APRIL

Last month before baby!  It seemed like there were lots of things to check off the box this month in preparation...
GENERAL CONFERENCE WEEKEND - Conference weekend was nice and relaxing for the kids and I.  On Friday night Jed caught a ride to Utah with a friend and Saturday morning he went and picked up his new truck!  He had been looking for about 6 months and had a few "perfect" trucks fall through and finally found this one in SLC.  They wouldn't give him a good trade-in amount, so he listed it on craigslist and within a few days had it sold.  He drove home after he picked it up and made it in time for the last bit of conference.  In between sessions on Sunday he took us for a drive.  It is a great truck and since it was Jed of course he got a great deal on it.  I was really excited for him.  He has worked really hard here and has been patient for the last 7 years waiting for the time he could get a truck.  He definitely deserves it.

SPECIAL ACTIVITIES - Knowing it was the last month before baby both Jed and I got into the mindset of "we better do this - it's our last time".  I'm not sure if we both are thinking that once the baby comes we will never go out in public again or what (actually that is what I'm thinking!)  Anyway, we did a few extra things we wouldn't normally do or at least not so frequently.  Jed and I went on a date every week - sometimes more than once a week.  Ava is such a good babysitter so we took advantage of that.  Jed went to two ropings during April.  Ava and I went to the ballet - it was Sleeping Beauty.  We literally sat in the top row (thanks a lot groupon), but we took binoculars and bought cookies at intermission so it was still pretty fun.  We took the kids to a few movies:  Kung Fu Panda 3 & the Jungle Book.  We hung out at the Village after one movie and watched the fountain show.  We went out to eat a few different times as a family.  We took a few extra trips to the library.  We had a few extra playdates at our house with friends too.

The last Saturday of April we went over to check the horses.  The kids haven't had much interest in the horses at all for the last while.  But as Jed was feeding them Kasen asked if he could ride.  So Jed saddled them up and we (and by we I mean everyone but me) actually spent a few hours riding around and roping.  I enjoyed sitting and watching since that is about all I can do without losing my breath this far along in my pregnancy.  It was a very enjoyable afternoon and both Ava and Kasen got their horses trotting a bit.  Days like this make us wish we had a farm...

Ava & Kasen decided to do some spring sports.  Kasen wanted to do football again and Ava signed up for spring volleyball.  Kasen was on the same football team again, but Ava was on a different volleyball team.  Ava improved a ton from the fall and got right back into the groove.  Unfortunately her team was awful.  She was one of the best players by far.  It is very hard for Ava to be on a team that never wins, but for the most part she had a great attitude.  Kasen's team was undefeated again and he also improved a ton.  It is fun watching both of them get better and improve in things they enjoy.

DANTZEL'S BLESSING  - On April 10th we traveled to Gooding for Dantzel's baby blessing.  It was also my sister Sydnee & her husband's 7th anniversary.  Austin gave Dantzel a wonderful blessing and we enjoyed their testimony meeting.  Then we spent the afternoon at their home eating and visiting.  All of Austin's sibling were there with their families and from the Foster side my parents were there and our family.  We took some pictures of Grandma & Grandpa Foster with all their grandkids that were there and then with just their granddaughters.  It is a bit ironic that my parents had only 1 son and 5 daughters, but now they have a lot more grandsons (7 once our baby is born) and only 4 granddaughters.  My mom took a picture of our family after church since it would be our last one as a family of  5.  We also took a picture of Sydnee's family.  She and Austin are great parents and now with four kids they are the biggest family out of my siblings.  Their oldest is 5 and I'm not sure how they do it (4 kids under 5), but they do it wonderfully.

SCHOOL -  School is always a highlight for my kids.  They all would rather die than miss school.  :) Kinsley had some fun activities this month at preschool.  She brought home this artwork one day and I told her it was one of my favorites of the whole year.  They had been talking about transportation and had painted hot air balloons with a cutout of themselves riding in the basket.  I loved it because it captures Kinsley's personality so well.  She just loves life and is always so enthusiastic.  Below it said, "If I had a hot air balloon, I would go to Disneyland.  I would take my family, Madeline, and Wally.  (Which means Raleigh her cousin, and alerted me that I probably need to work on her R sound more. haha)  When I gro up, I want to be a vet because they help animals and I want to have a pet horse." Later in the month they had a unit about farms and the class took a fieldtrip to a local dairy.  I went with Kinsley and she loved it.  Her favorite part was feeding the baby calf a bottle.  I loved doing that as a kid too.  I sent a picture to Jed and he replied that he really missed that and that we needed to move to a farm.  We have the conversation at least once a week and can't wait until we can. 

Kasen & Ava got their class pictures back.  Ava is excited to be done with her class.  She likes her teacher but it has been an interesting year.  Kasen on the other hand wants to be in 1st grade forever.  He loves his teacher and has lots of friends in his class.

Ava's class took a fieldtrip to the Capitol building and I went as a chaperone.  For this fieldtrip I actually got to ride the bus with the kids.  It was very loud!  It was fun spending the afternoon with Ava.  The capital was very interesting and we learned a lot.  Ava's favorite part was learning that there were lots of delegates that were women. She had to call her Erickson grandparents that night to tell them all about it.  She was so impressed that they personally knew the governor and is hoping for a VIP tour with them sometime when they come over.

Kasen's teacher uses an app called Seesaw to send home pictures of everything he is working on.  It is always fun for me throughout the day to get updates and see his schoolwork.  I especially like reading what he is writing in his daily writing journal.  These were two entries that I loved this month.

EXTRAS - Some random pictures this month.  Kasen/Kinsley playing on the rock at the Ball house.  Kinsley swinging at the playground during Kasen's football practice.  Kasens' invention of the month - a popcorn holder.  He said one of his football teammates told him about it and then he invented it for himself (might have to explain what plagiarism/copyright is with him!).  Anyway, rather than use a bowl you just put a sweater or jacket with a hood on backwards and put your popcorn in the hood.  Then you can just dip your head down and eat without using your hands.

The last week of April I finished up with my piano students for the year.  We had a party and a mini recital.  I ended up with 10 piano students this year and even though there were frustrating parts it was pretty enjoyable for me.  I had planned to get a picture with all of them and completely forgot until everyone was gone except these two.  Ethan & Ella are siblings and so I just snapped a picture of them before they left.  All of the students were fun to get to know.  Sometimes I got to know too much about them or their families!  (Kids have no filter in what they say or body functions like burping/farting.)  One day for example, Ethan only spoke in a robot/alien language that he had invented.  That was one lesson when I wanted to bang my head against the wall!  It was definitely a year of working on patience, but I'm really glad that I taught lessons this year.  I didn't make a ton of money (~$2000 for the yr) but it was nice and I realized how much I love the piano, how much I appreciate my own kids haha, and how nice it is to share your talents with others through teaching.

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN - Towards the end of the month I finally hit 36 weeks pregnant.  Pregnancy can go by so slow and so fast too.  This month sped along and now seems like it's going pretty fast!  I'm still pretty anxious about labor and delivery again and whether or not my epidural will work but I try not to think about it too much or I get too nervous.  I'm actually feeling pretty good (minus the heartburn) and don't feel too bloated or tired.  At my 36 wk appt the dr said the baby had dropped and was nice and low - which when I look at the picture still seems like my belly is pretty high.  With each pregnancy I've gained weight differently.  I've mostly gained weight in my belly which has been nice.  Hopefully it will come off quickly.  On another note, Jed's office staff threw a surprise baby shower for him this month.  They had called to ask me what we needed and I gave them a few ideas.  I thought about telling Jed because he doesn't like surprises much, but I didn't tell him.  The ladies in the office told me later it was so funny to watch his expression and he kept saying, "This is so awkward.  Why is everyone staring at me?"  haha.  I've had quite a few people ask me about throwing a baby shower and I've always told them I don't need/want one.  Which is true, but it was fun to have Jed bring home a bunch of gifts.  They bought us a swing, a bouncer, a ton of diapers, bottles, wipes, and quite a few little onesies that had cute sayings on them.  They also had a cake and a bouquet of balloons.  It was very thoughtful and generous of them!

KASEN'S BDAY PARTY - Our last big event of the month was Kasen's 8th birthday party.  We celebrated it a little early (one week) from his actual birthday.  I wanted to be safer than sorry in case the baby came early.  On the kids' 8th bday they get to have a bigger party than normal.  Kasen chose to go to DartWarz and got to invite 10 kids (one couldn't come).  DartWarz is basically like paintball but the kids use nerf guns instead of paint ball guns.  They also played inside this maze so they could use some strategy.  Jed, Ava, & Kinsley went in to play too.  Kinsley lasted one round and then she was done.  Jed and Ava also had a lot of fun playing.  It was pretty much the best birthday activity for all these crazy and hyper boys.  I think I probably would have lost my mind trying to entertain them at our house! :)  Kasen has made a lot of fun friends and he loved being the star of the show for a day.

After playing we had cake and ice cream and Kasen got to open presents.  He had such a fun party.  Kasen is such a great kid.  Things I love about Kasen right now are that he is very confident, very kind, and works hard at school and with his activities.  He is usually just happy and pleasant to be around.  He loves everything: animals, legos, weapons, exploring, drawing, sports, coloring, imagining, etc.  Jed and I are both really proud of Kasen and Jed constantly say to him, "Hey do you know what a good boy you are?!"  Or he'll say to me when Kasen is listening, "Don't you think this is a cool boy?!"  I can tell how much Kasen loves it.  (Jed still teases him plenty though too.)  I know Kasen will be a great big brother and I hope he keeps being a good example to his brother and his sisters.