Late Night Ramblings.

CARTER

A few nights ago after prayer, Carter gave me a big hug and then proceeded to tell me...

 "Mom, when I hug you know I will make my tummy do this [sucking his little tummy in as much as he can]... that way I won't hurt the baby and make her cry."

Carter has also become pretty involved in my online shopping for our little one. He likes to stand at my side and point out the things his sister will like. I think it's adoring.

Carter must be hitting a growth spurt. He is out each night at 7:30 p.m. Partly to do with school and then because he's a little more uncoordinated than normal, I think it's another growing phase.

He's got his own mission. A four year old mission and a bit of multiple personalities the past few days. Some days he's endearing, like today when he fell asleep at the end of sacrament and slept on our laps through Sunday school. Other moments, like the 20 minutes prior to falling asleep, when he bit my hand when I handed him a piece of sacrament bread and the proceeded to stick the entire little sacrament cup into his mouth and suck. I seriously freaked out, thinking he was going to choke right there. Needless to say we made an immediate exit from the room and had a good talking too. So, this is a phase right? Please tell me this is a phase, because I'm afraid the past few days my beloved four year old and I are not meshing. We NEED to mesh.

OWEN

Owen loved the primary program today at Church. He only wished that he could participate- well, I think he really just wanted to talk on the microphone. He kept saying "My turn? My turn now?"

Oh, and Ties. He's all about wearing ties to church now. Just like Dad and Carter. He really looks like a mini Mike.

My little "night owl" can now add another title of "early bird." Is it possible to have one of both? He's up every morning at 6 a.m. and still will bargain, snuggle, give you those adorable eyes and bottom lip,  pound on the wall, cry to go potty- anything he can think of NOT to have to go to bed at night.

His favorite past time right now. The Superman costume with Cape. Over the summer it was Pirates, now we are on Superman and catching bad guys. Which mostly means wrestling with Carter, who also claims to be a good guy.

Us.

I started teaching Boot Camp aerobic classes three weeks ago. Things are going well and I generally really enjoy teaching. This month I start teaching twice a week. I'm hoping I can keep up and keep the classes intense and change things up so no one gets bored. I've already noticed my ability to do abs is starting to be a bit limited. No more tummy time for this mama.

I've also started to Internet shop for our little girl. I only wish I was in the States to do the shopping in the pink section officially.

Our OB apt. went well last week, he confirmed we are having a girl and our 18 week ultrasound looked great. Baby is looking great. My only complaint was his non negotiating nurse who would not flex at all on my scale numbers. Seriously, you take at least a pound off for clothes and then it was RIGHT after lunch. I need a new nurse.

Mike painted our bedroom over the weekend a "Moss Beach." I like it. It's soothing and reminds me of the beach. Now to put everything else back together and on the walls. Is is possible for nesting to begin now. Only my nesting isn't with baby things just yet, it's the feeling of needing to nest everything else in the house. To get everything in order, organized, pretty, de-clutter and done, before Christmas.

Mike is still working and taking care of us. He's been great with helping take Carter to school after lunch and making dinner on the nights my body is done.

I'm planning to backlog the blog with pics from the summer soon. Perhaps if I can manage to skip a nap I might be a bit more productive.

Hugs, A

First Day of School.

Carter started K4 last week and loves spending his afternoons at the "big" school. Today was the big day when both boys started private preschool in the morning. Owen has been counting down and was so excited to go this morning. He ran into the bedroom to get dressed and then walked around the house for the half an hour before we left with his backpack on.

Carter last Wed. First Day of K4. Age 4.

 Owen today First Day of Preschool. Age 2. Will be 3 in two weeks.

Both attempts to get a picture of both boys before school this morning. The red bricks are at the preschool and the front door is our home.

Carter showing Lawson his hand for his Pre-k class.

Owen, Carter and our neighbor Jax.

This one makes me smile. Carter in his super hero pose. Even super heroes go to school.

 Happy First Day of School!

Both boys did so well. Walked right in like big guys and came home with smiles. Owen was exhausted and starving, so after lunch he crashed for a good three hour nap. Carter had lunch and headed out the door to his other school, K4 (this is the program the company school has- kind of like public school on camp). We are walkers, we literally live just a block and a half from the school. Most of the kids in his class ride the bus. Yesterday he asked if we would take him and pick him up from school in the car and call it a "bus."

As I write this I think the long day has caught up with Carter who just had a melt down with quite the temper. So imagine he will crash very soon. I know it's been a long day, and with a big change this is a little expected. I'm hoping tomorrow afternoon goes better when he comes home.

I'm happy the boys are in school. I could tell the last few weeks they have been a bit bored with just mom. They missed their friends and all of the fun preschool activities. This morning I was able to teach another boot camp class and get my visiting teaching done, so it was nice for me too to have a little time to myself and accomplish some things. I can feel routine coming back and it feels good.

Hugs, A



Verdict.

So we had our ultrasound this morning and the verdict is...

we are having a GIRL!!!!

 (An announcement like this deserves more than one exclamation point I tell you! and maybe one more exclamation on the proclaimed word.)

A GIRL!!!

Can you believe it? I kind of still can't.  

In fact I had to ask the tech what she said, I was so taken back.

"I'm sorry what did you say?"

"Girl?"

"Really?"

This is where I started to bawl. Pure tears of total surprise and excitement.

Bring on the pink, the bows and the girlie!!!

Love you all and wanted to share the news.

This is where I would normally insert the ultrasound photo, but I do live in the land of "not quite right" so I don't have any to share right now. I have to go to a separate department and request it. Hilarious. But I'm so happy about having a little girl I'm not worried about the photo. 

Hugs, Angie

Big News.

The truth and Big News.

The real excuse as to why I have not been blogging that much this summer is that I'm Pregnant! Yes, we will welcome our third Dille baby this February. I am currently 17.5 weeks pregnant. Both baby and belly are growing.

The boys are so excited to have a baby. At one point every day Owen will walk up to me, point, rub or pat, my tummy and say "Mommy has baby in tummy" or "That our baby in your tummy."

We will find out in about a week if we will have another boy or little girl. The truth. My heart aches for a little girl, but somehow I have this feeling we will have another boy and I will, yet again, be outnumbered.

Either way, we pray for a healthy baby and an uneventful pregnancy that will allow me to travel back to the States to deliver our new little one. Yes, that is the plan. I feel that going back is best for the baby and I. There are many reasons I feel this way and Mike is supporting me and our decision.

So far, the first trimester was rough. Hence, the no blogging. It was sad to arrive in the States and have no appetite for all of the food I had been dreaming of eating for several months over our vacation. I don't know what's sadder, that or the fact that my appetite began to return as we arrived back in KSA.

Other random first trimester happening, I have quit Coke cold turkey. We arrived in the States, I was six weeks pregnant and the thought of Coke made me want to lose my lunch. It was so strange, but that was it, it was over. This little baby is not a fast food fan (other than Chickfila) and we mostly survived on Jamba Juice and fresh fruits.

That may have been the reason I was a bit ticked about returning to the sandbox this time. (I assure you those feelings have passed- it took a week- and now it's nice to be back in our home- not necessarily back to life outside of camp- but you get the point.)

Other than the usual craziness that comes with having two little boys and being pregnant, life is somewhat uneventful. Which I suppose is also a blessing.

Much Love, A

Just a few photos:
Me, 15 weeks pregnant. I was doing a little maternity shopping with my mom and the boys. Carter thought it was hilarious to pretend to have a belly like me.

Now 17.5 weeks. I really feel like in the last two weeks my baby bump has truly arrived. At least most people realize at this stage it is actually a baby in there and not all of the repat eating out.

We're back!

So we made it safe and sound back to the Sandbox. We arrived a few days ago and are in the midst of a great case of jet lag. It's awesome.

Since my last post, the boys and I survived our flight from Boise to DC. No thanks to an altercation I had on the plane with an older lady trying to swat Carter as she sat in front of him. He was using the seat to occasionally push himself back up (like most kids who can't reach the floor), not kicking every 10 seconds (like some kids). I was trying my very best to contain both boys. Owen cried and cried not wanting to fly again, and then we sat on the runway for an hour because of the earthquake in VA. Add to that it was nap time and we had been up since 5:30 a.m. You get the picture, right?

There is only so much this mamma can handle and then the momma grizzly came out. Yup, it did. No throw downs, just a stern talking too, that began with "Please do not hit my child." Yup, you can imagine that got the attention of pretty much everyone around me. So needless to say, that is one flight I will always remember.

Upon arrival, missing the Virginia earthquake by a mere hour or so, my mom came to our rescue at Reagan National. Then we hauled all of our things, three carts worth back to the car and then headed down to the farm. (Did I mention we just missed the earthquake in Denver too while in the air- seriously the craziest day ever!)

We experienced a pretty good aftershock that night that rumbled the house and bed. I was awake, the kids slept through it all.

Mike arrived the next day, oh and then so did the Hurricane. Or maybe that was one more day later. Either way, we waited the storm out and then booked it south to Myrtle Beach to see his Aunt and Uncle.

Came back, packed, visited family and my best friend Tara from high school, who is so stinking cute pregnant! Ate some more US awesome food, said our goodbyes and jumped back on a plane to KSA.

All in all, I'd say it was a very eventful last week of our summer in the States.

Since being home I have dug out our dining room from the 7 dish barrel boxes and four suitcases it took to get us home. My house is now somewhat presentable. (Just don't go into the master room. I need a few more days for that one.) I can see that order is coming, maybe soon we can make it back on some sort of routine or schedule.

In the meantime. We are alive. Not roasting as bad as I thought we would. Sleeping a lot and missing the US food and grocery stores. Mike is trucking along and back to work and life as usual, it's the rest of us bringing up the rear.

Love you all!
Hugs, A