By Surprisingly Popular Request...

I've had a lot of people ask me why I haven't posted pictures of myself progressing in size throughout my pregnancy. I should have thought the answer to that was painfully obvious. However, now that I'm almost done, Travis did take some photos of the boys and I outside so I suppose I can post them and at least be reasonably sure that it won't get much bigger than this. These are all taken at 38 weeks, with two weeks to go to my September 1st due date.

My three precious boys. They are so very excited to meet their new baby sister! Taylor has been making cards of welcome. Dallin asks every day if today is the day that she will come. Caleb jumps for joy whenever we talk about her arrival. He told me one day, "I love our new baby so much and I haven't even seen her yet!" He was opening all the drawers to the dresser in the baby's room one day and when asked what he looking for, he said, "I'm just checking that none of the baby's clothes are going mouldy." I think he'll be a vigilant big brother, just as the other two are.

Poor Dallin. He'd rather be riding his bike, which is what he thought he was doing when we came outside. He was released right after to go and do just that.

My baby Caleb stayed with me for another picture, though!

Taylor thought that Travis and I needed one together too, so he took the picture for us. Travis has his elbow pads on since he was roller-blading with the boys.

Here are the obligatory pregnancy shots. First, the straight-on, first impression shot.

Next, the classic 'hand on tummy' shot.

And, of course, the collection would not be complete without "the profile".

Hopefully, this satisfies any curiosity any of you were feeling.

Agatha the Hutt

I've been a dismal blogger as of late, but I suppose that was rather predictable. The arrival of our new baby is very close now, but even when it wasn't as close, we did already have these three little boys who actually take a bit of effort to raise. Who would have thought? So, here we are.

We've fallen behind in posting pictures here, but we've been having a fun few months. Lately, the boys are very much into anything to do with "Star Wars", and light sabre duels are a daily occurrence. However, they're still a bit new to it all so some of the names are hard to remember. For some reason, they all have it in their heads that Jabba the Hutt is in fact named Agatha the Hutt. It's pretty funny to hear them all going on about "that evil Agatha". One day, Dallin pulled out a feather duvet and decided he would make himself into Jabba/Agatha. I thought he did a pretty good job!

Dallin as Agatha (or Jabba as you prefer) the Hutt

I told Taylor he could be Salacious Crumb to Dallin's Jabba, but he wasn't too keen on the idea for some reason.

Dallin, doing his very best imitation of the yucky "Jabba tongue".

Mother's Day

We took these photos at home on May 9, 2010, Mother's Day.

Mardi, with her three boys on Mother's Day.

Three boys: Caleb, Taylor, and Dallin

Taylor and Caleb

Dallin and Caleb

Dallin and Caleb, modelling their new suits. They look so handsome in them.

Caleb

An Evening at Henderson Lake

These photos are from April 22, 2010. It was a beautiful afternoon and we headed in to meet Daddy at Henderson Lake after his work.

Caleb requested to be photographed with a Canada goose.

Dallin and Taylor

Mardi with her boys.

Caleb found a comfortable seat.

Taylor, Caleb, and Dallin encounter a piece of Canadiana.

The boys have heard all about geese being mean and territorial so they were hoping to see some aggression displayed. Later, we did get one to hiss at us when we accidentally came across a nest.

Three boys on a tree.

Daddy and his boys. Dallin has his classic 'deer in the headlights' eyes here.

Caleb started the trend by finding a tree that he could climb. The others soon followed.

The three boys, excited to find an intact, dead crayfish near the shore. They happily picked up various body parts for quite some time and, of course, had Daddy carry everything for them in a paper cup.

It's just too exciting for Caleb.

Taylor, slightly disgusted, though happy with his find.

Dallin, with his creature.

Caleb was pretty pleased to stand on such a big rock by Henderson Lake.

When We're Helping We're Happy (Honest)!

We've been rather neglectful of the blog lately and have some catch-up to do with photos. This selection is from April 12, 2010 and shows the boys during a Family Home Evening activity where we practised some valuable "cleaning skills", as Dallin calls them. We took pictures so that we could make a little slideshow later for the boys to watch and they actually seemed to enjoy themselves. Caleb especially is a great little helper around the house and often cleans spontaneously. The other two need a little more reminding. Cleaning the toilets was an especially big hit and I was happy to have eager volunteers to scrub all three of them in the house!

It was only fair that the boys clean this window since they're the ones who always have their hands, noses, etc. pasted to it while watching for Daddy to come home.

Washing the window looking out over our lovely dirt front yard. We're looking forward to grass very soon this year (as soon as it decides to stop raining).

Caleb sweeping floors.

Dallin washing floors.

Taylor putting away utensils from the dishwasher.

Caleb loves to empty the dishwasher. He's already an expert. He'll be a real prize of a husband someday.

Dallin goes to work on his first toilet.

Caleb sets to work in the basement bathroom.

Dallin works in the master bath.

Last toilet picture. They really had a good time with it. I only wish that Caleb was as keen on actually using it as he is on swishing in it.

Dallin thinks it's fun to clean mirrors if he gets to climb on countertops to do it.

Our Family Update: We're In the Pink

We've had some exciting news to share with family and friends the past little while. As most of you know who maybe read this blog (or maybe not - it's tough to tell who actually does), we're expecting a new little addition to our family. I'm five months along now and my due date has been set at September 1, 2010. Pushing that back into August would be nice, but I've never had the pleasure of being so much as one day early before, so I won't hold my breath for that one.

I had my 20-week ultrasound a couple of weeks ago and we got the results back from my doctor. The best news is that baby is doing very well and everything looks to be developing normally and healthily. Some other news to go with that, however, is that our baby is a GIRL!! We're very excited to experience some pink after three sweet little boys. It'll be fun!

Speaking of the boys, they are in various states of excitement or, at the very least, acceptance. For a long time, Dallin has actually insisted that "there is no such thing as a baby sister." In his limited experience, there wasn't. But, now he's older and wiser and has actually predicted for quite some time that our baby is a girl. He's very happy about it and wants to tell everyone he meets that he will have a baby sister. Taylor is delighted and is fully prepared to dote on her. Caleb has been the most difficult to reconcile to the idea. For quite awhile, he wouldn't even discuss the idea of a baby. Then, he seemed to consent to the plan so long as baby was a boy. He didn't seem upset at the news of a girl, but it all may be a bit abstract to him still. We've been reading all the 'big brother' books in our arsenal and Caleb seems pleased about all the skills he has that the new baby won't have, so I think it'll all be fine. It's a good thing we have some months left for further negotiations.

I guess we'll have to think up a change to the name of our family blog. Any suggestions?

Taylor's Baptism: February 27, 2010

Taylor was baptized on February 27th in the Raymond Stake Centre. He was very excited for this important event and everything went so very well. He was the only one being baptized at the service, so it was nice that he was able to choose the program outline. He asked his two grandmas to give the opening and closing prayers, Nana Bissett to play the piano, and Mom to lead the music. He wanted Grandpa Bissett to give the talk on baptism and Grandpa Smith to give one on the Holy Ghost. Both grandpas did so well and we appreciated their words. Taylor was baptized and confirmed by his dad. He had two grandpas and four great-grandfathers assist with his confirmation - a unique and special circumstance. We were so grateful to have them all present. We're thankful to all of our family members who made the effort to attend and support Taylor on his special day.

Taylor and Dad

Taylor and Mom

Bissett Brothers: Caleb, Dallin, and Taylor, after the service. Caleb was impressed with Taylor's baptism. He watched attentively and then turned to Mom and said, "Taylor went under the water and he didn't even die!" We hoped he hadn't been thinking all along that he would! 

We're so proud of our sweet Taylor!

Taylor, with his dad and grandfathers. What a wonderful grouping!

Taylor, with his mom and grandmas who love him so much. We missed Grandma Regehr today, but we're sure she was aware of Taylor's baptism too.

Taylor and Dallin (and Cat, of course!)