Our Class Clown

Kaden had his Winter Music Performance at school tonight. Originally it had been planned for December, however it was cancelled due to snow. He's quite animated! ---Video disclaimer: The video clip is very shaky, since we were sitting near the back and I had to put the camera on zoom. Plus in the middle I moved the camera to try and get a better shot, so it's a little crazy, but you get the idea.

Heavenly Father's Plan for Me

I've really been thinking about Heavenly Father's plan for me.  When I was younger I only planned to have 2 children.  And of course, I wanted one boy and one girl. Then I received my patriarchal blessing and it specifically talked about the choice spirits that would come into my home and how they would grow up to be honorable men and women.  It also specifically said the words, "in mortality."  At that point, I can remember thinking, "but I only wanted two - this means I have to have four."  Men and women are both plural.  So I guess that I figured in my head that I would eventually have 2 of each.  We already had Kaden and then came Versii.  So I figured this one would have to be a girl.  I never thought that I would ever have 3 boys.  I imagine now that this means I will end up having 5 children some day.  Having that many children is not something that I planned on, but Heavenly Father's plan for us is not always what we plan for ourselves.  

When I found out I was pregnant with this baby, I felt like it wasn't the right time.  In the back of my mind I did want another baby, I just never thought it would be now.  I know that I've spent a lot of time complaining.  I really do hate being pregnant.  But I am happy for this baby.  I'm one of those people who wants a baby, but I don't want to go through all work of actually bringing them into the world.  Pregnancy is definitely one of life's trials for me.  And thinking about how I'm going to sanely survive raising 3 boys is going to be another one of life's trials for me.  "He never said it would be easy, He just said it would be worth it."  Right?

And I have been thinking about why it is that some of us get pregnant when we don't want to be and others of us who desperately want children cannot get pregnant or lose their babies before they even get a chance to come into this world.  Heavenly Father is the only one who knows the exact answer.  I constantly have to be reminded that everything happens on His time, not ours.  There's always a lesson to be learned.  For some it's patience and for some it's understanding.  The blessings in any case are always there, we just don't always realise them right away.  Unfortunately, for me, I sometimes need reminders that Heavenly Father knows what's best for us, even if we don't know it ourselves.  This baby right now, is part of His plan and although I don't know all of the reasons why, I know that this baby will bring many blessings into our home.  So I'm going to resolve to be happy for what's to come.

Plus I suppose that we were sort of destined to have 3 boys.  One of Josh's best friends has 3 boys and one of my best friends has 3 boys.  What's funny is that each of our best friends last names our "Smith," both of them honeymooned, with their spouses, in Steamboat, Colorado, both of them live in Colorado and they each have 3 boys.  

Blue Mood

We had our ultrasound today and we are having another boy. I can't say that I am completely thrilled with the news. I wanted to cry, but...I didn't. I'll spare you all the images of his gender. But I assure you that they are unmistakeable. There is no chance this baby will come out as a girl. ---Mom says that she figures this little boy needs to be in our home and that if I had been given a girl then this would have been our last child.--- Undoubtedly, this is a true statement.

The doctor said his measurements are right on schedule for my due date and he weighs about 12 ounces right now. I saw all 10 fingers and toes!

Josh and I are still in disagreement about boy names that we like, so I'm not sure what his name will be yet. We'll let you know.

Kaden is excited about having another baby brother. And Versii doesn't have a clue.

New House Complete

There have been a few requests for some pictures of the inside of the new house. Here they are:

This is the living room and view of the kitchen/dining room. We finally had our table and chairs delivered today, after waiting over a week due to the snow. We were really excited to finally have a real table.

The gas fireplace with cherry mantel.

View from the kitchen. To the left of the stairs, is a half bath when you first walk into the house. Down the hall, the first door on the right is a walk-in pantry. The picture below only shows half of it. The door on the end of the hallway is the laundry room and the master is on the right.

View from the top of the stairs.

Our bedroom upstairs. The boys room is right next door and there's a bonus room upstairs too.

Here's our bathroom. It's right across the hall from our rooms. I love having a bathroom on the same floor as my room. We're still busy unpacking and organizing. Mostly everything has been moved over from the other house. But we still have boxes left to move over...we're just waiting for the snow to melt down and the rain to stop. I hate moving, but it's nice to finally be in the new house.

Cold Play

This is the "Snowman Santa" that Josh helped the kids build.

Here he is with crazy arms.

Kaden going into the snow tunnel that Grandpa and Josh built.

Versii had been napping while everyone was out playing in the snow...so when he woke up I layered him up and took him outside. It took 10 minutes to dress him, for 5 minutes of fun.

Merry Christmas!

Who was the first to wake up in our house? Versii...who else? Here he is in his new pedal car. A gift from Mommy & Daddy to both Kaden & Versii.

We made the kiddos wait until everyone was awake and in the room before they could start openning presents.

Kaden enjoying his pedal car. We were suppose to be able to have lots of fun with it outside, but who knew that it would snow so much this Christmas.

Kaden & Versii with their cousins Austin & Ashlyn.

Kaden showing off his new Ben 10 watch - yes, he requested this from Santa Claus.

Toys, toys and more toys!


Merry Christmas from our family to yours! We've had a very merry Christmas here and we wish you all the same!

"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas..."

Or am I?  It looks like Oregon will have a white Christmas this year.  It's been snowing here for over a week.  They sent us home from church early last Sunday and this Sunday they cancelled church all together.  And Kaden only had school 2 out of 5 days last week.  I can't remember the last time it's snowed this much in Portland.  And the forecast shows snow for until at least Christmas eve.  

I would be enjoying the snow if it wasn't affecting so many things, like being able to easily move things into the new house, or having some furniture delivered.  We've been waiting over a week for our dining room table and chairs to be delivered.  They called to cancel delivery on Wednesday and Thursday due to the weather, although Julie and I both went out those days and it was fine to drive in.  Then Saturday the furniture guys decided to be too brave and went out and got stuck on a hill.  So now our furniture is probably sitting on a cold truck on a hill somewhere. 

We our mostly moved into the new house now.  Well, most of our everyday essentials are here at least.  It's so nice to finally be here.  I'll post pictures of the inside when we get a little more moved in and get things organized.