Some Random Adventures

I have been lazy about blogging lately, but I am in the [long] process of making a book of our blog too and I'm pretty excited to have that in print.

Cody has been taking swim lessons with a couple friends. I'm not sure he has actually learned anything, but he has had a lot of fun. He is trying to convince me he doesn't need a lifejacket to swim by himself anymore now.

Miss Macey has been so patient with it all. We go and watch in the 100 plus temps and she plays by the side and dips her feet in.

We went to a sprayground for a playgroup one day. Pretty cute place. (The water wasn't actually on yet in these pictures.)

Ben got to come with us this last weekend (his first weekend off since a month ago!) to the science museum. We had a fun time! Cody and Ben went in a booth that shows you how strong winds can get in a tornado.

Here's some of the cute water towers that are all over around here.

We went to the train museum in Oklahoma City a couple weeks ago and took a train ride. Sadly the train only went around 15 mph and Cody was seriously disappointed. But I'm glad we went and tried it out. They loved looking at the trains and getting their tickets at least!

I am getting HUGE. Not a cute end of pregnancy person. Miraculously I haven't swollen a ton, considering the heat, but it does come and go. This baby (who is yet unnamed) can't come soon enough and at the same time I start to panic when I think that it's only a matter of days [23, but who's counting] until I have a newborn. And no sleep. And no free time. And an extra car seat in our little car. And around the clock nursing. I think I can wait, but I do feel 80 years old some days!

Frogs, Friends and Potty Training

We've been spending a lot of time in this pool lately. Popsicles have become a daily staple too. Every morning when Macey wakes up she'll get her little head right up to the side of the bed (because I'm inevitably still in bed) and ask me, "Mom, can I have a popsicle?" And she asks at probably 1/2 hour increments for one throughout the entire day. Silly girl.

Miss Macey is potty trained! The best part...she did it herself!!!!!!!!! I am so proud of her. Really, I was not looking forward to giving up diapers, and the cost was worth every penny for my sanity. But, she started telling me when she had to go to the bathroom and wanted to go. I actually started telling her to just go and she would go take off her diaper and go. SO, I knew it was [past] time. I had joked about not potty training her until she could buy her own underwear and frankly I think she could, so I guess it was time. A couple weeks ago I got out her underwear and told her if she wanted to wear it she could, but she couldn't pee in it, she would have to go in the toilet. So that is what she did. I rarely even asked her if she needed to go. We obviously have had accidents, but I'm so proud of her. Going 'poop' is the funniest thing on earth. I get a running commentary, literally play by play, of what is happening the entire time. Sometimes she will try to go to the bathroom just to get candy. Actually I think that is probably why she does go to the bathroom- because she loves candy.

A few more things about Macey:

She is a walking contradiction. She is so loving and concerned for others. But make her mad and she will tell you how and where to hide. She wants something, but doesn't want it, but does, but doesn't. Over and over. She bugs Cody constantly, but no one else can and she takes care of him at the same time. She is tough, but very delicate at the same time. She's brave in many ways, but afraid to go down even a tiny slide. She's girly but a tomboy. (She really loves wearing her 'boy' underwear.)

She is a very clean person and is always cleaning up after me:) Ben is going to love that quality in her.

She gives Ben a kiss on each cheek and then his lips each day when he gets home and a big squeeze hug. Making daddy proud of her is important.

Cody and Macey LOVE wrestling with their dad. It is one of the highlights of their day and I think they are sad when they don't get to see him and wrestle.

In Ben's internship he works one month on a 'rotation,' with each of the doctors there. They are all board certified surgeons and really good at what they do. Last month he was on with a Dr. Major doing more difficult "referral" surgeries and he loved it. This month he gets more colics and is on call more, but it is still going well. He is on call quite often, but there are 5 other interns and they all take turns being on call primary, secondary and field.

We get some crazy bugs and cute friends around here. We have four frog friends that live around our house. We went out and Ben and Cody caught them the other day.

We have an amazing ward. People are probably thinking I'm due any day (less then 6 weeks-Aug 20!) because they will all comment about how I'm getting closer at church. Oh, I am getting one huge belly and it's super low so I look ready. Our sweet bishop took me into his office last week and introduced me to his wife and told me day or night call them if I go into labor unexpectedly and she will come right over. (They were surprised I still had so much time left I'm sure:)!) I love our bishopric, they are all amazing people (and their wives!).

Living here has been such an eye opening adjustment for me. I didn't realize how good we had it in Washington living so close to friends and having so many people in the same life situation. It's just so different in real life. A small thing is that we moved to a very affluent area and are still living like students. The biggest thing is that the closest people are so far away. Cody is missing having friends to play with. I'm sure everything will work out...he'll get it figured out too, but until then Cody, Macey and I are taking a lot of adventures out by ourselves and we miss friends.

So to end on a happy note, I got a $25 gift certificate just for using my debit card through some rewards program and I got mostly practical things, but also some nail polish and I did my nails...I pretty much shared that just to end on a happy note but I'm happy about it.

Hottest Month in History

We've passed the 20th day above 100 and if it continues this way, it will be the hottest month in Oklahoma history. Ever. I chose a sweet time to live here, eh?

Having said that, we can't stay locked in all the time. We went to the zoo on $1 Wednesdays. Once again, the snakes were a hit. They also got close to a couple of peacocks and we took a train ride.

They have a cute children's area too.

On the fourth, Ben actually was able to make it to half of the parade with us, which was pretty exciting. (He had to work that day). The only disappointment was that they didn't throw candy. I like candy and I was bummed, but it was a long parade with lots to see. We brought plenty of frozen treats to survive the heat.

In the evening Cody and Macey stayed up late to see the fireworks, and were so tired by the time it was dark that they barely made it to see some of them go off. Macey was begging to go to bed. I wasn't complaining. Night time is my sanity! 8:00 is a magical hour:) No fireworks are illegal to set off in our neighborhood and it was pure insanity that night, but pretty fun to watch. Actually they were going like crazy for about a week.