A Much Better Week: Pt. 2 - Tue. & Wed.

I better get this down before it all escapes my memory.

Tuesday, the kids and I went out to lunch with my BFF, Jesse. We don't get to see each other in person that often anymore. He lived in SoCal for a couple years. Then we moved to Maui. There was a brief stint where we were both in Utah, but I was busy with two kids and he was busy helping raise his nieces. Then we moved to the Bay area.

He said, "This is the only time I have ever seen you this pregnant."

I was like, "Really?" But when I thought about it for a moment I realized how true it was. He was in CA when I was pregnant with Akiko and Moses, and I was in CA while I was pregnant with Asher.

We keep in touch with FB and the occasional calls and texts. But it's always fun to see him in person.

There have been many times when I'll be out and about, I'll see something, will giggle to myself and think, I so wish Jesse were here to share this moment with me. Like the time a few weeks ago when I was passing by and Emporio Armani and I wanted to turn to him and say, "Nice suit! Is that Armani?" So I had to text it to him instead. Not quite the same when you have to text it.

I try to have my kids call him "Uncle Jesse" (just like in Full House) but it really confuses them because they know we're not actually related. So they don't. Meh. What do you do?

After lunch, we just went and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening with Joseph's brothers, Carl and Sam, and sisters, Megan and Emma, and their families. I have such cute and awesome nephews and niece.

I found out that my sister-in-law had GD when she was pregnant with her twins. I was able to get a lot of information from her on what to expect and what to do to manage it. I felt a little better about things, except that I'm going to have to finger prick myself several times a day in order to monitor my blood glucose levels. I don't know if my fear of needles is going to lessen or get worse.

She told me that the hardest thing was trying to eat right for herself, but having to make her boys separate meals because they wouldn't go anywhere near her healthier food. I feel like that's going to be a major hurdle for me, too. Especially with Akiko

So, now that I've got a better idea what I'm supposed to do, I'm trying a little harder. I still have a week till my nutritionist appointment.

Wednesday, we were invited to go to a playgroup that my friends in our old ward were having. It was really nice to visit and catch up with them and see how much their babies have grown. A lot of the kids there were newborns or not-quite-borns when we moved. My kids were kind of shy at first, and all of Akiko's friends were in school, so she was much older than all the other kids, but they still had a lot of fun.

After that, I headed back over to Joseph's brother's/sister's houses (they live next door to each other). The plan was to eat a quick lunch and then see who wanted to go to the Discovery Gateway with us. Asher fell asleep on the way over and ended up sleeping for about three hours. He really needed a good nap. He hadn't really been getting them the last few days. So, we hung out with the family while we waited.

Once Asher finally woke up, Alene and I packed up our 7 kids and headed downtown. Kristen and Sam also accompanied us, thank heavens.

Moses demonstrates how things work in the beehive.

Asher loves balls. He was in heaven.

Moses watches carefully where the balls end up.

My kids working together to build.

Asher helped Akiko load the crane.

Alene and her kids built something spectacular.

Very cool.

Noah and Daniel kept sliding down the chute. When they'd get to the bottom, they'd exclaim, "We're blocked!" They were being punny without even meaning to. RDRR.

Daniel and Sierra kept stealing in through the window.

Akiko was having a meltdown because the house was so messy.

She was not at all amused.

So, she and another little girl spent the next 20 minutes organizing the house. If only I could get her to clean up her own toys like this at home.

Noah was peeking in on us. I asked him to do a "scary" face. He's too cute for "scary" because this is what he gave me.

Asher kept trying to sit in the toy high chair. You know, the one that's designed for dolls. He never sat in his own high chair.

Some boy brought in a cart full of canned goods and left, so Asher took it over.

Naturally, he began to ram it into Moses over and over. Giggles galore!

Moses pulled all the flowers from the window boxes...

... and presented them to me. I love my sweet, thoughtful boy!

Kristen and Sam took Noah and Akiko upstairs to play with the big kid exhibits, while Alene and I stayed downstairs with the young ones.

These next three pictures crack me up. Akiko and Noah are presenting a newscast. Akiko obviously takes her job very seriously. Noah... not so much.

This must have been an exciting story.

Then Akiko presented the weather, which she was also very serious about... most of the time. 

Unless it was a story about horses...

... or desert tortoises.

Back downstairs at the climbing wall, Noah found himself in a difficult position.

Akiko and Daniel show Noah how it's done.

And of course, everyone had to have their turn on Nellie.

Even Sam and Sierra.

The next few pictures are ones that Kristen took with her phone as she followed either of my sons around while I was busy with other kids.

Moses splashes at the water feature.

Moses poses while he picks some onions.

Moses the cow rides Nellie the horse.

Moses poses on the produce truck.

"Aww! Isn't that cute. A baby driving a car!" ~Chief Wiggum

I thought that I got some cute pictures of Asher at the water feature, but perhaps I was too tired at that point and neglected it. He got sopping wet because he refused to wear the water aprons. Oh well. At least it was just water.

We stayed until the museum closed. The kids had a ton of fun. I love this museum. There's a pretty cool children's museum in San Jose (also called Discovery, but not affiliated with the one in SLC), but I don't think it's quite as cool as the Gateway. It's also a little more expensive to get in ($10 in SJ as opposed to $7.50 in SLC), but what else is new? We live in a very expensive place. My kids love both museums.

After the museum closed, we headed back to Alene's and Megan's houses. I dropped off my kids at Megan's where she and her husband, Josh, would watch them for the evening so Kristen could take me out for an expensive late birthday dinner.

We tried going to Market Street Grill, then to the Oyster Bar, but both places had a 45-60 minute wait. Not very ideal for a hungry, pregnant diabetic. So, we walked next door to a place called Takashi.

It's a sushi restaurant, but since I can't eat sushi right now, we just ordered one meal and a few appetizers to split between us. It was oishii!! I can only imagine how superb the sushi is there. The vegetables were fresh and cooked perfectly and our spare ribs were so tender and moist, they fell off the bone. That meal was amazing! Thank you so very much Kristen!!

Two very satisfied customers left and went back to Megan's house. Akiko and Moses were spending the night there, so I only had to pick up Asher. He had a hard time, but he really ended up bonding with his Uncle Josh and snuggled with him most of the time. Megan sent me a picture of Asher snuggling with Josh, but Joseph accidentally took my phone with him today, so I don't have access to it. I'll add it at a later time, if I remember.

It was weird only having to get one child ready for bed. I remember how difficult it seemed when it was just Akiko. Of course, back then I was a new parent and everything was just difficult because I was having to learn everything, too. Now that I have three (and almost four), putting one child to bed was a piece of cake.

Asher and I Skyped with Joseph for a bit, another thing that is way easier to do with just one child. Asher was so excited to see his daddy. He loved every minute of that conversation. We said prayers together and Asher and I were soon fast asleep. We had exciting things planned for the next day.

To be continued...