5th Birthday Party

We had Mason's 5th birthday party today. We were lucky enough to get permission to have it at the fire station Jeff volunteers at. I made this fire truck cake. It was my first attempt at decorating a cake. I didn't have the right cake decorating tips, so I made due with what I had. I know, I'm no Cake Boss. I think I'll stick to what I do best, cookies. Mason supervising the cake decorating process all dressed up for the party.
Cooper finishing off the frosting.

Once we were at the station, Jeff and Mason gave the party guests a tour of the fire truck and all the cool tools on the truck.

Then the kids got to sit in the fire truck.

Zachary

Mason with his cousin Hannah Mason's friend Brennan

Jeff-all dressed up with no fire to respond to. Ethan in the fire gear

Diggin' the hat dude


Cooper trying to walk in Daddy's fire pants and boots.

After all the kids who wanted to try on the gear got a chance, we sang "Happy Birthday" to the birthday boy and ate cake and ice cream.




Then Jeff took the kids on a ride in the fire truck.

The birthday boy on his ride in the engine.

Here is the first group as they were backing into the fire station after their ride.

Cooper in the fire truck, telling Daddy to turn on the sirens.

Then we all went back inside to open presents.
Nascar
A cool bubble machine from his cousins Ashley, Megan and Hannah

Happy Birthday Mason!

Today is Mason's 5th birthday! I can....not....believe....it....! Time has gone by fast with this big guy. He has been such a blessing to our family. He is lovable, caring, helpful, and funny. I love him more every day. One thing I love about him is that he will tell me several times a day that he loves me and give me a hug or kiss.

Birth
One year

Two years

Three years

Four years

Five years

We will be having a birthday party at the fire station this Saturday with his friends and some of his cousins. We wanted to have cake on his actual birthday though, this is the cake he wanted for that.

Strike a pose

Last night our YW group had a "What Not to Wear Modesty Fashion Show". There were 12 models who all dressed in ways that are not modest or other non-appealing "trends". We had everything from tight clothing (the model was wrapped in plastic wrap) to plunging neck lines (the model wore a really low cut dress, with an undershirt on too and put a (clean) plunger down her shirt). We had a fashion show hostess, who introduced each model with a clever little poem stating why these trends are not OK.

I was the tattoo model. Jeff drew tattoos on me with washable marker. Here are a few of the tattoos. Jeff is so proud of his work, he thinks he missed his calling in life as a tattoo artist.

Flame sleeves

Arm band with the name "Rick" in the heart. You know my ex boyfriend who I thought I was going to be with forever....yeah, we broke up two weeks after getting his name permanently inked on my arm.

Cooper and Mason had to get in on the tattoo action too. They got to have this cool tattoo put on their arms.

Potty Training

Just after Jeff was laid off, we decided to potty train Cooper. What other time would we have to potty train him together? Cooper has done really well! He had just a few accidents, the last one being almost three weeks ago! Cooper will now go in and go potty by himself without being reminded (even the pooping too sometimes). He has been wearing underwear at nap time for a week with no problems. We are now out of pull ups, so we are going to see how he does at bed time, he wakes up dry 6 out of 7 days a week, so we'll see.

Awww no kids in diapers. Finally. For a while anyway. This is the first time we have not had a kid in diapers in 5 years. It's so nice.

Crib

A while back I got an email from Baby Center saying that there was a major crib recall. This is the picture that was on the email.

Sure looked like our crib, so last night I checked into it further and the notification said that ALL cribs with tubular metal mattress-support frames from this certain brand were recalled. Sure enough our crib was recalled. In the email it said that the manufacture has gone out of business so to take the crib back to where you bought it and the retailer would either give you money back, store credit, or exchange the crib

This is what the notification said can happen: The crib's tubular metal mattress-support frame can bend or detach and cause part of the mattress to collapse, creating a space into which a baby or toddler could roll and become wedged, become entrapped, or fall out of the crib.

Here are some pictures of what can happen. Yikes! Not something I would want to happen while my baby is in the crib.

Today we took the crib back in to Shopko and the customer service gal tried to give us the run around saying: we don't handle recalls. Are you sure your crib is part of the recall? What is the model number of the crib? What is the name of the crib? (Me) I don' know, the crib is in our vehicle, would you like us to get that info for you? Well, when did you buy the crib? (Me) In 2005. Well we stopped selling that brand of crib in 2002. (Me) No you didn't. Then after re-looking at her recall notification she realized that they were selling that brand of crib in 2005. Gee it looks like IF your crib is part of the recall that we can only give you $100 for the crib. (Me) So I'm suppose to replace my crib with $100, I don't think so. Then she looks at our boys are says, well do you even use the crib anymore? Are you really going to need to buy another one? (Me) Yeah! I am pregnant and will be needing a crib in about 4 months. During this whole time of her trying to give us the run around she also called several different employees up to the CS counter to get their take on the whole recall. To say this lady was a pain would be an understatement. After she asked us again what crib exactly we had, I remembered that I did have the original receipt, so I asked if that would help her figure out what crib we had. Yup it would. She then confirmed that our crib was part of the recall and that Shopko was suppose to take the crib back. She said that they could only give us store credit, but since we had the receipt, she could give us the full purchase price back, not just the $100! Yeah for keeping receipts!

So this is the crib we got to replace our old one with. We still had to fork out some dough (but not as much as we would have if we didn't have the receipt) since cribs have gone up in price in the last five years and there weren't any cribs for sale for the price that we paid in 2005.
I am really happy with the outcome even though the lady was a pain. This crib is way nicer than the one we had and I really wanted a darker crib to better match the bedding I want to get for Shiloh's room.

Moral of the story: Keep your receipts until you get rid of bigger priced items like a crib, even if it has been 5 years since you bought it. It could save you some money.

Fire 9 family BBQ

Sunday was the annual Fire 9 Family BBQ. They always have fun things for the kids to do. Bounce castle shaped like a fire truck.

A pinata filled with lots of candy.

They also had water balloons for the kids.

Slip and Slide

Can I just say that my husband is so creative?! He came up with this idea for a slip and slide. He used some extra sprinkler parts and a tarp and there you have it, a slip and slide. We invited the Patsfields over for some fun. I'm not really sure who had more fun, the kids or the adults watching the kids trying to figure out the slip and slide.

Mason's first attempt.

Mason showing Ethan how it's done.

Ethan's first attempt.

Mason decided to try it without the tube.

Then it was time for some fun in the sprinkler.

Movement

Jeff felt Shiloh move for the first time on Friday night. I on the other hand have been feeling her movements for about a month. Her movements are getting stronger and more frequent. I am grateful they are not strong enough to wake me up in the middle of the night yet. I know that day is coming.

Ahhh....freshness

I love love love fresh fruit! Especially when it comes straight from the garden. Here's the strawberries and raspberries I was able to pick yesterday and there are plenty more that will be ready in the next day or two.

Shelf

We have had this shelf for quite some time now. It is part of our computer desk and file cabinet set. When we moved into our house, we painted our night stands and now use them as end tables in our living room. So this shelf became Jeff's night stand until we got our bedroom set this last February. Since February this shelf has sat in our spare room, empty and unloved. Yesterday I cleaned out a bin of pictures and other misc. things Jeff used to have in his office at work. I figured out that I had enough books, pictures and other things that I could display them on the shelf. Now the shelf sits in the room with the computer in it. I am really happy with the results and I've always thought that the spot I put it in needed something there.

The funny thing is that I don't think Jeff noticed it yesterday when he got home from work. I guess being away from home for 14 hours can make you a bit oblivious to everything around you.

Poll results

I am not surprised by the results at all!

22 for girl.

6 for boy.

What I am surprised at is that there are 28 people who read my blog. I would have been surprised if there were 10 votes. I really didn't think there were very many people who would be interested in what I blog about.

Boy oh boy it's finally...

a GIRL!

Her name will be Shiloh Crystyne Borders

We are totally excited to have a girl. I can't believe I'm saying that. I've never wanted a girl. Girl's scare me.

Here's some of the ultrasound pictures.

Gender party

As I said in my previous post, we had an ultrasound at our appointment yesterday and we were able to find out the sex of the baby. We heard about this gender party idea from one of Jeff's former patients. The idea is to have family and friends come over dressed in blue or pink depending on what they think you are having. Then when the time is right, or in our case, once everyone got here, we handed out cupcakes. Inside each cupcake was either a blue or pink jelly bean, so when everyone eats their cupcake, they will know what sex the baby is.

Here's the sign Jeff made for the front door.

All the cupcakes. The ones with chocolate chips on them were the two the big brothers decided were theirs.

Mason was rooting for a sister, Cooper a brother. Well at least we know one of them would be happy.

The grandparents and what each of them were rooting for.

My brother Jared. He's so cute.

Dana Lynd, Maryanne Watson, Rusty Lynd

Ben and Nicole McCombs, Rhiannon Leppert, Jessica DeGroat (in back)

Jeff's dad, sister-in-law, and mom

Jarom and Crystal Watts


And the verdict is.......

a GIRL!


While I was frosting the cupcakes, Mason told me that the Holy Ghost was told by Jesus to tell him that he was having a baby sister. It made my heart melt, knowing myself at that time that he was getting a baby sister.

Baby check up

Yesterday was a great day! We had an ultrasound, got to see baby, and find out the sex. During the ultrasound I thought at one moment that it was a girl. I got excited. Then in another shot I thought it was a boy. I was a little disappointed. I think it was then that I realized having a girl wouldn't be too bad.

The ultrasound showed that my placenta is too low. I will go back in for another ultrasound around 28 weeks to make sure my placenta has moved up to where it needs to be.

Here is what Baby Center says about placenta previa:

If you have placenta previa, it means that your placenta is lying unusually low in your uterus, next to or covering your cervix. The placenta is the pancake-shaped organ — normally located near the top of the uterus — that supplies your baby with nutrients through the umbilical cord.

Placenta previa is not usually a problem early in pregnancy. But if it persists into later pregnancy, it can cause bleeding, which may require you to deliver early and can lead to other complications. If you have placenta previa when it's time to deliver your baby, you'll need to have a c-section.

If the placenta covers the cervix completely, it's called a complete or total previa. If it's right on the border of the cervix, it's called a marginal previa. (You may also hear the term "partial previa," which refers to a placenta that covers part of the cervical opening once the cervix starts to dilate.) If the edge of the placenta is within 2 centimeters of the cervix but not bordering it, it's called a low-lying placenta. The location of your placenta will be checked during your midpregnancy ultrasound exam.

My Doctor said that my placenta should move up by the 3rd trimester. He said that 95% of all placenta previa cases fix themselves by the 3rd trimester. He told me that he is not worried about it yet, so neither should we. So I'm not going to worry about it.

Baby is measuring one week smaller than it should. Doctor said I could have just ovulated late, (yup I could have told you that). So at the 30 week ultrasound he will determine if we need to change the due date.

I only gained 1 pound. I am right back to my starting weight due to my loss at my last appointment. My uterus is measuring right where it should.

Heart beat was 155bpm.

I am 19 weeks 3 days pregnant.

Girls Camp

Jeff and I were very lucky to go to girls camp this year with the young women in our ward! We went to Ensign Ranch by Cle' Elum. We left Spokane Monday at 5am and got back Wednesday at 8:30pm. I don't know who had more fun, Jeff or me. Jeff loved teasing the girls and making them laugh. I loved being with the young women and getting to know them better. In fact, I had so much fun, I forgot to take pictures, so thanks to Melissa for posting these on Facebook, you have a few pictures to look at.

There is this HUGE slip n' slide there. I wish I had one in my back yard. The slide is probably about 50 yards wide. I didn't think I was going to go down it because I didn't want to do anything risky while pregnant. So I didn't even take my swimsuit, but once we got there and I saw that it wasn't as bumpy and crazy as I was picturing, I figured I could go down at least once. So I just went in my clothes and then dried off in the sun. It was fun!Jeff, being JeffAnts made all this saw dust. They were still there in the log, digging out more. Very interesting. All the Adult leaders, minus the other Priesthood leader after our skit.
The whole gang together.Wednesday morning we got to go horse back riding. It was my first time. My horse's name was Reuben, he was a good horse. We rode for 45 minutes, I really enjoyed it...for the first 30 minutes, until my bum started to hurt.