October Update

Thought i'd give you all a quick update on things. Harvest is still in full swing, with all the potatoes out of the ground, we've moved on to sugar beets. We're hoping to be finished around the 26th, only a couple weeks to go.


Doug is staying very busy his classes and his new calling, and has been trying to fit in a few hours on the farm here and there as well. Blake is getting so big and is so stubborn. His latest hobby is arguing with everything we say, i love it! Haha! Today is his Birthday, and we're getting ready for a party with family later tonight. (I'll post more on his birthday another time.)



As for me, still driving truck and starting to feel like a whale! 5 1/2 weeks to go and i'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I went to the dr. last week and here's my stats, along with a belly shot. Enjoy! Dr. says i'm boring (i guess thats a good thing, right) and wants to see me back at 36 weeks.


34 Weeks
Belly measures: 33 cm
Total Weight Gain: 15 pounds

Some call it harvest, we call it chaos...

Thats right... harvest is in full swing, and that means our lives have been turned upside down and anything relatively close to our "normal lives" has been tossed out the window! I'm driving truck again this year and am enjoying being a small part of the whole harvest operation. Blake gets dragged out of bed very early every day and gets to go play with one of his grandmas. Could life get any better for a 2 year old? I hop in the truck, drive all day, and sometimes I get a glimpse of Doug while I'm unloading at the cellar. Doug jumps back and forth between school and work, as he's in class 2 mornings and 2 afternoons a week. We eat out of coolers, and when we're home we switch laundry, and thats our choatic life, only 5 weeks to go!

As for other news, Doug was set apart in a new calling last sunday. He has been called as the new Elder's quorum president of our ward. We were both totally overwhelmed by the calling, but know he'll be able to accomplish what needs to be done with the help of our Heavenly Father.

I also had my 7 month check up last week. Here's my stats from the visit:

31 Weeks/ 7 months

Stomach Measures: 30 cm

Total weight gain: 12 lbs.

Heartbeat sounds good and Dr. says baby is head down and should stay there from here on out. Before we left, he told Blake and I not to forget to go get some ice cream, and said he wants me back in 3 weeks. Here's a belly shot, we took yesterday after church, 31 weeks!

Kinda Sorta, Not So Terrible 2's

Blake must have known that I was extremely frustrated with him. After lunch, I told him to go downstairs and put himself down for a nap. For the first time today, he actually listed to me... he turned and headed for the stairs and its been silent for the last hour and a half! He has redeemed himself! And for that, I have to post just a few of my recent favorites about this 2 year old...

1. His favorite movie is Narnia: the lion, the witch and the wardrobe. Not even kidding.

2. He will eat raisin bran or oatmeal over captain crunch any morning.

3. He can turn anything into a sword: most often its the vacuum extension.

4. When telling stories, he speaks in run on sentences that include every detail he can remember.

I can't believe the 2's are coming to the end, but he's so ready to be 3! I think the potty training has boosted his self esteem. He tells me all the time that he's a big boy, I just don't want to believe it...

6 down, 3 to go...

I had a check-up yesterday to end my 2nd trimester, which means we have exactly 3 months/1 trimester/ 13 weeks/ 92 days to go.... but who's counting right?

27 weeks/6 months

Stomach Measures: 26 cm (up 5 cm in 4 weeks)

Total Weight Gain: 7 lbs.

Dr. says everything looks great from the ultrasound we had a few weeks ago. Says baby is average size and my belly is growing nicely. I'll see him again in 4 weeks. Here's a few pics from the ultrasound we had a while back. I just bought some of the fabric for the crib set yesterday and I need to pick up a little today and i'll be set to get sewing. Pictures to come when it's finished!

On another note, I've been trying to help mom get Grandpa Tyler's house ready for him to come home from the hospital next Monday. We been working on wiping walls, cleaning carpets and today we'll pick up the new beds and get them set up and ready. We saw him yesterday and he looked great and was taking a stroll with his walker. He still has a long recovery ahead of him, but he's making great progress from his broken femur/hip replacement injury and surgery.

Doug has been busy on the farm the last few weeks cutting grain like crazy. They finished last night and he said they were the first to finish. He starts school next tuesday and things will get totally crazy when we start digging spuds in less than 3 weeks!

Potty Training

Warning: This post may have too much information for some. Read at your own risk.... haha!

I'm afraid to say it outloud for fear that lightning will strike and all will be reversed but, BLAKE IS POTTY TRAINED! Wahoo! I blocked out my schedule for 2 weeks, hardly going anywhere so we could potty train. Our method...

Week 1: Blake ran around either totally naked or just in undies for most of the week. I confined him to the kitchen, living room and bathroom so we wouldn't have to deal with accidents on the carpet. I put him in diapers for naps and bedtime and we had a handful of accidents, but he was catching on. At the beginning of the week we switched the reward for going potty from 2 mike and ike candies to doing the potty dance. Every time he went, we would do the potty dance (simply Blake and I sing the word potty over and over and dancing all crazy :) ) Worked great! I still put him in a diaper for church though, and when we went to walmart....

Week 2: Since Blake did awesome the first week, I got him dressed in sweats and he could play anywhere upstairs. He wanted to wear undies for naptime and he stayed dry the week before during naptime, so I let him. Diapers were only for bedtime. He was in a diaper all day Tueday while we went school shopping with Curtis, but besides that, he was in undies all week and only had 2 accidents! By Sunday we had been to Walmart, Keslers, Hong Kong, Church and both Grandma's houses without any accidents. He is still in diapers at night, although the last 3 nights he has woken up totally dry in the morning. If this continues for the rest of the week, i'll probably let him wear undies to bed- he wants to so bad!

Thank heavens for cool dinosaur undies and the potty dance (got that idea from babycenter.com by the way)! We made it! Now let's just hope he doesn't regress when baby #2 shows up.... hmmm.....

Speaking of number 2, here's a belly shot from yesterday after church, 26 weeks/6 months along. Blake and Doug set up the crib on Satrday night while I was helping in the kitchen at a wedding for my newest step-cousin Melissa. Things are slowly starting to come together for the baby. Crib, dresser and clothes are ready to go. Still need to sew the crib set and get a few wall hangings done for his room. We're starting to dig spuds in less than 4 weeks, so the clock is ticking... I go back to the Dr. again on Thursday, so i'll have an update on the baby later this week!

Baby Update 23 Weeks

I went to my 5 month check up this morning and thought i ought to update everyone of the little soccer player inside of me....

23 Weeks/5 months
Stomach Measures: 21 cm
Total Weight Gain: 4 pounds
Complaints: Heartburn, heatburn, heartburn...
Concerns: "I'm okay to go tanning, right?"

Doc says everything appears normal, and we scheduled the big ultrasound at the hospital for Monday. I'm excited to have another look, hopefully we can get a good picture or two this time. Its so weird to have so many ultrasounds, I only have two with Blake and this will be the fourth with this pregnancy. I guess all Dr.'s do things differently, and I don't mind taking a look at him again and again. Here's a few approximations from my favorite website, babycenter.com.

Height/Length: 11 inches
Weight: around 1 pound
They also say that he can hear loud noises (louder than my heart beat) and his lungs are developing, preparing to breathe on their own. I only feel him kick first thing in the morning and then again when i settle down at night. I assume i'm just too active during the day to notice. I don't feel "active" but i'm always ready to crash with Blake with he goes down for an afternoon nap. Let's just say i'm enjoying the peace and quiet before it disappears in a few months! :)

I'd post a belly shot, but i'd really rather wait until I look like I have a cantalope under my shirt. Right now it just looks like i have a bunch on butter attached to my front :( Hope you enjoy the update. If we get some good pics on Monday, i'll post them next week!

There's No Place Like Home...

Since July started, we've been on the go, always packing clothes, coolers, diaper bags, etc. Blake and I have been hanging at home the last few days and it feels so nice to just stay home, clean up the house, run errands, and be back to "normal" life. We have had a fabulous month and are trying to convince ourselves that its okay summer is about over and harvest is about to arrive. Here's an update of the last three weeks! WARNING: this post does contain all the details, and may seem to go on forever, enjoy! :)

Thursday, July 2nd we headed to Island Park with my parents and Becki. We had a little dinner at the cabin and headed to West Yellowstone. We did a little shopping and went to see "Footloose" at the Playmill Theatre. It was so fun and the actors there are so full of energy. We always love going to the Playmill! Friday, we all packed in Dad's truck and drove the upper loop of Yellowstone Park. We only saw a few Buffalo, but Blake enjoyed every minute of the park. Back at the cabin, we ate some yummy dutch oven potatoes, roasted marshmallows, and played games. Saturday was the 4th and we packed up, cleaned up the cabin and drove to Idaho Falls. We all went to the movies and Blake and I saw Up. It was a cute show. We caught up with more family to have a late lunch at Carinos, and to wish Tim a Happy Birthday! After dinner we headed to sit and wait for the Melaleuca Freedom Celebration. We had staked out a spot earlier and when we got there we played a few rounds of Phase 10 to pass the time. The weather was so beautiful outside and we loved the fireworks as always!The next weekend was our VO Family Vacation. We finally got away Friday just after lunch and headed to Salt Lake. We went to a fabric store that my Aunt Jan introduced us to and i found some cute minky to make a blanket for the baby, similar to the one Blake packs around everywhere. We also hit the Carter's Outlet and i found some cute clothes for him as well. We headed to the Hotel (i pricelined us rooms at the hilton) and met up with the rest of the family. Doug went to see Hello Dolly with Sheila and Curtis at the Hale Centre Theatre, and Blake and I headed to the Gateway to do a little shopping with the rest of the crew. Saturday we headed to Hogle Zoo first thing in the morning and Blake absolutely loved all the animals. I think i enjoyed the giraffes and elephants the most, i hadn't been to a zoo in so many years. After checking out ALL the animals, we grabbed lunch and went to Raging Waters. It was the first time we'd been swimming all summer and it was so much fun! I loved the wave pool and even rode a few slides. All three of us were exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel that evening. It was a fabulous weekend! Thanks Mom and Dad for a fun family vacation!

The next Monday and Tuesday were booked with last minute girls camp to do's. We packed everything Tuesday night and pulled out first thing Wednesday morning for Pasa La Coma. We took eight girls and had the most fabulous time. I was literally so busy having fun i only took one picture, so i'll have to post more when i get some from the YW Presidency. We hardly got any sleep, played Curses a few too many times, ate some totally yummy food, pulled a few pranks (not me, just the girls ;)) and loved every minute of it. It was so nice to be back at Pasa La Coma, enjoying the outdoors and getting to know the YW of our ward, they are great! Doug was a huge help and let's be honest, we never would have made it to camp without him. Thanks babe for being my "assistant camp director!" By the way- we finally got to use our sleeping bags that Mom and Dad gave us for Christmas. :)

We got home Saturday and I finally got the house put back together yesterday. Don't get me wrong, i always love a mini vaca here and there and especially love girls camp more than anything, but i'm so glad my calender is blank for a little while.