Economically speaking... Just my OP.

Dave and I are baffled at the number of people who are against a financial bail out. Most of the comments we have read are people talking about wall street as if it didn't affect us - "They started this problem, let them fix it", "It was their mistake, let them suffer" type of ideas.

Do people not understand that another stock market crash would not just affect those working on wall street? If affects OUR bank, OUR mortgage, OUR jobs. Not just those on Wall Street. Sure, they had a large part in the whole fiasco but it is all of us who will pay - with a second great depression.

I have read about the great depression, and it seems a lot more people out there need to become educated on what happened as well. If people think that the another "crash" would not affect their ability to use the ATM card at the grocery store to buy food for their family, they are sorely mistaken.

Sure I don't like the idea of having to pay an extra $2000 in taxes when all is said and done (which is what it would amount to per family), however, I think it would be a heck of a lot worse to lose our home, jobs, and struggle to feed my babies.

And where do you think all the extra (if there are any at that point) jobs will go? Imagine... all of those highly educated wall street workers out of work - a degree from UVSC isn't going to cut it.

I have family who lived through the great depression. They won't even throw away old phonebooks. And that time is scarred into their memories forever. I don't want to be the one writing another book about it.

Nothingness.

I am in the mood to bake and clean however my carpal tunnel and energy level are strongly disagreeing with my mood - thus creating a dark grey raincloud hovering over my head.

Oh, and what is with this new "jaw thing" that has developed? "Jaw thing?" you say? "What has that got to do with pregnancy?", that my friend, is what I would like to know. At least I am hoping it has something to do with pregnancy and not my already bad overbite gone awry.

You know how your molars are supposed to touch in the back (chomp) when you bite down or chew your food? Well, mine aren't doing that. There is a space... I can't get them to touch and it is making chewing really uncomfortable. I am hoping this too is pregnancy related in some strange sort of way. If not, I may end up on a liquid diet sometime in the near future. I guess this wouldn't be bad for my BUTT but I like food wayyyyy too much for it to be bearable.

The plan is to take the kids to the pumpkin patch today. Dave ended up helping his brother move this morning which means this will be done during the hottest part of the day, which means I will sit on the porch at the barn while Dave takes the kids on the hayride to the patch. I am sad to miss out on it this year, it is a yearly tradition for us, however, I already feel like I am in a eternal hotflash - my thermostat is currently set to 72 degrees (at least while the kids are outside) and trust me, I would bring it down a few more notches if I didn't think it would freeze out my family.

So those are my complaints for the day. Now I am going to do something I don't do very often and follow Hillary's lead and list 6 random things about me, because it sounds kind of fun and I am sure you are all sick of reading about my ailments day in and out.


1. I absolutely love period movies, and MASTERPIECE THEATRE! Seriously - few things make me as happy. In fact I have the second part of Jane Eyre coming in the mail today from Netflix - and I can't W A I T.

2. I kind of like doing laundry. I know, this is weird but I do. I can't get over the fact that I just pop dirty clothes in a machine and they come out nice and clean and smelling fresh. I think often of women of the past who had to wash their clothes by hand, and I am GRATEFUL for machines that make it so simple :) I don't mind folding it either - putting it away isn't so great but I always do it pretty promptly.

3. Some of my favorite treats are: Hot fudge sundaes, anything peanut butter, cream cheese wontons, and chocolate pudding (preferably homemade :).

4. I absolutely hate having to do my hair. Seriously. I think it is the biggest waste of time and completely frustrates me. If shaved heads were fashionable for women, I would celebrate and get out the clippers. I think I get this from my Mum.

5. I am a walking dictionary of completely useless facts. Seriously. I seem to retain information about anything that is not terribly vital to my own life. Remember a neighbors name that I have met four times? NO WAY! Remember the mating habits of blue whales that I saw once on the discovery channel - CAN TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT! Want to know how to get blood and chocolate out of fabric using meat tenderizer? I am your girl! Remember my brothers birthday? Someone give me a calendar.

6. I detest the sound of my own voice. Maybe this is common for a lot of people but seriously, when I am watching a home movie that I am on, or hearing my answering message on my phone, I think "oh my gosh. I have the most annoying voice ever!!!" I don't know how my voice doesn't grate on the people listening to it. Maybe it does and you are just too kind to tell me. But yeah, personally, I think it is really annoying.

So there yah go.

Are you kidding?

All those contractions and I am only dilated one lousy centimeter. ONE. The doctor did say I was already measuring 40 weeks - he actually said "Wow! You are already measuring 40 weeks - bless your heart!". He heartily agreed that an ultrasound was in order for next week so maybe next week I will be having this linebacker!

7 Years Ago Today...

I married the man of my dreams...



We have experienced a lot together in this time, and through it all, my love for you has only gotten stronger. I love being with you, being your best friend, being your wife and the mother of your children. If I had the choice, I would choose you all over again.



Thanks for being my David. What a lucky, lucky girl I am.

The end is in sight.

Well, I had my 36 week doctors appointment today. Surprisingly, they didn't check me - which of course is much more comfortable, but I was looking forward to seeing if I have dilated at all with all of these contractions.

The good news is, my induction date is scheduled for the 9th. I had one of the more understanding doctors today, and he actually felt the baby when I expressed my concern about him being so big. He said we would do an ultra sound the week before my induction and if the baby looks really big, they might induce me even earlier. I was so relieved to hear that. He also said that moms who have done this before are usually more accurate at predicting weight than the doctors or ultra sounds (I SHOULD THINK SO), so I think he was taking me seriously (I am sure looking at Syd's 9lbs 11 oz. on the chart didn't hurt either).

He asked me if Sydney's labor had been complicated or hard, it wasn't. But I think that pushing out a baby that big was definitely harder on my body during pregnancy and after delivery - and it seemed to take a little longer to recover. And the after pains? Well, I heard those just get worse so I am not looking forward to it this time around. There is a lot more shrinking to be done!

I am trying to have a better attitude in this home stretch. I am recognizing this time as a "trial" and will try to endure it a little better with a little less complaining. Maybe I shouldn't write that as Dave will surely read it and then what excuse do I have?

My carpal tunnel has really been bothering me. It started after I had Blake - which was unusual because usually it develops during pregnancy and mine didn't start until afterwards. They thought I had MS for awhile and I had to undergo a lot of long, funky tests. Luckily, close to the time I got pregnant with Sydney, it went away for the most part, only flaring up once and awhile and usually if I wore my wrist brace to bed for a night, it would be gone by the morning.

Not the case this past month and half... my hand had goes numb so easily, lots of wrist pain and tingling. It keeps me up at night and makes my three hours of work each day really hard to do. It even takes me a lot longer to post here because I have to stop, let my hand drop and shake it out to get the feeling back in. Thus the lack of frequent posting.

I am hoping it goes away after the baby comes. Otherwise it might be physical therapy and possibly surgery. I would hate for it to affect my nerves in my hand permanently - my right hand already seems so much weaker.

All in all, it is beyond worth it. I can't wait to meet this new baby boy of mine, hold him and kiss his soft little baby cheeks. I can't wait for Blake and Sydney to meet their little brother and have this brand new spirit in our home. Counting down...

Need to Borrow...

Anyone have a changing table or baby swing they won't be using for awhile???

Funny Girl

Overheard by Syd today as we were driving through a rather nasty smelling area:

"Stinky stunk!"

No matter how many times we correct her, she still calls a skunk a "stunk" - and honestly, I love it.

I have my next doctors appointment on Tuesday. I am looking forward to it - and not at the same time. Looking forward to it to see if I am dilating at all. I must be with all of these contractions I have been having! I am not because it KILLS to lie on my back even for a moment. Rolling over is so painful for that second I am on my back, that I usually sit up to do it. Proof positive this one is going to be BIG. I never had that happen with Syd even though she was almost 10 lbs. In fact with her, I frequently woke up in the night on my back - something that would never happen now.

Pray for early labor for me. I am in sore need to be DONE.

Just wanted to leave you with this photo of my Mum and Dad that I took while up North. It is my favorite of them...

Vacation

Well, it is time for the long put-off vacation post. The flight to Detroit was for the most part, uneventful (a nice change). I flew out with Syd a couple days before Dave and Blake joined us (we had two free tickets with our sky miles with two different airlines).

It was WONDERFUL to see my family again. I miss them terribly... once a year is not NEARLY enough time to spend with them. My mum and Hannah picked us up from the airport. Of course one of the first things out of my mums mouth was that I was huge (I am). I tried to warn her the photos didn't do the "belly" justice.

Sydney was acting a little weird. Reverting back to baby talk and being completely silly the entire time. It takes her awhile to warm up to people I think and she was feeling a little out of her element.

I got to see my parents new cottage on Lake Erie. I wish I would have taken pictures. I was too tired to tote the camera around most of the time. It is the tiniest, cutest little thing! I can see the kids making a lot of great memories there in the years to come when they visit "Ah-choo and Grandpa O".

I spent some time with one of my best high school friends Alyssa, and her two absolutely beautiful girls (seriously, great genes there). It was so good to see them again and catch up. I wish we could have spent more time together but I was only in Canada for a few short days before we headed to Northern Michigan to my aunt's cottage near Torch Lake.

Dave and Blake joined us and we got to have a good old Sunday dinner with most of my family (except for Katie-did and Mike - we missed you two!). The food was wonderful - my mum made butter tarts just for me (I sure ate a lot of them), and my younger brother Isaac cooked some REAL Canadian (pea meal) bacon on the grill. I talked natural childbirth with my sis-in-law Katie (she is the best) and learned about my brother Adam's new apartment. My sisters Hannah and Emily were so great with the kids - who love them just as much.

The next day we headed up North. I surprised myself by only making Dave stop twice in five hours so I could go potty. I think the fact that I limited my liquid intake for the five hour drive helped with that ;)

It was raining when we got up there but it was as beautiful as always. I have such a love for that area. So green and lush, the water is so clear and beautiful, people are so friendly and the towns are darling and quaint.

We swam (the kids spend the better part of each day in the lake), visited neighboring towns (although I didn't do half as much shop-visiting as I usually do, the walking was very limited in my current condition). Ate at some great family style restaurants, roasted marshmallows, caught crayfish on the docks at night with flashlights (mainly the kids and Hannah), talked and laughed and laughed and laughed. Had a pie taste testing - Peach won with cherry coming in close second and blueberry following that. Enjoyed beautiful scenery time and time again, watched the bridge/road go up to let the sailboats through on lake Michigan, fished, ate lots and lots of ice cream (Higgins was the best with their giant cones), shopped, and generally just enjoyed being together.

We were surprised and so excited when Isaac and Katie showed up late one night just as we were going to bed. They thought Isaac was going to have to work so it was awesome that they were able to come.

Dave absolutely loved it there. I knew he would. It was so fun to all be together on a vacation as a family. I think this was the first real vacation we have had with the kids in our seven years. Usually he has had to work or we didn't have the money. I have to say I fell in love with him even more during this time together. I love seeing him that carefree and stress free - he always has so much weight on his shoulders with work. They did manage to keep him working here and there throughout the trip but being that he had limited Internet access (only on his phone), it was still a relaxing trip for him. He is such a hard worker!

It was nice for me to have so much help with the kids. I spent a little more time in the water than I usually do on the hot days, and the heat in the cottage made it hard to take naps so I was a little tired, but I was having too much fun to notice as much.

Here are a few photos from the trip. If you want to see more, you can look HERE, HERE, and also HERE for photos from last year. It is all pretty much the same!

The darling town of Alden.



Ice cream at Higgins. One of the highlights every year!



Blake giving kisses to Hannah.



Some beautiful hanging flowers that I loved at the flower shop.



Sydney decided to "read" one night in the cottage. It was hilarious, she sat there like that for the longest time, like she actually understood what she was looking at!



I will post a few more tomorrow. I have to do some more editing first!

We were really sad to leave. My father offered to give me a blessing with Dave for the birth of our new baby, before we left. What a wonderful man he is. I love that he always thinks to offer that before I leave every year.

We had one last ice cream at Ruthie's in Bellaire before we set out on the five hour drive back to Detroit before we caught our flights in the morning. It is always SO hard to say goodbye. It makes me sad that they are so sad, and of course I am not happy to have to leave either.

About 45 minutes into our drive, Dave told me Blake was crying. I look back and sure enough he has big alligator tears rolling down his cheeks. He wasn't making a sound though, which is so unusual for him - I could tell his tender little heart was breaking. When I asked him why he was crying (as my heart was breaking too), it took him awhile before he could get it out:

"I...I...*sniff, gulp*, I am going to miss... *sniff, sniff*... everyone... *sniff, choke*, in Canada".

I don't know if I have ever seen him quite that sad. Of course, this set me off too and so we were both bawling (I had on sunglasses at least), thinking about it even now brings tears to my eyes.

I told him it was ok to be sad but we would see them again. The kids literally have the time of their life with my family and never want to leave.

We were all pretty sad and depressed most of the way home. Luckily we were staying a really nice hotel near the airport in Detroit that night - with a pool. The kids cheered right up when we let them know they could go swimming before bed. Thank goodness they are both water babies.

I slept very little that night, missing my family so much already, not looking forward to the long day of flying. And then there is the depression that follows the week after. It seems like I build up a bit of a wall to prevent the hurt that comes from living so far away from some of the people I love the most. When I see them, that all comes down and the sadness becomes fresh again for awhile afterwards until I build that resistance back up again. I can't think about it too much, you know?

I am so blessed to have such wonderful parents and siblings. Even more to have a knowledge that because of this wonderful gospel, and our Savior, I have the opportunity to be with them forever one day.

The Haircut.

Well, I did it. I cut all of Syd's long locks off. Dave wanted me to do it, Syd kept saying she wanted short hair ("like Jaylee"). I was hesitant. I like having options and could do so many cute things with it. This morning, however, after struggling to make a decent ponytail with the wildness of it, realizing that when this baby comes I will have a lot less time to do it, I caved and took her after we picked up Blake from school.

Here are the results. These are the best pics I could get. Syd is a stinker and hates it when I take her picture.



Soooo, I think it is cute but it makes her look TOO OLD! And I miss all of that hair already :(