Pregnancy Journal

2-24-12
So I'm about ready to scream.  This cold is killing me.  I have so much pain in my neck and head.  I keep having these dreams that I have a tumor.  It's weird.  I'm ready to be done with this part!  I keep thinking about how with my boys I got feeling better much sooner than I did with my girls' pregnancies, and part of me thinks this baby is a boy, so I keep getting anxious to have a little of my body back (at least not feel like throwing up at the sight or thought or smell of food).  But then Nate will say things about how he thinks it's a girl and I get all scared, and well.... we don't know anything, so I'm left to just wonder.  I would love either a girl or a boy in the end, but as far as the pregnancy goes... the boy ones were easier.... so I lean toward that.  I probably shouldn't say this out loud.
I am dying to go in for my next appointment.  I hate waiting.  I want to hear my baby's heartbeat and be assured that things are alright.  I know everything is fine, but I like to REALLY know it ;).  It never stops.  Even with the seventh pregnancy.  Good grief.
So anyway.  I got a lot done this morning and now I'm tired and stalling.  I should go clean up the toy room now.
I'm about 12 weeks, I feel like crap and hopefully I start feeling better soon :)

Journaling

- On Saturday night, Nate took me out to celebrate Valentine's day.  We went out to the Gateway and ate at Ztejas.  The food was amazing and I was really blown away by the service.... I don't normally care or notice, but it was so incredible how quickly they brought out the food, all the servers were very nice, the food looked fantastic, and it just made it feel like a fancy restaurant.  It was really nice.  I love eating out with Nate because he always tries new places, new foods, appetizers... it's just really fun.  I like that.  If it were up to me we would be boring, eat at Chili's or Applebee's every night and order the exact same thing every time.  So anyway.  I had a good time :).  After dinner we went over to the theater and saw The Vow.  I really liked that movie!  I had not heard much about it and hadn't seen the previews, so it was a pleasant surprise.  I cried through a lot of it, just putting myself in the characters' shoes, but it was really thought-provoking and interesting show.  Anything with memory-loss just gets me for some reason.  It's my old fear.  I was grateful my husband was okay with seeing a chick flick :)  He sacrifices so much for me.  Makes me feel special :).  It was a really nice, relaxing date.  We both haven't been feeling good, so it was a much needed break from life.  The kids spent the evening with Grandma and Simon.  Steve also came over for a bit to play capture the flag with them, so I think they got a good break as well.  Something we all needed.
2-18-12

- Sunday was nuts for me.  It was my week to conduct in Primary, but our pianist was going to be gone and she had said she was desperate and couldn't find "anyone else" to sub for her, so I consented.  Luckily Carol took over the conducting so that I didn't have to perform a comedy act bouncing up to the mic and then down to the piano, doing a one man show.  So I sat and played the piano for all of Primary.  Then in Sacrament meeting, I was playing the organ and had to finish the closing song, jump up to say the closing prayer and then hurry and go back to the organ to play the postlude music.  As I'm saying it now, it doesn't sound that bad, but I hated it.  No matter how guilty I feel I will refuse to say a prayer the same week that I am playing the organ.  The guy made me feel like a dork.  He's all, "Can you say the closing prayer in 2 sundays from today?"  And I said, "Well, I am playing the organ that Sunday?"  And he quickly retorted, "So is that a yes or a no?"  All huffy because I was making him say more than 1 sentence to me.  So I accepted.  I hate to say no.  I hate feeling like I could help out and didn't.  I hate thinking about what he would have thought of me and if he would have been bugged that he had to find someone else.... bla bla bla.... all my stupid things.  So I consented.  But I will not do that ever again.  I shouldn't have to do that.  So anyway.  It stressed me out.  I'm a baby about stress lately for some reason.  When I got home, I laid down in bed and slept for 5 hours.  I have the best husband on the planet, yes I do.... he let me sleep for 5 hours.  So anyway.  Hopefully this cold will let up soon!
2-19-12

- Monday was our day off, President's Day!  The whole family was off!  It was so exciting!  We spent most of the morning, Nate and I, trying to feel good enough to do something.  Nate spent a LOT of time preparing and cooking his Coconut Fried Salmon for the cookbook sampling open house thing.  I had planned on making my Tangy Meatballs for it, but luckily I had looked through the book for the recipe to make them and realized it didn't make the cut into the cookbook.  So while I was annoyed that it wasn't in there (along with a million of the recipes I wasted time sending in- I'm not really bugged, just sound like it), I didn't have to make the millions of meatballs I was going to have to make.  I was slightly relieved.  We headed down to Nate's parents' house and stayed there for an hour or so.  It was nice, I guess they had a pretty good turn out, sold 2 1/2 boxes of books, and make quite a bit of money.  So that was good to hear!  We had promised the kids something fun, and since Nate and I were seriously out of it, we decided a movie would be fun.  We went to Journey 2 the Mysterious Island.  Most of the kids liked it.  It's always fun to go to 3D movies with them, they constantly reach up and flinch at things flying out at them.  Charity and Kelly got a good giggle about the peck-popping.  And Kelly liked the baby elephant.  Bradley liked all of the animals on the island and how different they were.  Luke said, "None of it."  When asked what his favorite part was.  It wasn't really his type of show I guess.  Makes me laugh that he's so brutally honest :).  He kept laying on my lap and asking me when it was going to be over, so I knew it wasn't his favorite :).  Noah on the other hand, he had a blast!  He loved the lizard part!  He has been playing with his lizard all day today (the next day), doing all the same things that the lizard in the movie did.  He basically took notes and has been making good use if them ;).  Erika liked the butterflies, but she, like Luke, was not completely entertained the entire time.  She was ready to go way too soon.  Overall though, we had a good time!  I love that I can predict how soon the popcorn bucket will get spilled all over the floor, and also how soon each kid will ask to go to the bathroom and get a drink.  It makes it easier for me to handle not actually watching much of the show.  I'm learning :).  I loved what I saw though, I hope we can rent that one when it comes out.  Good times.
2-20-12

- Nate's back at work today!  What a crazy week it has been for he and I!  He and I have both been fighting this cold for the last week or so, and Tuesday he just couldn't hardly drag himself around, so he called in sick.  He was planning on going on Wednesday and was feeling a little better, but his stomach had different plans!  He threw up that morning, right before he was going to take the kids to school.  Luke was funny about it, but this was the first time Nate has thrown up in 10 years, so we felt pretty bad for him!  Took all of his strength for the rest of the day and it wasn't until Thursday he was finally able to feel a little more like himself again.  He decided to give himself one more day off, and just use the day to recover complete.  So Friday he is back.  It's weird to not have him home.  I sure have enjoyed his company and appreciated his help.  Even when he's sick, he's still working hard for his family and that has been priceless with how we've been feeling.  We've both had to do more than we thought possible.  Somehow the kids have gotten out of it alive.... nobody else has been sick!  It's a huge relief, but very strange!  I'm always waiting for someone to throw up out of nowhere.  SO anyway.  Hopefully we're done with that and Nate can get back into training at work and get on with things!
2-24-12

- Life has been full of craziness this last week.  I'd love to catch up on it all, but I don't think I will.  Maybe as I remember things.  Hopefully this cold will subside soon.  I feel like my head weighs a million pounds and I wish I could breathe through my nose, but I'm trying to stay positive.... yeah right.  I did get the opportunity to go on Charity's class field trip Thursday (3-1-12) thanks to my Mom babysitting.  We went to the Water Treatment Plant, the County Dump, and the Recycling Center.  This wasn't as fun as our trip to Lagoon last year, but SO educational, and I really quite enjoyed it!  I think everyone's favorite part was the claw :).  What a fun job that would be!  It surprises me all the things they told us about garbage and how quickly we as society accumulate it.  Makes me want to do a little better at Reducing, Reusing and Recycling.  I'm not the best.  My least favorite part about this field trip was the temperature!  It was snowing most of the day and we were in and out of buildings.  The worst was having to eat our lunch out in the snow and wind!!!  I'm a wuss.  I didn't love that.  And it really didn't help with my cold.  Oh well.  The rest of it was fun and I loved spending the time with the coolest girl in Mrs. Davis' class.
Today, 3-3-12, I had the opportunity to go to a baptism.  Chandler in our ward got baptized today and they needed a pianist.  I LOVE baptisms.  I know I've said this before, but it really is neat.  I liked having Bradley with me too.  I am glad he will get plenty of opportunities this year to witness that and get excited for his.  It's kind of a ways away, but I'm sure it will come faster than we think :).
While we were at the baptism Lukey got to go to yet another birthday party, for his friend Aeden.  He sure looks grown up when I pick him up and he looks at me all nonchalantly.  Like he doesn't need to be excited to see me because he's only been away for an hour and a half, and he was having so much fun the whole time, that he really didn't miss me all that much anyway :).  Cute boy.  I love watching him.

Valentine's Day for the Maynes Family

Our Valentine's day started out with Nate's famous heart-shaped egg sandwiches, topped with strawberries, blueberries and blackberries!  Nate took my shift at Bradley's class, which was nice :).  And while he was gone I got his present all ready for him and left it on the front door for him to find when he got home.  I like it when I can spoil Nate a little.  Hopefully he liked his gift.

I took some time to get things ready for the game I was in charge of at Charity's class.  I made some heart bean bags and gathered a few baskets.  I know it was kind of a generic game, but I got tired of trying to come up with something creative, that would still be fun.  I think you lose some of the fun element, when you get TOO creative.  Or maybe I'm just lazy, who knows :)A little later in the morning, before we left to pick up Luke, there was a ring at the door, and to my surprise.... FLOWERS!!!!! 

 I LOVE getting flowers!  I think it's so fun!  Especially on Valentine's day, to know that Nate had to plan WEEKS ahead to spoil me.... just means a lot to me :).  I can say, I don't NEED flowers, but I smile and think about my sweetie every time I see them, so it's definitely a plus :)

We picked up Luke and then went and got some lunch and headed to the park.  I love that it's been warm enough lately to spend a little time at the park.  The kids need that I think.  We get sick of being stuck in our house!  I brought my camera and took a bunch of pictures of the kids playing.  That was fun.  It's been a while since I did that for some reason!  I've been on a photo slump.

After lunch we came home to surprise on our doorstep.  Grandma Hatch had left a basket full of fun stuff for the kids with a balloon tied to it.  That was a pleasant little surprise!  

Thankfully we had a little time to relax a little before I had to go to Charity's class party.  Nate turned on Real Steel for he and the kids.  I left.

The party was a lot of fun.  I couldn't believe the variety of strategies those 4th graders came up with!  It was hilarious to watch.  Lukey came with me so that he could help retrieve the bean bags, he did SUCH a good job!!  Normally I don't think of Luke when I need a quick helper, he's generally not the most helpful like that.... but he sure proved me wrong this time!  He was a speed demon!  I think the kids got way more turns than they would have without him!  I'm gonna have to take advantage of this at home maybe :).  Jk.  There were SO many goodies at that party!  Donuts, cupcakes, the candy I brought as prizes, soda pop!!  I couldn't believe it!  Mrs. Davis seemed happy that they would be going home on this sugar high  and not staying there for her to deal with.

When we got home, Nate and the littles were sound asleep!  So we tried to stay upstairs.  Nate had been up all night with the little princess, and was exhausted, so I was happy he was able to catch up a little!  I was glad he had decided to take the day off as well because I totally felt this cold hit me as the afternoon came on.  I was so sore and tired! 

The kids all dumped out there boxes and examined the goods.  I couldn't believe how many homemade, creative ones there were!!!  Everyone's so creative!  I wish I could think of that stuff ahead of time.  I guess buying them is just so much easier and my kids think it's so amazing that I let them get the candy ones now (I didn't used to because I think the kids have enough candy, but then I realized that the plain old card ones cost the same as the candy ones!!), that it just seems like the way to go.  Maybe next year we'll get creative and do something unique.... maybe. Or the next year.... who knows :)

Sarah and her boys came by with cute little homemade Valentines for Erika and Noah (and some extra Muddy Buddies for the rest of the kids, which they scarfed down faster than you can say.... something.... they were gone so fast!).  It was fun to play with Charlie and watch Alvin.  We don't get to see them enough anymore.
The kids were all playing outside for most of the afternoon and that is always a good thing!

After the Hatches left, and Nate was at the store with Kelly, I decided to take a minute to rest on the couch.  I was having chills.  Surprisingly the kids let me fall asleep, and I woke up to the smell of a yummy homemade dinner (well, actually it was Lukey's crazy little face I woke up to... breathing on mine, with his nose almost touching mine.  Always a funny way to wake up.... and freaky at the same time).  Nate had whipped up some chicken and a broccoli salad.  He's so amazing.  And so good to me!  I had had all these plans to do a fun Valentine's dinner..... but this was so much nicer!

We finally got our house cleaned up a little that night.  It took a while, but all the days of not having time to clean up at night, had really caught up with us!  This new system has been a good one until this last week, so it was tricky to get things under control again.  Very grateful for my hard workers though, who did what they could and helped out.  Happy Valentine's day to us :)

Pregnancy Update

2-16-12
Last night I played capture the flag with the kids in the backyard, and I don't know when it happened, but I totally did something to my hip.  I've been dreading this pain a lot.  I had it in the first and second trimesters with Erika until I fixed it with Physical Therapy.  I so don't want to have to go to PT again.  I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what she would do, so I could have Nate do it.  We'll see.  Bums me out.
I was a horrible Mom this morning.  I'm not sure how to cheer myself up in the mornings!  I feel like crap.  This morning, almost first thing, when I came down the stairs, Bradley jumped out to scare me (he's such a fun kid :) ), and I guess from the jump and quick adrenaline rush, I almost threw up.  I've been really nauseous anyway, but that just threw me over the edge.  It's so frustrating.
I wish I could call in sick today, but I have SO much that needs to be done now.  Since I let things go during the first part of the week like I shouldn't.  I really need to get things under control so that I don't have to kill myself the last half of the week.  It's so hard to get things done when I feel like this.  I guess I'm about 11 weeks right now, so I'm hoping the "morning sickness" will be gone in the next month or so.  It was with my boys.  I guess we'll find out soon enough.  I'm starting to wonder if this baby is a girl.  I can't wait to meet my baby.  Everyone around me is having babies right now and that's always hard.  I don't even feel like holding any of them.  Kinda nuts.  Oh well.  7 more months.... I can do it!

Family Date Night

As a little pre-Valentine's celebratin', we decided to do a big family date night.  The girls all went with Daddy, and the boys all went with Mommy.  Kind of a split up family night, but I think that's good sometimes.

Earlier in the day we took Erika to Build-a-bear to make her first stuffed animal.  Most of our kids got one when they were born or shortly after, but not Erika and she was the only one who hadn't been there.  We thought this would be fun for her since the plans for the evening weren't really geared for her.  I had a few coupons, and we had racked up a few gift cards, so the cute, pink Kitty she picked out ended up costing only $7!  Pretty cool.  She was so cute there!!  I loved watching her face as she walked around picking things out.  It was difficult for her to pick out her animal. She wanted them all :).  She talked to the girl that helped her stuff it, and was SO cute about it all.  She loved "bathing" her kitty :).  She picked out some cute clothes and I'm still wondering why Build-a-Bear keeps the cheapest clothing down at kid level.  My kids have never picked anything up high, so we end up saving a little money :).  Nice for me, dumb for them.  She picked out a little cell phone for her kitty and then named her "Pinky" with some help from Mom.  She wasn't really sure what it meant to pick out a name.  She LOVED the box and insisted on carrying the box all the way back to the car.  Totally toughed it out the whole way!  The box was almost as tall as her, so she had to hang her tongue on the last half of the way :).  She had the cutest face on the whole time.  It's so fun to spoil kids sometimes.  She loved the attention.

So anyway, that night, Nate took the girls on a "shopping spree" to pick out a few outfits each.  I've enlisted Charity to give the report on their half of the night.... here it is in her words:
We went to Kohl's and we got some REALLY cute outfits. I got a blue shirt,  a blue dress, two new pairs of jeans and some new tennis shoes!!!  Kelly got a couple really cute shirts and she actually got jeans (she hates jeans by the way)!!!!!!!! She also got some new tennis shoes. After we went shopping we went to Applebee's for dinner. It was lots of fun!!!

The boys and I had so much fun!!!  We stopped at the mall to pick up a gift for Nate, and then had dinner in the Food Court at Hot Dog on a Stick.  It was so fun to hang out with just my boys!  They're all growing up so much!  Bradley talked all the way there and kept saying, "Do I talk too much?", "I'm talking too much, huh?", "I like to talk a lot."  It was so cute!  I loved it.  So then we got to Nickelcade.  I loved their excitement when we got in the place.  They had never been there before but any small arcade places that they have been were more than thrilling, so I figured a place that big could only be better :).  They couldn't believe how many nickels they got!  Cute little Noah took a long time to catch on to the whole earning tickets part, so he spent most of the first hour riding all the little toys.  It makes me laugh just thinking about him sitting on the horse, moving back and forth and saying, "This is boring now, when is it going to be over?..... Can you get me off?"  And then asking to sit on the next one... a boat :).  They all did the same motion and yet he rode them all at least once, leaving the previous one going as he got on the next.  Made me smile.  He also tried every single driving game as well.  I had to push on the gas pedal for him, but he loved it!  Luke and Bradley went around frantically looking for the machine that put out the most tickets :).  They were fun.  Noah and I got to play air hockey too and I couldn't believe how good he was at it!  He's not all that well-known for his hand-eye coordination, so I was really impressed!  He would hit the puck back pretty quickly and blocked his goal really well!  I couldn't believe it!  At one point, after accidentally knocking the puck in his own goal a few times, he announced that we were going to start trying to get it in our OWN goal from now on :).  Makes me laugh.  He's such a funny little guy.  Altogether the boys and I all got 615 tickets!  We decided to divide them up between the 3 of them and they all picked out a wimpy little prize that they loved :).  It was so much fun!  I couldn't believe how well-behaved they were, they all stayed nearby me the whole time, and even though there were kids climbing all over the machines and cheating, they didn't even try any of that.  I was proud of them.  As we were getting into the car, they said, "We need to bring the girls here! They would love this!"  That made me happy to hear that they actually do love being with the whole family.  And that they had enough fun, they wanted to share it with the others.  

It turned out to be a really fun night for everyone.  They all went to bed SO quickly and quietly, with little struggle ;).  I like it when they wear themselves out like that.  Good times.  Unfortunately.... no pictures.

Some more cute ones!

 On our way to Grandpa Russ and Grandma Ruthie's house on Sunday night, I overheard this conversation between Erika and her big sister Kelly.
Kelly: Do you like the Temple?
Erika: Yeah!
Kelly: Do you like Angel Moroni (Kelly still has her crush on Angel Moroni :) )?
Erika: Yeah, I like baby Jesus!  He's so CUTE!  And he's always sleeping.

so adorable.

Then while we were at Grandma and Grandpa's, Lukey came to me and said, "Mom, I think you should get a job at the Fabric Store!"  I asked why, and he said, "Because you're SO good at making stuff!  I think you're the best at making stuff!"

It was really sweet, but then I got to thinking about a conversation we had had earlier this week about how he wanted us to have more money and the solution he had to the problem was that he wanted me to go to work.  We discussed that if I went to work, he would have to go to a babysitter and that a babysitter would cost about as much as I could make if I earned any money at a job.  Then he chimed in with, "I could just go to Carter's!"  Then I had to explain that he couldn't go to Carter's house because his mom works!
Funny kid.  I wish I was worth the money to him :).... have to work on that I guess :)

Journaling

- I am horrible at keeping up on things lately!  I don't even want to look and see how long it's been since my last update.  We had some fun with the adults in Nate's family on Saturday.  It was his Dad's birthday, so we all got together for some dinner and visiting.  It was actually very relaxing.  It's nice to have excuses to get a babysitter and go hang out with family. 2-4-12.

- Today we took Nate's car in (finally) to have it fixed and when the guy looked at it, he realized it wasn't what he was thinking it was.  We're a little nervous to find out how much it's going to cost.  I hate that about cars.  We'll see I guess.  2-6-12

- We just had our first Kirby demo from Steve.  It was a little hectic, we really made him work for it.... The kids all wanted to be up and watching it with us, so he had to entertain the kids and sell us a vacuum at the same time.  It was a lot of fun to watch my cute little brother be so professional.  He is a great salesman.  I really think this will be a good job for him!  Anybody want a demo??  2-6-12

Play Doh

On Thursday we were bored.  Like really bored.  So we decided to make some play doh :).  It's fun that play doh is still somewhat exciting to my kids.  I know they are easy to please because whenever we have someone else here, they are only slightly amused by the stuff.  Carter was even less that that ;).  

I always say, that's what happens when you send your kid to Preschool.  They are no longer entertained by simple means.  I've said this before, haven't I :)

After we played with it, we squished it into some balloons and made little stress balls :)  Another clever idea from Pinterest.  They were less amused by the stress balls than I was ;)  I think they're awesome!

Pregnancy Update- First Doctor Visit

2-8-12
So yesterday was my first doctor appointment for this pregnancy.  It was a lot of fun.  My favorite part was that I didn't have to take any of my clothes off!  Dr. Thackeray always smiles as he walks in the room when we come back in for a new pregnancy.  This time I said, "We're back!"  He said he was excited when he saw our name on the register for the day's appointments.  It's kind of funny that he knows us so well, but I guess that's what happens after you have a doctor deliver 5 of your 6 kids.  He asked if this was a good thing :)  We smiled and said, "yeah!"  I had told him a few months ago at my exam that we were thinking of getting pregnant again, so I was surprised he asked that, but whatever.  So he asked how I was feeling, then we all went to the ultrasound room!  I was so excited to have an ultrasound.  Dr. Thackeray must have really thought we were having twins because he disappointedly said, "Well, there's just one baby." When he first got the ultrasound going.  Kinda funny.  He's done that a few times.  I don't know why he does that.  We got to see our baby's heartbeat, and see the little one moving around!  So fun!!!  It's super cute when they are so tiny in there, just free to move around, not crowded like they get later on.  Always makes me tear up.  I love that part.  When he measured the baby, he came to the conclusion that my due date would be September 1st.  That made me happy at first, considering I thought it was going to be more like the 8th, but then I realized that this would put the birth date right on the first day of school.  So we'll have to figure something else out with that.  I'm not having a baby on the first day of school.  Or even the day after :).  We'll see how it goes.  Maybe I'm overthinking this, and it will work out better.  I guess the first week of school is when there isn't much homework, and little responsibility, maybe this is good.....  Either way, having this baby will be a blessing, we're excited!
My blood pressure was 110/60, which is normal for me.
And my weight was.... too much :) (you didn't think I'd actually put it did you?) BUT I did weigh a pound less than my last visit :).  Silly that I find that a good thing, but I was really trying to lose weight for a while there!  So yeah, it was a good thing :).
I read somewhere that my baby is around the length of a lime :)  So cute!  10 weeks down!

Not a care in the world....

Yesterday while I was blow-drying my hair in the girls' room (here's a fun fact for ya: our bathroom does not have an outlet compatible with the kind of plug that hair dryers have.  In fact, our bathroom only has ONE outlet!  This is an old house.  So that's why our hair dryer is in the girls' room.... kinda strange, but you do what ya gotta do. ), I looked over and there was Erika.  She was laying on her back, on her cute little toddler bed, feet up in the air, doll in her arms, just staring up at the ceiling and she had the biggest smile on her face!  She started jabbering a little (I'm not sure what she was saying, I could just see her mouth moving).  It looked SO peaceful and relaxing!  It really made me stop and think.  I had been rushing around all morning, hurriedly trying to get everyone ready and out the door by a certain time.  And in my rush, may have missed out on this sweet little moment.  Sometimes I hate that life has to be so busy.  That we have to have appointments and schedules. Sometimes I wish we could just lay around in our pj's and enjoy each other's company.  Because when there's things that need to be done, even simple things, I get all stressy.  I get rushed, and I get distracted.  I need to focus on not letting this happen I think.  Try to stop and smell the roses a little more often.  I know I have to be an adult and live my life and that things can't be for me, the way that they apparently are for Erika :).... but I could at least act that way :).  Anyway.  Just made me smile too.... to think of what this little girl has ahead of her.  To think of what she may have been thinking at that moment.  When they're babies I assume they're looking at the angels, when they look up at nothing and smile, so who's to say she wasn't doing that :).  I love the position I hold.  I love wondering about my Heavenly Father's plan.  I love having my sweet little examples to watch and learn from everyday.  They make life so worth it.

Pregnancy Journal

2-6-12

So I think I've reached a new low this last week.  I feel like I'm running out of motivation and energy.  Well, I don't even know why I say, "running out" it's completely GONE!  I am starting to feel that cloud.  The cloud of gray that covers my mind when I am pregnant.  I was hoping I had somehow skipped out on that part or something, but no, it's here.  I guess I'm almost 10 weeks and man, it feels like 30 is a long ways away.  I try to stay positive.  I always feel like I offend my unborn child when I complain about it and make it sound so miserable.  Right now though, it's tricky to be positive.  I'm sore already, my back hurts, I am nauseated all. the. time.  It doesn't let up at all.  So I try to eat small meals, but it takes so long to get up the courage to eat anything, that I am starving and sick by the time I do.... then eating is just miserable.  I am really looking forward to my doctor appointment this Wednesday.  I think that will be a little ray of sunshine.  I hope everything is going okay... seems to be normal... for the most part.  I guess I should be more comfortable with this seeing as how it's my 7th pregnancy, but really.... I still worry, I am still anxious, and there are still new symptoms that I have never experienced with any of the others.  Kinda bizarre.  I guess one thing I've learned from my experience though, is that most things are "normal".  There are very few things that should really draw any real concern, and even those.... are normal.  I'm sure for some people this is different, but for me, everything is "normal".  I was feel all cool about having a 7th c-section and wondered if we were coming close to like a record of some kind, but then I looked it up.  The record is ELEVEN!!!  Holy moly!  I don't think we'll try to beat that record.  That's a lot of kids!  Seven is a lot of kid.  So anyway.  I did find out that the record for the most children born by one mother is 69 though!!  By some Russian back in the 1700's.  She had several sets of twins, triplets, even quadruplets I think.  Talk about fertile!  And holy moly.  How in the world you give birth that many times is beyond me!!  I couldn't even do it once!~  ha.  I'm kidding.  Yeah, crazy though.  Kinda makes me laugh about all the people who say that it's bad on your body or that your body isn't meant to carry that many pregnancies and whatever.  And granted, we have no idea what kind of shape she was in before or after, but if someone can handle 69 deliveries.... our bodies can do more than we think!!!  I do have to find ways away from all the criticism I hear regarding large families.  It can get to me sometimes.  

So anyway.  I'm feeling it.  This is getting hard.  But just like we learned in Sharing Tim yesterday, "I can do hard things!"  Makes me feel like I can do it!

Lukey's Big Day!

Luke was really cute the day before his birthday, wanting to make sure we got the sign done and the streamers up.  So we decided to put his mind at ease and just let him help with it all :).  The other kids got to help with the sign as well.  It was fun.  I should have mentioned that we have been counting down til his big day since Noah's!  It's been a LONG wait for some of us ;).  He was very aware of how many days there were and would remind me every morning.  Near the end, he realized he could pull a chair over and change the countdown on the white board himself :).  Funny kid.

So anyway, his day started bright and early with the request to open his gifts.

Once he was all ready for school (along with everyone else), we let him open the gifts from the family.  This is a rare privilege that only occurs when Nate is home in the mornings on birthdays.  Nate decided it was a worthy cause to take work off, so he got leave for Luke's birthday.  That was nice.  And Luke didn't have to wait to open his presents as a result :).  

SO the kids all showered him with their gifts.

It's fun to see what they all picked out (since I was oblivious at the store :)), and how Luke reacted to it all.

We searched all over for this Perplexes EPIC ball (it's the second one in a series that we started on Christmas), finally found it at Three Little Monkeys, and even though it cost a teensy bit more there, this smile made it all worth it :).

Bradley was so proud of his gift.  He knew exactly what Luke likes :).

When he opened Kelly's gift, I don't think he even stopped to look at it before dashing into his room to hide the stash!  She got him mostly treats :).  It was cute to see his face light up with each one!  It's nice to know that with Luke, it won't get gobbled up right away.  He does know how to make it last, I think.

She also got him this stadium horn.... that was funny.  Luke's not a big fan of loud noises, but he was slightly entertained by this one.

I just love this face.  Totally Luke.

We went out on a limb and got Luke a pogo stick.  We had been wanting something different, something active.... this seemed like a fun idea.  Luke seemed intrigued by it.  It will be a while before he will attempt it on his own, I think, but Luke's always good for a challenge.  I think it will end up being a lot of fun for him.

Luke's birthday was also 100 day at school this year!  What a fun day he had!  They got to play and eat junk food all day!  He made this cute little hat, and got the star glasses and a sticker (darn, I didn't get that in the picture!) for his birthday.  It was so much fun!!  He had requested that we bring in donuts for his class, so a sugary donut to top off all of the other crap they ate that day!  I'm sure the parents loved us.

It was our day to drive, so Carter came home with us and we decided that since it was Luke's birthday we could take a break in our wii fast and let them play a little before Carter had to go home.

Once he left, we drove up to Build-A-Bear and let Lukey make his beloved kitty.  I was surprised he wanted to go there, since he had been talking about Boondocks, or Blastzone, but I love that store so I wasn't about to talk him out of it!  I think the fact that this activity could be done "today" was the most appealing.  The other activities would have had to happen on another day.  

So anyway, he made an orange kitty, got him a Broncos football uniform, and named him "Cutie".....  So funny!  

I love the soft side of my little Luke.  He's a sweetie.

I spent most of the day while Luke was at school and playing wii, making his cake.  It was a lot of fun, though I hate doing this ON the birthday.  I wish I could figure out a way to make a fresh cake, but have no work the day of.  Anyway.  I had a little help from Nate, so that helped.

Of course.... Mario :)

I think the thing that made the hard work all worth it on this cake, was seeing Lukey's face light up when he came in the room and saw the Mario I had just molded.  He was so excited!  It was so much fun!!  Felt like I'd just won!  I know I've given up on pretending like I do these JUST for my kids, but I have to admit, it's just SO MUCH MORE FUN when they are excited about it too.  His face was priceless :)

I thought we had a good turn out at his party.  It's always nice to have lots there to celebrate.  Lukey was super cute opening his presents, just one right after the other, so quickly :).  I had mentioned manners as far as presents go, and I think I just made him nervous about how he should react :).  But anyway, he was at least polite.

He's fun with presents because he really does cherish the things he's given.  Even the stuff he doesn't really care about, he will take really good care of.  I like that about Luke.

This was probably my favorite!  He had been asking for Mario Galaxy 2 for.... well, forever, and I have THE HARDEST TIME spending 50 bucks on a wii game!  Especially because they are so easy to ruin!!  I had almost gotten him the Mario Galaxy, but Nate and I both just didn't want to get another wii game.  So of course when Grandpa Hatch asked what he wanted and I told him the situation... he was all over that.  I gave in.  Luke was SO HAPPY THOUGH!!  Look at this face!  He was praising Grandpa all night long.... yep, we let him play it for about an hour that night as soon as the party was over.

Grandma Ruthie gave him the cutest book!  I love the books she finds!  I wish I knew where she got them all.

party guests.  actually smiling ones this time :)

this is what our party guests usually look like.

I'm pretty sure Luke had a fun day.  He was so happy and so fun all day.  It's been a while since we had a pleasant birthday boy :).  I shouldn't say that, but really, some times things get out of control and I don't know if it's the overstimulation or what, but sometimes they just aren't their happy little selves.  He was a fun boy though, and I totally loved his day.  

That night once the speakers and blue ray were all set up, we watched Real Steel on our new tv, with the surround sound.  It was SO COOL!!!  The kids all loved it! 

Family time is the best :)