Speed Blogging - Dance Recital

I've decided I have to adopt some "speed blogging" - similar to speed dating - short, quick posts that give you a brief idea of what we've been up to...Clara had her dance recital on the 19th of November. I wasn't able to see her most of the time she was on stage, so it's unknown to me whether she was as entertaining as the night she danced at the Fair. The times I did catch a glimpse, she was so focused on making sure she had a smile on her face I don't think anything could have changed it to a frown. She sure has enjoyed her little dance class.

Deadlines

I am a deadline driven person. I will do whatever it takes to meet a deadline I'm given, whether it be for work, church or my personal life. I might procrastinate, but I will get it done. If I don't have a deadline, I might never do it. I have the hardest time getting things marked off my To Do list that don't have a deadline. Imagine someone {me} that relies on deadlines as their motivator and the key factor in planning their life with an unknown deadline. A moving target, if you will. That would be me, pregnant. I'm like a ticking time bomb, except the time remaining until the long awaited explosion is unknown. With this pregnancy, it's making me really anxious.

With Clara, I had my deadline: December 15th. I had the nursery mostly done {thanks to Nylene} and every {important} thing ready to go. I knew I would be late, so I planned on having a little time after the "deadline" to finish up some things. My water broke on the 21st and I still hadn't packed my hospital bags, but the really important things were done. With this one, my official deadline is Christmas, but I've been thinking I might go early {wishful thinking or intuition? who knows}. I panicked this week thinking about this. If I plan everything according to a deadline of the 25th and I really am early, we're going to have some problems. I'm having a hard time finding motivation and energy to get everything done ahead of schedule. It's not really my personality to do things this way. {Hello nesting instincts, why haven't you visited me like you do other pregnant women?} However, I know I can't wait until a week before the deadline to get it all done, because what if the baby comes a week early? Here's to hoping one of the following happen: a.) I have a burst of energy and get everything ready in the next few weeks, b.) the baby is a day or two late so I can get everything done in true procrastinator style or c.) magic fairies come do everything for me. At this point, all seem a little far fetched. Suggestions please.
{I am 35 weeks today. Pics taken at 34 weeks. Not much has changed.}

Anna and Clara See Annie

Clara and I saw Annie today at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre. I've been wanting to go check this place out ever since they opened, but the prices always deterred me. First of all, paying money to take Jason to a musical would be similar to throwing money in the trash. And to pay that much for Clara, well, I just couldn't do it. I was excited when I found out about the free promotion through the Kid's Club for Annie and assumed there'd be some sort of catch. Only certain days, wouldn't include the meal, you know, the things that normally apply to freebies. To my surprise, it was pretty straight forward. Two very FREE tickets, buffet included, to pretty much any showing of Annie during the next five weeks. We picked today. Today was the opening day, but this weekend is just too busy, next weekend is Thanksgiving and the closer we get to December 25th, the less time I am going to be able to handle sitting for long periods of time. Not to mention waiting too long might have meant missing it all together if this baby comes early. So off we went, Clara with curls and me with jewelry. We were fancy.

We both loved it!

Initial reaction: something isn't right... add my age to Clara's, double that and that was probably the average age of the audience. In fact, other than the family of the girl that played Annie, I'm thinking everyone was a good 30+ years older than me. Now I know what snowbirds do for entertainment.

The food: above average, but next time I go (yes, I would pay to go to another production), I probably wouldn't pay for the food. Maybe if it was $11 more, it'd be worth it, but when they aren't running their 10th anniversary promo, it's $21 more (well, $18 if you go to a matinee) and that's not worth it to me. I'd rather cook my own food or go out to somewhere that I can get better food for less.

The seating: we got near perfect seats. We were in the second row of tables and right in the center. Both Clara and I had excellent, unobstructed views. I think the couple we shared a table with was nervous when they saw a 3 year old walk up to the table, but they had nothing to worry about. Clara was a little peach.

The acting: very, very impressed, especially with the kids. The whole time I was thinking, This is way better than a movie. I think I'd rather do this twice a year than go see a movie once a month. Not that I ever watch movies in the theater, but still. The costumes and sets were great too. I thought it was very well done.

Clara: we don't watch movies often in the theater. I think it's a waste of money and Clara gets bored. Live theater, however, was a totally different story. Clara had the biggest grin on her face when they first lifted the curtain and was glued to the stage the entire time. It was a little hard for her not to talk to me and ask questions, but she loved it. I can't wait to take her back. (As I'm typing this, Clara climbed on a bucket and started singing and dancing and now she's saying, "I'm an orphan. I'm Annie, the best Annie.")
SOOO, I can't wait to go back. They have a "Children's Theater" that is much cheaper, especially for adults, so I'm thinking we might try that out next. Excellent entertainment.

Fun Times

Despite going to bed anywhere from 2am-4:30am because of work each night, last week was a really good week. I worked a lot, but we had a lot of fun too.

Wednesday: Clara went and played at my mom's. I decided to stay and just hung out with my mom. Way more fun than going back home and doing housework or getting important things done like preparing for a baby.

Thursday: I took Clara to Kid's Club at the mall and ran into a friend. It was fun to have company while we watched the performance, ate and rode the carousel. Clara was a little grumpy but got into the last song and kept jumping.The low point of the morning was when I recognized this girl. Her husband and Jason used to play basketball together. I said hi, told her how I knew her and she then told me it's actually her ex-husband - he'd recently left her for some girl at work. At that moment I was not very pleased with my ability to recognize people that I haven't seen in years. The main reason we went was to get our free tickets to Annie.

On the way home, I stopped to get paint samples for the baby's room. Then my mom came over and helped me. It worries me to think what my house would look like if it weren't for my mom. We go the pantry all organized, all of the stuff out of the front room that can go out, started washing the baby clothes and fixed this mirror that sat in our old garage for almost six years, new in the box. Then we took down the hideous curtains in the family room. Having organization and the curtains gone made me like my house again.

Friday (my birthday): Jason got me a flat iron for my birthday. I've never had one before because a.) I have really straight hair and b.) I'm afraid of them. I tried to use one once and I put a kink in my hair. Anyway, I used it Friday and was so proud of myself for not kinking my hair. (Don't laugh). The most exciting part is I got my hair to look like I wanted it without blow drying it. I can just let it air dry, then use the flat iron and wall-ah! it looks better than if I had blow dried it.
Jason made breakfast and for lunch Clara and I went to Joe's BBQ with my mom. Afterwards we went shopping at DI and said hello to my dad. Unfortunately I spent the rest of the afternoon and into the evening locked in my room working. Fortunately, Jason invited some friends and family over for hamburgers and hot dogs. It was fun to see people and visit. After most everyone had left, things got a little crazy: wall-sit competitions, a never-ending 'don't let the balloon hit the floor' game and over-sized people on under-sized toys. A little too much excitement for a pregnant lady. Thanks for all the birthday wishes; Having someone remember to wish me a happy birthday always makes me happy. So whoever thought of the term 'Happy Birthday' was a genius. :) It was a good day.

{This was the point in which I realized I am pregnant, out of shape and sitting against a wall any longer just might kill me.}

Saturday: Clara and I went to Snowflake with Karen to see Karen's friend perform in a play. Clara hung out at Michelle's while Karen and I went to the play.

Of course a weekend in Snowflake wouldn't be complete without staying up too late talking to Michelle. I was a little more responsible this go around and was in bed around 1am.

Sunday: After Stake Conference we had lunch with Jason's parents and then Clara got a ride in Grandpa's truck. Okay, I went too. I'm sure watching a nearly 8 month pregnant lady climb up into a diesel is a sight.

We headed home after that and after dinner, went to my parent's for my birthday dessert. I was worried about all the sweets around the holidays, but I should have worried about my birthday...

All I Do...

My family came over for dessert Sunday night. James said, "All you do is get bigger." That's right little brother, I spend more time growing this baby than anything else, so I sure hope I get bigger. It's hard work to grow a baby and I'm glad my progress was recognized.

For your entertaining delight, I'd like to share some pregnancy comparisons. This one: Less weight gain, way less swelling (much to Clint's disappointment), more heartburn*, similar exhaustion and similar feelings of excitement to have a baby. It seems this pregnancy has lasted about twice as long as the last (and I'm not even within a month of the ETA) and I feel like it's more difficult to do normal things. I think both of these have resulted from my situation being different. It's just as easy to sit at a desk and work while 7 months pregnant as it is not pregnant at all. Entertaining and caring for a 3 year old? Now that becomes a little more difficult when pregnant. As such, getting back to being able to do everything with ease like before makes me feel like I am experiencing the never-ending pregnancy.

The biggest difference I've noticed are the aches in my hips and groin area. My doctor tells me it's because it's round two, not because I'm older. All I know is it makes me wonder when my body will fall apart and how I will ever accomplish anything with #3, #4, etc. if it gets worse with each. Speaking of physical discomfort, I have apparently irritated/upset a ligament underneath my belly which has resulted in knife-stabbing-I-want-to-curl-into-fetal-position-and-cry pain. I'm guessing this resulted from lifting something heavy when we moved. I just hope it doesn't act up again.

Oh, and with this pregnancy, "it" finally happened. I get hot. I see people in hoodies and wonder what their problem is. Normally, I am always cold and when I was pregnant with Clara, that didn't change. If our thermostat was set to 82* and the fan was on, I needed a blanket. However, I feel like I've been sweating for the last few months. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that it's still ridiculously hot here and I live in a green house (that's actually peach, not green) or maybe I finally just got the hot hormone I've heard so much about. If it's above 77*, I sleep in shorts and a t-shirt on top of the sheets. Right now, it's probably 73* in our room and I'm only considering sticking my bare legs under the covers. I am definitely not used to "it" and am glad I'm not pregnant in the summer.

I feel mostly the same size (minus my cheeks and ankles), so I finally took a moment to dig through old pictures to compare and see how looks compare.

Clara and me on 10.14.2006 #2 and me on 10.21.2010 - See? The belly is probably about the same size. (My face isn't.)

I want to grow my hair out again, but I'd probably have to start paying more attention to it to avoid bringing back that homely look. Wouldn't you agree?

*I have heartburn constantly. Karen tells me it was the same with Clara; she would know, we traveled a lot together when I was pregnant with Clara. I guess Clara's sweet little face (and my bacon cheeseburger with fries) in the hospital made me forget how bad it really was. Just for fun, I found proof of mine and Karen's travels. This was taken on 10.20.2006 somewhere between Flagstaff and Page, nowhere near a body of water and on the top of a random hill, which is precisely why we felt it necessary to pull over, climb the hill and take pictures of each other in the canoe. We sure had fun on our road trips!

Halloween Stuff

For the month of October, I decided I wanted to do a craft a week. We made ghosts and bats to hang from the light, painted pumpkins on paper, painted a real pumpkin, made a witch silhouette (idea stolen from Kathryn) and did a few other non-Halloween things.At my mom's Clara asked me what "to carve a pumpkin" means so I was glad I had bought one earlier that day to carve. Unfortunately, we didn't get it carved until Monday. Ah well, it's about the experience, not the timeliness, right? I was hoping Jason might be around to help, but with work deadlines, his test and tying up lose ends at our old house, we don't really see him so we just did it on our own. Clara picked the 'C' for what to carve and called it a "C face". And yes she's in a swim suit. It is still in the high 80's, low 90's here, do you blame her?

For our Halloween festivities, we went to the "Neighborhood Halloween Party" that our Ward puts on. Clara LOVED the bouncers. At the end people stand in a circle and hand out candy, which was strange to me, but I liked it because Clara got way less candy than normal. The lighting made the pictures not so cool, but I have proof that Karen came with us and Jason still exists.

Clara didn't really get to choose her costume. Two years ago Kathryn made Clara this tutu and gave her the wings and antennae. We had everything else so I just made Clara excited about being a ladybug.

After the party we went to my mom's and Ryan and Kathryn's to share the over abundance of salsa Karen and I made. You see, they had a salsa contest and Karen and I decided to both compete, against each other. Too bad she won and it was the first time she'd made this particular salsa. Anyway, we both made waaaaay too much so we had to share.

On Sunday, Halloween itself, we had to go to our old house to retrieve our leftover garage sale stuff. I decided I really like Halloween on a Sunday. We got to enjoy festivities on Saturday, but didn't spend hours trick-or-treating and getting candy we wish we didn't have. For me, it was the right balance of festivities for the holiday it is.

Now onto Thanksgiving and Christmas... yay!

$1,150 Phone

I had to FedEx Jason's broken cell phone back to Verizon Wireless.

I'm pretty sure I also FedExed a recent check from a client with it.

This is way less stupid (and costly!) than when I booked a plane flight from my destination airport instead of Phoenix... but still pretty funny nonetheless.

When Friday Explodes

What a day! Originally last Friday was going to be a nice relaxing day, but then it kind of exploded. More and more things kept getting added to our schedule and before I realized it, I was a little overwhelmed.


Before KS - paint giant pumpkin for game at park
Before 10am - KS (attempted to work without talking to anyone, not easy)
10am - babysit for a friend
Noon - Park with friends (only an hour late)
1pm - Visiting teachers
2:30pm - wake Clara up from nap (not cool) to get her ready
3pm - drive to the fair

Once we made it to the fair, I felt a little more relieved. Angela went with us and took Clara down the giant slide since I couldn't go. Then we rode the Ferris wheel and went back to wait for Clara to do her dance. I laughed so hard I cried during her performance. Every time I watch the video, I laugh so hard I cry some more. Clara was off in the back corner by herself (apparently her little dance partner never showed up) and she just danced her little heart out, not really caring what everyone else was doing. The moment the song was over, she marched her little self off the stage even though everyone else was still there. It was awesome.


After the performance, there were a few more trips down the slide and another Ferris wheel ride with Ryan, Kathryn, Lucy and Elsa. Instead of spending way too much money on not so good food, we opted to leave and go somewhere else. We ended up at Waffle House (haven't been there in probably 10 years). After my busy day and all the walking we did, I was totally exhausted. I'm pretty sure I have no desire to go to the Fair again unless there is a reason. It's expensive, dirty and LOUD. But, watching Clara dance on stage was totally worth it.

Poor Angee-la la carried Clara all the way back to the car. Clara's skirt was falling off and she was so exhausted from lack of sleep. Obviously she didn't mind being carried. I kind of wish someone was there to carry me...