for a ten minute ride to the hospital!!!

So we got the ambulance bill today and for a ten minute ride to the hospital they want over 2 grand!  Thank goodness our health insurance covers it!  that's a bit ridiculous, they charged me 8.40 for aspirin, that was for a heart attack I wasn't having.... Unless I'm bleeding to death or unconscious I'm never getting in an ambulance again!

We spent the day at Emily and Jonathan's, we watched the boys while E & J went to the temple.  The kids were great and we have some fun pics and video but it's been a long day so I think they will have to wait for another day.  Also it's been hot today, Emily said their car thermometer said 100 when they went into the temple and 109 when they came out....phew!  It's 7:30 pm and it's 88.  

28 weeks, and a day at the pool

So we are rounding the last bend on this baby business.  28 weeks!  yikes that's 7 months  I can't believe it.  We've done a few more things to get ready so I am feeling more prepared and there are only a few things left on our to do list.... besides the ever present "stock up on Diapers!".  Everything is still going perfect, health wise and we are getting more and more excited to meet this new little person!

We had Emily and Jonathan and the boys over today and went swimming.  Violet is really settling into her new role as a two year old and had a difficult time behaving at the pool.  Fights over toys are becoming more common as the kids all become more and more opinionated and independent, it can be pretty chaotic at times but it's wonderful.  We had a little BBQ, just some burgers and a salad (yes we eat salad even when our parents aren't looking!).  It was a great day.

Sam has started to say cheese when you pull out a camera.  Wesley has been doing this for a long time and Violet started to do it this month too so maybe we can get a video someday of all three yelling cheese at the same time.  What a little cutie.

6 little monkeys jumping on the bed!

What are brothers for?

Jonathan and Wesley playing a car racing game.  I don't know how well they did as a team but they had a  lot of fun.

Violet and Wesley watching "Wonder Pets" after a dip in the pool.  Notice how they both suck on their fingers.

Violet is having a hard time deciding on a nap time, she fell asleep just as everyone was getting here to go swimming.  She is definitely not ready to give up her nap yet!  Peter thinks she looks like a super model when she sleeps.  She has been known to sleep in very cute positions.

Violet likes her old swing again, and she found another baby to carry around.  Here she is watching the Muppets in her swing, cuddling her babies before bed.

Violet is all ready to head out on some big adventure with her pink back pack!  of course there isn't anything in her bag but she looks the part.

Here is some video of all of us in the pool.  It was a perfect afternoon to go swimming and the pool was just cleaned a few days ago so it was really nice.

Surfing the web

As I have been spending more time "resting" this week, both recovering from my chest cold and just realizing that I'm getting a little big, I have spent a lot of time surfing the internet and I've found so many cool websites and blogs!  The Blogs are mostly crafts and church idea stuff, I know what I'm making everyone for christmas for like the next 5 years.  The Websites are places I'd like to check out in Houston and other craft and church idea websites.  Check some of them out, they are really neat, very addictive though.  There are so many links to so many other sites and blogs I have to force myself to not wander too far or I could look up and realize an hour has past.  So here's to mindlessly surfing the web during nap time.... enjoy!

My how she's grown

Violet is growing up so fast I can hardly believe it.  She is talking a lot more lately and the other day she picked up a book that had a picture of Ice Cream on it and said "ice cream"  then she walked into the kitchen where Peter was making a bowl of something and said "ice cream"  it was so cute, we do have ice cream in the freezer so I almost gave her some but it was pretty close to bed time.  Violet has decided she really likes these sunglasses that I bought over a year ago, she hated them when we first got them but now she knows how to put them on herself and loves them.  She wore them in the tub today!

Here is Violet with her new pink poodle that she got from her Aunt Mary and Uncle Dave.  The other day she put herself down for a nap.  We were outside on the patio, I was reading and she was coloring with chalk when she stood up and walked inside, after a few minutes of it being a little too quiet I got up to check on her and she had gathered all her comfort items, which now includes the pink poodle and had climbed into her bed and gone to sleep.  What a funny kid.

We are starting to get baby things out.  As of Saturday it will only be 9-12 weeks.  I'm hoping it's more towards the 9 week end.  This baby is starting to kick me a ton and really likes to get going in the middle of the night when I would rather sleep.  Plus it is getting pretty warm, and that just doesn't mix well with pregnancy.  The swing came out and Violet is still in a reasonable weight range to get in it so we let her swing in it.  Her feet can touch the ground on the forward swing!  I was just thinking about how tiny she was when we first got the swing.  It was one of our first purchases after she was born.  In fact I think Peter went out and bought it the day we brought her home, he was so excited!  I found the picture of Violet in the swing when she was just a few days old.  She was so tiny we had to pad around her so she wouldn't tip over in the seat.

Here is a video of Violet in her exersaucer thing.  We are trying to figure out where to put all the baby stuff so we are getting things out so we'll all be use to them by the time there is a baby to put in them.    You can't see it very well in the video but Violet is sitting down on the highest setting this thing has and I bet she could kneel if she wanted to.

Our week

It's been a pretty low key week.  We've just been staying home and relaxing.  Violet really needed to get out of the house today so I took her to the park for a while but it was too hot to play on the toys so she went on the swings for a bit and then we walked to the mailbox.  Poor V has been bearing the brunt of a mom who hasn't been up for playing much this week and she was running laps around the apartment this morning!  She needed to get out!

Church is right in the middle of nap time and so Violet is always exhausted by the time we get home.  On Sunday she  was watching a cartoon and half sleeping and she slept with her hands up in the air like this for like 20 minutes.  She was so exhausted.

Our little Linus showing off her new dress and new rainbow shoes.  She got the dress and shoes for her 2nd birthday.

This was before church, and V was ready to take a nap.  I couldn't get her to take her Bink out.  So here she is in her beautiful new dress and matching bink  :)

V got to pick out some presents for her birthday and she got some new tub crayons and some new tub paint, here she is testing out her new crayons.  We tried the paint but she mostly just paints her tummy with that.  My tub is very festive these days!

Violet's hair is getting so long.  We put a ponytail in her hair the other day.  She didn't like it much and promptly pulled it out but Peter snapped a quick picture of it so we could prove that yes we do, do our daughters hair.  You can see in the picture that Violet has been decorating our house with some sidewalk chalk.... well some of it is crayon but mostly it's sidewalk chalk which wipes right off.  Everything is covered in chalk, the patio door is her favorite canvas along with the desk and all the book shelves.  The world just isn't colorful enough for Violet she always has to color on everything.

One of Violet's favorite things to do is to dance around the living room.  I love this since it gives her a way to get her wiggles out when it's too hot for us to go outside.  I think maybe next year we'll check out some ballet classes.  I think I may have taken this video friday, this was right when she woke up she hadn't even had breakfast yet, she just came right out of her room and was ready to go so I turned on some music and she just danced the morning away!

This is Violet after a big day.  I don't remember what day this was but V hadn't taken a nap that day and after dinner we went swimming.  After we had gotten ourselves all cleaned up from the pool Violet just completely zonked out.  She was so tired, I thinks she fell asleep as Peter was carrying her to bed a few minutes later.

Birthdays Birthdays everywhere!

Birthday week is here!  We started the weekend by having some fun in the ER.  I was having some unexplained chest pain so of course I had to have a lot of tests...My insurance is going to love me this month!  I went to my midwife today and she said it was just excess mucus in the lungs, which is a common problem because of pregnancy hormones.  Sometimes this stuff can make your lungs stick together and when it pulls apart the pain mimics a heart attack which is what happened early Friday morning.  So it was a rough weekend but we are glad that it is nothing serious and can be solved by me taking a decongestant on a regular basis.   

Violet Turned 2 on Saturday.  I can't believe she is getting so old!  Peter made her a cake and we sang.  Violet didn't really care about the candles as you will see in the video.  Sorry I took the Video and it is really shaky as a result.  She loved the cake and really loved opening presents.  Violet got this cute pink outfit from my grandparents and I think she should wear it everyday because she looks so sweet she could get away with murder in it!   Well Sunday she wore pink and had too much fun coloring and fell asleep in the middle of her drawing.  I wonder if her artwork improves when she's sleeping!

Saturday we also had the prettiest sky, followed by some rain.  The colors in these pictures are not enhanced at all!  Peter just snapped these from our front porch.  Texas really has some beautiful sky!

This is Violet right before we sang to her.  She was a little tired and grumpy and didn't want to sit up to the table.  I think she had been playing with my lotion and had it all over her face.  Her mood improved upon the arrival of the cake :)

Video of Violet and her 2nd b-day cake

I still wasn't feeling too well on Peter's b-day so we had hostess cupcakes for Peter.  Violet seems to have found the candles and as a result we have no idea where they are so Peter "blew out" a lighter.  It was a very casual birthday Celebration but it was a fun day.  Jonathan took Peter to lunch today and I think they went and played video games.  Violet ends up stealing the cake from Peter, He eventually had to sneak around the corner and enjoy his birthday cupcake away from Violet.

Violet likes to play under the blankets while we make our bed. Here's one little monkey jumping on the bed!

Tofu and Wheatgrass

Sounds great huh? Tofu and Wheatgrass.  Well I am learning that I have been branded that Hippy Washington Girl who eats weird stuff.  For part of our 8 cow woman enrichment activity we are going to be having snacks that are home made and from food storage and another part is about taking care of your body and they want to learn how to make those "weird health shake things" and have asked me to come up with some recipes.  So I found some good shakes to make out of fruit and tofu and I even found a wheatgrass juice recipe that sound pretty good ( I'm not a huge fan of wheatgrass but I'm willing to give it a shot).  Also I am making home made granola.  I got the recipe from my cousin and I'm really excited about it.  

They asked me if I missed life on the commune.  ha ha ha.  Texas may as well be on Mars some days.

Anyways I found out some great things about Tofu and Wheatgrass so if you want to try them, there are some great health benefits.

Wheatgrass...

Two ounces of wheatgrass juice contains the vitamins and minerals equivalent to 3 pounds of organic vegetables, and is especially high in magnesium, potassium, and calcium.

Wheatgrass juice is approximately 70% living chlorophyll, making it one of the best ingestible sources of chlorophyll available. Chlorophyll oxygenates the blood and organ tissue, impedes the growth of harmful bacteria in the digestive tract, neutralizes toxins and helps purify the liver.

Wheatgrass improves digestion and relieves constipation.

Wheatgrass rebuilds red blood cell count, naturally regulates blood pressure, and helps regulate blood sugar.

Wheatgrass juice acts as a safe agent for internal cleansing, possessing powers of detoxification more than ten times superior even to long-time detox favorites like carrot juice.

Wheatgrass helps heal infection, scarring, ulcers, and sores, on the skin, in the mouth, and internally.

Tofu...

– also known as Soya Bean Curd - has been called the perfect food. It is high in protein, low in saturated fats and a good source of calcium as well as vitamin E. It is also cholesterol free. 

Recent studies have also shown that Soya beans and products derived from them may play a role in preventing various types of cancer, particularly breast cancer. It has also been seen to have preventative capacity with regard to osteoporosis and symptoms related to menopause. An additional benefit of tofu is that it is extremely easy to digest. This is because the soya bean’s fiber is removed during the manufacturing process.