37 Weeks and Counting!

I realized recently that I have very few pictures of me during this pregnancy. This is me at 37 weeks. We are all anxiously awaiting our little one's arrival! I get told a lot that I don't look like I'm that far along. When people told me that while pregnant with Calvin, it used to really worry me that he wasn't growing/developing correctly (just ask Trevor). Now it doesn't bother me, but I still don't know how to respond to that comment (This is just how I carry my children?).

People also ask me if I'm "ready" and I don't really know how to respond to that either. Are you ever fully ready for labor, delivery and the sleepless nights ahead of you? I guess I'm ready, but it seems there is always something else that needs to be done to prepare for the birth. Just keeping the house clean is a task that never seems to be fully done.

Last Friday, Trevor's cousin Julie invited us to her son's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese's. Calvin had the time of his life. He didn't even need tokens. He was happy running everywhere, going down the slide, and sitting on all the games without them actually running. Thanks for inviting us Julie!



Calvin's favorite thing to do is go to the park. He LOVES going down the slides and playing in the sand. We got him a sand bucket and shovel recently and he could sit there and play for a really long time. I just wish it would stop raining so we could go to the park more often!

Just a cute picture. Calvin decided to smear his food in his hair, so Trevor washed it with a rag and had fun spiking it.

Update from Christmas

Trevor has been in Arizona for the funeral since Thursday so it's been a little lonely around here. It's true that Calvin keeps me plenty busy, but I miss having adult conversation. I would have liked to go to the funeral, but we just didn't want to subject Calvin to another LONG car ride and it's getting too close to my due date for me to feel comfortable traveling long distances. I probably wouldn't have been able to listen to the funeral anyway because Calvin doesn't sit still and quiet for long periods of time.

Over the Christmas break we misplaced our camera (on the last day we were there so I didn't have time to look for it). Hopefully Trevor's parents can find it otherwise we are going to have to buy another camera really soon. Hence the only pictures I have are ones taken from Trevor's phone. So even though they aren't the greatest quality, it's all we have right now.

We had a great Christmas break with Trevor's family! We surprised them by coming a whole day earlier than planned. Trevor had to work remotely the next day, but it was fun for me and Calvin to be somewhere new!

I don't know who was more grateful--Calvin or his parents that the trip was only 5 1/2 hours. I can't complain, though, because Calvin is a good traveler. He can sit in his car seat for 3 hour stretches before complaining (are we terrible parents?). After 6 hours total, though, he starts to get pretty upset he's still strapped in his chair.



Calvin LOVED playing the piano. Too bad it might be at least a year or two before I save up enough money to get a digital piano. Pretty much all our savings right now are going toward a down payment for a house.

We also liked going for walks in Grandma and Grandpa's cool wagon! The weather in Camarillo is so beautiful. You could not help but want to go outside.


Grandpa Sam and Calvin cuddling. Calvin knows how to get on Grandpa's good side! :0)


Christmas morning was fun! Lots of presents and energetic kids. I think these sunglasses were Alicey's or Olivia's?

I made the Black family's traditional Christmas tree pull-apart with some minor adjustments (this picture didn't really turn out, but it's the only one I have). One adjustment was putting crushed pecans on top along with maraschino cherries--something I'm going to keep doing in the future. They were really good and gone really fast.

Calvin loved his presents and wanted to open each one to play with it after he unwrapped it. Thanks to all his Grandpas and Grandmas, aunts, and uncles for getting him such great gifts!


Trevor and I also celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary over the break. We saw the movie "The Princess and the Frog" and went to the Cheesecake Factory where Trevor's brother Hank works. It was the first time either of us had been there and we had a great time (I did find the length of their menu overwhelming, so it was a good thing we got suggestions of what to order)! Later that evening we went miniature golfing. It was a lot of fun doing things that we can't do with Calvin (sorry Calvin, we still love you!).


We took Calvin to the park and he had a ball going down the slides as many times as he could.



Trevor's parents also have a New Year's Eve party every year where they play games and have prizes for everyone. I got first place this year! Usually I'm not a competitive person, but once I saw that I had a shot at winning, I let that side of me come out. It was a really fun night (and not just because I won)!

In Loving Memory of Pa

Thanksgiving 2005

Thanksgiving 2008

Florence Family Reunion - August 2009

Thanksgiving 2009

We just learned this morning that Trevor's grandpa passed away. He was 92 years old. As hard as his death is, we are happy he is reunited with his wife and he's not in pain anymore.

We are so grateful for the opportunities we have had to visit him when we went to Arizona. He is one of the most generous people you would ever meet. I'm grateful for the knowledge we have that we will be able to see Pa again and that death is not the end. We love you Pa and are looking forward to when we can see you again!

Eating habits

Lest you be deceived, this is not chocolate all over Calvin's face. Yep, they're black beans. This boy loves his beans!

Calvin pretty much eats whatever we are eating. He's not terribly picky, but you can bet he won't finish eating something if he doesn't like it. Some of his favorite foods right now are:

graham crackers (by far his favorite. I can get him to do anything if I promise him a graham cracker)
bread
eggs
pancakes
carrots, broccoli, lima beans, peas, squash
tortilla with cheese and black beans
apples, grapes, watermelon, bananas, applesauce
macaroni and cheese (homemade)

He's still not a huge fan of chicken. Maybe it's just the way I cook it. Who knows...

Halloween Fun

This weekend Trevor's parents and sister, Summer, came to visit us. We had a wonderful time with them and of course they had a wonderful time with Calvin! :0) He is such a good boy and has the sweetest disposition (well, he also gets into plenty of trouble and tests mommy's patience at times, but we love him just the same!).

Here is our cute puppy for Halloween! This was a Goodwill special that I got for $6 brand new. Calvin saw it in the store and kept saying, "dog! dog!" over and over again. I let him hold it and he wouldn't let go of it for the longest time.


Last Saturday our church ward had a Halloween party/Trunk-or-treat and we all had a great time. There were so many kids running around and Calvin loved all the commotion.

On Halloween night we took Calvin trick-or-treating to a few houses. He liked knocking on the doors and was pretty good about grabbing a piece of candy (or two), putting it in his bucket, and saying, "bye-bye!" He also wanted to go into the homes when they opened the door. I think he had lots of fun. I'm looking forward to the next few years when he really starts to understand how trick-or-treating works!


One reason Trevor's family came to see us was to bring the completed cross-stitch Trevor's mom made us. We can't get over how beautiful this picture is and feel honored to hang it in our home. It was originally going in Calvin's room, but we decided it needs to be hung in a more prominent place in our house to give it the respect it deserves.

The original painting is by James Christensen and is called "Faery Tales." There are 22 fairy tales depicted. We put Calvin next to it to give you some perspective. We love all the many bright colors. This is definitely going to be a family heirloom!


271,975 total "x's" which puts the total number of stitches at 543,950 (because every cross requires two stitches).


We also went to Stanford University yesterday because Summer had never been there before.  That campus is beautiful.

Man, am I really looking that pregnant at 5 months already?!?!

 
Here are some other cute/random pictures we took this weekend.

 
We are also discovering Calvin is mildly obsessed with dogs. Every time he sees one (real or not) he gets super excited. One time I went into his room to wake him up and I found him using his stuffed dog as a pillow. It was so sweet!

It's a...

BOY!!!