A Good Week

So, overall we have had a nice week. Last Sunday we had a new family in the ward, Dustin and Jandee Anderson and their kids, Isaac and Emma, over for dinner. Jandee invited me to bring our kids over to play at their house the next day, so we went and did that after our WIC appointment Monday morning. Camden fell asleep in the car on the way over there, and he ended up sleeping in a playpen the entire time we were there. Kolby and Eli had so much fun playing with Isaac. The boys went outside to play with squirt guns in the yard, and ended up having fun watering the plants (and each other) with the hose. And that night, after Michael got home, we went to the Kearl’s house for Nathan’s 2nd birthday party. Tyce and Michael swam in their blow-up pool with all the boys, and Amy Hymas came with her girls a little while later. After cake and ice cream, we put our boys to bed over there and played a game of “Killer Bunnies” (a card game) with Faith and Tyce. It was fun, but I’m afraid I was kind of a party pooper because I was getting a cold, so I was tired and just wasn’t feeling very good.

Tuesday was pretty uneventful. Our friend, Kendra, came by that evening and dropped off our life insurance policy. It was interesting to see – there is a “preferred” category that saves you a couple dollars a month if you are in good health, and you have to be within a certain weight range for your height to qualify. There are no exceptions for pregnancy, so I was automatically disqualified until I get back to a normal weight at a later time. Michael had a nurse come for a short physical a few weeks ago, and he qualified for the preferred status. But he was right on the lower border of the weight range for his height. So, when Kendra came this time, she said that they had just created a “preferred plus” status that could save people a couple more dollars if they were even more healthy, but we knew right away that Michael didn’t qualify for that one, because he would have had to be around 10 pounds heavier. Oh well.

On Wednesday I went to Amanda Hansen’s baby shower in the morning. There were lots of people (with lots of kids) there. And I watched Chelsey there for a little bit while Amy had to run to an appointment with Emily. That went well, although it gave me an idea of how it will be once I have one more kid to watch – I am always counting heads when we are with a big group of people to make sure I can see all of my kids. Michael got home early that afternoon and watched the boys while I went to my physical therapy appointment. I talked to my therapist and told her that my knee has improved since I started going, and though the pain hasn’t entirely gone away, most of the time it doesn’t bother me a lot, so I was thinking about stopping the physical therapy. She actually agreed, since it seems like I have hit a plateau for the last few weeks – she just said to continue with my stretches and exercises and to let her know if the pain gets worse or if I have any other problems. So that will be nice to have one less appointment to go to each week now. That night I took Kolby for his swim lessons, and then we went for a late dinner out. Michael had some more birthday money from family members, plus he had a coupon for a free meal at a Mexican restaurant we like, so we went and did that. (I wonder how old our kids will get before they will no longer tolerate us taking peanut butter sandwiches for them to eat at restaurants while Michael and I use a buy 1, get 1 free coupon and have a really cheep meal out?) That dinner was fun, and the boys were very well behaved at the restaurant.

Then on the drive home we were looking at the YMCA fall program, and we noticed that they are now going to be charging a fee for their preschool program that was originally no extra cost besides our membership fees. (If you want the details, you can see the post down below this one). Anyways, we have been kind of frustrated since we found out about that, and trying to decide what to do for preschool for Kolby now and for Eli this winter after he turns three. We were talking today, and I think our plan at this point is to wait a little while and see if the YMCA happens to get enough complaints that they might lower the fee (although we are not holding our breath for this to happen). But I think what we decided is to probably continue using the YMCA’s preschool program, even with these new fees, and just not sign Kolby up for as many classes as we had originally planned. Plus, we figured that we will be in Boise for the month of December and in San Diego for the month of January, so we won’t sign Kolby up for the second fall session of preschool at the YMCA, and we won’t be signing either of the boys up for the first winter session because we won’t be back in time, so I guess that will be less money we will have to pay. I know that lots of the area preschools that our friends are using are much more expensive than this one, even with the YMCA’s new fees, but it is still a lot more than we had planned on. But hopefully by sending him to fewer classes and not signing them up for every session this year, we will be able to make it work. We’ll see.

Thursday was a pretty relaxing day for me. Michael got done at the clinic and got home early, so I didn’t have to take the kids along for my doctor’s appointment, which was nice just to take some magazines and just read for fun while I waited. I had my glucose test, which is where they make you drink a bottle of this glucose drink that tastes kind of like semi-flat orange soda, and then you wait until exactly an hour later and have your blood drawn. So, my appointment was short and everything is going well with the baby. And they scheduled my appointments through the end of the pregnancy – so I am now scheduled to go every other week for the remainder of August and September, then to go in once a week through the end of October. So, after that I just waited until the hour was up for my glucose test, and then the nurse called me back to draw my blood. Apparently that nurse wasn’t an expert at drawing blood. I told her that people often had trouble when drawing my blood, and after she tried once in each of my hands, she got another nurse to come in, and then my midwife walked by and said that she would do it. She got it on her first try in my arm, but still had to wiggle the needle around a little to get it all, and I now have this huge purple bruise on my arm that everyone keeps asking me about. One of my hands and my arm hurt the rest of that day, but luckily that didn’t last. But my midwife told me that next time I should tell them that I need to be sent down to the lab to have blood drawn.

That night Michael took all the boys to the YMCA. He dropped Kolby and Camden off at the Kid Care and went to Eli’s swimming lesson with him, so that I could go to an enrichment group. It was a fun activity for cooking group where everyone brought salsa and recipes to share. And then Friday was Debbie’s birthday. Happy Birthday! We called and sang Happy Birthday to her, and Eli was so cute – he knew all the words and was singing along with us for the entire song.

On Friday night Michael went with Tyce Kearl, Jason Maas, and Ryan Bagley for a fishing trip. They slept that night on the boat that belongs to Tyce’s uncle down on Lake Michigan at the border of Wisconsin and Illinois. The next morning there was a bit of a storm and it was very windy with large swells, and Michael and Jason both ended up getting sick, but Michael said it was fun other than that part. They ended up catching a couple of trout and a large salmon that everyone ended up splitting up – and Michael is in the kitchen right now trying to de-bone the fish so it will be ready to prepare for dinner sometime soon. They got home Saturday evening.

Saturday morning Faith and I met at the zoo and the kids had lunch there and then we mostly stuck to two of the indoor areas – the family farm and the big cats exhibit – since it was a rainy day. On our way out, Kolby asked when daddy was going to be home. He knew that Michael was salmon fishing, so he asked if we could have salmon for dinner that night. I told him that we probably wouldn’t have it that night, because it would take too long to prepare. He asked why, and I explained to him that you can get sick if you eat the fish without cooking it first. And he said, “Yeah, if I didn’t cook it, the salmon might bite my tongue when I try to eat it.” I thought that was pretty cute!

That evening, after Michael got home, one of his school friends, Xandie Gold, came over for a little while and brought her 4-year-old niece, Star, who was visiting her for the weekend to play with our boys. They played well together and then the Kearls and the Wellses came over a little later and we all had some cake I had made with fresh apples in it (I was very proud of myself – I made cake from scratch for the first time ever, and it turned out pretty yummy, if I do say so myself). After Star and Xandie went home and we put our kids down to sleep, we played Apples to Apples and Scatergories. Then they went home after a few hours, because Michael and Tyce were still pretty worn out from their fishing trip.

And today church went pretty well. Camden was so tired – we have 9am church and he has gotten into the habit recently of taking a nap around 9:30am on days when we are at home. I got him to sleep a couple of times, but he is so used to napping in a crib that he woke up each time I got him to fall asleep in my arms. But then he did pretty well later on – I didn’t have to leave my Relief Society class until the last minute or two of class – which is the longest he has lasted that third hour of church in the last several weeks. The boys are all down for their naps now, and Michael has been working on dishes while I have been writing this. Now he is fixing a picture that my parents gave us for our wedding – it is a large framed painting of Christ, and a while ago we noticed that the picture had slipped down behind the mat so it was hanging funny in the frame. It has been that way a while, so that will be nice once he gets it straightened. He is leaving for his home teaching appointments in a few minutes.

This week should be good. Michael’s rotation this month has been a really nice schedule for us. And some time in the next couple of days my former BYU Family History Professor, Brother Minert, and his wife are going to be in Milwaukee, so they said they will give us a call and stop by and that should be nice to see them. And Matthew’s birthday is Wednesday, Happy Birthday Matthy!!!