Buses, babies, and all things Barnum

We'll start with the bus.  This week, we decided to have Jonah and Lilly start riding the bus to school.  This is an entirely new experience for them because we've always lived within a half mile of their schools and either walked or drove.  They've each ridden a school bus once or twice for field trips, but never every day to and from school.  I'll admit, I'm not exactly a huge fan of bus riding, but I blame that on some lovely bus experiences I had when I was growing up.  I really hated riding the bus.  Really. 

We figured we'd give it a shot with Jonah and Lilly to help save some gas and time.  Plus when the baby comes, it will be nice not to have to put him in his car seat to take them and pick them up.  I'll already have to do that to take and pick up Jayne from preschool and Nate from work.  But, that's what happens when you only have one vehicle. 

Anyway....back to the topic at hand.  The kid were a little nervous at first, but now they are bus riding professionals.  They have assigned seats on the bus and are starting to make some new friends. I'm actually surprised at how easy the transition has been for them.  No drama, no trauma, no tears.  It kind of makes me think that something was severely wrong with my own bus riding experiences, but that's a subject for another day. 

Now, on to the baby.  We had our 35 week doctor appointment today which included the lovely Group B Strep test and an ultrasound.  Last time I went in, two weeks ago, the doctor said we were measuring a bit large.  So he wanted to do an ultrasound today to check baby's size.  According to the ultrasound, we're measuring two weeks ahead (37 weeks) and 7lbs.  Everything looks healthy and perfect, just a bit bigger than usual.   It could be that my dates are off or our baby boy is just big and healthy, plus I've read that sizing ultrasounds can be off by as much as one pound either way.  I think it's a little bit of everything.  Seeing as how I've never actually gone into labor on my own, even if we are due a bit earlier I don't think it will make much of a difference.  My biggest baby was Jonah who weighed in at 8lbs 9oz.  The girls were both in the 6-7 pound range.  Maybe boys are just bigger?  Who knows?

 I'm also having gazillions of Braxton Hicks contractions which have started the lovely dilation game.  I'm not really surprised that I'm dilating already and I'm not getting too excited about it either.  To me, how dilated I am doesn't really mean much as far as when I'm going to have the baby.  Heck, I was dilated to a 3 for three weeks with Jayne and she still didn't just come on her own. 
From here on out we start our weekly appointments.  Gee, I guess all this means we're actually getting close. Maybe we should buy some diapers or something, huh? 

Pregnancy Update

I had my first visit with the new OB today.  I chose one that was recommended by my doctor up in Salt Lake.  He seems very easy going and down to earth, which I like.  Today we are 32 weeks 5 days along.  Baby's heartbeat is nice and strong.  My blood pressure was a little higher than it has been.  I'm hoping that was just a fluke.  I had pregnancy induced hypertension with Lilly which resulted in being induced a couple of weeks early, but no problems with Jayne. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. 

 Dr. also said that baby is measuring a bit larger than normal.  This means we get to have another ultrasound in a couple of weeks to try to estimate his size.  I'm not going to lie.  I'm a bit excited to get to see the baby again.  I haven't had to have an ultrasound other than the 20 week one. I'm not surprised that he's measuring big.  I feel big.  But then, what pregnant woman doesn't, right? 

After the ultrasound, I start seeing the doctor once a week.  I can't believe we're getting that close!  I guess I'd better get on the ball and get things ready around here.  We have yet to purchase anything other than a few clothes and one pack of diapers. Since we got rid of everything baby related after Jayne, we have a lot to do.  I've been such a procrastinator, but I really don't want to be caught without a car seat or a crib when the little guy decides to make his appearance!  Time to start shopping I guess. 

Now that I'm nice and big, people love to look at me with a sympathetic face and ask "How are you feeling?"  I figure they don't really want the laundry list of grievances that accompany this later stage of pregnancy so I just shrug my shoulders and say, " I feel pregnant." 
How do you feel today?  =)

Back to School!

It's September and that means school is once again in full swing.  Jonah and Lilly started school a few days after we moved and Jayne started preschool just yesterday.  Jonah is in 3rd grade this year and Lilly is in 1st grade.  So far everyone loves school. Let's hope it stays that way! 

Lilly and Jonah all ready for school!

Jayne's first day. 

They sure are getting big fast!  Here's to a happy, productive school year! 

We've Moved!

I know it's taken me a while to get caught up on blog posts, but life has been a bit crazy.  One huge contributor to the crazy is that on August 15th we moved from Magna to St. George.  It all happened a bit fast.  Why did we move?  Well, I'll do my best to explain.

Nate has been applying for management positions everywhere from Oregon to Arizona since the beginning of the year and nothing has come through.  Positions in the Salt Lake valley were hard to come by and there was a huge list of other reps vying for the ones that did come up.  A few months ago, Nate applied for a management position at the store in St George.  After his phone interview, he was told that he did a great job and that he was "perfect for the position", but he didn't get it.  When he asked for feedback about what he could do to be a better candidate, the only thing that they said was holding them back was the fact that they hadn't worked with him before and they wanted to hire someone that they "knew".  Weird, I know, but this seems to be a trend in the company.  The higher ups don't want to "take a risk" on someone they don't "know".  Anyway....Nate asked what he could do to be seriously considered for a future management opening and they said he should come down to St. George and work at their store so they can get to know him.

Recently, they had some openings for sales reps, so Nate put in for it.  They hired him 20 minutes after his phone interview because they remembered him from his management interview and were very impressed.  So we moved to work toward better advancement opportunities.  It's also no secret that Magna wasn't our favorite place to live.  We met some wonderful people there and made great friends, but overall, we just never felt that it was where we were meant to be. We also hated the house we lived in.  We had a great landlord, but the house was small and a bit outdated and we had a recurring problem with mold in the basement.

Nate was hired around the third week of July.  I was hoping we'd have until September to get moved, but we were quickly informed that Nate's last day in West Jordan would be the 15th and they wanted him to start here on the 17th.  Nate and I did a day trip to St George to look for a place to live and found a nice little townhouse in a good area.  Then, after a whirlwind three weeks (which included Jayne's hospital stay, swim lessons, selling things and packing things, the camping trip that I posted about and finishing my last semester of school), here we are.  Nate took a few paid vacation days to get us moved and we were grateful to have help from friends and family. The kids were also great helpers with the move.  

So far, we're really enjoying it here in St George.  It's been hot, but we're looking forward to the nice, mild winter.  The kids have been enjoying the swimming pool at least 4 times a week and Jayne and I have explored a few parks.  Jonah and Lilly started school the Monday after we arrived.  They both really like their teachers and made friends quickly.  Jayne will start preschool this Tuesday and is really excited about it.

Nate says that work is about the same.  The store here is a bit more laid back than he is used to.  He's starting to get to know his co-workers and he really loves the heat here.  The poor guy was raised in Las Vegas and has spent the last 10 years in Utah with lots of cold and snow.  The climate here is heaven for him!

Our ward is really nice and both of us have already been given church callings.  I was asked to be the pianist for Relief Society and Nate was just asked to serve as a Gospel Doctrine teacher.  There are a lot of other families with young children here in our complex and we even have a neighbor who is pregnant and due just 4 days before I am.

I'm loving the air conditioning, a much bigger and nicer kitchen, having more than one bathroom, having a door on my bedroom (yeah, I haven't had that in 5 years),  and being able to walk all the way around our kitchen table.  If you were ever in our old, tiny kitchen you know what I'm talking about. 

So, to sum up....we've moved.  It's hot.  We like it here.  We're all doing well.  Anytime you're in St George, let us know. =) 

Camping with the Culbertsons

The first weekend in August, the kids and I went camping up by Strawberry Reservoir with my mom, my sister Sarah, and my brother Jake.  Nate couldn't join us because of work.  We stayed 2 nights.  The kids had a good time, aside from Jonah's middle-of-the-night bloody nose. That was anything but fun.
  As for me, well you probably already know how I feel about camping in the first place (not a fan).  Now remind yourself that I'm pregnant, exhausted, and having to pee every hour or so and then I'm sure you can guess how much I enjoyed it.  (Sorry Mom, I'm just not a camper, but I went anyway.  See how much I love you? =)). 
I'll spare you the play by play of everything we did and just share some pictures and highlights. 

Ready to do some fishing in the reservoir!

Lilly and Jayne had a great time playing in the sand and the water.  Lilly built a castle with a moat. 

Jake brought his dog Kirby along.  Lilly took him for a walk on the beach. 

Grandma Laurie and Jayne doing some fishing. 

Jonah loved fishing!  He got pretty good at casting out his line.  Sadly, we didn't catch anything, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

Aunt Sarah made these "safari" hats for the kids and put together a sort of treasure hunt for them. 

Roasting hot dogs on the fire.

My 'Mother of the Year' moment.  After a few hours of sitting in the sun fishing, I realized that while I had dutifully slathered both of the girls in SPF 50, somehow I completely forgot to put any sunscreen on Jonah!  Poor kid was fried!  It was even darker the next day.  My mom had to go down to the docks and buy some aloe from the little shop there.  Luckily it didn't blister, just peeled.  

I asked Jayne what she was doing right before I took this picture and she said, "I just need to relax here for a minute Mom. This is very relaxing."  Not sure how that can possibly be relaxing, but she seemed to be enjoying it. 

So we survived another camping trip.  Maybe next time we can do camping my style, in a hotel or cabin or something like that.   ;)

It Is Finished!!!

As of the second week of August, I have officially earned my bachelor of science degree in family life studies from Utah State University!  We didn't really do anything to celebrate.  The University only does a graduation ceremony in the spring and since I refused to walk last May because it would be strange to me to "graduate" before I had actually graduated and walking in May 2013 when it will be almost a year since I finished just seems silly, I won't be participating in the traditional cap and gown hoopla.  I had hoped to do some sort of get together with friends and family to celebrate, but we ended up moving to St George one week after my classes finished, so that didn't happen either. But the important thing is that I finished. 

Now people keep asking me that one question that I find so hard to answer..."What are you going to do with your degree?"  People seem especially curious when they hear that my major was family life studies.  They get that look on their face that betrays their thoughts that my degree sounds pretty useless and perhaps even 'easy'.   I don't think there's any such thing as a truly 'easy' college degree, especially this one and there are several things I could do with my degree.  

I could work for state or federal government programs such as DCFS.  I could work in community education programs.  I could work for corporations helping develop and implement programs to help their employees balance work and family life.  I could work for any sort of community outreach program such as Head Start working with families.  I could work for an agency that provides basic financial counseling for families. I could basically do anything that involves working with or helping families and children. 

So what am I going to do with my degree?  One thing that really stood out to me in all of my classes about development and well being of families and children is the importance and influence of good parents.  Being there for your children and being an active, positive influence in their lives truly makes a difference.  While quality time is important, quantity time is what allows for those quality moments to exist.  So for my family, for right now, I am going to use my degree to make me a better mother, wife, and member of my community. 

The work vs. stay at home decision is one that every mother has to make and I believe that every mother does what she feels is best for her individual situation and her family.  For us, me getting a job right now just wouldn't make sense.  Part of me would love to work and have something outside the home that I felt was uniquely mine.  Sometimes I even feel guilty for being an at-home parent, particularly when money is so tight.  I know that I am an educated, qualified, and capable individual and that I could contribute to our family's income.  But with three kids at home and a baby on the way in about 9 weeks, would that contribution be worth it?  Would it benefit my family right now?  No.  It would not. 
One of the reasons I was drawn to the family life studies degree is that every thing I learned can be directly applied to my life with my family.  I took classes on child and human development, individual and family finances and resources, social policy, family crises and interventions, parenting and child guidance, abuse and neglect, diversity, balancing work and family, and marriage and family relationships. 
So while I'm toying with the idea of a master's degree and a career in the future, for now I'm just going to take that degree, nail that sucker to my wall and enjoy the fact that I finally reached my goal of finishing a four year(which was more like a 6 or 8 year by the time I got it done) college degree.  Then I'm going to do my best to enjoy every minute of peanut butter sandwiches, princess stories, dinosaur museums, coloring pages, loose teeth, Sesame Street, and soon even spit-up and dirty diapers. 

Swimming Lessons

For their Christmas gift this year, Uncle Jake gave the kids swimming lessons this summer.  We had so much going on all summer, that the only session we could fit in was for the last couple of weeks of July.  The lessons were at the West Valley Family Fitness Center.  All three kids were very excited!  Jonah and Lilly took swimming lessons last summer at the pool in Magna.  Jonah had completed the first two levels and Lilly had only taken the first level.  She didn't pass because she just couldn't bring herself to put her whole head under the water.  
Jonah is a fish!  He loves swimming and picked up on everything really quickly.  He loves to dive for rings or sticks and really likes jumping off the side into the pool. 
Lilly had a few issues.  Luckily, she had a really patient teacher who constantly reassured her that he wasn't going to let her fall under the water.  This reassurance only rarely convinced her to release her vice-like grip on him, but a few times she did actually do a back float without digging her fingernails into his shoulders.  Poor guy. Needless to say, she still didn't pass level one.  She loves to play in the water, but can't seem to conquer her fear of putting her face in the water. 
Jayne only got to do one week of the session because she ended up at the hospital after the first day.  After she came back, she just jumped right in with the others in her class.  Jayne has no fear of the water and loved every minute of her lessons.

Lilly after her lesson.  Notice how the bottom of her hair is wet, but not the top?  =)

Jayne is in the middle listening intently to her teacher.

Now that we live in a townhouse with a pool, we've been swimming more times in the last week than we did all summer.  The kids are having a great time practicing the things they learned in their lessons.  Well, except Lilly.  She's having a great time in the pool, as long as her head stays dry.  Silly girl. 
Thanks for the great Christmas gift Uncle Jake!  It was such a fun addition to our summer!