Pregnancy Journal

3-28-12
I know this is probably going to end up being a really negative post, but I need to get some thoughts down.  This pregnancy is making me feel SO BLAH right now.  I feel so gross.  Chubby, lazy, tired, greasy.... just ugh.  And it's getting so frustrating for me.  I know I shouldn't expect to feel normal... I've been here, I know what it feels like, it feels like this every time, but that doesn't make it any easier.  In fact, the thing that has been making me go crazy all day is that I keep thinking about whether I really think I could do this again.  DUH!  I don't know if it's the Spirit prompting me to think about a number 8 or if I'm really just out of my head, but I have for quite some time now.  I had a blessing just after we had Erika and I was told there are more spiritS (with an "s") waiting to come to our family, and that there is not a set number of kids I am "supposed to have".  It was a strange couple of sentences that left me confused.  Did he mean that there were spirits who wanted to come to my family who wouldn't be able to??  So anyway, either way, I started to feel (and have for most of my life) that there were 2 more.  This baby is the first one, and in my head, there is one more.  I don't really know where this all comes from.  I am really starting to sound crazy to most people, I am sure, and if you think I am, please let me know so I can uninvite you to my blog.  These are my personal feelings.  They are real.  I would be kidding myself if I pretended they didn't exist.  Today has been a difficult day.  Well, yesterday and today for that matter.  I am burning out.  It feels like I should have been done with the yuckies a while ago, and I'm losing patience and hope.  So while I'm hugging Nate, the thought comes to me to tell him NOT to let me do this again!  Like I was feeling so done with it, and that I realize I forget how horrible it is, so just don't even let me think about it ever again.  (I really did think this for a minute)  But then I felt like that would offend someone (or more than one someone) if I said that.  It was an interesting feeling.  I decided not to say it.  I struggled with the thoughts for a minute and then when Nate and I and the kids were on a walk, I started to think about number 8 again.  Wondering if there really was a number 8 who wanted to come to our family and they were going to be left out if I started to think the way I had earlier.  I had an interesting conversation with my Heavenly Father about this.  I don't really feel like I've had an answer concerning the matter, but I felt comforted.  I tried to tell myself to stop thinking about it, since there really isn't anything I can do at this point.  It's so strange to me that this happens.  Every time I've had a baby I obsess over the next one the entire time.  I can't help but wonder if it is just me.  Just my weirdness.  Pregnancy stinks.  I really don't like it.  There are a couple things that make it a little more bearable, but other than that.... it's just that cute little baby at the end of the tunnel that makes it worth it.  So anyway.  The ramblings inside of my head.  I want to try to just focus on here and now right now.  I will keep my mind open and frankly, I've never been able to say "I'm done."  I've never felt that way... so we will see.  Maybe things will change.  And who knows what Heavenly Father has in store.  I could see him preparing me for more, but I could also see it going a different direction.  We'll just have to see I guess.  In the meantime!!!!!  I am getting anxious to see what the gender is!  I'm starting to feel more like it's a girl for some reason.  Probably just because I didn't feel as crappy with the boys.  But as I've said before, maybe I'm just getting too old for this.

Pregnancy Journal

I don't have a lot of time now, but I just had to write down that I finally felt my baby move!!!  SO exciting!!  I love that feeling.  More than anything!  It's so fun to know that my baby is okay, moving around, possibly having a good time ;) (I would be if I could swim 24/7 without anyone seeing me in a swim suit :) ).  I can't wait til next week to find out the gender.  I'm just so grateful to be having another baby.  We've been talking about when we should tell the kids.  I kind of want to tell them before we find out the gender so that it can be a big anticipation thing for them too :)  Even though it's only 10 days away!  I need to start thinking of cute ways to tell them.  And everyone else for that matter :)

Holbrook Elementary presents BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Last week was a NIGHTMARE!!!  A good nightmare, I guess, in a way..... yeah, I don't really know how to describe it.  The girls had their play!!  Charity was in both casts, Kelly was in Cast B, so we were busy with it EVERY night!!  I couldn't believe what a great job they had done though!  It was very well put together and very worth all the trouble the practices caused ;).
Back on Friday morning I had signed up to work backstage for the school performance.  That was a little bit of a joke, but my friend Lisa was in there, so it worked out.
Tuesday morning, when Cast B performed for the school, Nate and I and the two littles decided it would be a fun time to watch the performance.  Noah and Erika seemed less than impressed... as I had expected... but Nate and I loved it!!  I couldn't believe how well done it was, and what fun they all seemed to be having. Charity surprised us by having way more lines than I had ever known.  Don't ask me why I didn't know what her lines were.  She did such a great job though!!  And cute little Kelly was so fun to watch as well!  She was hard to see from way in the back, since she's so little, but what a cute smile and fun little dancer she is!  They are both made to perform.  That's just fun for us as parents.  They made us so proud!
Tuesday night, Charity had to go alone.  I felt so bad when she said that everyone had people to hug and she didn't.
Wednesday night, I was asked to work in the activity room, babysitting all of the performers backstage.  What a nightmare that was!  Nate was working too, so I had all of my kids there as well.  Not that it really would have made much difference.  I can't believe how disrespectful some of those kids are!  Surprised me.  But either way, Sarah and her boys were there to show their support!  The girls loved that.  Kelly loved the concessions stand.  I'm still not sure where she got all her money....  And it was so cute when her friend Sariah sent her one of the little backstage notes with some candy attached!  What a great friend.  Being there was fun, but I wish I could have been able to watch it as planned.
Thursday night was Cast A, but I had purchased myself a ticket to see this one.  I had wanted to see what the girls were talking about when they would say that Cast A's Belle is a better singer, or Cast A's Gaston isn't as good.... Kelly wanted to come watch it with me as well, since her good friend Sariah was in that cast.  I only had one ticket, but I assumed we'd be able to buy one at the door.  Boy was I wrong!!  We got there an hour early and they were all sold out.  I figured Kelly could just sit on my lap at that point.  I wasn't about to take her home.  She spent enough time backstage anyway.  I did like Cast A's Belle a lot better.  The Gaston wasn't as good though, and I didn't feel like I knew as many of the kids in that one. I'm partial to B anyway I guess ;).  It was a good time with my Kelly.  Charity did fantastic!  I kept waiting for them to get tired, and mess up, but they never did!  They both rocked it every night!
Friday night was a lot of fun!  Steve, my Dad and Pam, and my Mom and Simon all came to the play.  While it can be awkward to have my Dad and Mom together sometimes, nothing is more awkward than having your daughter's 4th grade teacher turn around and ask your family to shhhh.  It was HILARIOUS actually.  Mrs. Davis was fun.  We chatted with her in line and then throughout the intermissions and stuff.  She's a great teacher, fun lady, cute grandma, and very forgiving of the chatty-pants' I was sitting by.  The girls were happy to get backstage cards sent to them from Grandpa, Pam and Steve, and Simon and Grandma gave them glowy roses at the end.  We all went out for ice cream and fries at Dairy Queen to celebrate.  It was actually lots of fun.
Saturday afternoon was the matinee and since I had to play the piano for our ward baptism, I was not able to go.  I left Kelly in charge of the three little ones, took Charity to the play, and Bradley with me to watch his friend get baptized.  It was such a hectic afternoon.  I do not wish to have another one of those anytime soon.  Charity and Kelly both had a cast party following Cast A's matinee performance.  That was an hour long, so it was to the school, and back two more times.  Then we got ready for that night's Cast B performance.  Heidi and John came for Bajio tacos before, and we met Aunt Jen, Aunt Becky, Uncle Darren, Casey, and Adam there, with Bradley and Luke in tow (I took Erika and Noah down to my Mom's.  They had seen the school performance on Tuesday afternoon and were not all that fond of the show, so I figured we'd all enjoy it better if they were not present).  This was a fun night, they were filming it, so we cheered really good, and enjoyed the fact that this was the last time they would have to do it.  Then we went out to ice cream and fries (again :) ) at Dairy Queen (again :) ), it was a lot of fun!
While I know the girls are sad and happy to have it over with, I for one, am just happy :).  They got to have a wonderful opportunity, they did fantastic, and we all were able to enjoy it.  And now we can get back to life!!  I will not miss the practices one single bit :).

Way to go Charity and Kelly!!!  You are both stars!!!  Thanks for making us proud!

Taking Buddy Out

We've all had to take turns taking care of Buddy while Charity's been out at her play practices and performances.  

Lukey was one of his major caretakers until Thursday when he attacked him at the park....

But before that, we had a nice sunny afternoon that I couldn't resist getting photos.

We actually got the video camera out a little too.  I can't wait to watch the part where Luke was videotaping and Buddy started chasing him and he went running off giggling and squealing about it.... the camera still in record mode, recording every jumbling moment.  So funny. 

Good times.

This is what I found on the whiteboard.... right when I needed it.  

I don't remember the details of the day, but it was one of those where knowing that "someone" in the house loves their family relieves some of the pain.

My sweet little kids are good at that.  Thanks guys!

Journaling

- Sunday night was the family meeting.  There was a bit of a different feel with Nate's Dad's surgery coming up this week.  We all had dinner together and then a shortened meeting.  I am hopeful and feel like things are going to work out well for him with the surgery.  We will be praying for him.

- Monday night we had the opportunity of doing Family Home Evening at the Care Center.  One of the benefits of the Bountiful Heights Stake is getting to participate in church meetings there.  I love it.  We were doing the FHE with the Davis family and when we got there, a whole bunch of people from our old ward, The Ward Canyon Ward, and also from my old ward, The 54th Ward were all there.  It was a mini reunion :).  Brother Gardner had to make a big deal about us, and told how much we meant to the ward.  It was nice :).  We love that ward.  The kids all got to sing, we sang as a family, and the kids acted out some stories as Andrea narrated.  It was a lot of fun.  I love being able to be there and feel the Spirit with this people.  Fun stuff.  We all went to Arctic Circle together afterwards for ice cream :).  Good times.

- Tuesday morning was Grandpa Russ's kidney transplant day.  We were all a little nerve racked, and prayed for him a ton.  The sweet woman in his ward who had volunteered her kidney for the cause has found a special place in everyone's hearts.  Its neat to think that Heavenly Father orchestrated the whole thing the way He did.  I can't get over how much planning that would have taken :).  And for Debbie to be so in tune to the Spirit.... it's just miraculous. 3-13-12

- Tuesday we got to go to Grandpa Hatch's house for pizza!!  The kids have to fight over the iPad the whole time, and order Grandpa around for drinks, goodies, and such, but all in all, it's a good time.  Steve keeps us entertained :)  I got to witness the amazing speed of my Dad's new computer that he built himself.  Pretty amazing!  And he said he would build me one too ;)  (3-13-12)

- Wednesday, Nate, Erika, Noah and I went to visit Grandpa Russ in the hospital.  I couldn't believe how good he looked!  He was up and walking around already!  Impressive.  He was cracking jokes and laughed at all of ours.  It was good to see him doing so well!  We knew our prayers had been answered.  The kids had all sent letters and it was fun to see him read those, and know that they meant something to him.  What a blessing to have survived and been recovering from such an ordeal so quickly.  3-14-12

- Wednesday was my first evening meeting for my assignment as an employment coach in the ward.  It was a good meeting.  I can't believe how much The Church does for people, including non-members.  It fascinates me.  Anyway, I have been a slacker, repented, and now I am going to do what I need to do to help my person in her job search.  It was very motivating to say the least.  (3-14-12)

- Thursday afternoon/evening was interesting.  I went to Carl's Jr. (or CJ's as we lovingly call it) with Steve and my Mom.  That was fun, we got a lot of talking in.  Then as we were loaded up in the car and I turned the key, the car wouldn't start.  SOOOOOOOO frustrating!  I couldn't tell if it was because it was out of gas or not, because I knew it was low.  A very kind man and his daughter came over, we explained the situation to them, and they went and got me some gas.  Unfortunately, it wasn't just the gas, it was the battery.  So we spent a good 20 minutes TRYING to jump my car.  Luckily we tried one last time "for oldtime's sake" and wahoo! it started!!  I was so relieved, thanked Heavenly Father, thanked the man, offered to pay him, but he refused and said to "Pay it forward!", and drove off.  I needed to go to Target to shop for Luke's friend Carter's birthday present.  I was concerned about what to do, should I risk running out of gas and not stop to fill up, driving on the freeway to ensure that the battery is fully charged?  OR should I risk turning the car off and go fill up, hoping that I can turn the car back on?  (there was another option in my Mom and Steve's minds, they wanted me to leave the car running as I filled it up with gasoline- I just couldn't bring myself to do that.  Sounds too dangerous.)  So anyway, I took the second option, stopped to get gas and turned the car off.  $45 later, the car would not start.  It was such a let down!  We tried jumping it with Steve's friend's car (luckily Steve has friends in high places), but nothing!  I couldn't believe it and I was starting to get really frustrated.  We decided we would need to call in for reinforcements.  My Mom called Simon, he eventually came to get her, and was able to take Steve to get his car, so that Steve could hurry and take Luke to get his present.  I was running so low on time!!  There were all these "at the end of school" things I need to do, and be home for Bradley and Kelly who were walking.  It was nuts.  Luckily Nate showed up shortly after that, swooping in to save the day, brought me and the two littles, up to the school, we gave Charity her costume, and he got me home in time for Kelly and Bradley.  It was craziness!!
The dumb car charged for Nate and Steve when they went back down to rescue it, and we got cocky, thinking it was going to be fine after we drove it around for a couple hours.  We met Steve and my Dad at Wingers, had a lovely dinner, then got out to our car and once again, it wouldn't start.  Luckily my Dad was there, jumped it and it worked really quickly this time for some reason.  This time we got worried, it really should have been fine.  So we ran over to Autozone to test it and  found out that the battery is fine, held a charge, the alternator is fine, and all we can do now is take it to a mechanic to check on the starter and the starter motor.  Lame.  Cars are so annoying sometimes!  This one especially lately.  But anyway. (3-15-12)

- Today was annoying.  I dislike the feeling of needing to go somewhere, but not being able to because the vehicle is not functioning properly.  I know, I'm spoiled. I went many years, earlier on in our marriage, where I didn't have a car, and I feel I did my time in that area.  Right now, it's just not desirable to have six children and an ornery Mom crammed into one living space for an entire Saturday.  Today was proof.  I'm going to spare you the details and not complain anymore about it right now, but I did want to say that it would have been even worse if it hadn't been for my brother Steve.  He saved the day by taking Charity and her puppy to the vet for her appointment that I had completely forgotten about and let Nate take the car.  He took her and sat there and listened and asked questions.... so helpful.  I almost feel like I was there.  It was wonderful.  I totally owe him.  3-17-12
And some other noteworthy news- Charity taught Buddy to sit!  Wahoo!  I'm so glad she is capable!

- Monday was the kids' day off from school and since everyone was so let down when we went to get Buddy rather than Nickelcade back on Charity's birthday, we decided that that's what we would do for our day off.  Unfortunately the car had different plans!  Our car had been giving us trouble ALL weekend!  We were sure it was something simple and that it was just a quick fix until we took it in.  It took them a while to get to it, and then when they finally did, realized it was no big deal.  The terminals on the battery were loose.  So they fixed that free of charge, but noticed that our sensors on our ABS were out.  So $200 later, that was fixed too.  Kind of nice to have been able to pay $100 less than we were expecting to pay for the previous problem, but then to have both issues resolved.  For once the car was on our side :).  Anyway, none of this was resolved in time on Monday afternoon.  We were so worried that the kids weren't going to get to do their fun!!  So we cracked and decided that Nate needed to take the kids.  We knew we ALL couldn't go, so Erika and I stayed home while the other kids crammed into the car and took off for Nickelcade.  I was SO relieved that they were able to go!  Nate was so fun and so generous for them and made it a lot of fun!  Dads are so much more fun than Moms at a place like that anyway ;).  They won over 2,000 tickets, so they all got something pretty cool!  I was impressed!  They seemed very happy and like they all got enough partying for one day.  3-19-12

Buddy

Charity speaks: Okay so on Friday it was my birthday.  My mom and dad gave me a dog chew toy and then a dog training book.  Inside the book was a letter.  In the letter it said: ..." We wanted to get you the present you have always wanted and you know what that is:)  SOOO daddy and I made the arrangements and made it so that you could get a dog as soon as you wanted to!! " It took me a while to understand that so when I fully understood what it meant I screamed my head off!!!!  I was so excited that I almost couldn't believe what I had heard!!  I told my mom that I wanted to get my dog the next day.  She said that that wasn't a surprise:)(which is true.  I would've gotten him that day but it was about eight o'clock and it wouldn't have worked.:)).  So the next morning I got up at about 5:30 and started to research a couple of breeds on ksl.com.  I found a lot of REALLY cute ones but my heart was set on something that had black lab in it.  When I found a really cute one I told my mom that we need to call the owner to see if they still had one of them.  We couldn't get a hold of them so I kept looking to see if there was something cuter.  I did find another really cute puppy.  We called that owner and they said that we could come and see them around 5:00.  When I heard how late that would've been I was very impatient.  We received a call from the owner I had called earlier.  He said that he still had some puppies that we could come and check out.  So we went to the first person's house and we looked at the puppies.  They were so fluffy and cute!!!  I almost couldn't put them down ( but of course I had to:)).  When we left we went to see some other puppies.  We got to there house and when I saw the puppies I almost squealed because of how cute they were!!  I waited a little while and I looked at all of them and I found the one that kept coming to me and that kept eating my pants and shoe laces:).  When I set my heart on him I said that I wanted him.  I named him buddy and he is doing good and well.  He has been really hyper and lively.  I am trying to teach him not to bite me and my family members.  He is just the sweetest thing ever.  Okay now I am done with my jabbering:)

And my version: Saturday, the day after Charity found out she could get her dog she was on ksl.com, bright and early, looking for the perfect black lab mix.  She had set her heart on a lab/collie mix (she likes both breeds, I guess she figured that was the best of both worlds :)), she knew she didn't want a pure breed, and she was on the hunt.  It took a lot of searching, help from Mom and Dad too, but we found two different litters that looked like good choices.  One was a lab/australian shepherd and the other was a lab/boxer mix.  We scheduled meeting times, and were able to drag the family all over the world and back to find Charity the perfect dog.  The first one was going to be at a gas station in Provo.  The second was in Spanish Fork.  I told Charity she had to see both before she could pick one.  I really wanted this to be well thought out and something she was sure about.  You know how easy it is to just take the first one you see when it comes to cute little puppy dogs.  We stopped and picked up Heidi on the way to the Provo one.  Eventually we were able to meet up with the guy that had the first puppies.  They were super cute and fluffy.  We were totally ready to take one.  Charity especially.  Thankfully Heidi knew my plan and wanted to see the lab\boxers herself, so she insisted that we follow through with our plans and go see the others.  We drove out to Spanish Fork (beef jerky in tow... it really felt like a road trip :) ), and checked out the 8 (or so) lab/boxer mix puppies.  They were ADORABLE!!!  I couldn't believe there were so many and this was only HALF of the litter!!  We all fell in love with them.  I don't think it was difficult for Charity to make her decision.  She found the one she thought was most hyper, she watched him play tug-o-war with the owner, and she was sold.  It was so fun!  

We stopped at the store to grab some food and a few last minute things like a leash and toys.  It wasn't long before the cute little thing totally threw up on Charity's lap!!!!  I couldn't believe it!  She handled it so well though!  We were on our way to the park and thought that would be a good way to let him get some fresh air.  We had our little picnic and then headed back home.  He threw up one more time on the way home.  He really wanted to break Charity in as a dog owner I think.  If she thought pee and poop was going to be gross.... try vomit!!!  She was really a pro though, it was impressive.

He has been such a sweet little puppy!  He was super sleepy for the first few days, just like an infant.  He was only 7 weeks old, so no surprise.  But he is slowly showing us his big personality.  We have been amazed at how well potty-trained he is.  I thank my lucky stars we were able to find a dog this easy (so far! I know there's more).  It's been a lot of fun for the most part.  I think once Charity is done with her play and her insanely long practices, she will be able to really bond with him and spend the time she really needs to with him.  In the meantime, we've all been able to play with, cuddle, and clean up after him :).  So he feels a lot like a new family member :).

Charity's Big Day!

Charity seemed all grown up, the morning of her birthday.  It was fun to watch her be "big sis" to everyone.  She loved her sign that I started the night before, and Kelly and her "crew" finished in the morning.  Kelly wanted to make her sign SO BADLY!  You can see that Erika helped out a lot :)  Everyone had to be all ready for school before she could open her presents.... perfect motivation.  They had all gone shopping with Dad the night before (I should explain that I was busy making a costume for a marionette and coaching a student on a book report the night before, so I was not just being a slacker mom), and were very excited to shower Charity with their gifts.

This was adorable... Erika had slept in and when she woke up, came RUNNING into the living room and jumped right up into Charity's lap to help her open presents.  Such cute sisters.

She got lots of candy, and lots of DOG stuff from her sibs.

(oh, I should put this in it's own post, but I'll just sort it out later when I make my book.  Erika has a new fetish.  She likes caressing arms.  Even her own as you can see in this picture.  Bare skinned arms.  It's hilarious and sweet at the same time.  She will rub my arms even as I am setting her on the potty, just every chance she gets to touch them.  And I have to ask her to stop at night, when she comes into bed with me, and starts obsessively caressing me.  It's distracting.  But SO CUTE and sweet. )

She got two little stuffed dogs.

Kelly got her a cool little pencil holder and highlighters with some dog-bone erasers to set on her desk at school.  Very cool.

The birthday girl and her two sisters... I love these girls SO MUCH!

After a couple presents (she was only supposed to open one, not sure what happened there), it was off to school!

I hate that I don't get to be with my kids on their birthdays, and I always have, and I think I always will.  I'm still not okay with it.  One day, when they dislike school, it will be our day to play hookey I decided.

That day was a little busy... I don't remember why.  There were many things to do, along with getting my house presentable for the birthday party that night.

I took some time to make the dog and bone topper for her cake, and bought her cake and some donuts to take to her class.  There was some other stuff in there, but I'm drawing a blank.  Thanks to Steve for making it so I didn't have to haul 4 little kids up to the school.

Charity had to have play practice on her birthday as well, and even though it was supposed to be over at 3:30, they were not done and Nate had to drag her out of there at 5:00 in time for her party!!!  I cannot believe how insane the play production committee is this year... they are die hard play people.

Time for the party, we had a lot of guests, the Bajio Chicken tacos were great when they were finally done, and it seemed like a good time.

We did presents early at the guests' requests because my chicken was taking too long to cook.

HA!  I don't know what this face was for, but it makes me laugh :)  I'm sure Charity will love it :)

So, Nate and I had the best present planned for Charity.  We found out from our Landlord that it was now okay for us to have pets in this house.  It would require a  pretty substantial deposit, and the intent that we will put in new carpet if it is ruined at all.  This seemed worth it to us, given how anxious Charity has been for the last 2 years to get her own dog.  We told her back when she was 7 that she could get one when she was 8 (this is how our life gets messy, we try to plan when there's no plans).  That didn't happen, and she is now 10!  So this seemed like a good time.  We didn't, however, want to just buy her the dog.  For a few reasons.  We wanted her to be able to pick it out herself.  And we wanted her to feel responsible for the thing.  It seems like if you have to earn and save the money yourself, you will be more likely to take care of it.  I know this is just a theory, but it makes more sense to me than just giving it to her.  Plus she did that whole candy thing to earn the money to buy her dog.... why not do it!  So anyway.  Our plan was to give her a good dog training book, a dog toy, and a letter explaining that she could buy her dog.  Well, apparently my letter was a little too wordy (imagine that!) and not clear, because she had no idea what I had said in it!!!

Here she is reading the letter to herself.

And here's her face after I said, "Are you excited?  Did you even read it?"  Because I had totally pictured her jumping up and down, screaming, the works, after finding out that she could finally get her dog!  We even had Nate poised to snap a picture at the very moment that she figured that out.  

So anticlimactic to explain to her what it said, explain that she could get her dog anytime, as soon as she wanted.  And THEN have her jump up and down and be excited.  And I must say, it wasn't as much as I had wanted.  I am still slightly disappointed in her reaction.  But anyway- that was the big moment we had all been waiting for ;)

This was her cute ice cream cake that she had requested (I was going to try to make it myself, but I totally wasn't feeling it that day.  I lost all motivation and headed on over to Dairy Queen).  She did want a dog on it though, so I made the little fondant doggie and bone.  Not sure how well they turned out, but whatever.  Like I said, I just wasn't feeling the whole cake thing that day.... weird.  It sure was yummy though!  And don't the little cookie dough bits look like dog food!

It was a fun day.  I'm hope she enjoyed it!

We're into the double digits people!!!!  How crazy is that!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARITY!!!

just cute

This cute little lady, with her legs crossed, is playing Mommy's Kindle.  So adorable.

The Living Planet Aquarium

I had the opportunity to go on Kelly's field trip with her on Thursday.  It was a bit of a surprise, kind of last minute since I didn't know I had been chosen to go.  I was late getting my $6 to her teacher, so on Wednesday morning, when I was supposed to have it in, but I was there, reading with the kids, Mrs. Ashliman came out to the hallway and informed me that because they get 4 parents in for free, she would let me be one of the free parents!  Wahoo!  That was nice of her, and I was happy :).  So Thursday came, my Mom willingly watched my two toddlers and the toddler puppy as well.  I had to ride separate from Kelly, in a carpool of Moms, Kelly rode in the bus, and we all met up at the Living Planet Aquarium.  We had a lot of fun.  It was just Kelly, her friends Sariah and Lucy, and Lucy's Mom in our group.  We covered quite a bit of ground before our scheduled lecture on high tide and low tide.  But much to Kelly's dismay, we did not get to see the otters.  I must say, if you're going to drive all the way out there and go out of your way to do something like that, why not let the kids look at the cool animals the entire hour, rather than cutting it in half for a lecture that they could easily receive in the classroom?  Just a thought.  We did have a lot of fun!  Good times!  I can't believe I forgot my camera, hopefully Valerie will give me some of the ones she took on her camera ;)

Charity and Kelly's snowman

I didn't get pictures as soon as I should, as you can see, he's missing an eye.  The girls got these cute little snowman kits for Christmas from Sadie and it was cute to see what they did with them.

Charity turned 10! I can't believe it!

She really did it!  I thought maybe we could skip this one, since it makes her seem so old, but nope, it came!  She's 10!

Actually, I'm really excited that it's her birthday because it gives me a chance to really reflect on her and who she is becoming.  I'm really so proud of Charity.  She's met so many challenges already.  And the way she barrels through them, is just impressive to me.  It's been a tough year, we've seen different sides of Charity that I'm not sure we knew existed.  It's nice to know, but it has been difficult to watch her struggle as well.  She is an amazing girl.  She has so much strength and stamina!  To watch her keep going, to keep getting up when she's knocked down.... it's just incredible to me.  She's really becoming such a beautiful young lady.

Charity is spunky, smart, full of love for all she comes in contact with.  She loves friends, and loves being loved :).

Right now her favorite colors are blue (turquoise), green and orange.  She loves to read, play outside, pretend to be a dog, and dream about having a dog of her own.

She is an excellent reader, typist, singer, dancer, big sister, daughter and student.  She really has excelled in all of these areas this year.  It's neat to watch her try so many things.  

Charity lives and breathes for dogs, she has plans to buy a new dog someday.  She has been waiting patiently, and hopes to be able to get one as soon as we get into a house of our own.  

She's really just a huge asset to our family.  She loves her family and we love her.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHAR BEAR!!

*I will add pictures and the post about her birthday and the following day as soon as I can get my blog to let me!  Sorry for the delay :)

Pregnancy Journal

3-7-12
I went in for my 2nd check up.  Things looked good!  I did the peeing on a "strip" for the first time this time.  That was weird.  One thing that annoys me is my Doctor has changed offices almost as much as we've gotten pregnant!  This is the third office he's been at, and the whole system seems different each time.  So that annoys me, but oh well.  Dr. Thackeray is worth the inconvenience I guess.
The baby's heartbeat was 150, he/she was moving around so much we could hear it on the dopler, but not enough that I could actually feel it!  Darn it!  I thought I felt something the other day, but I'm not sure.  Seems like once I feel them move, I'm good to go as far as stressing about them being okay.  For some reason the having the Doctor say that there is less than a 1% chance that I could lose this baby has no effect on me.  And I still figure that there's a chance and that's enough to worry about.  I wish the worrying part of pregnancy could be less with each one.  It's not.  I think it might be that darn number 7 that keeps getting me though!  It's supposed to be lucky right??  ha! kidding.
I learned 2 new things this time.  1- your body can produce different amounts of different hormones with each pregnancy.  And that is why no two pregnancies are really the same.  That was interesting, and SO TRUE!  It's interesting to find out too, that it's my hormones that determine how much discharge I will have.  That's weird.  Luckily I am not worried about an infection for now though.  The other thing I learned is that the uterus does in fact have nerves in it (some dummy told me otherwise- sorry if you were that dummy :)  I don't remember who it was)- but that they do not receive pain in the same way that say our skin does.  The nerves in the uterus will receive it as pressure or cramping instead of a sharp poking or cutting pain.  I thought that was interesting.  That explains a LOT!  Kinda cool.
So my latest question is why did Heavenly Father make child-bearing so difficult for some people, but not for others?  And for those that it is, why?  Not in a "why me?" sort of way, but in an "I'm just curious in terms of his big plan, what the purpose was?".... there's a purpose for everything right?  I just like to know stuff like that.  I'm sure there is a good reason and I like to think that anyway because it helps me deal with the torture a little better.  Maybe I'm just a wuss.  Who knows.
So things don't seem to be looking up a WHOLE lot with the nausea and all that, but hopefully soon!  I'm about 14 weeks right now.
Dr. Thackeray was nice enough to say that if we want any of our kids to see the baby on the ultrasound at 20 weeks, he would be willing to do one for them just in our office if we want to bring them to my next visit.  He said that the official 20 week one is done with a technician and they don't like to have kids there, but he offered to do one in his office.  See how nice he is!  Good doctor.  I'd recommend him to anyone and everyone.
So anyway.  I feel relieved to have heard the baby's heartbeat and know that I still have one in there :).  Hopefully this lasts until I can feel it move, which should hopefully be soon.  I feel distant right now... I want to feel closer to this baby.  I do love that Erika has been really interested in watching the home videos of all our babies when they were born.  She calls it "Baby Ewika crying computer, wanna watch it."  She LOVES babies!  She always has.  I'm excited for her to have a little baby around :).  She was the recruiter in Heaven.  Recruiting people to be in our family.  She made Noah come first so that she could get a few more :) (well, not a few, but you get the idea :) ).  I'm certain of it.  I know she's been waiting for this one to come.  I'm glad it's finally time.

The Dentist

I hate admitting it, but we've had to have quite a bit of dental work over the past couple years.  It's frustrating to try as hard as we do to cut out sugary foods, and to focus on the brushing, and still see no fruits of our labors.  But I thought I better document Tuesday.  I had taken in Kelly, Bradley, Luke and Noah a couple weeks prior, and it was time for their follow-up, filling visits.  The dentist we see is awesome because they scheduled ALL of our kids for the next visit, all at the same time.  In some ways this is ideal, in others, it's not, but I will take it.  SO Tuesday was our big day.  Charity and Erika were just having check ups.  At which we found out that one of Charity's old fillings has broken and she has to have that redone.  And Erika "has very good teeth with no cavities" (I used to get all excited about this news, but now I know it's just a matter of time!)  Following their check-ups, we had Kelly getting two teeth pulled, plus one filled and capped, Bradley had to have one filled, and Lukey had to have one filled.  It was a long hour and a half of tears, tough kids, and walking back and forth from the waiting room to the exam rooms.  Luckily Nate was there.  But it was definitely insane.  It's interesting to me which kids try to tough things out.  And which ones buckle under the pain or pressure, whichever it is.  I love getting to know their personalities in different situations.  And I hate watching them suffer.  SO a little bitter sweet.  We're hoping to start with a clean slate now and we're putting a whole new focus on teeth brushing, even flossing which is a new one for me, and we've got a goal to all be cavity-free at our next check up!  I should have mentioned that Noah was cavity-free at his visit also, and got to play the Nintendo the entire visit on Tuesday :).  Lucky duck.  Better luck next time for the rest of them.  I HOPE!!!

The Book of Mormon

Monday night we knew were on our last chapter of the Book of Mormon so we planned to read it for Family Night and then go out for ice cream to celebrate.  It's always such a neat experience to read and finish the Book of Mormon for me.  I love it even more when my kids get to be part of it as well.  This was our third time reading it as a family.  Which may not seem like a lot since we've been reading it REGULARLY for about 8 years.  But with little kids, it can take a while :).  We're proud of ourselves either way and know that it has been a blessing for our family.  I can think of so many things (outside of our testimonies even) that our family scripture study has done for me and for each of our kids.  Charity, Kelly, Bradley and Luke have all learned how to read (I say) solely from the Book of Mormon.  They are all exceptional readers for their ages.  I KNOW that this blessing has come from our steady reading as a family.  I know that the time we spend together has been priceless no matter how unorganized it has been at times.  The fact that we are able to regroup, calm down, and have that quiet, thought-provoking time together, every night, is phenomenal in my mind.  I am so grateful for the counsel from our leaders to read as a family, the encouragement that we receive on a regular basis at church, and the knowledge that it is what Heavenly Father wants us to do.  What an awesome thing to receive so much blessing from.  I am just in awe at how beneficial it is for our family.  I hope I don't sound preachy, it is just my testimony that family scripture study can strengthen a family, and help to bring the Spirit into the home regularly.  I'm glad we've made it a habit, I'm glad my kids are so used to it that they remind us and make us do it even when I'm too tired :).  I'm glad that my testimony of the Book of Mormon has been strengthened and I know that it will continue to grow.  What an awesome thing.
We had a lot of fun at Dairy Queen celebrating :).  Ice cream is the way to top off all cool accomplishments in our family :).  I loved the looks we got from the couple and their one daughter when we came in and took up three tables, half of our kids in their junky pajamas, spilling ice cream all over the place, dipping their fries in their melting ice cream cones, and well, goofing off too much. Let's just say we were having a good time and they looked jealous ;).  I love our family.  I wouldn't trade those moments for the world.  I hope some of them grasped the concept and recognized the coolness of reading the Book of Mormon.  I can't wait til the day when they have their very own testimonies of the Book of Mormon and can share them with me.  That will be a cool day.