia and missionary work all over the world and becoming a missionary. And I could barely keep myself from picking CJ up and kissing him all over because I was so proud. And maybe the best part was seeing CJ's face and knowing how proud of himself he was. It was a great moment for us all, and hopefully a preview of what's to come.

- Also, I have to make note that Mattie has been able to jump with both feet off the ground for a couple of weeks now. Go, Mattie!

- However, poor Mattie seems to be ultra sensitive to loud noises. She has been this way for awhile, but it seems to be getting worse. At first it was just the vacuum; she would cover her ears and run away. Then it was when Mommy and Daddy would raise their voices (which is good, I guess, because it makes me check myself). Then it was in the cart at the store on the way out to the car (on the road) and the blowdryer. But now, she doesn't even like when the toilet flushes. She's generally ok at home, unless she's super upset about something (like the other night she woke up with a bad dream and when I took her potty she definitely did not want me flushing it), but she absolutely hates public toilets flushing and the air dryers in public restrooms as well. It's gotten so bad that the the other day at Costco she about had a meltdown in the restroom when she heard the toilets flushing and their super-powered hand dryer. It makes me sad to see her so upset and I'm hoping it's just a phase.

- By the way, I highly recommend hanging around older moms when you're as pregnant and big as I am! At Cameron's wedding reception, all I heard from family friends was how beautiful I looked and how cute I am and how great I look for being so far along and how I don't even look like I'm as far along as I am. I also hear that at church from the sweet ladies I work with in Primary. I know they're all just saying it (because I get other comments from men like, "You haven't had that baby yet?!" :), because I know that I'm WAY past the "cute" stage of pregnancy, but it's still so nice to hear :).

- Have I told you we decided on a name? Yeah, we decided a few weeks ago. Bryce is the one who finally decided, and he was swayed by CJ. Between the two names we were thinking of - Powell and Sylas (both family names) - we asked CJ several times which name he liked and he always said the same one. And then Bryce decided he liked that one too. I like them both, so we're going with Bryce/CJ's decision. Stay tuned to find out which one we chose :)

Happy Monday!