Today

I was thinking today about how my life right now is pretty close to exactly want I want it to be. And it's clear to me that this positive state of being that I am currently experiencing has very little to do with me and so very much to do with the people in my life. Did you know that I have the 5 most amazing kids on the planet? Well, I do. Each one of them is exactly what I need. I also have a super great husband and peace and joy in my marriage. That's huge! I have an amazing best friend who I can always count on for like...anything and everything. I also have a large circle of other super supportive, caring, fun, totally awesome friends. My kids have fantastic teachers who I adore and I fell blessed to be able to send my kids to them each day. I have fun neighbors, caring visiting teachers and a great ward.  I have loving, supportive parents and siblings and in-laws that I enjoy spending time with. Oh, and I can't forget the wiggly little baby inside of me who I am over the moon about. I really have been blessed by the people in my life. I don't deserve it but I will gladly accept it. That's all. That's what I was thinking about today.

My boy

I know I've said it before, but McKay cracks me up everyday. He heard me talking to our neighbor today about having a block party, so tonight he asked me who was coming to it. I told him that everyone on our street was invited. His eyes got real big and he asked, "Everyone on East Weston Avenue?" Yap everyone, which is 10 whole families by the way. He then went to the kitchen and informed Nate that we were having a block party and everyone on East Weston Avenue was invited to it! Then he came back to me and wondered if we had already sent invitations to everyone on East Weston Avenue.
His four favorite things to say lately are "Oh, no you didn't", "I'm out", "You should be ashamed of yo self", and "shut yo mustache". For example when I told him to go get dressed yesterday, he responded "Oh, no you didn't just say that to me." When I start assigning chores he simply says, "I'm out" and leaves the room. When Gracie yelled down the stairs that she couldn't find her shoes, he yelled back to her "well, you should be ashamed of yo self." and then "shut yo mustache" is just used all of the time for random reasons. Sassy, sure. Rude, ya... a little. Hilarious, I think so. He's mostly the sweetest kid on the planet, and all of his mouthiness is done in good humor and he mostly understands the situations when it's not appropriate and he knows to cool it. It's also true that he knows that he has me wrapped around his little finger and can get away with just about anything.

Pregnancy can make me a little extra crazy. Sometimes I wonder if it's the normal kind of crazy that every one is going to say "oh ya, I felt that way when I was pregnant too" or if it's the "Men in white lab coats are going to show up at my home with a straight jacket and haul me away to the loonie bin" kind of crazy. When I'm pregnant my anxiety is... a little elevated, and I experience extra doses of paranoia. Like when Sam was out of town and  about 80% of my brain was about 99% sure that we were all going to be killed in our sleep, either by the murderer that snuck into the house earlier that day or by carbon monoxide poisoning, because we hadn't changed the filter in our furnace in who knows how long. Somehow the 20% of my brain that was still somewhat rational won out and I was able to fall to sleep. By some miracle we all woke up alive the next morning. As soon as Sam got back home we changed the filter and bought 3 carbon monoxide detectors (one for each floor of the house). And I have started locking the doors to the house more often during the day. Of course those are good things, I just wish that they didn't come about due to my panic.
Before my ultrasound last week I was having moments of being mostly convinced that I was going to go to my ultrasound appointment and  be laying on the ultrasound table with all of my kids around me excited to see the baby and instead of finding out the gender we would find that there was no heart beat. Maybe it's because while we were in Texas we spent a day at NASA, but I kept imagining the phrase "Huston we have a problem". Then I would imagine the pain of all we would have to go through following that news. Now that we have had the ultrasound and everything is perfectly fine I have moved on to the next possible horror. Last night I became so worried that I was going to me murdered and my baby stolen that I was in tears. Poor Sam, I don't know how he deals with me. I know part of it is that I stayed up too late and I was exhausted, but still. Now today, I'm more rested and for the moment more rational and I wonder, what in the world was wrong with me last night?, but last night it made perfect sense that I would be freaking out over something like that.
Okay, this is the part where you tell me that this is all totally normal and I probably don't need to check myself into the psych ward,.... or that I'm crazy and I should seek help. What ever.

Grand Cayman

We also got to hang out with Sting Rays in Grand Cayman. They are almost as cool as dolphins and lucky for me they aren't big weirdos about unborn babies (read previous post).

Nate and I got to feed them squid. You just hold the squid in the water and the sting ray will smell it and swim over your hand and suck it out. They have super strong suckers and even sucked Nate's thumb up into it's mouth.

Ride Sally Ride

So, did you know that if you are pregnant and just happen to be swimming with dolphins that the dolphins would be able to see the baby inside of you. What? Weird, right? And, did you know that the dolphins would either be so obsessed with your baby that they wouldn't preform any of their tricks or they might be so totally freaked out by your baby that it could be dangerous. Yea, I didn't know that either, until I was in Grand Cayman with my family and had already paid $150 to swim with dolphins. I may or may not have cried a little, twice, when I found out that I couldn't swim with them or even go near them with this strange and possibly terrifying thing inside of me. The pain of my disappointment was eased by the fact that I got to swim with dolphins last year with Sam in Jamaica and all but completely erased by seeing the pure joy on the faces of my kids as they enjoyed the amazing experience. This was day 5 of our dream vacation.
And this is Sally

Belly Rides

Kissie Kissie

On the ride back to the ship the kids were singing "I kissed a dolphin, and I liked it"

Nate would like me to mention that he was not participating in the singing.