Nesting

Even though Ida will be here in less than a week, I did say I'd put up a prego picture for her. Somehow I just didn't have any until now. This is my general attitude about taking pictures while I'm pregnant:

But Adam snuck this shot in while I was waiting for everyone else to come over for a quick family picture. (We will not be doing Christmas cards this year, but hope to send something like that out for maybe Valentine's Day when we have ALL of us here.) Anyway, Dr. Westreich is an amazing doctor, who thinks this baby will be small. Like maybe not even 7 lbs. We'll show him, won't we, Baby Girl? It's okay if he's wrong about something. Remember that Audrey was 8 lbs. 2 oz. I think I was about the same size. Granted, this picture doesn't really show how big I am.
The magic of the Christmas tree...
Adam has been working like mad the past few weeks to finish the basement by this Friday. He's painting right now, and will only have the carpet left! So here's his general "look" lately:

I've just been busy nesting nesting nesting. I've been getting ready for Christmas since August, I think. Seriously, I came home from Costco one September day and Adam asked me what all the party cups were for. Christmas. But I don't regret one ounce of hyper-preparation, because here we are 11 days from my due date, and only 10 from Christmas, with almost all of my family coming to stay in a week, and I'm finding time to blog!

The week before Thanksgiving, David and Abby got married and my doctor gave me the okay to fly out there even though he said it made him nervous. I had so many contractions that the whole time we were there I just sat. Kind of like bed rest but not in bed. It was so great to go out and be there for there first day of eternity together. Don't they look so happy?

The Marriott adults:

All the girls (minus Abby).

All the boys (minus David) in a pretty awesome pose. I love it.

This guy is another reason I just had to go. Wesley got back from his mission and we hadn't seen him yet. What a charmer. This photo was part of a long series of modeling. Makes me smile.

Jane's 3rd birthday!

Wow what a party! Here are the girls in the morning on Jane's 3rd birthday. We had the first snow of the year so we had to go to the library to celebrate. This is what she calls "helping me make a cake." She picked out the cake box and frosting tub. I had a pinch of inspiration to make a cool cake like other moms do...(you know, toys on top and several pieces put together to make an amazing scene) but then I got a braxton hicks that wiped the vision away. Next year, cutie.

This is my favorite part. We had lots of people over to sing and share. She was shaking from excitement during the birthday song! Oh, Jane girl, I love you!

From Gammie. She was spoiled by everyone but Gammie wasn't there to see her open her gift, so here you go, Gammie! She loves it. I love how the house reinforces my instructions. "Sharing is nice."

The princess

Jane likes to lounge, but never shabbily.

At least one girl in this house is maintaining a life of glamour. (I'm more like Cinderella these days, always sweeping.)

Audrey is so cute!

I'm loving her new way of walking around with her lips puckered out like this. Not so cute on Angelina Jolie; SUPER cute on Audrey.

Audrey won't sleep in a crib anymore, so we have her on a big mattress next to the crib. She wanders out every once in a while but gets a little tired just outside the door. I find her finishing out her nap like this on the landing before the stairs:

The latest photos...

These are the only pictures of the girls for all of this month--and Adam's the one who took them. I have been really busy...growing another GIRL! We just found out that what I was so positive was a boy (my motherly intuition was definitely lacking there) is a girl and we expect her to arrive right around Christmas-time. My due date is December 26 and we are excited to go all out on the girliness (well, I am--I can't speak for Adam on that). No more gender-neutral toys/books. We have three girls!

(And now you know why I've just been eating the past 5 months...)

4th of July in Utah

Marriott Reunion at the Cabin!

Everyone was together for the 4th of July (except for Wesley who gets home from his mission in a few weeks). We spent a few days at the cabin, boasting shirts that said "If you love it, why don't you MARRIOTT" which is a favorite slogan--easy to see why :) It was SUCH A FUN TIME! Jane was in heaven with all her cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Bedtime stories were just lists of names and she just loved it. Audrey also had a great time and didn't get clingy at all (that's how I measure the comfort and enjoyment level of my non-talking kids).

They both loved GrandDad and Nana's dress-up costumes. I loved to see them dance around.

I loved eating at the cabin. This corn really hit the spot. I think I had 6 ears...

Everybody! (Except Wesley) We had our camera off to the side during the family photo shoot and look at how many people listened when we said, "Look over there!"

This is the best family photo we could get. (Below) We were the orange crew.

Back in Salt Lake, Jack had a lesson with Kate's old violin teacher (who is still teaching). I caught Jack sneaking a few mental practices in for the big day. Funny, huh? His facials were great as he sang "long, short, long."

Here all the kids were watching the Black Stallion with GrandDad as he narrated the ENTIRE THING. Everyone was enthralled.

Adam and David built a 6-hour canoe in a couple days and had it ready for her maiden voyage at a lake near the cabin. We were all holding our breath to see if it would float. It did beautifully!

Other activities: a treasure hunt for the kids, a 5k for the adults (and some kids) and lots of talking. Wow was it busy and GREAT!

Audrey's 1st birthday!

Jane and I woke Audrey up with the birthday song. It was so cute to see her looking so pleased even though she really doesn't know what a birthday is yet. We then went to Andrew Toyota to get an oil change where we pretended that the complementary cookies and soda were for Audrey's birthday. Brilliantly, a salesman brought the girls some balloons on the way out as well.

Next the birthday girl got to go to the store with DADDY and Jane for a change while Mommy taught a ballet class. What a treat!

And I can't believe I don't have pictures of this, but we met the Mitchells at the Yacht Club Pool (I am loving their membership!) for an afternoon of swimming in Audrey's birthday floaty. She loves the water so much she didn't even want to be held in it. (That poses a slight problem since she can't swim but doesn't want to be held.) We had a great time and then finished the night off with some cake.

Audrey has no idea how to blow. We'll be learning that skill for next year to avoid a repeat of snuffing out the flame with her bare fingers!!!!! I wasn't fast enough. Not to worry. There was cake involved so she wasn't sad.

She needed help getting to the cake after enjoying the frosting for a bit. Once she found it, She probably ate a good third of it. This girl can eat!

Sharing with Daddy.

Some water helped her to...keep going on the cake.

Happy Birthday my 1-year-old!

Adam in June

Adam has also been enjoying some fatherly love (Happy Father's Day!). The girls both really adore him. So do I!

I couldn't believe my eyes when I came home on June 2 to find a brand-new made-by-the-sweat-of-his-brow BARRE! I've always wanted one and he totally surprised me with it. This picture is a bit vague and dark, and we've changed the room around completely, but it shows how long it is. You can also see Jane dancing--hanging--on it a few posts down. It's been great for both me and the kids :) I'm the luckiest wife!

Adam has also been playing the piano a lot (he plays in church, even) and practicing his trumpet because he's teaching one of the young men in our ward for the summer. He is so talented at everything he does. I'm always amazed.

Laura in June

I've just been enjoying moments like these:

And eating.

Audrey in June

Check out this emotional process

She was extremely disappointed when we all just kept sitting there clapping. Why weren't we hugging her, too?