Monday Serra had a photo session for her 3 year pictures.  She didn’t cooperate very well and was doing a lot of that fake smile stuff that is really goofy.  So I was pleasantly surprised when I got on the computer to edit them.  She did much better than I thought and we had a hard time choosing which ones to print for framing. 

Before I post pictures…Yesterday was my 10 week check up.  I now see the midwife every month until we get closer to the end and there is not much difference in the care I get.  She is very good at what she does and I feel comfortable with her.  We were able to see the baby on ultrasound and he/she was moving around like it was aerobic hour.  Joyce the midwife calls it the marionette stage;  little hands and feet moving all over the place, it was pretty cute.  Serra was in the room with us and she thought that was pretty neat and told us all about what the baby was doing.  So all is well as we move into what is considered the honeymoon stage of pregnancy.  I feel great.  Sunday when I had a small snack at church, Serra asked me, “are you feeding the baby?”  I guess I was.

And let us not forget about the gimp.

You may think Mo has a hard time getting around with his little green cast.  Yesterday, Brian took Serra for a walk and Mo was beside himself with misery for getting left.  Brian felt bad so he decided to carry him.  At one point he put Mo down thinking he would limp beside him for a moment.  Wrongo Dongo.  Mo took off until Brian could no longer see him.  All he could hear was the clunck clunck every time the cast hit the pavement.

A few days ago while Serra and I were out attending to some church duties, Mo busted out of lockup and tore apart the house.  You see, it hadn’t been Mo-proofed because he was locked in his crate.  When we got home to trash strewn about the house (including rotten avocado parts smeared all over the floor and rug)  his punishment began.  He usually gets sent outside for a while until I don’t feel like beating him anymore, however, there was a little boy coming by to drop off something to us and I didn’t want him getting jumped all over so I put Mo in the garage until he left.  Then I put Mo outside on the patio.  I dropped him from about waist level out onto the cement which I have done hundreds of times.  He jumped at the same time and landed on his leg wrong.  His leg is swollen and he has been hopping around like a gimp dog ever since.  Brian took him to the pet clinic this morning to see if it is more serious than we thought.  I feel really bad.  I wasn’t trying to hurt him, and now Brian has lost his jogging partner as well. 

On a happier note:  We decided that Serra was ready for some night time potty training.  It has been three nights now and with a potty run before she goes to bed and at 6am when Brian gets up.  She has been dry each time.  And she goes back to sleep after her little trip.  She is very pleased with herself and we are not too disappointed.  I have to keep reminding myself that not all kids are as good as she is.  She has been a breeze child since the moment of birth.  I have been waiting to take this step because I was dreading changing bedding everyday. ( I knew it wouldn’t work if she wore a diaper) I hope the next one is just as easy, but we certainly won’t be able to complain if there are a few challenges.  Yesterday morning she stayed awake long enough to notice that Brian was up and getting ready for the day.  She said, “Daddy, get in bed you need to sleep.”  He told her he was getting ready for work.  She then told him that it was still dark outside and that means he should be sleeping still.  I agreed with her and we cuddled up and went back to sleep.

Mo update:  The Vet said upon first inspection that it was most likely broken by looking at the swelling and the pain Mo was in.  After X-Rays he was surprised that there were no broken bones and that it just a really badly jammed wrist.  Mo is drunk on sedatives right now and resting comfortably with his new green splint.  He has to stay immobile for 30 days and no stairs.  This will be interesting in a tri-level house and with a very energetic dog.

Donations are welcome to help with the doctor bills.

Soon after yesterday’s entry we headed to Calabasas where SV and I hung out with Mom through the afternoon.  Mom helped us with the dinner and the Camarillo crew showed up at around 6pm to join us.  We missed Liesl but understand that she was helping out some friends that really needed her at that time.  The kids all did their thing and played it up the whole night.  SV had a lot of help from present unwrapping to checking out the new stuff, to blowing out the candles.  I think it is almost as fun for the other kids as it is for the birthday kid.  It was obvious that Serra’s cousins spent a lot of time and used a lot of imagination in preparing the perfect birthday gifts.  There were handmade cards, many coins, and Katrina made a little flower garden with removable flowers that had a vase to put them in.  It was miniature too.  Pretty cute.

Other things included: Candy Land, Blues Clues Memory, Sesame Street Chutes and Ladders, coin purses,  Shreck blanket, several new outfits with matching shoes hats and sweaters, some books, balls for the pool, Veiwmaster, paint book, money, purse with matching panties, hair accessories, a Golden Bible, playdough, Safety Kids, a talking mirror, and more I’m sure.  Thankyou everyone for making Serra’s 3rd birthday wonderful for her.  She had a great day. 

The first word out of Serra’s mouth as she woke up this morning was, “fee”  which of course is three.  Here are the pictures.

Here is everyone minus Pam the photo taker.

Like I said..Lot’s of help…she loved it.

IT’S A WATCH!   They had a great time making balloon noises.

What a great day!

This mirror tells her “You’re pretty” and “Your a princess” to which she replies, “uh huh”, or “thankyou”.

Elmo Cake

Jacob was very concerned that he was not going to get a part of everything on the cake.  Especially the rice crispy treats.

Conference weekend play time and more of Serra’s love affair with the mirror.

                                             MONDAY….SERRA VEE’S BIRTHDAY!….yeah.

And Happy birthday to Serra Sr. as well.  We hope you are feeling better and can enjoy your big day. 

Serra Jr.  has been very excited this past week as her birthday approaches.  She sings happy birthday to herself.  (Is doing so right now)  It sounds more like.  AAAAAHHHHHahhhhahhhh….it’s my birthday….all da way…..ahhhhahhhhhhdaaaaadaaaa.   We ask her what she wants to do for her b-day and she replies. PRESENTS!  She has been well prepped by attending other birthday celebrations.  So rather than post anymore I will get her ready in a new birthday dud and take off to get the balloons, take lunch to daddy, and then to Grandma’s house where we will get ready for the festivities.  This is such a great age. 

So this week I have begun the catch up process for scrapbooks.  It takes weeks sometimes months to finish all the prep work prior to actually putting everything in the notebooks for me.  About half of the pages need to be done on the computer and then it’s gathering everything together and putting them in the order they will appear.  I have reached the stage of putting things in books and I have been able to get a lot done this week. ( in between my naps of course) 

This evening I am giving a presentation for Enrichment Night.  I am giving tips on how to make the most of your photographs.  I also will delve a little into posing people etc.  for home photo shoots….and a little into the technical parts of picture taking.  It goes along with family history  a bit. 

I still feel pregnant.  Hungary most of the time…ok…all of the time.  The strangest thing.  When I was expecting Serra I couldn’t get enough soup.  I ate soup everyday.  Sometimes more than once.  Then after she was born, the soup sat in my pantry.  It has come out again and I have stocked up.  It is the only thing that really sounds good to me.  Vegetables make me gag and I have to force myself to eat a few servings everyday.  Meat is pretty much unthinkable although I manage to choke down a few bites everyday as well.  Cold cereal is do-able too.  Anyway, with this much food aversion I am feeling pretty good about hanging on to this critter. 

No pictures today. 

Serraisms:

Serra opened the bathroom cupboard and saw where I store the extra bars of soap.  “Look, Mommy, soap!” 

I told her, “Yes, that’s where I keep the new bars of soap.”

To which she happily replied, “Yes, to wash my bum.”

Whenever Serra thinks I am upset about something she hugs me and strokes my hair and says, “It’s OK Mommy, I promise.”

Before going to bed she likes to play what she calls Daddy Dinasour.  This entails getting a should er ride upstairs to bed and then hanging on to Daddy’s back while he acts like a T-Rex roaring and gently trying to throw her off. 

A few weeks ago we had the elders over for dinner.  Serra jerked the table at one point and spilled their drink all over herself and them.  Yesterday at church she pointed to the Elders and said.  “Look Mommy,  the Ledders are here.  They come and eat at us and spill punch.”

Now this message is for Julie.  Remember a few months ago when you posted a bunch of hidious pictures of your family members. 

                                                         It’s Payback

Maybe I was too vague in my last entry announcement.  I guess anyone reading who had not experienced the early stages of pregnancy would think I was complaining about the flu or something like it.  So here I am being a little clearer.  We are expecting again and I am holding out so far going on 8 weeks.  I will feel a little more confident when the 12th week is done and the progesterone need is gone and the risk decreases to almost none.  We saw and heard the heartbeat at 6 weeks and that is a good sign. 

Today Serra~V~ was watching an episode of Blues Clues where they were talking about words in spanish.  She came upstairs to where I was on the computer and tells me that “milk is leche”  she already knows “hola” means hello and hollers it at people in the grocery store.  It can be a little unnerving especially since 70% of the people are hispanic.  If she is not yelling hola over and over she is yelling at people to get out of the way.  We get dirty looks sometimes but mostly laughs as I apologize and tell SV to pipe down. 

We are hanging out with the cuzzins today while Gary and Liesl attend the temple.  Serra’s version of heaven.

      I seem to be feeling a little flu like with an upset stomach nearly all day for the past few weeks.  I have thrown up occasionally which makes me feel better for a little while.  But unlike the flu I am hungry all the time and yet nothing tastes good and even the thought of eating makes me a bit queasy.  I don’t ache or anything but I am tired during the day and can be found taking naps on occasion while Serra watches Blues Clues.  What could it be?  What could it be?   I suspect it will all end in a few months. 

       We just finished watching the first session of conference and it was nice.  We Tivoed it this morning so we could take our time getting up and having breakfast.  We started watching it about 1/2 hour into it.  It was especially nice when we missed something or wanted to pause it to take care of something for Serra.  We simply pressed pause and then resumed when we could.  We have no excuses for missing anything. 

Happy Conferencing!!!