Still waiting...

All day yesterday, I was having contractions. My hopes went way up and I thought that Max was going to be here by today but when I woke up this morning, the contractions were gone. I've been pretty frustrated because Max hasn't come yet but I think I'm more frustrated because Mike's family is here and I didn't want them to have to make the trip without him coming. They leave tomorrow because Jimmy and Naomi have school so Jim and Brenda will have to drive all the way back in a few days. The fact that he didn't come this weekend also prevents my mom from staying as long as we wanted her to because she has to work. I've decided that there's probably a reason for this and that Max will come when the Lord wants him to. Yesterday while we were trying to walk Max out, we ran through a fountain in downtown Tempe. It felt so good... there's something exhilerating about running through water with all of your clothes on. If you haven't done it, do it. You'll love it.

Mike and Daddy

Brenda brought some old pictures of Mike and Jim. Aren't they adorable?! I think I might blow them up and put them in Max's room. Jim is gonna be such a fun grandpa. I'm so blessed to have such a great father-in-law and grandpa for my son. I know Max will adore him!

The Marshall Suprise!

The Marshalls showed up at our doorstep yesterday morning! What a surprise! They decided to come keep me company while I wait for Max to come. Mike is so happy to have his family here. All except Maxine and Lizzy. It will be a fun week! Hopefully Max comes before they have to leave this weekend. We'll see...

Peanut Butter Cookies!

I've been trying different peanut butter cookie recipes and just haven't been able to find the right one until just the other day! I found it by just browsing online. These are so soft and delicious! They stay soft for days if you keep them in a plastic container. As you can see, I added chocolate chips to half of the batch for Michael since he refuses to eat cookies without lots of chocolate chips. Both were so delicious! Here's the recipe for anyone interested in trying them:

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup margarine, softened
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
DIRECTIONS
Combine margarine, peanut butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Blend together very well.
Add flour, baking soda and salt with mixer.
Chill dough 15 minutes in the refrigerator. Roll into balls by hand.
Place on sprayed cookie sheet.
Using a fork, press down the balls and create a criss cross pattern.
Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven until edges very lightly browning (about 7 to 10 minutes).
Don't overcook.
We store them in a plastic storage containers, and they stay soft!

Tempe Lake

Today we had fun taking some pictures by Tempe lake... probably the last photo shoot before Max is born. We love having Soin live with us. She's been my best friend for my whole life and I'm just so blessed that I am able to spend this important time of my life with her. She's going to be a great Aunt.

My wonderful husband is going to be the greatest daddy. I can't wait to watch him hold our baby boy in his arms... the two loves of my life.

Fish Belly

Today we had fun we had making paintings for Max's room but we ran out of canvas and so we resorted to the obvious alternative....my belly!

Max's paintings are not quite finished yet, but I will be posting them soon!

Max's Room

Max's room is pretty much done now. He doesn't have a crib yet because we don't really have room for one and he's probably going to be in his bassinet by the time we move out of our apartment anyway. We will have to get one when we move into a house.

Rachel, we took your advice and framed those pictures that my sister took and put them in his room! How do they look? :)

Anyway, my wonderful husband just bought me a glider and it's great! He also worked hard to put up those shelves! I love how he sticks out his tongue when he consentrates really hard! :p

Soin, Mike, and I are currently working on some paintings for his room. I will post pics when they're finished!

SUPER FISH!

Our fish, Sunny had a very tramatic experience the other day. It was time to clean his bowl and give him fresh water, so i set him aside in a shallow cup of water. I cleaned out his bowl and added new water. Since it's so hot in AZ, we run out of cold water so his bowl was full of warm water. I added some ice cubes and left him in the little cup until I got back from my breastfeeding class.

While we were at the class, Mike texted me and explained that when he got home Sunny was flopping around on the counter! So he tried to grab him but then, he fell on the floor! Mike finally grabbed him and put him back in his bowl. Poor Sunny was in bad shape. He was barely moving and wasn't reacting to much and he wouldn't eat. His once beautiful fins were so shriveled.. we were almost sure that he wasn't going to make it. Who knows how long he was out of water.

Yesterday he ate a pellet or two of his food and I was really happy. Today I fed him and he ate it all! His fins are rehydrated and he's just as responsive as he was before. I think he's all better! YAY! What a trooper! Our fish is awesome!

Our Active Baby

Max is so silly! He does this all of the time! It's no wonder I have so many stretch marks! :P I think he's very ready to get out and meet Mommy and Daddy.

Max's Quilt

I've completed my very first quilt for our baby boy. I made sure to choose a very simple one without complicated squares. My sister helped me pick out the fabric and my mom helped me with the border. Max doesn't really have a specific theme for his room but I really like these colors together. I like the thought of adding some jungle animals. Any suggestions?

Sheilia and Me

It's been really fun going through this pregnancy with my cousin Sheilia. She is due only 3 weeks after me and we're both having boys! Hopefully they will be really close. She came to my shower this last weekend and I'm going to hers this coming weekend. Soin took a few pictures of us and here they are! My belly is pointy and her's is perfectly round!!!

Baby Shower # 1

My beautiful mom and sister threw me an amazing baby shower at the Mission Inn in Riverside. It was more than I ever expected it would be. Thank you so much Mom and Soin! I love you so much!

This was the best game. Everyone was split into teams and had to cut out our features to make a picture of what our baby is going to look like. I hope our baby looks that good!

Many of my family members were there to support me. All of them are so special to me and they have no idea how much their presence meant to me. I love them all so much!

My young gals were there to support me. Naomi was actually supporting Max, as you can see! :) Oh, and there I am talking to my baby daddy.

Three very special ladies in my life: Kami, Abby-girl, and Olivia... always there to support me and show their love. I love them so much!

Two of my pretty cousins, Erica and Tiffany

I am so blessed to have such wonderful Aunts and such an awesome grandma for my son. I love them! Can you believe there's a grandma in this picture? I hope I look that good when I'm a grandma! :)

Baby Shower # 2

Kelli & Emily threw me a baby shower and it was awesome!

The food was amazing. My favorite part: the dulce de leche bars!!! Soooooo good!

It was small but perfect! Kelly and Emily did such a great job and I'm so grateful for them. The games were really fun and it was nice hanging out with some ladies from the ward. I'm so glad that my mom, sister, and my cousin Sheilia were able to be there too.

Jenny had fun feeling my crazy baby boy move around!