Is it done YET!?!

I am sitting here listening to the sounds of a saw and wondering if my basement will ever be done. I think this process is one of the most frustrating things to have to sit through. We have been almost done for 3 weeks now and it is frustrating.
Everyday, Kory comes home from work, hugs the family and heads downstairs to see what has been accomplished. Some days it seems that our contractor will work all day long, but when we go down to see what had changed, we can't find much. I am tired of my house being in upheaval! I am tired of my parking in my driveway instead of my garage. I am tired of noise and dust and wondering when and how long my contractor will stay! Argh! I am so grumpy because it is not done!
Ok, now that I have that off my chest, I must say I am very excited for the end product. I have been happy with the work that is being done and can't wait to spend time in our family room. I can't wait to move the girls down to their new room and I can't wait to do some major spring cleaning in the rest of the house. Hopefully, only a couple more days! And the best part of this is that we have not had to do the work!

Speaking of things not being done yet ...

Here is a picture of my 26 week belly. I think I feel about the same way towards pregnancy as I do about my basement. I am not one of those women who enjoy being pregnant. I hate being sick in the beginning, I hate being tired all the time. I hate gaining weight, I hate the aches and pains that come with it. I do however, LOVE the end product. I am about 14 weeks away from holding a beautiful new baby. I love the feeling that comes with a new baby. I love the smell of new babies. I am excited to find out if this is a boy or a girl. I am excited to think about a name (with meaning - for Kory). I am so glad that I decided to have this last baby be a surprise. It is fun to think about what the moment will be like in the hospital when the baby finally comes. I feel like it is just one more thing to look forward to. Although I am only going to get bigger and more uncomfortable I am trying very hard to enjoy this last part!

Perception is Reality

Have you ever wondered what others are thinking of you? Do you make a good first impression?

These are some of the questions I have been thinking about over the last couple of days. Saturday night Kory and I went to a party for his parents 60th wedding anniversary. I said hello to many people that I did not know and will likely never see again. Also while there I had a great conversation with one of Kory's brothers. He told me a couple of stories about Kory that I had never heard before. Also, his perception of Kory was different than what Kory's perception of himself was. Kory and I stayed up very late that night talking about how different people see us and how first impressions are sometimes wrong. I know that for myself, I have sometimes held off on friendships because my first impression of somebody was not that great and then when I take the time to get to know them - I find a great friend.

So, I am going to ask for feedback from my family and friends. What is your perception of me? What was the first impression(s) you had about who I am? I want the good and the bad - I promise I will not get offended (or at least I will try not too :).

Fabulous February

Warning this post is long!

So I have been so behind in my blogging, but we had so many fun and exciting things happen in February that I wanted to do a recap.

January - March
We started the process of finishing our basement in the middle of January. We have one room and a storage room done right now, but we wanted to finish it due to the growing numbers of our family. Melodee comes home tomorrow (I can't believe it!) and Matt in May. Then the baby is due in July. With the possibility of three more people we really needed the space. We hired out all the work so Kory and I are not doing anything, but picking out colors of paint, tile, and flooring. It has been fun to see the changes take place. Here are a couple of pictures of the process.

before

framing

Sheetrock

Tile, paint, some of the trim. I let the girls choose the colors for the bedrooms (with a little guidance ;) from mom.) I thought the colors turned out pretty nice. We are hoping that everything will be done in another week or two. We are so excited!

February 4 - We had our Ultra Sound for baby number four.

This picture is taken right before we left to go to the hospital. I am 19 weeks along.

We decided to wait to find out the sex of the baby. So we are not sure if it is a boy or girl. Skylar thinks boy and Kortnie thinks girl. The girls are having so much fun coming up with names. This was my favorite photo from the ultra sound. It looks like the baby is sucking its thumb.

February 5 - Winter Review for Synergy Dance Studio.

Here are the girls right before leaving for the performance. Of course Holland had to be included! They did a great job on their dances. Kortnie is in two classes so she performed twice and Skylar had one dance. I was crazy backstage so I didn't get a picture of Koko in her other costume. I also had three classes perform - they did a great job. It is always stressful as a teacher because you want your classes to do well. I am glad it is over, but we are already working on Spring!

Here is another shot of the girls playing around before the performance.

February 13 - Stake Valentines Dinner.
We have a lady in our ward that is in charge of the Stake Activities. She is amazing and never does anything small. Her and her committee put on a dinner and wii party for Valentine's Day. It was awesome. My mom watched the kids and Kory and I enjoyed a night out. Kory is not really big on celebrating Valentine's Day, so it was great to go out.

February 16 - Dinosaur Museum!
Kortnie's preschool had a field trip to the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. Skylar was off-track, so we made it a family day. Kory took the day off work and we had a blast.

Playing in the water and sand.

Rodeo! Yeehaa!

Creating a Dinosaur.

Digging up Dino-bones!

February 20 - Daddy Daughter Date!
One of the local high schools had a Daddy and Me Princess Ball! It was a fundraiser to help their drill team go to nationals. Kory and the girls got all dressed up and went dancing all night. They had a great time and are looking forward to doing it again. I love that Kory will do fun things with the girls and loves spending time with them.

My two beautiful Princesses!

February 25 - 10th Anniversary and 22 week check-up. I have already posted about Kory and I celebrating our 10 year anniversary. That weekend we had the chance to go out to a nice dinner and then to the temple to do sealings. I love doing this for our anniversary because it always reminds me of that day and how special it was.
The day of our anniversary I also had another baby check up. The baby and I are both growing! I am about a week ahead of schedule (not that it means anything at this point!) I have decided to take a picture each time I have a check up to see how the baby is growing.

My daughter the photographer took this pic. Other than the finger, I thought she did a pretty good job!

Always - Crazy kids and the things they do.

Kortnie and Holland playing dress up. The girls love to get their brother involved with dress up. His favorite is to wear one glove, just like Michael Jackson.

Holland loves to play with my keys. He sticks them in the door handle where the screws are. I am always looking for them and usually this is where I find them. Kory and I can't do this trying and he does it in about two seconds flat. It is so funny.

We are looking forward to a great March!