I will update on all the Christmas happenings when I get my house in order and Christmas put away.   I am very slow these days in getting these things accomplished and have made poor Serra my little stair runner.  She doesn't complain.  Bless her little heart.

Baby update:  I had a doc appointment today.  I am at 35 weeks.  We did another ultrasound to see if the baby is continuing the humongous trend that we checked on a few weeks ago.  Indeed this little critter is well on it's way to becoming a record setter.  The baby is measuring 42 weeks.  (Babies are considered full term at 40 weeks)  9 lbs 7 oz is the estimated weight right now.  There is a 20% margin of error in that estimate which means it could be at 8-7 or a whopping 10-7 right now.  But even 8-7 at 35 weeks is a bit much.  With a 1/2 - 1 lb growth each week  this critter could potentially be anywhere between 11 and 15 lbs. 

My choices. 1.   Let the baby come on it's own and take my chances.(Not considering this option)  2.  Get an amnio done on the 9th and if the lungs are developed fully induce on the 10th.  (37 weeks gestation) 3.  Wait until the 17th which is 38 weeks and induce without having to do an amnio. 

We are considering the 2nd and 3rd option and will make the choice by next Thursday.  I really don't want to do an amnio but waiting another week could mean another pound.  Either way we will have a baby in 2 or 3 weeks.  I have a lot to get done.  Let the nesting begin. 

Some Serraism's -  You have to love the english language.  Serra has a whole stack of sight words she has been working on.  One of them is "as".  She is in the process of learning to sound out words.  She does pretty well and gets really excited and blurts out the word loudly when she figures out what it is.  A=ah, S=ssss   ASS!  I'll admit I got the giggles and she couldn't figure out what I thought was so funny. 

In my current very pregnant condition getting on and taking off socks can be a bit of a challange.  The taking off part has been turned over to the girls who find great (weird) pleasure in the act.  A few nights ago Serra touched my rather spikey leg after helping me remove the socks and said.  "Mom your legs are very spikey.  Are they your secret weapons?"

Yesterday I was at Costco with both girls picking up gift baskets for Brian's clients.  Instead of a regular cart we had one of the flat heavy item ones so I could stack a lot more on than usual.  The girls were riding for most of the time.  They were singing Jingle Bells at the top of their lungs, (including Rosie) wearing matching Hawiian dresses, and Rosie's version was pretty darn cute as you only get the last word of each phrase.  But they were putting their hearts into it and we got plenty of smiles and Merry Christmas's out of it.  Sometimes it takes a bad version of Jingle Bells to put you in the Holiday spirit and I think my two monkeys helped a few people get there.  Now to teach them "Mele Kalikimaka" so their outfits match the song a little better. 

House Update:

BEHOLD! We have water!

Financing is proving a bit more tedious than our usual experience due to the recent mortgage crisis.  Different lending options are slamming shut left and right as more and more people out there foreclose.  Everything looks good but we have had to jump through a few unexpected hoops.  We should know this week if it's a go and sign papers after Christmas.  We won't be happy though until money starts showing up in our account.  But on a happy note we have now added water to our utilities up and running. 

  Last Tuesday I had an appointment with a hand specialist.  As most of you know I have pregnancy induced carpal tunnel that actually never completely went away after Serra was born and has gotten consistently worse with each pregnancy.  The bracing of the hands no longer helped and I was in pain no matter what I did;  Holding a fork to eat, blow drying my hair, holding a book, sleeping (that was the worse), writing, etc.  You name it I couldn't do it without major discomfort.  I did a little research on the cortisone and the effects it would have on a baby and what I could find was that it was considered completely safe, that very little of it, if any at all gets into the bloodstream.  So I went in for the injections.  They use rather large needles and inject a steroid in a saline solution into the wrists directly below the hand.  NOT pleasant, because the area that they have to inject is already so swollen.  In fact, those that know me know that I am a complete wus when it comes to needles.  Even though I didn't watch, I still passed out after the first wrist.  As I tried to keep my head down (there is no getting my head between my knees at this point) and take deep breaths Rosie decided it was time to unload her insides and severely stunk up the room not helping matters at all.  They asked me if I wanted to come back another time to do the other wrist.  NO, I was there, are you kidding me.  So they laid me down for the second one which hurt worse than the first.  Almost immediately my hands went completely numb.  That was expected, but try changing a seriously messy diaper in a bathroom with no changing facility with completely numb hands.  Good times.  Because of the faint, it took longer that I expected and then even longer to take care of Rosie's issue.  I was late picking up Serra from school.  She was fine but it's a little embarrassing to have to go to the office to retrieve your child like you forgot about them or something. 

It took four days for the steroid to kick in and I must say it was COMPLETELY worth it.  My hands are still swollen with all the extra fluid my body enjoys retaining this late in the game but there is no numbness or pain and it doesn't keep me up at night.  (Other things still do, but at least one thing is eliminated)  The shots are supposed to last a few months so I am good to go until we have the wee (or not so wee) one.  With that discomfort eliminated, and with my weekly chiropractic visits to keep my back in check, I feel so good I sometimes overdo it.  I have constant contractions in the evening, more than the allotted 4-5 an hour.  It's hard to put your feet up and relax this time of year though. . . So much to get done.  We are preparing to leave this Saturday for Christmas. 

Saturday the girls had their Primary Christmas party and got to talk to Santa for a minute.  Sophia is fascinated by him and calls him BaPa (grandpa) but would not sit on his lap.  She accepted a sucker though.  In the evening we ditched the girls and went to our adult C-mas party.  Our ward does it a little different,  you pretty much stay at one table with your assigned host and we have dinner and a little entertainment.  It was nice.

We had an interesting experience last week that is ongoing.  A woman moved into our ward boundaries with seven of her own kids ranging from 14 months - 10.  They had nothing but a few changes of clothing.  She had escaped an abusive husband and had not been able to take hardly anything with her.  The missionaries tracked into them and the babysitter who happened to be an inactive member asked if there was anything the church could do for this family.  As a Relief Society we sent out a notice Stake wide for anything people could donate to help out (furniture, clothing, beds, kitchen, etc.)  The response has been overwhelming.  I spent some time with her on Friday night as Brian was helping set up a washer, and Christmas tree, and some furniture, and again on Saturday.  (I took her to the Primary party)  She has already been through the missionary discussions a few years ago and wanted to join the church but had not been allowed to by her husband.  So they are starting over with those.  Anyway, it has been a really good experience for even Serra who is so excited to take over her extra bike for the girl a few years older than her.  The best part is to see a family so overwhelmed with love and kindness from people they don't even know. 

Here are some recent shots of the critters. 

Grandpa and Grandma went to Hawaii and picked up some matching dresses for the girls.

Rosie's Christmas present that is too big to take with us to Utah.  We set it up Saturday and unlike the first pictures may represent, Rosie did get to ride it first.  She loves it almost as much as Serra. 

Can't wait for Daddy to finish up. 

Rosie really gets into dinner sometimes. 

Testing out my new flash.  My other one stopped working.

Serra has had a loose tooth for about a month and we tried a few things while she was still brave.  They didn't work and she took herself and her loose tooth to New York and almost made it back to Vegas with it intact.  While at JFK in NY Brian took a look at it hanging there and reached in her mouth and plucked it out.  She called me at 4am to let me know the GREAT news.  The other tooth was already coming through.  The tooth fairy came the next night and left $2.  Now that's inflation.  I remember 25 cents. 

When they travelers returned we put up the Christmas tree and decorations.  I was pooped so the kids decorated the whole thing with the help of Daddy lifting them up to get stuff to the higher branches.  They did a great job and have been really good about leaving it alone. 

I had an interesting Doctor visit yesterday.  My appointment was preceded with an ultrasound to check on baby's size.  I am currently between 32 and 33 weeks.  The baby is measuring at 36 1/2 weeks and well over 6 lbs.  That is bigger than both Brian and I at our birth weights.  My doctor expressed some concerns because if the baby goes to term it will be well over 10 lbs.  When you go past 9 lbs. the threat of shoulder dystocia becomes real and very scary for both me and the baby.  He made the suggestion that we check progress at 36 weeks and if the baby is still on the high road to being a giant we induce at 37 weeks.  The downside to that is that in order to induce that early an amnio has to be done to make sure the lungs are developed enough.  The amnio can cause me to go into labor by making the water break or if  the needle punctures the cord the baby will have to be taken C-section then and there whether it is ready or not.  Also, I am not very good when it comes to needles, and that is one honkin' needle.  Dr. Martin assured me he does not often make this suggestion, in fact, he has only done so once before.  I don't like the idea of so much medical intervention on what should be a natural process but we work so hard to get these babies here I don't want anything, especially size, creating problems by letting nature take it's course.  It's quite a decision. 

Brian and I discussed it and we will make the determination after the next ultrasound.  They will have a better idea after comparing yesterdays and one at 36 weeks.  Either way, we will not be letting this baby go to term.  It will be at 37 weeks or a week and a half later when an induction can be done without an amnio.  YIKES!

Here is a link to a bit by Jim Gaffigan whom we saw last weekend.  Funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVKJpkq-wNo

It was a bit hairy there for a while but we got Brian and Serra back from New York yesterday afternoon.  Saturday night I got a call from Delta informing us that their flight on Sunday evening had been canceled in anticipation of some bad weather.  That was the craziest thing I ever heard...like asking for a day off from work 2 days down the road because you think you might get sick.  In actuality there was a big storm and it moved in Saturday night.  They cancel a certain number many flights in advance in order to cut back on the domino effect of so many canceled flights at the last minute.  Brian was able to book an earlier flight although he had to give up his first class seats in order to sit next to Serra.  He called me around 4 am my time and let me know it looked like they were going to make it on and to assume they did if he didn't call again.  Serra also announced that her tooth had just fallen out.  This is her first tooth and it was hanging by a thread when they left.  The new tooth is already visible.  I wasn't able to fall back asleep after that call because I was nervous they might not make it and I had to get up in a few hours anyway for church.  So I got up and got ready for church and kept tabs on their flight on the internet.  The flight was delayed over an hour to de-ice the plane, and so they got NO FOOD for over 8 hours.  They were very hungary.  I'm glad to have them back.  When Rosie spotted Daddy at the airport she hollared Daddy-Ome, and ran to him bypassing even Serra and almost plowing down some other lady.  She gave Serra a great big hug too and then started punishing her for leaving for so long.  By that I mean hollering at her if Serra tried to touch her or hug her again...Scowling at her...They were back into a routine by the time we got home and playing with their new American Girl dolls together.  We all slept the afternoon away and went to bed early.  Serra was especially miserable.  The traveling, lack of sleep, food, and drink took effect and she was sobbing and had a headache and stomachache.  She is still sleeping and going on a solid 12 hours even after a long afternoon nap yesterday.  She should be as good as new today. 

By the way, remember about 8-9 months ago we bought a lot with the intention on building a home.  I posted a picture of the lot.  I started a file in My Pictures.  Then we started the process of getting plans and permits and it took 6 months longer than we anticipated.  Well, we see VISIBLE progress this week.  We have the permits and the loan docs will be signed this week and.....

Power is being run to the lot as I write.  Brian sent this to me with his phone. I love technology.

November is nearly behind us and I must say I think the month has gotten away from me.  It is officially Christmas season.  I am about half way ready for it.  I think I feel a little behind because my Christmas decorations are still in boxes in the garage.  More on that later. 

Two weeks ago on Rosie's birthday, I was on my way to my Chiropractors office.  I was driving through a green light not far from my home and a grey corvette swerved in front of me at the intersection.  Her right front tire was blown and smoking and I expected her to pull over at any moment.  Instead she kept going and in fact sped up.  She was swerving a bit and all kinds of smoke was coming from that blown tire.  I thought, there is no way she can't tell that tire is gone especially since she seemed to be having a hard time controlling the car.  She was coming up on a stop sign and didn't even slow down.  She barreled right through it trying to turn left and didn't quite make the turn.  She barely missed a metal light pole, jumped a cinderblock ponywall and put a hole through a larger cinderblock fence.  The dogs in the yard were going nuts.  I quickly pulled over and instructed the girls to stay put.  A few others, she barely missed hitting at the stop sign, pulled over too and we got her out of the car.  The rough looking 46 year old woman was wearing a black mini skirt and black tights; and a tight sleeveless, gold, skintight, sequined top with a hot pink bra showing through.  She was not an overly thin woman and was spilling out of her clothes.  Her hair was also dyed a bad shade of red.  She could not walk well and nearly fell over several times into some bushes.  We called 911 and got the authorities there.  We thought she might be drunk but she insisted she hadn't been drinking that she was just in shock and embarrassed.  It was actually difficult to get anything out of her because she was crying and kept her head down and mumbled a lot.  She got difficult with the paramedics thinking they were cops and harassing her.  When the cops did get there a black midget cop (not kidding, and that was Brian's favorite part of the story) proceeded to do a sobriety test with her.  She could not even follow his finger with her eyes.  They did a few more tests with her while I was filling out a statement and before I finished she was handcuffed and sitting in the back of the squad car.  It was nearly 11am.  It is really scary to think about how many people are out there driving drunk and not always at night.  We were thankful to have been behind her and not in front of her when all this occurred. 

Last week we felt so thankful for all our blessings we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving twice.  Thursday we spent the day at the Andersons here in Las Vegas.  Amy Jo and Tucker and Grandpa and Grandma Gee came down from Utah.  And we had the rest of us Vegasins there;  Us, the folks, Adriane and Vito, and too many dogs to count.  We enjoyed a fine dinner and company into the evening.  The girls ate lots of candy and Rosie had a belly ache that night. 

The next morning we arose before the sun but still didn't manage to leave town before 8am.  We headed to Cedar City to spend the day with the Arnell folk.  Garys fam, Mom and Dad, Grandma Arnell from Bear Lake, Jeff and Maren, Dallas, and David were all there.  Again, we ate a fine T-day meal and visited into the evening.  Rosie almost died when she tried to climb over the upstairs wall by the stairs and was barely caught in time by an observant uncle David.  I enjoyed spending some time with Grandma Arnell.  I haven't had the chance in a long time to sit down and visit with her.  We left around 9pm and headed back to Vegas.  Serra was crying before the house was out of sight that she missed her cousins.  Thankfully neither girl slept on the way home.  Rosie crashed literally 2 minutes before we got home and we had a successful transfer to her bed.  Serra was asleep before her head hit the pillow with the promise of double stories the next night swimming in her head.  And we were able to go straight to bed.  (Not a common occurrence around here)

Saturday is kind of a blank to me.  I know Brian worked most of the day.  I think the girls and I kind of laid low and I may have taken a nap.  Brian and I had a date that night that had been planed a few weeks prior.  We dropped the girls off at Grandmas were they got fed pizza and chicken noodle soup which are both favorites.  Rosie got mad at Grandma though when she didn't have any juice boxes.  She is really into those right now.  Brian and I went to dinner at Claim Jumper where we had $100 gift card.  We ordered up, got the most expensive things on the menu and spent the whole thing.  I was not able to finish my prime rib which made it home and into a steak and egg burrito the next morning for Brian.  We went and saw a comedian by the name of Jim Gafigan.  He is seriously one of the funniest people on the planet and his comedy is clean.  We had a great time. 

This week I spent Monday and Tuesday making final preparations for Brian and Serra who left for NYC Wednesday morning.  We had to get up at 4:30 to get them to the airport on time.  Brian has a friend who got engaged a few years ago and Brian told him if he actually ever did get married then Brian would come.  Well the day is this coming Saturday.  I am not up for a five hour flight, lots of city walking, subway travel, and hustling 2 kids around all that stuff right now so I had to stay behind.  Brian decided to take Serra along and have a fun trip where they did things that she would enjoy.  They so far have called me every few hours to fill me in on all the fun things they are doing.  I am a bit jealous but know that I wouldn't have had too much fun if I were there.  They went to the Rockafeller Center Christmas Spectacular today and got Serra's Christmas present at the American Girl store.  Tomorrow they will head to Massachusetts to visit Holly and Ian, and then back to New Jersey for the Wedding on Saturday.  I expect them back on Sunday sometime although I am not sure of the time yet.  I will attempt to get Brian to write a report when they get back. 

I don't have Christmas decorations up yet because as soon as we were back from T-day I was busy getting B and S ready for the trip.  I neglected to have Brian get the Christmas boxes down from their high perch in the garage before he left.  Then I thought, Serra would most likely like to help with the decorations.  So, next week we will get Christmas up and I will feel  100% in the holiday mood.  Here are some pictures from the past two weeks. 

Rosie has a condition where she plays really hard, refuses to take a scheduled nap, and occasionally just collapses where ever she may be.  This is half way in the house and half way out. 

Rosie is starting to get a reputation for this scowl.  She got a new baby for her birthday and she fell instantly in love.  It goes nearly everywhere with her.  It need clothes though, so I have to be careful about some places we take it.

Serra gave Rosie one of her bears. 

We sure think our kids are cute. Is it just me or do they look about the same size in this picture.

She blew out 2 candles in 2 blows.  Not bad for a 2 year old.

On to Thanksgiving.  The pre-feast.

Serra was ready and figured if she sat down maybe someone would take a hint. 

Rosie takes a pre-dinner roll.

FINALLY!  The real stuff.

The fogie table.  (I sat there too)

The younger and more hip table. 

The girls love thier Uncle Vito.  He sat down and colored with them for a long time. 

Three pregant sisters.  I wonder who's baby will be the biggest?  Ours is still mystery baby and Adriane and Amy Jo are both having girls.  We are all due within weeks of each other.

Rosie took care of dishing herself up. 

I took care of dishing myself up.  Looks good EH?

So here's my question for the day (actually for the last week).  Why do the Elders have sign ups that involve purchasing or preparing or supplying food for something.  After all who actually ends up taking care of that?  Last week they sent around 10 or so sign ups in EQ to supply items for T-day dinners to a few struggling families.  Brian started signing his name to items and then thought it was lame to sign up for 10 individual items and just told the EQ pres to get him a list of the complete dinner and he would take care of one whole dinner.  Then he came home and told me that he had done this.  OK that's fine just get the list and when I go to the store I will pick up everything.  I still don't have a list and this is the final day they are collecting everything and I have put off going to the store so I didn't have to make more than one trip.  (I blame my present condition in refusing to make more than one trip) We are out of nearly everything and I really need to go to the grocery store.    So why do they have any kind of food assignments for the Elders?  It's a good idea in theory but who really ends up completing the assignment?  I don't really mind taking care of it but let's be honest...if this was an RS assignment, I would have been able to take a nice little printed up list at the time I signed up. 

On a more cute note.  Here is what we got of Rosie last Saturday.  She actually cooperated better than I expected.  Serra feels left out if I don't take pictures of her too so she jumped in some at the end and Wallah!  we have our Christmas letter photo.  I'm not sure which I'll use yet but I have a pretty good idea.  Any votes?

  I have been working like mad trying to get caught up on the scrapbooks for the past few months.  I was stuck back in 2005 and with each month that passed a larger mental block prohibited me from tackling it.  I recognized that with the addition of a third child to the mix around here I was really going to fall behind and so I tackled it.  I am now through 2005 and starting 2006.  When I got to November 2005, the month that Rosie was born, I found the disc Mom Arnell had given me with all the pictures she had taken at the hospital.  I had gone through it before but hadn't noticed that there were video clips as well.  What a pleasant surprise that was.  I have edited it a bit because it is right after Rosie is born and some of it is a bit too much for xanga viewing.  This was our no epidural experience.  Major kudos to anyone who does that more than once. 

Happy Birthday Rosie!

Last week my computer refused to turn on and the power button flashed a continuous orange light.  Investigation on the internet indicated I might have a power supply problem.  I was freaking slightly because I hadn't backed up all the scrapbook pages I had been working on for 6 months.  In communicating with Dell I only got more frustrated.  The year warranty was up 6 months ago and I could renew it for $40 and then they would diagnose the problem.  I could then replace the part they diagnose remotely, and then install it myself.  Yeah!  That sounds like a GREAT plan.  I hung up.  Monday a former member of our ward, who fixes computers, came by to check it out.  He hooked up his little things and showed me a little green tab about the size of a tic tac.  He says that sometimes static and dust cause it to short out.  All you have to do it take it off move it over and then move it back again.  It resets the internal battery, you know the one that keeps the time and date and stuff like that, and wallah, computer fixed.  That cost me $40.  Gladly paid.  Especially since if it happens again he showed me how to fix it.  He did a few other things that updated my motherboard and all that.  Anyway, I'm back on line and I am never turning my computer off again. 

Back to Rosie on this the 2nd anniversary of her birth.  We measured her the other day and she is 35".  For those of you who believe the measure a girl at 2, double it, and that will be her height as an adult, that puts her at 5'10".  I would expect nothing less of Brian's daughters.  We'll have to wait a few years to test the theory though.  We aren't having a big party as everyone seems to be working today and tonight, but she got to frost a cupcake and open a few presents at the Anderson Grandfolks Sunday night.  We will do similar tonight although I may throw a few balloons in for fun.  And there will be pictures of the fun.  Her two year old photo shoot is scheduled for Saturday.  We'll see how that goes. 

Permit update:  Brian waited in line yesterday for an hour to get permits in hand.  They wouldn't take a business check because we are building owner/builder.  So he has a personal check in hand and will get permits in hand today.  Then because of the holiday weekend next week we won't fund until Monday after T-day.  Then we start digging.  Finally I will be able to add pictures to my house folder. 

Permit update;  We don't have them in hand yet but we received notice yesterday that the plans were approved and that we should expect the permit to be available as early as Tuesday.  Final plans and documents were sent to the bank yesterday as well so funding should be in place next week as well.  I grossly underestimated the time it would take us to get the plans through Clark County but some of the blame is on me as I've been so busy with the business that the house plans often took a back seat.  Anyhow...looks like we'll be off and running shortly.