Family time

Oliver is quite the swimmer these days. It's so funny to watch because he has this huge smile on his face the whole time he's making his way over to you under the water. He is still totally reckless and has absolutely no fear but he is basically there. I still wouldn't trust him by himself. If we had a pool he would be a pro by now.

Katherine is such a little firecracker. She is still so little it's hard to believe she's walking around and that she's 18 months old. My littlest sister Chelsea had her 19th birthday party and we had everyone there to celebrate. It is bizarre to think that Chelsea isn't still 4 years old with an english accent. Carson, Leah, and Steve had fun in the pool. Steve went home and Leah and Carson have been here hanging around waiting for the baby to come. We're totally reliving when I went to see Leah have Carson and I missed it by a day. Hopefully that won't happen!

Oliver LOVES his cousin Noelle. They got to hang out on Monday and share popscicles together. We used to live so close to the Winstead's when we were in Utah and it's sad to be so far apart now. We know they'll make it over to California eventually.

Here are a few pictures from over the weekend for Laura's farewell that I wanted to post before the baby comes. My whole family flew in for the event which was so fun. Regan and Pete came a day later to say their farewells and then Laura was off the next day. It was so fun to be apart of sending Laura off and seeing how prepared she was to go. I'm going to miss having my friend around a lot but it's so nice to hear from a missionary and fun to write letters. I am totally envious of her.

As far as this little girl goes, we've decided she's never coming out. Ryan and I were saying it's like the anticipation of Christmas and when the day passes it's just over. So now that the due date has come and gone, it's almost like it's over now. I guess besides the fact that I still have this huge baby belly in the way:) I went to the Dr. to get my fluid checked and make sure my placenta is in good enough shape to go past due. Basically she told me that I have more than enough fluid and that she rarely see's a placenta is such good shape. So I said, "what you're telling me is she could live in there another month" and she was like "yeah, probably, but she won't". Ryan thinks we should go for some sort of record. Being only 3 days over I would think we have a lot further to go to get a record and I'm not too crazy about that idea. It is crazy how different this has been than with Oliver. Ollie was five days early, I had lots of pre-labor, and things went super fast. This baby is not in any hurry to get out. Maybe she'll just be a very laid back, easy going girl. I would be OK with that. I have another appt. tomorrow and if I get the ok from the Doctor, I'm planning on an induction on Thursday if she's still not here. I think a week past is all I'm willing to give so hopefully that will be enough cause I really don't want to be induced. Wish us luck and I will update as soon as there is some action on this end.

40 weeks

Is this belly for real? Yes, yes it is. So in case you were ever wondering what full-term looks like, here it is. As far as my doctor's appt yesterday not much has changed, 2cm. I am scheduled for fetal monitoring tomorrow just to make sure it is safe for the baby to be in there past due date. I'm actually doing pretty well other than the sleep thing and the fact that my body is totally morphed and doesn't feel at all like mine anymore. I am wondering how fat and happy she is getting in there though. I'm not looking forward to pushing a 9 pound baby out. Maybe I'll get an idea of her size tomorrow at the ultrasound, although those are never very accurate. Anyways, hopefully we'll be meeting a healthy baby girl soon. Stay tuned.

No baby yet

My due date is tomorrow and still no baby to report. And thank heavens for that considering my mom is in Utah today taking Laura to the MTC. But she gets in tonight so after that it's game time as far as I'm concerned. I have a doctor's appt this afternoon so we'll see if there's anything further to report. My braxton hicks have progressively gotten worse over the last few days, but really sharp and painful, a lot different than the first time around. I don't think it's possible for my belly to get any bigger, honestly. My family says it looks fake. So I know that little girl is running out of room. My back is still doing amazingly well, I am SO grateful. So anyways hopefully she will make an appearance soon cause I'd like to avoid induction if I can. As long as I get the ok from the doc, I'll just let her hang out in there till she decides it's time. If anything much changes I will let the blog know. I am totally the girl who will update in the midst of labor. I just think it's all so exciting, it must be documented.

In case you haven't noticed...

Halloween is coming! If you know me, you know that I LOVE Halloween. Maybe it was my uncanny love of candy as a kid, or the fact that my birthday is around then, or that Fall is my most favorite season, or that the holiday has no real significance other than total fun and pretending which I just happen to love. Either way, it may be a little early for some to bust out decorations and such, but not in this family. I am all about embracing holidays, even if that means they come early. Doesn't that also mean they last longer? I am all for that. So anyways, Ollie and I decided to have an ultimate craft day which consisted of building and painting a wooden boat ($1 at Michael's for the kit), making "I'm the big brother"shirts, and most importantly painting and hanging Halloween decorations. By the way, my son is a total artist. He is so careful when he paints and wants it to look just right. When he was painting his boat earlier my mom got out the video camera to document just how hysterical it was to watch him concentrate. He's got some major art skills from both sides of the family, although Ryan and I individually cannot take any credit for that:)

Thank Goodness for Moms

I would be so ungrateful to not mention how wonderful my mom is. First off, let's talk about the fact that my mom whipped up these baby blankets in a matter of hours. I had pulled out some baby blankets of Oliver's and my mom was like put those boy blankets away, my grandaughter just cannot use boy blankets! My mom has also watched Oliver in the morning while I sleep in which is seriously the best gift anyone could give right now considering I basically fall asleep around 4. My parents are also supposed to be official empty nesters but instead have opened their house to us so we can save money. That is a huge sacrifice and Ryan and I are so grateful. It's also really special for me to have Oliver here close to his grandparents because growing up we never really got that chance to live close to ours. A highlight of the week was when grandpa got Ollie his own helmet to use on his motorscooter. I couldn't tell who was more excited.

In baby news, there really isn't any yet. I haven't changed from 1 cm 75 % effaced in a week which is so different than Oliver. By this time with him I was already 3 cm but it was not free, it came with some really painful early labor. But I haven't had much labor yet, just the normal stuff. We have a busy weekend with all our family here and Laura's farewell so hopefully my daughter has listened to my requests that she come after the weekend, like say Sunday night, just in time to meet her auntie Laura before she leaves on Tuesday. My official due date is Thurs. (a week from today) and I realized yesterday that if I let it go a week over exactly, cause I wouldn't be able to go further, she would be born in Oct, the 1st. That just sounds daunting...October. She will officially be unwelcome in my womb at that point. And seriously, if she knew the fun awaiting her when she gets out, she should be in way more of a hurry. I promise baby girl, there is plenty of love for you on the outs, come hang with us.

Labor Day at Malibu Beach

Ryan above, Jeff below featured in some skim boarding moves

Some of the best snuggles are at the beach after a good dip in the water.

Jeff and Dad teaching Ollie the ropes. He could have stayed out there ALL DAY.

This was Ollie's face when I asked him "Did you go surfing with Dad"!

At one point Ryan took Ollie out pretty far to meet the rest of the surfers. I was pretty confident the whole time minus the part when they went up and over a big wave and Ollie almost flew off. But Ryan had it under control and Oliver didn't seem to mind the crash. No fear this kid.

The Boys
Oliver's biggest wave of the day

Being wrapped by Uncle Austin

Just look at that face

Mmmmm, salty.

Snuggling sister

This is about as close as Ollie can get to snuggling his baby sister right now. I love how his
little body just molds in right next to her. It was fun to feel her moving right against him, like she was saying, hey brother, love you already.

Family Day with the Facers

Just the two of us...or wait, maybe more like 2 3/4.

I LOVE the curiosity of a 2 year old.

Baby Dane's darling little face. This kid is so mellow, I just can't believe it. Oliver was always kind of a spaz. Ryan was like, can we have one like this next time? So baby girl, if you're listening, we'd like for you to be nice and relaxed, oh and sleep really well. We can dream.

Oliver's favorite words all day were "rocket ship" although we actually didn't see any. But he knew that the two were closely related. I'm trying to figure out how to make him a rocket ship for Halloween. That would just be too hilarious.

The gang, minus me behind the camera. Ryan, Burnett, Nita, Kate, Pehrson, Jill, Dane, Jon, Ollie, Jeff, and Austin.

Pardon the "pregnant face" in this picture.

Nana, Ollie, and Papa checking out the paintings on the ceiling.

These things are just so cool, and slightly hypnotizing.

Yesterday we got to spend the day with some of the Facer Family (we were missing Aaron and Meg, we missed you guys!) and we decided to go to the Observatory. We also got to have Jill's sister Kate there with her husband Pehrson. It's always so fun to have family together.

The Echo Chamber

We had a little jam session the other night in the echo chamber at the high school. It is one of the best places for great acoustics. Throw a few guitars together and some voices and you have magic. I just had to bring my camera and try it out on a few willing subjects.


There used to be the coolest paintings all over the walls and then one year they painted over it. I have no idea who approved that, what a shame.
We love being close to Austin and Jeff. It's so much fun to hang out with them and see them love Ollie. He LOVES his uncles.
Jeff feelin it.

What a rock star. I love this face.

No hang out would be complete without a skateboard.
Ryan is all set to get a new guitar, actually his first very own guitar. For someone who loves to play as much as he does, he's been patient borrowing guitars in the past. Now that he's a working man, he deserves his own axe.
Jeff's cute face.

This is Oliver losing it by the end of the night. After rolling over his fingers a few times on the skateboard and getting really really dirty, we were all ready for bed.