mom, can I have a shaver?

Want to see one of the cutest selfies ever?

Behold-

 Gwen and Austin.  hashtagnofilter

I have put a serious limit on the kids screen time this summer.  No TV/games until chores are done, and the kids have read for at least 20 minutes.  Often this doesn't happen until 4:00 pm if it happens at all!  Sometimes I think it's harder on me than on them.  Like when I'm studying and the kids are driving me crazy and I want to say "just go watch a movie!" but then I remember they can't.  :p

For Drake the hardest part is that I have a lock on my phone, so he can't just pick it up and play Bad Piggies whenever he wants.  But he has learned that if my phone is locked all he can do is make an emergency call, OR go to camera and take pictures!  Seriously?  Doesn't that seem funny that a locked phone will take pictures?  I mean I get the convenience thing, but what about the privacy thing?  Anyway, I plugged my phone in tonight and discovered HUNDREDS of pictures like these:

 Including some not so flattering pictures of me buried in my books and computer with headphones on, tuning the world out.  But you can thank me for sparing you those pictures. 

Did I mention previously that the bar is ruining my summer?

Well it is.

Study all day everyday, and I'm still behind.

Perhaps because I still have to make time for this cuteness.

 This boy is so rad.

And Gwen and I also have been on a baking kick.

I don't know how many loaves of bread I've baked already this summer, I want to find the perfect recipe, so I'm slowly perfecting wheat bread, but also am figuring out the right combos for white, oatmeal, and potato breads too. Gluten-free we are not!

 And I told you last time how Gwen was making tons of cookies, well she's whipped out her first cake ever too.  All by herself!  My little Gwenny Crocker.

In other news:

25 weeks, and the baby is the size of rutabaga.  Yep, a rutabaga.  

Should I be concerned that the garbage bags are in the same spot they've been for months, and the other night Ryan didn't know where that was??

Maybe I should be concerned about the fact that Gwen asked me today for a shaver so she can shave the hair on her legs?!!?!?  Holy smokes, I'm not ready for this.

oh what do you do in the summertime...

Gwen is back at it in synchro.  It's really fun to watch her and how much she's improved over the last year.

First place!

 She's been working really hard to get her splits.

 Drake is killing it on swim team this year.  He's been put in the fast heat, and his relay team took second!  I love how proud he was of that.  I love that he doesn't complain about having to go to swim this year.  It's great what confidence does.

Second place freestyle relay!

We attacked Camelback with cousin Cloe.

I've been studying for the bar everywhere possible.  My best block of time is when the kids are in the pool each day.  Then Drake steals my phone and takes random pictures (like below) and plays Bad Piggies.  He's an addict.

Gwen made cookies almost everyday the first week of summer.

I had to tell her no more cookie making since it usually leads to a mess, and many calories consumed.  But I love that she can read a recipe, and do it all by herself!

Pregnancy Blues

Remember in the last blog post how in the caption to a picture I mentioned that the manager of the dealership convinced me I had kidney stones?

Well the next morning I called my midwife's office and was advised I should go to the ER to get checked out.

The ER then asked how far along I was... 21 weeks.

So they instructed me to go up to OB Triage.

I got all hooked up, gave some pee, and got checked out.

 Good news!

NOT my kidneys, or my appendix, or gallbladder!

Just round ligament pain along with my abs separating and stretching.

Seriously?  The pain was B.A.D.  It'd knock the breath out of me and I'd cripple over.

And, I didn't experience this with either Gwen or Drake.

But rather than having to pee out a stone, I just get to wear this lovely belly band.

I'll call that a win.

Plus, since I've been wearing it, the pain I'd been experiencing in my hip since about 12 weeks has almost gone completely!  I'm tempted to try running with the band and see if it's possible.  

The belly band has been my friend.  My hot, hot, friend.

So I was feeling better about being pregnant until my last prenatal appointment.

My mid-wife informed me that because Drake was a shoulder distocia delivery, while she is a strong advocate for vaginal deliveries, she recommended that I have a c-section for this baby.

Ummm... NO!!!

She has been a midwife for 48 years, and said that those deliveries are scary (it was really scary with Drake)... possible broken bones, nerve, or even brain damage for the baby.

Drake was fortunate, and didn't have any of that.

But do we risk it?  From my research, shoulder distocia occurs on average less than 1% of the time.  But for those who have had a shoulder distocia baby previously, the chance goes up to about 16%.  Obviously large babies are the most at risk.  Drake was 8lbs 10oz, a full 2 pounds bigger than Gwen.  

She sensed my hesitation (probably because I really almost passed out!!), and said we will try to prevent the risk factors.  That means I have to be on a diet!

Eww.  A pregnant lady should not have to be on a diet.  That's just wrong.

She's asked that I limit my sugar and salt, and try not to gain more than 9 pounds for the rest of my pregnancy.  That's 17 more weeks!!!!

It's been hard.  I may have broken down last night and ate a foot long Tootsie Roll.  Apparently I can't have those within 50 feet of me anymore.  Darn you Target $1 section!

Then we'll also continue to monitor the size of the baby, but even with ultrasound, those aren't terribly accurate.

So I'm trying not to worry too much about it right now, otherwise I just cry.

It'll just be a matter of prayer, and dieting, and we'll see what happens.

RIP Highlander

Strange.  I am so sad about my car being dead, yet when I went to title this blogpost, I realized I never even named my car!  That's weird right?  Everyone names there car... right?

Anyhoo, this story all began a few weeks ago.  I took my car in to get serviced, because the check engine light was on, and my tags were expiring the end of May.  (You can't pass emissions if your check enginge light is on.)  Well of course the check engine light was triggered because a stupid sensor needed to be replaced, and the sensor was expensive, and took a lot of labor to get to and replace.  $750 later, I'm ready to go to drop more $ registering my car.

Highlander in happier times

No prob, I love my car.

Honestly, I love my car!  I just rolled 200,000 miles in my baby, and she was still purring like a kitten.  While we realized with a baby to squeeze in there soon it'd be a tight fit, but I still wasn't interested in getting a new car because, like I said, I love my car!

So I didn't hesitate to volunteer to drive up north for a girls weekend.  My baby made it up the rim, and then stopped forward progress in Heber.  What I mean by that was it felt as if my car had been placed in neutral.  I checked, and it wasn't in neutral.  So we pulled over, called husbands, I held back tears, and then we all jumped in my friend's car, and left my Highlander in Heber for the weekend.

We had hopes that the transmission might cool, and then we'd be able to drive it down the rim, and maybe even into the valley.  So we enjoyed our weekend.  

On the way home, my car was still there, and it drove!!!  For a mile.  Then it went back into "neutral".  So again, I left my car in Heber, this time for a week.  

So the following weekend, we borrowed a friend's truck (this was a long story that I'll spare you, but THANK YOU John Arnett for coming to our rescue!!), rented a tow dolly, and went up to get the car.  Our friends Rick and Jenny were nice enough to let us stay at their cabin since we were going to be up in the area anyway.  

 So we stayed the night in Pinedale which was fun, because this was where we had a cabin until a few years ago.  So we took the kids to see the Pinedale stuff,

 and ancestor's headstones.  That's normal too, right?  Pictures in cemeteries?  

Then all too soon, it was time to go home, and bring the car with us.  

"How is Kristin going to push the car up on this dolly?"

Luckily, it was still where I left it.  Again, a long story here about trying to get ahold of the Donut shop it was parked at to ask them not to tow my car, and never an answer.  I figured they were out of business.  Fortunately for us, it was booming Sunday morning, and when some customers there saw pregnant Kristin trying to push this car up the ramp onto the dolly, they ran out and helped.  We never would have been able to do it on our own.  

We then drove it home, and luckily, when we got to the shop, and no one was around to help us push it this time, it drove!  So we were able to reverse it off the dolly, again, something we wouldn't have been able to push on our own.  

Well then we were left pondering:

Drop $1500-$2000 fixing the transmission on an 11 year old car with 200,000 miles on it?

Or buy a new car?

If I look trashed, it's because we were at the dealership for four hours, and the manager convinced me that I had kidney stones.  Another story for another post.

 Buy a new car!!!

Yep, we roll in a Ford now.

And I LOVE it!!!

And I'd be embarrassed if we told you why we're now Fordies.  It may have something to do with not taking the bail out $, and still kicking A.  hashtagbuyAmerican

And like that I've moved on.  Don't worry Highlander, I did love you, but it's time that we go our separate ways.

And again, I'm a chauffeur.  But now the kids insist on riding in the back back.

baby names

The kids are so excited to have a baby in the house.

I'm excited to have them be my little helpers when we have a baby in the house.

They're already being helpful.

They've come up with a list of names for their baby brother or sister.

Girls:

Sara

Suizi (Suzy)

Alisu (Alisa)

Michl (Michelle)

Boys:

Micle (Michael)

Joan (John)

Sparky

Joanathan (Jonathan)

Otto

Drake really likes the name Sparky.

His second choice is Jonathan.  In fact, he wanted me to call him Jonathan for a couple of days last year.

And then Otto.

...half way there...

Twenty weeks today.

Half way there

.

Bon Jovi singing about it here:

Poor third child.

That is the first belly profile shot of the pregnancy.

With the exception of the pregnant-lady-wetsuit IG pic prior to Ironman St. George.

This pregnancy has been amazing.

No sickness, just fatness.

Blissful fatness.

But the acne is less than flattering.

I broke out with Gwen pretty bad too.

Could this mean it's going to be a girl?

We don't know, because we're not finding out.

Ryan's not on board...but the baby's not in him.  ;)

I'm back!

So I took a six month hiatus.  NBD.  Life has been cra-zy!  But some exciting things have happened.  Maybe some of these will get their own posts, but let's be honest.  Probably not.  So some fun things that have happened since I last posted:  

I did finish Ironman!  One of the most incredible days of my life, and if you like to read, you can read more about it here.  

 Ryan started a new job.  He is now a prosecutor for Maricopa County.  When he gets home from work, Drake likes to ask him "how many bad guys did you get today?"  It's pretty cute.

We found out a new McPhie is joining our family!  This has been a great surprise, and we couldn't be happier.  Baby McPhie is coming some time around October 4, and Gwen and Drake are so excited to have a baby brother or sister!

We bought a house!  We had been renting ever since Ryan started law school, and most recently we spent a few months living with my parents while we were house hunting.  While we loved being there, Ryan was anxious for a place of our own, so we sadly left Mesa, and moved to Gilbert.  We love the area, and love the house, and someday will furnish it.  ;)

Gwen and Drake have been killing it in school!

They're sad to be leaving the school they've been attending the past few years in Mesa, but are excited to maybe get to ride bikes to school next school year.

And I GRADUATED!!!!!

   This I can't take all the credit for, because I would not have made it without the support of my family and friends.  This last year has been especially hard since so much time was spent doing my schooling, I felt it was keeping me from being the kind of mother I wanted to be for my kids.  Often they'd ask me why I have to go to school, and if I could just quit.  Ugh!!!  I wish I could have.  I'd tell them McPhies don't quit, and it'd be over soon.  Mostly I was convincing myself.  But it turned out to be true.  It's over!!  Now on to bar prep.  :p

Ryan threw me a lovely graduation party.

 The kids helped decorate.

Love these signs Drake made!

And now, perhaps life will slow down a little.

Besides preparing for the bar, I'll be running the babes to swim, and eating watermelon all summer, so hopefully I might be able to resume blogging as well.  

16 more days...

til Ironman!!

I'm so excited and scared all at the same time!

I've been watching all kinds of Ironman videos on Youtube to get pumped, and this one is my favorite so far.

I cried.

I will do this!!

My Costume by Drake

Getting excited for Halloween over here.

At least the kids are.

I'm wanting at least another week in October please.

life goes on

I got on my blog and realized that no one was updating it for me.

Darn.

I guess I can at least through up some pictures to prove that we have been surviving since school started.

Ryan had a birthday.

 Drake got pneumonia.  :(

 I don't think it was because of this...

 But he survived!

 Gwen has lost some teeth.

Tawnya had her baby.

Sweet little Skyla.

 We love her.

 D-backs game.

 My mini me, and my giant forehead!

 Triathlons.

 And serious training!

Now if I don't update for a few more months, please be understanding.  

It's going to be a BUSY next two months!

getting schooled

Today was my first day of my last year of school!  And since I don't have a wife or a mother to insist on first day of school pictures, I have no visual proof to show you.

But since I am a mother of kids who already started school, I do have back to school pictures of them!

 Drake - 1st grade, and Gwen - 3rd grade

The first day of school their bus was 1/2 an hour late getting them home!!  And the worst part of it, was that they were stuck on their bus for an hour, and their bus DOESN'T have air conditioning.  It was 115º that day people!!!  Both of them had just sweated through their shirts and had their hair sticking to their wet little faces. 

So this has become the after school routine.  Drake loses his shirt (and eventually his pants too) and eats a popsicle.  They deserve it!

[And he's wearing pants because he has to as part of their school dress code.  Cruel?  Yes.]

It was oh so nice having them start school two weeks before me and getting to be a stay at home mom.  I loved getting my work outs in (Ironman is only 12 weeks away!!!), having a clean house, and baking all sorts of yummy after school snacks for them.  And sadly it's come to an end.  This last year might be the death of me, but it's only a year.  And that's not that long, right?

 Oh, and their first day of school also just happened to be our anniversary.

So their first back-to-school night, they got to stay up late at Gigi's while we Benihana'd it up, celebrating 9 years of putting up with each other.

I seriously love this guy!