Update?

There really is no update. I'm exactly the same as last week. Dilated to a 3, fully effaced. Only last week, the dr. said to keep my baby inside for one more week, even though I was considered full term. This week he said I could go anytime, and he didn't really expect to see me for my next weeks appointment, but to make it anyway. Sterling informed me tonight is not great for him, but Saturday is perfect...so can we schedule starting labor then? Haahaa. Poor Sterling though, his second job starts tonight, and he is in school full-time, and so he really doesn't have any time to spare. I told him if I wait to have my baby on the weekend, then I don't get him out of class, and thats no fun. Unfortunately, I have a sinking feeling that even though I've had all these contractions lately, it might be awhile before I have this boy. Can you call in sick for work just because you are tired and very pregnant? That would be nice. And now, I'm going to go try and sleep while Ruth is down for her nap. Here's to the next LONG two weeks!

37 Weeks & Thank you to Kayli!

 Forgive the smile. We were late to choir practice, but I wanted a picture. So...37 weeks.
I have three more weeks to go! I am dilated to 3, fully effaced, and starting to have contractions whenever I try to get any type of sleep. Ruff. But the more I hear of sicknesses, the more I am happy he is healthy inside of me (and yes, Megan, I care about your kids and their piano lessons and I will try to be there this week, haahaa). Its interesting to start labor on my own...I never did that with Ruth.

 In other news, I got a package from SWITZERLAND!!!!! My amazingly awesome sister (who is currently sick, with sick kids, and not allowed to see her baby in the NICU without a mask which is so, so, so sad) sent me some crocheted headbands. I love them all. Sterling said they make him think of a pixie/fairy, and he liked it. So...good?! I love them. Thank you SO SO SO SO SO SO much Kayli! Sending lots of prayers your way!

 This is how Sterling felt after taking all the pictures of me that I made him take. He was looking especially hott today in some nice khakis that I got him yesterday.

 These are the incredibly long icicles hanging from above Ruth's bedroom, past her window, and down almost to our porch.

These are the crazy huge flakes currently falling outside...but my camera didn't pick them up that well. Oh well.

Ruthie's Haircut--by Mom

After getting my hair trimmed this morning and getting a few tips from the hair dresser I decided to try cutting Ruth's hair by myself. She's had it trimmed a couple times by my mom, but it hasn't been long enough yet to cut the back and so she gets this horrible rats nest with all this frizzy baby hair. It's not perfect, but the back looks WAY better than it has the last little bit!

This is after I tried curling it a little bit. Her hair is straighter than straight. 

Every time she smiled for me she'd tip her head sideways or backwards so you can't see her hair, haha.

This is the only picture I could find that kinda shows her rats nest that needed to go. 

Wonderful Day

Thanks to Martin Luther King, Jr. day, Sterling had a day off school and work and we decided to party...toddler style. First we went to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden (which was absolutely terrific, by the way, it is a child's dreamland!) and then home for naps and lunch (which became dinner as well because Liam had some issues falling asleep) and then to Kangaroo Zoo. It was a fabulous day, with great friends, and a wonderful time had by all. At some points I couldn't decide who was enjoying themselves more, Ruthie or Sterling!

Daddy helped her reach the notes!

Aleesha with Lydia. 

Adam and Liam

A podium! I can talk to EVERYONE!

There were some great attractions, but obviously this pot was a major one. Definitely what I would've thought. Haahaa.

Some little boys decided to give Ruthie a puppet show. She was absolutely enthralled.

And on to Kangaroo Zoo. Ruth LOVED it. 

Liam liked this dragon.

For quite some time Sterling kept Ruth occupied by putting his hands on the netting and pushing her off balance so she would bounce onto the pad. It was hilarious, and Ruth thought so too.

By the end, she learned how to climb up and go down the slide by herself, and she LOVED it.

And cute Lydia sitting all nicely in the car seat while Liam and Ruth went bouncing.

I've been seriously contemplating getting a year pass to Treehouse Museum since this outing. They don't count babies under one, so it would still be the cheaper price, and oh my goodness Ruth had the time of her life! I didn't know if she would be old enough to enjoy it, and definitely there was a lot that she wasn't interested in, but there was oodles of other things that she couldn't get enough of. A lady I saw there (my sister's cousin on her husband's side....haahaa. I remember her because she has red hair.) said she takes her kid every Monday because they do a story time and activities. Sounds pretty sweet to me! Cloudy days at the museum and warm days at the splash pad. Anyone else craving warm weather?!?!

PS I keep meaning to do a pregnancy post, but I haven't felt cute enough to take pictures lately. Today the dr. told me I am dilated to a 2 1/2, almost 3, (I was a 2 last week) and that I am under orders to keep my baby in for another week. Aye, aye, Cap'n. My sister just had her baby early and he's been having some scary problems, so even though I can't WAIT to lay flat on my belly and wear something besides my gray cargoes...I'll happily keep this little man in. At least for a week. I can do that, right?!?! I was kind of hoping I could get out of work this week, but two more days won't kill me. Or maybe they will. Maybe they'll put me in to labor? I keep laughing at my sister because she wants to be there (as a nurse anesthetist working in the hospital) when I have my baby, so she used to tell me to come in on Feb 14th because she works that day. Now that I'm already dilated, she's been pushing for Feb 4th...she works AND its her birthday. That sounds good to me. ( I LOVED being able to have her do my epidural with Ruthie) Although, when I have to stand for any length of time, it seems like Feb 4th is far, far away. I've felt contractions for the very first time (never had them til they induced me at the hospital with Ruth) and I definitely have felt why people think the last month is so hard. When Ruth was breech I didn't feel nearly this much pressure or waddling or difficulty being in pretty much every position. Its kind of reassuring, nice to know that my baby is head down like he is supposed to be!

Ruthie for President

Around Our House

There are a few things that have become quite the rage at our house lately. Some toys are new from Christmas, some have been around for quite some time. Several of which she really likes IF someone will sit down and play them with her (her puzzles specifically) but a couple of which she has suddenly just really become attached to. The Ikea stacking cups are one of these. She carries them around everywhere. She unstacks and stacks them up all the time. She even has a very meticulous system...the smaller cups have to be in FRONT of the bigger cups before she can put them inside. She rearranges them until they are that way every time. So funny.

She likes it when I stack up the cups and then she can take them down and stack them together. She also loves that big calculator. Mostly she uses it like a phone,  haha. (See the white stacking cup? For some reason if she ever has a problem re-stacking, it is always the white one she can't fit.)

That little red phone sitting beside her? We got in an awesome trading session. We should have more of those. Trading sessions, that is, one phone and one calculator is plenty :)

Mimicking mom chillaxin'.

Love this girl!

A lot of her toys go into this bin. (Once upon a time that bin held animal crackers...its a good bin.) She likes to take the lid off and on, and when its stuck too tight she carries the whole thing (bigger than she is) over to me saying "peas! peas!"

These were from Grandma Cindy for Christmas. She LOVES them. 

These nesting dolls are the perfect thing, now that she has her stacking cups down. I will put them all inside each other, she will take them all apart, then she can put them back together, but as separate dolls, she doesn't get the fitting-inside-each-other part quite yet. Usually she carries pieces of them over to me until I have enough to re-'nest' them and then the process starts over again. We played with these for thirty minutes straight yesterday. She didn't break a smile once, just seriously focused on fitting pieces together, it was so funny!

She also has started singing the Barney "Clean Up" song with us, it sounds like "EEEE---n up, EEEE-n up!" which is pretty cute. Then she'll pick up toys and put them in her bin, until she finds the lid, which she immediately has to put on, and then its a juggle to get her to take the lid off to fit the rest of the toys in. Silly girl. Haaha.

Sterling and I have also noticed lately that when she's really intrigued and watching something, she rubs her fingers together on one hand. Like the violin playing rub? She was doing that the other day when she was watching Sterling put together something, and then again when we were making dinner. We've noticed it quite a few times, and it is so interesting to me to think what is going on in her head!

Yesterday she wanted a snack, so she grabbed my hand walked me to the pantry, and then once I was there, she ran over to her booster chair and waited for me to bring it to her. She does this often. But I closed the pantry and opened the fridge door. She looks at me for a second, runs over, shuts the fridge really fast, points up to the fruit snacks, and then runs back to wait by her chair. It was so hilarious! I could just hear her saying "No mom, I want the fruit snacks!" but she can't say it yet. She's starting to communicate a LOT more like that lately, and even in her babble she has become much more directed and enunciated. I just love my little Ruthie!

More Thievery

Remember when I stole pictures off my mom's camera? I had more, but I didn't post them all because, well, they were about Thanksgiving, and we were on Christmas already. But I think some of these are really cute. And, therefore, should be documented.

We have awesome bowling skills. Watching Ethan bowl when he was still hobbling on his ankle was especially awesome.

Awww...look at how cute Kam and Amy are reading a book to Ruthie! They need their own!

Jack has the best smile.

I don't know what they were laughing about, but its cute.

Ruthie loves to ride the horse. Even if she is a demon-child that throws tantrums when she has to get off. I think its funny that Megan still has her apron on. 

Eli, Roe, and Lynnaea

There was some serious basketball gaming going on.
Derek, Logan, Myles, Wyatt, Hyrum, Ethan, Jared, Garrett, Tyson

Family love. And I was so in love with Olivia's outfit that day.

This picture just HAD to be posted. Look at dad's face! HAAHAAHAA. I have to post it just so I can come back and laugh at it occasionally.

In other news, I had three cancellations at work today, and two more for tomorrow that we couldn't fill. What is with people? They get charged $75 for not giving 24 hours notice...but not if they are a first-time patient, because they haven't filled out consent forms (and two today were) and trust me, if they give 23 1/2 hours notice they TELL you. So today I came home early, and had an extra long lunch. But tomorrow I'm going to have to find SOMETHING to do because, really, I need to get paid.

Our water came back on yesterday, which was very much appreciated. Our landlord said to keep a tiny trickle of water running throughout the night. The noise is very obnoxious, but since we have been without water, I now know how very little of a price it is to pay.

No Water

No water means:

No flushing toilets

No washed hands

No cleaning dishes

No doing laundry

No mopping floors

No showers

No washing your face...which leads to

No make-up

Basically, it's really messing up my Monday...which is pretty much the only day this week I have to do laundry and clean up this house. Maybe I'll work on Ruth's baby book. Or take a nap. Or pretend today doesn't exist. I really miss our water.

(no, the pictures have nothing to do with having no water, but they are really funny because she plays with Sterling's hat ALL THE TIME)

And Even More Snow

This tree is across the street from us. I just think it is so BEAUTIFUL with all the snow weighing it down! 

Our neighbors car parked behind our house. Its one he works on, not one they actually drive.

Look at all that snow on those trees! 

Sterling out shoveling. Again.

The super long icicle outside Ruth's window. Sterling breaks off all the ones at the front of our house, but this one is HUGE!

Red-nosed Ruthie trying to help daddy by bringing him a bucket. Yup the snow pile beside her is taller than she is.

Here, daddy!

The worst part, all the icey/chunky snow that gets left by the snow plows.

I think the snow is beautiful. But if it could stop for the rest of today so we can enjoy my work's Christmas party (PF Chang's and a show at Hale Center Theater) tonight without worrying too much about the road conditions, that would be awesome. Two and a half feet of snow is enough, right?!? Plus, we've got to let all the skiers get a nice day in at the slopes! (Sometimes I wish I was a skier. It just seems like today would be a magical day to be outside, warm up in a lodge, and thoroughly enjoy the mountains. I loved it the couple times I went with honor society in junior high. Maybe we'll have to pick that up some day when we're rich. haha) I better go cut Sterling's hair so he can get some homework finished today.