Ready or not, here he comes!

I don't know if I'll ever feel ready for baby boy, but at least we're prepared! Today Danny and I:

• Cleaned my Dad's office (our side job)
• Cleaned our 2 bathrooms
• DEEP cleaned the kitchen, stove, floor, etc.
• Weeded the flower box
• Finished up the car seat cover I've been working on
• Made the changing mat to match the diaper bag I made
• Deep cleaned and vacuumed the car
• Got an oil change
• Put in the car seat base so we're ready for car seat #2
• Did a little grocery shopping
• Did a little laundry
• Made my 4th meal to freeze for later
• Did the dishes 3 times
• Scrubbed our embarrassingly filthy windows
• Paid the bills

And probably more, but that's all I can think of right now. Only a few days to go!

-Tarin

4th of July

So We finally bought a new camera in preparation for baby boy, but I'm not used to having a camera, so I of course forgot it the entire day!!

We just did the usual: parade, family, friends, and fireworks. It was a great day. And I was WAY excited that the weather cooled off for the parade because I've been pretty much DREADING the heat!

I'd love to dress Caydence all cute and patriotic, but I have a really hard time justifying spending all this money on an outfit she'll wear once. Well I found this cheap shirt at Wal-mart... 3 years ago!! Ha ha, it's size 24 months!! Flashback:

2009 (15ish months)


2010 (2 years old)


2011 (3 years old)


We'll see if she grows at all in the next year :)

I love the 4th of July!

-Tarin

Oregon

My family went on vacation to the Oregon Coast last month and we had a blast! I love hanging out with my family! With my first two brothers overlapping missions by 8 months, it had been 3 years since we all were together. And my next brother leaves for his mission in August, so we hurried and took advantage of the whole family being together.

Keeping a 3 year old entertained during a 13 drive is interesting. She is actually an AMAZING traveler. My sister and brother rode with us, so she actually had some company back there, which she loved. One of her favorite activities was covering everyone with stickers :)

Our first day there we took some family pictures. Let's just say I was less than thrilled, being 8 months pregnant.... This is the only one I could (barely) stand to post. Do you see who the shrimp of the family is? (Other than the 11 year old)
Our favorite activity: CRABBING! It was such a blast!



You can only keep males, and they have to be a certain size. This is the only one that we were able to keep. We caught tons and hand to throw them back, but it was still so fun!
We took a short hike to a beautiful cove.
And of course the tiny wave knocked Caydence over.
We visited the Tillamook cheese factory. Sounds funny, but was actually pretty interesting.


Spent lots of time at the beach.


Rode some bikes.

Caught this amazing view on the way to a lighthouse.


Danny and some of my siblings harvested (?) some mussels.
"De-Bearded" them.
And made this lovely dish. They were so proud :)
We had so much fun. It was great to be able to spend time with my family. Oregon was great, and I really appreciated the cool weather!

Sometimes you just have to laugh...

Yesterday I:

-Spent 5 hours going between 3 different repair shops (some more than once)
-Replaced 6 tires on 2 cars
-Replaced 1 windshield
-Replaced 1 muffler pipe (I don't know the technical term)
-Had several other repairs
-Paid $1200
-And now finally have 2 cars that are safe to drive!

What a day!!

-Tarin

Advice

So with 16 days left I'm feeling overwhelmed with everything left to do to get ready for baby boy. (Add to it that I can't get a lot done because one of our cars has now been in the shop for a week, with at least a few more days to go, and we have to take the other car in first thing tomorrow for some repairs. Pretty much they're both not drivable. I just have to laugh, it's actually not stressing me out like it usually would. I'm just glad we're getting them safe before the baby comes.)

Anyways, my biggest task right now is picking a double stroller. I just CANNOT make up my mind so I need advice from you moms!

Here's what I want:
-Lots of storage
-Sort of compact (small cars/trunks)
-Fits an infant car seat AND a 3 year old
-Reclining seats

I like these because the front and back strollers would be easier for shopping aisles/malls. I also like both of these because the car seat goes in the back so I can have better access to the baby and Caydence can have a better view.

Graco Quattro Duo (Just worried because I've heard this is a beast! Heavy/hard to steer)



Joovy Ergo Caboose (this one is a sit and stand when you no longer use the car seat)







I also like this one because it folds up so small, but I'm worried about the small wheels and that it's side by side. Is it too wide to take shopping? I like that the kids could interact. It does take a car seat on one side, and the seats recline.

Combi Twin Sport






And this is my DREAM stroller! It has everything I want and can be used as a jogging stroller too but it is $679!!! Too bad.

Bumbleride Indie Twin



Tell me your thoughts!! What do you like/ not like? I'd love to hear ANY input!

-Tarin

4 weeks!

Well, it's official! I went to the doctor today and he's scheduling baby boy's birthday July 27th (4 weeks from today!). I'm maybe freaking out a little bit. Giving birth scares me to death, can't he just stay in there forever? Ha ha.

Anyways, I know it's been a while since I updated this blog, but June just passed us right by. Caydence and I were really sick for just over a week, and then we went on a big vacation (post to come) with my family for just over a week, and voilà... June is over! I can't believe it. I'm sure July will fly by too, it always does, but I have so much to do to get ready! Wish me luck!

-Tarin

31 weeks

So, I try really hard to not make this a "pregnancy blog," but sometimes I just have to share.

At my appointment 3 weeks ago the doctor told me baby boy was about 10 days ahead of schedule and weighing 3.5 pounds when he should weigh about 3. Not too bad. I expect big babies, so that seemed about right. He said I look on track for an upper 8 pound baby. No biggie.

I have been feeling like I exploded the last few weeks. I've been suddenly a lot more uncomfortable. I can't complain too much because I think I have really easy pregnancies, but I was feeling REALLY big all of a sudden.

So I go to my appointment yesterday and my doctor literally starts laughing as he says "wow, that's a good size head!". This wasn't really a shocker because he told me Caydence's head measured about 2 weeks ahead of her body. The real shocker was when he said he was 2 ounces short of 6 pounds! That means he gained 2.5 pounds in 3 weeks! He should weigh about 3.5-4 pounds and he's 6!! He now says I'm on track for a 10 plus pound baby! Yikes!! And I still have 9 weeks left!

I'm going to look at the bright side; this means I'll definitely be scheduled a week early, and it doesn't really matter how big they are when you have a c-section! And I like chunkier babies because I feel like they are a little less fragile :)

My amazing mom watched Caydence while I was at my appointment and I came home to this in my front yard:



I'm so excited to have flowers this summer! My mom's the greatest!

-Tarin