Monsoons

My dad always says "If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all". And if you know my dad you know he is always coming up with these random bits of wisdom, but this week this one seems to suit our life.
Yesterday in order to preserve my sanity I sent the kids downstairs to play. I hear Price say "Mom, my sock is wet". Oh great I think because it has been raining buckets all morning. So I go down to investigate to find a little water in our laundry room. No big whoop, no damage done. Plus there were some towels down there waiting to be washed so they soaked up some of the damage already. I looked in the playroom and family room and there was no water. Finally I went to check the storage room and saw water. Not a lot, just enough to get most of the boxes in there wet. So after some aggrivation that things like this always happen when Jer is away I cleared out the room and got rid of the gross boxes and moved stuff into plastic bins. Which I had been planning on doing anyway. Nothing like a little forced organization. I isolated the problem to where our gas meter comes in the house. So I cleaned up and put everything back with only minimal annoyance.
Then I woke up at 3:15 this morning to hear another down pour. I tried to go back to sleep, but knew I couldn't until I went to check things out downstairs. And of course there was even more water than before. Luckily Jer was home and he did all the manual labor and shop vacked up all the water. Nothing like a little middle of the night cleaning to make things exciting around here.

Again today it is down pouring so I've been obsessively checking to see if more water is coming in, but it looks like we've located the problem area and it should be an easy fix once it dries out.

I was thinking yesterday "Why us? Why now?" And I've realized that sometimes things just happen (kind of like the Sugarland song). And it is how we react to them and deal with them that will either strenghen our faith and testimony or cause us to be frustrated and lose faith.

So yet again I have tried to look at the positive:

1. That I was home and found the leak before it got too bad.
2. That I can't sleep very well lately and went to check on the basement in the middle of the night (gotta love having to go to the bathroom 24/7 when you're pregnant).
3. That we easily figured out the problem and it's nothing major.
4. That nothing really important was ruined by the water .
5. That I organized our storage room (finally!)
6. I finally got the baby swing, bouncer seat and toys cleaned and ready for the baby. A little forced nesting if you will.

My friend from high school, Tracy, and I used to play this game called "It could be worse..." where we'd think of scenarios where things could be a whole lot more horrible. I've thought about that these past two days and realize I am very blessed and if this is the worst thing that happens this week we are doing pretty good.

Stay on the Sunny Side

Since I am in the final agonizing weeks of pregnancy I've been trying to think of the positive things in life rather than concentrating on how large and uncomfortable I feel.

So here's a few things I will miss about being pregnant:
1-eating whatever I feel like and not feeling guilty about it or the fact that I gain 5 pounds in 2 weeks.
2-Sleeping in and letting Jeremy get the kids a snack and turn on the TV. Oh wait, that's all the time. I think this one will stick around even after the baby is born.
3-Having an excuse to take a nap in the afternoon.
4-Just sitting and reading to the kids rather than getting things done around the house. That is definitely one thing I need to do better-just spend time with them when I can. I can always swiffer later.
5-Letting Jeremy wait on me. He is so good about getting me whatever I ask for and not complaining.

I am very lucky to have such a wonderful husband who puts up with my complaining about how gross I feel and the kids have been so good to help and to let me rest when I need it. But I will definitely not miss being pregnant. Hopefully it's just a week or two away!

8 years

Time sure flies, but then again a lot has changed since August 15, 2001; the day Jer and I got married. Just look at us now, we have 2.8 kids and we definitely aren't the spring chickens we once were (I was looking at our wedding album today).

I was thinking about when we got married and the teeny tiny apartment we lived in and Jer working 3 jobs. I am not a very financially minded person (luckily Jer takes care of that) and when we got married I only had $100 to my name. Apparently I thought we would work it out somehow. Life is very different now, but we have been very blessed and I couldn't ask for a better life.

Jeremy has been asking me all week what I wanted to do for our anniversay. I never really answered him so he took control and planned a very fun day. This morning I went and had a pedicure while he mowed the lawn and trimmed some trees. Then we went to lunch at Osaka which I highly recommend if you're ever in Cedar Rapids. It's one of those places that you sit around the grill and they cook your food. It was so good, I'm not sure what they put on the meat and veggies but I ate a ton. And I even caught the food the cook threw at me, Jer was shocked that I was able to do that. He must think I'm very clumsy, but that's just because I'm pregnant.

Later this evening we headed to the St. Jude's Corn Festival. Yeehaw! A great Cedar Rapids tradition that we seem to miss every year. It's one of those things that makes you realize that you're family is not as weird as you may think. It also got me and Jer thinking about the carny workers and what kind of life that must be. They are very interesting to watch. But the kids had fun riding a few rides and eating some cotton candy.

The missionaries came over for a little bit and now the kids are headed to bed and we are going to watch a movie. Big excitement for our anniversary, we sure know how to live it up. But we're getting old and like to be in bed by 9:30 or 10.

No news

I keep meaning to post, but nothing really exciting has happened to us lately. But maybe that's a good thing, we seem to draw the wrong kind of excitement our way (i.e. the car break in).

We've just been spending the days counting down until this baby comes. I've tried to keep the kids entertained and busy so they don't drive me nuts. Somedays I'm successful, others not so much. But we have been able to get out to the park and splash pad a few times and the weather has been great. I couldn't have asked for a better summer pregnancy than this. Now if I just didn't have this pesky heartburn or ginormous stomach life would be a lot better. But as my sister mentioned today, babies are a whole lot easier to take care of in the womb than out. So I guess I should be more thankful that I still get to sleep through the night.

Another plus I've realized lately is how helpful the kids can be. I love that they are at the age that I can have them do stuff and they are getting to be more self sufficient. Now if they would just do whatver I asked as soon as I asked, then life would be great. I guess I have the next 14-16 years to work that one out. If anyone has discovered that secret let me know.

Last night Jeremy had the YM and YW over for a BBQ after they did a service project. The missionaries were also there. Brynlee is so funny; she can be so shy at times but then she can be such a little flirt. It's something about the missionaries, but she is always making eyes at them and flirting with them. It's harmless now, but in a few years I'm sure they'll be banned from our house and our boy crazy daughter. It'll be interesting to see if Kylee follows in her sister's path.

Price is a classic oldest child; he loves to enforce the rules (but only certain ones at certain times). He loves to go on and on about how Brynlee needs to go to time out for doing something or remembering for days something that she did. He somehow forgets when he has done something he shouldn't, but I'm sure that's just his selective memory (he gets it from Jer). But the latest thing to drive him nuts is that Brynlee has been sleeping on the floor. Don't ask me why she prefers the hard wood to her bed, but she insists. She usually loves to sleep under her bed and Price just goes crazy. "She needs to sleep in her bed", he says. I have a feeling that she is going to be things to just drive him nuts for years to come.

Brynlee turns 2!

Brynlee turned 2 on July 31 and we had a little family celebration for her.
We drove home Friday morning from Rochester and then she got to pick out what kind of cake, ice cream and what to have for dinner.
Here she is on her birthday chair.

She loved getting sung to. She sang along saying "Happy Birthday to me.." Too cute for words. She chose funfetti cake and pink frosting, while they looked cute they were not the tastiest cupcakes. But that didn't stop us from eating them all.

She got a princess dress and shoes, some play food and dishes and a Mr. Potato head and cat and dog. Price has comandeered the Mr. Potato head since he is in Toy Story and anything to do with Buzz Lightyear must be Price's.

It was a fun yet tiring day. It's hard to come back from vacation (being so largely pregnant too) and feel like celebrating too much. But Bryn had fun playing and has been making us some tasty meals with her kitchen set.

Update on the wallet theives. They ended up using Jer's debit card before they ditched the wallet in the street. Luckily they only got gas and some breakfast at Burger King. So now we have to fill out some paperwork from our bank to get the $$$ back and then hopefully we won't have to think about it anymore.