St. Patrick's Day and Such

This winter has been pretty much non existent. It's been sooooo hot! I'm so glad we have this hot tub now. We don't have it hooked up to the heat but when the sun blasts down on it all day it's so refreshing to jump into it after school. The water is like a perfect 85 degrees. The kids LOVE it and are so cute in there! I don't know why. Maybe the water is their happy place. But they get along so well and are so sweet together. Rayleigh was showering Parker with kisses the other day!

My cute girl loves to watch our family photos float by on the TV while we turn on music. I was getting ready this day and found her just sitting like this staring at our faces. 

Ooops! These are a few pictures from Tanner's phone that he snapped a couple weeks ago when Parker was with Tavian for his birthday. We were at the mall and we had given the baby a cookie. She had chocolate all over her face! Adorable! And scrumptious.

Parker spent the night before St. Patrick's Day creating the perfect Leprechaun trap. He used an old show box of Tanner's and drew a rainbow on the inside. He made tin foil balls to try and lure the Leprechaun in.... Leprechauns love shiny treasure. Parker even made a rainbow out of markers to help lead the Leprechaun to his trap. We thought FOR SURE we'd get him this time!

But NO! Not only did we not catch that sneaky little devil but he made a huge mess! He threw everything out of the box and messed up all the markers an even WROTE in the book Parker used as a ramp! Naughty! But he did fill the box full of treats. So I guess we'll forgive him just this once.

We, per tradition, made rainbow Jell-O and Parker was able to take some to school to share! His table won a contest for being so well behaved and they got to have lunch with the teacher. So he brought these in as a treat.

Corned beef and cabbage. Parker has been trying SO hard to over come his "trial" of being a picky eater. He ate his meal without complaint. I was so proud of him! I know he didn't like it so he showed a tremendous amount of growth and maturity.

Speaking of picky.... Like father like daughter. I popped up a bag of kettle corn the other day for a snack and Rayleigh took one bite and spit it out! She's a purist when it comes to popcorn, just like her Daddy.

And  loves kisses, just like her Daddy.

We spent one afternoon decorating for Easter! She makes a pretty dang cute bunny!

Whelp, I'm officially 9 months pregnant! I'm definitely ready to get my body back and definitely NOT ready for another baby. 

Sometimes we like to just sit back and relax in the backyard. This usually happens on Fridays when we have a special treat and we don't want to make a mess in the house.

 I know, I know, I take way too many pictures of my pretty princess. Get over it! I can't resist good lighting and when she's being a little goofball I can't help but snap away!

 Dirty feet! My little nature girl...

Apparently, Rayleigh's "treat" of choice this day was chalk....

 Yuck!

But she sure does LOVE being outside!

Gotta get those toes and that tush clean!!!!

Snuggly little sister

I thought this was so cute- she was so close to the TV that I imagined she felt like she was in fact IN the Disney prologue.

With just a few weekends left before baby boy arrives we HAD to run to Ikea and buy his dresser! I have all the clothes and blankets and socks I need but NO where to store it all! Everyone loves Ikea so we all enjoyed the excursion. Lunch and a little shopping. Can't go wrong!

She's enthralled with Baby Einstein and holding tight to her "credit card"

Studly biggest brother. 

Handsome husband. 

Trying to look cute whilst 9 months pregnant. 

After Ikea everyone wanted to hang out at my parents house- so off we went! Rayleigh loves this tiny tea set. She's such a girly girl!

Tanner kept an eye on Rayleigh while I ran a couple errands with my mom. It was a nice day! Rayleigh was wiped out by the end of it all! 

Seriously though, how cute is this picture of Rayleigh cuddling with her dad and wearing his shoes!? We've established the fact that she's shoe obsessed but this picture just cracks us up.

Sunday we got ALL ready for church only to miss once again. 11:30 is pretty much the hardest time to attend with a toddler. She is always in need of a nap at that time. So once again we stayed home. But we DID wear our pink dresses all day. ;-)

The rest of Sunday was spent dresser assembling and baby boy clothes organizing. Mona Kay made this adorable sign. I spent 87 hours making this mobile. The crib is from Phil-down-the-street, and the bedding is Parker's old stuff that we somehow held on to! I think the nursery is coming along nicely! This is the first baby we will bring home to our OWN house! No moving in the near future for us!

2 babies!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, Friday Parker came home from school all fired up about this "robot" project. He got started right away and spent the rest of the afternoon constructing "Carson II". Carson I was created in Pennsylvania out of a cardboard box. Carson always had the best seat on the couch and was actually quite annoying. We were glad to see him recycled to a better place. Parker was VERY fond of Carson and super sad to see him go. So, the funny thing is that Parker brought Carson II to school on Monday and when we went to pick him up (Tanner was with me because the battery in my car died and he came to my rescue) he came walking out with Carson again. We asked him why he didn't leave Carson at school and he said his teacher didn't need the robot's yet. 

Us: Well, when is your project due?

Parker: April 14th. 

He'd completed his project 3 weeks early. ha ha We were cracking up! No one else had even started working on their robots!

Well, since Tanner had already left work early we decided to head down to San Diego and meet his Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins for the evening! They came down from Idaho for  Spring Break! It was so fun hanging out with them, catching up, and enjoying the nice warm evening by the pool!

Tuesday I had a doctor's appointment. Dr. Han said the baby is LOW but I'm not dilated. Not that it matters- I'm having a C section. But I've only gained 29 pounds! Crazy! With Parker AND Rayleigh I gained 45! I'm still ready to get my body back. Jack is TALL, I can tell. He's low but also all up in my ribs. He loves to stretch which sometimes kinda kills me. Mostly it's magical and amazing and I hate to complain about this bonus miracle baby. So I won't.

I kept Parker home from school that day because he said his throat was a little scratchy. He was a huge help with Rayleigh and they were perfect at the doctor's office. So I took them to the park after and my mom met us when she was done working. We spent the rest of the afternoon with her which is always a treat. Tanner was at a work conference all day and night so we weren't too excited to run home. 

Later that week on Thursday, Tanner had a meeting in Newport and Parker was still home from school- I was trying to speed up his recovery. Aint no body got time for sick kids when a new baby could be born any day. But his cousins invited us down to Oceanside for a beach day so we decided to join them after Tanner's meeting! Shhh, don't tell the boss.

My parents were working in the temple so when we walked in the door Rayleigh was saying. "OOOooooooooooo!" Which is "Hellooooooooooo". She LOVES Nanny and Bebo's house but was sad that they weren't there. We waited for Tanner to finish up and then we all headed down to Oceanside together.

Rayleigh hated it. Psych! She loves the beach! Seriously, I can't get over how in love with the beach she is. It's just about the cutest thing. She is all about running around and enjoying the sand and water. San Diego has the perfect break for babies to enjoy the water!

Tanner's cousins were a blast to hang out with. Parker and Rayleigh loved playing with the other kids and eating all of their snacks. ha ha We pretty much just chased Rayleigh around the entire time. To be honest, I love being her shadow. She giggles and squeals in delight are just about the best sounds in the world.

 Me: Parker, go sit next to Rayleigh and I'll take a picture.

Uh, nope. She doesn't stay in one place long enough.....

This is the best group shot I could get.... 27 people is a lot!!!!!

Tanner's cousin, Jody, got a ton cute pictures of us which was so sweet of her! Seems like we don't have hardly any family pictures! And the family is going to dramatically change oh so soon!

The beach was preparing for a huge Ironman race this weekend so there were a lot of fun vendors set up. I joined the girls on a little mini shop and we all got a cute headband. I love mine! Tanner's cousins are so great- I'm so glad I scored such an awesome family.

 9 months pregnant and jumping like a boss!

Time is flying by! Today I am doing a lot of sitting, trying not to lift or bend over. I swear this baby boy is itching to come early. Fine with me! ha ha I'm so glad it's the weekend so I have my awesome husband here to help me! :-)