Easter Week

Check it! I have posted every day for a week. I guess that is what comes from "taking it easy". I figure that typing on the computer is a safe, low intensity, pregnancy activity.

Easter is one of those holidays that if you go overboard on decor it can be a little cheesy. Too much pastels and things start to look like a baby nursery. I like to have one Easter thing in each room just to make things a little more festive. Still a little cheesy, but in a good way.

For Family Home Evening we decorated Easter Eggs. Totally old school, nothing fancy. I don't know what I was thinking by only boiling 12. Lydia was just getting started at that point. Amazingly the event was spill free.

Lydia and I were feeling a little cabin fever yesterday. I took a blanket outside, had a picnic and I watched her pick clovers in the yard.

And this is her exactly 15 seconds after I told her it was nap time :) Within 5 minutes of this photo she was fast asleep....and so was I.

Side note. Lydia has the most beautiful Easter dress. This lovely salmon pink dress that matches my Easter outfit and Shane's Easter tie. We put it on yesterday for a dry run and it is HUGE. Usually 4T fits great, but this looks like a potato sack on her. Now I am scrambling. I am not really supposed to go out and shop, but hello....it is Easter Sunday! I have a commitment from Shane for a family photo! I may just have to have something overnighted. Oh why didn't I learn to sew.

aspirations

source

*****In clarification*****

I am not on bed rest as of yet. I have been threatened with bed rest if I can't get my anionic fluid up within the next week. Right now I have been instructed to keep off my feet as much as possible, not to exert myself and to drink water until I am so waterlogged I really couldn't move even if I wanted to. (Got up nine times last night to use the bathroom. NINE!!!) I am still making simple meals (I am so grateful for a well stocked freezer!) playing with Lydia on the floor and even taking her places (as long as I can sit down while we are there.) Shane is doing almost all of the basic cleaning and shopping. I don't have to be in bed or sitting all the time. Just a good majority of it. I swear, there is so much guilt that comes along with motherhood. If I am too busy I feel guilty about not focusing on my baby's needs. At the same time, I feel guilty asking Shane to mop the kitchen floor and clean the bathrooms after he spends the entire evening taking care of Lydia. I feel guilty when Lydia pleads with me to chase her around the house and she gets that sad little dejected face. Oh. And there seems to be some guilt that stems from eating several cookies, a cupcake AND a chocolate malt today. What is really sad is that the only reason I made the malts was because I couldn't close the freezer after Shane went shopping so I had to use up the ice cream. I'm not sure I even wanted a malt. And it isn't like sitting all day is working off the extra 2,000 calories. Sigh.

Baby Names

Shane and I are now looking into middle names for our little boy. Naming a baby is serious business. This is forever. You can't get away from a really bad name. My great-grandma was Valeria Harries Butts. Wonderful women....but Harries Butts? Not great.

I love Lydia's name and I want to love our son's name just as much. I met a women who had a daughter just Lydia's age. She had named her...Tequila Rose. I don't want to offend, just in case anyone out there has a little Tequila running around, but come on. Tequila Rose. That is a stripper name. The women explained that she named her daughter after her favorite drink. Maybe I should name my son Coke Zero. I think that people have the right to name their babies whatever they want, but you have to think of the ramifications. If little Tequila ever wants to grow up to hold public office, she may have a difficult time of it.

My SIL just emailed me this link of Rexburg, ID baby names of 2008. I will make no comment other than it is a very interesting read.

There was a guy in my high school named Spyder. Seriously. Though now that I think of it, he pulled it off pretty well...

Photo by Flutter Photography

15 PEOPLE HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY:

Natalie said...

middle names are a great time to honor family members. My oldest son's middle name is Ross, which is a surname in our family and my daughters is Sophie, her grandma's middle name. Is surprising the names that come up. Lets face it, most kids don't like there middle names anyway.

APRIL 7, 2009 2:57 PM 

Natalie Jane said...

Got to admit though...Natalie is a great name! :)

APRIL 7, 2009 2:59 PM 

lisa said...

That list of Rexburg names made my stomach turn. What is with people? It's like there's a creative name contest going on, and people all over the country (mostly Utah/Idaho region) are making up ridiculous names in an effort to win.

APRIL 7, 2009 3:10 PM 

amydear said...

Ooh, you just made my day with this link. I love outlandish baby names, as long as they don't belong to my children. I plan on forwarding that link to everyone I know. It is hilarious! And I think middle names are very important and so much fun to come up with. Do you have a first name chosen?

APRIL 7, 2009 3:26 PM 

April said...

Chay and I wanted to name Kenzie, "Roxy" and Emily of course had to remind me, "April, no, that is a porn star name no matter how you look at it- no, Roxy, Star, or Bambi" it made me laugh- I wasn't thinking porn star...but it makes perfect sense.

APRIL 7, 2009 3:49 PM 

Natalie Jane said...

Amy- Yes, we think we have the first name, but we aren't telling the public until we are REALLY sure.

APRIL 7, 2009 4:03 PM 

Are You Serious! said...

♥ Wow on the names! I don't get some people on their given choice of names either! My friends adopted a little girl and her brother and sister from a very broken home and the mom let the brother and sister pick out a name each for the new baby! Her name was... Bobbi Sue Roo Hoo Scooby Doo Cinderella or something like that! completely insane and they actually put it on the birth cert and everything! I mean COME ON!!!!

APRIL 7, 2009 5:26 PM 

Cindy said...

Sorry to hear that you are on bed rest now. I had to be on bed rest with my first baby, so no other kids to keep up with. HOpe it's going good. I do have to say I got one of those nursing covers you have pictured in your post and I love it. If you didn't have it with Lydia get one or put it on your gift list. It's the best thing ever. I hope all goes well with the rest of the pregnancy. If I lived closer I would offer to help : )

APRIL 7, 2009 5:26 PM 

Madeline and Family said...

One thing that makes our Great Grandmother Valeria's name so unique, is that we could out beat anyone on the most interesting names of people we know. Well that and my sister is named Gregorie. No body could top that one when I was growing up.

APRIL 7, 2009 5:55 PM 

Brittany said...

I totally agree... coming up with a good solid name is serious business! You've got to consider everything... what it ryhmes with, if they can get made fun of, if it sounds good with the last name, etc. I'm sure the name you guys pick out will be perfect! I love the name Lydia! :)

APRIL 7, 2009 6:12 PM 

Swint said...

Middle names were the easy ones for us. We are due in June and Linds and I don't remotely agree on Boy names. I am just hoping its a girl so that we don't have an unnamed child for six months. But your right, baby naming is serious business.

APRIL 7, 2009 8:14 PM 

Amy said...

Tequila, really?! and your grandma's name is too funny! A girl at my high school had a pretty bad one... first name: Ana last name: Rexic no joke.

APRIL 7, 2009 8:35 PM 

Anonymous said...

Remember the twins in your Dads home town ILETTA and Uletta Pew. We have always had a good laugh over those names. Mom

APRIL 7, 2009 9:02 PM 

Heather said...

Try this website, http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager It tells you how popular a name is, from the 1800's up to now! It's fun!

APRIL 8, 2009 1:44 PM 

Jacky said...

Oh my, Tequila Rose. Ugh. I love dreaming of what I'll name my kids someday. I like mostly Bible names like Noah, Luke, Hannah and Lydia! Just like yours! =) And by the way, I passed an award on to you--check it out on the blog! =) http://thesweetestpetunia.blogspot.com/2009/04/sick-is-not-fun.html

APRIL 8, 2009 6:50 PM 

The Baby's Bundle Giveaway

With this baby arriving in less than two months, I have been spending a lot of time checking out online baby boutiques. I want a few things that show the stylish mom I am, but that still get the job done. And I don't mind my kids looking adorable as well. Did I just say kids? That will take some getting used to.

My new favorite shop is The Baby's Bundle. I came across it at first when searching for the perfect nursing cover (my last one was terrible!). I spent the next hour looking around at all the other lovelies. - Like baby legs. How is it that these are just coming on to the market? Genius! I picked up a cool tee for Lydia's "big sister" gift here too. If you have a baby shower anytime soon, or are expecting, you have to check out this site.


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P.S. Don't forget to answer the question I have on my right hand sidebar. Poll closes in about a week.

Easter Primary/ Visiting Teaching Gifts

I never claim to be the most crafty person, but occasionally I feel the need to pull out the 5 year old glue stick and try to make something. I was recently called into Primary Presidency and was asked to make a (very inexpensive) spiritually themed gift for all the kids to take home with them after this weeks Easter Activity. Primary kind of freaks me out. When it comes to church I have always worked with the teenage girls or on activities. Teenagers and adults I can handle. Kids under 12....I have no idea. My last exposure with 7 year olds was when I was a 7 year old. Still, I'm excited. They are such sweet kids.

I ended up making these little seed packets for the kids to take home to share with their families. Cute huh? When I was done I had a couple extra boxes of wildflower seeds. I thought they would be nice Easter gifts for the women I visit teach.

All I did was wrap the boxes in scrapbook paper, then decorate with stickers. I cut out the planting directions off an empty box of seeds and glued it to the back. You could glue on a copy instead. Lastly, I tied it with a bow. Each box ended up costing me less that $2, including the box of seeds. I plan on attaching the same little saying that is on the Primary seed packets.

One week until Easter! Ham dinner, chocolate bunnies...Shane even promised he would sit for a Easter family photo without complaint. Can't wait!

Life on the Couch....Day 1

I have officially dawned "the sweatshirt". Shane has this great grey J. Crew sweatshirt that I claim as my own when I am sick or very pregnant. Now that I am very pregnant and basically couch ridden (as I mentioned in my last post) you can guess I will be wearing it a lot. And no, you will not see any photos of me wearing it. It is fantastic because it is comfortable, not flattering. Though I will say that Shane looks absolutely scrumptious in it.

Last night Shane and I had dinner reservations that I didn't want to break. I figured I would sit in the car and at the table so no major exertion necessary. There was a dance floor, but we only danced one slow dance.

When I woke up this morning, I found that my "babysitter" (my friend Wendy who switches weekend sitting with me) left me the cutest "water" supplies. Not only am I now stocked for water, but she remembered that I love to favor my water with lemons, limes and...while it may sound odd, cucumbers. Never tried it? So refreshing. I had it once at a spa and have been drinking cucumber water ever since. In fact, I am drinking my cucumber water right now.

Thanks to Kristi too, who loaned me a supply of crack-literature to get me through the week. Kristi - I wasn't sure I was going to read these, but I did a little research and found that fans say these books are very similar to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. Did you know I am a closet fan?

Alright. I'm off to watch General Conference. On the couch.

Flashback Friday

"It will be gone before you know it. The fingerprints on the wall appear higher and higher. Then suddenly they disappear. "

- Dorothy Evslin
Lydia - 5 months old.

Baby update - I mentioned in an earlier post that I was exposed to the parvovirus and am now a high risk pregnancy. I have been having weekly ultrasounds to watch the baby's development. So far, things look good. We couldn't get a good reading this week since he was so low in my pelvis, but the doctor is optimistic. (We also can see that his head is covered in hair!) Unfortunately, my amniotic fluid level is very low. Two weeks ago my doctor said to drink more water to see if we could improve my levels. I thought that was strange because I drink a lot of water. I really like water and I am always carrying a water bottle around. For the last two weeks I have been drinking copious amounts of water and running to the bathroom (literally) every 15 minutes.

This week my fluid level was even lower. My doctor said that if I don't get it up he is putting me on bed rest and that I may have to deliver much earlier than planned. (We are already planning on the baby being born at 38 weeks.) His advice - drink more water (!!!!!) and slow way down. No more visits to the gym, no more running around the park with Lydia, no more mad cleaning days - or even mild cleaning days. I am supposed to stay off my feet. At that point I could feel the tears springing to my eyes. For the love! I have an extremely active 3 year old and a baby to get ready for. Stay off my feet?!? I have no relatives around to help me. How exactly is this supposed to work? I would vent more, but I have to pee.

I'm a Soccer Mom...April Fools!

I was all prepared for the Soccer mom title. Just a minivan and a Tupperware party away from the total stereotype. Lydia seems to have other plans.

To be honest, I never would have signed Lydia up for Pee Wee soccer had I known the times that they would be playing. The paperwork indicated morning games. That to me means between 9 and 11. The schedule came back showing games at 12:30 and 1:30. Nap time. Lydia is one of those children that needs a nap. Skipping naps usually results in disastrous consequences in her (and my) sanity.

Shane and I decided to try one game to see if she could make it. She yawned the entire drive to the YMCA. When we got there she jumped out of the car and ran off to pick dandelions. Shane gave me one of those "This does not bode well" looks. It is a well known fact in my family (mostly because my Dad will not let the story die) that when I "played" softball in Elementary school, I was always put in right field where I would promptly sit in the grass and pick dandelions. My poor parents. They showed up to every game.

Anyway - Lydia was not a fan of Soccer. All the practicing, the new equipment and pump-up sessions we engaged in as a family did not prepare her for the screaming, whistle blowing and in short...total chaos that is 3 and 4 year old boys racing around on the gym floor. The sideline was as close as she came to playing. To be fair, she was the only girl on her team, and the girls on the other team didn't make it out either. I think we will wait on soccer for a few years.

Maybe gymnastics next?