As of Lately

Lance has been making preparations for the business to start up in Seattle and it sounds like the call volume won't be as high as he initially anticipated. Which he's ok with, he doesn't want to be completely slammed with calls and not have enough staff or equipment to handle them. March has slowed down a bit which has been nice for everyone since January and February were extremely busy but in all we're very grateful that the business is doing well and especially that we have a job! He received two new callings, one as a councilor in the stake sunday school presidency and one as a "permanent substitute" sunday school teacher for the ward.

I have been.....hanging in there for lack of better words. Enduring a pregnancy is certainly one of my biggest trials because it's so hard on my body and therefore hard on me mentally as well. We're anxious to meet the baby but not as anxious as I am to not be pregnant any more, haha. I certainly love kids and babies and want them but getting them here is SO HARD for me to do. I've made my peace and accepted the fact that I have to limit the size of my family based on this, after all I do have three children who need a mother. The third trimester difficulties of pain and discomfort hit unusually early this time around. I've tried everything from epsom salt baths to chiropractor visits etc. to relieve the pain but nothing helps. Some days are awful and I just cry all day because it hurts so much while other days are bearable, it's odd how it varies. And no matter how much begging I've done, the doctor won't take the baby before 39 weeks so my c-section is scheduled for May 9 and that day can't come soon enough! I've currently got 6 weeks left.

Kimball enjoys preschool and randomly comes up with facts that I don't know where he learned them from. "Hey mom, did you know that a woodpecker pecks holes to find a home?" "Hey mom, did you know that our bodies are made of skeletons and that we have little tiny bones in our fingers and the bone right here in your head is called a skull?" He's an AWESOME big brother to Cora and talks about the baby nonstop. As a matter of fact, he's become a nonstop talker pretty much from sun up to sun down and I don't know where he comes up with half the stuff he talks about. He's obsessed with all things monster trucks ever since he saw their show, he can't wait to meet the baby, and he's really anxious to see all of his cousins at the reunions this year. This past week he learned to ride a two-wheeled bike without training wheels which he picked up extremely fast (we didn't have to help him at all).

Cora has started feeding therapy to help her get off the thickener. She does a thing called Vital Stem (I think that's what it's called) where they stick electrodes on her neck to contract the muscles in her throat. This is supposed to strengthen her swallow among other things so she'll stop aspirating. This past week she had speech and PT evaluations and will start both of those as well next week. So now that she has three different therapies I'm going to pull her out of preschool because doing all of it is just too much for her and me. I'm excited to have her home more! She's Kimball's little shadow and echo in every way and sometimes it's easy for me to forget that she's only three and not five years old but those two certainly are inseparable. And she loves anything PINK!!!

Baby Preparations

We are all so ready for this baby to come already! This was me at 31 weeks and feeling huge, mostly because the doctor says I need to exercise and quit eating so much because I've been gaining 9 pounds every month. And I got the car seat out of storage to clean it up in preparation for the big day. I also needed to make sure that my car will fit three car seats in a row so we don't have to buy a new car. Check and check!

Just Like Great Grandpa

A while ago during quiet time I looked over at Cora and caught her watching a movie like this. She must take after her Grandpa Pettingill!

Allison & Donna's Visit

Charlie wanted to give Allison a break and sent her and Donna up to Spokane to visit us at the beginning of March for a little vacation. It was so nice! I've been so homesick since being pregnant so any person visiting or any piece of mail we receive is like gold around here. The kids certainly loved having the air mattress out to play on and someone new to play with (not to mention Grandma's iPad). We ate out lots, went to a spring craft show, played games all evening while snacking on yummy treats, the three of them (Allison, Ma, and Lance) went to see Kinky Boots on broadway (I didn't go because the baby has been in my ribs and I wouldn't have been able to sit that long), did a little shopping and sight seeing. It was so fun to have them here!

Spicy Friends

This is Cora's choice of play area lately. She'll climb onto the counter, open the cupboard and exclaim, "My friends, my friends!" And then she'll play for hours with all the spices. Who knew spices could be so much fun?

San Diego Man Trip

Last month Lance had to go all the way to San Diego on a call and suggested that he bring Kimball with him, drop him off at Grandma's house which was half way, while he finished the trip to nearly the Mexico border. January and February were VERY, VERY busy months for work - record call volume in January and A LOT of out of town calls. I was really tired of Lance being gone and having to do everything by myself, not to mention the fact that I had a monstrous cold for the duration of both months. It wasn't a fun time. So the idea of just Cora and I at home seemed lovely! 

It was eerily quiet without the boys but I found Cora to be quite the chatterbox when Kimball doesn't do the talking for her. I was surprised at how much I missed Kimball, after the second day I was ready for him to be home. But he loved the 5 day trip! He spent the first two nights with Grandma Julie which was a bonus because Christine happened to be visiting Twin Falls as well so Kimball got to play with her boys. Then the next two nights he spent with Grandma Cox.

Cora and I painted nails, did art projects, went to the dollar store to pick out a special toy just for her (I can't wait until she can have milk so we can go for ice cream cones!), and church was quiet with just the two of us. She really missed Kimball and slept in his bed every night.

Random Photos

Kimball has been a pill at dinner time lately, refusing anything but macaroni and cheese. I'll make a delicious dinner with beef and cheese and he'll whine for a good hour. He refuses any vegetables and when I make him eat the food he'll store it in his cheeks for at least an hour. This kid doesn't like pizza or spaghetti but he loves meatloaf and salad, it's weird. I finally decided to quit the whiny battles every single night and let him choose between dinner or a chore. Nine times out of ten he chooses a chore and on this night he had to vacuum the whole house. At least my house will get clean, right?

 Their new favorite play place.

 Christine sent us a care package full of love notes for Valentine's Day, goodies, and outfits for all the kids including the baby. It was the best!

 Our potty training efforts haven't been very successful but she sure is a doll in underwear!

A Wet, Wet Winter

This has been one of the wettest winters on record in terms of snowfall. We've had this much snow on the ground from the beginning of December through the beginning of March - at least three whole months of nothing but snow. When the first few blades of dead grass peeped through the ice the kids were sweet in thanking Heavenly Father for grass again. We've been so anxious for spring! And now here we are at the end of March and we've had nothing but rain. But at least the snow is gone! I think it's been an unusually wet winter for most of the northwest, even Twin Falls had some record snowfall days. Now if we could just get some sunshine that would be great......