Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 Jackson picked out some green socks and flip flops.

"Why did you choose to wear flip flops with socks?"

"Duh Mom, so you can see my green socks!  Oh, and so the bees don't sting my toes."

A whole lot of nothing...

...or at least nothing picture worthy.

I feel like I've been busier than ever these last several weeks, yet I have no pictures or amazing stories to show for it.  Sadly, when I don't have pictures, my blogging/journaling gets neglected.

So, what have we been up to the last few weeks?

1 - McKay is crazy busy with work.  He's taken over several cases of attorneys who have left the office in the past few months, and most recently took on the full case load of the last attorney who left a couple weeks ago.  He's drowning and struggling and trying to find a balance between work and any sort of life outside of work.  

So is the life of a first year attorney.

2 - Before McKay got his last load of cases we decided to start house hunting.  We found several we liked, we put in offers for the asking prices, and they were given to investors with cash offers.  Crappy.

About 2 weeks into our hunting McKay had to drop out to be at work....all day.  We decided that I'd do the hunting solo....well, with my three amigos Sydney, Jackson, and Carter. 

We looked in every corner of the city and came across a house in Henderson that I really liked.  

Offer in.

House sold to an investor with cash.

Crappy.

A few days later our Realtor came across the exact same model of house, in the same neighborhood, but for $10,000 over our limit.

Crappy.

Still put in offer.

Expected nothing.

GOT THE HOUSE!

What?!

That's right, on April 14th we'll be packing it up and heading to our new house.  

It didn't hit me until a few days ago that I actually have to pack again.

Eww.

Oh, and the house is just around the corner from, and in the same ward as my brother Michael and his family and my two sisters who are living with him.  Crazy.

3 - I finally took my kids to the doctor yesterday after 3 weeks of nasty coughs and colds.  It's the type of sickness that doesn't seem so bad during the day, but the nights are just awful.  Afraid that the doctor would send me home telling me my kids just have a cold, I've avoided going to the doctor.

I told myself if they weren't better after the weekend I was going.

After sitting in the doctors office for 2 hours (another reason I avoid taking them) I was sent home with antibiotics to go around.  Sinus infections, ear infections, and strep.

Not cool.

Sorry kids, for giving you a drink and sending you back to bed for 3 weeks.

PLEASE don't get me sick.

4 - Baby #4 is doing great.  I'm in that stage where I'm not sick, not tired, and I can't feel the baby move yet. It's easy to forget I'm pregnant when I feel so normal.  I guess there couldn't be a better time to move.

I have an ultrasound scheduled for April 4th where we'll find out what this baby is.

Sydney has her fingers crossed for a girl, and just to make her mad Jackson's hoping for a boy.

I've quit guessing after being wrong on the last two.

                    I'm just over 16 weeks and expecting to start feeling little kicks any day now.  

After a huge sneeze a few days ago I was pretty sure I felt some action, but I haven't felt anything since so who knows.

So, our next few weeks will be filled with preparations for the new house and move for me, and long stressful hours at work for McKay.  Maybe I'll find a few things worthy of taking pictures along the way.

We'll see.

Syd said

Sydney told me, "I can't believe I grind my teeth so loud in the night but I don't even have carrot dreams or anything crunchy in my dreams!"

She also said, "You know those little sticks, and they come in a box, and when you rub the sticks on the box they make a fire happen?" I said, "Matches?" And she said, "Ya those..."

The "real" man is back!

Leaving Las Vegas and moving to Virginia for law school was hard for all of us.

For me, I would miss being close to my family, friends, and living in a city where you can run to the store at any hour.

Sydney would miss all her grandparents along with aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Jackson was too young to care.

On the other hand, the only tear McKay shed was saying good bye to his baby.

No, no, no...not Sydney...

His banshee.

He lost a piece of himself the day he sold it, but a couple weeks ago he bought that piece back.

Yesterday he told me this:

"You know when you smell a smell like you're old girlfriend's perfume (ya, he said that) and it totally takes you back to high school or whatever??"

Me : "uh huh...?"

"Well, I just walked into the garage and smelled the banshee and it made me feel like a man again."

I'm glad to have my man back...and he deserves every bit of that banshee-induced-man-feeling happiness.

Mother and Daughters

I love these ladies!

Hello there baby.

Here's a little peek at baby #4.

I laid on the ultrasound table for about 40 minutes before the baby cooperated enough to get all the measurements needed, but everything looked great.

The umbilical cord was bunched up around the legs and feet so the ultrasound tech wasn't able to get a clear shot of the gender....I knew it was too good to be true when they told me we might get to find out at 13 weeks!

I'll have another ultrasound at 18 weeks and then we'll know more.  

Until then, say hello to baby #4!

Early Birthday Project

My friend Jake got a pretty sweet birthday present a couple weeks ago-- his first 4-wheeler after being a lawyer. That's a big deal. We put on suits every day and pretend to be interested in big business and politics. We help people solve their problems. We sue people. But all we really want to do is go camping and ride four wheelers again. Like back in the days when we were REAL men.

My birthday order finally arrived. So I spent some time today installing it.

This is the part I'm still not sure about. If you are out doing manly stuff, pulling your four wheeler trailer and lighting stuff on fire in the desert, but it's the minivan that got you there, it still counts right? That doesn't un-manly it?

Graham Cracker Barns

Every few Thursdays Keresa goes to some girl party with her bffs. Who knows what they do or how it could be fun, but all I know is as soon as she walks out the door, the kids look at me and say, "What fun thing are we going to do tonight for Daddy-Daughter-Son-Son?!" Usually the fun has to wait until we put Carter to bed. So then it becomes Daddy-Daughter-Son.

I thought we were making graham cracker houses. But the kids let me know since we had no ginger bread guys, they couldn't be houses. We did have animal crackers, so they must be graham cracker barns.

Dad made one

Whistle while you work

This is harder than it looks

The whole setup

Jackson said, "I'm going to have some pets!"

"Doesn't mine look cool with all these sprinkles?!"

"DAD! Jackson used all the sprinkles!"

(but she cheered right up when I told her we would eat them)

She learned on Ratatouille to close her eyes so she could see all the flavors

"The milk melts the glue and the cracker!"

Trying to figure out why it tastes SO GOOD!

So go have your girl parties, and do whatever it is you do, because we have a so much fun at Daddy-Daughter-Son.

Yes, it's true!

There is a "babee in my belee".

I'm a little over 11 weeks along and almost past the "sick" stage.  I feel better every day...now if I wasn't SO tired!

Sydney and Jackson are very excited.  Jackson concluded that the baby lives in a dew drop in my belly.

My official due date is August 29th, but since I'll have another c-section we're planning on the 22nd.

I'm scheduled for another ultrasound a week from Wednesday and they will try to determine the sex.  I've never known this early!

Carter and this child will be 21 months apart and just one year apart in school.

Sydney and Jackson were 20 months apart and one year apart in school.

Yes, we planned it this way...crazy as it seems.  ;-)

Life will be crazy, hard, hectic, emotional, and tiring.

BUT

We're excited and ready for the challenge.

Now I need to go take a nap!

(I wish!)

Another one of Sydney's creations.