happy christmas

love,
nate and wendy
jared, isaac, amelia and clara

isaac on compound words

isaac (to nate): "dad, is timeout a compound word?"
dad (a little surprised that isaac figured that out): "yes, it is"
isaac: "i thought so. it's tie and mount like mount everest."

no more braces.... at least for now

jared got his braces off and his spacer taken out yesterday. i think i was more excited than he was. i was so ready for him to talk normally again and to not have a lot of spit rolling around in his mouth (i know, gross! but it's true).

my boys and byu basketball

because my boys have an awesome aunt and uncle, they were able to attend the byu basketball preview game a few weeks ago.

not only did they get to watch them play a scrimmage game, they were able to meet all the players and get their autographs on a poster.

i'm sorry, but i can't tell you who the players are in the next 2 pictures...

isaac gets his poster signed

ethan and jared pose with a player

shane and the boys with their signed posters

and lastly, they got to meet cosmo the cougar!
thanks shane and roni, the boys had a great time!

clara harwood

i decided i better post about our new addition before too much longer.
**disclaimer - if you are on facebook, these pictures are nothing new.

i went into labor in the late evening on tuesday, september 14th, 2010. clara came into this world a little after 2 a.m. on wednesday, september 15th.

here i am with our little clara moments after she was born.

mom, clara, and dad
getting ready to go home in her cute outfit
absolutely love this picture of amelia and clara
isaac and his littlest sister
jared holds clara at the hospital

i of course have more pictures to post of the sweet little girl, but this will have to do for now.

isaac on bible stories

according to Isaac: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were going to be thrown into France and burned.

a pregnant lady and a man with a camera

my husband likes to play with his camera, a lot! unfortunately, that means no one is safe when the camera comes out. ordinary moments get digitized to remember forever. good or bad!

so here i am, 2 days from my due date, sitting on the couch while my husband snapped picture after picture.

back to school 2010

the boys went back to school on august 25th and amelia started preschool at the "big school" on september 7th.

jared's first day of 3rd grade
isaac's first day of 2nd grade

someday this picture will embarrass isaac, but unfortunately it is the only one i took of them together :)

amelia's first day of preschool

jared turns 9

jared celebrated his 9th birthday on august 15th. he got a dsi from the family and was very excited about it.

for his birthday we went bowling and out to eat. he also spent the night at pa's house which is a yearly tradition.



i'm 36 weeks pregnant in this picture.



jared celebrated his 9th birthday on august 15th.

transformation

the first picture was taken in may and the second picture was taken in july. I can't believe how fast his teeth moved!

outfit acquired

the newest edition of the harwood clan will wear this cute-as-can-be outfit home from the hospital:


they were completely sold-out online, but pa found the last one in the store and in the size we needed and surprised me with it today. so excited!

i should have forewarned him that it is dangerous to shop for baby girl clothes. in addition to the outfit, he had a bag full of other cute stuff for the little one!

progress in baby preparations

i recently purchased this play pen for the baby. and bonus.... it was on sale!so i am making some progress in my delayed preparations. i can't really call anything else i have gathered for this baby "my preparations" because other people have given me the items out of the kindness of their hearts.

a little boy's thought process

yesterday, i had the occasion to explain to the two boys, in terms that they could understand, what a placenta is and what placenta previa is. i also explained that because the placenta is in the way, the doctors would most likely have to cut my stomach open to get the baby out. jared asked if it would hurt and i said that they would make it so that it wouldn't hurt me.

after a minute of contemplation, isaac asked, "are they going to shoot you with a sleeping dart?"

brace face - metal mouth

also in may, jared got braces on his top front teeth. jared was so excited to get braces and showed them off to everyone. it is amazing how much they straightened out in just a week's time.

thankfully (not!), nathan taught isaac that brace face - metal mouth is what you call someone who has braces.

preschool program

okay, so i am a little tardy with this post... better late than never i suppose!

back in may, amelia completed her first year of preschool.

amelia and rissa after the program

all ready to sing "dress ups"

"spring"

she was such a good singer of "i'm a v.i.p."

this is when she just could not hold it and had to go to the bathroom and missed a song

26 weeks...

i may be a little larger than i really should be. we just returned from a very small meal :)

in the car this morning

on the way to drop the girls off at preschool. i was a silent observer - this exchange is between the two little ones in the back seat.

amelia - you know, my mom's baby doesn't have a toy in there.
marissa - i know.
amelia - so i can share my toys when her comes out.
marissa - you can share your toys and she'll put them in her mouth.
amelia - except i don't want her to chew on them.
marissa - well, she won't have any teeth yet until later.

isaac's 7th birthday

we celebrated iaac's 7th birthday this past saturday with bowling and laser tag and then a pirate cake and ice cream.

isaac at jack n jill's bowling -
isaac with his b-day present from the family -
my attempt at a pirate cake. i think it turned out pretty well -
isaac blowing out the candle -

it's a girl

found out at my ultrasound this past monday that we are going to be blessed with another baby girl. i was so excited! truly, it wouldn't have mattered either way, but it will be fun to do the girl thing again - plus the nerd in me is very excited about the even numbers!!!!

the baby looks great and is due on september 14th, which is my original due date. this is the only pregnancy that my due date hasn't changed after the ultrasound.

so what were the other kids' reactions?

well, isaac has been wanting a boy since we told him i was pregnant - only so we could name him "bob". don't ask me where that came from. he said, "i'm not too disappointed, because we'll have 3 girls and 3 boys and that make things equal." i busted up at the "not too disappointed" part. seriously, where does he come up with this stuff? he sounded so grown up.

amelia and jared both wanted another girl so they were excited. amelia was excited because "i get to share my toys with the baby and i get to share my room." we'll see how long her excitement with sharing lasts!

finally.... here is a picture of me at 20 weeks. i know the picture isn't that great. jared took it with my phone. i thought about scanning in one of the ultrasound pictures, but i feel a little weird about that for some reason. do you think i am being weird?

miss amelia

in the car on the way to preschool...

amelia: mom, how do you say tree in spanish?
me: i'm not sure.

amelia: mom, how do you say wood in spanish?
me: i don't know - you need to ask daddy.

amelia: mom, how do you say tree in spanish?
me: mia, i don't know!

amelia (totally frustrated now): what, did you lose your mind or somethin'????

4-wheel ready

last saturday, nathan and his dad took the boys out west to ride the 4-wheelers. nathan's dad showed up with new helmets and goggles for each of the kids. they were so excited!! the pictures are a little dark because i took them with my phone.

all 3 of the kids in their new stuff...


amelia
jared
isaac

productive saturday

i wish i had pictures to post, but i don't. we had quite a productive saturday at our house. well, i should say that nate had quite a productive saturday - but i will add in that i was a very good supervisor :)

first, nathan (with some help from me) cleaned out the entire garage. it seems so spacious now!! winter is hard because you want to spend as little time as possible outside freezing your butt off, so stuff just gets shoved wherever. it also helped that i am in a throw-it-away mood. i have been for a couple weeks. stuff that i was just hanging onto "in-case" went straight into the garbage (like our very first non-infant car seat that was 7 years old and just gross). it felt good to get rid of stuff like that.

then, while i had the hard job of going to get us burgers (and a shake for me) from in-n-out, nathan finished scraping up all the old linoleum off the floor of our old trailer. then his dad came over and helped him glue down new linoleum. this project has been on-going the past 2 years so i was so happy that he finally finished it up. now, just a few more fixes and it will be ready to sell and be gone forever!!!

while nathan was working on the trailer, i supervised the boys getting down into our window wells to clean out the garbage that had blown in since last spring. they filled an entire trash bag. i couldn't believe how much stuff was down in those things. because our back window wells are under the overhang of the house i had to promise to give them each $1 to get down there. not a bad deal for me considering how much stuff came up out of there.

then i mowed the front lawn - well most of it. nate had the linoleum stretched out on part of it and i didn't want to disturb his work. i wasn't cutting the grass, just getting all the leaves and twigs picked up. mowing is much easier than raking.

by the time i got the kids bathed and ready for bed, i really felt like a lot had been accomplished.

my daddy did it

nathan just sent me an email with the 3 pictures below attached to it.

it read, "I did Mia's hair. This was my best shot at a pony tail."



considering he never touches her hair, so he has very little practice, i think he did a great job!

a few of my favorite things

it comes down to comfort and warmth right now. when i am pregnant i get hydronephrosis (basically chronic kidney infections) which causes all sorts of fun side effects - being COLD and feverish all the time. so, right now i am all about comfort and warmth.

a few things getting me through each day -

my bke kate jeans. (i tried to take a picture, but I am wearing them and it looked like i was trying to post a pic of my butt). you are so comfortable and stretchy and you fit nicely over my boots.

my beloved rocket dog boots - i was so worried when i bought you that i wouldn't wear you very often. now, you are my best friend. never mind that it is unseasonably warm outside, i will still wear you. i may still be wearing you when it is august and 100 degrees outside - you are that comfy! -- maybe not though :)


the grey mossimo hoodie i stole from jess. what would i do without you? what will i do when you completely fall apart? i wear you morning, noon and night. people are beginning to wonder if i wear anything else. plus, after i eat a big meal from my trough (thanks for that, nate) and zip you up, my swollen tummy is nicely hidden behind your pockets.

the yard

it is snowing, again. i wish it would just stop - actually i don't mind if it snows, i just don't want it to stick to the ground. it had been feeling so very springish lately and i am getting really antsy to be outside doing things.

i really want to work in my yard. towards the end of the season last year my little bro came over and looked at my yard to help me decide what to do with it. i don't really like how the front yard looks. when we first moved in, the yard looked really nice, but it totally wasn't my style. there were lots of roses and flower beds everywhere. i don't have a lot of time to spend in my yard so I can't spend hours weeding. i took out a few of the flower beds and let the grass grow in. we transplanted a tree or two and i took out three trees that i didn't like. then i just never got back around to doing much out there. i am DETERMINED to get something going this year.

so like i said, i had my little bro come over and help me come up with a plan. i will be transplanting a couple of large bushes that have out-grown their space and i will be planting a dwarf tree where they were. i will also be pulling up most everything in the flower bed right in front of my bay window and transplanting some of it and putting down all new plants - mostly small shrubs. i am also going to be taking out a little bit of grass by our driveway to create a small planting space where an existing tree is. i will be putting in 2 little shrubs on either side of the tree and maybe a couple of flowering perennials as well - nothing too crazy - like i said, i need simple and easy.

but like i said.... it's snowing again, so won't be doing any of this very soon.

it's true

number 4 is on the way!

aww cute

for an upcoming ward activity we needed to give the activity committee a picture from when we were dating. this is the one nate and i chose. i really like this sweater and i don't remember what happened to it. i also commented to nate that i liked my hair. to which he promptly replied that i should cut it. he'll never give up!

so what....

so what.... if i just ate an entire apollo burger combo meal - i loved every minute of it.
so what.... if i don't want to celebrate valentine's day - doesn't mean i don't love my husband (see previous valentine gripe post).
so what.... if i don't have any food in my house because i haven't been grocery shopping in for ever! - my kids are still alive.

christmas trees - out of order post

nate and i started a tradition with my family to go and cut trees up at nate's property. so the saturday after thanksgiving all the carter kids loaded into their SUVs and trucks and headed up the canyon.

this picture was going to be our christmas card, but i was too late getting around to doing anything with it.




roni and i searching for her tree.

soon all the families found their tree (except us, i don't do live trees!). the kids enjoyed playing around in the snow and the men enjoyed using their chainsaws.