this week so far....

we went to ikea a few days ago

and bought a crib for henry that we won't set up until we move

we will definitely miss having an ikea so close!

 we also went to an indoor garage sale of sorts 

and hazel carried eleanor like a baby
i love these cute girls

i really couldn't ask for a nicer big sister for all these little ones

 eleanor is getting jealous already

she got mad at me when i told her not to get in henry's swing or cradle

and tried to shut me out of his room...

 this was my last sunday before henry's born

i'm so glad i could find something to wear

it gets harder and harder to fit anything by the end

noah and hazel have made up their own club recently that usually takes place when they should be sleeping...

but they had a meeting in our bed the other morning and i thought they were so cute cuddled up

 michael FINALLY turned his thesis yesterday

such a relief

i spent like 3 hours proof reading it for him on sunday

not fun...

we went to the temple for family home evening yesterday
we had grand plans of a spiritual lesson, taking baptism pictures of noah, etc.
but after a few short minutes and a super short lesson, all the kids needed to use the bathroom
so we left
and went to the byu creamery for dinner and dessert instead
which was also fun

 last night we were reading scriptures

olive doesn't normally participate

she usually puts herself to bed when we start or plays

but last night she grabbed her tiny book of mormon

and every word noah said, she repeated

it was so funny

i think she may have thought she was actually reading :) 

at my last ob appointment my dr said to head to the hospital if i have contractions 8 minutes apart

we timed them last night and they were consistently 7 minutes apart....

but i don't feel quite ready to go to the hospital because we don't have our help here yet

i'm going to wait it out and see how it goes today

i'm hoping to still make it until thursday or friday 

but i don't want to labor unnecessarily or add any risk... 

henry may be here sooner than friday

our last weekend with 4 kids

this baby is coming on friday

so we figured we'd have one last hurrah this weekend

we went out to breakfast to magleby's (our favorite)

this picture of noah and hazel got a little over exposed from the light 

but i love that it shows how similar they look

 michael and eleanor

 this shows how eleanor feels about olive giving her attention lately....

 me and our four kittens

 i hate how fat my face gets at the end of pregnancy

but....oh well here we are

 eleanor and her wild hair

 magleby's is delicious

 orange mouths!

they are so cute

 we went thrifting after breakfast, looked at the progress on the new (tabernacle) temple

and bought the kids a sandbox

then we spent the rest of the day at home playing outside and riding bikes

michael and i also spread some new bark and planted some new flowers for the front port

it was so nice

ps. i had my last ob appointment (38 weeks) on friday

and when i told my dr. that i'd measured 46 centimeters the week before when i saw a different dr.

he said, "yeah, you're huge" and made a joke he's going to have to wear waders 

because of how much fluid i must have (haha)

he also said to head to the hospital if i have contractions 8 minutes apart because this baby may come soon

either way baby and i are both healthy and doing well so we are grateful for that

even if i am huuuuuuuuuge

six more days! we're all so excited!

feeling loved

pretty picture from pinterest

yesterday i felt so loved

i received a sweet text from a friend who was thinking about me

another friend dropped off a soda and sugar cookie from sodalicious saying, "happy 9 days til baby"

i had nice talks with my mom, sister andre`a and brother ben on the phone

another friend watched the kids so we could go on one last date before we have 5 kids

we went to buy buy baby and bought a mamaroo bouncer/swing

it was a display so it was $50 off and then we had a coupon for another 20% off which was awesome

then we shopped a little at target and ate at chipotle

all which were much nicer without kids and super fun just the two of us

i feel so supported and loved

i am so grateful

eight days until baby! 

and happy first day of spring!!

st. patrick's day

this year we didn't go quite as all-out as we did last year 

the kids kept talking about making a leprechaun trap but never quite got to it

so i let myself off the hook from leaving any surprises from said leprechaun

noah woke up and asked if he at least brought a special cereal.....nope

oh well

i did make hazel a cute shirt to wear for today because she didn't own anything green

so i woke up stressed about it saturday morning and made her a shirt before i even ate breakfast

we also tried a few hairstyles before she went to school

 i thought she looked so cute with her braids up

 but she preferred them down

oh well

she looked cute in her shirt

 the one festive thing we did

was olive, hazel and i baked a chocolate cake with green frosting

everyone was pretty happy to have it after dinner

 noah had a fun day at school 

and came home with a cute four leaf clover hat

 speaking of holidays and not being great at celebrating them right now

since i'm super tired and huge...

henry will be here next week

eleanor turns two a week after henry is born 

then noah turns 8 ten days later

easter 

 michael will defend his thesis...and is supposed to provide a small meal 

then michael will graduate, noah will get baptized and henry will be blessed all at the end of april

not to mention michael turning 30!!! in may 

and hazel turning 6 right around the time we move 

i'm so tired just thinking about it 

i love making holidays and birthdays special

but i have a feeling these are all going to be a little bit sub par...

hopefully i get lots of energy after henry comes and i'll be up to the the challenge

....despite the newborn haze/lack of sleep

hahahahaha (nervous laughter)

pregnancy (#5) pictures

i've been a little nostalgic about this pregnancy

just in case it's our last one (we'll see)

and since it's so easy to take my own picture with my phone

i've tried to take frequent pictures throughout

a few tidbits:

i definitely have a preferred side (ha!)

i felt pretty crappy about not getting allll the way back in shape after eleanor

but looking at my early pregnancy pictures, i think i was doing ok

i should try not to be so hard on myself

i have had a few shirts in heavy rotation this pregnany (mostly from target)

i can't believe i've done this five times!

and...

i'm having this baby a week from friday!!!!

i'm so excited and a little nervous
i can't wait to see his little face and have him placed on me right after he comes out
also, at my 37 week check up last friday, my uterus measured 46 centimeters
that's a new all time high for me
the fact that i know i'm having a c-section this time makes me a little more nervous about it
but i am pretty grateful that i get to have him on the day i'm 39 weeks
he's either really big or i have a ton of amniotic fluid
we'll see

it was a beautiful day

it definitely feels like spring is here

olive and i spent all of eleanor's nap outside

first in the front yard where she rode her bike and played with chalk

and then we moved on to the backyard so she could show me her flips on the trampoline

eventually eleanor woke up and joined us

 once the big kids got home from school we got ice cream cones (from macey's....yum!) 

and went to the park

 this swing was surprisingly comfortable

 the kids all loved playing at the park

and i loved spending so much of my day outside

i even got some color on my arms!

 i am so glad spring is here

hopefully to stay

we have all missed playing outside

ps. look what i found in hazel's backpack today

translated it says, "My favorite hero is my Mom. Because she is nice. And she always keeps me safe."

she is such a doll

and i am so grateful to be her mom

a good hair day, krispy kreme and a teenage mutant ninja turtle

it was a good hair day today

always worth documenting

 after hazel got out of ballet we went to orem and stopped at krispy kreme

 hazel didn't think it was funny michael was going to take a bite of her doughnut

 i love eleanor's cheesy smiles lately

then we went to target to buy eleanor a few birthday presents

since henry will only be a week old for eleanor's 2nd birthday

we found a few things for her and olive found this ninja turtle mask

(that we did not buy)

pretty cute

this week..so far

after noah's martial arts tournament on saturday, we went to scheels for the kids to ride the ferris wheel

eleanor and i sat it out

she loved this little car cart

and i loved that she rested her feet on the steering wheels

during sacrament on sunday, my sunglasses helped entertain eleanor for a while

after church we went to the claytons for dinner

for dessert kate spoiled us with their chocolate fountain

i might need one now...

monday noah busted through his whole homework packet

he's so cute

17 days from today this boy gets here

after eleanor's nap this afternoon, she was resting on me

and i brushed her hair out with my fingers

i had no idea it would be so crazy crusty-the-clown-esque

poor michael has pink eye from this terrible cold he's had for a month or so

i think he's actually on his second cold 

he went to the byu healthcare center today and they gave him eye drops 

and antibiotics for a sinus infection

michael's not easily stressed but his thesis is really killing him

at least it will be turned in soon 

and then he will get a cute little baby boy to cuddle