A few things NOT to count on...

I've learned throughout my short 29 years that there are a few things you should rarely count on. For example:

1- The repair man. Seriously! Does he ever really come during the time slot that was agreed upon?

2- House closing dates/getting the keys on the date they said it would be ready. We are at their mercy, just impatientaly waiting as if we didn't have a lives.

3-The Target clearanced item you've been waiting all season to go on sale for 75% off- Yeah right, they are all gone by 30%-50% off!

and last but not least...

4- Babies coming when doctors assure you they will! (I love my Dr by the way!)I just assumed that because she knew my "girl parts" better than I did, that I could trust every word she said, so after 9 days of walking around with stripped membranes, a lost mucus plug, contractions and almost dialated to a 5, there is still no baby! No problem normally, but don't say we're going to have a baby in a few days if we're NOT going to have a baby! Last week was one of the top 5 longest weeks of my life (right next to : #1- the week before I got married, #2- the week before I gave birth to Tristin #3- the week before I gave birth to Daisy & #4- the week before I gave birth to Grace!)

So... for the 5 of you who actually read/check my blog, we are still waiting for the baby, but out wait is almost over. She'll be here in 48 hours for sure! (Thursday mornig at 7:30 we'll be induced!) When I saw my Dr. yesterday, she just stood there checking my cervix stunned, saying, "I just don't know why you haven't had this baby yet, I still think you'll go before Thursday." All I was thinking at that moment, was "Please get out of my cervix now and let me sit up" (it's a good thing I even made yesterday's appointment. She told me not to even make it because we would have a baby before then!)

So... there's the scoop. Hopefully I'll be home Friday with our stubborn little bundle of joy and I can get pictures up to show you!

Getting ready for baby Willow!!!

I am going to the Dr. in the morning to get things started, and I can hardly believe we're at this point already! Last week I was dilated to a 3 and 60% effaced with lots of contractions coming, so my WONDERFUL Dr. said we would strip my membranes on my next app.(tomorrow) and have a baby next week! I confessed my love for her and skipped out of her office with a huge smile plastered on my face! All week, I've been finishing up projects, cleaning, organizing, packing the hospital bag, diaper bag & getting last minute touches on things and I feel ready! (Not for labor, of course) We've waited so long for her to get here and we're thrilled! We can't wait to hold her and see if she has as much black hair as all the others did. So, wish me luck tomorrow and say a prayer that my cervix continues to work her magic- and I'll post pictures as soon as I get home!

My baby shower...

Thank you so much everyone!!!

My baby shower...

I have the greatest friends who had a baby shower for me a few nights ago! It was great to sit with friends, eat and open presents for the baby! Thank you so much everyone!!!

Tristin teaches himself to ride a bike!

That's right, Tristin hopped on his friend's bike last week, and off he went! No training wheels, nothin' It worked out great because just a few days ago our neighbor that was moving, asked if I wanted a bike for him and I said "sure, thank you". So after fixing the tires, Tristin has been in Heaven riding up and down the street. (We don't have side walks, so that's why he didn't have one before this, really, I'm not a bad Mom!)

Canning is complete!

I'll be honest, this year's canning was a little more difficult being 8 & 9 months pregnant, and I couldn't have done it without Angie! Bless her heart... she was swinging from trees to get fruit out at the orchard, lifting most of the heavy stuff, listening to me complain for over a month, watching me eat all her candy, and putting up with all my other "wonderful qualities". Somehow we survived it together! We finished up our apples 2 days ago and were able to get 31 pints of apple sauce, 20 freezer bags of apple pie filling, 1 dehydrator full of cinnimon & sugar apples and some left over to eat! Did I mention those were FREE Gala apples too? 3 1/2 bushels! It was a blast, but I am pretty worn out. Thanks Angie for everything- I love you!
We did:

325 jars
141 bags of freezer food

Sleeping Beauties...

The other day, the girls zonked out on my bed and I thought Grace looked so cute snuggling on her sister. I love these little girls with all my heart. They are the reason I wanted to be a mother.

Labor Day...

On Labor day we went out to Swan Falls for a few hours. We couldn't have asked for better weather- it was a nice little get away.

Pears, pears & more pears...

The past 3 days Angie & I have canned 132 quarts of pears, and I wish I could say we were finished- but I'm still waiting on 1/2 a bushel to ripen. (This picture is just my 83, I'll probably get 7-10 more jars) Wow, are we tired- but how great it feels to look at all the jars and know that my family will have yummy fruit and my baby will have home made baby food. It's been a busy few weeks, but lots of fun. Thanks Angie!

We've canned 314 jars
And made 141 bags of frozen food

That calls for an I HOP celebration!

My little man is not so little any more...

It seems like just yesterday that Tristin was born, but here he is all grown up and in 2nd grade. How in the world did 7 years fly by right before me? Now he's walking to school with friends, losing teeth, reading by himself, doing math problems faster than I can, starting to "ask questions" about life, wanting to dress himself, doesn't want me to see his underware, and just the other day out of the blue asked if I was "going to divorce Dad?" What??? Where did that come from? (And no trav and I are great, actually!)I love this little guy.

The count down is on...

It is official...
I have 4 weeks left of this wonderful pregnancy! (I'll be induced on the 4th, if I don't go before then! Yeah!!!!)I'm pretty sad though because I'm really going to miss being pregnant. There's just something magical about it all, like: carrying around 500 extra pounds, my back almost breaking in half, my siatic nerve almost killing me, my job that makes me question why I don't have a house cleaner of my own, not sleeping for more than a hour at a time, having strangers touch my belly or make questionable comments about how "to prevent this" next time, tiny little feet jabbing my ribs every 3 seconds, clothes that don't fit, resembling a waddling penguin, consuming enough food to feed a small country, using in sain amounts of toilet paper, guilty weigh ins, puffy hands and feet, head aches that cannot be cured, contractions that take my breath away, the assistance of my husband to help me roll over in bed, comments from my kids that sound like, "Mom, you have a big bum" and glimpes of my self in the mirror that make me question who IS that person staring back at me???

Not that I'm complaining though!!!

Actually, as unpleasant as every second of pregnancy is, I thank Heavenly Father every day for the amazing chance I have to help bring my beautiful babies into the world. I am one of the lucky ones. I love my children without end and I'm very slowly learning why there is a need to sacrafice ourselves for 40 weeks. I believe there is a parralell between that and drawing closer to our Savior who suffered for us. Out of that comes great love and appriciation, all of which, in the end, I am thankful for, as well as a cute little baby that made it all worth it.

So, here's to my last few weeks of pregnancy, which doesn't leave much time for the rest of my canning plans, sewing projects and ever growing To Do list! (did I mention that Trav gets 2 weeks off paid maternity leave??????? 2 weeks!!!!! I was just hoping for a day or 2!

G-pa & Aunt Helene come for a visit!

My Dad & Aunt Helene stayed with us for 2 nights this week and we had a great visit. I didn't take many pictures because of my silly batteries, but I got a few from the park. We had fun eating pizza, watching Daisy eat 500 pieces of pumpkin pie, going to the park, metal detecting with G-pa, visiting the coin shop, shopping at the dollar store, making taco salad and fresh salsa, watching movies & talking! Thanks so much for driving out you guys! We love you!