Hello RAIN

I do love thunderstorms, especially East Coast thunderstorms, but rain today is NOT acceptable! Lizzie was supposed to get portraits done this morning at Brookside Gardens but alas, it's been raining all night and all morning. We've rescheduled for later this week, so I hope the rain stays away! Now we're working on laundry and having some fun :)


Lizzie had a rough week with sleeping because she's getting three more teeth. Here she says CHEESE for the camera!



Thirty-one weeks tomorrow...crazy to think we'll have another little lady in the house with us. We're excited to hold Miss Cate! I think I may be more excited than Chris or Lizzie because this last stage of pregnancy is always difficult and annoying, really. Why, do you ask? Oh let me tell you:
--Decline of speed. Makes it sometimes impossible to keep with the Whippersnapper.


--No matter what I eat, I get heartburn, especially at dinner time.
--I can no longer reach for items on high shelves...my belly gets in the way.
--I generally have to avoid bending down to retrieve something...thank goodness Liz is my little helper.
--I feel so stretched out NOW, but I STILL have nine more weeks of stretching out. Cate needs room to grow!
--Sleeping: What's that? Every time I need to turn over, I have to wake up and HEAVE myself onto my other side to get comfortable. And bathroom trips? Don't get me started.
--Going crazy/emotional/hysterical often...because of hormones or because a certain little person decides to "decorate" the white leather couch. Take your pick.


My life would be miserable without my husband. When I need a break from Miss Little Terror, he drops whatever he is doing and helps me maintain sanity. He takes Lizzie on "Daddy-Daughter" dates so I can have a few hours of quiet (I suspect these may become more frequent in the coming weeks). When Liz has trouble sleeping, he goes to her bedroom and rocks her back to sleep. When Liz and I are both cranky and ready to pull some hair, he takes her for little drives around the neighborhood so we ladies can calm down without resorting to bloodshed.
He makes us happy ladies!


Being a Mom is difficult at times, but having an understanding and caring husband keeps me going. Thank you, Christopher Mikel <3

PS: Thank you Marlee for reminding me--here's a belly shot @ 30 weeks:

Score!

--We ordered a new cord for our laptop and it has arrived! I'm typing on the beloved laptop right now; it's so nice to use it again.
--We had the Heit's over for dinner last night for some seafood alfredo and good times. We can't wait to have them over again soon!
--We had a pizza and movie night at the Clark's on Friday. We watched Goal, which is one of Chris's favorite movies. Pretty sure I had four slices of pizza...but it was Fat Tony's AND I'm thirty weeks along (tomorrow, to be exact) so it's all good.
--Lizzie and I have been on a ton of walks, thanks to some sunny, warm weather. Sometimes we take the stroller for Liz; sometimes we both walk, but it's always an adventure!


Don't worry--she's not eating the rock. It only looks that way from the angle of the camera!

--Speaking of strollers, we bought a double stroller on Saturday! We went with Baby Trend's Sit N' Stand tandem stroller. (Thank you Erica for your insight!) We tested out a few models at Babies R' Us, but we kept coming back to the Baby Trend. Lizzie's current jogging stroller is also a Baby Trend. We just like the brand! And the black, green, and gray color combo.

--I can't remember if I've written about this on the blog before...but I'll update you now: I can go for a VBAC with Miss Cate! (VBAC: Vaginal Birth After Caesarian)
We were waiting on Utah to send over my c-section records so my doc here could determine whether or not I could try a VBAC. The paperwork FINALLY arrived last week and it's a go. Chris and I discussed the options with Cate (scheduled c-section or VBAC), and he wisely pointed out that VBAC is worth a try. If something goes awry, a c-section will be necessary but I should at least try "naturally" first. So that's what I'm going to do!
Well, Liz is going to wake up from her nap soon. Time for swings...before we run our afternoon errands! This girl loves swings :)

Talk to you soon!

PICTURES! And some words, too

A repaired camera + Elizabeth = many pictures for your viewing pleasure! Enjoy :)














Here's me at 28 weeks. Not my favorite picture ever, but what can you do? I think I'm showing a lot more with Cate than I did with Lizzie at this stage. But I've read that's to be expected!



Lizzie's current favorites:
Movie--The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. I think I've seen it four times and it's only Monday.
Books-- Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb; Arthur's New Puppy; Meet 100 Animals; Joseph (from the Bible)
Animals--dogs. We see at least one dog when we take our walks around the neighborhood and her reaction is love at first sight!
Foods: Pizza! It's so cute to hear her say the word "pizza." She'll bring over her little book about food, proudly point to the picture of pizza, and proclaim, "PIZZAAAA!"

The decision is in!

Last Wednesday we drove up to Carlisle, PA to check out Penn State Law School campus there. Since Penn State offered Chris a verrrry nice scholarship, we felt that we had to show some respect!

We were quite surprised by Carlisle, a very pretty town--a college town--but with a small town feel. Our tour guide was a 3L (third year law student) and more than happy to answer Chris's questions. After our visit to the newly renovated law building, we joked that we shouldn't have made the visit because it made our decision so much more difficult than it already was! The town and the school were idyllic, really. The elementary schools there are some of the best in PA, which we have to take into consideration because Liz would be starting school when Chris would be finishing his last year (scary, I know).

But then the next morning we hopped on the Metro to say hello to George Washington Law School in the heart of DC. A very big difference from the feel of PSU, but a great feel and atmosphere all the same.

The GW law building is actually made up of a couple of buildings that connect to each other, and it's situated next to a beautiful open quad which reminded us of our dear BYU. Our tour guide here was also a 3L and is in the part-time program--that's the program Chris has been accepted to. They had a good conversation about all the law stuff while Lizzie and I chased pigeons, robins, and squirrels in the quad :)

Chris met his financial aid officer, who has a daughter just a month older than Liz. SO naturally we talked about children for awhile as she worked with Chris on our financial information. We also met with the Associate Dean of Admissions who declared Liz to be her new favorite kid! When she learned we both received our undergraduate degrees from BYU, she couldn't stop praising BYU and its students who attend GW Law. "All BYU students who come here do well. We love having BYU students come to GW!" she exclaimed.

After our time in the law building, we walked over to the Student Center and checked out the bookstore (again, we were reminded of BYU). We got some hot dogs from a street vendor for lunch and headed back up to Germantown via the Metro.

BOTH of our visits to PSU and to GWU were awesome. BOTH have good qualities, good law programs, good professors, the works. BOTH are great, but alas, Chris cannot attend both.

Germantown, MD will remain our home for another four years... which means The George Washington Law School will have Chris as one of forty students in its part-time law program :) ****unless UPenn or UVa takes us off their wait list---then we have another to decision to make, but that's another post for another time if the situation arises****

Although visiting PSU was a great experience for us, George Washington makes much more sense for Chris. Ranked #20 in the nation, GW is one of the few if not the ONLY law school to have a government contracts law specialty, which goes quite well with what Chris currently does as a financial analyst for Lockheed Martin. Speaking of LM, Chris will still have a JOB; in this economy, we're thankful for that because it means we'll have an income, insurance, etc. Chris can take the Metro straight down to school and back again, which affords him study time during the ride. GW's moot courts have SUPREME COURT JUSTICES as their judges--awesome! GW' excellent curriculum is diverse--Chris is already looking into a Sports Law class :). Because GW is well respected, we aren't necessarily tied to this area after Chris graduates: we have the ability to go anywhere if we want to move after that. Another plus--we don't have to move! I can't express how happy that makes me. We remain in the great Quince Orchard ward; we remain fifteen minutes from the Washington DC temple...the list goes on.

That's the story from the Killion side of life! We enjoyed General Conference and Easter this past weekend. Did you notice that many of the speakers emphasized the importance parents teaching gospel truths to their children? We definitely did and we know that it is vitally important in today's society. AND, we have our camera back! Many pictures coming your way soon! :D