Busy Weekends

Joe is out with the missionaries, Logan and Grant are reading in their beds, and Madison is still sitting at the table (hopefully) finishing her dinner. What to do on a Saturday night? Blog, I guess!

The last few weeks have been busy--at least compared to how they usually are. Last Saturday we spent most of the day moving the kids' rooms. I am hoping that the move will make it easier for the kids to keep their rooms clean. It was exciting to get the crib up. When we first found out we were pregnant this past summer I found this GREAT bargain on baby bedding....so I bought it and thought for sure we were going to be able to use it. Then we got the ultrasound and I found out that I was wrong! Don't get me wrong, I was very happy to have a healthy little baby swimming in my belly, but I felt a little sad, too. I also started freaking out about HOW we were going to take care for FOUR kids!! I asked Joe if we could keep the gender a secret for a little while so that I could just be excited about the baby--I don't know if that made any sense to him, either, but he has gone along with it for me. And it's been so fun to just have our little secret that I think we'll keep it a little longer.... BUT I did find another 75% clearance bedding set that includes a comforter, sheet, and bumper pad for baby, so I am scheming once again. To go along with it I bought some square canvas boards which I have already started painting and will hang up over baby's crib. Any guesses... boy or girl?? Oh, and whichever it is will have to sleep in Madi's room because it just makes sense--2 to a room. (Also, I took the pics of Madi's room before moving the Cars pictures, which you will notice are back the boys' room.)




As you can see, the boys are now in bunk beds. These are the bunk beds my sister and I slept in and that my aunts slept in. They are still pretty sturdy! It took a few nights for Grant to adjust (he fell off one night), but he is loving his big boy bed. We changed his toddler bed back into the crib, and the first few days he would tell me it was still his bed, but now he is starting to understand that baby will sleep there. He also forgets and puts his shoes in the wrong closet once in a while.



When Madison saw the bunk beds she disappeared. We went looking for her and found her crying into her pillow in her new room. She explained that she was so sad that the boys had each other and got to sleep on bunk beds and she had to sleep by herself. She's excited that she will get to share a room with baby, but says that she's worried "it" will cry, and that Madison won't be able to play with "it" for a long time. I think in 10 years she will be happy if she has her own room.

You will also notice that Grant's bedding is pretty much the only non-cars thing in the room. These are all the same things we have had since Logan was 3 and in love with the movie "Cars." He recently informed me that he might be getting too old to have Cars decorations all over his room. So we decided that Grant would have to settle with the old Winnie-the-Pooh comforter until we decided on a new theme for the boys' room--hopefully something that will last a long time!

Well, I WAS going to tell you why today was busy, but since I wrote enough already, I will just say that Joe fixed our dryer and I am now listening to the sound of drying clothes. How thankful I am for my modern-day laundry chore!

Madison-2

If you look closely, you will see Madison's holey mouth. We woke up Tuesday morning to a very sad story about a tooth that apparently fell out in the middle of the night and was probably swallowed. Oops. After a few tears, and many jokes about teeth biting her tummy, and optimistic comments about no pain and no blood, we decided that a note to the Tooth Fairy was in order. She received a special note back and a Sacajawea $1 coin. Happily, it seems that Madison's happy countenance (she's been very grumpy and out of sorts lately) returned after losing tooth #2. Whew!

Get Ready!!

I'm getting ready!! Even though I'm starting to feel the last trimester-exhausted-stage, I am anxious to get things tidied and ready for baby. Among other things, that includes:
*moving the boys to Madison's room (higher ceilings).
*moving Madi to the other room.
*setting up bunk beds (hopefully high enough ceiling).
*moving pictures and furniture
*painting the hideous dresser we bought used 8 years ago--and probably used before that. (CHECK!!)

Tomorrow is M-Day (Moving Rooms Day), so expect more pictures soon, and I'm excited because after 5 coats of paint (which was left over from last year's painting over the hideous colors that were in the house we are renting), Madison's dresser went from this:

BEFORE:


AFTER:


Even Joe (who thought we should just throw the dresser in the trash) was impressed.

NOTE: I had to set up shop in the dining room because the garage was too cold; it's 30 degrees out here. TEXAS!!! Why???

Hike in January

The McGregor family decided to enjoy the Texas January weather by taking a hike. We looked up hiking trails on the Internet and found a promising park 20 minutes away that boasted of over 13 miles of hiking trails. We arrived to find paved walking paths around the woods instead of through the woods. Oh well. We enjoyed our picnic lunch, fed the ducks, and "hiked" a few miles before we decided that the weather was a little cooler than we had planned. It snowed the next day.

Growing Up

As an adult, it seems like it would be frightening to lose one of your teeth. As a child, it is a sign that you are growing up.

Madison was ecstatic to lose her first tooth last week--a whole year earlier than Logan lost his first tooth. Logan was a little jealous when he first found out her tooth was wiggly; he told her to anticipate blood and lots of pain. Madison just shrugged it off and told him the Tooth Fairy would bring her 100 dollars. The Tooth Fairy DID come, but only left 100 pennies. :)

Note: tooth #2 is scheduled to fall out any day now.

28 Weeks, 1 Day

Top Ten Things I Hate About Being Pregnant:

10.Peeing a lot
9. Being nauseous
8. Getting poked by needles/drinking nasty sugar water/constantly going to the dr.
7. Being emotional
6. Being uncomfortable
5. Poor choice of clothing
4. Not sleeping/Being tired
3. Having a messy house
2. Gaining weight (and yucky pictures)
1. (not)Losing weight after baby is born

Top Ten Things I Love About Being Pregnant:

10.Boobs (sorry, but this is my list)
9. Extra chocolate. or watermelon. or sprite. or whatever
8. An excuse to take a nap, or just sit down and rest, or cry
7. 10 degrees warmer than everyone else during the winter
6. Dreaming about what baby will be/look like
5. Better skin
4. Thicker and better hair; I wash it every other day instead of every day
3. A husband who is willing to pick up my slack
2. Feeling life inside of me: AMAZING!
1. Baby at the end!!

2011: Here We Come!

But first: 2010

We had a great Christmas dinner at church, and of course the kids got to see Santa.

GRANT: surprisingly, not a bit worried about sitting on Santa's lap. I think it helps to have a big brother and sister. His Christmas wish: Popcorn. Yeah, I don't think he gets it yet; he just likes how we laugh when he says that is what he wants for Christmas. Mom's Christmas wish for Grant: tell me when he has to go poop.

LOGAN: took his visit with Santa very seriously this year. He wrote up his list, folded it up, tucked it in his pocket, and right before taking his turn on Santa's lap took it back out to make sure he had it memorized.

MADISON: Sat on Santa's lap. Not overly excited or nervous, just following protocol.


We also went to Santa Land in Richardson, TX (it's free!). The kids got to go in some little workshops, get a cookie from Mrs. Clause's bakery, get Rudolph noses, and go for a ride in the sleigh. It was a fun night, and we loved the chilly air outside (maybe 35ish degrees).





For Christmas we decided to just stay home and continue some family traditions--you know, Nativity on Christmas Eve, open a few presents early, Christmas in the morning kind of thing. We told the kids they couldn't wake us up until 6:00 a.m. They didn't wake up until 7:30!





Christmas was wonderful. The kids were happy. I got Joe some dress shoes and President Monson's biography. My favorite gift was a soft, warm robe. I also got some socks and earrings from the kids. We watched movies and played games and ate and listened to Christmas music. The kids couldn't believe that we would let them stay in their jammies all day; Logan was the only one who did. Grant ate all the candy he could get his hands on. I beat Joe in checkers (Grant's gift to Logan). Then Joe obliterated me twice in a row, and I decided we could never play checkers again. Joe's sister and husband came over for dinner, and we enjoyed playing a few games with them--which I also lost. Ah well.




I am a little reluctant to share this next story, but as this is kind of a journal for me, and because it is wonderful, here goes:

A few days before Christmas we were getting things going in the morning and I noticed a red bag by our front door. It was a huge bag full of toys for the kids--definitely more than we had planned on giving them for Christmas. I took it to our room and took everything out one-by-one and just cried. On the one hand, I felt like there were so many people who needed this gift more than we did; on the other hand, it was very touching to feel like someone--some family--was thinking of us and somehow knew that things have been a little tight. The presents were EXACTLY what the kids had been asking for--Star Wars action people and even a ship for Logan, play pets for Madison, and something I didn't even know existed for Grant. We really have no idea who it could have been, but they must have known our children fairly well to know what they had requested for Christmas (except for Grant, who as I mentioned, only requested popcorn). Anyway, it's been on my mind a lot, and I know it will be a Christmas story we will remember and share every year. We definitely want to be able to pay it forward in the future. So, if you read this and it's you: Thank you for your generous gift!



Time flies. I don't know where it goes. But I am grateful for a New Year. New opportunities, new chances, new goals, new baby, new experiences, a new chance to be better. I have no idea where we will be in a year from now, but here's to 2011!!