Swimmin', Fishin' & 4th of Julyin'

We hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable 4th of July! I, for one, enjoyed the day with Jed home from work. We made an early trip to Bountiful to deliver the green Saturn into the hands of Nappy...but not before we had OUR check in hand!! I know she was extremely anxious to have a reliable car, so hopefully it stays that way. We didn't use it much, so it'll be nice to save money every month by not paying the dreaded insurance payment!

We went to lunch with Tawnya & Landon and than took Lucas to see "Ratatouille". He was not very excited about going to the movie and kept asking to go home. Once it started he was okay for the most part. He ended up falling asleep towards the end. I thought it was a fun show.

Later that night we did some fire crackers in front of our house. Lucas was NOT impressed...to say the least. He kept his hands over his ears pretty much the entire time. We did see some "illegal" ones light up the sky by our house and those he's okay with!

I had high hopes that today would be the big day...but than again, I have high hopes that every day will be the big day!! Sorry mom, you lose! According to the dr., he's ready to make his grand entrance at any time.


Hiding behind Tawn...as if she can save him!

On the 3rd, Jed decided we were going to go fishing. I, of course, was a bit opposed to the idea since I knew I would be chasing Lucas around. Jed made Lucas promise that he would sit still and help daddy fish. Let me tell you what a promise means to a two year old...NOT MUCH! We drove up Payson Canyon to a little place called Maple Lake. Jed ended up catching 3 fish. Lucas wasn't that interested in them so he played in the dirt. He did get in trouble a couple of times after throwing rocks...hence the sad face pictures.

Last but not least, we bought Lucas this little pool. He LOVES it! He requests to swim in it daily. Although, in my current with-child state, the heat of the day is not too appealing. We usually have to wait until later so that we can have some shade while he plays. Can I just say how much I love this little guy??!! I feel so lucky to be able to stay at home with him.

So...

it's been a week since I last updated and there is no baby to report! He has decided to still kick, prod & hiccup inside of me. The good news though is that my neck is feeling much MUCH better!! I probably shouldn't say that too loud, it might decide to flare up again. Alicia gave me the name of a D.O. she works with. I went to him last Friday and he gave me some trigger point injections in my neck. They did not feel good AT ALL, but I was more than willing to try anything. Whatever he did, it worked...I've almost forgot about the pain I was in!!

On Saturday, Jed and I headed up north to my parents house. We were going to take Lucas to Hogle Zoo, but that didn't work out, so we decided to head to Willow Park for lunch. Not nearly as entertaining as Hogle Zoo would have been, but it worked. I think Ive seen enough birds to last for a long, long, long time. They did have a few large animals, but they were too tired (and hot) to come out and play. Lucas liked to bend down with his hands out and say "tum ere boy" to the turtles! He's so cute! We're still planning to take him to Hogle Zoo, but probably more towards the end of summer.

Trying to get a drink...

Jed pushing his face in!

A colorful pheasant

One massive bull Elk...couldn't get him to stand though!

gramps & Lucas

grams & Lucas

Jed and I left to come back on Sunday afternoon. Lucas stayed in Honeyville to spend a few days with grams and gramps...oh ya, and "Whappy"! It was nice to have a little break and get a few things done (or should have got done).

On Monday night, Jed, Me, Tawn & Landon all headed out to dinner and then to the driving range. It was the first time I had used my golf clubs since I got them on Mother's Day. I actually hit the ball some what decent, which is more than I can say for the other times I've been to the driving range. Must be the new clubs!

I did a little bit of shopping while I had some spare time. I love the summer clearance sales! It was also really nice not to have to push a stroller through the mall!! I was able to get most of my house clean...at least it looked cleaned! I can't guarantee it will stay that way. If I was rich, I would definetly hire someone to clean for me!

My mom brought Lucas back on Wednesday. I asked him if he missed me and he said "No miss you"! Don't I feel loved! Even if he didn't miss me, I missed having his little voice keep me entertained! He learned a few new things while he was gone. One of those being if you ask him what his favorite drink is he says "Pepper and Pepsi"....hmmmm wonder who taught him that! He was also lucky enough to get a big bright pink blow-up bat that should have stayed at grandma's house! My mom left this afternoon after we had lunch with Tawn at Chili's. Thanks Mom & Dad for letting him stay with you...mostly likely he'll be requesting "grama grampa" again real soon! Love you!

Oh...and one more thing... my sis Shara had recently posted about all the bargain buying that she's been doing. Well, I didn't want to be left out, so I also started looking for bargains. I found an awesome deal on a never been used breast pump! The lady had only had it for about 7 months, but her little boy didn't ever nurse so she never used it! Now hopefully I'll be able to use it! I didn't want a used one and I didn't want to rent from the hospital again!! I had been looking/researching them for awhile and feel might pleased with the one I ended up with! Thanks craigslist.com!

Guess the date...

Technically, if we were going off when Lucas came, this little guy would have been here about 3 days ago! But...since he hasn't followed in his older brothers footsteps, I thought it would be fun to have everyone guess when he will make is grand debut. Leave us a comment with the date and how much you think he'll weigh. Now remember...I'm due July 20th. You're free to put what you would like, but know this...if you put a date past my due date...we may not be friends anymore!!


Jed and I are still debating on the name. We've pretty much decided we'll wait until he's born to finalize it. With that said, I would still like to hear your opinons (not that they matter in the long run), but still... So vote for your fave (in no particular order):


1. Blake (Jedediah or R.) Valentine

2. Cody or Kody (Jedediah or R.) Valentine (This is what Lucas has called his baby brother for quite awhile...not sure where he got the name Cody, but maybe he knows something??!!)

3. Ike (Jedediah or R.) Valentine
.
.
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99. Obediah Valentine (notice the number...this one does follow in a particular order, but I told Jed I would include it on here for his sake.) Apparently he thinks we need an Obi, Luke & Jedi...just call me Leia...actually that's PRINCESS Leia to you!


One more item of business. I'm offically some-what-ready for this baby to come, which is more than I can say about Lucas' entrance. The clothes are now washed, the blankets are washed, I have a couple packages of size N & 1 diapers, AND...they are all organized in the stackable cubes that my mom had suggested. I didn't have much room in the dresser for Lucas and this baby...so thanks mom for the suggestion...it works wonderfully!

Happy Father's Day

I am so blessed to have Jed in my life. He is a wonderful husband and a loving father to Lucas. And I know he'll love our new little one just as much. He works so hard to take care of our little family. I probably don't say it enough how much I appreciated him and everything he does. He is the best! Lucas and I look forward to the time he gets off work and we get to actually spend sometime with him. We love you so much!!

We have such great father's and I want them to know how much we love them and appreciate all they do. They are great examples to us and we couldn't ask for better grandpa's for our kids.

I hope all the men in my life have a special day today!

Yeah for Concrete, Mom's & Tylenol

This past Tuesday we (and by we, I mean Jed) finally poured our concrete. Heston & Jake came from Jed's work and our friend Chad also came to help (while Lucas babysat Carter). They did such a good job (they better since Jed works for a concrete company)! We now have a sidewalk, dog run/shed foundation, and a patio bigger than my big toe!! I'm so excited since this means we can now move on to the sprinklers, grass & flowers!! Jed told me last night that I can't talk about it because it just makes him to tired to think about! Slowly but surely we're getting it done. I think we've finally decided to just plant seed. I know that it may not look the greatest for the first couple of years, but when you compare the price...I can handle a few weeds to save a couple thousand dollars!

Dog Run

Patio

Sidewalk

My mom and Jess also came down on Tuesday. Jessica was meeting with her UVSC advisor on Wednesday. My mom cleaned/organized so much of the spare bedroom. It had turned into our storage/junk room. I'm sort of limited to what I can lift...(as I will mention in the next paragraph). I don't know what I would have done without her. She's the best! She was also willing to change at least a hunderd of Lucas's diapers. Okay...maybe it's not quite a hundred, but it sure feels like it. He won't even consider using the potty when he gets this way! Some days I've had it up to my eyeballs with diapers and constipation problems. We need to make a trip to the dr. in the near future....again! Grandma also got to watch Lucas' swimming lessons on Wednesday. He doesn't really like to do what the teachers ask. He usually says "no teachers" or "don't want to". Regardless...we're still having fun!

Gliding like Superman

Lucas blowing bubbles to make the ball move...pardon my hair!

Can I just say that me and Tylenol are like this (picture fingers crossed)! About a month ago I started having those stupid neck pains. They finally went away during the weekend I was up at the cabin, about a week and a half ago. It was the best feeling in the whole world...movement in my neck, no sharp shooting pains, or sudden muscle spasms, etc. I must have been way too excited about it because they have since returned...it was a nice 5 days while it lasted! So I'm back to taking two tylenol every six hours on the dot! I've done almost everything I can except buy one of those expensive pillows that help support the neck...oh, and accupuncture! I try to be careful with what I lift in hopes that it will help. If this neck pain ends up being associated with pregnancy...I think we'll only have two kids!

As a little side note...Dr. Glenn said at our appointment on Monday that he doesn't expect a baby in the next couple of weeks! Jed has a golf tournament on the 21st, so he has taken dr.'s word as a true fact (he's paranoid he's going to have to miss it)! Although I feel like a human punching bag right now...I really would like this baby boy to at least make it a little farther than Lucas. I guess we'll just wait and see!

Art City Days

Springville had their city days this past weekend. We met Tawnya & Landon there to walk around and grab a bite to eat. We also wanted to take Lucas on a couple of rides. He hasn't ever done it before and we didn't know if he would like it.

Warning - the following pictures may be disburbing...BUT, in our defense (Jed & I), he WANTED to ride the caterpillar!


Although I felt horrible, his face still made me (and everyone else) smile!

Looking at Tawn...

Being rescued!!

Not sure what to think...

After that horrible ride, we weren't to sure if he would ride anything else. We decided the Merry-G0-Round would be a great place to redeem our parenting efforts! I think we did...take a look at the following pics.







Do you think he paid his 2 tickets???

Saturday, while Jed and Landon went golfing, Tawnya & I took Lucas to the Spanish Fork pool. He had a blast playing in the shallow end where he gets to walk. I wasn't to sure about going down the slide, but Tawnya braved it and took Lucas down. He loved every minute of it...he went down 3 times. I could hear him laughing as he was coming down the tube.



Waiting his turn.

Tawn & Lucas

That evening we went to the fireworks at Springville high school. I wasn't sure if Lucas would like it, but he did. He layed on the blanket and didn't move the entire time. It helped that it was a bit nippy! He wanted more when they were all finished.

Tawnya, Landon, Lucas, Jed, Chad, Alicia & Carter

Don't they look happy??!!

He didn't move from this spot...and we didn't have to chase him!

On Sunday we had an evening BBQ at the Kesler's. We had a great time eating yummy kabobs, talking, and laughing at the two cute little boys. Lucas and Carter sure know how to keep each other entertained.

We were sure busy this weekend, but it was lots of fun!

One Proud Momma

Before we left St. George on Sunday (see previous post), we went over to see cousin Max's house. Lucas and Max are 6 months apart...Lucas being the older one. They have such a cute home. Lucas loved playing with all of Max's toys, especially the big car that he could drive. He now wants one! Max (who turns two in a couple of days) is already starting to potty train. Ashlee took Lucas into the bathroom and showed him the potty seat that Max goes on and told him that he gets a candy when he goes. Lucas seemed pretty interested (candy's involved) so on Monday I took him to pick out his own potty seat...he chose Elmo. Once we got home he wanted to sit on it. We sat there for quite awhile (he thought he was cool), but than I heard something...that's right...he POOPED in the potty! I could have thrown a party! I couldn't hardly believe it. He was so excited and so was his mommy! We got a candy and a sticker! I probably would have given him anything he wanted if he had only asked!!! He isn't quite sure that he wants to so it on regular basis, but we're working on it.

This little seat is the best invention...to heck with the fancy smancy little toilets!

He also started swimming lessons this week. Monday was a really nice, warm day. Tuesday was a bit cooler. Today...they canceled them (but we get a free family day pass)! Hopefully it'll be warm enough to go tomorrow. So far he's having a great time. I never realized how nice the Spanish Fork pool is.

Girls Only

This past weekend was a Valentine Girl's get-a-way at the cabin. Paulette had planned two of them this year. I wasn't able to go to the one in January so I was happy to be able to go to this one. We had a great time relaxing, visiting, eating & playing games. It was fun to get to know everyone a little better. Those that came were Me, Paulette, Talease, Mariann, Ashlee, Grandma Valentine, Sandy, Judy, Barbie, Tausha & Tanae. It was such a beautiful weather...not to cold or hot!

Barbie, Tausha, Tanae, Grandma, Sandy's hair

Paulette, Sandy, Judy

Ashlee, Mariann, Talease

Mariann using the water tower to get closer to the cell phone towers! For some reason our phones were having issues. Thankfully, Talease's worked without any problems!!

Jed kept Lucas with him in St. George so I didn't have to chase him around. It was so nice!! I think he was a bit relieved when I got back. I know that they did some fun stuff with just the guys...golfing, movie watching, shooting guns, and eating out!