Anniversary, April Fools, and other stuff

So Ben's vacation week is over... bummer. But we had a great week! It was really nice to have him here to help with the routine stuff of a school week. On Monday, while the girls were at school, Ben got to come with Jake and I to one of my many OB check ups. I also got a 3D ultrasound, which is fun. The pics didn't turn out great though because her little hand was covering half of her cute face - and this was actually the 2nd time they tried to get some decent 3D pics... so, bottom line is: this girl is shy, or she is a teaser, or both. :) They took some measurements of the little babe, and turns out she's not so little! I have definitely felt that my belly has been bigger than in past pregnancies, so I guess this shouldn't be much of a surprise, but really, it was a relief to know that there is a reason my belly is bigger... and that's because my baby is bigger - she's currently measuring in the 95th percentile and as of Monday was likely about 5 lbs already (at 31 1/2 weeks). The doc says that if I go till 40 weeks, she'll be about 9 lbs. Wow! That seems big to me... my past babies weights are: Emma- 6.5, Becca 6.10, and Jake, 8.2 (that was exciting!). Jake surprised us a bit and came 12 days early, so if this baby comes that early, then I guess she'd be close to Jake's weight. I'm excited actually! Good to know she's thriving so well. :)

The kids had a great time trying out the slip and slide this week that Jake got for his birthday. And Ben was a super fun dad and went down the slide a few times too. I took too many pictures, as is typical...





















This week we also celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary! I love saying we've been married for 9 years... it's so close to 10! How exciting! I know it's cheesy to say, but it really has been a wonderful 9 years. When we got married, I was 19 and Ben was 21... so young! And we were still in the middle of college. Since then, we both graduated from BYU, I taught school for a couple years, Ben started medical school, and is now more than half way through residency, and oh, we've had 3 (and a half) kids! I'd say we've been rather busy... but that is the time of life we're in it seems. The constant change and busyness is hard to avoid. :) We celebrated by going out to eat at another new place for us- Cafe Bink. It's a small and rather casual looking place in the Carefree/Cave Creek area. The patio was really nice with an outdoor fire and hanging lights. The food was delicious! The most memorable food item of the night was the appetizer we ordered... we had read that it was a popular menu item - the french fries with 3 different dipping sauces: truffle ketchup, mustard aioli, and malt vinegar. I'm not a fan of vinegar (although Ben really enjoyed it), but I really loved the white truffle ketchup! Who ever heard of fancy ketchup? Well it was great! :) For an anniversary present, Ben really surprised me with an amazing gift...


It's going to be a good project for the 2 of us to complete, and we plan on hanging it above our piano when it's done. If you are interested in one yourself, he ordered the print from this site, and then he took it and got it matted and framed - what a guy! I think it's so beautiful and will be a wonderful way to display our ancestry. Another reason why I love Ben... because I love that he would think to get me a gift like this. :)

On Friday, we attempted taking the kids to a nearby splash pad, but apparently it's too early in the season (even though it was 100 degrees!) and our outing was a bust. The kids were sad, to say the least. So when we got home I found some leftover water balloons from last summer and we had an impromptu water fight. The girls had a wonderful time, but now I can officially say that Jake HATES water balloons! Ben got him soaked with one at the very beginning and this is the face he made...


The rest of the time while we were all having fun getting each other soaked, Jake cowered in the perimeter of the yard trying to stay as far away from the water fight as possible. We kept trying to just give him a water balloon to throw at us, but he didn't want anything to do with it! We laughed a lot at this whole situation. Jake has A LOT of personality and it's activities like this that really seem to bring it out. haha.


Lastly, April Fools Day! I tried to think up something new and clever, but in the end we just decided to do the same old jello juice trick we did last year. Even Emma didn't seem to remember us ever doing this before, because she was fooled as much as her siblings with the whole thing. Although, Jake was especially determined to drink this strange "juice". He sucked and sucked on that straw, convinced that eventually it would come up... and then he finally looked at me with this face...


I said "it's Jello Jake!" So, I opened up the lid and took out the straw and walked over to get him a spoon and when I come back, he's doing this...


I love Jake. He's the best. :) And don't you love that he has his dinosaur and alligator with him at dinnertime. Boys are pretty fun, if I do say so myself.