Cardinals Game !!

We went to the Cardinals game on Friday night and had a great time, even though Kyle thought it was too loud. Our kids always enjoy the food part of the event more, but thats normal - right? Here are some pictures I took with my iPhone at the game:

Um....I cut my hair

I didn't get it cut. I cut it myself. I dont know why. I guess I just had enough of the 20 minutes it takes to dry and style my hair, only to look about the same as I did when I woke up. Plus I never have time to go to the stylist and they never get what I want. So I did it. I know you're not supposed to cut your hair when you're pregnant, but since this is my "usual" hairstyle instead of the grown-out one I've been sporting for awhile now, I figured, what the hey.

So here it is:

Before

After

While away the hours

It's Thursday. It feels like it should be Saturday. The days are so long for me--I am less than 6 weeks from my scheduled c-section (October 6th) and time is dragging. Maybe it's the heat. Maybe it's the pain and exhaustion. I'm excited to meet my new baby boy, but sometimes I wonder how in the world I'm ever going to take care of a new baby when I can't even make myself accomplish more than one or two things in a day. Then I remind myself- this is just a stage. I won't always be this tired, or in this much pain. I'll get my medicine back, and eventually the baby will be born and will sleep decent hours at a time. Eventually. I just need to hang in there for a little while longer. One of my favorite songs always seems to come on the radio just when I need to be reminded of this-- "It Won't Be Like This For Long" by Darius Rucker. Give it a listen. But just a warning- it might make you cry. Especially if you are a mom.

Anyway, I'm trying to keep busy. Today the kids splashed in the pool. I sat just inside the door in the a/c and watched them (it's 111 today and I'm a wimp!). They're pretty cute, I have to say.

Now they're taking naps, so I'm going to continue my LOST rewatch. February and Season Six can't come soon enough!

Willow Springs Lake

We spent a few days last week camping on the Mogollon Rim, just east of Payson, in a place called Willow Springs Lake.

We drove up Thursday afternoon, set up camp, got the fire going, and had the necessary S'mores before calling it a night.

Friday was the big day. We drove down the road to the lake, unloaded our gear, and did some fishing. Emma and Kyle both got their own poles. We attached plastic casters so they could cast and reel as often as they wanted. It kept Emma busy for hours.

The kids also like to fish wherever Daddy was fishing, which made for some crowding.

A nice father-son fishing moment occured.

When Kyle got tired of casting, he would throw rocks in the water.

Or "cut grass" with the needle-nose pliers.

I don't have a picture, but my favorite funny moment happened on this fishing outing. The kids were wading in the water. They started to walk on the large, underwater rocks. I shouted down to the kids to be careful, since rocks get slippery in the water.

Emma said "Mommy, mommy, mommy. Kyle and I know what we're doing!"

And SPLASH! Kyle slipped and fell right into the lake and came up completely soaked. Sometimes kids, Mommy does know best!

After a soaked child, one small fish and a lot of tangled lines (it was pretty rocky water), we took a lunch break, some short naps, and did a little exploring around the campsite.

We returned to the lake in the afternoon to try again. As everyone "fished", I sat and watched the approaching storm. The sky was dark, the lightning was getting closer, and thunder rumbled all around us.

"I don't know how much longer we should stay- this is going to open up," I said. "Just a few more minutes"- Marcus said. He had pulled a fish almost to shore, just to have it pull away, so was anxious to keep trying. Later, he was ready to go, and as we were packing up, the sky opened up. We hurried back to the car in the pelting, blowing rain (which is difficult on a rocky trail with two small kids) as the lightning and thunder crashed all around us. By the time we got to the car, we were soaked.

Kyle thought it was fun and laughed his head off. Emma cried. They are definitely different personalities!

We drove back to our campsite, quickly closed up our tent that we had stupidly left open and stowed our belongings that we had left out on the picnic table in the car. We waited for a break in the storm before rushing the kids to the tent, where we spent a good hour waiting for the rain to stop.

Luckily things didn't get too wet (except for us!) so we were still able to make a fire and cook dinner that night.

We ended our trip Saturday morning by packing up our campsite and making one last fishing attempt. Sadly, no more fish were caught. Better luck next time.

A little break

Yesterday was our "get things done around the house that you've been putting off" day. I had a Primary activity in the morning, so Marcus got a head start- but we both got some important things accomplished. We did things such as the following:

• Clean out the garage
• Fix the broken door between the laundry room and garage.
• Hose down the patio and outdoor fixtures
• Scrub the washer and dryer
• Clean grubby handprints off the doors and light switches
• Scrub food grime from the corners of the kids chairs

You know, fun things like that.

I must say, I used to laugh at the Phoenix meteorologists when they would say things like "We're in for a cool-down this week- expecting high of only 105!" (emphasis added). But after the hottest month on record (and that's saying something), the 105, 103, and (so far) 99 degree days really do seem cool. It was a lot easier doing housework and yardwork when you aren't drained from the heat and dripping with sweat after three minutes. Don't get me wrong- I'm not turning off the a/c yet! But I really do notice the difference between 113 and 106.

Now I'll have to make fun of the meteorologists for something else. Like when they get all excited for a 20% chance of rain.

Weekend Project

Here's what we did this weekend (besides putting up the bed)-

Marcus designed the font, and I painted the frame and assembled the pictures. I think it turned out pretty cute.

We're going to do one for Emma too, but she broke her frame, so it will have to wait.

We'll do one for baby boy too, once he has a name. If he ever has a name...

A successful night's sleep

Yesterday we finally put together Kyle's "big boy bed". We bought the mattress, washed the sheets, made up the bed, and followed the night's typical routine. I put Kyle in bed with his beloved blanket and crossed my fingers that he would stay in bed.

I checked on him an hour later and he was sound asleep on the pillow like he'd been doing it his whole life. He slept all night long without waking up (or falling out!). He did end up a little askew, but I think we can call the the transition to a big boy bed successful.

For a night, anyway. I'm not naive enough to assume it will last. I just hope it will.