Hallelujah!

From the Book of Wintemute:
At first there were many boxes and no furniture. On the second day, and each day thereafter, a young child kept climbing the many boxes and saying, "Help! Help! I trouble!" On the third day and many days since, the situation created an unhappy pregnant woman. On the upteenth day of nagging, Brooks said, "Let there be a couch". And there was.

Yes! We have a couch! A beautiful brown leather couch that was just delivered today. Of course it came from our favorite four-lettered furniture store. So will the matching loveseat and recliner once we have the nice big house for it to fit in. Ah, it is awesome in every possible way. Now comes the hunt for a dinning set.

I am so happy I may just do laundry :)

Fun Weekened!

Tay and I just got back from spending the weekend at Grandma's. We drove down Friday after Brooks got off of work and first stopped in Tucson for Michael's birthday party. We had dinner at Araceli's then sang "Happy Birthday" and had baseball cake. Mikey got a pop up tube and tent play set, which Taylor was trying hard to break. So James packed it up and we started opening presents. I thought he would love the Woody and Buzz Lightyear we got him, but apparently Tay's beat-up Herbie car was much more interesting. The last time we were at Grandma's, Taylor discovered the Herbie movie and Sam's toy Herbie car. Try as I might, (and believe me- I tried!)I could not find a new Herbie car for him, so we bribed Sammy into giving Tay his old one. It is now missing a door, but Tay loves it. After the party, I headed to my mom's and Brooks went back home, where he slept in late and played Playstation, and watched movies all by himself. Ah, the life!

Meanwhile, Tay and I went to the Taiko drum concert on Saturday, which was awesome! Grandma is on the board of directors for the group, and this was Tay's third Japanese drum concert. He loved it, and made it through the first half like a champ. The second half he decided he'd rather be a wiggle worm, so we went outside and played. The best part was, we drove there in Grandma's bus, which he still thinks is the coolest thing ever.

Sunday we went to my aunt and uncle's house for a quilt making party for my Nana. Each grand kid and great-grand kid painted a square for the quilt and Araceli is going to sew it all together to give her for Christmas. Spanky made carne asada, which is to die for, and the kids played and had a blast. I brought Katie with me and she had a great time. It is always nice to see my cousins and Spanky and Terri. Terri said they wanted to have a baby shower for me, so we will definitely be back for that! I thought it was very sweet that they wanted to do that, and am excited to find out what the baby is so we can start planning!

Monday we went back into Tucson and met my friend Sybil for lunch. She just passed the bar and is a law clerk. We met her downtown and Tay thought it was pretty cool. We haven't really walked around downtown Phoenix yet, so he thought Tucson was pretty impressive. For lunch he had chicken noodle soup, chocolate milk and a cookie. I had a yummy salad with mandarin oranges, feta cheese, almonds and chicken. It is always fun to see Sybil. We have been friends since junior high, then lost touch and reconnected. She is a hoot and always has a funny story to tell. Plus, she appreciates my crazy stories.

Tuesday we came home, and Tay was very upset to have to say goodbye to Grandma. He cried some of the way home and then fell asleep in the car and once we were home we tucked him in to Taylor's bed. Daddy bought him a new truck with a trailer, towing a quad and he fell asleep with it in his arms. Brooks and I each get up a few times to check on him and he is so darn cute when he is sleeping. He is so cute all the time, really.

Oh, it was a fun weekend.

Getting Settled

We are finally getting settled down after this summer. We have a new apartment, which is only about a mile from our old one, but a little cheaper and definitely not as nice. But, in just a bit we will be in our new, beautiful house and this will all be worth it. I think if we had known our summer would be so much "fun", we would have just sucked it up and paid the higher rent, renewed our lease and continued on our merry way. I am down to the last few boxes, which have been getting unpacked slowly but surely as we are a busy family. This weekend Tay and I will be going back to Grandma's. Friday is Micheal's birthday, Saturday is the Taiko drum concert, Sunday is a quilt making party for my Nana, and Monday we said we would watch the kids.

The little baby is now 17 weeks and growing cuter and smarter each day. We are very happy to be a mommy and daddy again, and I am trying to make sure with everything that we have been doing, that this little one knows it is loved. We did not get an ultrasound at the last appointment, but Brooks took the day off of work to be there and we heard the heartbeat, which was very strong, and very wonderful. Our next appointment is the 19th of October and we will get an ultrasound, we should find out the sex and will schedule the 4D ultrasound then, which will happen at about 30 weeks. I can't wait to find out the sex so we can buy some baby furniture :)Jasmine will have pretty white wood, Shaun will have dark brown. Grandma has already bought the baby a cool saucer-type activity center, and a bouncer. Brooks bought a pack of yellow onesies and I enjoy looking at them and thinking about having something so tiny again. Well, tiny for a bit. If this baby is anything like it's brother, it won't be tiny long :) Jasmine-Shaun also started kicking so that I could feel it.

Speaking of big brother, Taylor is doing great. Daddy bought him a Cars race car driver costume he thinks its the coolest thing ever. He wears it around the house,and even out and about the town.Tay also got a new big buy haircut and sat in the chair all by himself. He goes to a real salon and so far has been sitting in our lap while getting his hair cut. This time he was a big boy and sat all by himself.

Brooks is good, work is great. This week the office is going to see Dana Carvey at a comedy club fundraiser for the ASU real estate program. Brooks starts his real estate licensing program next month. He does not intend to practice, but Carlson is paying for it and it benefits him with his work.

So, that's the haps. It feels good to be in our own bed, and unpacking our things and thinking about our new house. I am just trying to remember to take my prenatals and Omega Mom's each day and really enjoying being pregnant. I don't have morning sickness anymore, but am still tired all the time. But, there is so much to do!

Spider Monkey and Monster Trucks

The cutest, sweetest, most precious little boy ever finally got to go to Build A Bear this past week. I have been asking Brooks forever if we could take him. He did go to a build a bear-type place when we were at Mount Rushmore, but "Doggy" ended up getting lost during a day trip to Nogales. Doggy and Tay were best buddies, so I wanted to let him get another one. Daddy finally said yes, and off we went. Tay picked out a monkey, named Monkee, complete with a Spider Man costume. Somehow Tay has really gotten into Spider Man, which is really pretty funny. Daddy makes Monkee, the Spider Monkey do flips and twists and swings from chair to chair, it just cracks Tay up. Monkee comes everywhere with us, and I am hoping I can throw his "home" away soon. You other mom's know exactly what I am talking about. It goes between being a chew toy and a house for his other toys or he stuffs Monkee in it and bangs him around the place, since that box is nearly the size of Tay.

The other big thing is monster trucks. I found this video at Target for $1.48 and thought, why not? So I bought it and now monster trucks are the coolest thing. He watches the video and says, "Oh no!no!no!" "Watch out!" Oh, yes!" "Oh no, he lost a tire!" There is also a monster truck that is an Escalade, and today on the road, he pointed it out to us. "Is that an Esclade?" He asked us, then he said, "No, that's not an Escalade, it's a truck!" He was right, it was actually a Denali. And of course, he knows all the names: King Crunch, Grave Digger, Blue Thunder, Monster Butt (really it's Mutt, but he says Butt), Hot Wheels, Bounty Hunter-it goes on and on. I only hope when he is 16 he doesn't want either a monster truck or a VW Bus like Grandma. Maybe a Volvo?