Jeka came to AZ this weekend

My dad bought the kids some popsicles on Saturday and cool aunt Jeka bribed Lucy to sit on her lap with a lick.

We had a great time with the fam at the park. My parnets took Shelby, Jesse, Mason and Mya on a train ride and bought them ring pops. The Wiltse kids were calling my dad "Papa." Jeka stayed the night with us. We stayed up late talking and she went to church with us on Sunday. It is so nice to be so close to her in L.A. She and Jenn are trying to talk me into driving there in the next week or so. It is only 6 hours, but I am not a fan of cartrips with the kids unless we can ride together. We'll see.

recent happenings

The only proof that we actually did highlight Jenn's hair. She dyed it back the next day. Too Punk Rock for her.

She cut Jesse's hair for me. It was Out Of Control! I am so glad she did it, b/c I always mess it up.

You can see her highlights in this pic. This is the calm side of her hair. The other was pretty much all blonde. It still looked good, just a little too much.

So handsome!

Early morning Ring Around the Rosie...The littlest ones giggled like crazy and kept saying "Again!"

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Every night, James calls and reads the kids a book or tells them a story over the phone. When he is home he loves to tuck them in each night, so he has committed to doing this while he is away. The kids anxiously await his calls and listen carefully with the phone on speaker. He is such an amazing father. Our kids are so blessed. Last night, Jesse fell asleep on Shelby while they listened. So sweet!

So much fun, even w/o a perfectly planned schedule

I can't believe how fortunate I am to have one of my best friends visiting for over 3weeks. How often does that happen in a lifetime? Okay, so my idea for a schedule for the Wiltse & Lichtenberger kids was a little premature and a little selfish since I didn't even consider their much earlier bedtime than our kids. We have rearranged a bit and seem to be falling into a nice routine. The kids were bickering some yesterday, but after a long {forced} break from each other they are treating each other much better today. I think that they were just exhausted from a long weekend. Saturday night we went to the Glendale Glitter and Glam festival and got home late and Sunday we had a marathon church day.

We went with Matt K to CCV. A megachurch here in Phoenix. The message and worship were really good {especially the closing song that the new student worship minister led. He rocked "I will follow" so hard it seriously rivaled Bono himself...Amazing!} The exhausting part was that the kids were each in a different building. It took us over 20 minutes to check our kids in and that isn't counting the registration part. Then we stayed for lunch at their outdoor grill with Matt. That was yummy, but I cheated and ate the bun and now I am paying for it. I guess I won't get to eat wheat this pregnancy afterall. Such a bummer!!

We have planned out meals for the next few weeks and done all our shoping, so we should be low key for a while. We are going to plan a few more fun outings, besides church, but the rest of the time we will hang and play. Our plan is to have one thing n the schedule besides playing and school per day. Like tomorrow our one thing is to watch Lost. One night we will watch Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and highlight each other's hair. We are toying with the idea of visiting Jeka in Cali, but we will have to see. Jenn doesn't mind driving, but I am not thrilled with a 6 hour car ride.

I went to my new midwife today at Bethany Women's Care. It was a 45 minute drive to the center and the hospital, so I hope this labor is a lot more predictable. I am going to start praying now. The baby's heartbeat was strong and steady. Such music to my ears since it is still hard for me to believe there is a little one in there. I will have an ultrasound on the 11th to find out if it is a boy or a girl.

Who wants to make a guess?? Jesse said God told him it was a boy. We shall see.

counting the hours

Jenn and her kids are coming to stay with us for a few weeks on Thursday. I am counting down the hours until the fun begins. It is hard to imagine how 6 kids will co-exist in this tiny place, but I am up for the challenge. I will have to whip out my classroom management skills. Love and Logic, choices and consequences, bribes and rewards. I can already imagine how this will play out. Jenn is so laid back and I am not, so I am hoping we will balance each other out. We are not planning on going very many places or spending much money. Just hanging out and enjoying each other's company. I am already creating a loose daily schedule we can live by. The kids work better when they know what to expect when. I think it will look a lot like this, give or take(this is what our usual days look like, anyway.)
7am-9am wake up, eat breakfast, veg out to the tv for a bit, get dressed and make beds
9am-11 Lucy naps and we have school
11-1pm make and pack lunch and head over to the park for a picnic and play time
1:30-3:00 rest/naptime for all
3:00- 5pm snack, play outside etc.
5:30-6:30 dinner time and baths
6:45-8:15 snack and movie time
8:15 bedtime for kids

May sound boring, but I am up for a calm relaxing time. We have been far too busy for far too long. My little body can't take much more of the pace I was trying to live by, especially while I am carrying a new bambino.

Some Pics of Anthem

This is the HUGE play area that is 4 minutes walking distance from our house. See the train? Amazing!

This is one of 3 large ponds where we feed the geese. You can see the train in this one as well, along with the mountains in the distance.

Lucy's favorite thing to do at the park is eat sand or hand it to us.

Katlyn and Matt spent some time with us this week. What life savers!! I am so glad they will be close by.

Here are Katlyn an the kids walking to the train depot to see why it wasn't running on Tuesday.

Post more later...This is the first time I have had a chance to get on the computer. It is hard to fit a five bedroom house with a basement into a three bedroom with no basement. Gotta love IKEA!!