How Fortunate I Am to be a Mom

One of my friends recently put this video on her blog and it just moved me so much. It's such a wonderful reminder of how lucky I am to be a mom, and with another one only weeks away, it gets me excited to hold our little baby.

Surprise!

The other day at work, I thought it was a normal day. During lunch I was going to run some errands with my friend Adrienne, get some lunch becuase they were serving falafel at my work (which didn't sound appetizing), and get some things done that I need to. Adrienne and I left, did one errand when she received a text reminding her that she had "tardy party," which is like detention for those who were tardy to classes that day. I was bummed but we headed back anyway. We stopped at the offices for a moment and I moseyed on down the hall looking at pictures as I walked when I noticed at the end of the hall there was a little party. Little did I know the party was for me.

My coworkers had all pitched in to throw a surprise baby shower for me. Because this was my second child, I NEVER anticipated anything so I didn't put together any hints. Just went along with it all. Because I had no idea, I don't have any pictures, but I was really flabbergasted that they would do something so sweet for me.

You know, sometimes I curse my work because things don't run perfectly, but I have to say - I'm really lucky to have the job that I do. Nowhere else would I have the freedom and relationships that I do as a teacher. It is a great place to work.

White Men Can Jump

For some time now, Kyson has been trying to learn to jump. He'd always just go to his tippy toes, but never be able to get off the ground. About a month ago, he became successful. It's so fun to watch then try these new things that we don't think twice about. Toddlers are so much fun.

The Summer is Officially Over

Going back to school is not the end of the summer - the last weekend to get out of dodge is. For Labor Day, we went to Bear Lake, our typical hang out throughout the summer. We debated for some time if we'd go or not becuase I'm 8 months pregnant, Kyson seemed to have a cold last week, and Kris didn't really want to go. With some sweet talking on my parent's part, Kris gave in and we went to spend a nice weekend at the Lake.

I anticipated bad weather, but it was beautiful. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like doing much and Kris was so tired he needed some much needed rest. Kyson did make it out to the beach though. He's such a funny kid. He LOVES dirt and so playing on the beach was heaven to him. It took a little time to coerce him to the water. But when my dad gave him a branch with leaves, he ran wild. It's funny how little things are so exciting for kids.

At one point my dad and Kyson were building a community of sand castles - basically buckets of sand turned up side down. Well, My dad built them and Kyson loved destroying them. He's such a destructive little boy.

When he wasn't playing on the beach, he was bonding with his puppy. I don't know how she can take the beating that she does. They wrestle so rough with one another, and both dish it out and egg it on. When they're not hyper, it's apparent that they just love each other so much.

It's been a nice weekend with the family and I'm grateful for these opportunities and memories.

The Crime Scene

The evidence

The suspect

Yesterday, Kyson came in to me while I was sorting through all of his old clothes holding a pen. I said, "Go give that to Daddy," since is was Daddy's pen. He left the room for a moment, then came back still holding the pen. So we went together. When I walked out of the room, that's when I noticed really what he had done. He had colored on every door upstairs: his room, the bathroom, the closet, the baby's room, our bedroom (both sides), my closet, Kris' closet, and our bathroom (both front and back). The only door he didn't hit was the laundry room. I was steaming angry.

I went to Walmart and picked up some of those Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, hoping that it would work becuase I didn't want to repaint all those doors. Fortunately, a couple of hours later, and 10 doors later, the pen is off. What did our parents do before Mr. Clean Magic Erasers?

Shakespeare Time Again

Every year, I plan and chaperon a trip to the Utah Shakespearean Festival with a handful of my students. This year we saw: As You Like It, Henry V, and The Comedy of Errors. They were well done, and the girls seemed to really enjoy the trip. On our last evening in Cedar City, they even said, "I don't want to go back." That's when you know the trip has been a success.

Normally, Kris' parents take Kyson while I'm gone, but because he's gotten so big he doesn't want to sleep in a crib, he'll no longer even take naps at his grandparents' house. Kris decided it was best if he take the week off to be home during the night with our fun-loving son. I think it was a great decision.

Because I'm so pregnant when going this year, both Kris and Carol, Kris' mother, were concerned about me going. It was funny - I was actually in less pain than when I'm home. I believe it is because I wasn't lifting a 25 lb child and I wasn't constantly bending over to pick up after him. Between those two things, my back, hips, and pelvis got a much needed break.

When I got back, even though Kris was exhausted, he said he wouldn't have traded it for anything. He loved the time he had with his son. They played games, went on walks, worked on vocabulary, and just enjoyed each other's company. I'm so grateful that my son has such an involved father. Not many kids get to be so lucky.

3D Pictures

Last weekend, Kris and I went to get a 3D ultrasound of our baby girl. We got one with Kyson because it was the only way we would have been able to find out the sex of the baby. Because we're only planning on having 2 children, we decided it was only fair to do this ultrasound for her as well.

During the ultrasound, she was extremely active. She got the hiccups, was yawning, sucking on her hands, stretching, and anything else you can think of. The technician said she was an extremely active baby - I could have told you that! We were really excited to see her though. She looks just like Kyson did when we did his 3D ultrasound, so it looks like we'll have one more baby with the Tinsch nose. Fortunately, they grow into their noses. Kyson grew into his MUCH faster than me. I didn't grow into mine until high school; Kyson did in his first few months.

For those who are wanting 3D ultrasounds, we have always gone with a different company that Fetal Foto. It's called Ultrasound Specialists and they have licensed technicians who do he ultrasounds. It's worth the money for us.