36 weeks!

We are going strong around here at 36 weeks!! I will be so relieved if/when we make it to 37...officially full term! I have actually felt better over the past week or so then I was, mostly because my back has stopped hurting 24/7 to an unbearable degree...now it is bearable and really only bothers me at night! I have heartburn like crazy though! Last night I was in a light sleep and woke up with heartburn coming up my throat and out my nose, it really burned! It happens the moment I lay down and whenever I change positions (which is a million times)...time to get some pills to help calm the heartburn!

Baby girl has been kicking like CRAZY! I thought they were supposed to slow down as they got bigger but I don't think that has stopped her, she still punches and kicks and I love it! Now that I think about it the twins were always super active too. We had our last look at the baby on Tuesday and she was once again hiding her face towards my spine so we got no pictures of her. But she is doing well, growing in the 49th percentile and weighing in at 6 lbs. 5 oz, although my Dr. guessed she's closer to just 6 lbs. I still have an excess amount of amniotic fluid but the baby is fine so my Dr. just made jokes about how I'll have to watch out when my water breaks because it may be like a tsunami! Looking forward to that fun!

I have chosen this week to get all prepared for our little girls arrival. I will spend most of today getting her clothes washed and ready, my hospital bag as ready as it can be, the car seat washed and cleaned (the car seat we were just using a few weeks ago for one of the twins!), I still need to check a few more things off my list but we are definitely feeling more ready for her! So here is my big belly at 36 weeks:

I haven't taken the opportunity to share with you guys how I am when I am pregnant, my feelings on pregnancy and how I have really been with this one. So here is how I am when I'm pregnant and how I've been with this one:

*Super sick in the 1st trimester, enough vomiting to lose weight, I live off crackers and cereal for this entire trimester!

*Somewhere in the middle of the 2nd trimester I get SUPER irritable! I take it out on Mark mostly. If he breathes in my face while we're sleeping, stares at me for longer than 2 seconds, takes longer than 2 seconds to answer a question or does anything that takes longer than in my opinion should, eats too much garlic, forgets to change a diaper, the list is embarrassingly endless... I will freak out!

*Along the same lines, I have super bad road rage! I think people go so slow or drive so stupid when I'm pregnant. And I have to drive because if Mark does then all I do is yell at him and the drivers. Same thing in the grocery store or mall or any crowded place. If someone is in my way I get so annoyed. The other day in the Costco parking lot a lady was walking in the middle of the road texting! I also use my horn way more than I probably should!

*I have also had to drive more during this pregnancy because I can't really reach back to give the kids things or crawl back there to entertain them. I also get car sick easily. Poor Mark will be happy to be back in the drivers seat...I think! The truth is I actually like driving so we'll see if I can give it up!

*I eat loads and loads of cereal when I'm pregnant. I eat a lot when I'm not, but even more when I am.

*Ever since 31 weeks or so I cry a lot. Over anything. It's getting embarrassing because Mark will just ask if I've cried yet and then patiently wait for me to start, get it out and then move on! The kids smiles really do me in. Elizabeth has a really, really sweet one and Little Mark will tilt is head to one side and smile and I just want to squeeze them...and then cry!

*Sleeping is impossible. In fact when my kids get older and complain when I go to wake them up in the morning I am going to take them through a night of pregnancy. Not being able to fall asleep or get comfortable, getting up to pee every 1-2 hours, getting up to eat at least once (twice with the twins), not being able to sleep on your back, heartburn, nausea, and lets talk about drool shall we? I see the amount of drool that comes out of my twins when they are teething and I think...that is how much I drool at night! For some reason I drool all the time, especially if I'm really tired, it's so gross! Apparently I snore too sometimes. I think I could add a few more things but I'll stop. Remind me of this paragraph when I have teenagers please!

On to more pleasant things....I remember taking a biology class in college and being scared crazy to have kids. It seemed like one little thing goes wrong in your DNA and in the whole creation of a human being and you have a disease or disorder. It seemed like the odds would be so stacked against having a child that turned out completely healthy! It is a true miracle to me when a baby is created and born. And even though it is the HARDEST thing I have ever had to endure...it is the most rewarding. Such a typical thing to say I know. I can't seem to find another word (pregnancy brain, another thing to add to the list!).

This is emberassing...

On the rare occasion that I find the motivation to cook a new recipe I have to blog about it because I am so proud that I have done my duty in being a good wife and mom...or something like that! Actually the beef stroganoff I cooked last week had nothing to do with feeding my family a good meal, it was all about me! When I was on bed rest in the hospital with the twins they had a surprisingly good beef stroganoff there and I have been wanting to make it my own way (read: more meat, less mushrooms since I hate mushrooms) ever since. About 6 years ago Mark's professor/boss at WSU invited us over for a dinner at his house. His wife is a food scientist and made this dish with homemade noodles while the professor cooked the stroganoff that he had been perfecting for many years....it was AMAZING of course!! To say I was craving a good beef stroganoff would be an understatement.

As many of you know though I am not a good cook and so I wanted to start out with an easy recipe. I found it at one of my favorite food blogs that my sis in law Angela introduced me to called Jamie Cooks It Up. Here is the link to the beef stroganoff if any of you are interested and here is my final, tasty result:

I was so motivated by my success that I tried another new recipe the VERY NEXT NIGHT!!! Whoa, crazy I know! Here is the recipe for Provolone Chicken if you are interested, it turned out great, just as all my sister in law Karrie's recipes do!

But most importantly is that both Mark and Elizabeth (my picky eater) LOVED them both!!!

So here is to me finding more motivation to cook in general and to cook new yummy recipes!

Little Mark's mouth game

He doesn't do this much at all anymore but for awhile there he was obsessed with putting something in his mouth and then walking/crawling around with it. We had the idea to take pictures of all the bizarre things he put in there and captured them on the Ipod. Thanks to Mark for uploading them last night...here is the collection of odd things this kid put in his mouth:

He started out with simple things like toys, or links:

Then moved on to spoons:

Then this brochure from my dentist office:

And this empty picture frame:

And this rubber cupcake mold:

The lotion bottle was one of his favorites:

As was the cap to his bottle:

He also put socks in there a lot and just happily cruised along. Most of this mouthing stage was when he was crawling so I guess it was his way of freeing up both hands to get around faster!! It made us laugh a lot, he is so cute!

Long lost pics

Mark uploaded some pictures that have been on our Ipod for awhile now....they were making us laugh and the following ones made me homesick for my family in Canada!

These ones are all from our trip at Christmas. Here is Little Mark trying to put the ring around his foot:

Daddy and Elizabeth...I can't believe how much they have grown!

Shay getting stuck and being silly!

Hannah showing us just how excited she was about her Ipod she got for Christmas:

I just love this picture of my niece Monica...she is so PRETTY!!! And I'm so excited for her to get done with school and come spend some time at my house this summer to help me with my babies, she is so awesome with them!

Grandma has some fun dress up and Jena looks just beautiful in this one!

My favorite picture! Kayla giving her Grandpa hugs and Grandpa LOVING it!!

And giving her big sis a hug too...

Then we come to our favorite card game played over the break...SCUM!!! We made hats for the queen/king, princess and the scum..which we spelled wrong on purpose, right Cass?!

Mark was a very cocky, obnoxious, but funny ruler and he just happened to be in that position a lot of the time too!

Followed by Cass who was equally obnoxious but funny!

Plenty of us had a turn at being 2nd in command!

My Aunt Kate who was so cautious about joining us in our crazy game ended up being awesome at it! And here's a shout out to my Auntie who's birthday is today!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! We love you!

My mom has a bizarre collection of hats of all kinds and the rest of us were forced to wear them even if we weren't scum or king...it was so hilarious and some of our best memories from Christmas are from sitting around that table, eating and yelling too much and staying up WAY too late!!!