Help me out!

McKay's been hinting that he wants a new suit.  

Not just any suit.

One of these.

I told him he has to be somewhat, no, A LOT cowboyish to wear a cowboyish suit. 

McKay is not cowboyish.

I told him once we have a couple horses, and he actually rides them...then he can get his cowboy suit.

Who's with me?

Or who thinks I should let the man wear what he wants to court...?

(I'm still not sure if this is a joke McKay's playing on me to get me all riled up...)

Summer Update

The last few weeks have mostly been spent in the comfort of our 75 degree house.  I rarely venture out during the day and only with McKay's help in the evenings.  The heat makes me SICK when I'm pregnant and I'm so scared of getting stuck in it with 3 kids.  I feel like such a recluse...but it's all good.

So what have we been doing?

We made our way out to Boulder City to see the mountain sheep that make their way into the park in the evening.  Very cool. 

Grandma & Grandpa Whitney came to visit on Sunday.  I had been sick for a few days so they helped McKay to church with the kids and I stayed home alone and had a nice 2 hour nap.  It was great.  They came home with some pictures Sydney drew.

Grandpa.

Grandma.

Jackson made himself a fancy bow tie.  He was not happy that I wouldn't let him wear it to church.

During the weekend of our loft remodel we ventured out to the mall.

Someday our kids will learn that your supposed to put quarters in these toys....

Here's a picture we'll hold onto for when Jackson's a teenager.  Haha.

(Using the words Jackson and teenager in the same sentence just put a pit in my stomach.)

Usually we leave the pancake making for the weekends.  

The kids were so excited when I agreed to make smiley face pancakes on a MONDAY!  

Sydney has a reading game she plays on the computer.  Sometimes everyone joins in.  

Carter is finally in the stage where he'll play with Sydney and Jackson, rather than destroy what they're building.  It's fun to sit and watch them all play together.

If Carter ever sees me on my phone, he comes over, climbs on my lap, and says "Eeee!"  I have tons of these pictures on my phone. ;-)

 And some days we don't even make it out of our pj's before nap time.  

This morning while I was at my doctors appointment Jackson made me a flower bow for my hair.  

So sweet.

I've been measuring about a week big for the last several months.  This morning I was 2 weeks big...is it possible this baby will come early??  I'm not counting on it...but I can wish.

For now, I'm just big.  Full of baby and big.

Only 3 more weekly doctor visits and I'm DONE.

Until then we'll continue hiding out in our house and waiting.

Waiting for baby.

Waiting for school to start.

Waiting for the temperatures to drop.

The waiting game.

Desert Adventure

I went out with Keresa's brother and some old guys (her dad and other old guy) to check out the countryside last weekend. We parked at the Carp Elgin exit off I-15, then drove the four wheelers from there. We went 96 miles. It was 115 down in the valley. It felt much cooler (though probably only in the low 90s) where we had lunch up in the mountains near Clover Creek. Highlights include seeing little pea-size frogs and tadpoles, checking out a pioneer grave, letting the old guys eat our dust, and getting back to the truck just running on fumes (even though we brought extra gas!).

We couldn't read it. I wonder if that defense will hold up in court.

Now only home to rats and jack rabbits.

We took the liberty of cooling off in this desert oasis.

The "river" where we had lunch. Nice moss in the water.

Maybe our next ride won't be as long. 96 miles is a long way on quads, and we were too tired when it was over. Maybe we will use our brains next time and not make a trip like this in the MIDDLE OF THE SOUTHERN NEVADA DESERT SUMMER HEAT. :)

Loft Remodel

When we were shopping for houses we were looking for 4 bedrooms upstairs, and one bedroom downstairs.  This would give us plenty of room for sleeping upstairs and a playroom downstairs.  When we found this house it was listed just that way...but really one of the "bedrooms" upstairs was a loft looking down into the living room.  We liked the house enough that we bought it with plans to close in the loft before baby #4 arrived.  This past weekend it happened!  

I just have to laugh wondering what those workers thought with these critics watching their every move.  

The kids thought it was the coolest thing to watch the transformation.  

Here are some before pictures of the loft.

And the project begins.

Friday was framing.

Standing inside the loft looking out towards the hallway.

Looking up from where the kids sat watching.

From the top of the stairs.

Saturday was drywall.

Looking into the new bedroom from the hallway.

Top of the stairs looking down the stairs and into the new room.

Monday they never showed up...that worried me a little, but yesterday they came and finished up texturing and painting and it's DONE!!

The door was installed very last.

So, now once the overwhelming smell of paint clears out a bit it's time to get this room set up for our little man!  

Watching this first project go so quickly and smoothly we are very anxious to get moving on our next projects.  

First will be the backyard.  Sprinklers, grass, patio & patio cover, trees.

Then the major remodel...ALL new flooring (upstairs and down) along with new light fixtures downstairs and a new kitchen (including adding an island)!

Pretty exciting stuff!!

4th of July Weekend

We spent 4th of July weekend at our Smith Family Reunion in Pahrump, NV.

We stayed at a little RV resort and got to enjoy the little lake, swimming pool, and lots of time visiting and hanging out with family.  It was HOT, but McKay was a good sport and took the kids out on a boat ride while I watched from the shade.

Check out those red cheeks...and don't mind the second set of cheeks in the background... ;-)

 Right after this we threw all the kids in the pool to cool off.  It was so refreshing and we spent several hours splashing and relaxing.

The only other picture I got of the whole reunion was during the family auction. 

Jackson had been eye-balling a squirt gun.  You know, a regular ol' dollar store squirt gun.

We bid up to $12 and I called it quits.  Jackson was devastated.  After a day full of running, boating, and swimming he was tired and due for a meltdown....and oh boy we got one!  Sydney even joined in the drama because she was so sad for Jackson.

Luckily the next items up for auction were some little micro machine cars.  

Here's a picture of Jackson trying to see them through his tears.

 We scored a micro machine for $1.50.  Nice.  Meltdown ended.

We headed home from the reunion on 4th of July morning.

We caught a matinee of Cars 2 then spent the evening at home with a box of sparklers and a surprise fireworks show right out of our bedroom window.

All Carter wanted to do was splash in the pool...he leaned in a little too close and got a nice cool surprise.

On Tuesday following 4th of July weekend I sat down to look at my calendar for the next few weeks.  Other than my regular baby doctor visits and a couple other regulars (such as Bunco!!) my calendar is EMPTY until the baby comes.  We've had a crazy summer so far, but it looks pretty smooth sailing from here.  

We're having our loft closed in to become the 4th upstairs bedroom for our new little man.  That project starts  tomorrow then I'll officially be able to "prepare" for baby #4.  

Just 5 more weeks...yikes.