By Popular Demand

I have had several friends ask me to post pictures of our new house, but I have been hesitant. #1 reason is because I feel a little silly putting pictures like that on here, and #2 reason is because taking pictures means having to have several rooms picked up and free of kid-evidence all at once. However, one day a window of opportunity came and I seized it. Here are a few snaps:

( This is a really bad picture, but I went outside in my jammies to take it and I'm not doing it again!) We are still in the midst of getting our landscaping put in, so don't mind the pile of gravel and lack of grass and trees. Hopefully we can get it done soon so we can get rid of the dirt and start enjoying our yard!

Allie really wanted to be in the pictures.

Family room from kitchen.

Family room from entry.

Girls room.

Our home is a 3 br 2 ba with an unfinished basement on .41 acre. (If you ask me, the lot is a little on the big side, but that's the way they do it here in the country!)

We love our little home-it is perfect for us. Someday we will get started on finishing the basement, and then our home can grow right along with us. We live in a great new development that is experiencing a lot of growth, and we like it here. (Having all my family around sure doesn't hurt, either!) :)

What We've Been Up To

There has been a lot of stuff going on around here, (which partially explains the blog update shortage.) Here are some pictures of what we have been doing lately:

TV time

Sometimes I am frightened at the amount of time my children will sit and watch movies. Between the funky weather and me being so close to the end of my pregnancy, there have been more of these kids of days around here than I care to admit.


They sure don't seem to mind, though...

Before too long, hopefully, the weather will get better, and we will actually have a yard for them to play in. Also, not too much longer before our baby will be born, and mommy can start getting some energy back!

Landscaping

One of the downsides to buying a home that no one has ever lived in is that often times they are totally un-landscaped. So that is what has been taking up pretty much all our free time and weekends lately. We have had lots of help from my dad and Marshall's parents. A friend of my dad's helped us get the grading and trenching done and sprinkler pipes put in. We so appreciate the willingness of family and friends to help us get such a huge job done.

Marshall was killing me because he wears this totally white trash hat that he found on his shelf at work, (can't imagine why someone would leave that behind...) He looks like he belongs at a Nascar race or something. (No offense to Nascar fans. Even you know what I mean.)

We are almost all done with the sprinklers now, and soon we will be able to get some grass, rocks, and curbing in. Stay tuned for pictures!

Twirling

I love a good twirly dress. Allie gets some great hand-me-downs from her cousins!

I can't believe my baby will be three years old in just a few short days! She is so much fun and makes me laugh every day.

Someday I am going to learn how to use a camera for real. But for now, these will have to do. You get the idea!

T-Ball

We signed Drew up for t-ball this year. Most of the kids on his team are in our ward, so we know most of them. It has been really fun for him so far.

We get such a kick out of the huge hats with the kids ears folded halfway down. Drew feels so awesome in his "uniform."

Drew's Preschool Graduation

Our kid loves LOVES school. This makes me especially happy because I have a feeling he always will. He loves it all, the social aspect, the learning, everything. He is always so excited every day to tell me what they did and what he learned.

We are especially proud of him for FINALLY being brave enough to go up in front of all the parents and perform the songs and stuff. Up until the past month or so, he has always been so paralyzed with stage fright that he refused to do anything of this sort, including any participation in Primary, etc. This past Mother's Day he gave me the best gift ever by being brave enough to go up and sing with the rest of the kids in Sacrament meeting. It was a first for him, and I was overjoyed. It meant so much to me that he found the courage to do that just to make me happy!

Last year's preschool program he refused to come onto the stage, he just slunk off to the side looking pathetic and sad. He has really come a long way!

Father's and Sons Campout

These guys had an overnighter in a tent at Three Peaks.

Drew had a great time playing on the rocks and with his friends and dad!

The wind blew like crazy the whole time (that's what you usually get in Cedar during the Spring!)
Drew loves to go camping, and it is a good thing his dad does too, because his mother is a total wuss when it comes to camping. (I don't mind the dirtiness as much as I do the uncomfortable sleeping, and being so tired after coming home!)

No one got much sleep of course, but as always, they had a great time together!

No Name

So...I suppose it is about that time where I start nesting and trying to get things ready for when this new baby makes her appearance. The fact that our last baby was a girl, born around the same time of year makes things really rather effortless. It is really just a matter of pulling the crib, changing table, and baby clothes out of the basement and getting them set up. Check. Only thing missing now is a name for this poor child. Seriously, we really don't even have any ideas yet. Why are baby names so difficult and stressful for me? I suppose the fact that my husband doesn't really have strong opinions (or even any suggestions, for that matter) doesn't really help any. It feels like all the pressure is on me!

Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions on choosing baby names? How do you come up with your names? Does anyone still use baby name books? If so, any suggestions on which books are best? All the ones I have flipped through in bookstores have mostly unusable, funky, foreign sounding names. (Not that I have a major problem with people naming their babies Shanequah or Lafawnduh, but, well, let's just say... it's not our style. lol) Do you look at your family pedigree charts? TV shows? Movies? Books? I considered for a minute sticking with the "A" names to narrow the search down considerably, but decided not to, since Andrew's and Allie's "A" names were just a coincidence. We are down to about 6 weeks before baby is due, and still, nada. Starting to feel a little anxious about this! Any tips or suggestions I can get would be greatly appreciated.

32 Weeks

Could I really still have 8 weeks left to go? Seriously, how much bigger can this belly get? I thought it might be nice to post something about this pregnancy before it is all over! Overall, I am still feeling pretty well, but then if I overdo it some days I feel like I have the hip joints of a 90 year old lady! Sometimes it is hard to believe I will soon be the mother of three. (Maybe it's best not to think about it too much!) Marshall and I are really excited to welcome this new little daughter into our family, and really grateful that this time around we have a little experience under our belts. Thinking back to those early days after our first baby was born...I sort of shudder at the thought. It was so scary, and really hard! So many unknowns. Baby #2 was quite a bit easier, and so I suppose we figure the third go-around shouldn't be too much of a problem. Hopefully we will just be able to relax and enjoy her, and not let her grow up too fast, as our other children have done.

Easter 2010

We had a nice Easter weekend this year. For the first time, we were able to spend it with both Marshall's and my families. Marshall's parents recently bought a condo in St. George, so we are now enjoying their company much more often, as well as other family who stop by on their way down south. We had Marshall's parents, and sister Erica and her children over for lunch on Saturday, and it was fun for the kids to run and play with their cousins. (Sorry no pictures- I am the worst at remembering to take pictures!)

Here is a selection of some favorite pictures that we took over the past week:

This one below pretty much sums up our daughter's personality.

Below are some Sunday best shots, which were taken a week before Easter.

We are still working on learning the difference between a real smile and a fake smile...


...that's better!

The Friday before Easter, Nana came over to help the kids decorate eggs. They always love doing things with her- she makes everything so much more fun!

We had our Easter egg hunt at Nana and Papa's with some of the Dial cousins. Marshall is always a great egg hider!

We had a nice and relaxing weekend with lots of family time. It was also a very nice bonus that General Conference was Easter weekend, which helped us to further reinforce to our children the reason we celebrate Easter, and why it is such a special holiday. I know the kids "get it." I don't think I heard the Easter Bunny mentioned at all. (That is probably because I told them he is just pretend-call me a bubble-burster, but I strongly believe the more emphasis that is put on reality, the more they will be able to understand and appreciate the true spirit of special holidays.) After Sunday conference, we went over to my brother's house and enjoyed a nice family meal with lots of little ones running about. We have had pretty terrible weather this past week, with lots of snow and hurricane-ish wind, but we had a great weekend just being together and pondering the Resurrection of our Savior.

Catching Up

One of the bad things about moving and trying to get settled into a new place is that picture-taking, blogging, or even desire to blog pretty much get thrown out the window. Now that we are finally pretty well settled into our new place, I suppose it's time to take some pictures of the kids and write a few things down before the baby comes and I totally forget everything.

We are all enjoying life back in my hometown of Cedar City, or more specifically, Enoch. At first, it was kind of a weird transition for everyone, even me. I have never really lived here as an adult, and had gotten accumstomed to living in big cities over the past 10 years, so learning to live with only Wal-Mart to shop at was a little strange at first. But now I don't mind at all. We take trips down to St. George fairly regularly, so that gives me my shopping fix often enough! Having most of my family close around me every day is a dream come true for me, and I don't know how I survived without them for so long. It also makes the prospect of adding another baby to the family a lot less nerve-wracking. I know I will have all the help I could ever need, and that is good to know.

The kids are happy, and adjusting quite well. Drew loves his preschool class, and is getting ready to start kindergarten in the fall. I took him to the pediatrician last week to get his shots- poor kid had to get 5 separate shots all at once. He handled it pretty well though. (It's nothing that a tiny plastic toy alien from the prize machine at the Dr.'s office and an ice cream cone can't fix!) Kindergarten registration is next week, and he is really looking forward to starting in the fall. He is so ready for it. The elementary school is less than a mile from our house, which is nice. He is trying really hard to find new kids to play with; he is really cute about wanting to make new friends. He is a super social kid, and isn't afraid to make the first move, which I think is cool. There are tons of kids that live in the area, so I am thinking once the weather warms up then everyone will start to emerge and we should have lots of little people around. In the meantime, he is trying to learn that playing with his little sister isn't so bad after all. They are getting to the age where they can play together, at least in theory. Most of the time they have fun together.

Allie is doing great as well. She is growing so much and changing every day. She loves building towers with her blocks, and playing with Polly Pockets with Nana. She has a little tea set with pretend food that she pulls around in a little toy wagon, and likes to have spontaneous tea parties around the house. She is super smart and always says the cutest and funniest things that crack me up. I can't believe she will be turning three in just over 2 months. The time just flies by. Then again, I can't really remember her baby days very well, either. I was looking through the bin of newborn baby girl clothes the other day, and I just can't believe how tiny they are. It's strange to think that they will be in use again in only a few short months!

I am doing well, and still feeling relatively good and active. I am one of those lucky ones who don't mind being pregnant all that much. I think the round belly looks sort of cute and it gives me an excuse to wear sweats and eat more...he-he! The kids are excited to meet their new baby sister, and Drew has even been giving me some name suggestions, which I think is so cute. (Some of them are actually under consideration!) I don't have any prego pics of me at all, which is not surprising since today I finally pulled out the camera to take some photos of the kids for the first time since we moved in, like 6 weeks ago. It is amazing how much more relaxed I am with this pregnancy, as opposed to the first one. It is nice knowing more or less what to expect, and that I am happy being a mom, and am confident with my parenting abilities. All the unknowns the first time around were enough to make me crazy! I love being able to sit back and relax, enjoy this time in my life, and know that things will be great. Here are some recent pictures:

The cutest kids ever.

Yes, he is still attached to the cat and dog (and blanket!) of his babyhood. Who am I to put a stop to it?

Love those brown eyes.

My baby is getting to be such a big girl. It is amazing how fast that happens!

We were taking the kids swimming for FHE and I told Drew to wear something warm over his swimming suit and he got too excited and mixed them up. It was so cute and I was laughing and had to take a picture. (I swear he really does have common sense!)

The other day the house was quiet, and I went to look and I caught Drew in his room just sitting, reading his Transformers book. He is a pretty good reader, actually, especially for being a pre-kindergartner. I am so happy that he loves books and reading.

Well that is the update for now. Hopefully now that we are mostly settled in, I will be able to return to blogging, at least semi-regularly (assuming there are any readers still left out there that will see this...)

Chamberlain Family Roster

As of this June:

Boys: 2

Girls: 3

Looks like we won't be putting the little girl clothes away any time soon! We are so happy to welcome another daughter into our growing family!