BEACH

If you are here to catch up on our lives, I just barely posted an absurdly long post about everything that has happened recently. And it's cute, but super long. And you can find it here.

But this is about the beach. See, we live next to Lake Michigan, which is pretty much the same as living by the ocean, but without the hurricanes. (We have tornadoes and lightning instead.)

So this weekend, when it was super nice, we drove to the beach. And took a bunch of pictures. You're welcome.

We thought about it. We really did. #phineasandferb

Peter just wanted to dig. No water for him!

New meaning to the word "sandwich"

Yep. There I am in all my pregnant walrus glory.

Happy Summer!

Survival of the . . . Pregnant

Hey guys.

Yeah, I know. "All this big stuff happened and you didn't blog about it yet? What the heck??!?!" Well, I'm still alive, aren't I?

First things first. In case you didn't see the other post or get a text or hear it from me, we got our big ultrasound. And remember how we were so certain it was a girl? SO certain?

See the little hand pointing? "It's a Boy!"

You can probably guess that this caused a reaction. Actually, the ultrasound tech let it slip accidentally before we knew. She referred to "his head" and such a couple of times, but Mike and I didn't realize it, and we were joking about our 4-year-old insisting that it's a girl. 

Then she caught herself and said, "Wait, do you know what it is yet? Do you want to?" To which we replied, "Yes, we want to know." "It's a boy." 

At first I didn't realize she was serious, because she didn't say it very loudly or pronounced. So I was like, "Wait, are you serious?" She said, "Yep, it's a boy. That couldn't be anything else."

He looks less like Voldemort than Peter did at his age.

I just started cracking up like a maniac. For some reason it was hilarious. I was pretty much just laughing my head off the rest of the ultrasound. (This part was near the beginning.) Mike kind of went into a state of shock and didn't say much for a while, but then he got super excited. Apparently he's been worried for a while that our family was going to be like his, where we only got the twins and then a bunch of sisters (not that there's anything wrong with that). He's super excited to have more boys for his future sports teams.

And he knows what he's getting into, also. Case in point:

Me to Mike: Are you okay with having a house full of boys?
Josh (giggling): I tooted!

But then, as soon as the tech stepped out to get the doctor, Mike and I both looked at each other, and (I don't remember who said it first), we were both like, "You know what this means? We're for sure not done yet." Remember the Lucy story? She's still up there waiting. Just because a brother shoved his way into line ahead of her doesn't mean we didn't feel her little spirit last year. 

But in talking about it, we're both kind of relieved, to be honest. Since everything is so stressful right now, and I get so RIDICULOUSLY sick when pregnant, the idea had been suggested that we might have to be done after this. But because we both know there's another girl out there, we both know for sure that we have to have at least one more. And deep down, neither of us was ready to be done.

Besides, Katie is now insistent that I have to "try again" to get her a sister.

There were tears.

We decided to pick up some blue balloons on the way home, then released them up the stairwell with Katie at the top. I filmed it but my computer is being dumb. So I can't trim the video to a reasonable length. Maybe next time. But there was a lot of, "No, it's a girl!" "No, it's a boy. We saw the pictures." "No! Make it be a girl!" "Sweetheart, it doesn't work like that."

Of course, now we have to think of a boy name. And boy names are HARD. I mean, last time we had to think of TWO at once, and it nearly destroyed us. Now we have to scramble to see what's left. Luckily, I told my sister Emma that now that school's out, she has to compile me a list of boy names that are approved. And the best part? She actually did. Emma, you're the coolest ever. And Mike and I like a lot of the names on her list, so she's definitely got good taste. Of course, James is on there twice, because a certain brother of mine is lobbying to get a kid named after him.

And my dad included a list on the side that includes Mordecai and Shiz. But then, Katie recently started voting for Kevin. And I can't help but associate Kevin with the (female) bird from Up. So . . .

But especially since we had the ultrasound, things have started to feel super real about this kid. Like, we're actually adding another person to our family. So it was only fitting that that weekend after the ultrasound, when Mike had a couple of days between boards and rotations (more on this later), we made some major furniture adjustments. 

Presenting . . . TODDLER BEDS!! (dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!) *cue thunder*

Wait, beds they can jump around like monkeys on? What were we thinking?

And since we have TWO toddlers, and they were still using the changing table as a dresser, we had to go hit up IKEA (AKA the land of where poor student people go to buy build-it-yourself furniture because we're poor). It's cool though. IKEA makes me feel cool because I get to sit on all the weird Scandinavian chairs in the showroom.

Josh "helping"

So we did that in the morning, and spent way too much time goofing off in the showroom, then came home and spent the entire rest of the day taking things apart and putting things together. We moved the crib into Katie's room. (Hey, look who gets a roommate!) Then we brought one toddler bed up from the garage and put both toddler beds and the new dresser together. Now the boys' room actually looks like a bedroom instead of a place where we store stuff around a couple of cribs. I also totally reorganized all the boxes in their closet, with the 0-3 month boy stuff on top for easy access. (Please note that I giggled furiously while doing this.)

Yep. Train bed.

Things since we switched out their beds have been . . . interesting. We've had to re-sleep train Josh because he decided he refused to sleep in his new bed without us in the room. And that includes going from completely dead and snoring loudly to completely awake and screaming if we so much as twitch in an effort to leave the room. So things have been a little rough for him. But it's getting better. I made a playlist of primary songs for them to listen to after I leave, and I think it is helping slightly. And Peter is still the wonder child when it comes to bedtime. I give him his monkey and elephant, kiss his chubby cheeks (the only part of him that is remotely chubby) and he's good.

But besides being a noxious little hooligan at bedtime, Joshy is really a sweetheart. And a SUPER mama's boy. Like, I'm not kidding. He thinks he's attached to me by a 5-foot string, and heaven help us all if I start to stretch it. I'll put on some Curious George so I can run upstairs to shower, and Josh will still come sit outside the door waiting for me the whole time. And then when he hears the water turn off, he runs to my closet and brings me clothes as soon as I open the door. He also pretends to make me cookies, pancakes, donuts, pizza, even soup. He's going to be fabulous for whatever girl he ends up marrying. He's so sweet.

A while ago, we went with a friend to the zoo, and when we were getting ready, I asked the boys, "Do you want to go to the zoo with Jack?" Joshy quickly responded, "Go to the temple with Jack!" #parentingwin

But he's also a hooligan. A week or so ago, I made no-bake chocolate cookies. (You know, crack in dessert form.) Joshy ran over to the table where they were cooling, and said, "Have a cookie please?" Mike said, "No, they're too hot still. Hey Josh, do you know what these are called? Monkey poop!"

And thus did the Joshy poop jokes commence. He just randomly says, "Hey mom! POOP!" and then giggles furiously. Hooligan.

My favorite, though, is the other day.

Josh: Mom, I'm really sad.
Me: What? Why are you really sad?
Josh: I'm dying!
Me: You're dying? Why?
Josh: No I don't! *busts up laughing*

Yep. But you know who's really a hooligan? His brother.

Peter is quite the character. He's tiny, and his voice is so much higher and sweeter than Joshy's (Joshy has a really deep, husky voice), but he can definitely be as tough as he wants. Recently, he's really into being a pirate. He'll announce, "I'm a pirate!" And then he'll bare his teeth and look as ferocious as possible before growling "ARRRRRRR!" It's adorable.

I think you missed a little, buddy.

If I say nothing else about Peter, I have to say that he loves trains. If you can't find him, he's in the living room playing trains. What's on his new big boy bed? Trains. And if we're driving somewhere you know what his biggest concern is? Whether we're going to go under/over the train tracks. And if there is a train on said tracks.

The other thing he loves is basketball, which I think you know. But the best part? He calls it "Basketball John." (1997 Utah Jazz music, anybody?) I don't even know how he knew it. I maybe sang it once when he got his basketball hoop. But it stuck. Hilariously.

My favorite thing is how inseparable my boys are. Most of their lives are spent wrestling, smacking, and kicking each other, but if you try to separate them, they are even more offended. Apparently violence is how they show their affection for each other. You know, tackling, punching, whacking over the head with whatever toy is nearest . . . you name it. I have almost given up trying to stop them. They'll just smack each other upside the head and carry on like nothing happened. But then if I try to take one boy to a different room or something, they totally freak out. "No! Where's my Joshy?!?!?!"

Who doesn't love diaper-to-the-face?

When they are not beating up on each other, though, I love to watch them play. The other day, Josh grabbed Peter and pulled him onto his lap and said, "Petey's my baby!" Peter totally played along, too. Then, a different time, Josh sat Peter on a blanket and said, "Petey's a dinner! Chicken for dinner!" And then he stuck his face on Peter's belly and pretended to eat him. And Peter just giggled. Like a hooligan. It's okay, though. Peter uses Josh as his muscle when he wants to get into trouble, because Peter can't quite do doorknobs yet. But who needs to do doorknobs when you have a twin brother who can?

Oh! I just remembered. Remember how Peter's thing was that everything was happening "forever"? Well, he doesn't say that as often. Now it's "two minutes." "I want a fruit snack two minutes!" etc. It's kind of goofy. Josh has now picked up the forever bit, but he uses it slightly more appropriately. For example, a couple weekends ago, Mike flew to Seattle for his sister's wedding, just for the weekend. When we dropped him off at the airport, the boys were asleep. Josh woke up just in time to say goodbye and watch Mike walk away into the terminal. He started crying and saying, "No! Daddy is gone FOREVER!!!!" And then Katie started sobbing too. Peter was still asleep and didn't realize Mike was gone until we got home. It was a dramatic weekend.


It was especially dramatic for Katie. In case you weren't aware, Katie has inherited not a small amount of type A personality. And we maybe clashed a little bit. But you know what? We're better now. Friday night, after we dropped Mike off, Katie and I put the boys to bed and had a girls' night. We totally did. We did face masks, watched Beauty and the Beast, and did our nails. And then Katie slept in my bed, because, "I'll be your teddy bear tonight because Daddy's not here." It was awesome.

And then it was Saturday and Katie was a little strung out from staying up too late  . . . and it was exciting. Very. There were not a few tears when Mike got home the next day.

But on the upside, we have recovered. And we like each other again. And Katie is hilarious. For instance, she loves Taylor Swift. Of course, her favorite is "Shake it Off", but she enjoys other songs. The other day while we were driving, "Blank Space" came on, and she started singing along, very loudly. But you know that part in the chorus that everyone mishears and thinks is "Starbucks Lovers"? Well, here's Katie:

"Got a lot of Stomach's lovers!"

Yeah, she's awesome. And she's way smarter than me. The other day, we were listening to music in the kitchen, and "All Star" came on. (Remember Smash Mouth? You know you do.) Her thing recently has been to always ask me what they're singing about (which has caused a lot of reflection on the music I listen to, by the way). So she asked me about this one. And I started to explain that it was about being whoever you are instead of just trying to be like everybody else.

Me: Aren't you your very own special person?
Katie: No, I'm Heavenly Father's very own special person.

She knows what's what.

Also, she's in swimming lessons. And it's hilarious. Are you ready for this? Probably not.

Two observations. First, Katie has to have extra floaties. See, since it's a beginners class, and they do a lot of independent swimming, the teacher straps a floaty belt on to each kid when they get to class (the yellow thing on her back). I like that their style is more throw-them-in-and-see-how-they-do, but we've quickly learned that Katie has about ZERO percent body fat. Which means she has no personal floatation ability. So although she is nothing if not enthusiastic, and by no means afraid of the water, she has to have an extra yellow floaty on her belt to keep her from drowing. It kind of makes me laugh.

My other observation is that Katie is a hooligan. When they're doing their independent swimming without pool noodles, the teacher has them hang on to the wall and then goes out with them one at a time so he can watch and be close. And Katie ALWAYS rebelliously lets go of the wall to swim out a couple feet, then swim back before she gets caught. And she usually gets caught. And I'm usually glaring at her from the bench I'm sitting on. And she's just grinning. Even when it kind of looks like she's drowning, she loves it. She inherited her father's fish genes. It's just hilarious to watch all the little hooligans in her class swimming around like puppies. I love it.

The last thing I want to mention should probably have been up near the beginning. But here it is: Mike is done with Step 1 boards! YAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!!!! It's been super nice. He took them the first week of June, so he's been on rotations for a few weeks now. And it is the cushiest thing ever. He's doing Family Med first, and the doctor he's working with has a fantastic schedule. He basically only works 4 hours a day. He has to go to class on campus all day on Thursday, but still. It means we've had lots of time for stuff like this:

They're my favorite.

Also, we went to the beach this last weekend. Which was amazing! But needs its own post. Stay tuned.