J and K wedding

These are over a month old, but better late then never. I figured it would make some people happy to see them at last! Jon took these pictures of his little brother's wedding and then made me edit them- which is why it's taken so long. I just barely got the pictures to edit from the hard drive he usually takes to work this week. I've finished the BASIC editing on them. There are a couple more things I could do, but I thought I'd let you enjoy a sneak peek anyway. Congrats to the newlyweds! Here are some highlight pictures, there are more but they will have to wait for a cd.

Update: Jacob is missing TWO teeth!

Jacob finally realized that the other tooth was ready to go too, and started diligently working on it. 2 minutes later he held it up triumphantly and ran around the house to tell everyone. The tooth fairy has his work cut out for him now.

Jacob's first tooth

Jacob lost his first tooth, and its neighbor is going tomorrow! I hope the tooth fairy is ready for these teeth.

Jacob's first tooth

Pioneer Day

We decided we needed to have a small break from everything for Pioneer Day and do something fun as a family. Obviously, we are bit limited since I need to be sitting or laying down as much as possible right now but my doctor did say it was okay to sit outside on the porch. This being Utah, Pioneer Day is celebrated similar to the Fourth of July with fireworks. So we bought a small amount of fireworks and watched them together on the porch. The kids clapped in delight at the end of each one. It was nice to have something normal to do and enjoy together. I kept thinking it's too bad there are not more firework holidays coming up :( We'll have to try a game night or a movie night sometime soon to keep up morale. I've been trying to collect a special bag of things around my bed that the kids and I can do together in the afternoons. Today I'm grateful for what I can do.

Bed Rest

So that cervical length ultrasound I talked about in the last post didn't turn out so well, or perhaps it was very good the doctor thought to do it. Anyway, they might finally have figured out what has been causing the preterm labors. They found a weakness in the cervix that might have happened during one of the previous c-sections. The weakness is causing the cervix to fail and open too early which also opens the way for infection and labor. So I ended up in emergency surgery to put in a cerclage, which is basically stitching up the cervix. That, of course, comes with a lot of risks but it is the best they can do. Now I am on bed rest from now until delivery so that things have the best chance of holding out and working. The doctor said I would have mostly likely gone into labor within a week without this so I'm very glad they found it. If all goes well they will take the cerclage out at 36 weeks along with the baby. The doctor is preparing me that there is risk it won't last that long and the goal is to make it to at least 28 weeks when the baby will have a better chance. In any case this baby will most likely come at the latest around the end of October and hopefully not until after the first of September at the earliest. Hopefully not too long in the NICU with too many complications either way. I keep crossing my fingers that everything works. Please keep us in your prayers.

Baby Update

I had another baby check up this week. Things are going good so far. The ultrasound showed that the baby was growing right on for the due date and didn't indicate any concerns. All the lab work done at my last appt came back negative. Yeah!!! The baby is starting to get more active now, especially in the afternoon-evening time. Jon has felt the baby move now and is so excited.

At the appt we scheduled another ultrasound for the next time since the baby's face was turned away from the monitor and we couldn't get a good look. Then we scheduled another appt with the high risk doctor to get another look at the cervical length. The cervical length can be an indicator of preterm labor. The last one was very good and if this one looks good as well then we can give a sigh of relief that things are staying snug and should be okay as far as that goes.

The kids are getting excited about this new sibling that is coming. I finally had to tell Katie that the baby won't be here until after Halloween so please don't ask anymore. She glued figures of her family onto a sheet of paper in primary a couple of weeks ago and then had her teachers give her a baby that she can glue on after Halloween. She keeps the paper close to her and had to show it off for some people we had over at the house the other day. In all the boys sweet little prayers they ask Heavenly Father to bless the baby to come in time. I think that is in all our prayers. In a little less then 4 weeks the baby will be viable- meaning the baby will have a chance of living if born- and I will feel much better when we get past that date.

Wish Lists

Last night my boys decided they wanted to create wish lists of things they wanted. They are both funny and show their personalities.

Jacob:
1. toy gun
2. Fake sword
3. Toy shield
4. armor suit costume
5. toy boat
6. toy ship (will someone please tell me the difference between a toy boat and a toy ship?)
7. toy truck- lightening mcqueen kind
8. timer thingy to wake me up (I think he means alarm clock)
9. Toy helicopter with remote so I can fly it
10. Money holder (I think he means wallet)

Samuel:
1. Real light saber that cuts things
2. real sword
3. 2 costumes- Peter Pan and Captain Hook and he promises to wear the Captain Hook sometimes
4. Blue Cash Register (perhaps he wants a more manly version of Katie's pink one)
5. New sprinkler that goes spsh, spsh, spsh (he had hand motions to illustrate)
6. pretend gun with pretend bullets
7. fake phone
8. new bunk bed
9. new garage (possibly he says because ours is so dirty)

I love my boys and I really needed a good laugh last night. They are so sweet.

June in a Nutshell

I haven't written anything because it doesn't seem like there has been a lot going on even though I have been very busy. So here is a summary:

I started my weekly shots this month. They are not the most comfortable things in the world but I'll do what I got to do. The doctor also doesn't want me traveling for more then day trips while doing them. They could be doing the shots until I am 32-36 weeks along. The doctor said he might make it shorter if my ultrasounds look good. I did have an ultrasound on my cervix this month (they didn't look at the baby at all). So far it looks good so it'll be nice to go in for my next appt and see what my doctor thinks we need to do from here.

We were able to go to Jon's brother's wedding reception. Congrats James and Kathy!!!

My sister and her kids came down from Oregon to visit and spent a week with us. It was fun seeing my new little niece who is just a month old now and getting a rare chance to visit with my sister.

Summer has finally come so my kids have been living in their swimsuits playing with the neighbor kids in the sprinklers to keep cool. Well, almost all my kids. Katie has been banned from playing outside until she finishes her potty training. She is close, but not quite there and I want her well trained before this baby comes so I don't have to do it twice. Right now in fact she is doing a little twirly dance to celebrate her most recent success.

Jacob went to the dentist this last week. He has an underbite (or is it an overbite? I don't know, his top teeth sit behind his bottom teeth which isn't good) like I did when I was little. As soon as his permanent molars come in they want to do a retainer on him to fix it before the bones in the roof of his mouth fuse together. I had to wear mine for 3 months in the summer so maybe we can work out a deal like that for him. Not so bad really.

Date with my kids

Last weekend I got to go on a date with my kids while hubby was out of town. We saw the Prince of Persia at the theater and went out to applebee's afterwards with a free meal coupon Jacob had earned for getting straight A's at school. I haven't done anything like that in a long time and it was so much fun. They behaved very well too which was an added bonus.

zoo day

Sam's preschool was able to have a free zoo day for all the preschoolers and their families. It was a bit stormy but other then that we had a fantastic time.

Heart Beat

I had another check up last week. Everything seems to be doing well so far and that is a big sigh of relief. The only scare came when the doctor had a hard time finding the baby's heartbeat using his monitor thing. He said I was on the borderline for it being picked up but seemed a little nervous so we went in for a quick ultrasound to double check. I'm quite sure that was the worst 5 minute wait ever as I sat praying that things weren't over before they had begun. Luckily, when he brought up the ultrasound the baby popped right up big and healthy and with a strong heart beat. Phew! It took a good three hours to calm down from that and feel okay again. I can do without having that experience ever again.

Twinkie Abuse

The other day I was out shopping at our new fabulous Winco (love the bulk!) when an old guy came up to me to get a couple boxes of twinkies from a display I was standing by. He says pointing to Katie "I bet she loves these". That totally threw me off and as I thought about it I blurted out "You know, I don't think she's ever had any". He kind of gave me a weird look and moved on. As I went along I noticed that almost everyone in the store had at least 2 boxes of twinkies in their shopping cart. Must have been a good sale, but this doesn't induce me to join the crowd and buy some. I don't think I've had twinkies since I was a child. Not because I am against this all american dessert per se but more because for a very long time my stance has been homemade desserts over processed desserts. If I'm going to indulge my sweet tooth it's going to be the good stuff. There are exceptions every now and again, but all in all I am not a processed dessert person. I haven't even craved twinkies in pregnancy, though I will admit to powdered doughnuts and mint oreos on rare occasion.

The story continues though. I am walking to my car after buying my goods for the week and parked a couple spaces down from me is the guy who was buying twinkies. He sees and recognizes me, immediately grabs a box of twinkies from his trunk, opens it, and comes over and offers one to Katie. I'm quite sure my face turned four shades of red in embarrassment. I told him it would be fine and he gives her one and heads back to his car. Just for the record, I feed my kids plenty of sugary snacks I am not one of those moms who bans sugar from the house- though I don't allow fruit loops and the reason behind that is a long story for another day. My kids have never had Twinkies, ho hos, nutter butter bars, brownies from a box, cheesecake from a box, or most things from the hostess store unless someone else gave it to them and I don't feel sorry for them at all. Instead they have had homemade brownies, cookies, cupcakes, cheesecake, etc. I've never heard them complain. I know what most of those things taste like, and I don't miss it.

Heaven in small, chocolate bites

Triple chocolate cupcakes... Need I say more? Rachel and I spent the afternoon making them. It is nice to have some time together and the fruits of that time were incredible (just look at Rachel's face, doesn't that say it all?). Head on over to Annies Eats to find the recipe.

We have all been enjoying Rachel's forays into all-home-made cooking. It looks like it isn't that much more work, and well worth the effort when it's time to sit down to eat. We have been feasting on enchiladas, gyros (with home-made pita bread, mmm...), creamy gnocchi and chicken, a tomato and orzo dish, and on and on... I hope she keeps this up, and I better start exercising more. I may forget all about portion control at every meal from now on.

Katie and the pink tree

The other day we had the PERFECT weather conditions for photography- meaning a nice darker but not too dark cloud cover and no rain- and I got the itch and knew I needed to play with my 50mm lens some. So while the boys were at school I dressed Katie up and took her to the park with the pink trees that make her happy and took some pics. There are fun things to do on cloudy days.

Mother's Day Gift

I know it is past Mother's Day now, but I just got part of my gift yesterday and should get the other part soon depending on amazon's shipping schedule. So for Mother's Day this year I wanted an icecream maker and the book "The Perfect Scoop" by David Lebovitz which has the most delicious and creative recipes for icecream, granitas, and sorbets that you just won't find at the store. Summer of icecream here I come! The icecream maker doesn't require any ice to use which is a huge bonus. To break it in I plan on making blackberry sorbet (blackberries were .88 cents for 6 oz this last week). I am so excited!

I get it!

I now understand why it is that people choose to become physics majors! It's not because they are smart - though don't get me wrong there are a lot of brilliant minds that study physics- it's because they are big children that never grew up. This was first observed at Jon's graduation where they, meaning the professors along with the graduates, made blow darts with pages from a catalog and some tape in order to shoot balloons down from the ceiling. This was set in stone when Jon came back from his physics teaching conference with this toy. Now if Jon wants to add the physics behind it and it's name he is welcome to. For me, who got my degree in English, all I know is that he touches the silver mylar thing to the wand and it magically spreads out and starts floating in the air above the wand. Apparently he has ones that make butterfly shapes as well. All this wand is is a toy for grown ups! The kids thought the show was great though and life will never be boring. Especially when we can get a house with a big garage so he can build more toys :)

"High Risk"

For the most part, being a high risk pregnancy is just another label added to the list. Life goes on and things aren't too much different yet. Sure, the doctor doesn't want me lifting more then 10 lbs but that isn't the first time I've had that restriction put on me before. Then it all became real this last week when the doctor, not even his nurse, but the doctor called me. The first round of tests came back with a higher than normal bacterial count so I needed to immediately begin the first round of antibiotics and, if we're lucky, the last. I'm grateful they are monitoring things and doing what they can to keep things on the safe side. However, sometimes I feel like that kid in the neverending story (A-TRAY-YOU?) when he is walking by the statues that will zap him if they look in his heart and see fear. I just got to keep breathing, keep walking forward, and sometime soon I'll get past those statues unscathed and be in the safe zone of being past 24 weeks and thus to viability.

Confessions of a food addict

Since I haven't been sick at all with this pregnancy (knock on wood) I've had a huge appetite instead. I feel like I could eat a mountain and keep going some days, but I just can't gain that much weight. I've lost 25 lbs of the weight I gained with my first baby and I'm not going to gain it all back and then some. Will power! But I have to eat. So instead of eating all the lovely processed foods that shout my name as I walk down the grocery store isles, I've been trying to get my cravings out on homebaked meals. Afterall, what is kraft macaroni and cheese to Martha Stewart's homemade Perfect Macaroni and Cheese recipe? Some things in life are a no brainer. I'm not going to turn this blog into a food blog where I document all my cooking adventures. This blog is for our family. But I will share the menu for mother's day, which is all homemade:

Lemon Sherry Chicken
Rice Pilaf
Steamed Vegetables
Parkerhouse Rolls
New York Style Cheesecake

I'm hungry just thinking about it. I hope everyones mother's day meal can be just as lovely. One thing I've noticed about homemade meals is that they are just more satisfying so I don't feel like i have to eat as much. Success!

Baking with a friend

Yesterday my best friend and old college roommate came over and we baked Smores Cupcakes together- complete with graham cracker layer, chocolate layer, and marshmallow frosting. We had so much fun together laughing, letting our kids play, and playing with chocolate. We even surfed the internet while the cupcakes were baking to get more recipes. This might have to become a tradition. Perhaps the saying is right- good food really does bring people together.

Movie night

Jon had to leave for a teaching conference thing for the weekend so I decided the kids and I needed something fun and cheap to do while he was gone. While Jacob was at school- since as a general rule I avoid taking all three kids to the grocery store at the same time- I took the other two to the store and we picked out movie snacks and put together some movie packs. Then I made the rule- you can have the movie packs once all chores are finished and we are ready to start the movie. I haven't seen chores get done so quickly and happily in a while- I might have to do this more often;) In fact, Sam volunteered to help fold laundry with me to be a gentleman. Then we went onto the Netflix instant streaming and found something we could all live with- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory- and sat down and enjoyed each other. If the weather had been more cooperative we would have gone to the local Tulip Festival. This wasn't too bad though and cross my fingers we can make it to the gardens in the next week. I would like to take the kids out to the movie "How to Train Your Dragon", but for the price of tickets for the four of us we could buy a full priced Disney movie and snacks. Sick!