Did He Just Say...? (Part Two)

I've got funny kid quotes on the brain since I just did a post about them. I thought I'd jot this one down from tonight because it cracked me up:

We were at the park and Eli found a pretty big rock he started lugging around. He came up to me, proudly displaying his treasure and said, "I want to put this in my rock collection."

While trying to figure out where he even learned the word "collection" or how he figured out rocks are a common collector's item, I replied with a laugh, "What rock collection?"

"The one on that white bookshelf in my room." He matter-of-factly answered back.
Confused, I responded, "I've never seen any rocks on your bookshelf."
To which he said, "This is the first one."

Hahahhaha. I died laughing. And no. I didn't let him bring the rock home.

***

While we're on the subject of funny kids, I have started talking about the new baby a little more with them. Yesterday at dinner, Eli was trying to figure out the logistics of where the baby was exactly. I told him it was in my belly. That didn't seem to make sense to him.

What did make sense, however, was for the baby to be in my chest. So all through dinner, both boys were pointing to my chest saying, "There's a baby in there!" And then they would talk to "the baby" a little higher than where the baby actually is.

I guess until there's more evidence of a bump in my belly, they'll consider the bump on my chest to be a more logical home for their unborn sibling.

Also, Eli said, "Mom, when is the baby going to be here?"
"In March." I answered.
"And then you'll open your mouth and the baby will come out?"
If you say so, Eli.

Did He Just Say...?

Eli was helping me make a pizza and as I started chopping up a bell pepper he proclaimed, "Wow! You're the coolest mom in the world!"

***

We were on a walk and Eli, without notice, jumped out of the stroller and ran straight into the road right as a car was driving by. When we got home I had a stern talk with him:

Me: "Eli! You Can't run into the road like that! You almost got hit by a car! Do you know what would happen if you got hit by a car?"

Eli: "I would get hurt?"

Me: "Yes. You would get hurt. You could even die!"

Eli: "I know. I'll never do that again."

Me: "Eli. Do you know that if you die, you'd never come back again. You'd be gone for good." (Trying to emphasize it's not like a video game where the player "dies" and comes right back to life two seconds later.)

Eli: "Jesus died."

Me: .....

Eli: "And he never came back to life again."

Me: "....Uhhhhh....Well. He did come back to life."

Win -- Eli

***

Eli pointing to his leg, "Mom. This leg is eight years old."

***

Carson every night, "Dad! I hurt my owie so long." 

Translation - My owie hurts really bad.

***

We have had a lot of near-death brushes the past few weeks with Eli. One day he was riding his bike home from a friend's house and he rode way far ahead of me without stopping until he made it all the way home. Another stern talking to included:

Me: "Eli! You can't ride off when I am asking you to stop. A car could back over you because they wouldn't see you all by yourself."

Eli: laughing like I'm an idiot, "Mom. My bike is much faster than cars."

***

Eli, while dumping a box of toys on his head, "ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE!"

(For 20 years down the road, the ice bucket challenge is an internet phenomenon where everyone is dumping ice water on their heads for ALS awareness and donations. Such a phenomenon that even my 4-year-old is aware of it.)

***

We have a monster truck toy that has "Bad Attitude" written on its hood, so we refer to it as Bad Attitude. Carson however refers to it as, "Badittude."

***

Carson one Sunday as Sacrament meeting was starting kept yelling, "Where's Primary?!?" "But where is PRIMARY??!?"

I tried to console him and tell him he'd be going to nursery after Sacrament Meeting. Then his Nursery leader walked in and he screamed with glee, "THERE'S PRIMARY!!!!"

He completely adores his nursery teacher, who I often say is basically a celebrity in Carson's eyes.

My Third First Trimester

Behold the pregnancy update you have all been on the edge of your seats for. Filled with seven pictures of me in the exact same pose with the exact same belly. I kept expecting my bump to become visible, but I guess that feat will happen in the next trimester. So yeah, I realize all these pictures of me are basically identical. And I realize you're thinking, "Why the heck did you post 7 pictures of the exact same thing?" 

Listen, I do a blog book, and I diligently took a picture every week of my pregnancy with Eli, so I feel it's an injustice to the other kids if they don't get the same treatment. So here you go, third kid. I love you just as much as the first.

As is evidenced in the pictures, I have made it through the first trimester without gaining any weight. Which is really quite surprising due to the fact that I have had a RAGING appetite ever since about 7 weeks. And the problem is, I go from stuffed to starving in a matter of thirty minutes. As soon as my stomach starts hinting at hunger, you best start feeding this preggo or the hulk switch is flipped.

I don't really get nauseous as long as I eat every half hour. Seriously. Every half hour. This morning I ate breakfast at 8 and before we left for church at 9 I already needed a snack. Then halfway through sacrament meeting I was griping so much to Jeff that he actually went home and got me a granola bar. I cannot fully express to you the extent of my constant starvation other than I feel like I could possibly win an eating competition against a high school football team.

Speaking of high school football teams, my teenage acne has reappeared, so that's been fun. My teenage sassiness has also reappeared, so that's been fun. For Jeff.

What else? What else? I can't sleep. Because I get up to go to the bathroom, and then by the time I get back in bed, I realize my stomach is growling. You can often find me at 2:30 in the morning shoving pieces of bread into my mouth on my way back to bed.

I haven't had any real cravings per se, but each week there's a particular food that I can't get enough of. It's not like I'm craving it, but it's more just the only thing I can eat in large quantities that doesn't make me want to barf.

Tiredness hit around week 9. And I have had a few weeks of constant nausea, no matter how much I eat, but that's starting to go away.

I'll be 13 weeks tomorrow! Yay to saying goodbye to another first trimester.

My Brother Benny

With nothing to do for his last two weeks of summer, Benji Boy opted to spend a few of his last days of freedom with me. He wanted to check out one of our Mountain Mondays, so we went up to Mueller Park Canyon for an evening.

Ben impressed the boys with his caveman-like skills.

And he impressed me with his skills to make my kids smile at the camera.

Pre pregnancy, I agreed to run two 5k races with Ben this summer. I was becoming so active and in shape right before I got pregnant, that I was sure I could press forward with my high activity levels throughout my pregnancy.

Weeeeeeeeellllllllll. That's not quite how the cookie crumbled. And by that I mean the cookies literally crumbled into my mouth all first trimester as I sat on the couch not wanting to eat anything besides junk food because the thought of any healthy food made me want to barf.

And as you have now predicted, the combo of my bad diet and lack of having any energy during the day beyond the minimal amount to keep my kids alive, pretty much cut off my workout regimen as soon as those two pink lines showed up on a pregnancy test.

Luckily for me and my growing belly. Growing due to the cookies, of course, The Color Run is not timed. And stopping to take pictures throughout the race is expected. So I mustered the energy to burn off a cookie or two Saturday morning with Benj.

Now, before I go any further, allow me to point out my shirt. And my hair color. Ben picked up our race packets the day before the race and inside was a nice, crisp, bright white shirt. And it was actually cute!

So when Ben said we were supposed to wear our white shirts to get splattered on, I was like, "No. That shirt is cute. I don't want to ruin a perfectly cute new white workout shirt. And besides, I already brought this old red one with me that can get ruined. Problem solved."

And then we arrived at the race. And literally everyone had their white shirts on. And mine was left at home. And at least Ben wore a white shirt even though it wasn't the official white shirt. So for future color runners who may be reading. Spare yourself the embarrassment and go ahead and throw that brand new white shirt on.

Because if you're not wearing a white shirt, you may just spend the whole race feeling awkward and outcasted, and that awkward feeling may translate into pictures in the form of unnatural hand placements.

Last word of advice to my future color running self or any prospective color runners -- that packet they give you at the end of the race is not for dumping all over your own head the minute you cross the finish line, but rather, it is meant to be spewn upon the crowds at the raging dance party. My bad.

The Color Run -- a.k.a. -- The best reality check that you aren't as cool as you once thought you were.

Even with my blonde moments, it was still a lot of fun, and now that I've done it once, I can more easily pretend to be one of the cool, I-wear-a-white-shirt kids. So I guess I'd better give it a more experienced try next year.

My high school self would be so embarrassed. But this is who we became, Sarah. This is who we became -- a red shirted, publicly fake high fiving in front of a "high five" sign, self-colored, dance party hating color run impersonator. With a sweat band on. Despite High School Sarah's best efforts to steer me in the opposite direction, I have drifted towards my awkward blonde side and chosen the path of...dork? I think that's the best word to describe the high school stereotype of who I have become. I'm sorry I did this to you. You tried so hard and for so long to stifle your inner dork all through your teenage years, but it was only a matter of time before your inner dork was unleashed. And here we are.

Now I'd like to take a moment to be grateful high school is over and hope that my kids can remain eternally unaware of my blaring dorkiness so I can live in my dork bubble for the rest of forever. Thank you.

In Case You Aren't On Instagram...

We've been keeping a lime-size secret.

Yes, I'm referring to a baby. Expected to arrive March 1st. Right in the heat of March Madness, so my mom has already resigned as postpartum babysitter.

We're so excited! More to come on a day that's not past my pregnancy induced 9:00 bedtime.

Summer Bucket List

I'm proud to announce I completed everything on my summer bucket list. 

Before you oooohhhh and aaaaaaahhh, I feel the need to confess that my summer bucket list only consisted of one item -- go to Bear Lake. But to Bear Lake we did go!

Practically every other week, we would catch wind that someone in our ward had just returned from the lake unofficially acclaimed as "most kid-friendly" due to its never-ending shore of toddler-waist-level water, allowing the kids to run free with little risk of drowning. Unless, of course, you're Carson.

Carson loves to crawl in water. Only trouble is, when he takes one crawl too deep, leaving his hands unable to reach the bottom without his face going under, he panics, flails, and flashes a look of hopeless shock across his face. What he doesn't realize is, if he would just stand up, the water would barely graze his knees. So this whole scene played out a few times. One of which happened while he was wearing a life jacket, proving once and for all that he is undoubtedly the most accident prone child I have ever crossed paths with.

Eli took comfort in his arm floaties.

The guys set up a pretty nice camp for us on the beach.

The cold water took a little getting used to, so the kids instinctively made a hot tub to acclimate their bodies to the lake.

Seagulls suddenly appeared right at 12:00. Seems they know when everybody starts to get their food out. Jeff took matters into his own hands and "single-handedly got rid of the seagulls" with the help of a fully loaded super soaker.

After lunch, we got the tubes out. Eli loved the tubes and spent the majority of the afternoon like so:

Carson got more and more brave with each hour that passed. By afternoon, he could be found with his hands pressed together like this, "diving" through the waves (without actually going under the water).

The boys refused to look at the camera if they noticed it out, while the girls would completely stop what they were doing to pose for a picture if they saw a camera in hand. I actually had to put my camera away several times because I felt like it was holding the girls captive from their playing.

Here's the prime example of they boys' reaction to the camera:

As soon as I told my mom we were going to Bear Lake, she said to me, "Put on LOTS of sunscreen. The worst sunburn I ever got was at Bear Lake. LOTS of sunscreen. On you. On your kids. On the part in your hair. On the tops of your feet. Everywhere."

Okay mom. I'm an adult. I'm responsible. I know the dangers of being in the sun. And besides, I don't burn. I get tan, so none of your warnings even apply to me.

I'll just be on my merry little way enjoying the perfect weather while making sand castles with my kids.

I'll just enjoy evening out the tan lines on my thighs that never see the sun.

I'll just sit with my back to the sun while I watch Jeff carefully craft a perfectionist's dream sand castle completely by hand.

No. Big. Deal. Mom.

Don't you hate it when your mom is right and knows you so well that she can predict your every vain mistake? Luckily I DID fully sunscreen my kids. Except for just above Carson's upper lip, so he's got a bit of a sunburn stache, but it appears to be more cute than painful.

I promptly threw a shirt on and already felt the sting as it swiped against my skin. Then I went back into the sun to snap a few more pictures.

May this forever be on our summer bucket lists. With a side note to reapply sunscreen throughout the day.

We heard a lot of talk of famous raspberry shakes, so we made a stop for some ice-cream on the way home.

Don't judge me because I got cookie dough ice-cream instead of the world famous raspberry. It was still one of the best shakes I've ever eaten.

It was such a fun little day trip and the perfect close to a great summer!