Tansy's favorite thing to say right now is, "No, Mommy. I hate (fill in the blank)." Does she want a nap? "No, Mommy. I hate seepeen." Does she want dinner? "No, Mommy. I hate dinnoh." Does she want to get dressed? "No, Mommy. I hate dest." And so on. These are usually quite calm declarations. But don't ask her more than once. She gets loud and shrill quickly.

Sydney's favorite thing to say right now is, "Why should I?" When told to go to timeout for hitting her sister, "Why should I?" When asked to go to the bathroom before we leave the house, "Why should I?" When told to come stop what she's doing and come to dinner because I have already asked nicely three times, "Why should I?" Occasionally, patience reigns in these situations. Usually, I am immediately ticked off and start spewing forth all manner of threats. And what mom out there isn't nodding and saying to herself, "That drives me crazy too."

Zack is actually having some positive changes this week. I will stand him up in front of me, have him grab my shirt, and then let go. He will stand for a couple of seconds, then start laughing and land on his bum. So funny. He's come a long way in his mobility. He is speeding up his funny little bum scoot, and he's not uncomfortable with having his feet flat on the floor anymore. I pat myself on the back for these achievements, since I have improvised my own form of occupational therapy for him. He still has no interest in crawling. He thinks it's funny for a second if I get him up on his hands and knees, then invariable faceplants into the carpet, cries, then lays there like a pathetic pile of baby. Guess it's not for everyone.

I had my first OB/GYN appointment on Monday. It was so fun to hear the heartbeat. That is what finally makes it real to me. However, I hate the office and its policies and their complete inconsideration of the preferences and opinions of a women who has given birth to three healthy children. Basically, I felt that I was put on their baby-making assembly line and will do as I am told. Sorry. I am having an ultrasound ordered by their office to confirm my due date, since there were some previous complications that made dating difficult, and after that I will be going to a different doctor about whom I can't seem to find any bad opinions. I can't seem to find any good opinions about the other office, so I guess that makes the decision easy.

Ben is still hanging out at tech school. We're over a third of the way done! Apparently, he is in the vast minority in that he does not have a brand new car. Those dang student loans are totally cramping our style, but knowing we will have them paid off in less than four years makes it all worth it.

Although Tansy has been sleeping like this for quite some time (she informed me that this is how doggies sleep), Sydney has recently decided that she too needs to sleep at the end of her bed. I don't know why. I wouldn't like to have my feet restricted by my covers. But if they want to move their pillows to the foot of the bed every night, I don't care. I think it's funny.

Hope everyone who lives in Utah had a fun Pioneer Day. We didn't see even one firework here. Weird.

Sydney finished up swimming lessons this week. She did so much better than I thought she would do. Her teacher said that she is ready for level 2, but I think we are done with swimming lessons for the year. I think it's funny that Sydney's teacher looks totally ticked off in this picture. The kids want to go play at the pool so much, but I just can't handle all three on my own. Especially when I'm just finally getting up and going again and trying not to damage myself any further during this pregnancy.

This is my fantastic shot of the damage to the couch. I could only get some of the masterpiece in the frame and it still doesn't do it justice. Tansy was in big trouble for this one. She was asleep when I discovered what she had done, so I had managed to quell the wrath and discipline more effectively. It still smells like hair spray when you sit or lay on the couch. That will fade with time, right?

And I wanted to share some of Zack's mad dancing skills. The head shake seems to be his favorite dance move. Sorry you can't hear the music.

Not a great week for pictures apparently. Sydney started swimming lessons. No pictures. Tansy learned to undress herself. No pictures. Zack learned to wave at people. No pictures. So what the heck is this one and only picture of? Good question.

The toilet paper holder in Sydney's bathroom is on the wall opposite the toilet. This means that it is completely impossible, by any stretch of the imagination or five-year-old arms, for Sydney to reach it. Since it is not being used for toilet paper, and Sydney didn't like her wet hands dripping on the roll sitting on the counter while she reached to dry her hands, she came up with this little idea. She was so proud. So was I. She actually asked me on Friday if she could invent something before she went to bed. She was disappointed that she couldn't actually think of an invention. But those little wheels were turning.

Zack tore the binding off of a library book this week. Seriously, is this my kid? How can he not be born with a reverence for books? I found a replacement on Amazon that was really cheap, since the book was in used condition to begin with. I wasn't going to buy a brand new one. Tansy also made me question her parentage when she colored a hymn book yesterday. It's a book! I get upset if I crease the binding on a paperback! Deep breath. Okay.

I took all three kids to the church for a baptism yesterday. Four different people were baptized. It was so amazing, and the Spirit was just what this weary mommy needed. I hadn't actually met anyone that was being baptized before, but it opened up some great conversation with Sydney and really reenergized my soul. One of those tender mercies from the Lord.

Today I got to teach the 11-year-old girls about the Saints being expelled from Jackson County, Missouri. It was amazing to talk about events that happened in a place that is only about an hour's drive away from us. Of course, it was also a challenge to keep the conversation off of the "awesome mall" in Independence. These girls are so smart and ask good questions. It was such a great opportunity to spend a couple of weeks with them. I get to teach Sydney's class next week. Give me strength.

It started out as a slow week for us. I had a sub-uteran hemorrage on Tuesday and have been resting ever since. No need to worry. The same thing happened when I was pregnant with Tansy and Zack. It is isolated from the baby, but it still needs to heal since my health is obviously important to the baby's. Go figure.

Ben got permission to come home for the four-day weekend. However, he didn't get to leave until class got out at 4:30 Thursday afternoon, so between dinner, the gas station, and stopping to sleep a little bit, he didn't get home until 4:30 Friday morning. He slept until almost noon. It was all I could do to keep Sydney from going in to check if he was waking up.

This picture shows how the girls believe they should be taken to bed every night. Dad is such a good sport.

After a neighborhood potluck Saturday afternoon, we all came home for naps before heading out to the base lake. The kids got to play on the playgrounds for a while. Then we broke out some snacks while waiting for things to get dark.

While we were sitting there, it started to get really dark, but not from sunset. Some really dark clouds were moving in fast. I sent Ben back to the van for umbrellas. It started raining right before he got back to us. It was really mild compared to what I was expecting. Everything had blown over before fireworks started.

Zack did really well after he got used to the noise. Tansy and Sydney were tense but excited throughout the show. But isn't that all part of the entertainment? The squeals of delight mixed with shrieks of terror?

It was really nice to be on base with very little traffic. What a change to get home from watching fireworks in 10 minutes instead of 45. Of course, this still meant dragging my sleeping children out of bed at 7:30 this morning to get them bathed and ready for church. Overall, it was a great weekend. Hope everyone else's was safe and happy as well.