Halfway there!

I hit the 20 week mark today - this baby is halfway done! I'm not sure why I feel more like it's more like 3/4 done...probably the fact that I look like I did at 6 months with the other 2 kids. Honestly, I have only gained about 10 pounds (ok, it's probably more after my birthday), but I feel huge! I am already having a hard time sleeping because I can't get comfortable, and I have been in the full-on maternity clothes for a while now. It's like my abs (what little I had) are just completely giving up. I'll show them who's boss... in a few more months. It doesn't help that Carter keeps saying "look how big your belly is, Mom! Is the baby ready to come out now?" What is he going to be saying in 2 months? In general though, I can't complain, I have had it pretty easy and so far everything is going well. We find out what we are having (hopefully) in 2 weeks. I thought it was a boy, but now I don't have a clue. Carter thinks it's a boy...or a girl. Hopefully he's right. I would post a picture, but I'm not a big fan of my hugeness and somehow all of my pictures lately make me look huger. Once I get good one, I'll post it. Maybe.

Mike rocks!

I just have to say that I have one of the greatest husbands ever. He left yesterday - on my birthday - to go to visit his dad in Florida. There were a couple of reasons why he left on that day, and I told him it was fine. that's not necessarily what makes him so great - that part is coming. We went to breakfast before I took him to the airport, then I was planning on going out to lunch with a friend and then just having a quiet night to myself. There were other plans for me though... When I got to Chili's for lunch, I found that Karen had invited a whole group of friends to join us. What a great surprise! We had a delicious lunch and a great time visiting with friends. After a quick Wal Mart trip we came home and put Samantha down for a nap. Of course I didn't feel like cooking (it seems like that is the norm lately), and I had a free birthday burrito at Moe's, so me and the kids headed down and had some delicious burritos (except Samantha, crazy girl just ate chips). As a little treat on the way home we stopped by Ben and Jerry's for free cone day (note to self: Samantha and chocolate ice cream are not a good combination). After all of that, it was definitely bedtime for the kids. As I was getting the kids ready for bed I got a phone call from a friend, Karen, asking if she could stop by and pick something up. I went down to let her in and surprise! There she was with another group of my friends. Mike had arranged a little surprise girl's night! He bought everything for banana splits and arranged for them to come over with a movie and treats so I wouldn't be alone on my birthday. We had a great time watching a chick flick and doing our nails. Although I wish Mike had been here, I have to say it was one of my better birthdays. I am very blessed to have such a great husband and some seriously awesome friends. Thanks to everyone who helped make my day special!

Ribs!

Mike is taking me to Jerry's tonight for a little bit of this: All I can say is it's a good thing I am wearing my stretchy pants!

Happy Birthday Sammy!

I can't believe how fast the last 2 years have flown by! Today was Samantha's 2nd birthday. It seems like last week that we were walking the floor with her screaming her lungs out, now she is still screaming her lungs out, just at her brother :). Just kidding - kind of. But really, she is one of the sweetest, most thoughtful little girls I know. She loves to make Carter happy, she is almost always willing to share as long as he asks nicely. She is almost always happy and is always trying to make us laugh. She knows one knock-knock joke and repeats it constantly:

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Sadie.
Sadie who?
Sadie magic word and let me in! Although it comes out "Sadie let me in!" Then she cracks up. She will repeat this as long as anyone will participate. She loves to make funny faces - I caught one here:

She is super sensitive to how people are feeling and gets very upset when we discipline her. She will do whatever she can to make people happy when they are sad. She loves going on walks, bubbles and Noodles Mac n' Cheese (who doesn't?). She loves all things girly, which I will never understand. She sleeps holding a baby every night and loves nothing more than changing their diapers. No more diapers for this little one, though! She practically potty trained herself. Her favorite lullabies are the ABC's and Twinkle Twinkle, both of which she loves to sing along to. She is a little smarty pants and loves asking questions. She talks a lot and has a lot to say. In general, she is a joy to have around and we are so glad that she came to our family!

She picked the zoo for her birthday activity. We got to ride the train, which she absolutely loved. We followed that up with lunch at Noodles & co. with Mike. After a good nap and some dinner (I use that term loosely here), we had cake and got to open presents. She loved every minute of it. She got some new books, a purse, some jewelry and the best present of all (in my opinion) some new pink Cons (thanks Aunt Amber)! The girl loves shoes!

She was in love with the cake. All day she was talking about it. I moved it from the kitchen table to the dining room and she about died when she couldn't find it. She also loves her TV shows (we are working on that one).

Thanks for being born Samantha!

Easter Fun

What can I say, Easter was awesome! Poor Carter woke up at 6:45 and had to wait until 7:30 to wake up Samantha. He was going crazy with anticipation. They both rocked the Easter egg hunt and got way more candy than any kid needs. Crazy haired Sammy. I should have done something with her hair. The sad part is that this is one of the only pictures I have of her from that day (help me out, Karen!).

After church we went over to Derrick and Karen's for our 5th annual Easter feast and egg toss (seriously? We have been here that long?). Carter's face pretty much explains how we were all feeling.

Seriously, check out the spread:

That's not even all. We ate at 2 and I didn't eat one thing after we got home and I still went to bed full. It was that good.

We colored eggs - Karen, consider this payback for all the fat pictures:).

And this year, I retired from team Chaplin in the egg toss. I was replaced by a younger player - Carter. I couldn't take the pressure. "Soft hands, Linda, soft hands!!!"
I guess we didn't prep him for the end result well enough because he was pretty bummed when his egg broke.
Once he figured it out, he was all about coming home and practicing for next year. It looks like I am going to need to buy more eggs.

It was fabulous to be surrounded by our good friends and to really enjoy the day. It was also neat to see Carter start to understand the resurrection and why we really celebrate Easter. I am so grateful for my Savior and that because of him, I can be with my family forever.

And the very best part of the day? No accidents. Not one. All I will say is that Samantha is a potty training super star and I would have 5 more of her if I could.

Sunshine

This brought a little tear to my eye this morning (Mike taught him the song, I didn't know that he knew it);

Of course Samantha wanted in on the action. She is a little bit more of a performer, adding dancing to the routine.

These are the days I remember why I love being a mom.

Potty Training: Take 5,324

Seriously. We have been potty training Carter off and on for 2 1/2 years now. Can't a girl get a break? We were doing really well before he broke his leg, and now that it's off, we are potty training again. I'm not sure it should really be called potty training. More like full-on bribery. By now, he knows what to do, he just doesn't care to do it. I have no idea why. Well, I do, but that's a whole other story (basically my payback for being a horrible child to my parents - kids be good to your parents!). Anyways, the final trick up my sleeve was to make it a competition between him and Samantha. He loves a good competition. I have always joked that I would end up potty training them together and now it has come back to bite me in the butt. We are now on day 3 of the Chaplin potty training competition and Samantha is kicking butt! Not even 2 years old and she is doing fabulously (I really think she is God's way of telling me it's ok to have more kids). I won't go into details, because blogging about this sort of thing in the past has brought nothing but trouble. I will leave it at this: There may be a time in the near future when I am diaper-free. I know it will be short lived if it happens. There may also be a time in the future when I have 3 kids in diapers and no sanity or hair left. We'll see.

Baby watching

I have been meaning to post these forever. We babysat our friend's baby the other day and my kids were so funny with her. For the first 15 minutes they just stood over her and stared. It's like they have never seen a baby before. Now if only they will be this hands-off with the new baby. A mom can dream, right?

My favorite is Summer's expression - "they're not going to touch me, are they?"

Tub Time!

Our good friend Jessica gave Carter some foam soap so he would be excited for his baths after he got his cast off. There was about a half a bottle left, so I just let them go with it. I came back from grabbing towels and pajamas (and yes, I know a more responsible mom would have had those before she put them in the tub so she could be supervising constantly) and I found this:

The water was bright pink and there was foam everywhere! Crazy kids.