A Little Responsibility

Last year around this time is when we got our rabbits. Back then, they were so small and cute and Mya and I both loved to hold and pet them. But now, they're big...they're not so cute to hold anymore. But, I am so glad we got them! The reasoning why we have them has definitely changed. At first, I asked Justin if we could have them for me and Mya because they were cute and soft and low-maintenance. Now, we still have them because it gives Mya responsibility. Even though she's 2, she's very good at taking care of her rabbits.

We have 2 water bottles for the rabbits and she'll always help carry an empty one to the water and will carry a full one back to the rabbits, while we carry the other. Even when she says it's heavy, she'll still carry it.

Every week, Justin cleans out their cage. Mya will help get the tools (rake and hoes) from the shed and drag them over to the cage. Then, while Justin's cleaning it out, she'll go back into the shed where we keep their hay and go back and forth with handfuls of hay to put in their cage.Then, when we let them run around, we tell her she needs to make sure they don't eat my flowers or go out front. If they do, our rabbits know that when we clap and yell at them, it means to stop whatever they're doing - either run back into the yard or get away from my flowers. It makes me just laugh when I hear her start clapping and yelling "Will...NO! Will...! NO!" and running after them to get them to stop. Then afterwards she'll lecture them and point her finger at them and tell them not to eat my flowers. (That's what she's doing in the picture above).

When it's time to put them away, she'll help chase them around to help Justin catch them. She usually likes to pet one of them for a while before they get put away. She's so cute with them and she makes us laugh every time!

We're Ready!

5 days left! Here's the latest picture of our little boy! My last appointment was on Thursday night and I was dialated to a 3 and 75% effaced. The doctor told me he would be surprised if I made it to my next appointment this Friday...but I just smiled because that's exactly how I was with Mya and I still made it to the day he started me. In fact, I'd be so disappointed that I made it to the next doctor appointment, so this time, I won't be discouraged because I'm just counting on the 3rd.

We are ready for him! His room is done! Here are the pictures:

Before:
After:
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After:
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After:
We're pretty excited! Justin was sad to lose his hunting room, but I think he's okay with it since it's for a good cause.

Good-Bye Jaydan!

Justin's brother left for the MTC in Argentina on Wednesday. He's going to be serving in Uruguay! The night before we all went to dinner at La Ferrovia after he was set apart (this is their family's favorite place to go and where Justin and I went on our first date and where he proposed to me at). The next morning, we all headed down to the airport to say good-bye. I think it would be so tough to do it this way-just get on a plane by yourself and head to another county, whose language you don't even speak yet. At least he met up with some other missionaries heading out. Mya's kept telling us "I'll miss Jaydan a lot" for the few days before he left. But she knows he going on a mission and with the best way for me to explain it to her, I think she really understands what's going on. She'll tell us now that "Jaydan went on a mish. People are sad because they don't know Jesus or about church. Jaydan's going to go tell them about Jesus and church so they can be happy." I can't believe how much she can comprehend! I just love her!
Good Luck Jaydan! See you in 2 years!

Two Weeks And Counting...

With only 2 weeks left until I have this baby, I get asked a lot how I am feeling. So you want to know? Here you go:

•I'm Anxious and Excited to meet this little guy. I'm excited to hold him in the hospital and to introduce him to his big sister. I know Mya will be such a great helper. I'm not in denial though...I know the day will come when she gets jealous and realizes that he's here forever and it's not just her and her mommy and daddy anymore.

•Big. That is almost an understatement. Most of the time I feel so tight and this little baby is in my ribs a lot more than Mya ever was. My back and feet are a constant pain with the added weight. Then there's always the clothes that remind me how big I am or the pictures I see of me. I try to avoid being in pictures at this point because when I see them, I think "Holy Cow"...literally. I do have a pregnant walk sometimes. It's usually when my feet hurt (I'm pretty sure I have a stress fracture) or have been sitting down for a while. If I think about it, I don't walk that way, but every once in a while, someone will make a comment and I'll realize I was waddling.

•I'm Determined that once I have Parker, to be quicker in losing the baby weight than I did with Mya. I'm bigger with Parker and was devastated last week when I woke up to stretch marks on my stomach (which I never got any on my stomach with Mya). I think I'm just so tired of being big that I'm gun-ho about losing this weight this summer.

•I feel so Blessed to have this baby. To think that Heavenly Father trusts me to raise and teach this little boy (and Mya) is overwhelming. I honestly love being a mom and it's always a little struggle to get these babies here for me that when I do, I can just appreciate them even more.

•Good. I really feel good considering I'm 9 months pregnant. I'm not sick (other than allergies). I see other women who are larger than I am who are as far along as I am (or not quite as far) and I know that they're probably feeling worse then I am. I'm a little tired now and then, but not bad. Hot-but that's to be expected.

Am I ready? Yes. There's not enough on my to-do list to prolong his coming anymore. His room just has a few small things left and my calling is all lined up for subs for when I have this baby. When the doctor asked me if I would like to plan on being started a week early with Parker like I was with Mya, there was no hesitation at all. He's scheduled for the 3rd. If I have him before, then great, but the 3rd is the end of my tunnel.

Am I nervous? Not really. At least, not anything like I was with Mya. I probably will be the night before we have to go up to the hospital, but mostly I'm just anxious to get him here. If I'm nervous about anything, it's that something will go wrong. But at this point, the chances are really small so I don't really think about it and so I'm really not worried about it. I have my trust and faith in my Heavenly Father that things will work out how He needs them to.

So now it's just the waiting game. At least we still have enough on our calendar that the time will hopefully pass quickly. My goal for the next two weeks is to finish up my list and spend as much time as possible with Mya.

Fun Times

It seems like this last couple of weeks, Mya's been losing her baby look and seems so grown up to me. She just looks like a "little girl" now and the things she says and understands seems so big. She comes up to me a lot lately and says she wants to hold Baby Park. I promise her that as soon as he comes out she can hold him. Her latest things she tells me is "My Dad loves me....A Lot!" It's so cute and she even started adding I love my mom...a lot, I love my dad...a lot.
This is what she does most of the time when Justin gets home from work. A lot of kids run to give their dads hugs when they get home, but that's a rare occasion for Mya. She usually hides for him to come find her. Last week, she started hiding in Justin's closet an hour before Justin would get home. After 10 minutes, she decided she'd wait until it was closer to him getting home to hide from him.

It seems like the last few weeks have been so busy getting things done to get ready for the baby and Justin's been finishing up school. It felt like we were having hardly any family time. But this weekend, even though Justin still needed to finish his 50-60 page paper, (which, is finally finished - Woo Hoo!) we made more time for our family and it was so nice!

Friday night, we rented "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs." This isn't the best movie out there, but in our family, "Chance of Meatballs" is said a lot. Every time we have meatloaf, meatballs, or something similar, Mya will always say "Chance of Meatballs!?!" Ever since the movie came out and whenever we go to Redbox, she asks if we got Chance of Meatballs. After dinner that night, Mya was so excited to watch Chance of Meatballs and eat popcorn...and she told Justin that we got it at "Redbox, not a Blue Box. A red box."

Saturday night we went shopping for Justin's birthday and Mya got a really cool balloon!
Sunday was Jaydan's farewell and we threw a surprise party for my mom's birthday this week, too. It was way fun and full of family time.

And so far today, we've gone outside and had a picnic and played until nap time. The weather is so nice...Mya loved it.

Easter

WARNING: Parental discretion is advised. Some content may not be suitable for young children.

Easter was so much fun this year! But let me start out a couple of weeks before Easter. Two Saturdays before Easter, I got all of the shopping for Mya's basket done. That night, I put it all together to see if it looked like plenty in her basket and just left it in our storage room - where Mya never goes unless she goes in there with one of us. The next morning, we were hurrying to get ready for church. I went in our basement to iron my shirt and Justin ended up coming down to find Mya's sweater in the dryer. Neither of us noticed that Mya walked down the stairs and went into the storage room. She came right out just beaming with the biggest smile and carrying her basket full and said, "DAD!!!" She was so excited. Justin quickly took the basket from her and put it back and carried our devastated, now crying, little girl upstairs. I ended up getting her a treat from her basket and told her the surprise was for another day. She quit crying and was satisfied with her treat and we went to church.

So with that starting our Easter season off, we didn't mention much about an Easter Bunny this year. But in a way, I'm really glad because she can tell you why we have Easter and tell the story of the resurrection. I had to give the Easter lesson in Nursery, so that's the story we went over again and again and that's the story she can tell you (I ask her questions and she answers them or she fills in blanks as we tell the story together):

We have Easter because of Jesus.
When Jesus died, they put his body in a tomb.
They put a big rock in front of the door.
After 3 days, angels moved the rock
because Jesus was alive.
When Jesus came back to life, he was resurrected.
Mary was the first to see Jesus after he was alive.
Since Easter was on conference weekend, she got to wear her dress the week before. She was so excited and actually picked out her dress. She looked so cute...too bad that night she got permanent marker on it and I've yet to get it out completely.

The day before Easter, we went to D'Lynn's (my sister-in-law) work for their annual Easter egg hunt. Mya had a blast and they even served a big breakfast afterwards. I so need to remember about it every year because it was awesome. She got a lot of treats!...but was scared of the Easter Bunny walking around - does not surprise me.We did leave empty baskets out for the last week before Easter (that way maybe she would remember less about the full basket she had previously found). Saturday night, Mya didn't want to go to bed and Justin told her the Easter Bunny couldn't come until she was in bed. She got so excited and had us hurry and put her to bed. At this point, we were talking about the Easter Bunny, but in case there was anything she remembered or recognized, I told her I left some things out for the Easter Bunny to put in her basket. I just made sure I put her basket together in a completely different way so it didn't look the same.

She was so excited Easter morning! As soon as Justin reminded her that morning, she quickly came and got me and kept telling me, "Come on mom, let's go!" She got flip flops, water toys, a kite, a new outfit, a new phone, headbands, an electric toothbrush (no more fighting at night to get her to brush her teeth!), and of course candy.After conferences were over for that day, we went down to Justin's parent's for their Easter egg hunt. Mya loved it, even though we all had a lot of fun.
We went to dinner at my parents house that night for dinner and had the traditional ham and cheese potatoes...I love that on Easter! We ended our night with chasing each other around the house squirting each other (Justin and Mya both got water guns in their basket). It was such a fun Easter!