So Beeg!

At the pool with my seesters and kids on Labor Day.

That other baby is Pip's twin cousin, born the same week, different year.

I am so beeg! For me, I mean. I'm one of the lucky ones though--my full-term belly is smaller than most. I'm enjoying the last bit of pregnancy in the following ways. I LOVE WEARING BLACK! I wash my black clothing items every few days so I can wear them as often as possible! I LOVE MY ROCK-HARD ABS!! I know, I know, it's not really my abs, it's actually my uterus in constant surge (seriously, I get Braxton Hicks for like three hours straight), but I love the tight belly and know that as soon as Squirt emerges, it will just feel like deflated dough. I LOVE ENJOYING MY TWO SWEET BABIES!!! They are so adorable and fun, I just can't get enough of them! I LOVE THAT I WAS STILL RUNNING UNTIL JUST RECENTLY! I ran till 38 weeks this time and decided to call it quits when I felt the urge to pee with every step. I'm still getting out with the Baby Jogger, but we do a walking hill workout instead of a run now. I LOVE SQUIRT'S LITTLE MOVEMENTS, HICCUPS, AND KICKS! It's one of my favorite things about late pregnancy, and I always miss feeling my fetus inside me when it comes out. I LOVE BEING ABLE TO NAP WHEN MY KIDS NAP! I've got Squeak and Pip's afternoon naps coordinated (it took me about a year to do this), and I've been taking advantage of their naptime to get a little rest myself. And by the way, they're sleeping now, so I should be too...

Advice, anyone?

I'm really interested in simplifying my life. It was so great to move recently and get rid of extra stuff. But it was only a start! I want some helpful hints. Right now, I don't have the time or drive to deal with "extra." So, what does everyone do to keep things simple?

Vote! on my new poll and Independence Day photos

These are some old, pre-Colombian photos.

I'm still running, yippee! I even ran the Freedom Run 5K on July 4. I was slow--we started late and then finished with the 10K runners. My sis ran with me (actually pushed the double jogger for me!). It was funny, the crowds were saying, "You go, girl," to her, and I was thinking, "Man, I'm the one who's 7 months pregnant!" but now that I look at the photos, I didn't look very pregnant, just fat. NICE!

D didn't join in the festivities. He was busy studying for those board exams he loves so much. We had our awesome friends over the next day for his BIRTHDAY PIE.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 2-year anniversary!

(we were in the middle of moving)

I have this tradition of taking a photo in my wedding dress every anniversary. D likes to put his fancy clothes on too. If I'm pregnant, I'm off the hook though. I managed to get back into my wedding dress three months postpartum for our second anniversary (I credit the miracles of breastfeeding and training for the Spudman), and again for our fourth. I didn't even try this year. I have been perpetually pregnant and/or breastfeeding for 4 years now. WOW! (And I wonder why I don't have as much energy as I used to have.)

We celebrated our anniversary this year by me and the munchkins picking up D from the airport after his return from New York. I made tri-berry Anniversary pie. I think it was one of my best pies ever. I tried to get a decent photo, but I had to keep retaking because I looked fat in all of them. Here's the "skinniest" one (with me hiding).

Happy five years!

BUSY!?

I thought about this today. The irony is so amusing!

Fifteen years ago...
Just graduated from high school. Working full-time as a lifeguard for the summer. Spending my weekends going to the beach and hiking through the rainforest. Waking up early to go bird watching. Taking summer classes at the local college. Would I ever have time to get packed up for college? I was so BUSY!!

Ten years ago...
Just off the mission. Working part-time at the MTC and attending school full-time. Taking care of my younger brother and sister who had come to visit from Chile for the summer. Spending lots of time working in my calling in the Relief Society presidency. Going latin dancing on the weekends and hiking during spare moments. Would I ever catch up on that missed sleep? I was so BUSY!!

Five years ago...
Engaged to D. Working full-time as a Spanish translator. Training for a marathon and a triathlon. Spending many hours working in my calling as Activities Committee co-chair in the singles ward. Planning wedding receptions. Heavily involved with my non-profit organization. Taking weekend trips to see friends, and escaping to the Motherland (Panama) two weeks before I got married. Would I ever be able to fit it all in? I was so BUSY!!

Today...
Married with two adorable (and very busy!) little kids. Working full-time, plus overtime as a mom. Looking forward to having three kids, ages three and under, around the end of next month. D's been working in New York for three weeks. Taking care of my parents' lawn and garden while they're on vacation. Taking care of my sister's dog. Spending lots of time feeding and changing diapers and clothes and doing lots of laundry. "Personal time" is a mysterious concept (although I am posting on my blog right now). Wondering if I will ever get all the boxes unpacked before it's time to pack up and move again. Will I ever find the time to cut my nails? I am so BUSY!!

So, ask me in five years if I really understood now what "busy" meant.

More Placenta Excitement

Squirt is kind of a quiet fetus. When Squeak was a fetus, I always felt her kicks in the same spot near my ribs on the right side--not painful kicks, but plenty of movement to always let me know that she was there. Pip didn't have a regular kicking spot as a fetus; he was all over the place, but I always felt movement. Squirt is different. Hours will go by, and I won't feel a thing. It has always been this way, and at first, it was kind of unnerving--I would worry about him/her being OK--but now I'm used to it.

So I was telling my mother-in-law about my "quiet fetus" and she said that she had a quiet fetus too, and that when the baby was born, she was a really good sleeper. I thought, "GREAT! A baby who sleeps!" I've never had one of those before, so the prospect was pretty exciting.

Then I happened to mention to my midwife that I don't feel a lot of movement from this one. She flipped through my chart and said, "Oh, you have an anterior placenta." Most of the time, the placenta forms on the posterior wall of the uterus, but sometimes it forms in a different spot, and this time for me, it's on the anterior wall. She said with an anterior placenta, moms don't feel as much movement--Squirt is probably kicking the placenta (which I can't really feel), but not the uterine wall (which I would feel). So I've decided not to expect to have a baby who sleeps.

Other baby news: Squeak has been telling me, "Tengo un bebe en la barriga." She usually tells me this after she's eaten a lot and has a pot belly. She told the nursery leaders on Sunday about the baby in her tummy. What a girl!

The Women in Our Lives

I loved this very uplifting message from President Hinckley. "How thankful I am... how thankful we all must be for the women in our lives. God bless them." Check it out HERE.

Just a little glimpse of Colombia

First Foreign Trip With Kids
...and we survived!

Here we are at the airport in Salt Lake. We had to get the kids up at 4 a.m. to make our 7:00 flight. Don't we all look awesome?!?

This contraption SAVED OUR LIVES. It's a doggie tent. We set it up in the airport during both layovers so Pip could nap. He is not a lap napper; he has to have a bed, and this little tent did the trick. Squeak used it the whole time in Colombia for naptime and nighttime. Bless you, Ann!

We had a wonderful trip to Colombia! I was so thrilled to be outside the U.S. again (I used to take foreign trips at least twice a year, but haven't since we've had kids), and we were all so excited to visit D's parents who are missionaries in Bogota. We affectionately call them "Baba" and "Otro Baba" because of Squeak.

I must admit, I was nervous about the prospect of all-day travel with two high-energy kids whose worst nightmare is sitting still. I got some great travel gear and advice from a friend who regularly travels with kids--so helpful! The kids did well, considering, but toward the end of our flight down to Bogota, Squeak was screaming, "No mas avion!"

D spent most of the time working at a nearby hospital. I spent most of the time hanging out with Baba and the kids. We all had a lot of fun! It was really nice for our kids to discover that Spanish is not just their parents' language--Squeak was so pleased to find out that everyone in Colombia understood her. Nursery on Sunday was especially fun for the munchkins.

Well, this post is already feeling too long. I've decided not to give a travelogue, just brief captions for the photos.

Museo del Oro and getting to know the city: D and I got to go on a date! Here are our fans waving to us when we came back. So cute!



These guys aren't statues--they're real people! They were all over the place.

Lots of gold!
Golden grimaces


Birth in the squatting position--I love how all cultures revered birth and fertility enough to make it part of their art.
Being great with child, I just had to pose next to it


Mass at Catedral Primada--it was so neat to be there!

This photo is terrible, but I had to get a shot of all those roses--they're real!

I thought this message in Plaza Bolivar was quite profound


Squeak and Otro Baba on Monserrate

We did this awesome hike. Segun, this crater lake was where the treasures of the famed city "El Dorado" were hidden.

We even got to go to the Bogota Temple (just a 15-minute walk from the apartment!)

My very own store!

Happily eating Baba's waffles

Independence Day for the second time this year--It happened in Colombia while we were there, and we got to see all the flags and celebration in this little town.

Our little monkeys were in heaven with the cheap and plentiful bananas

Maybe I'll post some more photos later...

Tres Primaveras

Scenes from the running trail near Skunk Creek

We are so lucky this year to be able to experience springtime THREE TIMES! I enjoyed the lovely desert flowers near my jogging trail in Phoenix. Just as it started to heat up, we moved to Utah, where spring was just beginning. It was a longer-than-normal spring here, with wonderful rainstorms through May, June, and even into July. I have loved all the green and feel lucky for the extra rain (making up for all the rain I missed out on in Arizona!). Well, now it's starting to heat up in Utah, and we're heading to Colombia, where we will experience yet another spring--temps mostly in the 50s and 60s with lots of rain. Ahhh!

One Fine Placenta

I am fascinated with the human body. I loved my anatomy and physiology classes in high school and college--they strengthened my belief in God and the perfect order He created. I am especially awed by the fact that women's bodies were created to grow and nourish a baby. When Squeak was born, I felt complete reverence knowing that my body had created her entire self from two cells in a mere nine months.

Pretty much my only regret with Squeak's birth is that I didn't get a photo of her placenta. It was awesome, so healthy and large and amazing... I made sure to get a photo of Pip's placenta, not wanting to make the same mistake twice. I won't be uploading that photo, though. The nurse was a little, shall we say, indiscreet with her aim, and since I don't have Photoshop... Oh, well.

The PLACENTA... If you're not a biology person, you may not know this, but pretty much all your body does during the first trimester is make a placenta. Yes, of course, the baby is developing and different organs are forming, but the major GROWTH that occurs in the unborn baby doesn't happen until after the placenta is formed. Your body grows a placenta and your placenta grows a baby. And the placenta is a new organ (but just a temporary one)--so in approximately 12 weeks, the woman's body creates a whole new organ. WOW! That's why I'm always so excited to see the placenta when I have a baby.

Squirt's placenta: Well, this must be one fine placenta, because my body sure worked hard to make it. I never felt so sick with my other two pregnancies. I was curled up on the couch for most of the day, every day. Unfortunately, not knowing how ill I would feel, I had already committed to hosting and running my birthday half-marathon, finishing up one HypnoBirthing class and teaching another, throwing a baby shower, watching my friend's 2-year-old for a few days while she was in the hospital having a baby, and getting ready to move out of state. This time period also coincided with one of D's busiest months of the year. I'm not sure how we survived, to be honest. I was so grateful for the visit of my sis and our dear friends during that time--it helped keep my mind off the fact that I felt like poo all the time. After I'd done the stuff I'd committed to do, I decided to lay low. I didn't clean the house, buy food, or even go out unless it was absolutely necessary. I was a little bit worried about our upcoming move, but fortunately I stopped feeling like throwing up a few weeks before, so I was able to pack and stuff (although 2+ months of being sick had made me completely disorganized, blah!), plus we had a bunch of people bail us out.

So maybe I'll get a good shot of Squirt's placenta this time. I'm interested to see if my theory is correct--the harder your body works to make the placenta, the more robust your placenta is.