Happy Me

A few things that make me happy today....

• We got to spend an entire week of evenings with daddy! No school, no church meetings, just us.
• Only 5.5 more hours until our favorite time of day begins... when Nate pulls in the driveway.
• For the 2nd week in a row, Nate will be here to run family night instead of Tayv & I doing it ourselves.
• Tahn's chubby little flinstone feet that won't fit into any shoes.
• The image of Tayv waving goodbye with a look of love on his face as I dropped him off at school.
• Aree's tiny feet, tiny painted toenails, and beautiful big smile.
• The possiblity of a lightning storm.
• Cute little fingerprints on my newly washed windows and fridge.
• The sound of giggling then fighting then giggling brothers at 6 am.

Find some of your own happys today!

Remember this?  I certainly do-it was the best mother's day I've ever had. I thought it a good idea to revisit the idea.

These poor, poor children.

Perhaps this is something I need to get used to but I feel SO sorry for Tahn and this baby. Tahn just doesn't get a whole lot of attention, has to grow up sooner, and is going to be the middle child. :( And this baby? Honestly, I'm so incredibly busy and overwhelmed that days go by without me even thinking about being pregnant. So... this is a post JUST for the baby. I just want to actually document that I'm pregnant. :) Tahn's will come soon.

-18 weeks
- 0 lbs gained, 5 lost
-I'm still sick often and rarely feel like eating. (SO different from my other pregnancies. :D)
-I get 4-5 headaches a week that just don't seem to be curable. Lucky for me, my Dr told me to try tylenol with caffeine this week to see if that will help. So I felt no guilt going to buy a 2 liter of my new love, cherry coke. But wouldn't you know, I haven't had a headache since. It sits in my pantry. Just waiting.
-Tayvin still doesn't really believe that I'm pregnant. He keeps saying my belly isn't big. :) See why I love this kid?
-We will find out in 2 1/2 weeks what the gender is. I hope for Tayvin's sake it's a girl.
-I feel the baby move often and Nate has felt it a couple times but it's still fairly weak.

SUCH an exciting post, I know. Perhaps in a few weeks it'll get more exciting....

On pregnancy...

I feel I'm in a lose-lose situation with this pregnancy (with the exception of the beautiful baby growing inside me that I will get to meet and hold in my arms of course.)  All I'm trying to do is be a good mom and wife. But this being growing inside me is making me so sick and emotional I can't be a good anything. Well, maybe good icy hot. :)

New News

There will be no cute way of announcing it this time cause frankly I feel like we JUST did this.  I'm pregnant. Due in March, a day before Tahn will be 18 months.
Crazy? Yes.
Coming regardless? Yes.
Stressed? Yes.
Will we survive? I certainly hope so.
There you have it-why I've been sick, emotional, lazy, and MIA.
BUT...  On the bright side....
Tayvin REALLY wants a sister (and Nate wants a girl.) I was informed of the Drano test. It says its a girl...we'll see.
I am out of my 1st trimester and finally starting to feel better. Just DON'T bring hamburgers around me, please! :)
Nate has given me permission to SPEND money if it's a girl!
Babies R Us is having a trade in sale which just happens to work perfectly since my infant car seat expires in January. (So run over there if you need baby gear!)
No more birthdays in the fall!!!

Just so you know....

Nate went back to school this week. (Ok, it was last week but Tayv was gone so it's been a bigger adjustment this week.) And Tayv will start school next week. I'm exhausted and the kids just want their daddy. So.... blog update to come... in two years or so. :)

Question....

How wrong is it to turn up the music so that I can't hear my children?

Tidbits

Some tidbits on motherhood and the sweet boys that make me love it...


On Tahn:

• Although he's always sure he's starving, he's not so interested in his food while in his high chair. But as soon as he's realeased from that prison I call sanity, the food instantly holds much more appeal as I often find him camped out under the counter feeding his chubby little face.
• Few things make me smile like looking over to see the body of my 10 month old topped with a bowl to my kitchenaid while he learns the concept of echos.

On motherhood:

• As a mother, I should know better than to take a second to go to the bathroom. Not only will it slow my day down and also result in little fingers getting caught under the door. But it's also very likely that I'll find myself cleaning up somebody else's pee off the floor somewhere else all because one cute little boy didn't stop to play until the very last second he could hold it and just couldn't make it upstairs to one of the other bathrooms.

Overheard: Tayv to Tahn

• Tahn has started standing up on things.  When I pointed out to Nate and Tayv the other night that Tahn had let go of the couch with all but a finger and was just holding onto a pillow, Tayv ran over to Tahn, started hugging and kissing him, and said, "Oh, I'm so proud of you! You're the best baby stander ever! I'm so proud of you-I'm just so proud of you! Good Job! Good Job! "

Here we go again...

Our computer crashed. Again. Luckily, after we got it back I finally opened the box to one of my Christmas presents and backed up all my pictures. So I will only be losing the semi-important things. Anyway, I have no idea when I'll be back online so for now, in case you were wondering...

• I think I hate Dell and now want a Mac.
• I am as computer stupid as it gets. 
• Our half marathon is this weekend.
• And no, we are not ready for it.
• We did run over 8 miles last week though. Only 5 more? No prob. :)
• Tayvin has developed quite the attitude.
• We're very close to having all dental work completed for the year! (Hundreds and hundreds of dollars later.)
• I am in the midst of attempting to plan three birthday parties and one 5 year anniversary without a computer. (My mom would think I'm nuts for putting in the computer part but what can I say? I only steal ideas from others-I'm just not creative.)
• Tahnyon now says da-da, knows who all of us are by name, waves bye-bye, is starting to crawl, has his two bottom teeth, and is still my angel baby.
• We are loving the sun and enjoying having a back yard.

Our lives seem rather boring written down, don't they?

The Truth.

We were talking to some friends the other night about blogs and our own blogging.  They mentioned how it's frustrating to them that many people paint their lives as near perfect when they blog. I'm all for counting blessings and trying to look on the positive side but I think they have a point in that it seems like some are trying to deceive. So just in case you were wondering...

• My house is often messy. I try to keep it clean and for the most part it's fairly organized. But there is usually stuff on my counter, I almost always need to vacuum, and you can pretty much bet there are toys on the floor.
• I don't make Tayvin's bed everyday.
• Tayvin's chore list often goes untouched for weeks at a time.
• I make dinner most nights and try to cook healthy but I also like to bake and I LOVE SWEETS!
• We are poor.
• As much as I love making and fixing things up, if I could, I would buy new things instead of refinishing book cases, etc.
• I don't shop at boutiques because I can't afford them.
• As much as I hate waiting in check-out lanes at Walmart, I still shop there because I refuse to spend double on cleaning products.
• I DO NOT work out everyday.
• Date night usually doesn't happen in our house.
• I don't wake up to make Nate's lunch at 5:30 am.
• If we're not leaving the house, Tayvin's hair doesn't get combed.
• Sometimes we stay in our pajamas until just before Nate gets home.
• I don't really use cloth diapers to be green.  Mostly I do it to save money.
• There are plenty of days that go by that I choose to read my own book instead of reading to my kids.
• Sometimes I'm just too lazy to have veggies with our lunch.
• I still have some V-day decorations out.
• We can barely walk in the basement because I have so many projects in the works and I just haven't organized it in awhile.
• I try to be supportive but the thought of Nate going back to school still makes me want to cry.
• I am currently eating Muddy Buddies for breakfast.
• I'm too lazy to use coupons.
• Sometimes I choose to read a novel instead of the Ensign.
• Sometimes I hate the sacrifices we are making in order to make our future goals.

There you have it, the truth. Come back soon for pics of our trip to Alaska if you still care to associate with us. :)

• Oh, but the most important truth, we love our little family and are happy with our lives.

Change

Our number one goal in moving to Utah (besides being closer to family for a little while) was for Nate to get his MBA.  Although it didn't turn out quite like we had planned,  we will acheive that goal... 4 years after we moved here.  Nate will be starting the Professional MBA program at the U this August. It was a hard decision for us to make, but especially Nate. For the first three years of our marriage, we were both in school. Then we lived in different states for a few months.  We had Tayvin just over a year after we got married. Thus, Nate missed the first two years of his life.  So you can understand why he wouldn't want to repeat that with Tahnyon and our next baby.  But it's what he loves, it's what he needs, and it will be good for us....in the end. I try not to think about the 80 plus hours a week he'll be gone, the dinners eaten alone, the fact that Tayv will attend preschool and kindergarten while Nate is away at school, the summers we'll enjoy while Nate is in class, the missed steps, words, and milestones of Tahn's, going through pregnancy alone, etc.
Instead, I picture Nate's face when he talks about school and that's all I need.

3+1=Us

I always have the best of intentions. When I was pregnant with Tayvin, I started a journal for him. I wasn’t the best at writing in it but I wrote about how I found out I was pregnant, how I told Nate, the day we found out his gender, his birth story, etc, etc. I intended to do one of these journals for each of my kids. One day I did go look for a journal for Tahnyon but they didn’t have one I liked. That’s as far as it ever went. Thus, the blog. So here’s the birth story for Tahn’s digital journal…



September 5th- lots of contractions. Went camping. Rode in my dad’s truck. Was absolutely sure I would be having that baby in the tent after the bumpy ride up. Fail.

September 6th- Started to feel uncomfortable thanks to the beach ball under my shirt and decided I wouldn’t mind having the baby come out sometime. (Let’s just say that up until this point, I was perfectly happy being pregnant.)

September 11th- due date.

Canning peaches and decided to make Nate a fresh peach pie. I figured 1 of 2 things would happen. Either I would go into labor because there was a fresh peach pie beckoning to me and I wouldn’t be able to eat it OR I wouldn’t go into labor but then I would have a fresh peach pie to console me. Sure enough, contractions began. They were about 6 minutes apart so we decided to go walk to see if they would increase or decrease. They increased. We waited. And waited. I really didn’t want to go the hospital to have them quit like they did with Tayv. Called my mom and had her meet us in Salt Lake to pick up Tayv. Pain. Arrived at the hospital around midnight. Of course, because we decided to go the hospital, the contractions stopped. Well, they didn’t stop per se; they just weren’t doing much for me. Tahnyon got grounded till he’s 27 and they sent me home.

September 12th-We went up to Kamas to pick up Tayv from Mom & Dad’s and hung out for the rest of the day. I was a bit depressed. Meanwhile, I’m still having contractions pretty regularly. We decided to leave Tayv there so my parents wouldn’t have to drive down again to pick him up.

September 13th-Nate made me breakfast to eat on our deck and we played cards for awhile. 1 pm-show up to church to discover we had missed Stake conference. Went for a drive. Nate made me go on a 4 mile walk. There was a little running involved towards the end. Labor begins! I didn’t sleep much that night but told Nate to go in to work for half a day. He refused.

September 14th-Finally get out of bed at 6 because there is no sleeping going on. (From me, not Nate.) Shower. Start laundry. Go downstairs to do dishes. Water breaks. I think. Change laundry. Wait awhile to tell Nate my water broke because he’s on the phone. Finish packing bag. Refuse Nate’s insistence to go to hospital immediately because I need to finish laundry. Make bed. Clean bathroom. Make Tayv’s bed. Change laundry. Finally admit that perhaps now is a good time. Contractions 2 minutes apart. Again, pain.

10:30-arrive at hospital. Amazing the difference in treatment you receive when you tell them your water broke.

Talk to nurse. Test to make sure it really was my water that broke. Meconium in fluid. Still only 2 cm. Dr orders pitocin. Stacia orders epidural. Sweet relief. Oh, how I love catheters. Nate watches football.

12 pm- baby’s heartbeat starts dropping. Internal monitor. Oxygen mask. Sudoku. Football. Chick flicks.

2 pm- 4 cm. Epidural starts to wear off. More juice. Nate gets to go eat but is instructed to not come back smelling like food because I’m starving.

5 pm-6 cm. Nurse informs me she’s leaving at 7 but wants to see my baby so it would be great if I could hurry it along. :) We loved our nurse. I know how to work under pressure.

6 pm-pretty sure I need to push. Nurse checks- 10 cm. Call the Dr. Waiting. Waiting.

7 pm- practice push. Instructed to not push anymore until the dr. is there-baby’s too close.

7:40-Dr.Hinson arrives and preps. Disgusting details. Monitors removed.

7:50- Push 1, push 2, push 3. Successful VBAC. 

My sweet baby!
I can't wait to do it again. Seriously.
(On his way out, he grabbed onto the scissors. It took 3 sets of hands to remove his iron grip on them. 8 months later, he’s still like that.)

Minutes old...

Tayv meeting his 'little buddy'...

First family picture...

My life, my joy, my everything...

Oh how I love this sweet thing...

Such a happy (and seriously hot) daddy...

Ready to go home...

My life is changed forever.

Kindness

I've been thinking about kindness a lot recently. About how often I show it and how often I don't. About the people in this world who seem to not know the meaning of it and the many more people in this world that do.
Yesterday I had two experiences that reminded me to get out of my comfort zone, notice those around me, and do all that I can to help them.
So thank you to the man at the DMV that was understanding and kind to this un-licensed mother of two kids (one of which was tired and crying) who truly appreciated your kindness.
And thank you to the sweet old man that saw an overloaded mother and took the 2 minutes out of his time to help me out and remind me of the kindness of others.

Truly. Thank you.

If you know me at all, you know I always have an excuse. Mostly though, I live by this motto... "Don't rush me, I'm waiting until the last minute."
The great thing about blogging? There never is a last minute!
Anyway, here's my excuse: My poor sweet baby got his first tooth on Sunday and also a nasty cold.
So here's one picture for now...

(This is his new 'I just got a cute little tooth, wanna see it?' smile.)

He's such a little trooper, still trying to light up the room whether he's sick or not.

Oh, and please ignore the shiny snot running down his face.

Edited to add: Although I am admitting that I always have an excuse, I would at least like a little credit for always trying not to use my excuses.  Thank you very much.

Overheard-Good Cook

I frequently hear from Tayvin things like, "Mom, this is delicious! Thank you so much for making dinner." "Wow, mom, thanks for making us such good food." Etc.Etc.
Pretty sure today was one of my favorites though, "Wow Mom! You're a really good chef. I wish my mouth was really big."

:D

5 miles. That's how far I ran last night.
2 kids. That's how many I had to push in the stroller
6.5 miles. That's how far Nate ran.
87 days. That's how many I have left to train.
13 miles. That's how long our race is.
1.5 years. That's how long I have to think of an excuse to not run a full marathon.
22. That's how many lame running songs I have on my MP3.
0. That's how many lbs I've lost. :(
4 hours. That's how long I'll be lying in the sun on the beach as soon as I hit that mile marker.
15,000 calories. That's what I intend to eat as soon as the race is over.

5 steps. That's how far I make it up the stairs before I want to cry.

Whose idea was this anyway?

Leprachaun Trap

Happy St. Patricks day. Tomorrow. Nate thinks I'm crazy-pretty much I can't stop myself when any holiday comes around. The only thing that can stop me is my dwindling bank account. :(  Anyway, so Tayv & I made a Leprachaun trap today. Ya know, if you catch a leprachaun he'll lead you to a pot of gold? That whole thing. Well, in our house, we'll catch the leprachaun and in order for him to be able to use his magic to get out, he has to leave his gold.  So I've been trying to talk it up for a few days now and Tayv went along with it. Until we were in the middle of making the trap today. That's when Tayv's sweet heart couldn't take anymore. He said he didn't want to catch a leprachaun because tricking is not nice. What do I say to that?

The trap...

The gold...

And there will be little green leprachaun footprints... :)

Rolos picture found here.

Overheard: Crying

We don't allow a lot of crying here. If I'm not allowed to cry, neither are the kids. :)
So when I started to count to five for Tayv to stop crying...
"Mom, remember how sometimes you're sad and it takes you awhile to stop crying? Well, I was like that."

6 times a year. That's about how often I cry and of course he remembers it.

It just so happens that Nate decided he'd start reading OUR family journal right after I admited, in writing, that I don't like one of the church hymns. Now he says it's not ok to throw up in my mouth on the blog. So, in order to move it down the page a bit to make him happy- but not delete it, to make me happy, I figured I'd post pictures!

The angel baby...taken awhile ago.

Count your many blessings-blah.

Will you excuse me while I throw up in my mouth? :) I've never cared much for that song-I like the message though-sometimes. Not tonight.
I seem to be having many 'moments' lately that I see what everyone else has and what I don't. Not so much material possessions though.  And I try to pull out of it.  But sometimes, counting my blessings just doesn't cut it.  I've noticed it comes about more when I'm not being really good about reading my scriptures but that's not even the case lately.  So, I'm just wondering... OTHER than counting your blessings and reading your scriptures, what do you do to pull out of those 'moments?'