New Chapter: Super Pregnant Mom!

Ok, so before I got sick preggo I was going to have this super mom summer. I was going to do all these really fabulous things for my kids and get in the best shape of my life while I was at it. Half marathon , preschool time, reading tons of books everyday, limited movie time, FHE's that are super fun and meaningful, lots of park days and swimming lessons,... but that didn't work out. So now I am feeling good enough to start where I left off in a small degree and today I am kicking off my improvised "super pregnant mom routine"! ;) I am really excited about it.

The kids will have a "morning chart "of things we do every morning, except on the weekends of course. :0)

Kids Morning Chart:

- morning prayer

- breakfast, take vitamin

- get dressed

- brush teeth

- help mommy on her jog/walk

- do preschool time

- read books

Today we are making a little chart complete with pictures and everything to hang on the fridge. The kids don't have their real preschool until the afternoon so we'll actually be able to do all these things in the AM. I hope that it gets us going everyday and that the kids have fun checking off everything on their chart! :O)

For me this means I will actually be getting them dressed before noon, jogging everyday, and starting to do preschool time (review speech stuff, homework, and review classwork, and supplement with the cute little workbooks I bought) and daily book reading time - since I have been so tired at night and traveling so much I haven't been good about night time stories so we are moving it to the mornings. I know all these things pay sound simple but for me this is a big step forward. Eeee! I am excited!

Aunt Liz and Uncle Nathan's Wedding

*sorry this is out of order but I finally got the pictures to do this summer post...I'll be moving it to it rightful place soon but I wanted to share it before it got filed away. :)

We were so excited for Elizabeth and Nathan to be married this summer. Getting all our matching outfits ready, making plans to be there, and all the anticipation that goes with it was a highlight of our summer. They had a "preception" the day before they were married and Mom Ras did such a good job at making it beautiful. The kids and I were in town the week before and tried our best to be helps. We got to stay in a hotel with all the other little cousins and the kids thought it was fabulous. Stewart was doing his away rotation at University of Utah so he had to fly in the evening of the reception to join in . The reception day was a bit hectic as it always is but once the party got started it was really wonderful to be with family and friends to celebrate their wedding the next day. The evening of their sealing was wonderful. I have never seen a more full sealing room and a happier bride and groom. They were almost gitty it was too cute. Such a happy day.

I felt so much love for our wonderful Rasmussen family as I got to take part in the celebrations my dear sister-in-law Elizabeth marry a man she adores and realize the eternal blessings they were bringing to themselves and all their posterity. I am so grateful for temples and I am so very glad Stewart and I were able to have been married in the temple too.

Here are some pictures that were taken. I never once got out my camera. I was just too busy running around making sure we were dressed and at places on time that I kept forgetting. Thank you to those of you who took the pictures!
Here we are working up to the last minute! Becca and I left the church an hour before the reception was planned to start. I was so stressed, I had to get myself plus three kids ready, pick Stewart up from the airport, and I was sick preggo. I was obviously late to the reception but considering no shower and no real food and all the stress I think I pulled it off pretty well. But what would a wedding be without a few panic attacks?!?! :)

The reception. It was beautiful! Mom and everyone did such a great job with the decorations.

Still having fun taking down the reception decorations. :)

I think everyone would agree that the highlight of the wedding week ended with their sealing. Seeing them Sealed was wonderful. :)
This picture is for my mother. I am not sure why I am always 17 weeks pregnant or barley post-pardon when a family member gets married but I am and it is not my favorite place to be. :) I was so worried this time around trying to find a maternity dress to wear to the wedding that was red or orange. They just didn't have any! So bless my mother's heart she did all this research to find patterns (long enough to cover my ugly varicose veins, but summery enough to be in a summer wedding, ...) and to get the best fabric (fabric that would be the right color red, not too hot in Las Vegas summer,....) and made the perfect dress for me. Such love from my mom! Mother you have no idea how much that meant to me, Thank you!

Well Hello in there.

The baby that is inside me is getting bigger. I have been feeling the baby move for sometime though it has been really gradual and I sort of second guessed myself every time but two nights ago I was laying in bed and felt this little kick in the same spot over and over again. I had Stewart put his hand on my belly to see if he could feel it too. He could. Oh, I was so happy! Feeling a kicking baby is one of my all time favorites especially the first time daddy can feel it too.

I've missed doctor appointments this pregnancy with being out of town a lot and so I sort of get worried that I have miscarried and just haven't realized it yet so to feel he/she move is such a comforting thing.

Anyways, yay! There really is a real live baby inside me that is growing and everything! I won't get to see an ultrasound of our fourth Rasmussen creation until October but I am happy to feel that little sweet one move inside me. :O)

We haven't really talked names much because we have been so busy and when I am pregnant it takes all my concentration to think about baby names but here are some names that we are thinking about. What do you think?

Boy Names:

Emmett
Everett
Graham
Griffin
Theodore
Tye
William
Cedric
Christian
Ezra

Girl Names:

Celeste
Audry
Charlotte
Zoey
Isabel
Genevieve
Giselle
Jacqueline
Josephine
Lorelle
Naomi
Simone
Suzette

one more day

I have only one more day until we drive back to Reno. That is if we get our car in working condition. It has gone so fast this here trip we are on. It has been good but it wasn't what I expected. However, I am a firm believer in things happening for a reason. So I am not really mourning that my dreams didn't come to pass but rather trying to find a why. My kids have had a great time at my brother's, which is where we have been almost the entire time since we left Nevada for Utah. Being with his family has been a really good experience. They have been soooooo good to us and I have felt the Lord's hand in our lives as we have been here.

I hope when I get home it doesn't feel too fall-ish because I love the changing of the seasons and I would be sad if I have missed any of it. I can feel Fall creeping in here in Utah. It makes me nostalgic for the beautiful falls we spent in Utah while we were in school at the Y. hmmmm.

I am sad Stewart will be leaving almost as soon as he gets home. I cant tell you how happy it will be when he graduates - simply knowing he'll not have to go live far away for months will be reward enough!

Stewart has loved his rotation at the University of Utah. We have no idea if they will really consider him come this winter but we hope they do because he loved their program and the people are all super fun and nice.

Well, I better go. Stewart is trying to study and the kids are being crazy. Utah, I will miss you. Maybe we'll call you home in two years?

Dear Benjamin,

Dear Benjamin,

For weeks I have been writing in my head the post I should have written you for your passing of 18 months and today I am actually making it happen! ( Even though you are now 20 months old) One of your many nicknames is "my joy baby". I know that is a really odd nickname but it is probably the one that makes the most sense. You have brought our little family nothing but joy since the moment you joined in on our crazy lives. I cant believe how fast the months have gone. You are a little boy now and we are all loving every moment of your growing up. You are in such a fun stage! The kids are always pointing out to me your new achievements and love that you are old enough to play with them.

You are getting better and better at expressing yourself and love repeating words. I can say the silliest words I know and you do your very best to say them back to me and it is very cute. The way you say "Bridger" is one of my favorites, you say it so sweetly. You are putting your own little phrases together and I laugh every time you come up to me and grab my hand and in your most serious expressions say "come now mama.". I love the way you do your best to keep up with your big brother and sister . You are so patient with them and adore your sister who treats you more like her son then anything else.

Your smile shows all over your face, your eyes sparkle and your dimples are just the cutest finishing touches. I can tell you love seeing others smiling back at you and delight in giggly moments with your family members. You are a good boy and try very hard to do things how they should be done. When you are told to go to timeout you always go and sit in your little corner all by yourself and come out ready to say sorry and give hugs and kisses. After you have done the whole drill you are always so proud of yourself and come to mom for a big hug and kiss as a reward. At nursery you like to stay right by Sis. Scott's side until you have warmed up to the new setting without mom. She gives you lots of hugs and cuddles and you always come back to me smelling of her sweet perfume. She is like a third grandmother to you and you love her very much. Strangers usually make you feel shy and when you are shy you want nothing more then to have your mama hold you. You come up to me and quietly say, "Hold you. Hold you. pease." It makes me smile every time. Angeli likes to take you by the hand and help you warm up to new places. She is very sweet to you.

You love to cuddle, read stories, jump, throw rocks, wrestle, talk, take baths, color, to tell the temperature of things, give big giant hugs, make up silly games, eat almost anything but especially suckers, talking on the phone, to start the dish washer at all hours of the day, load the laundry machine, water the garden, play with blocks, push cars around, and demonstrate to the whole family that you staunchly believe that mother loves you the most.

You have no idea that there is a baby coming and I think you will freak out when you are not the littlest baby anymore. Good thing we have over five months to get you ready.

You have a special place in our family and we love you very much. Thanks for being part of the gang. We wouldn't be as happy without you!

Love,
Your Mama

Grass Root Joy!

Ok I have been a downer lately but I feel a big turn around coming and it feels good! I hit fifteen weeks and I suddenly feel 70% better! WOOO HOOO! But that is just a side note.

Ok so everyone knows we are poor right? Well, it has made buying my children books almost impossible. We hit up the library but I hate going there and thus my books are almost always late and I just hate the entire experience of libraries with three crazy children in tow. So since I spend $10 a month on late fees I stopped going and tried different options for books. I invested in the deals with scholastic books, but honestly they are junk. They are poor poor quality. So I got a Boarders book membership but the books we get on sale are not that great either. They are activity books not sit and read before bedtime stuff.

So I finally made it over to Grass Roots Book Store in down town Reno. It is a used book, movie, game store and I LOVE it! They are good quality books for super cheap. I bought almost exclusively hard cover books, mostly new too, and got 16 books for under $35.00. I am thrilled and one was pricey ($5.00) but I bought it for Stew . It is this big human body book for kids that has super cool transparencies and posters and stuff so he can teach the kids all about the human body and be in heaven at story time.

If you live in Reno you need to go there! It is just off of Kietzke on E Grove. I think we'll go every month to buy $10 of books from there instead of heading to the library and then paying late fees. JOY!

Our Annual Summer Tahoe Trip

Every Summer we try to at least spend a day in Tahoe. We had not gotten to it yet and with Stewart leaving until October we had to get it in. We decided to go camping. It was so much fun! Well, besides my throwing up a ton, it was fun. I forgot my camera when we went swimming at the lake but other then that I got some pretty pictures to remember a really fabulous family trip. I am learning more and more on how to pack and plan for camping: its time to invest in sleeping bags, a better lantern, and to bring some sort of sleeping aid! :O)

As a side note I conquered my bear fears! There were several bears in our campsite and I was shaking I was so scared but after talking to rangers looking for one bear they hadn't found yet I pulled myself together and had a great time. Yay for me!

Setting up Camp! The kids were so cute.

We went on a hike to Eagle Lake. It was really fun and so pretty.

Breakfast Time!

Our last little hike was really short but had great views.

Update

Sorry my blog is so boring. I guess summer is a slow blogging time and lets face it, blogging is losing lots of its hype. But for me, I guess it is here to stay so I can communicate to my wide spread family/friends and because it is therapeutic for me. So here is a simple update that doesn't promise much of anything.

Today was emotional. I was released from my calling in the primary presidency and said goodbye to my husband for two weeks till I get to meet him at his sister's wedding. It would have all been fine but it happened all at once and when I was sleep deprived and pregnant. I am proud of myself though. I did not have a break down. I almost did like four times during sacrament when Benjamin fell apart after his dad kissed him goodbye and left us. I just felt so sad all the sudden. But, like my mom calls it, I "mothered up" and kept us all together and did not make a scene. Normally I do not smother my feelings but this pregnancy I have realized that once I start crying I CRY and it is always a scene. :)

Its all fine now. We came home after church and all took a nap. However, I feel like the next two moths will be all about endurance while the hubby and daddy is away. I will work on perfecting the art of keeping going even when you are tired and feeling sick to try and make life happen in a pleasant way. I assure you that is more then a run-on sentence, it is in fact an art.

If I can finally get over my morning sickness it could even turn out to be a really fun time. We'll see. But for now I miss my husband who really has been my hero lately and I cant wait until we are all together again. Till then I will work on being artistic. ;)

I hope all of you are having a fabulous summer! I send my love to anyone who still reads my blog, you are a kindred spirit indeed! :)