April Update...

Joshua has been busy going to school. He's in his 4th term and it should be ending on June 8th, I believe. He's also been working part-time, on his days off from school, at a CPA firm. And when he's not at school or work, these days he's been busy building a guitar. He's been playing guitar for 15+ years, but this is his first time ever to be making one. He's been learning a lot about guitars that he never knew before. He's been photographing the stages as he works, but didn't really want me to post any pictures until he's completely done. I figure that this picture doesn't really give much away...it still leaves a lot to the imagination.

Kaden is about to turn 6 next month and has almost completed Kindergarten. He's been really enjoying school, thanks in part to his teacher and his friends. And he's reading at or above a 2nd grade level, which is really exciting. It's really hard to get him to tell me anything that he learned, but every once in awhile he will randomly start telling me about something he learned. For instance, he must have really loved learning about simple machines, because one day he was building with his blocks and made a lever, and told me all about it. --For those of you who really know Kaden, he still loves the video games. But he also has a new love for legos. We bought him 2 of those little sets that you can build 3 different things with and he used to follow the directions exactly. But now he is getting really creative. Plus, he just started riding his bike without training wheels and he is really good! ---He's growing up so fast!

Versii will be turning 2 next month and is such a little busy body. He is obsessed with Dora the Explorer and going "bye-bye." He doesn't do it everyday now, but for awhile, every morning when we would be sitting on the couch with his sippy of milk, he would scramble to find the remote, hand it to me and say, "dorda, r u?" It's really cute to see how excited he gets to see Dora and he does the motions and talks with them too. And when anyone is leaving the house, he wants to go with them. --He still doesn't consistantly sleep through the night, but we're working on it. And he really loves his "mamma" and "bappa" (Grandma and Grandpa).

And, as for me, Joy, I am still pregnant. I guess I have 41 days left, until my due date. I'm really hoping that the new little one can arrive early. I know that you're all waiting for a picture of how big I am, and maybe one of these days I get around to it. Let's just say that I am so big, that it's a chore just to get up out of my bed or my chair, let alone lug 25 lb. Versii all over the place. And due to the intense heartburn I get to enjoy, I sleep most of the time sitting up, propped with lots of pillows. ---Besides spending time taking care of the kids, I almost ritually take an afternoon nap when Versii does and I spend a lot of time doing various house work. And sometimes I get to do my blogging and other things that I enjoy. And when that's all done, I'm tired again. ---Plus I can't get enough sugar right now. I love my chocolate! I've got another ultrasound scheduled on April 28th, so we'll see how Paxton is doing then.

Hoppy Easter...Last Week

Above: We took the boys over to the Primary Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday. Versii was a little cranky, at first, but they both edded up having fun. Kaden played the Bunny Hop Game and colored bunny ears...and they both colored on bags to use for the Easter Egg Hunt. Versii really enjoyed coloring his bag, since he had free use of markers. And at the end was the Easter Egg Hunt. Versii was very excited to realise there was candy inside the eggs!

Below: Easter Morning! The boys were excited to see that the Easter Bunny came and brought them fun things. Kaden got a new lego set and Versii got some sunglasses...and of course, they got candy! Yum, yum, yum! Kaden learned about why we celebrate Easter, but to Versii, this was all about candy inside plastic eggs.

(For some reason the slide shows aren't working right, even though I recopied the codes twice, but if you click on view all images you can see the pictures on the site.--Sorry.)

Another look at Paxton

Well today, I had my 4th ultrasound. I only had one ultrasound with Versii, so this is very different. Out of the 5 ultrasounds I've ever had, today was the first time they asked me if I wanted a disk with pictures, instead of a print out. Sure! For those of you who didn't know, we're planning to name this new little boy, Paxton Henri. And they say that he's currently measuring at about 4 lbs, 6 oz. ---Which is ahead of schedule. He's supposed to be 31 weeks along, but is measuring at 33 weeks. So, based on this information, the estimated due date would be May 19th. (But they say that they don't change due date just based on measurements.) ---The reason for this ultrasound was because I have placenta previa, and it's only moved 2.8 cm, but they want it to be 3 cm from the cervix. So they want to check again in another month. That means ultrasound no. 5. She said the placenta only has to move .2 cm, before they will officially ok no C-section...so we will see.

Here's Paxton with his mouth open...in the classic ultrasound view.
And here he is in 3D form. He looks kind of like a "clay baby". --But the crazy thing is that he had his eyes open and the technician said she's never seen that before. It will be interesting to see what he looks like in real life. (I never got to see Versii in 3D, so I can't compare.)

Model Makeover

This post is mostly for Joshua...

...but I'm sure that everyone else can have a laugh about it too.

(You're about to see some really dorky pictures of me.)

Mom has been going through her files and found a bunch of old scrapbook type things that she had been keeping for me. Among them were these modeling head shots taken of me back in May of 1993. I guess that would make me a few months shy of 14 years old. Yes, I went to modeling school...sadly, no I never did make it as a model. But seriously, we were definitely taken by the school who assured us I would be a great model --glasses, braces and all!

Then, a few years later, in 1998 (at age 19) I went to a club for teens in downtown Portland and a woman asked if I would be interested in modeling...so I signed up with her agency and pretty much all I got out of it was a free trip to Los Angeles. A talent agency there offered to fly me to LA and set me up with some photo shoots to start my portfolio. I went and I had a very memorable trip - during which I got lost by myself trying to find the studio in Hollywood and had to eat some kind of disgusting mushroom bruscetta...because the owner of the agency took me to a fancy dinner in which he ordered my food for me, in Italian. I hate mushrooms! But anyway, it was still a fun trip. I remember thinking that I was so cool because he took me to some downtown club in L.A. and we hung out with a bunch of modeling and actors and such. Nothing came out of that either...because he sent me a photocopy of the proofs and said he sent the negatives to my agent - only my agent never got them and they were lost in transit somewhere. Which was such a bummer because I could have had some great pictures. Anyway, I think I made quite an improvement in my looks from 1993 to 1998.

It's crazy to think I was 10 years younger here.

My Monkeys at the Zoo

My sweet little animals.

Kaden trying to work the tractor.

Little cowboys.

The boys loved watching the polar bear playing with the barrels.

In the bear cave.

My little bums.

Monkey see. Monkey Do.

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in Portland and we spent the day at the zoo.

Pacificas and Pacifiers

With the upcoming birth of our 3rd little boy. We decided that we might need a car with more seating space. So, we sold the Buick...for the same amount we paid for it 3 years ago. The Buick was a good car for us. But we didn't want to cram all 3 car seats in the backseat of the car. My stipulation with the new car was that it had to have a third row seat...and it does. We now have a Crysler Pacifica...and it's blue. (My favorite color.) --Anyway, technically it has the same amount of seats as the Buick. Since the buick had a bench seat in the front and we could have put someone in the middle, up front, but it would have been really squishy. So the pacifica has 6 seats: 2 up front, 2 in the middle and 2 in the back. So when the new baby comes along, we'll put the 2 younger ones in the middle seats (caption chairs) and we'll put Kaden in the very back. Then that will leave one extra seat, for the time we really need it. --Basically the car is the same size as the buick was, but with more seat space and less trunk space. Josh is missing the buick already. He says the seats were more comfortable and he liked the way it drove. But you have to do what you have to do. I've never actually ridden in it yet...but I will someday.

Out with the old and in with the new.

Don't mind if I do?

So, if Versii sees you eating something and he wants it, he'll just go over to the silverware drawer and grab a spoon or a fork and come over to your dish and dig in. ---Usually, he sees Grandpa sitting on the couch with a bowl of icecream. So he'll run over, grab a spoon and snuggle up to Grandpa and start eating. The other day, Grandpa was on the couch, sitting and eating a bowl of vegetables. Versii ran and grabbed his spoon, probably thinking it was icecream....and when he got over to Grandpa and reached into the bowl, he was surprised to see vegetables there. He picked one up, put it in his mouth and then spit it back into the bowl. ---Sorry to kill your excitement Versii. (When he's not being a menace, he does some pretty funny things.)