Who said T-Rex was a meat eater?

Fynn is a very picky eater, and even with stuff he does like, he eats very little of it. Just about every meal ends in his plate, over three-quarters full, being thrown on the floor before any of us can do anything about it. It's like he thinks, "I'm done, NOW WATCH!" Today was no exception, and unfortunately the plate had lots of peas left on it. Before I had a chance to clean it up, Bryce looked over and found him gently feeding peas to his dinosaur. I had to fish peas out of its mouth later, and I guess he must have been giving it "sips" of milk, too, because a white liquid trickled out of the corners of the mouth.

Careful selection process

"What? Whatcha starin' at? Dude's hungry."

Twilight spoof

I don't know if anyone has seen this yet, but we found it tonight on YouTube and thought it was pretty funny. Slow in parts, but worth it.

Hopefully I make it that far, or hopefully not...

Today I had a doctor's appointment, and we were able to go ahead and schedule my C-section. As of right now, it's for October 30. I think it's possible I could end up in the hospital before that, though, as my due date is November 1, and I already have painful contractions through most nights. With Ewan, I was exactly 37 weeks when labor started, and it wouldn't surprise me if that happened again. I just wanted to update everyone. I'll be in the hospital for Halloween!!! Meep. But that's okay, I bought the baby a newborn hat that is a black owl with littel tufts that stick up on top. He'll be very cute wearing it in the hospital.

Just for fun, all of my boys relaxing together, enjoying some Sesame Street before we had to leave this morning. Note Ewan's stash of Transformers that constantly accompanies him everywhere. Bryce was lamenting the fact that it was a nice, cool, snuggly-type morning and he had to get up and exert himself.

Partying for Corgan

This weekend, I had dinner with a bunch of friends, including my sister. It was a "non" shower if you will. I'm very self-conscious when it comes to things like showers. The day of my wedding shower, I literally nearly had a panic attack. I don't know why really - just everyone staring at me and how funny it feels for me when people do really nice things or buy something for me. So in order to avoid that a little, I wanted to just get to have dinner with some of my oldest and closest friends. Granted, it was still a "party" that was kind of thrown for me, and yes, people gave me things, but the fact that it was just like going out to dinner made it seem less overwhelming and I was much less self-conscious.

Ashley, Missy, Sarah and Shannon went all out for me, and it overwhelms me the work and love they put into everything. And then at the dinner, friends from every era of my life were there. It was very interesting to have all of them there together. From my earliest hours on this earth, of course my sister Ashley, who is totally awesome. She is the first person to hold my babies when they come into this world and the one who hands them to me. She's been with me through so many dark days. Erica came and I've known her from the time we were knee-high to a grasshopper in church. My first memory of her is both of us yelling at each other during the primary program because one of us sat on the others' dress. It's such a funny thing to remember. Then from my singles days, one of my best friends I've just been reacquainted with, Marianne, was also there. She is a major reason that I was able to stay sane while Bryce was on his mission. And then during my time so far as a wife and mother, Missy, Shannon and Sarah. They have each been such important parts of my life over the last three years and have put up with lots of my insanity.

There were so many wonderful gifts, some owl-themed (thanks, Ashley! The owl that hoots is among the favorites.) I would post some pictures of the cute clothes, but trust me, after the baby comes and is actually wearing them, I probably won't be able to resist posting a new picture of him every time he wears something for the first time. My actual favorite present was from Missy, who got two of the best pictures from Labor Day and had them nicely framed, along with a third frame giving me one free photo session of the baby. Just seeing our beautiful boys in these pictures taken by someone so talented and able to capture them perfectly... Bryce and I each sigh in disbelief every time we look at them. I'm so excited to see the picture that ends up in Corgan's frame! (And thanks to Missy for all the pictures in this post!)  I want to post about all the presents, but this is already too long! Although I will say the favors that Shannon, Sarah and Ashley made touched me so much that I did shed some tears in an alone moment. The iris bulbs were such a personal touch, and something I'm very sentimental about. I loved everything and I'll be a good girl and send out proper thank you notes this week. (If I'm not lazy this week, I might actually post a picture every day of each one. For my own entertainment if not anyone else's!)

I've posted just a few, but more pictures and details from the night can be found here. Thanks to everyone involved for all the love and I can't ever tell you how much it all means to me.

I just wanted to post a picture of Marianne because I'm still so thrilled she's back in my life. She came over one night last week while the men were working and we just talked for over five hours. I love her. *Sniffle*

One of the framed pictures.

My friends: Erica, Shannon, Sarah, Ashley, Marianne, (me), Missy
Thanks, everyone!  (And a special thanks to Sarah, who covered my dinner.)

You are going to be sick of hearing from me...

...but this is what happens when your husband is working the night shift and Fall shows haven't started yet. I'm on the computer. A lot. You'd think I'd do something useful, like clean (nah!) or read something uplifting (nothing to read...) Instead - I'm checking out stuff I'll never be able to buy on Etsy. On that note, could you not just squeeze this squishy baby in his hat to pieces? I want to roll him up in my pocket and take him everywhere I go.

Promise not to call him Corgy

(Wow, I haven't done this many posts in a long time...)

Okay, so I'm a terrible secret keeper.  At least with my own secrets - with someone else's secrets I'm good.  With my own, I just can't keep it in.  As a result, I've whispered the baby's name to enough people here and there that it is really quite pointless to keep it any kind of "secret" any longer.  So here goes:  Corgan Kelly.  That is his name.  Now if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all.  :)

Part Deux: To inspire magical dreams

This can be filed more along the lines of "Dear Donald Trump," but it never hurts to look. Mary Ann found this beautiful site showcasing the jewelry from which sprang the aforementioned perfume.

Dear Santa,

Do you see the fairy? Do you?!!! I don't even care what it smells like. Although it sounds very promising and Kelli-ish. From the website: "Faerie - A sparkling fragrance with a blend of violets, blackcurrant, Bulgarian Rose, Egyptian Jasmine, and Iris Butter that whirl with whimsy within the spectacular flacon to reveal the timeless spirit of Van Cleef & Arpels."

Whatever. Do you see that fairy? Sitting on a tree branch? See her? Bring her to me. Please.

Love,
Kelli

Beats cursing

Ewan's favorite movie all last week was "The Last Mimsy." Tonight while he was walking with a plateful of fish sticks, they all slid right off of the plate and onto the floor. Looking down at them in dismay and frustration, suddenly he exclaimed, "THE LAST OF ALL MIMSYS!!!"

Of course, I laughed.

He looked at me very sternly. "I wasn't saying that to be funny."

Happiest Day

While Bryce was on his mission, I met a girl in the singles ward named Marianne and we became very good friends.  We had so much in common - from music to life's experiences and the fact that we both had tattoos.  She was someone I could be completely myself around and she never judged.  I loved hanging out with her at her house and we'd drive around in my truck and listen to music.  We'd often leave church (our singles ward was pretty lame, at least that was our excuse) and go get something to drink or eat (hey, no judging...)  I just loved her so much and was very sad when she up and got married and left me to live with her new husband in Canada.  The last time we saw each other was during a hurried visit when I was newly pregnant with Ewan.  Besides that little visit, it has been six years since we saw each other. She has moved around a lot over these past years - Canada, Georgia, Louisiana - and so we lost each other's phone numbers and I've just thought about her so much and missed her.  

Today, after I dismissed my primary class, a loud booming voice filled the room and in walked this tall blond goddess to wrap me in a hug. It was Marianne.  I don't think I've ever been so happy to see someone in my life.  Her husband is here for some training, and they'll be in our ward for the next two months.  She had seen Bryce in the cultural hall and recognized him then went searching for me.  I'll be so very sad when she leaves, but for now - I'm so happy that I've been near tears all day.  We sat next to each other in sacrament and it was hard to not just sit and talk the entire time.  We laughed as we kept hearing each other's stomach growling and played with the boys.  We had her and her husband, Blake, over for dinner and it was like no time had passed at all.  They do not have children, which is a shame because they were so amazing with the boys and by the time we left, Blake was giving Bryce some serious competition for Fynn's affections.   

This just goes down as one of my happiest days in a very long time, and she and I plan on seeing lots of each other before she leaves.  They don't really know what they'll be doing after this, or where they will be, but my fingers are crossed he'll find an opportunity here so she can stay close. Here's hopin'.

Labor Day Weekend

I love Labor Day - because it gives us a nice 3-day weekend. On Saturday, at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, Bryce and I were suddenly thinking, "Hmmmm, let's hop in the car and drive to Austin." So we did. Ewan had been asking to go to a dinosaur museum, and a few days before I had found this one by the UT campus. It was awesome. They had a skeleton of a pterosaur, specifically Quetzalcoatlus, hanging from the ceiling like it was flying over you. I kid you not when I say it was one of the most amazing, awe-inspiring things I've seen in my whole life. The picture doesn't do it justice. It was so huge, and just... WOW. It was so cool. There were also lots of other skeletons of giant bison and some random little dinosaurs. They had different rocks both from Earth and space - just a lot of really neat things. By the time we hit the 3rd floor, I couldn't really walk anymore and had to sit and whine inside to myself. After, we headed over to Jesse and Amy's to visit. We were able to see the baby's nursery and Amy and I compared pregnancy woes. It stinks because I probably won't get to see her baby for a while. I don't want to burden them right after he's born - she has Ashley coming to help and we don't need too many cooks in the kitchen. And our little guy will be coming right after by a few weeks, so I won't be up to traveling. Hopefully it won't be too long. I'd like to see him before he starts cutting teeth!

For Labor Day, the Saunders came over and Bryce made some steak and pork using one of his odd concoctions and it turned out really good. Ewan, Fynn and Ben ran around the house playing trains and Transformers (Ewan's latest OBSESSION.) Then we let them play outside in our two little kiddie pools. They splashed, blew bubbles, and chased the cats. Missy took lots of wonderful pictures. So we take no credit for the ones I'm going to post. It was all Missy! The guys then went off to do a little golfing while Missy and I put the kids to bed. We ate cookies and talked for a long time, even after the guys got back. There's no telling how long we would have been up talking if not for the fact John had to get up at 4:30 this morning. It was so much fun - the only downside being that I had to switch from chair to couch to floor back to chair or couch to alleviate back pain. But, hey, I'll consider it my exercise!
This was about the best Ewan would let her take until she bribed him with more bubbles...
...then he turned into a male model, giving her different poses and facial expressions. This is one I call, "The Kelli Expression." I never noticed those two dimples until Missy pointed them out.

Cutie Fynn, looking like Daddy.

We were out of swim diapers. This thing was bursting at the seams,
until it finally start to fall off.

I post this only because my blog is private. His swimming shorts didn't stay on much better, and I had to run after him at one point to pull them up to a level of decency.

Fynn sat at the edge of the yard and stared at the wind blowing the trees.

BUBBLES!

Cute, hilarious Ben.

This is the face he makes when he says "Juice," "Cheese," or "Shoes."

Such a cool friggin' kid.