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recent snapshots of the jackmans




i've been a such a slacker as of late. i've never been patient so time seems to be crawling slowly by me. at least tomorrow is officially august, can i get a woot woot? i hear mindy all the way from coral canyon celebrating with me. :) went to the drs on wednesday, no signs of labor. sigh. i think after my mom comes on tuesday, i am taking up power walking every night. seriously.

things that made me happy this past week, creme brulee with fresh raspberries and staci bringing me a hefty slice of her famous homemade german chocolate cake. that's true friendship people.

things that didn't make me happy this week include mason telling his primary teacher at church to "shut up" (which, luckily the teacher knew he didn't get from me) and "zip it" 4 times (which, she guessed correctly, he did pick up from me. great) my dog throwing up and me having to bend over and clean it up, and finally, just being tired and uncomfortable.

overall, all of us are dandy. the kids have been really funny lately. mason sees me in the morning and says, "hey big belly!" and marissa singing at the top of her lungs the little einstein theme song, "zooming fru the skies" makes me laugh out loud every time.

by the numbers

2- how many times i get up to use the bathroom at night
973- how many pages are in the book "the pillars of the earth" by ken follet that i finished this week
12- how many super yummy cinnamon rolls we made
9- how many loads of laundry i did on monday and tuesday
2- how many movies i will have seen this week, last night the new batman, tonight mama mia
0- how much ironing i've done this week
3- how many pairs of bottoms (shorts, capris) that fit me
21- how many days till my due date
1- how many strange, neighbor dogs spent the night in our garage by accident this week
132- how many diapers came in a bulk package that we bought at target on clearance yesterday
countless- how much money i want to spend on new back-to-school clothes for my kids

i've been tagged

by staci to share 6 quirky things about myself. here they are:

1. i don't really like black pepper. i'll cook with it, but i'll never use it to season the food on my plate
2. i always get the same thing from coldstone, cake batter ice cream with a brownie and lots of caramel and it always hits the spot
3. i don't think someone could pay me enough to use cloth diapers. i don't feel one bit guilty strapping my kid into that "bad for the environment/bad for the skin" contraption of ease and convenience.
4.i can go out in public without doing my hair (not that it happens that often) but i loathe going out without make-up and avoid it at all costs
5.i'm against the whole electronic book thing, like kendell (sp?). call me old fashion, but i believe you should hold the book in your two hands and read it
6. if i lived in some alternate universe and wasn't a mom, i would love to own a cozy cafe where i would know all my customers by name. maybe in venice or the french riviera. i would make bread every day and have a little chalk board outside where i would write the daily specials, something like roasted red pepper soup served with a prosciutto and mozerella panini. bon appetite!

people i tag: anyone with a blog who wants to have at it!

how's this?

for a coming home outfit? i think i'm in love

its been awhile . . .

since i've posted some "just because" photos of the kidlets. these ought to sate the grandparents' appetite for a few days. :)

uncharted waters

we are entering new territory. i have never been this pregnant before. let me clarify. i delivered the twins at 35 weeks/4 days, but my belly measured 41 weeks. so i have physically felt 9 months+ pregnant before, i just never actually have been. but now i am. :) so this all new from here on out. now i go every wednesday to my OB and next week i start internal cervical checks. who's excited? yeah, good stuff. yesterday, while measuring the fundus (how many centimeters my uterus is stretched from the top to my pubic bone) the dr had to push the baby's head out of the way. she said he was already in position under my bone. hello! i could have told you that. his head has been causing a lot of "pressure" (don't you love how the medical world uses that term instead of pain?) for over a week now.

so the baby has "dropped" and is in go-time position. this is very good. in my mind i know i technically have like 4 weeks left, but my secret hope is more like 2 weeks. my mom flies in on the 5th of august so anytime after that, i'm super okay with. now that i've disgusted everyone with uterus talk, i'll sum up the rest of my visit. everything is fine. my blood pressure is a bit low, 98 over 50 so i get dizzy when i stand up. but i am drinking a boat load of water around the clock and my heart beat and the baby's heart rate are both perfect-o. that is the latest scoop on all things baby.

what's in a name?

just for fun and out of sheer curiosity sake, i am interested in hearing everyone's picks for boys' names. we don't like unisex names, when you hear my child's name i want it to be clear if its a boy or a girl. (on a side note, it really irritates me to hear of little girls named mason, it is CLEARLY a boy's name)

travis likes more trendy and unconventional names, i am the traditionalist. baby boy's middle initial is going to be the letter "D" in following our naming pattern. all the males in travis' family have middle initials, not names. and my dad's dad also did the initial thing with john d. morris. the letter "D" because trav's grandpa jackman's name was dale and my dad's name is donald. plus, travis' dad marley has the middle initial "D" too so its honoring my side of the family and his side of the family. so there you have it. come up with something to fill in the blank. ______ d. jackman.

la-zee bones

that is me lately. considering the facts that 1) it is nothing short of triple digits everyday and 2) i am 8 months prego, my energy is basically gone. so i realized i am probably overdue for a brief family update. here goes:

travis- joined the "biggest loser" program that his work is sponsoring. you put in 20 bucks, lose as much weight as you can between now and september and the winner takes home the money. so far, he is doing great! he runs about 3 mornings a week and still plays hoops twice a week. he is reigning in his bad eating habits (which were never really THAT bad, just normal) and has exerted much self control. good for you travy! with work, he has filled in quite a bit lately at other stores which is fine with me. in the dead of summer, might as well be making money in an air conditioned building. :) he did treat himself to a new (actually refurbished) golf club for all his hard work and self motivation lately. he will try it out saturday morning with some friends.

mason- still loves gymnastics, can do a front roll (somersault) all by himself now. is doing well with his speech therapy, which is every other week for an hour and he enjoys his time with her and is showing some marked improvement. his sentence length and structure, in particular, are much better. he also is into fixing things lately. he tries to fix things (his toy cars, lamps, door handles, etc), or asks me or travis to fix things. apparently, daddy's screw driver is the go-to tool since it is the one he always sneaks out of the tool cupboard. we had a little neighbor/friend over the other morning and she and marissa were playing dress up. not to be left out, he found a dress, shoes and had me help him put them on. i asked if he wanted to stay with me and do something else while the girls were playing and he looked at me and said, "no mommy, i want to play with friends!" so what is a little cross dressing at age 4?

marissa- is really into showers lately. which is great. they (m&m) were getting too big to bathe together anymore. just not enough room in the actual tub for their 2 squirming bodies. so she gets to shower, by her own choice. i pull back the curtain and shampoo her hair, she rinses it out and uses the bar of soap by herself while i putter around nearby getting their things ready for bed. its VERY NICE not to have to awkwardly bend over the bathtub times two heads to rinse. her current favorite book is "pinkaliscious" by victoria and elizabeth kann. its about a little girl who turns pink from eating too many pink cupcakes. she thinks this is the best thing ever and the terms "pinkaliscious" and "pinkititis" from the book are now standard vernacular.

me- finished the book club pick for july/august. its "the poisonwood bible" by barbara kingsolver. very interesting, educational and well written. having said that, a bit of a downer because its, well, africa. rampant disease, childhood death, mass starvation, ginormous insects, parasites, rebel armies, bigotry, none of those are super uplifting topics. not that i can't use my brain or that i have to read escape novels all the time, but books like that are intense at times. it will certainly spark many a lively conversation thread at book club though, i'm sure of that. i have been enjoying my neighbor's pool all week whilst they are out of town. thanks sarah! that has been supremely relaxing and enjoyable. if i'm gonna be fat, might as well be tan and fat, right? ;)

for the morbidly curious

here is a link to my talented friend staci's photo blog. check out some maternity photos she recently shot of yours truly.

Happy 4th of July!

our 4th of july was very low key which was perfect. we started out our morning at a ward breakfast/bike parade at the church. the breakfast was great, pancakes, fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and orange juice. church functions are notorious (well, at least the LDS ones) for food issues like not having enough, or being cold when its supposed to be hot, or just being plain gross. so kudos to our super activities committee for having such a terrific meal; fresh, hot and yummy! thanks! ;)

during the bike parade (kids biking, riding scooters etc, in a huge oval at the church parking lot whilst patriotic music is playing via a stereo in the background) my kids seemed to switch personalities. mason is usually all over any opportunity to ride his bike but not this morning. marissa was the one who was all into it. and she did so well! i was a little worried because seeing as how they are novice bike riders and haven't had much opportunity to practice their skills (its 100 degrees outside, okay people!) i was afraid they would be trampled by the older kids. not so. marissa was slow and steady and turned each corner very well. there was a minor altercation involving her bike and an electric kiddie car, she was dragged on the asphalt a little bit but no flood of tears. what a girl! mason, on the other hand, really could have cared less about the other kids and riding his bike in general. he was a pleasant child in the sense that he ate his breakfast, didn't throw any fits, etc, but he was not his usual firecracker self this morning.



our afternoon found us enjoying our neighbor's (the broughs) pool. it was great! it was just us and them and not a million other people in the pool which is never very fun in my opinion. maybe when my children are more proficient swimmers it won't bother me, who knows? anyway, i bought some dollar store squirt guns and those were the hit of the party. marissa is getting more daring and likes to go under water now but only in the shallow end. mason's not into under water or trying to swim by himself yet at all. that will come with time hopefully. he's way into splashing, squirting, and did i mention splashing?

here are the snipers in action. that is brian with them, he was a great sport to push them around on that raft for a while. marissa kept calling kim, the mom, by her full name. "kim brough, i'm squirting you! kim brough, come get me. kim brough, i'm coming to splash you!"

we came home and had a nice little family bbq. we had steak, potato salad, steamed carrots and broccoli, and fresh strawberries. after the kids were in bed, travis and i watched "independence day" on tv. that show always makes me feel so patriotic and inspired. then we went to bed. no fireworks show, maybe when the kids are older and can stay up late without turning into satan spawn. they didn't seem to care at all. plus, lets be honest, i was too sacked to stay up past 10. hope everyone had a fun holiday and enjoyed the freedoms this amazing country provides us.

in the eyes of a 4 year old . . .

this is a picture by marissa. i am the green person and that huge green blob is my belly with the baby in it. so apparently, in the eyes of my child, my belly is much bigger than my head. :) she is the small pink image to the right. and she has practiced some of her favorite letters to write along the sides. too bad her name doesn't have an "H" in it, she does that letter very well.