Sunday London Walk

So today I woke up early (8:00) and went to church in downtown London right next to Hyde Park.  The ward was very friendly and I enjoyed the services.  Afterwards I took the opportunity to walk the 5 miles from church back to the house, passing all the sites I needed to take in while in London.  I went to Trafalgar Square where there were preparations for the Paralympics coming up.  I grabbed a bite to eat at a wonderful Italian Restaurant on the corner.  I then Headed south passing some guards not only standing but the ones on horses? (Really?)  The pinnacle of the trip was to see Westminster Abby, the place my Mom had recommended me to see the moment she heard I was in London.  She remembered a specific statue inside and wanted me to take a picture.  To my disappointment.... It was closed for Religious Services.  I then walked next door  to see the House of Lords and followed the river bank back up to my hotel.  Passing Big Ben (Which apparently is the clock, not the tower), Eye of London, and quite a few other amazing estates and gardens.  It was a fun 5 mile trek back from church!

Sorry the pictures are not in any order...

RAIN

The other day we got some serious (serious) rain! It was raining when we woke up and didn't stop until the later afternoon (it was amazing!). We were planning to get out and run errands but we decided to stay in make pancakes and enjoy a quiet morning. Audrey decided she wanted to go play in the rain but by the time we had jackets, boots, and an umbrella she was crying and opted to stay inside and read books with mom. Kirsten on the other hand had a blast out in the rain. She was soaked before long. Then I saw the gutters full of water in the front of the house and told Kirsten she could go puddle jumping. It took Audrey about 30 seconds to decide she wanted to be out jumping in puddles too. Loved the rain and cool weather that followed. We are very anxious for fall now!

Random

How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.

Winnie the Pooh

So Kirk is in London,

Audrey is sick

The baby has sucked me dry of patience

And we are going to stir crazy here at home.

But my kitchen is clean so it could be worse right?

It's always really hard to say goodbye to Kirk, especially for so long. We adore him and its not nearly as fun (or functional) at our house without him. Friday night we wanted to go do something fun but could tell Audrey was coming down with something and didn't want to go anywhere public. We threw around a few ideas but ultimately decided to pick up dinner and watch movies at home. Have you taken a pregnant lady out to "pick up dinner"? Kirk has. It took us an hour and we made 4 stops. Ha ha, it was so fun...and yummy!(jimmy johns for the adults, parfaits and fry's for the girls, turtle pecan blizzard, and Alvin and the chipmunks and fishing in Yemin)

We finished our coat closet/mini mud room. I think it turned out swell.

Audrey has been sick enough to keep us at home, but not sick enough to sleep all day. Just sick enough to whine and cry over everylittlething...oh my we have had some very long days. But she sure is sweet when she sleeps!

Kirsten has been her usual perky happy little self. She went to a cute "back to school" tea party today. She had so much fun. She picked out what to wear, we curled her hair like a princess, and I even put some mascara and lip gloss on her. She looked gorgeous...she kind of took my breath away. How is she so beautiful and grown up already?! And heaven help us in about 10 years. Maybe Kirk needs a gun after all!

LOVE Kirsten's smile in this picture

And you know she is absolutely Kirk's daughter because when I asked her to put away the blocks (from the living room to the playroom) she put 5 blocks under each foot and "walked" them to the playroom. Seriously only Kirk's child...

Downtown London

Some sights from downtown London around my hotel.

My flights were good, I actually slept! So this trip might break my pattern of bad luck

The darndest things

The girls have been saying the funniest things this weekend!

The girls were in the playroom yesterday while I was making lunch(which was not bacon, unfortunately). Kirsten shouts from the playroom "Mom are you making me bacon? I really love bacon! Please make me bacon ok?" It was so random it made me laugh.

Yesterday morning Kirk and I were both still only in our garments when Audrey walks in and says "Daddy where's your shirt?" Kirk asks her "why do I always get in trouble, ask mommy." To which Audrey replies "Mommy, where's Daddy's shirt?" Ha ha, it was soooo funny.

Last night Kirk was feeding the girls dinner before the two of us headed out for date night. The girls were asking him if he liked their ponytails. He asked them if they liked his ponytail, which they exclaimed "Daddy doesn't have a ponytail!" Kirk asks the girls if boys have long hair. Kirsten replies "yes" and Kirk tells her
"no, boys have short hair." Kirsten stopped Kirk dead in his tracks when she said "What about Jesus Dad? He has long hair."

This afternoon the girls walked into the family room from the playroom and Kirsten was (apparently) about to have "two babies." They posed for a maternity photo shoot...notice Audrey's little arm around Kirsten's shoulder. After the picture they exclaimed it was time to go to the hospital and ran off to "have the babies."

Last night Audrey was "doing my hair" and after combing in for a good 10 minutes I asked her if "I was pretty yet?" to which she replied "nope, your hairs still brown!"

You know your pregnant when...

Sunday, after church, Kirsten proudly showed us the picture she colored in sunbeams. She then named off who each person in her picture was. Kirk is on the far left with black hair, Kirsten is in the middle with pink hair (of course!), and Audrey is on the right with brown hair (Audrey was very disappointed her hair was soo short). When we asked Kirsten where "mommy was?" she responded (without missing a beat) "upstairs taking a nap." You know you are pregnant when...ha ha

Last Week

We have been home for almost two weeks now. Life has been as crazy as ever.

"Want to take a picture of us mom?"

The girls were dying go go see the "dancing water" so Kirk took them to belligo fountains while I stayed home practicing the piano

The day after we came home was our little man's big ultrasound. Unfortunately Kirk had to work, because he was training a class he couldn't get out of it. I was already 20 weeks so the ultrasound had to happen that week. The ultrasound was at 8 in the morning so I felt bad asking someone to watch the girls that early and so I took them with me. Hands down the biggest mistake of my life! We had to wait an hour in the waiting room first...oh the patience of a 2 & 4 year old. We finally went to the back and I settled the girls down with colored pencils and paper. I finally got to see our little man (who is still a man). He is so handsome, active, and healthy (already weighing a pound)! It was so fun to see him squirming around in there..until the girls started fighting. Kicking each other actually. I'm laying on the ultrasound table trying the talk them down when Audrey got a bloody nose. The type of bloody nose that left her dress, floor, and bathroom covered in blood. I got off the exam table with my goopy belly and towel in my pants and took her to the bathroom to get things cleaned up. The ultrasound couldn't be over fast enough after that. We were all on our very last nerve. I feel bad for our third child who's ultrasound was not a highlight of the pregnancy. I feel for him always being in his sisters shadow. Heaven help him!
I also had a doctor appointment that same week. Everything looks great and after talking to my doctor I think I've chosen a hospital to deliver at. Exciting! We are officially half way (22 week today) and I am suddenly feeling very pregnant. My belly feels heavy, he is kicking nice and hard (Kirk is finally feeling him kick), and sleeping is starting to be uncomfortable (already!). Meaning he is growing! I have a hard time believing we are having another baby! Let alone a boy! The nursery is starting to come together and we even have a crib now...yay!

Kirk putting together the crib!

Anyway last week was crazy. My niece Abigail was baptized last weekend. She asked me to play the piano and give a talk at her baptism. It's true we now have a piano in our house...but before June I hadn't played the piano in 10 years! So as you can imagine I spent every spare second last week practicing the piano. Our house was never clean and we ate a lot of frozen foods. It also gave the girls a lot of time to run rampant and do things that four year old's should know better than to do. Kirsten took dry erase markers and drew me on the wall (I'm a mermaid and there is a baby in my belly) holding a umbrella.

We cleaned everything but the mermaid off, because I thought it was so dang cute. Apparently she thought the gave her permission to draw mermaids on the wall whenever she wanted because she was proud of the mermaid she drew on the door just days later...oh parenthood!
Last week we also ate a lot of popcorn and fudge...what can I say when a craving lasts all week you respect it :) Mostly it resulted in cute chocolate kisses!

We drove up to Utah last weekend for the baptism. We arrived just in time for me to play the prelude music. I practiced my guts out all week and it was well worth it. I didn't play perfectly but I played my best and felt good about it. Abby looked gorgeous in the dress my mom made her. She shined all day and it was so special to be there. We had a fun day being with cousins and my family. We went up to Payson Lakes Saturday evening where we enjoyed playing in the water and sand and being with family. We left early Sunday and made it home in time for church. It was a quick trip but we were so glad we could be there. Sunday evening I took a four hour nap and then went back to bed and slept a full night, now that's exhaustion!

Abby and I on her special day

My girls and I

Love this guy!

Silly girls