The Circus

This past week we went to see the circus!
I was very excited since I have been wanting to see one for a while, and I kept missing them when they would come to town, but luckily this time I actually knew about it before it was too late.
Pretty sure I was more excited than my kids, but they also didn't know what a circus was.
That morning, they let us watch them put up the tent and talked a little bit about behind the scenes and let us come close to some of the animals, they had two tigers, a lion, and horses. Thomas wasn't so sure about being that close to the animals. While taking the tour I couldn't help thinking about the book "Water for Elephants" and wonder how true that book was to the circus life.
After the tour we played at a park near by and went home.
What was nice was the circus was walking distance from Dustin's classroom, so later that day I picked up some Pizza, we got Dustin and headed straight to the circus. It was a little toasty in there but it was fun. It was fun to see the kids' reaction to everything. I was really impressed by all the shows, there are some crazy talented people out there. And the clown was awesome, he was Thomas' favorite.
After the show Dustin and I said we enjoyed it a lot and it was lot more than we expected since it was a smaller circus in a small town but it was so fun! I wished I had taken more pictures but I was so entertained I totally forgot!  I hope we can go again.

October!

Yeah! October is here! I love Halloween and the fall. I feel like once October hits all the fun holiday stuff begins! There are so many fun things to do the next few months! Now hopefully I just have the energy to do them all, pregnancy always seems to wear me out a little! 

Anyway, here are our decorations for this year. 

Happy October Everyone!

Apple Picking

Yesterday we went apple picking....well, actually we didn't... There were no more apples left about time we got there. 

So I had this great idea to take the kids to an apple orchard to pick some apples. Well there are like zero orchards around us, the closest one I found was an hour away from us, and I decided to follow them on Facebook to know a good time to pick some apples; to make a long story short, this orchard is really small and it was only open last weekend and this past weekend, and every one had the same idea I did, so when we got there it was very crowded and no good apples left. To be honest I was a little disappointed, I was hoping to get a lot of apples, but the boys had fun throwing the bad apples around and they didn't know the difference, so I guess it was a success in their eyes. We did buy home made apple cake and apple butter so we didn't come home completely empty handed, but I now know, that if we do decide to do this again next year, that we will go first weekend and the first opening hour.

All Boys

Most of you probably already know we are having another BOY!!!

I found out for sure when I was 16 weeks along, but we suspected he was a boy since my first sonogram at 12 weeks, my boys are never shy.

When I had my 20 week check up a couple of weeks ago the lady asked if I wanted to know the gender, and I told her we had confirmed it was a boy twice now and she said "Well let's check anyway, since it was before 20 weeks." and again, we could see it was a boy. So that's three times, so I think it's safe to say it's a boy.

So many people think I'm sad because it's another boy, but honestly I'm not. They say they are sorry and I'm thinking why? I have a healthy baby and that's what is most important to me. Yes, I would like to have a girl, but at the same time I have had a feeling for a while that I might have all boys and so far I have been right. Also each time I find out I'm having a boy I'm less sad it isn't a girl. With Thomas, I thought for sure he was a girl, I had dreams about a girl... and I thought I "knew" so when I first heard he was a boy I was a little sad, but I got over that pretty quick especially after meeting him for the first time, and I love my Thomas. With Oliver I was good either way, I thought it would be fun to have both, but I knew that with two boys they would be buddies, and they are! They are so fun to watch and I wouldn't have it any other way. With this third baby, I thought it would be nice for a girl this time, because we are thinking we will have 4 kids so I thought it would be nice to have two boys then two girls, but at the same time I have had a feeling I'm going to be a boy mom, so when I heard it was another boy it really didn't surprised me, the only thing I was thinking "Man, I can't settle on just one boy name, I have too many that I like."

So it's a boy!

I wanted to announce it over a month ago but I just couldn't think of a fun way to announce it that hasn't been done before. And now a month has passed and I have told most people so I decided to wait till we picked out a name, which has been hard, there are too many cute boy names.  And even now we aren't 100%. I get to decide the name, Dustin will put his two cents in, but since he got to name Thomas he said every other kid I get to pick, which has been nice but I'm so indecisive.
I go a little crazy when I pick names, I write them down, I put the middle names with it, I write the initials to see what it will look like. I write the name with the other boys' names to see if it looks good with the other names, I look up the meaning of the name, I like the name to have some significance so it has more meaning to me, I say the name to people to see how they react to the name-do they miss pronounce it? Do they think it's weird? Do they mistaken it with another name? Because that's what my kid is going to go through, and etc... Am I the only one that does this?

So as of right now, it might change, it's not set in stone for me until I see the little one, but we are thinking:

Peter William Clark

Now why Peter William? For some reason with this baby I wanted to use a name from a book that I love. I had one specific girl name picked out from one of my favorite books, and had about 5 boy names from 5 different books, so it was hard to just pick one!
I actually really love the name Hareton from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte but that name is always mistaken for Harrison or people give me a weird look so I took that out pretty quick even though I LOVE IT!

Peter came from Peter Pan, I love the book Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. And while I was debating if it was time for baby #3 the boys were really into the Disney movie Peter Pan. We watched it a lot and we would watch anything related to the story, we watched Jake the Neverland Pirates, Hook, and any Tinkerbell movie. Also during this time I was commissioned to do a Peter Pan painting, so that name just kinda stuck out for me.

William was also on the list of names, and while I was playing with names I came up with Peter William, and not too long after that I talked to my mom and I mentioned the names I was thinking and she told me that  I had an ancestor named Peter William which I thought was pretty cool. Then couple of weeks ago I was on family search to print off names for temple work when I decided to see if I could find this Peter William, it took me a while because his actual name was Petrus Wilhelmus DeHart because he was originally from Holland but when he joined the church and moved here he changed it to Peter William. So he was my mother's father's father, so my great-grandfather, and he was the first to join the church in the DeHart line. So I thought that was cool, and I've started reading his autobiography, but I haven't finished it yet, but it made me really like the name.
It also helps that Thomas keeps telling me he loves the name Peter.

So as of now, that's the name we are thinking but I'm not making anything that says Peter on it just yet, but as it gets closer to the due date the more I like the name.

Also I think Thomas, Oliver, and Peter sound cute together.

I'm getting quite out numbered here in this family.

And one more thing, I think it's funny when people say "Well you won't have to pay for weddings!" and my response is; "No, just $30,000 worth of missions!" boys are expensive too! ;)

I'm going to have one missionary out after another, 6 years straight with a boy out on a mission. I don't know how my heart is going to handle it. Just thinking about it makes my heart hurt a little.

"Mommy, I want to take a picture of you."

-I promise I do comb his hair everyday, just never when I take pictures.

Adjusting and a Little Update

The last couple of weeks the kids and I have been adjusting not having Dustin around.

 Last week he had meetings all day and was getting his new classroom set up and this past Monday was his first day back. So we used to have him all the time and now he's gone 8-10hours a day!

It's been a little rough, I don't get to sleep in once and a while, or have my naps, and I have the kids to myself all day instead of taking turns. The kids are adjusting as well, from having two parents around all the time and now stuck with boring mom all day. Also we have been more relaxed in the summer on some things, and Dustin is "a little nicer" than me so the kids have to relearn some rules so there had been a little more whining or some disrespect and not listening to me so I have had to play mean mom this last week or two and there are have been some time outs which is something we usually don't have to do but things are looking better and I can be a little nicer and fun mom again!

Since we have been adjusting not having dad around I have had to really fill up the days to entertain the kids. It's been really hot, so parks aren't usually an option but luckily we had a cool day, which means 95 degrees. We usually go to splash pads and pools to stay cool. We go to a lot of stores to look around and the library where there is AC. I'm so ready for fall, I hate the heat especially being pregnant.  I also try to find fun new activities to do at home, today we did bath paint after I gave both boys a hair cut.

I've also started doing a little Pre-school with Thomas, nothing big, but I wasn't quite ready to put him to preschool yet and there wasn't a joy school happening near me so I decided to teach him myself and I personally like it. I think it's great other people put their kids at preschool but I guess I'm just enjoying my time with Thomas a little longer.  I feel like once he starts school it's the beginning of the end and I'm just not ready for that to happen, and I also like working with him one on one. I'm not planning on homeschooling him when he gets older but I can see the benefit of homeschooling and catering to the child, so I guess I'm just doing a little on my own until he starts kindergarten. So I teach him when Oliver is asleep and just twice a week for an hour, like I said nothing big. He already knows his letters really good and can write some of them, so this last week we have been writing letters using salt and our fingers and he loves it, he thinks it's a game. And we are also worked on seasons and he eat that all up. We also play Uno to learn his numbers and to learn to match colors or numbers/signs which is also fun to him. I feel like he is a sponge right now and he's really soaking up all the information quick and he's enjoying learning new things so I'm taking advantage of it.

Oliver is just talking up a storm, I can have a good conversation with him.  My in-laws and neighbors both have big spiders in the corner somewhere, like big ones, and now that's all Oliver talks about, he's scared and fascinated of them at the same time, but I think it's given him a few nightmares. It didn't help there was a spider in our house today, and I HATE spiders soooo much and it took me twenty minutes to build up the courage to kill it and when I did I was screaming which made the kids scared. Poor kid I'm not helping him over come this spider fear. He loves playing with Thomas, he thinks he's the greatest and loves doing what Thomas is doing.

As for me, I just recently got called as the Relief Society Activity Leader and that has kept me busier than I thought it would. I'm still a Sunbeam teacher  so this is my second calling. Last year I was unofficially helping with the Relief Society activities, I was in charge of decorating everything and making flyers until April they officially called me in the committee and now I'm the leader. I'm excited for the calling but it' s a lot of work, especially this time of the year. We are doing a Super Saturday which I've never done, I have always been in the ward that the bishop or Relief Society wouldn't allow it and now I'm in charge of one, a little over whelmed but excited at the same time because I've always wanted to do a Super Saturday. So that's been keeping me busy.

As for Dustin, like I said, he just started school. He's feels more prepared this year and is going to be more structured, and said he was going to play "mean" teacher the first week, but I don't think that's possible, but I think he knows how to handle disrespect better this year. I'm curious to see how this year goes for him.

Oliver @ 18 Months

This is well over due, since Oliver will actually be nineteen months before this week is through, but better late than never! 

With Thomas, I was so much better taking pictures, poor Oliver and our future children because I have feeling each kid I will be less and less likely to take a lot of pictures.

Well, one of the reasons, I have been bad at taking pictures of Oliver is because this kid is nearly impossible to get a good picture, he is always on the move. The only time this kid sits down is to eat or while reading a book. This little photo shoot, if you would call it a photo shoot, was nearly impossible and I'm lucky I even got these pictures.

So a little about Oliver:

He is not a fan of Nursery at church, well he's fine as long as Dustin or I are in there, which is kinda hard since we both have callings in the church.

He loves Thomas, and wants to do whatever Thomas is doing.

He knows all the super heroes by name, but Hulk is his favorite and likes to "Hulk Smash" things, which is not my favorite (why do my kids love Hulk so much?) but Batman is probably a close second.

He knows some letters, he knows "O,T,E, and sometimes R"

He knows most shapes, and knows blue and pink.

He's a talker, he talks a lot more than Thomas did this age. Some of his favorite phrases or words are:

" I don't like it" or "why?" we hear those the most. He says Thomas really cute but he can't say his own name yet.

The last little bit, he's been really good at throwing fits, and we are working on that, I think we might be going somewhere though.

He is a strong-willed kid, and I haven't figured a good punishment for him. With Thomas I would just have to give him the eye and he would crumble, while Oliver could care less and does what he wants to even when he knows he's doing something bad. Time out- he just thinks it's funny, taking toys away-whatever it was worth it.  I need to figure this one out before he's a teenager or I'm going to have problems.

He's a clinger, he's always on me, he follows me everywhere, he doesn't like when I leave the room, so I'm interested to see what's going to happen when the baby comes. He's a momma's boy, but after this summer and seeing Dustin more he has started to warm up with him more.

He loves going outside.

He loves popsicles.

He loves Mac-n-cheese.

He loves all kinds of fruit.

He loves to wrestle.

Even though he is clingy he is very independent and likes to do everything himself if he can.

He hates clothes so he's usually just in a diaper. I pick my battles.

Frozen is his favorite movie, I'm starting to get sick of the movie actually. 

He's pretty funny, and makes me laugh all the time.

He loves singing: "Head, shoulders, knees, and toes", "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam", and "Nephi's Courage"

He's a great member of our family, we love having him around.

We love you Oliver!

Six Flags

Today we had a great time going to Six Flags. This week if you have a seasonal pass you can bring a buddy, so Dustin's parents brought us to Six Flags for free and it was great. The lines were pretty short and there weren't too many people because most people don't want to be in the heat but it wasn't too bad today. 

I was a little bummed about not being able to go on rides because I'm such a roller-coaster junkie, darn pregnancy. Poor Dustin got a little lecture from me on how it's unfair that we both decide to have a baby but yet, I'm the one sitting out on the fun, and women always have it the worst; poor guy, I blame the hormones and it was before we ate lunch so I was kind of hungry.

But after some food, I was in a better mood and had fun going on rides with my kids. Thomas' favorite was obviously the batman airplane ride, we went on that one the most. Oliver's was the train that goes around the park. Overall it was a good day and both kids feel asleep on the way home.

After today I'm glad that Dustin and I didn't go to Orlando to see the new extension of Harry Potter world this year like we planed, because I would have been mad about having to sit out on everything there, so the plan is to go next year but we will see.

I am grateful that we are pregnant again, but I can't wait to be able to go on roller-coasters again.

Snap Shots of the Past week

 1. I know this picture is blurry, but I loved watching my boys eating snacks and talking and laughing (except they aren't in the picture ha ha) but I wanted to remember the moment.

2.If you follow me on Face book or instagram you already seen these awesome pictures I got at Hobby Lobby for a good deal but right after I post it in Black and White  Dustin said it wasn't as cool and needed to be in color, but I didn't want to post another picture again, so I'm doing it on my blog instead. I've had a blast decorating the boys' room super hero theme, that I told Dustin that I don't think any girl theme would be as fun if we one day have a girl, but I'm sure if I did have one in the future my opinions would change but till now I'm loving the super hero theme. 

3. On Friday night, Dustin was at a camp out with the young men so we had a party and watched a movie on our bed, the boys loved it, and so did I.

4. And my first pregnant picture for baby #3. I'm 17 weeks, and have put 16ish pounds, I have a Dr's appointment tomorrow so I'm kinda estimating on the weight, but last appointment I had gained 14 already, I usually gain how many weeks I am until week 25-30 I start slowing down.

Anyway, that's been our week!

Dallas Aboretum: Children's Garden

This Saturday I met up with the West's and the Cruz's at the Children's Garden at the Aboretum while Dustin was camping with the young men. It was fun but very HOT, no wonder in August tickets are only a dollar per person! But it was fun anyway and the kids had a blast. My favorite was probably the tree house that had huge net-like hammocks that were under the shade; I was OK staying there for the whole time.
 I really thought the garden was cool, it had a lot of fun interactive things for the kids and was educational at the same time, we will probably come back again... but maybe when the temperatures have cooled down a little.