I Would Die For That

I first saw this on Holly's blog and I sat here and cried. Having been through adoption, in vitro, a preemie baby, and now another pregnancy, it just really pulled at my heart. I'm so thankful to be a Mom. I know many of you may have seen it but I really wanted to post it because it touched me so much.

Sunshine

On Sunday afternoon we had a picnic by the temple. Then the kids wanted to feed the crusts of their sandwiches to the ducks. We saw my aunt, uncle, and cousins strolling along the greenbelt. It was such a beautiful day to be outside. The ducks were full because there were so many people throwing them bread! We watched some church movies in the newly remodeled Visitor's Center. Everytime we watch a church movie my kids say, "Mom, don't cry this time!" but I just can't help it. I'm so thankful for the gospel, the temple, and our forever family. And an afternoon together enjoying some sunshine, finally!

Could It Be True?

"Hearty-Eating Moms More Likely to Have Boys"

"April 23, 2008 -- Oysters may excite the libido, but there is nothing like a hearty breakfast laced with sugar to boost a woman's chances of conceiving a son, according to a study released Wednesday. Likewise, a low-energy diet that skimps on calories, minerals and nutrients is more likely to yield a female of the human species, says the study... Beside racking up a higher calorie count, the group who produced more males were also more likely to have eaten a wider range of nutrients, including potassium, calcium and vitamins C, E and B12. The odds of an XY, or male outcome to a pregnancy also went up sharply 'for women who consumed at least one bowl of breakfast cereal daily compared with those who ate less than or equal to one bowl of week,' the study reported."

(Thanks, Jane for this article!) I thought this was so funny because I eat cereal for breakfast and again before bed if I'm starving... and we're having a BOY! My friend also heard that the less you um, you know, with your husband, the greater chance you have of having a boy. This made me laugh too, because everyone I know is having a BOY! Too funny! All of our poor husbands... Could any of these silly things be true?

More Hamburger Helper Please!

Okay, I know this is a silly thing to blog about, but last night Dave made Hamburger Helper and my kids LOVED it! They were in heaven and kept saying how it was their favorite dinner ever. Hello! Who knew? No more slaving over homemade meals anymore when Hamburger Helper is ready in 10 minutes and is such a hit! (Just kidding...) It might have helped a little that it was 7pm and the kids were STARVING, but still, my thanks to Betty Crocker and Dave for making dinner last night a pleasant experience!

Girl Time

Lexi and I spent a little time being girly yesterday morning. I painted her toenails with hot-pink and red stripes and then alternating pink and red on her fingernails. She loved it! So glad the little things make her so happy. And then she even painted mine! (It's been awhile, my feet are hard for me to reach these days!)


Didn't she do a great job? I love the finished product! :) So glad I have one girl to do things like this with in our houseful of boys. I love you Lexi-Lou!

HOORAY!!!

After having a kidney stone 2 weeks ago, and surgery to remove it, I finally got the stent removed yesterday. I can't even tell you how much BETTER I feel! It is SO WONDERFUL! I kept waking up during the night and I couldn't stop smiling because I was so happy to have the pain in my bladder G-O-N-E! I can walk now without pain, I can go to the bathroom without pain, this baby can move around without pushing his head into the stent and making me grit my teeth to endure it! I am so happy it is out. I am just beyond grateful to feel better and am actually looking forward to these last few weeks of pregnancy instead of trying just to endure one day at a time. The sun is again shining in my world. Actually not just shining but Bursting! Hooray!

Kindergarten Registration

Lexi's Kindergarten Registration was today and she was very excited. She did very well on whatever tests they do while the moms fill out all the paperwork. On the way home we stopped and got Little Debbie Chocolate Swiss Rolls (I NEVER buy things like that, but I did today and we each ate 2 of them. Yikes!) She looked at me and said, "Wow. I've had two fun days in a row!" (Yesterday she got to play with her cousin, Lizzy, at grandma and grandpa's house and loved every minute of it.) I'm so happy she was so happy! It doesn't seem like very long ago that I did this with Kyler, but it was a whole year ago. And next year at this time I'll get to do it again with Porter. Time is going by so fast and I really wish I could hang on to my kids forever.

I Love...

... the rooster tail Porter had for 3 days straight. Every time he got in the tub it somehow got worse. It was the way he pulled the towel over his head or something and it dried that way every day. It was funny. I thought it was very cute.

Jumping on the Trampoline

Our poor pot-bellied trampoline is heavy-laden with a mound of snow. I know it's so bad we didn't take it down last fall. It's been burdened down for months under the snow. The kids played outside on Tuesday and Kyler took a shovel to work on scooping it out so they could jump. He made a little dent in the pile but they ended up running in circles around it instead. Will they be able to jump before July I wonder?

High Heels and Pajamas

Every night after Lexi brushes her teeth she puts on dress-up high heels with her pajamas. It never fails that I hear her clicking along and I know she's all ready for bed. I love it!

Oh, and today she asked about the movie Jurassic Park: "Why is it called 'Dress-Up Park' when it's about dinosaurs?"

Can You Make a Piggy Giggle?

I love reading this book with Porter. He gets quite a kick out of it and will laugh and laugh at the pictures before I even read the words. I love it! He'll even say the words before I do. He just thinks it is hilarious.

"Can you make a piggy giggle if you tell a silly riddle? A chick might snicker, but a pig won't giggle.

Can you make a piggy giggle if you play a little fiddle? A calf might laugh, but a pig won't giggle.

If you polka, flap, and fiddle, Waddle, yodel, stomp and riddle, Tumble, grumble, twirl and wriggle, Will that stubborn piggy giggle?"

Porter's New Talent

Porter reached a milestone this weekend. He learned how to snort! It is so funny. He said to me on Friday night, "Mom I can sound like a pig!" and then when he snorts it is so cute and I love how he laughs and laughs after he does it. He was really excited to wake up on Saturday morning to find his new talent hadn't disappeared overnight! It has been making me laugh all weekend. Kids are so FUNNY!

(He also said to me this morning, "Mom, it's almost Christmas. We need to put our Christmas Tree up." My poor kids don't believe me anymore when I tell them Spring really is coming.)

Good Sleepers

Calling for help....

With my three older kids I fed them until they went to sleep at naptime, bedtime, night-feedings, and then carefully put them in bed trying not to wake them up. I have heard of a book (is it called "Baby Wise?") where you feed your baby, then wake them up, then put them in bed awake so they learn to fall asleep on their own. I would love to try that with this baby because I would love to have a good sleeper.

So, I just wondered if any of you read any good books on the subject, or if you have tried it and how it worked for you? Please tell all! I would love your advice on what worked for you and what didn't to get your kids to be good sleepers. Thank you mucho!

Mr. Cartwheel

For the last week or two Kyler doesn't walk anywhere... he CARTWHEELS! Seriously! He has gotten really good at them. He does them through the kitchen, through the living room, to the bathroom, and has even attempted doing them up the stairs (which hasn't worked out too well). Yesterday I was telling him how great his cartwheels were looking and he said modestly, "Yeah, I can't believe my arms are so long." He is such a cute boy, I just love him so much. While we wait for the carpool every morning we read his homework book and I LOVE hearing him sound out words. He has this little lisp when he says his "T" sounds, it is the cutest thing ever to me. I love it. I love this one-on-one time with him. He's getting to be a good little reader. I can't believe his first year of school only has a few weeks left.
Oh, and one more quick thing... The other day I felt bad because we forgot his show-and-tell. He and I had been talking about it all morning and then forgot to put it in his backpack at school time. When he got home that afternoon I told him I was so sorry we forgot it and he said it was okay because he still did show and tell. I asked him what he told about? He said he got out his winter ski mask he wears to school every day over his ears. I stifled a laugh, I just thought that was cute, and I'm sure very exciting for his class! He is such a sweetheart and is just growing up too fast. I wish they could all stay little forever... Sigh...

Sister Wanted

Lexi so needs a sister! She makes do with her brothers when she can talk hard enough to talk them into dressing up or dancing with her. They're usually pretty good sports but can only endure Barbies or playing "house" for so long before they're off to more adventurous boy things like Transformers, Superman or jumping off everything in sight.

I caught a glance of Lexi and Porter twirling around to a Disney Princess song yesterday and made them pose for a picture. Porter now says he wants a green tu-tu for his birthday. We'll see how Daddy feels about that one! I can pretty much tell you for sure it's not gonna happen.
Kyler won't dress up in princess stuff but every now and then he will pretend to be the prince. Lexi talked him into dancing one day. They were doing dips and kept landing in a heap on the floor and laughing. It was pretty entertaining.
Even though Lexi may never have a sister, I'm so glad she has such great brothers to grow up with and that they get along so great most of the time. As a mom I couldn't ask for more. I hope they always love each other and are as great of friends as they are now.

Happy Things

I just wanted to tell you all thank you for your kind comments. It's been a LONG miserable weekend, the stent is so uncomfortable. I can't wait for it to come out. 3 days down, 11 to go. Ahhh! The thoughts of that make me crazy. Big breath... One day at a time... I need to stop complaining!

10 things that make me HAPPY today:

1. SUNSHINE! The snow has been melting and we can finally see our trampoline in the backyard. There is hope for spring!

2. Dave. He has taken so much time off work to help me and has done so many dishes, laundry, etc. Who could ask for more?

3. My kids. They have been so good and have gotten along so well together. They have been my little angels all weekend!

4. Love notes from my kids. They've each made me quite a few the last couple days.

5. Uplifting things. I enjoyed Pres. Monson's talk in this month's Ensign and his counsel to "Let us RELISH life as we live it... and find JOY in the JOURNEY."

6. Dave took the kids swimming on Saturday at the Rec Center. They had so much fun. I'm so grateful he is such an awesome Dad to handle 3 kids on his own in the pool!

7. Such kind people who have brought us dinner every night. They'll never know how much that has meant to me! And it's all been so yummy.

8. Water. I love drinking water! Especially the last few days. I read somewhere that you need to drink 4 quarts A DAY to flush out your system and help prevent kidney stones. Can you say 16 cups? Yikes! Thats a gallon of water! But I'm trying. I'm on cup 4 so far...

9. My body. I don't fully appreciate being healthy until something goes wrong. What a truly great blessing it is that we can heal and get better. I can't wait to start exercising again after this sweet baby is born.

10. A good night's sleep and waking up to a new day. "Everyday in your life is a special occasion... Each day, each hour, each minute is special." -- Pres. Monson


Now I'm off to another doctor appointment. I think I may have a bladder infection. Good heavens. But I'm thankful for all of your positive thoughts, I love reading all your blogs and seeing what you're all up to. I hope you all have a great day! :)

Kidney Stone

Have any of you had a kidney stone before? I hear they are quite common in pregnancy. I found out over the last couple days what it is like to have one.

On Tuesday morning I woke up bleeding so I went to the doctor. I still wasn't dilating and everything seemed fine so I came home. On Wednesday I was okay until around 11:00am and then I started hurting, especially in my back. I seriously thought I was in labor and so around 2pm we left for the hospital an hour away. I was crying in pain, not thinking we were going to make it and I was hoping the baby wasn't going to be born in the car! Dave put the blinking hazard lights on so he could drive faster and people were so nice to move over and let us by.

When we got to the office my doctor checked me again and I still wasn't dilating so they hooked me up to monitors to measure the contractions and make sure the baby was okay. The pain never subsided and I was miserable. The doctor suspected a kidney stone and sent me to the hospital.

I was given morhpine for the pain but it didn't help at all. I was so surprised it didn't help, I thought morhpine helped every problem in the world! So they gave me demmoral, which still didn't take the pain away. They gave me some stronger stuff which finally helped (I can't remember the name of it). They did several different X-rays between 8-10pm and saw a blockage near my kidney. I was having strong, regular contractions so they gave me a shot to stop them. I threw up so many times from all the different medications. I spent the night in the hospital and then transferred to another hospital for surgery on Thursday morning. I almost didn't go through with it because the pain had stopped so there was a possiblity the stone had already passed. The urologist was a dear family friend, and I asked him what he would tell one of his daughters in the same situation. He said he would tell them to get in there and get it done. I totally trusted him so we went ahead and I'm so glad! They made no incisions, the kidney stone was indeed there, it was 6 mm and had a sharp side kind of like a popcorn seed, and they were able to get it out. There was no way it could have passed on it's own and I would have been back in the same situation. They also put in a stent I get to have for 2 weeks, to keep everything open, which made going to the bathroom excrutiating yesterday, but has gotten better today (not that any of you needed to know that). I had a spinal, which is better for the baby than if I was put to sleep, so I got to watch it up on a TV screen. They inserted a little camera to find the stone - I bet many of you haven't seen the inside of your bladder! They said no lifting anything heavier than a jug of milk, to lay down a lot with my feet up, and absolutely no housework! The stent can irritate the uterus and start labor. I'm thankful for such a great husband that has been by my side and is helping me so much. Let me just tell you he will be glad when this baby is born and things get back to normal, if that is possible? :)

All the doctors and nurses were so kind in each hospital I was in. I was so grateful for their knowledge and their help. We also have wonderful friends who kept Kyler overnight so he could go to school and who have brought meals, called, sent flowers, etc. Our wonderful parents kept Lexi and Porter, visited in the hospital, made us dinner. Thank you everyone, so so much!

I'm also very thankful for this baby and that he made it through everything. His heartbeat was great and he's been moving around quite a bit. I got to sleep with the monitors on in the hospital and hear his comforting little heartbeat all night long.

I'm glad to be home. I hope none of you ever get kidney stones, or gall stones, etc. although I'm sure many of you already have. Everyone has a story for me, it's nice to know we're all in this together and help each other through these things.

General Conference

We loved General Conference last weekend. I made Marne's cinnamon rolls (the recipe makes 4 cookie sheets full!) and the kids loved the coloring pages and Bingo game. They did really good through most of the sessions, although I'm so glad they print the talks in the Ensign so I can read them and savor them a bit more!

This Bun is Still Cooking...

I found out last week that my doctor is retiring on April 14. Noooo! I wish he would consider staying just 6 weeks longer so he could deliver this baby. I'm so sad! He did say at my appointment last week that he would recommend a C-section. Whew! I was leaning that way because I'm paranoid. He said I have a greater risk for rupturing if I try a VBAC because Porter's C-section was at 30 weeks so they had to cut through thicker muscle. Anyway, I'm glad to have that decision made. At my next appointment I'm going to schedule the date and we'll know when we can meet this newest member of our family. I'm getting so excited (not for the C-section) but to meet him and hold him and see what he looks like. He is so wiggly and moves so much. My kids LOVE when they can put their hand on my stomach and feel him kick. I love the looks on their faces of pure excitement when they feel him moving. Their eyes light up even better than Christmas morning. It's just so fun!
Contraction Update: I'm still having them. If I overdo it (like the day I made bread) I pay for it with strong, hard contractions that can last for hours and are incredibly uncomfortable. So I try to take it as easy as I can, but somedays I just can't help getting the dishes done or cooking something or I go crazy!

Lexi just hollered in to me, "Mom, I know what we can name this baby!... Tonsil." Aren't we getting so creative? We're having such a hard time coming up with a name so the kids have joined in the hunt. It's funny to hear their ideas. They've come up with some good ones (that we would never consider naming a child, I might add!) but it makes us laugh.

April Fool's

My kids were a lot of fun yesterday. Kyler learned about April Fool's Day in Kindergarten on Monday and so he told Lexi and Porter all about it. We woke up yesterday morning to them running in our room telling us they all threw-up in their beds during the night. They thought it was hilarious to yell "April Fool's!"

They came up with some pretty good ones throughout the day, like that there were elephants in our house, or their noses were turning green. One of Porter's was, "On my birthday I'm going to be 6 and then 8!" Then he'd laugh and laugh and yell, "April Fool's!"

At Lexi's preschool the letter of the day was "X" so they colored X-rays of their broken arms and their teacher wrapped one of their arms like they were broken to trick their mom's when they got home. It was really cute.

Kyler's teacher wore her clothes backwards all day, so when he got home and told us about that they all wanted to wear their clothes backwards.

This picture is them yelling "April Fool's!" at the top of their lungs like they did all day long in their backwards inside-out clothes. What a silly day!

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Dave and I took the kids to see Alvin and the Chipmunks at the theater a couple months ago. They were excited it came out on DVD yesterday. The kids and I watched it last night while Dave was at mutual, and they begged to watch it again this morning. So we're jammin out to "Christmas, Christmas time is here... Me, I want a hula-hoop!" (which was my kids until this Easter) and "Walla Bing Bang!" The songs are making me want to dance too.

Bread

I made bread today for the first time since I was in a Teen-Living cooking class when I was 14! It got a little dark on top but still tasted good. I made Karri's recipe for white bread (on her blog) and it was so fast and easy. Thanks for a great recipe Karri! It's a great one for food storage items because it has no eggs and just a few ingredients. My kids loved it too. I can't wait for Dave to get home and see how domestic I am today. Porter helped me make it and thought it was funny when I told him the dough needed to 'rest.' He loved that we covered it with a towel to keep it warm. When I pulled it out of the oven he said, "Wow, it grew big!"