Preparations

Maybe it's that this is my third baby in 3 1/2 years, but I have not felt prepared at all for Everett to make his entrance in the world. Not stressed about it, just not quite ready. Every now and again during the pregnancy it's hit me that I AM having a baby - another little human to love and raise and care for. Mostly, though, it's been business as usual and the reality eludes me.

As I mentioned, we moved Kelly out of her room and in with Max a few weeks ago. This week I finally went in and took down all of the pink. I ordered the crib bedding set I'd had my eye on for Everett and it should be here soon. Today I painted a huge letter E to match his room and I'll be hanging that tonight or tomorrow. Yesterday I went to my "Stork Express" appointment at the hospital to do all of the paperwork so that I don't have to worry about that when checking in. I went to the doc today for a checkup - I'll be 37 weeks on Sunday, I'm measuring 37 weeks, the little man's head is down. Max went with me and said that Everett's heartbeat sounds like a horse running. His clothes *all billion and one articles of Preemie - 3 months clothing my sisters and I have acquired* are washed and folded or hanging in the closet. Once the bedding set gets here and his room is put together I think I will feel READY for him to come. I told Ty tonight that it's not about the decorating, it's about the connection and how much more I'm able to think of him when I'm working on these projects. I have been diligent the past few days about taking a few minutes to talk to this little man who will soon be in my arms. It's amazing to me the love and connection a mom can feel before holding the babe in her arms. I am excited to see what he looks like, to get to know his temperament, to watch his brother and sister fall in love with him...

We're just about ready for you, Everett Daniel. Say your goodbyes because we can't wait to say hello!

Five Years!

If you want our back-story, go here.

Just finished a temple session with Adri and Trent...not yet engaged.

Two days after we met in person for the first time, I drove to Provo to meet his family. That Sunday we drove up into the mountains to do some...errr...sightseeing. I love this picture of Ty.

We were engaged and this was our first argument...I was a slower snowboarder and he was a fast skier and went ahead without me. I was unreasonably angry with him and he knew it - not my finest moment. He still wanted to be my husband, though! This picture was pre-argument.

Yesterday Tyler and I celebrated 5 years of marriage! He gave me a small present with an accompanying poem for the four days leading up to THE date.

Out to dinner with my parents

Off and on throughout the day yesterday we watched the time and thought of what we were doing at that moment five years ago..."I was standing in the hall with the temple worker who didn't know where I was supposed to go" (Ty) "Yeah, while my temple worker was running all over trying to find you guys because it was almost time for the sealing" (Dana) "We were at the reception by now" (Dana) "...but tons of our family was late because of all of the flooding" (Ty). We sure didn't care about the flooding or the time or ANYTHING. As soon as I walked into the temple with Tyler the world melted away and nothing mattered aside from the fact that we were sealed for eternity. My mom was nervous to tell me after the sealing that it was pouring outside...but I couldn't have cared less. Someone had enough foresight to bring a huge black umbrella that made our pictures look classy. I knew that I had married the right man and that was all I cared about.

Last night we went to a nice dinner where we exchanged gifts. Ty made me this super cool mosaic - from far away it looks like a picture of the two of us, but up close it's roughly 400 tiny pictures (some repeated) of our 5 years together. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. It's nicely framed and will look great on our wall where everyone can admire it. Awesome, eh?I matched him for thoughtfulness (at least I think I did) and made a book on Blurb of our top 5 experiences thus far with tons of pictures. Both are going to be awesome for our posterity to hold onto and so fun for us to have now.

One of the pictures from our engagement picture photo shoot...we both agree that this COULD have been one we sent out if it weren't for Ty's closed eye. Oh well! Now it's the cover picture for the Blurb book I made him.

Ty also wrote me a beautiful letter and something he said reflected my feelings exactly - that while it's amazing to think that it's already been 5 years, it's hard to believe it's only been 5 years because it's difficult to remember who I was without him.

Ty took me back to my mission - Hawai'i - after 6 months of marriage. The perfect birthday present!

We aren't perfect people, but together we make a perfect team and we push each other to be better. Marriage has really been bliss...and I'm not saying that because I want the blogging world to think that we don't have any problems. Sure we've disagreed, but I think that our disagreements are even part of that bliss; they have brought an added tenderness and appreciation for one another and what we have. My feelings go much deeper than loving this man. I think the theme of the night for both of us was that this is just the beginning...and I'm SO glad!

Recognize this picture?

Joyfull!

*I forgot to post these pictures with my post about the Sunday Christmas program...so I decided to add them on here. Love these faces!*

What a wonderful holiday! Christmas Eve was pretty chill - a few last-minute trips to the store, but nothing frenzied. Here are a few highlights:

Kelly put together this sweet ensemble of an outfit

Max made a "face collection" and a "silver collection" with all of the utensils in the drawer...

then he became the Statue of the Collections, of course. "Mom, now I'm going to be the Statue of the Collections." Note the pepper shaker "torch".

Ty prepared a beautiful, delicious, mouth-watering meal. We had steak, king crab legs, salmon, mashed potatoes, asparagus and bread. We were joined by our neighbors, the Lintons, and Russ & Karli Kent who were going to fly out Christmas morning to meet the rest of their family in Arizona. Candles were lit, sparkling cider was the beverage of choice, and the company was superb. We ate until we were stuffed. And I mean stuffed. The best part about it was that I did nothing for the meal - Tyler did it all, including some serious cleaning. What a man!

We asked Russ if their family had any traditions he wanted to carry out with us that night. He brought a Christmas-themed story to read to the kids with some pretty hilarious voices and then gave each of them a small Christmas tree, with tiny ornaments to decorate (it went with the story). The kids loved it!

Then we ALL got dressed up and had a pretty sweet nativity.

Kelly kept telling everyone, "I a angel." She spread her arms out a lot...mostly because of the shape of the costume, but it totally worked for the angel proclaiming the birth of the Savior.

We topped the night off with delicious dessert and some good chatting.

Soon after our guests left, Mrs. Clause and her elves doorbell-ditched our Christmas pajamas.

Christmas Day was perfect. Stockings were opened on our bed; kids came down to see their haul from Mr. Clause; german pancakes were consumed; presents from under the tree were opened; grandparents were talked to; kids got dressed in Christmas outfits, but the parents never bothered getting out of pj's ALL DAY; toys were very well loved and nicely played with; "Up" was watched and enjoyed by all; happiness and contentment were the prevailing themes/feelings of the day. Aaaahhhh...

I feel like my greatest Christmas present is that Tyler gets the week off between Christmas and New Years...he's all ours until January 4th! Life is so, so good.

Sweetness Observed

I just heard/observed this bit of sweetness:

Max: Kelly, do you want to go on a date with me?

Kelly: Uh-huh!

Max: Okay, are you ready for our date? May I have this dance?

They joined hands and danced in circles, with Max throwing in some sweet arm moves. Then he started to sing.

Max's song: You are my pretty girl. You are my pretty girl FOR-EV-ER! Forever you are my pretty girl.

Kelly received a kiss on the hand between each sentence. At the end of the dance and song, she received a kiss on the forehead to which she replied, "Thank you." Then she bowed to Max and he bowed in response. Have I mentioned that I really dig parenting these two?

BED!

On Sunday night we moved Kelly from her crib in her room to the bottom bunk in Max's room - now Max & Kelly's room. That night she and Max got up and ran down the hallway to hide from us in the master bath a few times. It was hard to be stern, but I think I did the job (Ty said he was a little soft) because everything went well after that. Yesterday her nap was awful. Lots of crying, putting her back in bed, wailing, frustration, howling, compassion, did I mention she cried? Finally I threatened her with the crib and then followed through. That's where she napped. It was very sad and apparently she didn't want a repeat. Today she cried for a minute, opened the door, I said "Kelly, stay in your room", she fussed and climbed back in bed to fall asleep. We'll see how it continues to go...

Kelly calls it her "Big Sister Bed" which we think is very cute. Having that empty room - which I need to decorate for the BOY who will be occupying it - makes it seem more real that he's on his way very soon. Lots of small-ish contractions tonight. This bod is getting ready for the upcoming birth! It's amazing to me, even the third time around.

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While we're talking about beds, let's talk about the fact that I am pretty domestic. Several months ago I made comforters for the kid's bunk bed. I was transitioning their room into a Hawai'i theme and so I ordered this material and had it shipped straight from the islands (the local JoAnn had nothing).

I decoupaged scrapbook paper onto these letters. The room's not totally finished, but it's turning out pretty cute. Except, the other night Max told me he wants a "normal" room. Whatever, kid, I have a small window in which I can impose my will on you and I will take advantage of it! He can have his "normal" room in a few years.

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I was on a roll, so I also made a duvet cover and pillows for our bed! I had no idea what I was doing, but made up a pattern in my head and went at it. Not perfect, jury's still out on the pillows, but it's a big improvement. I think that my next task will be to buy a pattern and try to follow it. I haven't done that yet and it's probably good to be able to follow one. Our room has been the very last to get attention. I also made the window coverings, but they are a work in progress, so no comments on those, please. I may re-post when I've finished them?

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It's 10:30. I'm going to snuggle with my husby and head to our duvet-covered BED!

Precious Gift

Yesterday I sang in the ward choir at Church. Before the program began, I was worried about who my kids were going to sit with (since Tyler and I were both singing and would have to be on the stand the entire duration of sacrament meeting) and whether Kelly would be okay with it or scream for me. I felt a little uptight. It was time to get on the stand and I handed Kelly to one of my former Young Women who was home visiting from college (and with whom Kelly had no previous interaction). I prepared myself for the tears…but they never came! Not one bit of a fuss. Tender mercy.

I stood with the choir while we sang and listened to beautiful narration for about 40 minutes. My kids waved at me and smiled. My husband sang his solo beautifully. I was enveloped in love for - and from - my Savior. I know that Jesus of Bethlehem who was born so long ago was, indeed, the Christ. I am in awe of His mission. I am in awe of His mother, Mary, and the circumstances surrounding the birth of her son, whom she would selflessly give to all of us. I am grateful for a season dedicated to focusing on Him, His birth, and what that means for me. Because He was born and lived the way that He did, I know that I can return to live with our Father in Heaven again. My personal relationship with the Savior is the greatest gift and blessing I have ever received in this life. It is one that will never be out of style, stop fitting or working; it has no expiration date and gives much more than it requires in order to work. It is mine to keep and treasure always...indeed, the most precious gift!

Multiple Choice

When you look at the picture below, the first thought that comes to your mind is:

a. Oh, that reminds me; I need to decorate my Christmas tree *the belly looks like an ornament*

b. She embodies everything that Christmas is supposed to be about *awwww*

c. That looks like a torpedo

d. Other

34 1/2 weeks

If your answer was "a" then you are in the Brother Strong camp. He said that to me at our ward Christmas party last week.

If your answer was "b" then you are in the Sister Fischer camp - good company because she's a good lady and I think it was a nice comment?

If your answer was "c" then you are in my camp. Although this picture looks more rounded, I've had torpedo thoughts several times when looking in the mirror this past week.

If your answer was "d" then I want to hear what you thought - the funnier and more creative, the better. You won't hurt my feelings...unless you just thought "she's never looked worse". If that's the case, keep it to yourself. :)

*Gasp! I just looked at the Baby Tracker thing on the side of my blog and it says that I only have 37 days left! For real?! I mean, I know how far along I am, but 37 days seems super fast. I'd better start getting ready for this little dude!*

Girlie Girl

If the definition of "girlie" is adding a -y, -ie, -ies on the end of every word, then my girl is super girlie. She sees/has blankies, fishies, horsies, toesies, piggies, duckies, armies, shoesies, etc. It's inside of her, this innate desire to make everything sound a little more soft and cute. Probably because she's so soft and cute.

Also, she's a princess lover. I have no idea why I felt opposed to exposing her to the world of princesses, but for some reason I did. All it took was her Aunt Kristen putting something around her neck that resembled a necklace while we were in Colorado in October and telling her she looked like a princess. Now "Princess!" is screamed with excitement when she sees a cute girl in a dress. "I a princess, Momma." We hear it all the time and I love it. I also love that I can get her to do the things she usually hates the most by throwing 'princess', 'pretty', or 'beautiful' in there. "Kelly, hurry and come get dressed! I have a very pretty shirt for you to wear today"..."Kelly, let's do your hair so you'll look like a princess!"...*while trying to get her to hold still while I do her hair* "Kell, look in the mirror at that beautiful girl!" It's awesome. Works every bit as well as a snack bribe, and the girl loves her snacks.

Oh, this little lady brings me so much joy! She is so particular, but now that she can communicate her desires it isn't so bad. Now she can tell us that she wants "Hop on Pop" to take a nap with her...or the pirate ducky, or "armies" (Max's green army guys), or blocks, or the girl froggy. She always has to have something in the crib with her. AND she's become a bit of a "blankie" girl. I had a favorite blanket when I was little and I wasn't sure how something like that evolved. But just recently she has developed an affinity for a particular blanket to snuggle with and sleep with her arms around.

The girl loves to sing and the other day I realized that there was an actual song I knew in there. "I have a fam'ly on earth...good to me...life with them...parents kind...dear." Oh, my heart. I told her what a good job she was doing so I got to hear it many more times that night. The other favorite song is "We will, we will rock you!" *Watch video below...it takes just a few seconds*

I am extremely grateful that she is forever my girl.

Actually...

Last night at dinner Max started this conversation...

Max: I want to be the Mom!

Me: Okay, go for it. But do you want me to tell you what you'll have to do to be the mom?

I went through cleaning up dinner while everyone else plays, making all of the meals, getting Kelly ready for the day, cleaning toilets and every other room in the house, etc. Each thing I said elicited an excited, "Okay!" from the Maxster.

But then I dropped the bombshell. "And in about 4 weeks you're going to have to have a baby because Everett will be ready to be born." He thought about it and while he was thinking I told him that it was pretty painful to have a baby.

Max: "Actually...I'm the son."

I thought so.

This year we finally cut down our own tree! I loved it. And, I must say, it is the nicest tree we've had so far. So tall and lush. It's a Norway Spruce; we were on the lookout for a Grand, but when we came upon this baby we decided to take it home. It was perfect timing weather-wise...the sun peeked out for a short while and then the weather turned sour just as we were finishing.

The adventure all started out very happy for the little people....

but after trudging through all of those trees for a while with parents who couldn't make up their minds, the smiles turned to this...

Still, we found the one, cut it down, and strapped it to the van for the ride to its new home.

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Yesterday a few funny things happened/were said:

*The following two things are funnier when you hear Max's voice and the inflection he uses*

Max came up to me with Tupperware on his head as a hat. He said something to me that I didn't quite catch because I was watching the Christmas devotional, but I did catch something along the lines of me and Tyler being given to him. So I said, "Actually, you were given to us. You're our present from Heavenly Father." He responded incredulously, "No! I am Joseph Smith the Prophet. He doesn't live in a gift box!"

Max talks a lot about not living with us, as I've mentioned, and we've had several conversations lately about dying. I've explained that everyone will die, but that it's not sad because we get to go back and live with Heavenly Father again. He had another such conversation with Ty yesterday. We were watching the Christmas devotional a little later and President Eyring said something about the joy we'll have when we go back to live with God. I started to say to Max, "See? We will be happy to live with Heavenly Father again..." He interrupted and said, "Mom, I was just kidding. I do want to die when I get old!" Oh, good. I just hope it's when he's really old and I am there waiting for him on the other side.

Tyler and I were in the kitchen when we heard Max wailing. I went in to see Kelly standing nearby with the "I know I wasn't supposed to do that and fully expect to be in trouble" look on her face. In her hand she was clutching the Baby Jesus from the Little People nativity we have. She'd whacked her brother with the Baby Jesus. I took her to sit on time-out and talked about how she should never hit her brother...especially with the Baby Jesus.

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Okay, I didn't mean to build up any suspense with our little man's name. Sorry to seem so secretive. :) We're honoring both of our dads with this name. When I first married into the Foster fam and heard my father-in-law's middle name, I tucked it away for a future first name or middle name...but I'd forgotten about it. We were reading all of the baby name books and coming up with very little. We looked through both sides of our family history and again came up empty-handed (no offense, progenitors). Then I remembered my father-in-law's middle name - Everett. It took a few weeks and there was another strong contender, but that is the name we decided on. His middle name will be Daniel, my dad's first name.

*Everett Daniel Foster*

We love it and we love the men he's being named after. Ty was worried that he'll have to spell his name and have it mispronounced his whole life...ummm...did you remember that you married Danalin?! I know a thing or two about that and still love my name. We're not sure what he'll be called for short; that will evolve on its own. Some possibilities are Rett and Ev. We'll see. If you're iffy on the name, just watch the short video below. When you hear Kelly's little voice say his name you'll be in love. Don't mind my children's "saucy" faces.

Pregnancy Q&A/Comments

Q: What's with the hospital bracelet?

A: I started bleeding again yesterday (the first time was last Wed in the middle of Oregon on our way to Utah...TMI? Oh well, it's my blog!). Called the doc to see if I could get in that day or the next. Receptionist saw that I was pregnant and said she would fit me in. No cramping/contractions, babe is still moving and active. Got a phone call about 20 minutes later from the doc's office telling me that I needed to go straight to the birthing center at Harrison Hospital. For real? I caught Ty just before he hit the road to Tacoma for classes, got a neighbor to watch the kids, then headed to the hospital. "Do we think we're in labor?" asked a kindly nurse as we got into a room. "Oh, heaven's no. We hope not." Then I was hooked up to all sorts of monitors, an ultrasound was done, my cervix was checked. The results? We have no idea why you're bleeding. Could it have just been my mucous plug? No idea, probably not since the blood was bright red. Call again if the bleeding continues (it had subsided to spotting by this time) or if you are having contractions close together or the baby stops moving. $200 copay and three hours later, that was that. Everything seems fine. Thank heavens!

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Q: Do you have a name for the babe?

A: Yes. I've been slightly hesitant to share because I was foolish enough to share with some friends when we were narrowed down to four. Obviously, if we're that close to a name these are not names that we hate. However, I got some negative responses: Several scrunched-up noses, "Yeah, if you want him to be made fun of his whole life", "What would you call him, then?" You mean aside from his given name? Ummm....

We're in love with his name, by the way. More on it later.

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A lady I'd never met before was at our ward party at the beginning of November. She stood in front of me holding her 8-month-old and told me, "I sometimes think about having another one, but then I looked at you and remembered how uncomfortable it is. Maybe we are done." Glad to be of service, sister.

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At the same ward party I was asked by a motherly figure in my life:

Q: "How long do you have left?"

A: "A little more than two months"

Response (while looking at my burgeoning belly): "Whoa, you're BIG!"

Just what every pregnant woman wants to hear!

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The nurse at the hospital last night made up for those comments, though. She was talking about a different kind of belly monitor that is more of a sleeve and much more comfortable. But then she said (while looking at my burgeoning belly), "I don't know if we'd be able to use that on you, though, because you're so tiny." I love Michelle, the L&D nurse. She's my favorite.

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Last night I was getting the kid's ready for bed after all the who-ha and I told them that we got to see our little man on an ultrasound. Max said, "I know!" I asked how he knew...did Dad tell him? "No, I could tell by looking at you. I could just tell when I looked at you." Oh, of course. I must have been emanating that ultrasound glow. :)

Thank-full!

Wednesday - 15 hours in the car brought us to Grandma and Grandpa Great's house in Pleasant View, UT, where we met up with my parents who greeted us with burgers, fries and shakes from the Burger Bar. Oh, yum.

Thursday - A lazy, relaxing, fun day with the grandparents and greats. Nope, no Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. Instead we enjoyed my momma's clam chowder and breadsticks. That'll beat turkey any day!

Smashing the BEST rice crispy treats down into the pan with Grandma Great

Drawing with Grandpa Great

Friday - a visit with Granny Mann at her new home in Hyrum, UT, a visit to the cheese factory in Logan, then we headed up to the stake lodge in Ogden Canyon for the Larsen Fam Thanksgiving bash. I have 40 cousins and many of us have kids of our own now. Not everyone was there, but Ty said he thought the final count was 86 people. It was SO good to get caught up with many of these wonderful people whom I haven't seen in years. I loved every minute of it and wished it had been longer so I could have chatted it upwith each of them some more. After dinner we had a fun Christmas party, complete with St. Nick (which Kelly really loved - see picture below :)) and a nativity. Then we settled down (at midnight) for a surprisingly good night's rest.

Traditional decorating of the turkey by the little people of the fam

No wonder I've been getting so many "big" comments lately...32 weeks looks a little more like full-term on me.

Handsome shepherds...although Jack shedded his robe in favor of being a nativity dinosaur :)

She still had the presence of mind to take the orange in the midst of her horror

Saturday - a baby shower (for Marilee) and a bridal shower (for Emily) in the morning, some of the fam went to visit David O. McKay's home, ate some lunch, then headed home to G'ma and G'pa Great's for the BYU-Utah game (yeah Cougs!) Once the game finally ended after some overtime, we headed to Temple Square (picked up Burger Bar on the way...yep, again!) to meet up with a few of Ty's brothers and their families. It was late and a little crazy with all of our little people, but oh, so fun!

Sunday - about 14 1/2 hours in the car this time and then we were HOME. *On the way home Ty asked, "What did you think of the Thanksgiving dinner?" It sounded from his question like he was going to complain about it. Not so. Instead he told me that it was one of the most delicious, memorable Thanksgiving dinners he's ever had. He just wanted to talk about how good it was. :) * It felt good to be back in our neck of the woods - green trees everywhere, moist air. Ahhhh, I love coming home. Especially since it means we can get ready for Christmas and this little man who will be joining us in less than two months!