Pregnancy, child planing, and age... The great debate

So here I am, 30 years old (31 in a couple of weeks) and 26 weeks pregnant with my third child. I am about to my last trimester and things seems to be getting a little closer, which has really got me thinking. I have this ongoing internal debate (also external to anyone who will listen to me!) about what is the best age for having kids, spacing of said kids, and how many children to have. It goes a little something like this...

Rick and I met when I was 20 and we were married when I was just 21. Honestly, I would have liked to have been a little older because I wanted to go on a mission, but when love comes a knocking you have to let it in. Anyway, I was 21 when we got married and NOT ready to have kids. I think Rick would have been happy with a honeymoon baby, but not me. So I kept waiting until I "felt" ready for kids. My graduation came and went. Rick's graduation came and went. I got my first official job in my field of study and loved it, and realized that I still didn't "feel" ready to have kids. I decided that I may never "feel" ready so I just better do it! We had Luke two weeks after I turned 25. I loved the years that Rick and I spent together, just us. I loved being able to finish school and get to work doing what I studied. I loved being a little "older" and "wiser" when I had Luke. It was also good timing because we spent the next three years in Law School and didn't have any more babies.

I can't say that I "felt" ready to have another baby when we had Noah, but Luke was 3 1/2 and the timing was good for us with school and jobs; i.e. Rick was done with school and had his first real law job. We had Noah when I was 28 1/2 which means he will be 32 months when I have our next baby. Turning 30 last year was pretty hard for me. The weeks I spent analyzing my life made me realize that I was 30 years old and only had two children. When Rick and I were married we talked about wanting a big family and having about 5 kids. Well, with just two kids at 30, I felt that dream was getting away from me. Also, I didn't know until I had kids that my patience level may not be able to handle 5 kids. Shortly after my birthday we decided we better get cracking on the next child if we really wanted a big family. So, that leads me to where I am today, almost 31 years old and pregnant with my third child.

Here comes the debate...Do you start having kids quickly and space them close together so you can be done by 30, or do you take your time, not completely lose your sanity, but still have a naughty 2 year old running around sacrament meeting when you are 40 years old!? I don't actually want to have my children closer than 3 years apart, but I don't want to be having children after I turn 33 or 34! I LOVED not having a baby soon after we were married, and I LOVED the 3 1/2 years between my first two. If I could choose I would space them all that far apart. You get a great break from being pregnant, nursing, changing diapers, waking up all night, and all the "fun" that comes with pregnancy and babies. But, sometime in my life I want to be able to listen to what is being said during church. So what is the answer? I don't know that there is one, but I have been pondering this issue for quite a while. I've seen people on both sides of the coin and can't say which I would choose. I guess all I can hope for its twins the next time around (girls, of course!) so that I can get all 5 of those kids and still be done by 34! Wouldn't it be nice if life worked out that way.

Feeling Meloncholoy

Well, we have made the move back to Utah. We have been so excited about it for so long that when it finally arrived I was suprised to find myself feeling meloncholoy. It has been a long month of packing, an even longer week of cleaning, and one of the longest drives from Las Vegas I've ever had. By the time I was to Nephi and it was raining my spirits were getting low, by Provo it was snowing, and coming over the hill from Heber it was a whiteout. The boys rode in the "big truck" with Rick and were almost two hours behind me, so I was feeling very guilty about that the whole drive and for the two hours I spent looking out the front door waiting for them to pull up to the house. Despite my effort to organize the things that we needed to keep out to live while we are with my parents house, Rick arrived here without our clothes, diapers for Noah, or our toothbrushes. I went to bed overtired and exhausted, physically and emotionally.

This morning Rick did go and get most of our necissities, excluding my shoes. So, I went to church in my moms shoes which were three sizes too small. I really enjoyed sitting with my sister and her girls during sacrament meeting, but found myself looking around for all my friends, which are still in Las Vegas! Blame it on being tired or stressed or pregnant, but somehow being "home" has yet to make me feel as elated as I thought I would be.

I just wanted to thank all my wonderful friends in Las Vegas who made our 2 1/2 years there fun. Thanks for being my friend, having your kids be friends with mine, putting meals together with me at midnight, bunco (!), tending my kids while we cleaned our house, helping me clean my kitchen, throwing good-bye parties for us, and making us feel at "home" in Vegas. I will miss you all so much.

Luke starts his first day at his new school tomorrow, Rick starts work on Tuesday, and someday it will stop snowing. Things are going to be great. I really am glad to be here, we feel so blessed with the opportunites that life has given us.

Sorry for the rambling post, we actually left our camera in Las Vegas in the house we just moved out of (we need to figure out a way to get that back!) so I didn't have much else to update.

Boys oh, boys!

One night Rick left a bag of cookies on the table and Noah really went to town. After a little while of not hearing Noah, I went looking for him because it is never a good thing when all is quiet at home. I found him at the kitchen table with about 20 cookies taken apart and the middle eaten out. I can't really blame him because I think the cookies are gross. Rick always buys those yucky store brand chocolate and vanilla cookies. He and Luke like them, and apparently Noah likes part of them.
Noah was really quite pleased with himself that he could open the cookie, eat out the middle, and not get one bite of the "crust". He is opposed to "crust" on anything.
Luke finally lost his loose tooth. He had been wiggling it for a couple of weeks before it was finally ready to come out. One day at lunch time he was having a fit because he said his tooth was bothering him too much to eat. I thought it was just an excuse because if you know Luke, you know he is not a very good eater. I finally relented that it wasn't an excuse when I could see that it was bleeding. I told him we needed to go into the bathroom and he needed to let me pull his tooth. He was having a meltdown about a bleeding tooth and being late to school. I was having a meltdown because I really didn't want to pull his tooth. I HATED getting my teeth pulled when I was little and was quite tramatized my having my dad sit on top of me and forcing his finger into my mouth to pull my teeth. I do remember one time biting his finger pretty hard and he gave up and grumbled something about hoping I get kids as stubborn as me one day! (Thanks dad!) But, Luke and I both sucked it up and I pulled that tooth right out. He said it didn't even hurt. He was right, it didn't even hurt me either.
The tooth fairy gave him a dollar for his tooth, and Luke said "I wonder how much I will get for my silver teeth, or my spacer because they cost a lot of money!" I would say that the tooth fairy has already paid a pretty penny for those teeth!

I am getting use to the idea of living with boys forever. I guess it is a good thing that I love them so much because at this point I really don't have a choice. I will forever be coutnumber in my household!

Pictures from our weekend in LA Verkin

Another Boy!

Yesterday, Olivia went in for her ultrasound. I finally convinced her to find out what the sex of the baby is rather than waiting, as we did with the first two. I really should have thought it through a little more. Knowing our chances of having a boy, it was inevitable that Olivia would be upset when we found out (this was even the bulk of my argument for actually finding out - to be upset now rather than at the birth when things should be happy).

What escaped me was the amount of time Olivia would be upset (bad move). Olivia now has five more months of being upset until she can be reminded, with a baby in her arms, how special it is no mater the sex. So for any future babies (if there are any) I'm sure we'll be back to not finding out until the birth. When she came back from her walk this morning she informed me she was crying the entire time thinking about what she will be missing by not having a girl (not buying prom dresses, not planning a wedding - sounds like plusses to me).

In any event, I am excited for another boy; the perfect golfing foursome, another great fishing buddy, another missionary, and close cousins with Jack and "the boy named Sue." Not that a girl couldn't be close with Jack and Sue, but having two close boy cousins myself, I know how fun it will be for Eli.

Christmas 2007

Christmas Eve

The beautiful table and tree at set for Christmas dinner.

For our family's number Luke played jingle bells while Rick and I sang and Noah jingled his bell.

The children's musical number was well rehearsed. They started practicing about 6:30 am and didn't stop all day. Tess was the conductor, Ellie the vocal soloist, and Luke provided the music with his saxophone. There were darling and had worked so hard on their two numbers.

Noah with his own little nativity that Grandma had given him.

All the grandchildren dressed in their new Christmas pajamas.

I know that it is now 2008, but you all know that I am always behind on my blogging. Because I have so much to say and show about Christmas I thought that I would take it in stages. Since my last post "Gunnerson Christmas as the Cabin" we have moved on to Christmas Eve. Long ago, when I was in high school, my mom started our McNeil Christmas eve dinner and show. (Anyone who know my mom know that a "show" must be included with everything!) Back then it was just our little family of parents and kids. Now it has grown to Grandparents, kids and their spouses, and grandchildren! We still have our wonderful candlelight dinner and program and I love that this tradition survived our teenage years and the many other family traditions that have married into our family. This year we had shrimp, prime rib, garlic mashed potatoes, creamed corn, and fresh baked rolls. Okay, that is what everyone else had. I had potatoes, corn, and rolls. Every few years I have to skip the main part of the meal because I am the only crazy person in the world who REALLY dislikes shrimp and red meat. I love my mom for rotating our menu so that most of the time I can stuff myself along with everyone else. Noah particularly loved the prime rib and ate a very large amount for a two year old. In fact he really did make himself sick with prime rib. About an hour after I put him in bed I heard him fussing and found him in his crib lying in a pool of throw-up! Too much of a good thing. With the kids in bed the adults were able to finish wrapping last minute presents and get everything set out. In the process we watched a little of Midnight Mass on T.V., which led to a two hour discussion (sometimes heated) about just how evil the Catholic church is or isn't. Anyway, about 2:30 we I finally made it to bed (while Rick and my dad were still in "discussion") so Santa could come! Next year I will remember not to turn on Mass so we can get to bed a little earlier.