April On-goings and a Fun Easter Report

For the month of April, we spent most of our time trying to unpack and get settled in our house.  It's amazing how much time you spend cleaning up the yard, or picking out decorations for each room, or painting over ugly stencils, or what have you in  your new home.  We're still not there, but the baby's room is half cleaned out, so we are making definite progress!

The big news of April is that we found out we are having another BOY!  We are ecstatic!  I am so happy that Reid will have a buddy to be friends with, and then fight with, and then hopefully be friends with again once he is older.  It's a wonderful circle of life siblings go through and I'm excited that our boys will have that opportunity. 

Everyone asks how I'm feeling, and pretty good is the answer.  I was pretty sure it was a girl because I just can't kick this nausea and I thought the extra estrogen in my system HAD to be the cause... but I was wrong.  It simply is a different pregnancy.  I'm feeling him kick, but mostly it feels like he's just wiggling around while he still has room in there.  My energy level has been much lower this time around, and I've been assured it is due to chasing my toddler around!  Also, my back aches almost every day, but that is bearable thanks to my heated rice socks.  So really, I'm doing well.... Most days I can get chores done around the house, and usually we make 2 park appearances and a library appearance each week.  So I think it is going well!

This little guy is due August 27th, but my doctor doesn't think I'll make it to then, I've been told not to be more than an hour from the hospital once I hit 34-35 weeks.  What fun a HOT July/August is going to be for me!


So far we have been blessed and loved our new ward.  We attended our first ward activity... it was an Easter Egg Hunt.  Reid had a blast!  They divided the egg collecting sections into 3 age groups: 3 and under, 4-7, and 7-11.  Each child was supposed to get only 1 dozen eggs (because that's what each parent was asked to bring).  However, after collecting 12, Reid noticed there was still more eggs to be collected, so he kept going.  So Matt just kept emptying out the eggs, and Reid thought it was great game and didn't want the fun to stop!  He quickly became efficient and found that if he grabbed 4+ eggs at a time, he could fill up his basket faster, instead of one egg in the basket at a time.

After we finished our egg hunt, we got to play on the playground.  Then Reid got his face painted, we asked him what animal he wanted, and after multiple sounds he chose a sheep.  So he had an adorable sheep on his cheek.  Then we played more on the playground and his Daddy helped him swing and he got to learn about underdogs... which he also loved.

On the way home, Reid crashed (fell asleep)... unfortunately he woke up when he got home, and proceeded to talk, jump, and sing in his crib for 2 hours, while I took my afternoon nap.

That afternoon we went to some friend's house who also moved to TX.  They had a kiddie pool in their backyard.   It was all Matt could do to get Reid's brand new shoes off before he went in clothes and everything.  I thought it was adorable, and why not let the kid be a kid? (clothes and all)  Until I looked outside and saw his diaper bursting out of his shorts, then we got a swim diaper on him and he kept going, just fine.  We continued the fun with hamburger, hot dogs, and lots of yummy side dishes.

Sunday we enjoyed church, some really great Easter talks about the Savior, Matt taught the EQ (the men's class) lesson.  Then we went over to our other friend's house and were fed an absolutely amazing Easter dinner, and fabulous conversation. 

All in all, Easter was a really great success.  We feel like we are getting to know more people and making some really wonderful friends.  We are so grateful at this time to remember the Savior and the blessing of the Atonement in our lives, especially as we are adjusting to our new surroundings, we can feel His love for us.