ONE LAST HURRAH

Yay! We had one last day before school starts that was warm enough to go to our favorite little water park. We have been spending our summer days at this little park since Ewan was a baby.

Good-bye summer. Hello Fall. School starts Tuesday...

Finally caught on tape...

I was just telling someone recently about Ewan's hysterical habit of falling asleep while eating. I've never been able to get a video of it on time...but last night...SUCCESS!

My camera doesn't record sound. I'm hoping to get a digital video camera before the baby is born. It's so sad at the end of this clip, can you see him mouthing the words "Help! Help!" He was so tired. He was up at 4:30 that morning. I would know, he had me up with him and neither of us got back to sleep.

ASHLEY GETS MARRIED

Our niece Ashley got married this past weekend. Ashley and Will had a beautiful ceremony in the Portland Temple and then we all went to the Olive Garden for a luncheon afterword.
Evan and I truly enjoyed the fact that living so close to the Temple, we were able to leave our kids with a babysitter and enjoy the beauty of the Temple and the relaxation of the meal afterword with out little ones in tow :) We even took the rare opportunity to take a picture of just us on the Temple grounds. We have so few of us anymore...
Our other married nieces and nephews had their little children with them. We were laughing about the fact that Evan and I are "Great Aunt Rebecca and Great Uncle Evan" to those kids...Don't you have to have grey hair before you can attach a "great" to the beginning of your title? Here is our nephew Brett with our great nephew Jared...so cute.Our kids went buz-erko on the sweets at the reception. Cameron came back to our table at one point with a plate of 16 brownies! When we pointed out to him the slim chance of him being able to actually EAT that many, he willingly shared with his brother and sister.
Look at how HUGE I am. One of the grooms aunts said she was worried I was going to go into labor during the ceremony...I have 8 weeks to go!

DRESS UP!

Some random cuteness from today...

The boys are both into Pirates right now. Cameron says he's Jack Sparrow and Ewan calls himself Will Turner...Cameron asked me last week for some rum to go with his lunch, as that is the most appropriate pirate drink. I found the boys these Pirates of the Caribbean dress up accessories at Target on clearance for just a couple of dollars, and made them wait until they "earned" them. Today was the day. They had fun so much fun fallowing their map and searching the house for treasure.

I mentioned in my last post that Baby Anne's clothes are sorted, washed and put away. Well little miss Heather is fascinated by them. She keeps taking them out to examine, fold into piles, and try on. Today when I thought she had been down for her nap for an awfully long time, I went up to check on her and found this...She had four pairs of little tiny baby stretch pants pulled up to her shins, and eight newborn onesies pulled over her head.I just can't get mad at her, even though it drives me crazy that my clean folded baby cloths are all over her bedroom floor. I know how excited she is to be a big sister and how fascinated she is with all things "baby" right now. I just hope she gets over this faze before Anne is born...

Random tid bits...

1. I am a victim of identity theft. Somewhere out there, some hoochy armed with my name and my social security number has taken my credit for a joy ride. The path to taking my good name (and previously great credit) back has been a time consuming one. I get at least a couple pieces of mail a day either warning me of a potentially fraudulent attempt to access an already established credit account or wanting more proof of identity before starting up a new account...or sending me a new card in her (I assume not real) name, or charging me for a cell phone I don't have, or confirming that the fraud alert I placed on my credit is indeed up and functioning. What is totally bogus about the whole thing is that when I filed the police report and talked to the officer over my case, I was told that the police department phone rings off the hook all day long with complaints such as mine and that these are the most labor intensive cases to investigate, so all the police are likely to do is give me a case number that I can use to repair my credit and tell me to figure out a way to protect myself better from here on out. OUCH. Seriously, if identity theft is so easy and there is pretty much no chance of being caught and prosecuted, no wonder their phone is ringing off the hook.

2. I am getting a new calling today...one that will occupy me during sacrament meeting. I can't stop giggling about it. Is that bad? When Heather was born, Evan had callings that tied him up for all three hours of church. I had a three year old with undiagnosed autism who would not go to primary, a 15 month old and a nursing baby. Lets just say church was difficult. Evan always seems to have callings that leave me to wrangle the kids. I just keep picturing him out there in the pews with three kids and tiny baby...and I giggle. I'm evil, I know. He is totally supportive and didn't flinch when I told him. He is a good guy.

3. We are in the middle of a heat wave. Its been hanging around 100 or more for three days in a row. For those of you who don't live in Oregon, you may not think much of it, but like most Oregonians, we don't have AC, and I am in my third trimester of pregnancy. Echh. I went to bed last night (on the third floor of our house) with a bowl of ice cream, a cold water bottle, a spray bottle to douse myself with, a fan blowing on me on high...
Typical to Oregon weather, it is changing tomorrow. It's supposed to be rainy and 60 on Wed. I can't wait! I remember three years ago when I was expecting Heather how excited I was when
Fall got here...

4. Some of you may not know what a freak I am when it comes to getting ready for a baby. Lets just say, I take the whole "nesting" thing to new heights. I've got about 10 weeks to go, and apart from packing my bag, she could come tomorrow and we'd be ready. I take that back. I would need to put a clean sheet on the bassinet. I am so, so excited. We are having another baby! Fourth time around, it's still an all consuming, thrilling, unfathomably life changing experience. I feel so privileged to be able to be a mother. My kids have been so wonderful this past week. Cameron has been saying things like "Mom, I would be happy to help you. You do so much for me and I want to take care of you because you are the best Mom I have ever seen." Elder Ballard said in conference this past April that young mothers should remember that the great moments in motherhood are just that, "moments." I am having one of those "moments" and just wanted to share...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EWAN!

We recently watched Ewan's birth video as a family. All the kids got a kick out of the fact that pretty much right after the nurse put him on my tummy, he peed and it went right into my mouth...they talked about it for days. What struck me the most (as it does every time I watch it) was how emotional I was. I cried a cry of such joy and relief. It was almost exactly 1year from the day that I had delivered our little Connor in the same delivery room. Ewan's presence in our family has been such a blessing from those first moments of heeling, to the sweet tender spirit of love and affection he blesses us with now. Ewan's first Halloween. Cameron and Ewan. Dec. 04
Ewan on his first Birthday
Asleep in Daddy's arms. What an angel.

Heather and Ewan are only 15 months apart. He calls her Headah and she calls him Weewen.

It NEVER surprises me what Ewan will get up to/into. Oh the stories I will have to tell about this kid for years to come...Here is a little example of his handy work from just this week. He wanted to have some strawberries with chocolate sauce on them, I prepared the strawberries in a bowl and then got distracted for a moment. When I came back, he had put the chocolate sauce on himself...

With Daddy this past 4th of July.

Ewan idolizes his older brother. He almost always just wants to be where ever Cameron is, doing what ever Cameron is doing.


He is such a joyful, loving little boy. So free with his kisses and hugs. He tells me he loves me all of the time and brings me so much joy. We are so blessed to have him in our family!

Mommy loves you Ewan...