Eviction Notice

The baby has been givin his notice.  He has been givin until July 3rd to make his appearance.  If not then we have no other choice then to force him out.  (that sounds kindof bad, but its true).

Induction is scheduled for 5 am July 3rd.  I'm hoping that what happened with Tanner will ring true for this one too (he came on his own the night I was scheduled to go in to be induced).  My mom comes in tomorrow and it will be such a relief to have her here to help with the boys!  Just a few more days now!

End of Pregnancy Pros and Cons

The last month of pregnancy is the hardest.  At least for me.  Here is my pro/con list.

Pros:

• I can use my belly as a table:

• People are very helpful.  They open doors, let you cut in line for the bathrooms, pick things up off the floor...
• the expectant mothers parking

Cons:

• Grunting every time you have to move
• getting up and down or rotating from side to side is nearly impossible
• low energy
• lack of patience (when it comes to my kids)
• lower back pain
• the belly is always getting bumped
• Braxton hicks contractions
• Tanner has a hard time sitting on my lap when he wants to cuddle.

The cons tend to outweigh the pros.  Luckily we are now just counting down the days, not weeks!

Date Night

Brad loves me.  He surprised me this weekend with tickets to see the Broadway play of The Little Mermaid.  It was our last date before the baby arrives, and he knew how much I loved this movie when I was a little girl.  How lucky did I get that it was in town!

I don't know why, but I was so surprised to see so many little girls there!  Probably because I'm not used to going to plays and there being a lot of children, but it was so cute seeing all of these girls dressed up (some even as Ariel) with their moms.  If I had a daughter I'd want to do the same thing.  Although I'd make sure they were old enough to sit through a play...

The play was pretty cute.  Understandably they had to make some changes from the movie to better fit it as a live production so all the main characters (ie: the prince, King Triton, even the seagull) all had their own songs.  I just wasn't a big fan of how they killed off Ursula at the end.  Very fast and uneventful.

The special effects though was pretty amazing.  The mermaids all had long skirts and floated in the sky to give the illusion of swimming.  Some other characters like Flounder used roller blades. My surprise favorite were the two eels.  They used a black light on them so their costumes lit up and had green LED lights on their arms.  I also really liked the drowning sequence of Prince Eric.  It really did look like he was drowning!

Overall it was just a darling play and such a fun date night with my man!  Love him!

Surfside Beach

This weekend we thought we'd enjoy some family time, as well as getting out to play this summer before this baby makes his arrival!

We went with our old Arizona friends, Phil and Sarah Flores, and had a great time.

The boys loved playing in the sand           

Carson loved searching for seashells and chasing the waves

Tanner loved jumping the waves!  (Love the progression of these next two photos.)

Its always so nice to just relax on the sand, watch the kids play, take a dip in the warm water, and just watch the waves roll in.        

38 Weeks

Just a couple weeks left! Had an ultrasound on Thursday.  I've never had one so late in pregnancy before, but apparently they wanted to make sure everything looks well, check on my amniotic fluid, and to make sure there are no unexpected surprises.  Right now he is currently weighing in at 6 lbs 9 oz. and looks perfectly healthy.

I'm doing really well, just exhausted.  I really can't believe I have less then two weeks left!  I know he can potentially come any minute, but I still feel like I have plenty of time left.  I was just telling Brad that when Carson came it was really a shock because I wasn't planning on him coming early.  In fact I thought I would go late, because everyone told me "you go late with your first!"  Then with Tanner I was so impatient thinking I'd go early again.  It made the days drag on and made the last few weeks seem like an eternity when he arrived on time.  This time around I feel very nonchalant, and whatever happens, happens.

Last week we pulled out all the baby clothes and got the room ready for his arrival.  Last minute I know, but we weren't in any hurry.

I did have an interesting conversation with a young, (inexperienced) salesman at the store.  Here's how it went down:

Him: So are you having twins?
me: a little shocked since no one has ever asked me that before "no just a couple weeks left"
Him: Seriously?  I don't believe it!  You look like you are having twins!  Well at least its a girl right? Please tell me your not having another boy.
me: getting slightly annoyed.  "nope, its another boy"
Him: "Oh G**! I'm SO glad I'm single!  I couldn't even imagine having kids!
Goes back to salesman mode.  Can I help you find anything?
me: death stare "no, I'm good, thanks"

This guy definitely new all the right things to say!  Don't know why he thought I'd want to give him my business after that!  Oh well.

Its just a few more days left until we get to hold our precious little one!

Drum Roll for Elder Tim Murphy...

My baby brother got his mission call yesterday!  He is going to....

 Bakersfield, California spanish speaking!  He leaves to go to the Mexico MTC on October 1.  Couldn't be more excited for him and I know he'll do great work!

Brad's Birthday

I have felt bad that for two years in a row now, Brad has not had the most ideal birthday.  Last year on his birthday we moved into our house!  So we were busy unpacking.  This year he had to leave Utah and go to San Antonio for his annual Industrial Hygiene Conference.

Although we couldn't celebrate on his actual birthday we definitely made up for it!

His parents took us to one of Brad's favorite restaurants in Utah.  The Mandarin.

 He always gets wined and dinned while at his IH conferences, and this year he was able to attend the first playoff game to the NBA finals!  Spurs vs. Heat. 

I always have a hard time coming up with something to give Brad for his birthday since he has everything he needs, but I got this fun idea from a friend...

A discovery flight!  Brad was able to fly an airplane!  

 Brad went up with a flight instructor, and once while in the air, he had total control over the plane!  It was so much fun!

 We were able to go around the whole city of Houston, it was so beautiful and peaceful.

 I was able to go and be in the backseat to take pictures.  I must admit it was a little scarier then I thought it would be getting into such a small plane!  I kept thinking I should have given our babysitter instructions on what to do in case we never come home, but our pilot was excellent and Brad did a great job as well.  He loved it and would someday like to get his pilot license.

Happy Birthday Brad!  We love you!

Going home

Traveling home by myself, with 2 young kids, and 9 months pregnant, is not ideal.  But I received lots of help, and I did not go into labor!

This picture breaks my heart.  Its always sad to leave.

 Rode back and forth on this escalator to pass the time of our 3 hour layover in Denver.

I ended up missing our first flight out of SLC, so we got to stay an extra night.  It turned out to be a blessing, because then Brad was home from his conference and able to pick us up at the airport.  Now we are back in the Texas heat, swimming, playing, and waiting for this baby to come any day!

Seeing old friends

 After Brad had to return back to Texas for his annual IH conference, I stayed a few extra days and got to spend some time with some old dear friends!  Loved seeing them and wish it could be more often!

Sarah was in town from Washington staying with her parents while her husband was away for army training.  She grew up just up the street from me and we were in YW together.  Glad we were both in town at the same time!

One of my best friends from high school Emily, I love that even though we may not have seen each other in years its like no time has passed!

Our boys played along great!  Too bad we aren't closer, I'm sure they'd be best buds. 

 Kajsa, Heather, and Jenna.  Love these girls!  Just missing Brittany!  

Pre/Post Wedding

While feeling rushed to get to onto the airport shuttle, I left my nice camera in the van.  Thank heavens for camera phones or else I'd have no pictures, but camera phone pictures don't take as good of quality pictures, and you can definitely tell in regards to indoor pictures.  Oh well.

 Bridal Shower!

Luncheon

Both Brad and Rich did a great job speaking

Reception

 Tanner loved holding my flower bouquet

The kids loved dancing on the dance floor

Tanner helping decorate the car

 Tanner was being quite the ladies man.  Flirting with the bridesmaids and then he asked Catherine Mortenson to dance with him.  He was pretty cute.

opening up the gifts

Wedding Day

May 31, 2014

Ryan and Sasha got sealed in the Salt Lake City Temple.  It was a beautiful spring day, and a beautiful ceremony.

Walking to the temple.

waiting for the bride and groom

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Clark

Tanner and Carson were so excited to greet the newlyweds

One of my favorites

Look how big our family has grown!

Poor Tanner was so thirsty the whole time taking pictures!  It was getting hot and there was not a drinking fountain near by so the poor kid was dying.  So this momma got a little desperate and found an almost full bottle of water on the ground that hadn't been touched in ages and just gave it to him.  He was very happy after that.