From Stephen's perspective

So its time to let you all in on how things are going with us on a more serious note. Lisl has been having Braxton Hicks (false labor/contractions) for the last two months. When they began it didn't happen often, and was never an actual problem. On the drive back from Arizona is when things started to get worse. Even more recently, on Friday, she began to have pains that have made simple things impossible. She has been on bed rest, and we hope these contractions and pains will ease up, so she can make it at least as long as she did with Franklin, 38 weeks. Lisl is only 30 weeks pregnant (10 weeks to go till full term).

Now, as a result of Lisl having to take it easy, I the fantastic and absolutely wonderful husband that I am have taken over the household responsabilities. In the past few weeks I have taken over cooking, cleaning, laundry, and anything that involves lifting. I haven't minded it of course but I have to say to all of you wives including my own; You are amazing! This has given me quite the insight into what it takes to keep up a household and I applaud your ability to keep up with everything. I will have to let Lisl keep you informed as to whether I am doing a comparable job or not.

Outside of that though we had a good easter weekend. Franklin enjoyed hunting for eggs. He decided that daddy had to hold the basket though. Which worked out well because I was able to keep removing eggs from his basket and re-depositing them for him to find. This helped increase the time it took for him to find them all. In the evening we enjoyed an Easter dinner with two of our friends (Mitch and Megan). They ended up being fully entertained by our quirky cat Rizzo. He was lunging off tables and just generally being a nut, so it made the evening pretty eventful.

Lisl had asked me if I wanted to give blogging a try, so thanks for tuning in, and reading what I had to say. We'll have some photos and videos of our Easter in an upcoming blog. Hope you all had a good Easter!

(Lisl's shout out to Stephen: He is amazing, and has been the best father and husband. I'm very greatful to be married to such a wonderful, and caring man!)

Springtime for Franklin

So lots has been going on, and yet sometimes it feels like nothing new happens to us. For over a week now Franklin has been sleeping in a toddler bed, and loving it. We're not sure who's happier, Franklin or us. Since he started sleeping in his bed (no longer the converted crib, an actual toddler bed and we didn't ease him into either, we just took away the crib all at once) he's been sleeping a full 12 hours through the night, and 3 hours for his nap. Its been a real miracle for us since we haven't had those numbers since the disturbance moved in upstairs. That's since October. For any of you with toddlers still in cribs don't listen to statistics; Franklin LOVES his toddler bed and was more than ready to just switch.

We canceled our house phone, and even though it hardly rang, the silence has been great. 90% of all incoming calls have been telemarketers. There's been one company that I loath!! They would call sometimes 3 times a day, and I finally lost it with them. 2 calls in a row was the same operator, and when I asked for a manager, he first told me there are none, then later that he was the manager. By the end of our conversation he was laughing at me. Stephen wasn't home, so I called him up and said that this particular operator was in some serious trouble with me, and if I hear his voice again, I'm going to let him have it. Our resolve was just get rid of an expence we don't need, and then there won't be a way for that awful company to contact me anymore. Franklin's been happy to play with the disconnected phones.

The weather seriously can't make up its mind on what it wants to do. Right now its perfect, no sweater needed, nice and warm, but we're supposed to get a thunder storm tomorrow. We've also had a few days its snowed, and been super windy (have I ever mentioned there is no weather I hate more than wind?). We've been trying to figure out things that we can do indoors, and near by. We wanted to go to Gardener Village one weekend, but it was windy, and had just snowed. So instead we stopped at the mall in Draper. They had a play ground meant exactly for Franklin's age group, and we couldn't be happier.

Stephen's also been home a lot because even though its been cold the majority of people will just simply wait till next winter to get furnace work done, and no one has needed their a/c running. So on April Fool's day we went to Gardener Village anyway, with snow; but no more wind. I'm super happy, we found the exact baby quilt we've been looking for the upcoming nursery. When I have more of it together so you can get idea of what I'm trying to create, then I'll let you in on it, for now I'll say its yellow, black and white.

So when we got back from Arizona Stephen and I agreed that I needed to just take it easy and rest as much as possible. The drive home was harder on me than I will discuss and we thought just a few days would help. I've been in to see my doctor, and had some good and not so nice news. This whole pregnancy I've been right on track for the amount of weight I'm supposed to gain, not a pound more. I was super worried because my stomach rounded out very quickly even though the scale didn't budge a whole lot. However I'm still on bed rest and this time ordered by the professional, and not myself.

Its helped big time to have Stephen home a little more often, and he's been doing more housework. He's a great sport, and support. Franklin has loved having his daddy home as well. Make sure you check out the new video below to see just how much fun its been for Franklin. Stephen and I do feel better when there is work for Stephen, especially since things have been so slow. It also helps that Franklin is very helpful and obedient. He helps pick up his toys, and sometimes helps me in the kitchen. He isn't very helpful when its time to do laundry, unless I want it all over the floor, which I never do. He has a lot more personality, and has been a lot of fun.

Arizona Slideshow

A little bit about some pictures:
We had a little snow a few days before we left, so we took Franklin "sledding" and he hated it once he realized his hands were freezing (his fault he won't wear his gloves).
Since Franklin and I flew down I tried to pack an overnight bag. I forgot pj's for Franklin. We borrowed pink pj's from his cousin Annie. Doesn't he look great?!
On Sundays we go for a drive or walk, depending on the weather, and this time everyone wanted to join. We put on Franklin's harness but he wanted on daddy's shoulders most of the time. Annie couldn't make up her mind if she wanted to walk, or ride with her brother, Davy, or as we all call him, Shemp. Reyn couldn't make it easy with what he wanted, so they made the walk a little shorter for him.
Franklin and Shemp got along great, they are almost exactly one year apart in age. You've got to love his hair!! And he is one super smiley baby!!
Stephen got a lot of work done in the remodeling of the garage at my parents; they're turning it into another room and a bathroom.
Our second to last stop before returning home was to Thatcher to visit Stephen's parents. We realized after we got home that our whole trip we really didn't take very many pictures, so there are a lot of people we saw that we didn't get pictures of; sorry Christian and Ian.

We're Home

Our vacation was great, and not long enough, as all vacations are. I'll download pictures later, and do an actual blog, but here's a rough draft:

Saturday morning was earlier than I want to discuss. Stephen drove Franklin and I to the airport, and the two of us flew to Tucson while Stephen met up with his mom in Kanab, Ut and drove to Thatcher, AZ. I got to visit with my family one day in Sierra Vista, AZ till Stephen joined us on Sunday afternoon.

It was great just hanging out with family (and attempting to catch up on some sleep lost due to early rising, and messed up naps). Stephen got a lot of work done, especially thanks to brothers-in-law and my dad, thank you. Thanks to Sam, Davy, and Christian; Stephen super appreciated having your help, especially since we know all of you gave up vacation time for him. I did get to see some old friends, unfortunately it wasn't a very long visit. I did miss the chance to see some of them earlier in the week.

We hated saying good bye to all. It was so much fun, and a little stressful at times, I won't lie, to have all the little cousins together. Unfortunately Franklin did learn a new word that he says often, "No", which actually sounds a little more like "Do'h". Maybe we should try to get him to say it like Homer. We headed to Thatcher for a short, but wonderful visit and spent a little time with Stephen's parents. The following afternoon we headed for Flagstaff with a truck load, thanks to Sheila's hardwork with coupons; I'm still so amazed at how she does it.

In Flagstaff we stayed with my aunt Amber, my mom's twin sister. It was a super short visit, but super great. Stephen didn't really know Amber that well, or had ever met Greg. Plus they got to meet Franklin who continues to steal hearts. Of course the drive home was very long, longer than it would normally have felt. Franklin wasn't happy to be so confined in his seat, and myself being 6 months pregnant it definitely wasn't a good experience. I at least tried my best not to complain, can't say that much for Franklin.