June in photos

Tomorrow is baby day! I had a long night of what turned out to be false labor and so when I went to my doctor's appointment today and I was dilated to almost 3, I decided to keep our original induction date of June 27th. I still can't believe that I had contractions that were two minutes apart and quite painful for nearly 3 hours, and then it all stopped after I dozed off for an hour! Good thing I didn't go to the hospital and get sent home, at least.
So my last thing to do before going to the hospital at 5:30 in the morning is to catch up on photos we took in June. It's been a fun month, despite getting big and awkward!
We started off the month with swimming lessons. This is the first year that I've been able to sit out and just watch comfortably. Last year was horrible because Ezra was clingy and cried a lot even though he loved the water. This year they both went happily every day and both did really well! We even had great weather.

We also did a tour of the local fire station... again. We do this pretty often it seems, but the boys never get sick of it. This was the most fun yet. Nolan got to try on the fireman's gear! Ezra refused to be in the group photo and instead sulked on the sidelines. Silly boy.

Justin has a new calling this month: Young Men's President. It's going to be a busy one but he'll do a great job. While he went on his first camp out for 3 nights, my Dad came up to stay with me. We all went looking at property in Park City and let the kids play at the splash pad. It was a fun outing with cousins and Grandpa.

Last weekend we headed up the nearby canyon to do some mountain biking (just Dad and Nolan did that) and to roast marshmallows. The boys had a lot of fun. Too bad our marshmallows were a little stale. It was a beautiful evening.

Yesterday I took the boys into Salt Lake so that they could browse ToysRUs. Nolan has been begging for quite some time to go. We ate at In-N-Out (that made it worth it for me), checked out toys, stopped in at Kohl's, and then went to PetSmart. The children were genuinely sad that we didn't come home with a pet.

 We also got a new grill! Justin has actually been excited to use it. Usually I do all the grilling but I think it might be a bit of a new hobby for him. I got a picture of him out there in his apron, but it's still on my phone... I'll have to post it later. It's been a great month and now we're ready to focus on welcoming baby sister and spending lots of time together as a family.

The Birthday Boy

I can't believe that our Ezra has turned four years old! We just love this little guy so much. To celebrate his big day, we went to Jungle Jim's with our cousins Ryan, Kendyll, and Travis. They had a great time! It was fun to watch Ezra's smile light up and feel like a big boy on the rides. 

That evening, we opened presents and had a blue cake (his request since he LOVES blue) and ice cream. Ezra was pretty excited about the remote control monster truck from Grandma K. and the little fishing pole set for the tub. It doesn't take much to make him happy. He also got a cool set of blocks, called CitiBlocks, and some I Spy books. His present from Grandma and Grandpa Ligtermoet is still to come, but he's going to love it! He's been wanting a blue blanket and he'll be so excited to finally have one. And he gets to choose a toy because Grandpa Corey and Kathy got him a gift card from amazon. He's already mentioned that he wants Legos. 

The next morning after his birthday, Ez crawled in bed to snuggle with me and he said, "I just can't believe I'm still four!" He's one happy little birthday boy! 

Baby on the way

I've had a request from my cousin, Aubrey, that I do a baby post. I guess she's right... it's nearly time for this baby girl to come! So I'm due July 4th. I haven't talked to my doctor about inducing. I'd like to see if I can have this baby on my own (wouldn't it be good to experience that?), since I've been induced with the other two, but I don't want to be miserable and have to wait days after my due date. So maybe he'll start me on July 3rd, which is my nephew, Bryson's birthday. But less than 3 weeks hopefully! Yikes! When I was checked at 37 weeks, the PA said I was nearly 1 cm (which means she's just being nice) but that the baby's head is right there and ready. I've never been one to progress past 1 or 2 cm until they give me pitocin. I'm feeling pretty good still. I get winded doing what should be simple things, and I have to take breaks more often, but I can't complain. Nights were getting bad, but then I started taking Zyrtec for my allergies and now nights are wonderful! Here's the belly pic at 37 weeks. I'm not really a fan of doing belly pics... I typically do one in the last month and that's it.

I've been quite busy getting everything cleaned and in order. Justin has helped me clean out the garage and my Dad came to town and built some shelves for our basement storage so that we can actually walk around in there. He also helped me do lots of touch-up paint work and I painted the stairwell that had been damaged from back when we finished the basement. Now I'm moving on to cleaning blinds and will soon get to wiping the baseboards. Here is the work I've done in the boys' room. They're glad that people can tell which bed is theirs because of their school pictures. The only toys in there are their Legos, which I recently combined and organized into colors. Hopefully I don't regret that because it would be a huge project to split them into sets again!

And baby's room is where the boys used to sleep, so I was left with a bright green wall. With all the other painting and organizing in the rest of the house, I wasn't feeling like changing this wall. Instead, we found some darling bird material that has green in it, and other fun colors like PINK! So we're sticking with the green wall. My mom made the cute bed skirt, cushion, and curtains. Maybe I'll try to find a bright pink rug to put in front of the dresser/changing table.

I will be buying something cute for the walls as soon as we name her. Something like these (I think the bottom one is the cutest):

So speaking of names, we just can't decide. We've never been ones to start calling our baby something before we actually hold and see what she looks like. Ezra has been calling her several different names through the weeks. He has called her Sally, Sinna, then just plain Sin (yeah, we definitely don't like that one!), Lucy, and most recently likes Rosie. Well he doesn't get to decide, thank goodness! Here is a list of all the names we've been considering. Some are stronger candidates than others, but I'll just put them all up the poll (upper right column) because it's fun to see what other people like. Vote on your favorites! Next time I post about the baby, hopefully she'll be here!

Memorial Weekend in Logan

We had a great visit in Logan last weekend. We hadn't stayed at Grandma K.'s house in over two years so it was definitely time! We might not make it up for a while with a new baby coming either. There were some fun adventures for the boys, like going 4-wheeling up Left Hand Fork, and doing a fun bike ride in Logan Canyon. While they were out, I went shopping at Wal-Mart for some essentials since we realized that we hadn't brought the bags that I packed for the boys. Yes, we got there and had no underwear, clothes, etc. Oops. I really don't think clearly when I'm pregnant! We enjoyed a fun afternoon with the Grandma Petersen, along with Chris and Oana and her parents, up Left Hand Fork Canyon. They made delicious steaks and we celebrated Grandma's birthday. The boys loved the swing set and playing with Anna, the dog. We were also glad to visit Grandpa Petersen's grave, and see Grandpa Moulton's beautiful headstone, which barely made it in for the holiday.
 Ready for fun on Aunt Karen and Uncle Wayne's 4-wheeler:

Uncle Craig talked everyone into eating some water cress that was found in the river:

The biking group: Jon, Justin, Wayne, Amanda (who will soon turn in mission papers), Kathi, Nolan, Karen, and Mariah (who leaves on a mission to Texas shortly)

 Biking in Logan Canyon:

The Moulton "Monument": Kathi, Justin, Nolan, me, Karen, Mardyne, and Craig (Ezra was not feeling photogenic, and Grandma Moulton took the picture)

Ezra's cute pic

Ezra had a preschool photo taken. His birthday is coming up soon, so we're going to call this his "4 yr. old picture." He's a pretty handsome little man.

Winding down

It's been a great school year for my boys. Nolan has loved Mrs. G for kindergarten (and he had Mrs. Shaw for the past 6 weeks while Mrs. G was out with a new baby) and Ezra has enjoyed preschool with Ms. Anna-Marie. They both had their graduations this past week. I feel bad that we really didn't capture much of Nolan's on camera. He was very far away on the bleachers. But I could tell he was singing his heart out! As the graduates did their walk around the gym, Nolan was very serious. Here's our kindergarten graduate! We're proud that you were such a hard worker this year, Nolan!

Ezra's graduation was quite entertaining. All week he'd been saying that he wanted it to be cancelled and that it would be "hideous." That's his favorite word lately. Well, it took some coaxing but he did participate and sing at least several of the songs. He had one little fit in the middle and Dad took him out, but luckily it was brief. We were threatening to cut his beloved blanket if he didn't participate, so I think that got him going again. Later he slipped into a grumpy attitude toward the end, but at least he's still cute when he pouts. It could have been worse. I'm glad that Ezra stuck with preschool even though he was getting burned out. For the past few weeks he's been saying, "When it's a school day, just don't take me because I hate school!" But he would go anyway. He's learned a lot about the letters and their sounds. What a smarty!

Here's how the graduation program went down:

1) Here is his class (Quincey, Sophia, Ava, and Ez) getting ready to start.  

 2) Just before the first song starts, Ezra flashes the thumbs down sign, making sure that we know he isn't enjoying himself.

3) He sings a song or two, making us think that this will all go smoothly. 

4) Somehow he manages to get through his parts. One talked about show 'n tell and how he loved to bring his blanket. I think he took his blanket almost every week. No wonder it was meaningful.

5) Later, he opts out of singing the songs in favor of chillin' with his goggles (of course, he always has his legs crossed). 

6) The situation continues to deteriorate... he stops to do a full-body sulk while his friend, Ava, tries to raise his spirits. 

 

7) Magically he hops up with a happy face and sings the very last song; I can only assume that it must have been his favorite: "There are 7 days."

8) He wasn't happy about walking across the room to receive his diploma, but in the end he was willing to take a picture with Ms. Anna-Marie (but he wouldn't smile because he didn't want to stop eating his donut). 

Here's the cute photo of his class that was taken a few weeks ago:

So overall, it worked out and now we'll look forward to a long summer break. It only took Nolan 3 days without school before I heard the first, "Mom, I'm bored!" 

T-ball season is also winding down. We've only got a couple of make-up games left. It's been a great time! Every now and then Nolan would rather play in the dirt, nibble some grass, or sit down on the job (see picture below), but when it was time to go, he was ready!

 
He's gotten great at hitting. He typically hits it just inside the 3rd baseline and on out into the field. Way to be consistent!
 
That's our happy, little baseball player!
 

April is over?!

I still can't believe we're a week into May already! April flew by because we've started Nolan in T-ball and it has been keeping us plenty busy! Luckily he seems to like it since there are two games and a practice every week (totaling 12 games). He played his first game after having only one official practice with his team and he was pretty nervous. We practiced as a family several times though, so he was ready! He did so good, too! He chose to play first base and then pitcher. Pitchers don't pitch in T-ball, obviously, but a lot of the balls head straight for the pitcher. Nolan did a great job of getting the balls stopped and thrown to first base. We were so proud! He has decided that he likes to hit as a lefty and does a good job at hitting, too. Go #12! His team is called the Athletics and it's been fun to have his buddy, Carter, on his team.

I laughed so hard when I saw the picture below. It is the epitome of T-ball. The ball goes within the vicinity of one player but then a mob of other players comes running after it, as well. Then they fight over who gets to pick it up. We thought the "amoeba phenomenon" was exclusive to young soccer players, but no. They're still getting their heads wrapped around the idea of teamwork. It's so entertaining!

In other April news, we've had crazy Utah weather as usual. It's so nice when we can go out in the yard or when the boys can play with friends outside. But we've had cold, rainy days too. The boys were happy to get to use their umbrellas, but Ez is still getting the hang of leaving it over his head so that he actually stays dry. 

 Enjoying a day of seventy degree weather. The kids jumped on Clarice's trampoline with a sprinkler underneath while Justin and I worked in the yard.

Nolan also had his first piano recital. He's been taking piano for about 3 months now and he's learning so fast! We were proud of the way he stood up and gave a great introduction to his songs. On the drive to the recital, Nolan asked who wrote the songs so that he would know what to say. It's nice to see the he remembered his teacher's instructions and took responsibility to be prepared. He's growing up! I forgot to get a photo of him with the grand piano (which he was pretty excited about playing on)... next time. 

Spring Break

We had a good time at the cabin and in St. George for Spring Break this year. Justin was planning to come down to the cabin after his business trip, but then he caught a cold. So we missed Dad, but it was nice to be with the cousins. Some of the highlights included:

1) Playing in "the pit." Talk about a fun place for the little boys to play in the dirt! It was great until Travis was throwing rocks and a large one accidentally hit Ezra on the head. It was a bloody scene for a while, and all the kids were shaken up. Nolan turned into a Papa bear and was very protective. A little too protective, considering he slugged Travis in the stomach. After all the emotions settled and the bleeding stopped, everything was fine again! Ezra was out playing in the pit again when lunch was over.
2) Truck rides with Grandpa! The kids rode over to a little farm and saw a wobbly baby horse taking its first steps. Grandpa even let all the kids pile on top of the cab and have a ride. When all of us mothers saw them driving away, we weren't too happy. Poor Grandpa got scolded and that was the end of riding on top. But they sure loved it while it lasted! Grandpa also took the kids to a movie in St. George, to get ice cream, and to play at the park. Grandpa seriously knows how to spoil his grandchildren!

3) Easter fun! We painted our eggs this year, had a big hunt outside, and the kids loved what the Easter bunny brought them in their baskets. Ezra had a little meltdown so Nolan started bringing him "donations" for his basket. Nolan actually turned over his entire basket of treats! Later, Ezra perked up and Nolan re-hid a few eggs for him to find. We did some redividing of the treats and everyone was happy again!

It's always nice when the boys get new, bright Easter shirts for church.

4) Playing baseball. Uncle Bryan got all the kids involved in a little baseball game to help Nolan prepare for t-ball.

5) Lunch with my two "old" friends, Anne and Ashley. It was so fun to catch up with them! They even brought me baby gifts, which was so nice. We realized that the last time I had seen Anne was at my wedding almost 10 years ago! Hopefully it won't be that long until we get together again.
6) Walking around the St. George temple and exploring the visitor's center for family home evening. The kids love the giant staircase, of course, and they enjoyed seeing the little movies about service. I was grateful for the tender conversation with Ezra, which I already posted so I wouldn't forget.

 7) We also watched Les Miserables while at the cabin. For the rest of the weekend we were all humming the songs.
And this was a funny moment when Ez got stuck in a bucket. He was mad that I got my camera out instead of helping him out!

It was nice to give the cousins lots of time to play together. They spent lots of time giggling and laughing in the loft. Travis and Ezra are always running around together. Other than the rock throwing, they get along really well!