Family Photo Shoot

 Here are some of the photos from our recent family photo shoot.

Careful What You Wish For...

It might come true.  I had wanted to see the labor and delivery floor of the hospital at which I’ll be delivering the baby; I got my wish, although not in the way I had hoped.  This last Saturday I woke up feeling a bit off, like I might be coming down with something but tried to ignore it -- since we had Noah’s Boy Scout campout that night.  We had contemplated staying the night but at the last minute decided against it, since it would be Amelia’s first time camping.  I would have probably skipped the campout all together with how I was feeling. But I was in charge of leading the boys in our den through two skits at the campfire that night.  As soon as we finished our last skit, we were out of there.  I had been feeling like I was on the verge of throwing up for hours, and as soon as we got home I ran to the bathroom. 

I felt a little better and tried to go to sleep, but not 30 minutes later I woke up to horrible stomach pain.  Long story short, I spent the next nine hours straight vomiting every 20 minutes.  Around 1:30 in the morning, Mike went to sleep in the guest room, so at least one of us would be able to take care of the kids the next day.  I thought it would eventually stop but it didn’t, and around six am was feeling like I should probably go to the ER.  I decided to weigh myself since I had lost so much fluid, and I was horrified to see I had lost eight pounds.  I got Mike up; once he realized that I hadn’t stopped vomiting all night, he called our neighbors to come watch the kids so he could take me to the ER. 

After being in the ER for about an hour and getting an IV and blood tests, they decided I needed to be admitted for at least the next 24 to 48 hours.  My OB happened to be on call at the hospital, so she had me sent up to “L & D” (Labor & Delivery) so she could monitor me.  I ended up getting 9 or 10 IV bags and a constant stream of anti-nausea medicine.  I am so thankful for good friends.  Our neighbors watched the kids when we left for the ER and then my wonderful friend Melinda and her husband Dean watched the kids until I got out.  Thankfully, because I stopped vomiting, I begged my OB to let me go home and sleep in my own bed . . . I was released that evening.

Mike was amazing through everything; he was not only Super Husband, Super Dad, but also Super Nurse!  We’re still not sure what caused me to get so sick, but I am feeling better every day. 

It's a...

BOY!  We actually found out at my13-week ultra sound; the technician said that at 13 weeks, it’s only an 80% chance of being correct . . . but, she was 99% sure it was a boy.  Even though she was sure, I thought it would be best to wait and share the news until it was confirmed at my anatomy scan.  This time the technician said, “If it’s not a boy, then it has a third leg!”

I recently bought my first outfit for him (okay, four outfits), and this has made it feel so real.  We have been talking about boy names and are completely stumped.  I feel like we’ll have a son with no name his first few weeks of life.

I have been trying to get family pictures taken for four weekends in a row and, for some reason (usually the weather), we’ve had to reschedule.  Well, this past weekend I grew impatient and was worried that Amelia wouldn’t be able to wear this adorable dress I got her from Janie & Jack, because it would be too cold by the time we took pictures.  So, I got the kids dressed up and tried to take some myself.  I am NOT meant to be a photographer; especially one who takes pictures of kids… it was exhausting!  From now on, I’m going to leave it to the professionals!  I’m crossing my fingers that the weather cooperates for the session scheduled this weekend.

This one cracks me up!

I LOVE this one!

We've had a rough couple of weeks dealing with various illnesses involving Noah, Amelia and me.  After Amelia and I had a bad cold with a persistent cough for over three weeks, I decided it was time to do something.  We went to see doctors, and she was diagnosed with pneumonia, and I was diagnosed with an upper respiratory/sinus infection.  She had to get a chest X-ray; since I'm pregnant, I couldn't go in with her -- but she was such a champ and cooperated perfectly with the nurses.  If that wasn’t enough to deal with, Noah got a really bad stomach bug and was in terrible pain.  At first we thought it might be appendicitis because of the symptoms.  We spent six hours last Thursday night in the ER, and he, too, was a champ!  He had to drink this gross liquid before having a CAT scan, and he had have an IV.  I'm happy to say that we are all healthy now.  Mike has the immune system of a “super hero” and stayed healthy.  He was such a big help when I wasn't feeling well, and I'm so happy he's been staffed in town for so long!

Waiting for her X ray.

She is very proud of her sticker pumpkin she decorated!

As you can tell from the video, she is completely back to normal.

Daddy's Girl

Mike was able to work from home on Monday, and Amelia realized this wasn't the "norm" and took full advantage of her daddy being home.  She literally did not leave his side ONCE!  She set up a coloring station next to the desk in his office and sat in his lap while he was on the phone.

She is currently OBSESSED with the song "Part of your World" from the Disney movie, "The Little Mermaid."  She asks me to put it on REPEAT; sometimes we'll listen to it 20+ times (or until I feel like I'm going crazy).  Once she hears the song, she immediately wants to put on her princess dress and starts singing and dancing along.  Well, when Mike was home on Monday, she ran into his office after asking me to put the song on and told him to dance with her.  

That night when we were lying in bed, Mike said, "This was one of the best days of my life!"  He told me a quote he heard from a friend that I want share: "A son teaches you to love, a daughter teaches you to be loved."

Happy 8th Birthday Noah!

Newsflash: I’m going to blame my lack of blogging on pregnancy.  I have had a serious lack of motivation in all departments.  It’s funny to me that this is my third pregnancy, yet it feels so completely different -- so different, in fact, that I feel like I’ve never done it before.  My doctor said that each pregnancy is usually a little harder (i.e. aches, pains, nausea).  That being said, I don’t know how some women can have 10 kids or more.  Okay, enough complaining!

My amazing husband cooking me dinner, I love him in an apron!

Noah turned EIGHT!  I can’t believe how fast time goes, to think he only has ten years left until he goes to college.  My mom was able to come out for the weekend and celebrate with us.  The kids were in heaven having her around, and Amelia was her little shadow!  Noah’s birthday list had three things on it: the Lego “Black Pearl” ship, a puppet, and the Lego City police station.  Between his parents and both sets of grandparents, he got all three and was SOOOO excited!  He has seriously spent at least 18 hours building and playing Legos since he opened his presents on Sunday.   If we didn’t make him sit down to eat, I’m not sure we would see him.

When my mom and I were at Toy R Us buying Noah’s present, we saw these little miniature princess figures.  I bought a few so that Amelia would have something to open when Noah was opening his gifts.  One of them was Snow White, and it’s adorable because Amelia calls her, “Snow Wipe.”  We must have heard “Snow Wipe” about a hundred times over the weekend; she was very excited about her present.

Baby Time

In case you haven’t heard, Mike and I are expecting our third child!  We are thrilled and can’t wait for our little bundle of joy.  The due date it February 15^th, 2012, but maybe we’ll be having a Valentine’s baby.

Noah is so very excited; he’s such a great big bother to Amelia … I am so lucky to have such an awesome seven-year-old.  I’m not sure how much Amelia really understands the concept of me having a baby.  We’ll tell her, “Mommy has a baby in her tummy,” and Amelia will say she has a baby in her tummy, too!  But if she likes this baby anywhere as much as she loves her baby dolls, I think we’ll be okay.

Noah started 2^nd grade today and that really hit me!  I think partly because I remember entering 2^nd grade so vividly; it was a few months after my family moved to Park City, and I just remember life seeming so important from then on.  Amelia has already asked me two dozen times why Noah isn’t home.  I keep telling her he’s at school, so she runs and gets her princess backpack and says, “I go to school too!”  After playing together every day this summer, I think the transition of Noah being back in school will definitely be the hardest on Amelia.  I was looking forward to the routine and also getting to spend some one-on-one time with Amelia before the baby comes.

Unfortunately, I’m still battling morning sickness, which is especially frustrating since it was gone by this point with both Noah and Amelia.  But I’m keeping my fingers crossed that any day now I’ll wake up and feel like my old self!  I will say that, overall, the morning sickness with this pregnancy isn’t nearly as bad as the last two, meaning that I’ve only actually thrown up a handful of times.  Whereas, with the prior two pregnancies, this unpleasant experience occurred all day long . . . maybe I’m paying for it by it not going away.  I don’t know which is worse.  

6,847 Miles, 57 Hours

We drove through 10 states covering 3,847 miles over our six-week car trip, which was 57 hours in the car. It was an adventure, to say the least!  The highlight was getting to see so much family, some of which I had not previously had the pleasure of meeting (more on that later).  The hardest part was that Amelia only took ONE 30-minute nap during all that time on the road, and Noah NEVER slept!

Mike's Sister, Shelley, went to the OC Fair with us.

We'd loved getting to see Grandma Sandy and Angus!

 

 

Uncle Al and Amelia snuggling; they were buddies after playing in the pool!

After leaving Utah, we headed to Orange, California, to spend the last two weeks of our trip with Mike’s family.  It was so enjoyable to go into Ray and Nancy’s pool every day; Noah seriously turned a different color after spending so much time in the water.  We were able to go the beach a few times; Amelia was obsessed with the ocean!  She has no fear of the waves and would just try and run into them and then laugh hysterically! 

Nancy almost had Amelia swimming on her own; she's one amazing Grandma!

Mike’s dad, Ray, was home for one of the weeks, and I swear you would have thought Noah was his shadow!  They worked on Noah’s boat for Boy Scouts -- it turned out awesome, I think he might win another "Best in Show."

We had so much fun taking the kids to Disneyland.  It was Amelia’s first time, and I think it was a bit overwhelming.  However, she was SOOO excited to see Minnie Mouse and get to take a picture with her.  It worked out perfectly because, Ray and Nancy came with us and basically took care of Amelia.  She lasted for seven hours and rode about every ride for her age, so they took her home so that Mike and I could spend the rest of the day with Noah.  We expected terrible wait lines since it was the middle of summer but, miraculously, we never waited for more than 30 minutes and rode all but one of the rides we wanted to.

We ended the road trip with a stop in Sun City, Arizona to see Mike’s grandma (Nancy’s mom) and some other of his close family members.  It was great for me to get to meet some of the aunts that I had heard so many wonderful things about!