Goodbye, training wheels!

Lately, I'm feeling like a blog slacker. I am terrible to take pictures of what we're doing, and currently, my life just seems pretty uneventful. Don't get me wrong, sometimes uneventful is what I would prefer. That usually means that things are running pretty smoothly in our home, and generally they are. What a blessing it is to live a very ordinary life! It just doesn't make a blog very exciting! So, this one is for people who must love us a LOT to want to read about our "ho-hum" little Utah lives that right now seem quite nice.

Probably our biggest event this week was relieving one of my biggest sources of "mom-guilt" that I accrued while living in Thailand. That would be... Jack not having a good place to ride his bike. Since we've been here, any day that didn't have snow on the ground, he's been out riding. Finally, we had a week where it was sunny, warm, and we could take those training wheels off and let him go. He learned SO quickly, and we had a blast outside together helping him! (Notice Jane in full winter gear. She's just now figuring out that even though we're in Utah, she doesn't ALWAYS need her coat, mittens, and hat, because occasionally it's not necessary!)

I have a very vivid memory of my mom taking me out and teaching me to ride my sister's banana-seat bicycle when I was about Jack's age. After telling Jack that story, he really wanted me to run along side him. I did for a bit, but being 32 weeks pregnant, my body was not agreeing with it for long! Luckily, Jeff was super-dad and stepped right in. He even wanted a turn of his own.

Since Jack has become so independent on his bike (and the weather's been so beautiful), we've been out every day of the week for as long as we possibly can. It's been fantastic. I even got a small start on the yard work while the kids rode all over with the neighborhood gang. I loved it.

We had a fantastic weekend spent with family and close friends. My parents were nice enough to take the kids for the evening and let Jeff and I enjoy a night out. It was wonderful to spend the evening with my best friend and enjoy uninterrupted conversation. We didn't have to talk 90 mph to finish before we forgot what we were talking about!

I loved spending time with my nieces and nephews the next morning (which of course, I didn't get pictures of because I'm a slacker), but I LOVED holding my newest nephew Drew and kissing him as much as he'd allow. That's the good thing about six-week-olds, they don't have much say in the matter. He made me really baby-hungry, so good thing I've got one on the way!

We spent the afternoon at our good friend's home, the Heatons. When we left for Thailand, they lived just the next block over and we spent hours together visiting, letting the kids play, and they fed us a lot of delicious Italian food. It was a little weird to come back and not have them close by anymore. We finally worked our way down to Orem (only about ten minutes from my parent's house) and went to visit.

The kids had a blast playing with their four boys in their neighborhood playground, and with all their fun toys. Jack was in awe with how many remote-controlled toys they have! This one was a spider, and made Jane quite nervous at first.

Jack and Jane rode around for a LONG time on their little motorbike. Jack was feeling pretty tough, and Jane was just loving the ride. I could watch them play and laugh together like that all day.

Next time, maybe I'll get a picture of everyone together? I told you... slacker.

Today we had one of our Bangkok friends come to visit with his mother. It was fun to see Wyatt and catch up on his life and happenings. Since he left Thailand, he spent another semester abroad in China, and is now just looking for work (and according to his mom, he's also looking for a wife!). Of course, no picture of Wyatt who was busily stringing bead after bead on some string for Jane's necklace, but I thought this was a good one of Jack with his mom, Sally, who was helping him crochet a bracelet for me. Jack sure takes to Grandmothers! Who can blame him, he sure loves his own!

We (by we, I mean Jeff, because all I really am doing at this point is trying to make it so he doesn't need to do anything but the basement!) continue to progress on the basement. Jeff's slowed down a bit, as he isn't finding duct work to be nearly as intriguing or as fast moving as the framing. But, he's almost done now, and is looking forward to starting the wiring this week. Isn't he awesome?

I've really been enjoying feeling like we're in a routine at our house. I love filling each day with something different. I love having enough activities to keep us happy and busy, yet time enough to be flexible when need be. I am also loving being pregnant. I guess I should have expected this pregnancy to be different than the others since I'm a bit older and each pregnancy takes its toll. I've hurt a little more with this one, but because of that, I feel extremely aware of this baby. My other pregnancies were a BREEZE and besides my babies moving inside of me and the usual excitement and anticipation, I didn't feel even all that aware of being pregnant (or at least that's how I remember it!). I already feel really close to this little girl inside of me. I love talking with Jack and Jane about their sister and having them talk to her and give her kisses goodnight. Jane loves to lay on my tummy and feel her kick her own tummy. How could I not love having my two girls so close? To say the least, we are VERY excited about her arrival in less than two months. We aren't ready, but we are excited. I know I say this a lot, but honestly... life is good.