Matt's funny story...

I sent Matt a Valentine's day box a month ago. I was really good and made sure I sent it out in plenty of time for the big day. Except he didn't get it. And he didn't get it. And he still didn't get it. It was nearly a month before he got his package- a week and a half after Valentines day! But here is the funny story: Matt has been checking his box nearly every day. And about once or twice a week he's recieved a notice that there is an oversized package waiting. But when he checked, it was actually for another guy. Matt kept wondering why the post office kept giving him this guy's packages seeing as his name was on the box. If he was the previous box owner, why didn't they forward the packages already? Well, on Tuesday he got fed up with not getting his package and he asked at the counter if they would check things out and help him. It turns out... Matt had been checking someone else's mailbox for an entire month! When they assigned him his box they wrote on a slip of paper the box number and the box combination. BUT, they put the wrong box number on the slip. Matt went to the wrong box, entered the right combination several times then told the counter that the combo wasn't working. So they looked up the box number (the wrong box number remember) and sure enough, it was the wrong combo! So they gave him the combination to the wrong box! When I mailed his package I put the wrong box number on the package (the number to the box he was checking) but when they got it in they looked at his name and put the slip in his right box rather than the box that fit the address. When they finally figured that out he got his correct box number and combination and sure enough, there was the package I sent! Now we just wonder what that poor guy kept thinking when Matt repeatedly returned the 'oversized package' slips to the counter. Did he ever get his stuff?

Matt's love for me has been written on the rocks of the Korean Sea!

Doesn't that sound romantic? My name is written some where on some rock halfway across the world.

Here is a picture!

He also wrote his love for me on the sand... but he suspected that disappeared before he even got home. Not that his love disappeared, just the words :)

I missed Matt today...

The plan is that I get up every morning at 5am. Matt gets online at 8pm. Somehow (you know, through time travel or something) it just happens to be the same time and we get to talk. We can generally talk for an hour and a half before Matt absolutely has to get offline and go to bed. Its exhausting but it works well. And I look forward to my 5am conversations every morning. Today Matt didn't show up. Thats the frustrating thing about the internet. If you can't get to it, you just can't get to it. At least with the phone, if you can't talk, you can text or call earlier and let whomever know that you won't be there. Leave a message. Doesn't work that way online. I'm assuming that Matt was there and desperately trying to get online and the internet connection just wasn't working. It happens a lot but it hasn't ever kept us from talking. Or I could assume he got called into work and there was no way he could let me know before hand. Or maybe he got in trouble or...I should stop thinking of maybes because they just make me anxious. My one good thought is that Matt has emailed during his lunch break the past two days, maybe he'll email today and tell me what happened. I sure hope so. I mean, I'm an adult, I can make it a whole day without talking to my husband. But I don't like it. And since I have an overactive imagination, its better that I talk to him every day. But I missed talking to him today. And now I keep feeling like I should be online 24/7 just incase. Or that I should be getting a phone call from him at any moment. But it doesn't work like that. So I'll just hope for an email and keep telling myself that he's okay. Sigh.

May I Point Out?

I have 81 days left to be pregnant, give or take. Other than the 2 week Christmas break and the few weeks before we found out I was pregnant, Matt has been gone the entire time. (I think thats something like 168 days by now...) 81 days. What do I do with 81 days? I really should finish my two classes up. I really should make freezer meals. I really should deep clean (especially the bathrooms!). I really should catch up on Emmaline's baby book. I really should go through all the baby clothes and get them washed and sorted. I really should do a lot of things. We'll see what actually gets done. And as big as the number 81 sounds, right now its nearly equivelant to saying that I'll be having this baby next week. Somehow there just doesn't seem to be enough time to do anything.

Play Time (mostly for Christy)

This week has been a blast because two of my sister's kids have been over. My sister is in process of transition from Utah back here to Missouri and sent two of her three kids ahead to make things easier on all involved. I've had the pleasure of watching them during the day while my mom is in school.

Here is what we've been doing:

Sadly, this is the only pic I got for Monday. Andrew loves these sunglasses but for some reason can't figure out how to put them on right. We also played with playdough, Hundry, Hungry Hippo and explored all the toys in Emmaline's room.

We made noise makers (at first I called them instruments but changed that after I realized they aren't...they are just noise!) and danced to Disney music. The kids got to color the paper plates before we folded them up. Andrew didn't like coloring so his got a few crayon marks. Carolyn really enjoyed coloring a boarder on her plate and using brown and purple. Emmaline asked for help coloring flowers and really liked using purple. After the noise makers got old the kids started spinning on the floor. It was comical- I wish I had a video instead of just pictures.

Emmaline gets such a kick out of kicking her feet in the air and Carolyn quickly followed suit. They say 'Wiggle Wiggle' over and over until they get tired.

The kids also played 'Ring Around the Rosie' which was fun to watch because it was self initiated. This picture is funny to me because of the three kids. Carolyn obviously is oldest and therefore more capable of moving around quickly. Andrew, being not quite two was sort of stumbling and dragging after the two girls. So when Carolyn yelled 'Down!' She sort of pulled Emmaline down and made it very dramatic! Emmaline of course just fell down, not quite understanding the point of the drama yet but Andrew tumbled, rolled and finally came to a stop laughing so hard! It was very enjoyable to see them all having so much fun together. Yesterday Andrew decided his favorite thing was going to be wearing Emmaline's shoes around. Part of me wanted to tell him 'no, Andrew! you're a boy!' but then I decided it really didn't matter. So he's enjoyed wearing 'pretty shoes' a few times this week.

Also yesterday I helped the kids make a tent. The girls enjoyed reading their books under the tent. I think Andrew only ever looked under the blankets, I dont' think he ever actually went inside. I feel like we are constantly eating with two more kids around. With just Emmaline I put her snack in a sandwich bag or small tupperware and send her off to eat while she plays. But with three kids I feel more like I need them all sitting down to eat. So we have two snacks and lunch- all two hours apart. So far they've all enjoyed the snacks (I'm not trying to give them bressel sprouts or anything :) which makes life so much easier!Hopefully plans for the rest of the week go as I am expecting them to. Some point during the week we'll play with puppets, we'll string beads and we'll color. And hopefully we are all still on one piece by the time Christy arrives here!

For Matt

Emmaline loves to exercize just like her daddy. I'm impressed with the number of times she'll walk up to me and tell me she's going to do pushups or sit ups. And she tries to count them! I wonder if she'll be a track star or love sports or something?

Emmaline is getting good at counting and saying her abcs. You can see with the abcs that she is trying to do the sign language for some of the letters but her fingers aren't quite able to move that fast yet.

Emmaine loves to sing. Its so fun to hear her learning more and more words from each song. I hope she loves singing for the rest of her life!

Rock-in-roll

Family Updates

Baby moves a lot! This morning I was actually seeing my tummy jump. I tried to have Emmaline feel the baby kicking but she didn't really understand why her hand was on my tummy... I'm now almost 26 weeks and I've started on the every two week appointments. Today's wasn't the best in the world, the doctor made me wait 45 minutes just to have my tummy measured and listen to the heartbeat! Ayayay. I know they are doctors but really? Really? 45 minutes? My appointment was only an hour after the office opened, being that late already seems weird... On better notes: My sister's kids are coming to live with my mom for a few weeks and then she'll arrive after she gets things in Utah taken care of. I get the honor of babysitting MWF while my mom is doing some classes for school. I'm looking forward to having something to keep me occupied and busy. Right now I feel bored half the day! I'm glad that Emmaline will get a chance to spend time with her cousins before we move to Guam. And I'm glad Emmaline will get to interact with other kids on a more regular basis as well. Its all around a good situation!

Pregnancy Moments

1. I dropped the container of fish food after feeding the fish. It spilled all down the back of the tank! Luckily it landed right side up so it didn't all spill out!

2. I droped the sugar shaker in my malto-meal! I had to take it all apart and clean it all and let it dry before putting sugar back in it. I felt pretty silly.

3. I tried grabbing the butter out of the fridge and dropped the container three times before I was able to get a firm grip on the tub!

4.

Emmaline's Obsessions

Generally having kids who put things back in the exact right spot is a blessing but not when it causes melt downs, tantrums and other issues because she can't do something exactly like she wants to. I'm hoping this is just a phase.

1. The other night Emmaline climbed out of bed and came into the living room because she remembered one toy she forgot to put away. She cried until I came and opened the closet so she could put the toy away.

2. Emmaline has to have her blankets and dolls in the exact right position before she goes to bed. If her blanket is upside down or her dolls are on the wrong side of her, she'll cry until you help her fix it.

3. I tossed a kleenex into the garbage can as I was leaving my bedroom and it landed next to the can (Kleenexes don't fly well). I had to drag her out of the room as she was saying 'fix it! fix it!' over and over. Its just a kleenex! Don't worry about it!

4. When Matt was home he helped her brush her teeth. He put the tooth brush holder back on the counter (after letting her grab her tooth brush out of it) and put it on the wrong place on the counter. Emmaline freaked and tried to tell him it was wrong. Unfortunately Matt didn't understand what she was saying and that one became quite the melt down.

Life around here is entertaining to say the least!