Update on Baby#4

SO..........


       I had an ultrasound last month which showed that all the bleeding on the first ultrasound had completely resolved itself, and my placenta is in a perfect place and all looks great with the baby. Still, we've felt this time we should have this baby in the hospital -- we don't know why, and it's hard going back after such a wonderful homebirth with Lena, but we're going to and trying to take steps to make it as good of an experience for us as we can. We'll have a doula this time which I hope will help. I have my own anxieties with the hospital that I'll have to deal with, but whatever... that's not what this post is about -- THIS post is to let the cat out of the bag. Initially, we were going to be surprised again this time, but then I wanted to find out and then Ryan didn't and then we compromised and decided we'd find out but not tell anyone, but I'm having a hard time keeping a straight face when people ask my point blank if I have found out, so we'll just announce it:

We will be welcoming our fourth baby girl into the Weight household (hopefully before the year is out). We are very excited because we love our girls and think we make pretty stinkin' cute ones. We will be naming her Monta Maxine Weight after two very wonderful women that we admire and respect... Monta Benson, our wonderful 82 year old neighbor/friend who has been such an amazing help to me since we bought our home -- she reads stories to the girls, babysits for us to attend the Temple, has taught me how to can pickles, beets, jam, make delicious rolls, make amazing pie, and many other things too... but more than that, she is an amazing example of service. She is like the good fairy always going around blessing other peoples lives. I would be honored if I myself could be like her, and like the idea of naming a daughter after her as someone to learn about. Maxine is Ryan's amazing paternal grandmother -- she has taught me a lot about mother-hood. She had 13 children herself but somehow manages to keep track of all 75 + of her grandchildren AND their spouses, AND their kids. I feel such love from her whenever I see her and I love her stalwart example of faith and sacrifice in motherhood. She is also very handy at gardening, canning, etc and I've learned a lot from her.

So, we hope you'll be happy to be put out of your suspense and be excited with us. And Monta is pronounced pretty much how it's spelled -- like Montana kind of: "M ah NT uh".

More updates with our summer

 We took the girls to the Sandy Aquarium and it was a really fun trip. They loved the jellyfish, sea horses, huge clam, sea turtle, petting the rays, the starfish, and penguins. A pretty neat use of what looks like it used to be a grocery store -- it was neat to think that they made something so fun and educational. Lena oohed and aahhed over my shoulder in the back pack carrier.

 These girls love these grey skirts my Mom sewed for them. They often go running around like twinners. I love that they play well together for the most part.

 Esther sitting atop a giant frog and rather pleased with herself...

 Our beehive in the back yard. It seems to be a very strong colony -- last year we had two hives, but one didn't survive the cold cold winter so we put the extra boxes onto the strong surviving hive and we are really excited about harvesting it soon... my one apprehension is the below photo:

 Ryan has recently been having "large local reactions" to bee stings. He's been stung in the past without incident, but the last two times he's been stung, he's had big big reactions (He was stung in his bicep and his arm swelled nearly twice as large where you couldn't even see any elbow or anything. This above picture was taken after he was stung on the lip and IMMEDIATELY took 2 Benadryl and 4 IBprofin.... and this photo doesn't even do it justice because this was only about 30 minutes after it happened, but the other picture is less flattering). I think he's learned now to wear his beesuit and I just really hope he's safe while we extract the honey.

 We took the girls to Bear Lake for an idealic day on the beach in June and it was a lot of fun. Here's Lena flying the big squid kite. We've had on the whole a very lovely summer.

 And here is our 50$ piano!! :) LOVE it and it really looks made for our home, doesn't it? We had it tuned and the tuner said he'd have sold it for at least 400$ maybe more. Nothing like that to make you value your steal of a deal even more. It's been wonderful to have a piano to play again.

Amy bamey hanging out in a hammock when we checked out the Summerfest. We've enjoyed all the little local things to do and enjoy ourselves a lot as a family.

A photo dump

 So, I'm having a hard time figuring out this Dropbox thing so these photos are a bit jumbled... but here's a long overdue update from the Weights. 1 -- We moved the fence in our yard which DOUBLED our back yard space and is so nice because previously the back yard could be accessed through my bedroom only, and since that's where I like to put my newborns to sleep, this will be great because I can send the kids out the side door and they are STILL in the back yard. HoOraH!  Then this pic here is my Dad reading to Amy and Esther. They love having him visit and having books read. My dad is a great reader and really engages them in whatever he's reading.

 View from the front of our yard now, with the large chicken coop Ryan built for our 6 chickens peeking up above it. They are starting to lay now which is great to have fresh eggs again and Amy and Esther LOVE collecting the eggs. It's a treasure hunt every day. It has been a fun experience to raise them from chicks and it will be nice to know they're all the same age and know their breeds. We'll have white, brown, red brick and green eggs. :) And I love that they eat our kitchen scraps.

 A blurry photo of us at the County Fair with one of the largest Sunflowers I've ever seen. The photo doesn't even do it justice, because it's leaning backwards. It was at least 20 feet.

 Checking out the other chickens (doesn't my bun look awesome by the way? My hair really is getting insanely long. I need to learn some fancier things to do with it, but buns and braids are so easy that I usually have my hair like that)

Lena loved ALL of the animals. She's a big enthusiast for all animals and makes an excited "Ooooh ooooh" noise. What a ball of sunshine!