Thad and Julie

PICTURES!!

2010-06-07T15:26:00.001-07:00

Ben being silly
Uncle Kevin with all the nephews & neices

My new haircut

Daddy & Ben hangin' out

Ben wanted to help weed too!

Notes to My Readers

2010-06-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

Lachelle- I do need an invite. Do you have my email? It's my first initial followed by my maiden name then at yahoo. Thanks!
Kristin & Janelle- I didn't know either one of you read my blog. J your blog is cute! Does K have one too?
Erin H.- I need more pics please. Post lady!!
Jordee- I missed you last time I was in town. Must get together this summer!
Lisa- Thanks for the comments. I knew about your blog but had forgotten, so thanks for the reminder I can't wait for the reunion. We finally have another girl! Yay for Gillespie daughters-in-law!
To all the Grandparents and such- I will try to post more pics soon. I know you love those the most!

Ben's Birthday!

2010-06-06T22:16:00.000-07:00

Today is my little baby Benjamin's 2nd birthday! I can't believe how fast he grew! We didn't do much today, since we had a family party a couple of weeks ago. But he had a good day at home with his family, played with his brother and sister, and stayed up a little late!

Happy Birthday Ben! I love you soooo much!

Hmmmmm

2010-06-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

Not a whole lot on my mind today. I realized that I haven't been posting pictures lately. I never have the camera ready when the cute times happen, but I usually take them with my phone. Which means I need to upload those onto the computer so I can post them.

We are heading down to Tacoma tomorrow for my nephew's baptism (Ben, Kim's). The kids always love going to hang out at Grandma's with cousins!

That's about alll I've got for today.

Still Sick.....

2010-06-03T21:13:00.000-07:00

I forgot to update you on the whole being sick thing. I have/had a bad infection in one of my teeth, so I was on antibiotics for that. They gave me thrush again. Went to the doc for meds, and found out I also have a sinus infection. Can't take meds for that since it will make thrush worse. So basically, I feel awful, miserable, all of that. AND it hurts to swallow, drink, eat. Life just keeps handing me lemons.......and I'm getting really tired of lemondade. Anyone want a lime-aid!!

What's On My Mind......

2010-06-03T14:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have a lot of totally random thoughts going on.......
-I got a comment from Kristin on here, I didn't even know she read my blog.
-If you have a blog out there, and you don't know if I know about it, please send me a message to make sure I do
-My kids are getting grumpier as the week goes on. Is it Friday yet???
-I can't forget to switch the laundry, then fold and put away those last 2 loads. I will feel like I've accomplished soooooo much if I can just get the laundry done.
-I've been hearing the song "Halleluia" a lot lately. That, and for about 2 weeks straight there was this whole "death" theme going on. Every tv show I watched, every news story, everywhere someone was dying. Not sure what it's about, and it may sound totally creepy, but I've prayed about it, and I feel like it's Heavenly Father's way of preparing me for something. I don't know when, but sometime. Is that totally horrific?
-I wish Gilmore Girls was on all the time. I have all the seasons on dvd, I'm just too lazy to get up and put them in right now.
-I hate this cold. Someone please make it go away!
-I totally lost it with the credit card people last night. They had called like 7 times, and I just kept ignoring it. So finally, when they called again 5 minutes later, I picked up the phone, and with one breath said "Yes this is Julie, no we can't pay you and no I don't know when we can, please stop calling!"
-I know that was mean, but seriously, they call dozens of times and everyday we tell them that we can't even pay our mortgage, and then they call back the next day and it's like they expect something to have changed! UGH!
-I'm not going to mention how nicely the kids are playing right now.
-I'm glad I planned something fast and easy for dinner tonight. It's almost 3:30 and I haven't gotten a shower yet....so yeah, it's that kind of day.
-I just saw a commercial for stretch mark lotion. Too bad the "models" showing off their lack of stretch marks would be more believable if they had an ounce of fat on them.
-Many of you may not know that I chopped my haor off a couple weeks ago. I cut off about 11 inches. Then she thinned and layered it all over, it's super cute!
-I cleaned out my friends box on FB the other day, got rid of about half my friends. Figured if I hadn't checked up on them or talked to them in the last 10 years or so, why would I now?
-I need to go through my cloethes and give away about 80% of them that don't fit anymore. Anyone want em?
-I start training tomorrow for Popcorn Fridays at school. I somehow volunteered to chair it next year. And I need some help.
-I love the Dr.Oz show. How can one man know everything??
-I have a friend who has lost 30 lbs in the last 2 months, and I'm insanely jealous of him. He runs and works out almost everyday.

Ok Ok I cry a Lot. So What??

2010-06-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

Some of you may know my mom. I blame this entirely on her. Some would call me sesnitive, some a cry baby, others maybe spiritual. I cry a lot. Or at least, I get teary eyed quite often. At the thought of loved ones who have passed away, happy memories, touching thoughts, when a friend gets pregnant after trying for years, when that baby is finally here on earth, and yes.....even at commercials. You'd think I was pregnant or something!Oh, I forgot one......I cry when bad things happen, or when someone dies.....on my favorite tv shows. Yes, on tv. I know, there has to be something hormonally wrong with me!

Girls Aren't So Bad!

2010-05-31T15:25:00.000-07:00

So Kaipo has been over at his best friend Olivia's house pretty much all day today. Olivia is homeschooled, so Kaipo doesn't get as much play time with her as he would like, since he is "stuck at school" all day long. On days off and vacations they spend a lot of time together. I was thinking back to the first time they met......

We had lived here for maybe a week or two. We were invited over to Olivia's parent's house for Sunday dinner. Kaipo asked if they had kids his age. I told him they had a girl about a year and a half younger than him, then a boy 2 years younger than her, then a girl Sarah Beth's age. (Who has become her bestest friend too!) Kaipo complained that he wouldn't have anyone to play with. I told him that girls aren't so bad, and that I'm sure he would have fun anyway.

Well, that was about three years ago, and Kaipo and Olivia are best friends now. I am so thankful for a family that lives so close (about four houses away) that my kids are such good friends with. Sarah Beth has Emily, and even Ben has Kevin. Those two are both a month older than my two, so it's fun!

I'm also thankful for so many of the amazing and wonderful friends I have made in this ward. We moved to Sultan from a different ward. I had made a few friends, those I still stay in contact with, but I was on bedrest with Sarah Beth the first few months we lived there, so I didn't meet may people. When I was able to go to church, I usually ended up sitting along in RS, my friends weren't in there. It was pretty discouraging. Well, when we moved here, I guess I didn't have the best expectations. Boy was I wrong! We were welcomed by so many, invited to dinners, events, playgroup, book club. So may people went out of their way to make us feel welcomed. I have made such amazing friendships in this ward, ones I will treasure the rest of my life! I won't name names, because I would be sure to miss someone, but I'm sure you ladies know who you are. Know that I love you so much!

Sick, sick and more sick

2010-05-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

I have a friend who post st oher blog each and mostly every single day. While at first I thought that was crazy, I do enjoy reading what's on her mind. I think she uses it mostly as a journal for herself, so I am going to try this as well. I have a new part time job posting ads on craigslist for a car dealership, so I will be on the computer daily for a few hours, so I'm going to try and do my posts for the day at that point. Hopefully they aren't just ramblings! We shall see....

Today I am sick. I felt a cold coming on a few days ago, and yesterday and today I have felt awful! I actually stayed home from church today, which isn't easy to do when you teach sunbeams and we have basically no subs in our ward. Thad went and took all 3 kids and did well. He came home alive so I'll just assume primary went okay. I slept pretty much all morning, about 3 1/2 hours worth. I really only got up this afternoon because I got hungry. I don't eat much when I get sick.

We got a new desk from Thad's boss at work. It's a really nice one, just what I wanted! We spent a couple hours last night moving everything off of one desk and back onto the other one. Except there are a lot of things that don't need to be out now, so my next big project is finding someplace to put those things. We need more stinkin storage space in this house! Oh well, one of my goals is to be more organized, and so this will help, right?

Each Sunday in primary we have a scripture count. Sarah always wants to hold up daddy's scriptures so that she can get counted, so this morning daddy found her a BOM of her own to bring. She was so excited!

That's about all the rambling I can think of right now. Plus Ben will be up from his nap soon. Soooo till next time I guess!

2010-05-26T18:26:00.000-07:00

I've Come To Realize...

I've come to realize that my body is...falling apart. I have had so many health issues in the last year and a half, and I'm not happy with my body, or the way it functions!

I've come to realize that my job is ...the most important one in the world. I wouldn't want anyone else teaching my children right and wrong each day!

I've come to realize that when I'm driving...my kids tend to fight less. Somedays we go on drives just so I can get some peace!

I've come to realize that I need nothing more in life than...my family, my church and my friends.

I've come to realize that I've lost my... mind.

I've come to realize that I hate...lots of things. Tomatoes come to mind. And brocolli.

I've come to realize that money is... the root of all unhappiness.

I've come to realize that certain people...have that way of cheering me up and making me feel better. A night out with the girls is usually what the doctor orders! (Especially after a day with extremely grumpy kids!)

I've come to realize that I'll always remember...the moment Thad told me that he was falling in love with me.

I've come to realize that my siblings...can be either my best friend or just an aquantance.

I've come to realize that my mom...is by far my best example. My entire life, whenever someone learns who my mom is, I get an earfull of just how lucky I am to have her. And I know I am.

I've come to realize that my cell phone...is my brain. I wouldn't remember an appointment or phone number without it!

I've come to realize that when I woke up this morning... all I could think about was nap time. And my to-do list.

I've come to realize that last night...I was very annoyed at the song choices on American Idol. They were pretty much all, with the exception of 2, from the 70's or 80's. I thought this was supposed to be about shaping the musical artists of tomorrow, not decades ago.

I've come to realize that right now I am thinking about...how nice it would be to not have to play referee all day. And what would happen if I just let them fight?

I've come to realize that my Dad is...a strong man. He has gone through many trials in his life and has always come out with his head held high.

I've come to realize that when I get on Facebook... I only check a few friends pages to catch up, and I need to clean out my friends list.

I've come to realize that today...I'm not going to get as much done as I wanted to. Blame the fighting kids!

I've come to realize that tonight...I'm gonna go to bed early.

I've come to realize that tomorrow...is Friday. 4 day weekend Friday!

I've come to realize that I really want to...lose 30 pounds. Magically. Someone just make it all go away!

I've come to realize that my children...are such blessings. In a world where so many things are taken for granted, and even as much as they fight, I love every minute I am blessed to have with them.

I've come to realize that this weekend...we should do something fun! Anyone have any ideas?

I've come to realize that the best music to listen to when I'm upset is...duh! Church music! It calms me. OR country music, the kid you can get up and dance to! That cheers me up too!

I've come to realize that my friends...are very important to me. I have made some amazing friends in the last few years, ones I want to have for my lifetime. Friends are such a blessing to me. I love getting those phone calls saying "I was just thinking about you and wanted to call".

I've come to realize that this year...I'm going to be throwing away all the bottles, giving away the crib, and hopefully done with diapers. Makes me sad, but I know that I will still get my baby fix through family and friends.

I've come to realize that my husband is...very patient with me. It hasn't been an easy last 5 years, and he has been there for me no matter what. I love you honey!

I've come to realize that maybe I should... skip the nap and do the dishes instead. And the bills, and the million other things on my to-do list. Nah, I need a nap!!

I've come to realize I really don't understand...a lot of things.

I've come to realize that my past... has helped make me who I am today.

I've come to realize that parties... are our reward for listening to our kids fight all day.

I've come to realize that my life is... blessed.

Updates.....

2010-04-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

I recently emailed my family a letter to update everyone on a few things......thought it would be easier to just post that here than explain it all over again.

Dear Family and those we consider Family-
I think it's time I update you on some issues I've been dealing with lately. As most of you know, I had knee surgery last Tuesday to remove what ended up being a large piece of cartledge that was in the knee area. The 30 minute procedure ended up taking 3 hours, as the piece was very hard to reach and dislodge, then ended up being larger than the holes they had cut to remove it from, so those had to be made longer. All in all, the surgery was a lot harder than we expected, and so my recovery has been harder as well. I am finally off the crutches and getting around a bit better. But I need a lot of physical therapy in order to get back to moving normally.
As anyone who's had surgery knows, you wake up with a sore throat and stuff from the tube, and it usually gets better in a couple of days. Mine seemed to get worse and worse, so on Monday I looked in the mirror and noticed my tongue and throat were coated with white stuff. I went in and sure enough, I had thrush, Any parent can tell you that lots of kids get it as babies, but it's pretty odd to get as an adult. The medication is taking care of it really fast, thankfully! I wasn't able to enjoy our Easter dinner, because eating was so uncomfortable.
Before my surgery, the hosiptal took a blood sugar level, which is normal to have done. Mine came back at 130, which is above normal (80-120 fasting). They told me to follow up on it with my doctor. I mentioned this when I saw her about the thrush, and she mentioned that thrush is more common among diabetics. She suggested that given both the thrush and the high blood sugar that we should do another fasting level and an A1C, which measures your average blood sugar within the previous 12 weeks.
I got my test results back this afternoon. My blood sugar was 177 and my A1C was 7. Both above normal, which means that I have officially been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. I'm beginning some medication, and hopefully I can find the right dose and control my blood sugar with just meds and diet, but time will tell. My dad was diagnosed in his early 40s I believe, and I had gestational with Sarah Beth, so this isn't a huge shock out of nowhere, but still not good news.
I'm having a hard time lately, feeling like my whole body is just giving up on me. I'm pretty depressed and frustrated. I've had nothing but health problems since my hysterectomy almost 18 months ago. Heart problems, diabetes, arthritis issues, it just keeps coming. I would ask you to please keep my family and myself in your prayers, I need to be healthy and happy to take care of my kids, and I haven't been there for a while. I know we all have our trials in this life, but how many health trials is one person supposed to be able to handle before she cracks???? I don't think I'd like to find out.....
Thanks and I love you all,

Jules

Blessings

2010-03-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

My heart is very full of emotions tonight. I had the opportunity to attend a very touching memorial service this morning. Kathy was the mother of a family that we grew up with, her daughters were one and two years younger than me. She was a loving and amazing woman and I count myself among the lucky ones to have known her. As I sat and listened to her children describe their mother, my thoughts turned to my own mom, sitting right beside me. Every single word that was used today could also be used to describe my mom. She is very selfless, always thinking of others, she is kind, loving, generous, beautiful, funny. It never surprises me when someone who knows my mom, finds out that I'm her daughter, and says "Oh wow. Your mom is absolutley amazing. You're lucky!" I'm not sure I've told my mom recently just how much she means to me, and how much I love her. She never complains about coming an hour and a half just to take care of my kids after yet another one of my many health issues, surgeries, etc. She sends my kids birthday cards, valentines, and all sorts of fun things. She once came all the way up here just to clean my house for me after a surgery, because it was driving me nuts and I couldn't do it. She never complains. I had a hard time composing myself when I started to think about my mom as words were being used to describe Kathy today. My mom is wonderful. I love you, Mom.

Let Me Count the Ways.....

2010-03-19T10:39:00.000-07:00

1. Cured my insomnia

2. No more aches and pains

3. 13 pounds lighter and counting

4. No more migraines

5. No more mood swings

6. More energy

7. No more allergies

If you want to know more about what AMAZING product I'm using, click on the MONAVIE link to the right. Have an open mind. It's wonderful how much this product has changed my life.

Answers to Prayers

2010-03-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

I was recently reminded that our prayers can only be answered if we actually pray. We have been having a terribly frustrating time with our mortgage company the last few months. After Thad lost his job a year ago, things were tight. Real tight. We lasted till the end of the year or so. Then things got really hard. We were getting the run-around from our mortgage comany about how they can or can't help us out. We applied for this and that and everything. Come to find out, there were a million that-makes-no-sense reasons why we didn't qualify for anything. Long story short, we felt betrayed and cheated and lied to. And we are in real trouble of losing the house. I know this is happening to so many people right now, but it's never happened to me and my family, and it's terrifying. Not knowing what's coming, and how long we will have a roof over our heads. Anyways, we felt impressed to speak with our Bishop, and went away feeling comforted. A little. He shared with us a scripture that really helped to put things into perspective. In the meantime, my mother-in-law called to check on us. When she heard the anger in Thad's voice, she knew things had gone terribly wrong. She called in a favor to a friend who happens to be a higher-up in the same company that was treating us so horribly. A few days later, his assistant called me. She assured me that this would be fixed, and that we would be okay. She was astonished at the poor customer service we received, and that we were told that "there's nothing we can do for you, maybe you should look into selling the house." Yep. Exact quote. She is making us her top priority until it is solved. After a 15 minute conversation with her, our stress level went from a bazillion to about 50. I don't know when and I don't know how, but I now have faith (correction: more faith) that "it'll all be okay". We have someone on our side, working for us, helping us. And I'm soooo getting people fired for treating me the way they did!!!

Family Focus

2010-03-01T11:18:00.000-08:00

I can't believe we have lived in this house (and ward) for THREE years. It actually seems like much longer to me. In any case.....our WONDERFUL Bishop challenges our ward each March to have a media-free month. What this means, is that we put aside any wasteful time in front of the tv, video games, computer and so forth, and spend more quality time with our family. We are to do this to our best ability, given our own individual circumstances and needs. With our family, Thad leaves the xbox turned off (which will help with his schooling this year!), the kids get much less tv time (somedays I need it on to get anything done!), and I am spending the time I'd usually spend surfing the internet or facebooking updating our family blog. It has been very ignored the past few months, and I don't want to look back on this time in my life and wonder what my kids were doing and how we were growing as a family. Journalling my family's life is much more important than facebooking, in my opinion! Wish us luck!

Home Sweet Home.....Finally!

2010-03-01T11:03:00.000-08:00

This weekend we took a quick trip over to Spokane to see Thad's family. His youngest brother, Caleb, had returned home from his mission in Mexico on Thursday evening. He was home just 24 hours longer than we were. He had to report to Snow College Football Camp this morning. (He has a scholorship) It was a crazy but fun weekend......except for the car ride there and back. Ben slept about an hour on the trip over, and 2 on the way back. He had a meltdown about an hour before we got to Thad's parents' house. He was better on the way home. But we were all happy to sleep in our own beds (why are hotel mattresses SO hard?). We didn't do anything too exciting while we were gone, just hung out with family. Mom and Carrie made a delicious dinner on Saturday night for everyone. They are amazing cooks and the food is always yummy! On Sunday, we enjoyed attending Caleb's homecoming and hearing him speak about the importance of missionary work. I was lucky enough to have a few conversations with him about his mission, and boy has that man matured!! He has always been such a sweet guy, and I'm so lucky to be able to call him my brother (-in law). He gave me a wonderful compliment when I was hugging him good-bye. He said "I'm so glad you're a part of this family." That was so nice to hear! We love you Caleb and are soooo happy to have you......home-ish.

How Random Is That?

2010-02-25T19:26:00.000-08:00

So I finally got the results of my MRI on my knee. It has nothing to do with the hyperextension 5 years ago. I have a "foreign body" in my knee. Which means that I have a peice of bone or cartlidge that has broken off since my last MRI in November 2007. Oh....and a torn meniscus. How random and weird is that? I have to see the orthopedic surgeon next week, then I will know more.....maybe. In any case, I do need surgery, and the sooner the better. Fun for me!

She Don't Know She's Beautiful

2010-02-25T11:18:00.000-08:00

This song came on the radio this morning, and as I started to sing along, I began to listen to the words better......and realized it was written for my very own daughter, Sarah Beth (with the exception of a few lines)......

We go out to a party somewhere

The moment we walk in the door

People stop and everybody stares
She don't know what they're staring for

She don't know she's beautiful (never crossed her mind)

She don't know she's beautiful (no she's not that kind)

She don't know she's beautiful

Though time and time I've told her so

There she goes just walking down the street

And someone lets a whistle out

A girl like her she just can't see

What the fuss is all about

Morning comes and her hair's all a mess

That's when she thinks she looks her worst

It's times like this she don't know why

I can't take my eyes off her

'Cause she don't know she's beautiful (never crossed her mind)

She don't know she's beautiful (no she's not that kind)

She don't know she's beautiful

Though time and time I've told her so

The only thing I would change.....is that Sarah Beth KNOWS she is beautiful. She gets told so pretty much everyday, by someone new everywhere we go. She has absolutely gorgeous hair that even I am jealous of. She has the best smile, with cute lil' dimples, and striking blue eyes with loooong eyelashes! The line I like best in the song is about how her hair's all a mess in the morning. That's funny cuz Sarah Beth's hair is REALLY messy when she wakes up. But she loves having it done!

I Love You Sarah Beth! (Someone get her a modeling contract!)

Hitting and Screaming!

2010-02-22T10:39:00.000-08:00

I really don't like this phase. Ben has begun hitting, everyone, all the time, for no reason. And screaming. He has the highest pitch, loudest scream I've ever heard. Worse than any girl I know. And he does it when he's mad, when he's happy, when he's playing, when he's crying. Pretty much a lot, constantly, all the time. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Baby Sign

2010-02-22T10:23:00.000-08:00

I've always wanted to start baby sign with my kids when they were actually babies. But I seem to always "forget" about it. that is, until the WHINING starts. Ben is always whining about something these days. He's hungry, wants a snack, a nap, a bottle, who knows! So a few weeks ago I started teaching him sign. I know it may not be the "right" sign, but it's what he can do and I can make up!

Right now he only has two, but we are working on another one. He signs "more" very well! And even says "mo" when he does so. It makes life so much easier! And a few days ago we added "snack". He has learned how to ask for "more snack". LOVE IT!! We are trying to teach him "tired" now. He's such a smart boy, and picks up on signing so fast!

Sunbeams

2010-02-22T10:16:00.000-08:00

This will make much more sense to those of you who either have a 3 year old, have had one, or have taught them in church. We teach the 3-4 year old class, and we have 13 children on the roll. A few of them hardly ever come, or come very sporatically. But on a good day, we have 8-9 kids. That's a LOT of energy. They are expected to sit for singing time, a group lesson (sharing time), and then class time that consisits of 45 minutes to have a small snack, lesson, coloring time, and anything else we can come up with. That's proven to be very hard with our group of kids. We have 3-4 kids who just aren't ready for that kind of structure yet. So class time has been rough lately. We got word on Sunday that they are creating a "pre-sunbeams" class for those kids who aren't doing well in our class. There will be less kids in that class, so less distractions, and more one-on-one time with the teacher. I think this idea is wonderful!! It will allow those kids a better experience, and allow us to have an easier time with our class as well. PHEW!!!!

Broken

2010-02-22T09:59:00.000-08:00

I'm broken.

About 5 years ago, I hyperextended my left knee. (Note: About 3 yrs prior I had surgery on my right knee to remove a growth on the kneecap.) So back to my left knee......it's bothered me from time to time since then. It hurts to walk up lots of stairs, long distances, things like that. On Saturday evening, I got up from sitting down on my bed, and I literally couldn't walk. My knee wouldn't straighten. Oh wait, that was last Saturday. So 9 days later.......it still won't straighten. I can walk, but I look awfully funny limping around. I'm sure it's a torn meniscus, because that's what it was a few years ago. I think it's just gotten to the "breaking point" now. I have an MRI this afternoon, then I will find out how soon I need surgery, or if I can hopefully post pone that with a little PT.

As if that weren't enough.......then a couple days later.......I broke my little toe......on the other foot. Yep. It's high school all over again. You see, I was known as "accident prone". I always had stitches, or a sling, or something! My toe is getting better with time. Altough, I had to wear slippers to church yesterday because I couldn't bear to wear tights and shoes.

Pictures

2010-02-11T11:31:00.001-08:00

I'm NOT Dead

2010-02-11T10:49:00.001-08:00

I promise I'm still alive. I know it has been wayyyyyy to long since my last post. I was making excuses to my mother-in-law the other day. My list goes like this......our computer died leaving me only the laptop which had no pictures on it, therefore no inspiration for posts, my camera was full and I didn't know how to upload them to the laptop, when I learned it was in a totally different format and it confused me when I tried to organize them (still haven't), everytime I sit down the kids need something else, and finally......I got lazy.

I am going to attempt to give you the Reader's Digest version of the last 7 months in our life. As you may remember, Thad was laid off in March, his uncle's wrecking yard went out of business. After some contemplating and no luck in the new job department, he decided to go back to school. He started school at Lake Washington Technical College in Kirkland (about a 45 min drive) in July and will graduate in December from the Auto Mechanic program. He really enjoys school, and can't wait to get his hands dirty! A couple of months ago he was lucky enough to be offered a very part time job at the auto shop right next door to the old warehouse he used to work at. He has known the guys there for years, and loves working with them now. He goes in for 3 hours each afternoon after school. Although, things have been so slow lately, that he is now on his 4th straight week of not working. That began right after his emergency appendectomy in January. He is lucky to have me as his wife ( well DUH!), since I'd had one myself years ago, and knew the signs and made him go in to be seen hours before he would have taken himself in. You're Welcome Honey!

I have been......lazy, like I said. I'm still adjusting to the hormonal changes after my hysterectomy. I'm tired ALL the time, I hardly sleep at night, I'm moody. Among other things too! I have finally found a natural herbal medicine that is helping though. I'm starting to feel close to normal these days. Not much has changed with me, just busy being mom and homemaker.

Kaipo turned NINE in January. He is now in the 3rd grade, loves his teacher, is making new friends, and loving scouts!He just participated in the Winter Unicycle Show last night and did great! He is a level 2 rider, and just keeps getting better. He earned his Wolf in cub scouts in about 6 months or so. He is now working on his pinewood derby car for next month with Daddy. Can't wait to see what they come up with this year!

Sarah Beth will be FOUR in July......but she acts more like she is 16. She has such a strong personality. She and I are learning how to deal with this most days. She enjoys playing with Ben most days, but loves to have playdates with her friends too. She will eat just about anything, which is great since the boys don't eat much! Her hair is down to her waist (when it's straight, which it never is). She has the most beautiful naturally curly hair, ringlets even. I get asked if I curled her hair all the time. She actually loves to have it done and sits very still for me!

Benjamin will be TWO in June. I can't believe it! It's been so nice to have a little boy in the house again. He is very strong-willed, and has learned the art of screaming, whining, and hitting from his older sister. (Oh yay!) But he is also very loving! He gives the best hugs and kisses! As you may remember, he had tubes put in his ears last April, and other that the really bad infection following thaose, he has only had one more (December), and his hearing tested within normal range FINALLY! Low normal, but normal. He has had some speech delays due to his hearing loss and problems, but he does okay. He has been picking up on more words lately, his new ones are "more, got it, down, done, boo, and bampa (blanket)." Now keep in mind that most of his words can't be understood by most people outside our family, but it's a start! Ben loves to play with his brother and sister, run around, laugh, and wait for Daddy to come home. He is finally getting used to nursery at church which really helps out mommy and daddy since......

We are the new Sunbeam teachers!!!! In theory, we love this calling. We have Sarah Beth and all her friends. But ALL her friends number up to 13 if everyone comes. That's A LOT of 3 year olds in one room. And too much energy! We have been struggling to feel like we are in control, so we have started splitting the class, and in talking with the Primary Presidency, this should be able to be made permanent, with another set of teachers being called soon (I hope?) They are such a fun and energetic group.

There are so many stories, adventures and more I'm sure I need to share, but this will have to be it for now. I'm going to attempt to share some pics too. I promise to get better at blogging again soon.

Kevin Graduates!

2009-07-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

Sorry Family, but the video was too large to email.....here it is!

My New Blog.....

2009-07-01T10:38:00.000-07:00

I just want to announce that I have started an Usborne Books & More blog. The address is www.usbornebyjulie.blogspot.com. Add it to your page for quick access to my Usborne page! And check it often for specials and discounts!

Thanks!

Correction....

2009-06-27T12:47:00.001-07:00

I mistakenly posted earlier that I had been diagnosed with SVT, when actually, in talking with my cardiologist again, I figured out that it's Ventricular Tachycardia. Basically the same thing, only the extra heart beats originate in the lower venticles all the time. I was a little confused! You canread more about it by going to the original link I posted, and clicking on VT for an explanation.

We are waiting to go back to Children's in almost two weeks to see the ENT about Ben's ears again. Couldn't get in any earlier. So I will update ya'll on his hearing then.

Thad has and is using a CPAP machine. It takes some getting used to, and Thad has a little trouble sleeping all night with it on. But he seems to snore less often....

I think that's it for now. :-)

My New Adventure......

2009-06-26T20:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, so can anyone guess what I'm talking about? Yes, you guessed right- I am now an independent consultant for Usborne Books & More. I love these books! They are educational, fun, bright, creative and high quality. If you've never heard of Usborne, you aren't alone. They are still new to some, but have actually been around for many years. And they have so many new things since I last looked at a catalog! Internet-linked books, puzzle books, biographies, kid kits, sooo much more! Plus, you can earn soooo many free books by hosting a show, or if you aren't in my area, an eshow too!

Visit my website at www.myubam.com/B3493 to look at the complete online catalog. And please contact me if you have any questions, want to host a show and earn free books, or want help picking out that certain book. I'm here to help you brighten the lives of the children you know and love.

Julie

Taylor Swift Concert Pics

2009-06-24T21:19:00.000-07:00

PICTURES!!!!!

2009-06-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

So thanks to our amazing friend Brad, we now have a working, fast computer, complete with working keyboard, and pictures!!! I'm so excited. Now I have about 200 I'd like to post....so I'll try to narrow it down for ya.

Kaipo & Daddy after the Pinewood Derby (Kaipo tied for 2nd place)

This must have been Easter

Ben waiting to have his ear tubes surgery

My lil cowgirl

Kaipo placed first in one of the races at his Unicycle Jamboree

My brother Kevin's H.S. graduation

All 5 Curtis Graduates!

My adorable little Ben

My cute kiddos

Medical Updates.....

2009-06-09T19:28:00.000-07:00

There are a few things I should update ya'll on. First, Ben's ears. As you remember, he had tubes put in April 15th. All went well, until less than a month later he already had an ear infection. Ugh!! We gave him antibiotic ear drops for a while, and things really only got worse. He woke up each day with lots of gooey drainage from both ears. We went back to Children's a few times in the next few weeks to have his ears drained and cleaned out. Finally after this last time, his ears seemed to be getting better! The ear drops were finally getting to the part of the ear that was so infected. At one point, his ears were actually bleeding. Poor baby! At his appointment today there was no infection! We go back to Children's next week to have his hearing tested again. Wish us luck!

We celebrated Ben's first birthday on Saturday!!! Well, ok so we didn't really celebrate. He won't eat anything, and he didn't even know it was his bday. We are going to just celebrate his bday along with Sarah Beth's in July. He had his one year chcek up today, and here are the numbers: weight- 20 lbs 4 oz (15th%), length- 29.5 in (50th%), head circumference- 18 in (95th%). So basically, Ben is average height, a lightweight, and has a big head. Hahaha. Tell me something I didn't know!

Our doctor wants Ben to see an Occupational Therapist for eating therapy. It's called an eating aversion. He has no interest in food. Nothing. At all. Unless it's formula/milk from his bottle. He also has a few developmental delays that should be addressed. Mostly his not talking much. Oh he makes plenty of noise, just none of it makes sense yet. And I guess some of it should. But that can easily be related to his ears and the hearing loss. I'm not too concerned other than his not eating.

Ok, now onto me. I know, I'm supposed to be all healed and healthy now. Tell me about it. A couple of months after my hysterectomy, I was noticing more and more often that my heart was racing or pounding when I was sitting doing nothing. I also felt light-headed a lot, was short of breath often, and even almost fainted a few times. It started to bother me more and more. And so given the history in my family of heart disease, I felt like I should at least see a doctor about it. I had to have an EKG, then wear a heart monitor for 48 hours. (Which turns out, I'm allergic to the tape from that thing, and when I took it off, I had hives where the tape was. Oh it was awful!!)

Anyways, after that and seeing a cardiologist, and since then having a stress test/treadmill test......I have been diagnosed with Supraventricular Tachycardia. Or SVT for short. It's basically an abnormally fast heart rhythm. To read more about it, go here.http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/tc/supraventricular-tachycardia-overview.
I have been prescribed some heart medication, and it takes care of most of the symptoms. My heart ultrasound showed no major damage of my heart, so for right now there is no immediate need for surgery. As long as the meds work, I just need some tests every year or so. It could be much worse, so I am very thankful that popping a few pills everyday will take care of me, for now! :-)

Thad has decided to go back to college to get his degree as an Auto Repair Technician (a mechanic). It's something that he is very interested in, enjoys doing, and learns quickly at. He will be starting classes this July at Lake Washington Technical College in Kirkland, about 30 minutes away. He is very excited! He's still finalizing financial aid, grants, loans and all those details. But he will be attending classes 5 days a week from 7am-1:30pm. So he will still be able to have a part time hob, and since he's a student, he can keep his unemployment benefits for most of the two year program. I'm a little nervous, but I know that this is important to Thad, and between all the governement programs, and student loans, we will be able to pay all the bills. I'm actually kinda jealous that he gets to go to school to get training for something he loves. I was never interested in going to college, but now I'm figuring out a few things that I'd love to learn more about. Maybe when he's done.........

School gets out next week. It was supposed to be today, but we had I think one snow day, and 5 flood days. Something like that. Kaipo is excited for summer, and so am I. I like having him home more, and not just because he is a huge help! Although I have a feeling that between summer unicycling practices, reading, riding his bike, and playing at the pond down the street (always a good place to find frogs!), I probably won't be seeing much of him this summer. Oh, and he also has 4 full days of scout camp. And wants to spend time down in Tacoma with grandma and grandpa.

My youngest brother graduates from high school on Friday. It's crazy! I can still remember when Mom told us she was pregnant, and then not speaking to her for a few days when she found out it was another boy. I always wanted a little sister. But Kevin is a great brother. We will all be in town for the weekend. Unfortunately, not all the spouses, but all 5 siblings. I know that doesn't sound like too many people to get all together, but it's hard! It should be a fun weekend!

That's all for now. Someday I'll post some pics so ya'll don't forget what we look like. :-)

Okay, Okay

2009-05-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

I know, I've become really awful at this blogging stuff. Blame the broken computer. I finally get a new keyboard, and then it takes me half an hour to get the internet to load. Worse than dial-up, I tell ya. It's at a friend's house being "diagnosed" and hopefully fixed. So I'm back to the laptop with no pics on it. Ugh!

Ok, where to start? Thad got his sleep study results. He has mild to moderate sleep apnea. Once we can afford one, we will try using a CPAP machine at night. Ben had his ear tubes put it. He was given a blessing the night before, as he couldn't have anything to eat for almost 8 hours before surgery, and it wasn't until noon!! He did amazing though. I was so happy! Trouble is, less than a month later he already had another ear infection. There is still a lot of gooey yucky drainage from both ears, and he's on ear drops still. He didn't pass his 6 week check-up, so we are going back at the end of next week again. If the infection and drainage are gone, they will retest his hearing then. But I'm not expecting it to be back to normal, not with the ears already infected, and still draining.

Ok, onto happier news! I went to the Taylor Swift concert a couple weeks ago!!!!! It was AMAZING!!!!!! I took my good friend Susan, and we had a blast! Our seats were awsome, and I think I took about 100 photos.....which maybe someday I can actually post! :-) Now some of you know that my little Sarah Beth is actually obsessed with Taylor. So I couldn't tell her where I was going. But I did bring home a poster and it is proudly posted on her wall, right next to her bed. For about a week after the concert, she kept asking when Taylor could come over to play. Hard to explain to her why she can't!!

Alright, so the thing with Thad's work isn't working out. They have a new owner now, and for reasons I'd rather not get into, Thad is not being hired back on. (Don't get me started!) So he is actually looking at this as a chance to figure out what he really wants to do in life. Unfortunately, he has to do that while supporting a family and paying a mortgage! He will hopefully be starting school in the summer, getting certified as an auto mechanic. He already knows a lot about cars, and loves to work on them......so why not get paid to do it!? We still have to figure out the details of when and how and all that, but he really wants to do it.

Me? I'm just holdong down the fort at home still. Looking into being an Usborne Books consultant. Think I'm gonna do it, but still deciding for sure. Kaipo has a couple more weeks of school, and he is super excited for summer! I am too, I like having him home to hang out with (and he is a HUGE help with the kids!) Sarah Beth is almost 3, it's hard to believe. She is becoming such a girly girl. Always has to have her doll and her purse and LOVES to have her hair done and wear dresses. SOOOOOO not what I was like! But I look at her and I imagine that's what I looked like at 3. Am I close, Mom?

Ben is almost ONE. Next weekend to be exact. That's my last little baby! It's sad, but then I think of not having to change diapers, and make bottles, and pay for fomula (YAY!!!!!), and those sleepless nights. That makes it all seem better. He is walking more and more these days. He can make it about 5 feet or so now. He hasn't decided he'd rather walk instead of crawl all the time yet, but I don't think it will be long.

Ok, so that's my update for now. Hope to be able to post tons of pics soon. Hope everyone is doing well.

Updates......

2009-04-05T08:24:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the lack of posts in the last few months. Our computer at home is not working well, then I had about 200 photos to upload from the new camera, then when I finally did that, I found out the keyboard didn't work! So you'll have to just wait to see the pics when we get a new keyboard, since this laptop doesn't have them on it. ;-)

We will begin with Kaipo's baptism in January. It was a wonderful day, we had lots of family and friends come to support Kaipo. He chose to have his Uncle Kevin perform the baptism. Kevin had just turned 18, and will be going away to college and then a mission soon. He was successful in dunking Kaipo comepletely the first time! Way to go Kevin!!

Along with turning 8, Kaipo now gets to go to cub scouts! He loves going every week, and all the fun activities they do. Just last week was the annual Pinewood Derby Car Race, in which Kaipo and Thad's Batmobile placed 2nd in our ward competition!!! (Really wish I could post this pic!) They had lots of fun designing and making the car together. It was great bonding time!

In February Julie was lucky enough to be able to attend the sealing of our wonderful friends Erin and Lim to their son Malachi in the Seattle Temple. They have been living in Kansas the last year and a half while Lim was deployed to Iraq for the 2nd time. It was amazing to see the wonderful blessings of the Temple in action. (There were many tears!!!) It was a short visit but a great time!

In March, Julie attended the Time Out For Women weekend with a few friends from our ward. We stayed in a hotel on the Seattle Waterfront, attended both Friday evening and Saturday sessions. Julie even got her picture taken with Hilary Weeks, one of her favorite church vocalists! (Another pic I wish I could post!!) Julie had a wonderful weekend with some amazing friends, and didn't worry once about the kids at home with daddy and Grandma! Thanks to Aimee, Meredith and Nicole for an unforgettable weekend!! May we have many more in the future!

Thad recently did a sleep study, since he began snoring a few years ago. This mostly bugs Julie, as she can't sleep with the snoring. But we are waiting for the results and will see what can be done about it. Ben is scheduled to get tubes in his ears on april 15th. He has had 7 ear infections, and he will be 10 months old tomorrow! Poor baby!!!! He also had hearing tests done and he has some hearing loss, but they think it is most likely form the amount of fluid behind his ear dums, which should drain with the help of the tubes. We will have his hearing tested again 6 weeks after the surgery, and the doctor is guessing his hearing should be normal by then. Please keep Ben in your prayers for this procedure, and a speedy and full recovery! :-)

My last bit of news is that this week Thad was laid off from work. The buisness (wrecking yard) isn't doing too well right now because of a bad economy and low metal pricing, so it was forced to close the doors. Thad's uncle, who owns the buisness, is allowing Thad to part out any of the cars on the lot and keep any money he can make doing that. The hope is that within a few months, they will be able to reopen as a u-pull-it parts yard. So this will give Thad a lot of experience in that field. It's kinds stressful not knowing when and how much money you will be bringing home, but we have applied for all the state assistence we can get! :-)

I really wish I could post some pics this time, I just know there are so many funny stories to tell, that only the pictures would do justice for. We hope to get a new keyboard soon, so I will just have to post them all later. I think that's most of the major news and events of the last few months. I will try to stay better updated on here from now on! Hope this finds you all enjoying some sunny Spring weather!

I WON TICKETS!!!!!!!

2009-02-20T15:11:00.000-08:00

I actually won Taylor Swift tickets today off the radio. I'm still in shock!!!! Words can not express how excited I am right now!!!!!!!

WATER WATER EVERYWHERE!!!!!

2009-01-07T17:39:00.000-08:00

What do you get when you combine 3 feet of melting snow with non-stop rain???

These were taken today. Some are in Start-Up (the next town East) and some are in Sultan.

Dinner Conversation

2009-01-01T18:14:00.000-08:00

Preface: I made dinner for a friend who just had her baby, and I didn't leave much at home so that we wouldn't have any leftovers. I shared my bowl of chicken alfredo with Sarah, and when I finished and told her it was all gone, this is what happened.

Me: "I'm sorry Sarah, there isn't any more. I didn't make very much."
Sarah: "That wasn't very nice, Mommy."

Ouch!!

Happy 2009!!!!!

2009-01-01T13:26:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!!!!

We had some our good friends Jacki and Terrence over for some Jeff Dunham videos on New Year's Eve. Connor and Sarah are great buddies!

Christmas Morning!

2009-01-01T12:53:00.000-08:00

Since our camera broke right before Christmas we bought ourselves a new one!! Here is a short video of our Christmas morning!

And another one..... (you can see how hard it was snowing in this one.)

Christmas Day

2009-01-01T12:35:00.000-08:00

We woke up on Christmas morning and opened presents at our house, then drove doen to Tacoma and spent the weekend at Grandma and Grandpa Gollihur's house. We played with cousins on Christmas, and got to visit with lots of friends we don't get to see often enough. Thad and I got an evening out by ourselves (thanks grandma!). Here are lots of pics!!

Sarah and Tori hiding

Sarah loves to copy Mommy

Cuddling with Grandpa

Heath

Happy Sarah

Friends Mercedes and Tirzah

Kaipo and Caleb

Sarah made friends with Elyse

My girls Kynsey and Elyse

Christmas Eve

2009-01-01T12:16:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas Eve with some good friends of ours at their annual potluck. It was a great evening filled with yummy food, a chocolate fountain, good friends, and great conversation. Here are a few pics from the night....Sarah with friends Josie and Paige

Sarah played with Paige's dress-up things

Kaipo got messy with the chocolate fountain

Later on that night, we had our traditional Christmas Eve and read the Christmas story in Luke 2. Kaipo got to read more of it this year (maybe he can read all of it next year??) We also opened a family gift, which is another tradition. I have started getting the kids new jammies for that gift. They seemed to enjoy them!

Ben wanted to eat his present!

His shirt says "What Santa doesn't bring me Grandma will"

Sarah loves her silky jammies

Kaipo opening...

New jammies!!

Snow Pics

2009-01-01T12:10:00.001-08:00

I'm Freeeee!!!!

2008-12-22T18:12:00.000-08:00

Well, it took my wonderful husband almost 45 minutes.....but I'm free. Digging.....

Our wall of snow.....

Yes, I did get stuck climbing in the snow

Thad thought it was funny.....I was really stuck!

Anyone Have a Snow-Plow??

2008-12-22T09:14:00.000-08:00

So I don't think we got anymore snow over the past couple of days. I say "think" because it has been so windy (90mph gusts) that I can't really tell. And the best part of all that wind is that the snow has "drifted". Right in front of my garage door, to be exact. Thad went out to warm up his truck this morning, and had to spend 30 mins digging it out. Luckily I don't have plans to go anywhere today, or he would still be out there digging out the rest of the driveway for me! There is a wall of snow up to my waist!!! I'm seriously snowed-in, can't get out of my own garage. I think I'm tired of the snow now. (More in the forecast....great!)

my wall of snow

we made Christmas tree cakes

kids playing

silly sarah beth

sarah & daddy playing monopoly jr.

Snowed- In!

2008-12-18T19:17:00.000-08:00

It has been snowing all night, and all day. And it started last weekend. Last I measured, we have 15 inches at our house. I REALLY wish I could post a pic, but if course our camera has chosen this day to die. I did, however, get a couple of pics early today with my phone.....

It's up to his elbows!!

And up to his knees!

The only way around town with this much snow! :-)

Have You Ever?

2008-12-17T14:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, so the rules are..... anything you have done, bold it!

1. Started your own blog 2. Slept under the stars 3. Played in a band 4. Visited Hawaii 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than you can afford to charity 7. Been to Disneyland 8. Climbed a mountain 9. Held a praying mantis 10. Sang a solo 11. Bungee jumped 12. Visited Paris 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea 14. Taught yourself an art from scratch 15. Adopted a child 16. Had food poisoning 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty 18. Grown your own vegetables 19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France 20. Slept on an overnight train 21. Had a pillow fight 22. Hitch hiked 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill 24. Built a snow fort 25. Held a lamb 26. Gone skinny dipping 27. Run a Marathon 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice 29. Seen a total eclipse 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset 31. Hit a home run 32. Been on a cruise 33. Seen Niagara Falls in person 34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 35. Seen an Amish community 36. Taught yourself a new language 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person 39. Gone rock climbing 40. Seen Michelangelo’s David 41. Sung karaoke 42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt 43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant 44. Visited Africa 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight 46. Been transported in an ambulance 47. Had your portrait painted 48. Gone deep sea fishing- 49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person 50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling 52. Kissed in the rain 53. Played in the mud 54. Gone to a drive-in theater 55. Been in a movie- 56. Visited the Great Wall of China 57. Started a business 58. Taken a martial arts class 59. Visited Russia 60. Served at a soup kitchen 61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (does campfire candy count?) 62. Gone whale watching 63. Got flowers for no reason 64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma 65. Gone sky diving 66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 67. Bounced a check 68. Flown in a helicopter 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 71. Eaten Caviar 72. Pieced a quilt 73. Stood in Times Square 74. Toured the Everglades 75. Been fired from a job 76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London 77. Broken a bone 78. Been on a speeding motorcycle 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person 80. Published a book 81. Visited the Vatican 82. Bought a brand new car 83. Walked in Jerusalem 84. Had your picture in the newspaper 85. Read the entire Bible 86. Visited the White House 87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 88. Had chickenpox 89. Saved someone’s life 90. Sat on a jury 91. Met someone famous 92. Joined a book club 93. Lost a loved one 94. Had a baby 95. Seen the Alamo in person 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake 97. Been involved in a law suit 98. Owned a cell phone 99. Been stung by a bee

Hiding Out!

2008-12-17T10:51:00.000-08:00

So I found out where Santa lives during the "off" season.......

Apparently, he doesn't always travel by sleigh!!

I FOUND ONE!!!!!

2008-12-16T10:32:00.000-08:00

Ok, since Sarah Beth can't read, and I trust that no one will tell her this before Christmas......I have been searching everywhere for this specific dollhouse to buy for her. It was on sale way back in November, but I wasn't smart enough to buy one then. I thought "oh things will just keep getting cheaper." hahahaha. Or they will run out of them. Even the Fisher Price website doesn't have any. Finally, after spending hours on the internet and the phone calling any store I can think of, my friend Aimee suggested the Freddy's by her doc's office (I'm watching her daughter while she has an appt), and they had one!!!!! I almost had a heart attack! I know this is dumb to blog about, but I also know I'm not the first mom to go this crazy over getting something for her kids! Yay!!!!!

Homemaking Blog

2008-12-15T15:40:00.000-08:00

Ok, my older sis Kim has an AMAZING blog all about homemkaing. It has tons of stuff on there! And even more links to awsome blogs/sites she follows. Kim is an awsome mom and womderful homemaker. I will be posting links to some of my fave sites of hers on here also, but you really NEED to go check out her blog! It's www.cleverhomemaking.blogspot.com. You rock, KIM!!!

Tagged!

2008-12-11T19:51:00.000-08:00

I have been tagged. Usually I don't like these, but this one sounded a little fun. Here goes...

**NOTE** You may only use one word to answer the questions. Harder than you think!!

1. Where is your cell phone? pocket
2. Your significant other? home
3. Your hair? up
4. Your Skin? Pale
5. Your mother? Amazing
6. Your favorite thing? Food
7. Your dream last night? odd
8. Your favorite drink? lemonade
9. Your dream/goal? health
10. The room you're in? kitchen
11. Your ex? jail
12. Your fear? kidnapping
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? home
14. Where were you last night? home
15. What you're not? tall (hahahaha!)
16. Muffins? sure
17. One of your wish list items? happiness
18. Where you grew up? UPtown
19. The last thing you did? share
20. What are you wearing? jeans
21. Your TV? Off
23. Your computer? oldish
24. Your life? better
25. Your mood? tired
26. Missing someone? always
27. Your car? dirty
28. Something you're not wearing? Shoes
29. Favorite Store? Target
30. Your summer? huh?
31. Like someone? many
32. Your favorite color? pink
33. When is the last time you laughed? Today
34. Last time you cried? today
35. What did you eat last? chips
36. Favorite Music? country

Ok, I tag......Carol, Kim, Hilarie, Erin, Maleen and anyone else who wants to do this.

Getting Better....

2008-12-08T21:17:00.000-08:00

First of all, I want to say thank you to all who have left me get well wishes. I am feeling somewhat better. Just waiting for the antibiotics to get rid of the pain from the UTI. One note.....you know how they say that passing a kidney stone is worse than natural childbirth? It's TRUE. Much worse.

What Did I Do???

2008-12-07T18:03:00.000-08:00

I'm wondering what I did to deserve the week I've just had??? It all started out Monday evening. Just after we put Sarah down for bed, I heard her crying. I looked in on her to find out that she had thrown up.....all over herself and her bed. 45 minutes later after a bath and clean sheets, she was back in bed, this time with a bowl. :-) That night turned into the night from you-know-where! Between Ben waking up every 90 minutes or less, and Sarah throwing up 3 more times, I don't think I made it asleep until close to 5am. That's when I was tired enough to sleep even though I felt like throwing up myself. That next day, I did. Thad stayed home to take care of his sick family- me, Sarah and Ben. Fast forward 48 hours when all that seemed to be over. I went to my 4 week post-op on Thursday. Yay!!! More great news. (That was very sarcastic!) I found out that I'm not healing correctly or as fast as I should be. I still have stitches that should have disovled already, and I have scar tissue that is growing together in the wrong area. So I have to go back in a month to get checked again. I got a new prescription for the estrogen patch, hoping that I could rid myself of these wonderful hot flashes. (Sarcasm again.) Within hours of putting it on, I started feeling weird, having stinging pains in a not so fun area. I thought it must be from the patch, so I took it off that evening. I felt better in the morning, so I tried putting another one on. Nope, started hurting again. Odd. I took it back off and thought I would call the doc when I could. Since I had barely slept the night before from Ben being up all night again, I never did get to that phone call. I ended up taking Ben in to the doc. He most likely has another ear infection. The doc still can't see in one of his ears (shouldn't he be able to by now?) That evening my pain was still awful, even though I had taken off the patch. I didn't sleep much, again. Throughout Saturday, my pain got worse and worse. At about 5:30, it got to the point where I was crying hysterically, and rolling around on the ground. I tried taking painkillers, but I ended up throwing them up. Fast forward 3 hours to 8:30 p.m., we left for the hospital. I was sure it was a kidney stone (I've had them before). On a scale of 1-10, my pain was about 25. I'm pretty sure the stone passed just after I got to the hospital though. But I also have a bad bladder infection. Fun! Today I'm feeling a little better, I'm not positive the stone passed. It's that, or the pain from the UTI is still bad. Either way, I'd like to just erase this last week. Can I have a do-over??

I Was Kidding!

2008-11-22T15:54:00.000-08:00

Okay, in my last post, I was kidding when I said "bring on the hot flashes!" It's been a little more than two weeks since my surgery. I haven't taken any of the estrogen I was given yet, I'm trying to find out how severe my symptoms are without anything first. Well let me tell ya.....it ain't fun!! Last night was the first time since I got home that I didn't run the air conditioner all night. Poor Thad is freezing all night long. The hot flashes are pretty severe, but not unmanagable. I just dress like it's summer, and keep the heat down (don't worry, my kids don't freeze!)

On a funnier note......I remembered something my surgeon told me after the surgery. All I remember was that they wheeled me into the Operating Room and I laid down on the table, then they covered me in warm blankets (why are those rooms FREEZING??), then after a few minutes the anestisiologist came in and took my arm and told me he was going to give me something in my IV to help relax me. Well, as the rest of the story goes (that I have no memory of), after he gave me some Vallium, I apparently asked to have some sent home with "because I could really sleep with this stuff". I soooooo don't have any memory of saying that, but it sounds like something I would say.

Totally unrelated.....when I went to the office to pick up Kaipo from school the other day, I was asked if I was his sister picking him up. Nope, I would be the mom. Who's almost 30. But thanks for making me feel 18 again!!! :-)

Bring on the Hot Flashes!

2008-11-13T19:21:00.000-08:00

I went in for surgery last Wednesday, the 5th. I had a total hysterectomy with removal of both ovaries. The surgery went well, except I think they accidentally took out my bladder as well since I have to pee about every 5 minutes!!! :-) No seriously, it all went great. I woke up the next morning feeling like I hadn't even had it done. I was walking around much sooner than expected. Only problem was that didn't last long. I woke up the next day feeling just AWFUL. It's been that way up until today, when I finally started feeling like I was on the way up instead of down. My mom has been here since we got home, and will be for another week. I'm moving around a little better, but I'm not allowed to lift Ben until two weeks post-op. I'm doing okay as far as side effects (i.e. hot flashes, mood swings, etc.) I'm supposed to be taking estrogen supplements, but I'm waiting to see how intense the side effects get. It's a very weird feeling to know that I will NEVER have another period filled with awful painful cramps. Along with never being pregnant again. Here are (yet more!) some pictures of me recovering, and the kiddos hanging out at Grandma's house.

(My sister Kim made this blanket for Kaipo when for his 1st birthday, and as you can see it has been well-used, now by Sarah and Ben!)

Pictures

2008-11-13T19:16:00.000-08:00

I know, I know.......I probably do this too often. But how else am I supposed to post some unrelated cute pics of my adorable kids??

Pumpkin Carving

2008-11-13T19:09:00.000-08:00

Here are pictures of our wonderful (and smelly) pumpkin carving evening. And no, I don't have any finished product photos......I forgot. Then I was gonna take some the morning after Halloween, but our pumpkin ended up in the road by the time we were home from trick-or-treating!!! (How rude!) Kaipo was Bobba Fett, Sarah was a doctor, I was her nurse, and Ben was a little green monster thing. We had a lot of fun, and Sarah figured it all out this year!

The Tooth Fairy......

2008-10-26T18:45:00.000-07:00

Ben has TOOTH!!!! Sometime between his bath last night and this morning at church it broke through. Thad was letting Ben chew on his finger during church and felt the tooth! I can't believe it! I knew he'd been teething, but I figured it would be months until one came. Nope, 4 and a half months. What does this mean????........ :-)

Pictures!!

2008-10-22T19:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent pictures......

Updates......

2008-10-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, I don't have a good excuse for not posting anything in so long. Just been busy I guess. I am sure I will leave a few things out, but here goes.....

We will start with Thad. Work is going good, slowing down a bit lately. We enjoyed a short visit to Spokane last weekend. Thad's younger brother Kyle returned from his mission a few weeks ago. He served in Michigan for the last two years. Sorry I don't have a picture but I'm not on my in-laws' email list :-( It was great to see Kyle again and also see Thad's sister Amanda and her family who came to visit from Omaha. (If Melanie or Carrie could email me some of those pics I would appreciate it!) Thad is slowly recovering from a nasty cold that started with strep throat. Gotta love cold season!!

Kaipo is foing great in school still. I went to his parent/teacher conference this past week. He is reading a little above grade level and doing well in the other subjects too. He still loves Unicycle club, and is sooo close to advancing into level one. He began piano lessons about three weeks ago and enjoys that. We bouth him a keboard to practice on since we don't have room for a real piano yet. Someday!

Sarah Beth is growing up soooo much! She surprises me each and every day with a few new words I have to decifer. She is the Ultimate copy-cat! Her favorite new phrase is "I do it!" Her baby Ashley has to come evrywhere, and we are often diapering or doing her hair together. It is so much fun having a girl to play with! She has finally learned to go to nursery on her own (after only almost a year!) Sarah is such a huge help with little Benjamin. She loves to be a little mommy!

Ben is growing like a weed these days. He weighed just over 13 pounds at his 4 month appointment last week. He has developed a little reflux so we are adding some cereal to his bottles and so far that has helped. I'm hoping to avoid any medications. He is getting better at holding his head up on his tummy, but still does face-plants a lot. He surprised me and rolled over from his tummy when my friend was watching him while I was at Kaipo's conference last week. Always showing off for others but not Mommy! :-) He seems to always have his fists in his mouth, chewing on those fingers! He finds his little thumbs quite often, and I thing as soon as he can hold them still longer, he will be a thumb-sucker for sure! He sleeps okay, some nights he does great and others he seems to be up all night. We love the sweet spirit he brings to our home!

As for me, I am doing good. I have my hysterectomy scheduled for November 5th. It will be a full (ovaries and uterus both.) I will be in the hospital for 24-48 hours, down in Tacoma. My mom is able to stay with us for 2 weeks afterwards to help with the kiddos. It will be a 4-6 week recovery period though. Kaipo will be staying in town at a friend's house so that he doesn't miss school.

I'm sorry but it's almost bed time and I kinda need to help with the kids. I promise to post more later!!

Dancing Queen

2008-09-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

I took this video of Sarah Beth this Morning. We were cleaning house and listening to music on the t.v. when "her" song came on. It's called Skin and it's by Rascall Flatts. This song came out right before I found out that I was having a girl, and I wanted to have her middle name be mine, but I hadn't thought of a first name yet......then I heard this song, and I LOVED the name Sarah Beth.
(I took it with my phone so sorry it isn't the best quality!)

Are You Serious???

2008-09-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, most of you know about my fight with endometriosis (see 9/27/07 post). Since I suffer from that so much, and I am now done having anymore kids, I decided that my next step would be to have a hysterectomy. I figured my OB/GYN would do this for me, since she did deliver my last child. NOPE!!! When I called to schedule it, since when we talked at my last appointment she made it sound like not a problem, I was told that she wasn't willing to do it until I had tried some other options to treat the endo. UH WHAT??? I asked the nurse if she realized that I had been dealing with this for half my life, and that I've tried EVERYTHING OUT THERE???? Whatever, I'm just going to see my old doc down in Tacoma, one of the ones I worked for. She treated me for almost 4 years and did my last laporoscopy anyways. She knows it's what I want, and was willing to do it when I was ready.

Pictures

2008-09-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

Thought I would just post a few cute pics......

my cute baby ben

sarah beth loves ben

such a mommy already!

holding baby ben

I put it together all by myself!!!

First Day of School

2008-09-04T08:49:00.000-07:00

Kaipo started second grade yesterday!! He is still in the same class, 1st and 2nd split. We have loved his teacher and are happy he is in her class again. I didn't think of explaining to Sarah Beth that summer was over and Kaipo had to go back to school, because when he got on the bus in the morning, she gave a FIT!!!! She asked for him all day long, and even gave a fit again this morning too. Poor Sarah, her buddy is gone. :-( When I took Kaipo's picture, of course Sarah had to have hers taken as well, with Kaipo's backpack on too!

A Conversation with Sarah Beth.....

2008-09-02T15:44:00.000-07:00

(excuse my typing, my keyboard is acting up)

meet ashley- sarah beth's imaginary friend, also known as her baby doll she must sleep next to each night, with ashley on her own pillow and with her own blanket. but that's a whole other story!......

the other day, i was sitting in my room feeding ben, thad was in the shower and sarah was playing on our bed. thad's cell phone was on the bed, so sarah picked it up and started talking.....

sarah- "hello ashley"(pause) "play me?" (pause) "bye ashley" and she closes the phone.

then to me, sarah- "ashley not play me."
me- "why can't ashley play?"
sarah- "busy. play daddy."

now this conversation continued about 5 more times. each time she "called" ashley she got more and more frustrated because ashley couldn't play since she was already playing with her daddy. i coulnd't help but laugh because she had come up with this whole story all on her own, and was actually getting mad at ashley! when thad came out of the bathroom, he asked sarah who she was talking to on the phone, and sarah threw the phone down on the bed and burried her head in my pillow. can we say DRAMA QUEEN!!!!!

SMILES!!!!!

2008-08-13T17:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have a few other friends with babies close in age to Ben, and they ALL have pics of their little ones smiling. Ben does smile, but still not too often. This afternoon I was talking to him and he started giving me huge smiles.....so I quickly grabbed the camera. I got two good pics. If you know my Dad or brother Matt, you will enjoy the second one (sorry it's a bit blurry). It's the Gollihur-half-smile!

I Really Was Blind!

2008-08-13T15:12:00.001-07:00

So I finally got in to have my eyes checked. Things have been getting more and more blurry lately. I'm supposed to wear glasses when I drive, but they weren't helping much, and actually gave me a headache. Turns out my prescription HAD changed. So I got to pick out new frames......and Thad found some pink and black ones that I just loved!!! Sorry the pic isn't that good, it's a funny angle. It's amazing how well I can see now that I have new glasses!!! :-)

"What Happened to You?"

2008-08-13T15:01:00.001-07:00

So I went to the Dermatologist a couple weeks ago (at the urging of my mom for about the last year!). I have a huge mole on my right thigh, it's literally about the size of a dime. My mom had one removed years ago that turned out to be Melanoma, so she really wanted me to get mine looked at. The doc said he wasn't worried about that one, since I've had it forever, and it hasn't changed or looks weird. He continued to look at my other freckles/moles (I have a lot), and he didn't really like the looks of the one on my forehead. It was only about 2 years old, and it looked "smeered", like it was moving south. It was also a weird reddish color. So off it came! I scheduled the surgery (yes that's what they consider it....scary!) for a few days later. He said it would be a small scar, maybe half an inch long, and right along my hairline, so easy to hide. UMMMM, THAT AIN'T SMALL!!!! It's about and inch and a half long. And I have two layers of stitches, one disolvable layer underneath, and one layer on top which might get taken out tomorrow. That all depends on how well I've healed. I also get back the biopsy results tomorrow. Cross your fingers for me!

Vacation!!!

2008-08-13T13:18:00.001-07:00

We got home last night from Thad's family reunion (his mom's side). It was held in Lincoln City, Oregon this year. We left around noon on Friday, and it took us a little bit longer to drive there than we expected. Some of that was due to two out of three kids who don't travel long distance well, and because we ran into rush hour traffic in Portland. But after a long 8 hours we were there! Since the reunion didn't start until saturday afternoon, we checked into our hotel and went swimming in the pool with Thad's sister and her family who were also staying there. His parents got there as we were heading back up to our rooms. Saturday morning we all got up and headed to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It was awsome! Ben was nice to me and actually slept in the stroller most of the time, so I could enjoy the animals too!

We then had a yummy lunch at Mo's in Lincoln City. (Yes they did have food other than seafood so I didn't starve!)

For the reunion we rented out two houses, both had 5 or 6 rooms and like 3 or 4 bathrooms. They were awsome! We had an amazing view of the ocean (see first pic), and were a very short walk to the beach. Kaipo and Thad enjoyed kite flying and walking in the ocean. Julie enjoyed being with people who wanted to take care of and hold baby Ben for her! It was really nice to get to meet more of Thad's family, and spend time with the ones I already knew and we don't see often enough. I'm finding out that I have a lot in common with his brother's wife Melanie- we get along great! :-) All in all it was a relaxing and long weekend, but we had so much fun and are really wanting to go back next summer! Kaipo loved having lots of cousins to play with, and Sarah Beth loved having her cousin Corissa ("Rissa") to play with.

On Monday, we took the afternoon to visit the Outlet Mall there. It was fun, but not as many stores that I liked as I was hoping for. I got a few things for Sarah Beth, a new fleece for me, Thad bought a new wallet, and a few other misc things. I was really wanting to buy Kaipo's back to school clothes, but I didn't find anything for him.

It was a great weekend with lots of family......but we are happy to be back in our house with our beds and not living out of suitcases! :-)

Blessing Day

2008-08-03T19:17:00.001-07:00

Little Benjamin was blessed today.

Thanks to both of our parents for making the trip up for the occasion!

Daddy and his Mini-Thad!

My Little Girl

2008-07-31T08:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Sarah Beth!!!!

Comments....

2008-07-30T15:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, this may be really tacky, but I don't get the time to comment on each individual blog, so here goes....

Amanda- We are so excited for you guys. I think it's awsome that you didn't find out what the baby is. We are waiting to hear how David did on his boards, make sure and keep us updated. Sad you aren't coming to the reunion, but we understand. Hope to see you guys sometime soon!

Amber- Looks like you've had a fun summer. I wish I had the energy you do. Maybe you can come paint my house next?? :-) Miss you and we NEED to get together before school starts!

Carol- Ok, so I know we talk like everyday, but HI!!! :-)

Carrie L.- Yay on starting a blog! I was the same, said I'd never ever own a minvan, and I love mine! We are so excited to see you next weekend! Wish we all lived closer though. See ya soon!

Matt and Carrie G.- It was fun having you visit in May. Sarah still talks about you guys! We really need to get down there sometime soon. Hope you come back for the holidays!

Crystal- Thanks so much for coming to my baby shower! And it was fun hanging out after, we never get to see you guys anymore. Seriously though, you need to just come up for the day! Yay on getting Alexis potty training! Sarah has her days when she loves it, then it's not a big deal. Someday!!

Erin- It was wonderful having you visit! I'm sad you had to leave, but I know you will be back!!

Gina- Holy Cow! It was awsome to hear from you. I hardly even recognize the girls! We need to look you up next time we're in Spokane, Thad's family is there.

Hil- Hey girlie! You really need to come up here. Your doggies are adorable. And good lookin hubby too! (Since I STILL haven't seen wedding pics) Haha. I miss you hon. BFF

Jordee- Welcome to blogging! It was fun to see you at your baby shower. Jenna is sooo cute! and your kids got big! I mean, I know they grew and all. We need to hang out next time I'm in town.

Kandy- Holy coincidence. That's awsome that our little boys were born on the same day. We should get them together!

Kim- It was fun having you in town. Wish we could have spent more time down there though. We really need to come visit!

Maleen- Happy 4th girl! Your family is so gorgeous. Tyler's really gonna be in trouble when your girls grow up!

Melanie- I'm glad you got into your house. Yay!! And I'm excited to see you guys next weekend.

Happy Birthday Sarah!!!

2008-07-30T13:39:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this post is technically a day early, being that tomorrow is the big day.....but we celebrated Sarah's second birthday on Sunday before Kim and her family left town. We all went to Mom and Dad's ward (I haven't been there since I was pregnant with Sarah), then we had a yummy dinner. After that was cleaned up, we broke out the Dora stuff! All the kids kept saying "Wow! Wow!" when we put down the tablecloth. We had pink cupcakes and then opened lots of Dora presents! But the best we saved for last......I asked my dad to make a baby cradle for her. It is AMAZING!!!! She just loved it. My mom made lots of blankets and burp rags and even a purse to match. And as you can see......Sarah thought she would take a turn too! Happy Birthday sweetie! We love you!!!

Changes at Work

2008-07-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

Starting tonight, Thad will be working nights, 10pm-6am. They are taking in so many cars now (3 other wrecking yards have closed down in the area) that they can't keep up! They can "produce" (take apart and prepare to crush) only about a third of what they take in each day. So there will now be a team woring 24 hours until they catch up. Or maybe permanently? We aren't sure. Thad thinks he won't mind the new schedule, after he gets used to it. I'm excited, because he will be home during the days. Yes I know, he will need to sleep a lot, but at least he is HOME if I need him. And it also means that I will get nap each afternoon after he wakes up!!!!! I will have help with the kids more than 2 hours each evening, another adult home if I just need to run out for a short errand and don't feel like taking all three kids, and someone to come with me to doctor's appointments. He is planning on coming home and after breakfast and a shower trying to sleep from about 8-2. I say trying because he has never been able to sleep much during the day. But I have a feeling it will be easier since he will have been up working all night. Well, that's my update on Thad! :-)

Say "Cheese"!!

2008-07-30T09:23:00.000-07:00

This past week, my sister Kim and her family came to visit from Utah. We had lots of fun getting all the cousins/grandkids together to play. And in May, my older brother Matt and his wife Carrie came to visit.

Matt, Kim, Audrey (10), Ben (6) and Spencer (2)

The whole gang

Matt and Carrie

Thad, Julie, Kaipo (7), Sarah Beth (2) and Ben (1 mo)

Jeff, Carol, Heath (2) and Tori (1)

Quick Update...

2008-07-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

I feel like this is all I am doing lately on here, short little updates. Well, life with a newborn doesn't exactly make it easy to type away at the computer all day! :-)

- Kaipo enjoyed participating in the Sultan Shindig Parade this year with the Unicycle Team. (See pic below)

-Sarah has mastered (finally!!!) the art of going to bed without first falling asleep at the bottle. In fact, there is NO bottle anymroe. That's right, about 5 weeks before her SECOND bday we took them away. Amd of course, she was fine with it. But it was all about timing, I'm sure of that!

-Ben is doing well, except for the nasty rash he has. Doc says it's some odd virus that's going around and it will be gone soon. But it makes him SOooo uncomfortable. And fussy!

-Our little man now weighs in at a whopping NINE pounds, at almost 6 weeks old. (I'm being sarcastic) He's still so tiny!

-I took a day out for ME today. I got a babysitter and took myself (and Ben) to the mall for retail therapy (and new clothes). It did wonders! I'm down one pant size from pre-Ben now, and my goal is two more and 20 more pounds. Oh yeah, by the end of the year. Wish me luck!

-We are excitedly waiting for my sister and her family to arrive late tomorrow night from Utah for about 10 days. It's been a year since we saw them, and they have a new nephew/cousin to meet this time!

-I can't think of what else has been happening. Blame sleep deprivation. I promise that someday I will tell all the fun details of my labor and delivery. It really is worth hearing. I have my six week post partum on Monday, along with my surgery consult. I 'd love to have it done and be mostly recovered by the time school starts.

Enjoy the pics!

WAY TO GO KAIPO!!!

2008-06-26T15:44:00.001-07:00

Kaipo made the Unicycle Team today!!! (He had to ride all the way across the gym- the long way- all by himself.) I actually showed upa little early to pick him up from practice, in hopes he might have made the team. But I showed up just in time to watch him practice for about 5 minutes before he rode all the way across! Way to go Kaipo!!! :-)

Frog Legs, Dolfin Cries and Random Thoughts.....

2008-06-22T20:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, so since I only have a few minutes, and a lot on my mind, this will be short. I'm always thinking "ooohh I should blog about that", and I haven't had much time for the last few weeks. So here goes....
*Ben has frog legs. They are so stinking small and he still pulls them up to his chest most of the time. All I can think of is frog legs!
*He also sounds like a dolfin when he gets really going crying. It's hard to explain, but if you hear it, you'll know what I mean.
*Kaipo is going to summer unicycling practices, and last week he went from being able to ride on his own for about ten feet before he loses balance, to now he made it almost half-way across the gym alone!
*Sarah is doing better with the whole new baby thing. I survived my first week alone with the kids. Ok, almost. My mom came up on Friday to help so I could TRY to get a few naps in.
*Ben still has night and day mixed up, which isn't so much fun. He sleeps great during the day, when I have other children to take care of and can't nap. But he likes to stay awake for an hour or two (or almost three the other night) after feedings.
*My mother is an angel. She came up for 4 days when I was in the hospital having Ben, three days the next week, and this last Friday. It's been awsome having her so close. (They live about 75 miles south of us.) She brings me groceries, plays with the kids, cuddles with Ben so I can sleep, it's wonderful!! I only wish I could hire her as a full-time Nanny! :-)
*Thad bought Kaipo a motorcycle helmet last week. I thought for sure Kaipo would be nervous riding, but he LOVES it! They even rode to Monore yesterday to buy Kaipo some gloves.
*I've had to buy more clothes for Ben. He doesn't really fit into anything yet, but the newborn stuff (vs. the 0-3 month stuff, which IS bigger) kinda fits. I know he is growing (6 lbs 9 oz on Thursday) but I don't see it yet. I feel like he'll be in this stuff forever!
*I'm recovering great. And yes, I do know it's all because of the whole Natural labor thing. To make a long story short, I had the worst labor yet. Almost 19 hours, got every little awful "symptom" you can imagine, had my epidural turned OFF, and ended up going totally natural. NOT what I had planned on!!!
*To date, I have lost 22 pounds. (I only gained 11 though!!!) My pre-Ben jeans are too big. (I do nurse like 24/7 though)

Benjamin Lincoln

2008-06-09T13:47:00.000-07:00

Born June 6, 2008

11:48am
18 hrs 48 mins of labor

(But I delivered natural!)

Weighing 6 lbs 5 ozs. and 19.5 inches long
(Exact same as Sarah!)

And here's the goofy siblings!!

For more pictures go to www.Our365.com

Search under customer ID# 23331-2369-06765

Student of the Month

2008-05-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

Kaipo was honored at an assembly yesterday as Student of the Month for his classroom. He didn't know about it until the principal called his name! Of course, we were given a head's up, so we could attend the assembly. Thad took an hour off of work, and my Dad even drove from Tacoma. We tried to get pictures but I think we were too far away. I will take one when he brings the award home.

As for me......don't ask!! I'm 37 weeks today, been sick part of the week, and don't see my doc until Tuesday- when I will be begging to be induced. I know I sound lame to some of you out there, but think of it this way.....I've been having contractions since around 14 weeks. And I've literally felt like I was in labor for the last 3 weeks. I'm ready to be done! :-) Just knock me out and wake me up when it's over please!! That's about it for now.....stay posted!

Baby Update....

2008-05-15T21:18:00.000-07:00

I thought I would give everyone an update on how the baby and I are doing these days. (No I didn't deliver yet.) I was seen on Tuesday of this week, and I hadn't made any progress since the week before. I am still having plenty of contractions, roughly about every 2-5 minutes. (Yes I'm serious!) I'm now allowed to go off the terbutaline, which I honestly can't tell I'm still taking anyways. I don't think it works anymore, and I don't notice any side effects. I will be 35 weeks tomorrow, and I'm told any labor from now on WON'T be stopped!!!!!

I also had an ultrasound today. My doctor wanted to check the baby's weight and position before I went into labor. He is head down, ready to go! And they approximate his weight (+ or - 12 ounces) to be 4 pounds 15 ounces right now. Which is the 38th% for my dates. But since I have small babies, that's a good size. When they plug in all the sizes and measuremeants of the ultrasound, he measures one day smaller than how pregnant I am. So he is doing awsome!! The tech also used the 3D ultrasound to get better pics of something, and she was nice enough to give me a few pics of little Ben's face. He is literally snuggling up to the placenta like it's a blanket, so it was hard to see all of his face. But he already looks adorable! I'm ready! His room is ready, the crib is made, clothes are folded and put away, all I need now is A BABY!!! :-)

In other news, this weekend is the Father/Son campout for our stake at church. Kaipo is excited to go! My mom is coming up Friday night to stay with me just in case I do go into labor. Both her and Thad were uncomfortable with me being home alone, along with all of my friends' husbands being gone, so it would be hard to find someone to come stay with sleeping Sarah and also drive me to the hospital. But some of my friends have planned a girls' night, so it will be nice to actually be able to go for a little bit while mom stays home with Sarah!

I apologize for the long updates, but I don't get much alone time at the computer these days. Everytime I sit down, Sarah whines and needs me elsewhere! And it isn't really the most comfortable seat now, so I'm not spending much time on the computer. But I promise to update on any big news!

Baby Shower!

2008-05-07T10:34:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was my baby shower. It was loads of fun! My parents came up early as did my brother and sis-in-law with their two kids. Jeff also drove up two of the young women I taught in Tacoma. And afterwards, our friends Britt and Crystal and their little girl Alexis (three weeks younger than Sarah) stayed for the evening. It was a great day filled with friends and family! I got many many needed baby things, and I had fun setting up the crib when we got home. I still have a little last minute decorations to put up, so I'll post those pics when I'm done. I wanted to say thank you to all of those who were able to make it to my shower. It was so much fun! Here are a few pics from the day.Preggers Me :-)

Aimee and Heather

Jacki and Felicia

Sarah Beth and Alexis

Kynsey and Elyse

Catching Up

2008-04-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while since my last post. I've been busy preparing rooms and things like that for baby Ben. And I've been having less and less energy these days. I had my 32 week appointment last week. Things are still progressing, just slowly. I'm thinning out and my cervix is changing. I told Thad that I feel justified that at least all these contractions are actually doing something!!! It's still slow, but at least I know they aren't in vain. I can go off my meds after next week, and doc says she won't stop any labor at that point. (I'm hoping the slow stuff picks up then too!) I am still having those awful days, which seem to be more often now, but since they are becoming my regular days, somehow they seem less awful now. (Does that make any sense?) I have my baby shower on Saturday, and I'm looking forward to seeing those friends from Tacoma that I haven't seeen in a long time! I figured out the other day that I've barely been there during this pregnancy. Once in September, Christmas in December, and this past weekend. Maybe I'll get there more after Ben comes? I'm enjoying experimenting with my new breadmaker also. My third loaf turned out almost perfect! Though I'm still only making plain old white bread for now.
We welcomed Spring with even more snow! The weekend after my birthday (which would be Thad's birthday weekend) we had snow three nights in a row. The first night we got about 4-5 inches! The next night about one, and then just a trace the third. Crazy!!! Kaipo enjoyed making yet another snowman in our front yard. I'm really hoping it will be the last one for months!
Thad is staying very busy at work. As I mentioned before, they got a new car crusher. This one crushes into blocks, instead of just flat. They have also found a new place to ship the crushed metals, which will at least double their profit. And almost everyday they are discovering another part of the car they can pull and sell separately for added profit. So needless to say, the new business is doing very well! Oh, and they also have a used tire shop open now. I'm waiting for a sunny day (when I'm up to it) to go take some pics of the crushing and the yard so I can post them. Be patient with me though!
Kaipo is continuing to do excellent in school. He is reading better everyday, and loves to come home and have his "own" reading time each eveing before bed. He loves to ride his bike around the neighborhood after school. He has made a few friends who live close, and they like to "hang out" at the park down the street. Unfortunately, he is also learning that not every kid is as sweet and nice as he is. No fights or anything like that, just original plans to play with one kid and then that kid invites someone else over instead. Mostly hurt feelings. We treated him to a movie night last night to help cheer him up. (He came home trying to fight back tears yesterday.) He is doing awsome in unicycle. He can get off the wall for about ten feet all by himself now. And we have borrowed a unicycle from a friend, so hopefully by the end of summer he will be able to make the team.
Sarah Beth is growing and learning so much each day. She is quite the little talker too! It's so nice to be able to communicate with her. She has such a fun personality too! Every night, around bedtime, she starts turning circles, saying "rosie" over and over. Then she will come up to you and pull you saying "me" (translation: come with me). It's her way of telling you she wants to play Ring Around the Rosie. She is still obsessed with Dora. In fact we just bought her Dora bedding for her big girl bed she will be getting in her room on Saturday. (Moving her crib for the baby into Kaipo's room, and she gets one of the bunk beds.) A few of her other favorite things right now: trains, school busses, Jesus, nursery (at least the idea of it), Emily, french fries, Blue's Clue's, and Grandpa. My parents came up a couple of weeks ago for the day, and Sarah couldn't let Grandpa out of her sight!
I think that just about covers us for now. I know there are tons of cute stories I've been wanting to post lately, but you know how pregnancy kills brain cells! I can't think of any right now. I will make sure and keep this as updated as I can with the baby news as it happens.

And the Prize Goes To.....

2008-04-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

Allyson. For the most thoughtful and original birthday gift I think I've ever received! She actually copied pictures off of here and posted them around a framed mirror. It's amazing, and I love it! Thank you so much Allyson! And for the brownies, too! And a special thank you also goes to Sara for the yummy cookies. I have wonderful friends!

I had a quiet but nice birthday yesterday. Sarah Beth has a runny nose (I think it's just teething though), so I didn't want to take her to nursery. So Thad opted to stay home from church with her so Kaipo and I could go. Saturday night I convinced Thad to take me out to dinner at the Olive Garden. It was delicious, as always! We bought me a breadmaker also!! Can't wait to get it this week (it had to be shipped).

Here are a few cute pics from the last few weeks.....

I've had a request to post some pics of Thad up here, and update on his work. Since it's supposed to rain most of this week, I may not get that done yet. But since they got a new crusher at work today, I will get some cool pics to post soon, I promise!!

"Bubble"

2008-04-09T16:57:00.000-07:00

Sarah's new favorite past time is playing in the van. I let her do this only because it's safely parked in our closed garage, and I can prop open the kitchen door and keep an eye on her. I let her play for a while, then told her it was time to come in for a nap. I went to grab her out of the driver's seat, and noticed her cheeks were full. What on earth could she have found to eat???? I asked her to open her mouth, and she showed me her bubble gum. (Kaipo has a pack in the car that she got into.) She told me "bubble". I laughed and told her not to swallow it. I let her chew it for another minute, carefully watching to make sure she was still chewing. She even spit it out when I told her to! Not that this means she gets bubble gum from now on, but just that I have to keep it out of her reach since I know she can help herself to it!!

So Much Fun!!

2008-04-09T16:42:00.000-07:00

So last night we had our monthy book club, and it was my turn to host. Last month we read a book all about chocolate! So you can see where my mind was when preparing refreshments......... :-) I made brownies with vanilla frosting, topped with crumbled oreos, and we had a chocolate fountain! We had strawberries, pound cake, marshmellows, pretzels, caramels, and a few other things to dip in the fountain. It was a yummy yummy evening! Those of you who have been to my house know my living room is lacking a little space. So when I have get togethers, I'm always a little nervous of how many people show up. Not because I don't want them to come, but because I feel bad some always end up on the floor. But I guess they don't mind, since I always end up with a great turn-out, whether it be book club, playgroup, a baby shower. I LOVE hosting things too. And last night was sooooo much fun!!! We talked about the book, did some chocolate tasting, talked some more, ate lots of food, and talked more until 11pm. I didn't even realize it was that late! And it was soooo nice to see everyone! I haven't been making it to playgroup the last few weeks, and I'm stuck in nursery until Sarah adjusts, so I feel like I haven't seen my friends in months! Thanks to everyone who came and made it a wonderful evening of chocolate and girl-talk!!

Tagged!

2008-04-06T15:31:00.001-07:00

I know I've been tagged before, but I have a houseful of sleeping people (wish I could too!) so I've chosen to actually do this one.

A - Attached or single? Happily Attached to my hubby. :)
B - Best friend? I could list many people here, but I'd have to say my closest friend is my sis-in-law Carol. We talk (by that I mean text) many many times a day, and she is the first person I HAVE to tell things to.
C - Cake or pie? Depends on what kind. Chocolate cake. Or Chocolate Cream Pie. Mmmmmm.
D - Day of choice? Sundays. I get to see my friends and take a nap!
E - Essential item? My cell phone. I LIVE via texting my friends.
F - Favorite color? Hmmm, pink or yellow I would say.
G - Gummy bears or worms? Worms!
H - Hometown? UPtown. You only know what that means if you've lived there or nearby.
I - Indulgences? Chocolate. And things covered in chocolate.
J - January or July? Both. Kaipo's bday is in January and Sarah Beth's is in July.
K - Kids? We have two. As of today. Kaipo is 7, Sarah Beth is almost 2 and Ben will be here soon.
L - Life isn't complete without? Family and Friends.
M - Marriage date? Jan. 29, 2005 (the one that counts anyway!)
N - Number of brothers and sisters? 3 bros- Matt, Jeff and Kevin. 1 sis- Kim. many in-laws though!!
O - Oranges or apples? Apples
P - Phobias or fears? Losing my kids. Literally, like someone taking them.
Q - Quote? Hmmmm, too many, I can't pick.
R - Reason to smile? My crazy kids, my husband, employment, our home, health, family, friends, etc.
S - Season of choice? Spring - Not too hot, not too cold. But I could live with a lil less rain :-)
T - Tag seven: Whoever want to do it.
U - Unknown fact about me? I carry a gun. (Not so much with waist-line-less maternity pants now, but usually.)
V - Vegetable? Ewww people eat those??? (If you know me, you'll know I"m serious)
W - Worst habit? Ask Thad.
X - X-ray or ultrasound? As in how many have I had? WAYYYYY too many to count. Of each:-)
Y - Your favorite food? Swedish Meatballs. Or Chicken and Dumplings. Or Ribs. Or Caesar salad from The Outback. I'm hungry now.
Z - Zodiac sign? Aries

Awsome Website!!

2008-04-05T09:49:00.001-07:00

So last week Kaipo came home form Primary with an activity packet for Conference. I thought that was a fun way to get the kids to pay a little more attention. But it got me thinking......if they make those for Conference, why not have one made for church? At Kaipo's age, he is old enough to be paying attention to the talks, but he gets bored easily. So I searched and found a website that has TONS of printable pages. Some coloring, mazes, word searches, fill in the blanks, all kinds of things! I am sooooo excited! I'm printing out a ton of pages and we are making him a Church Activity Book. Some are specifically for Conference, but they don't have to be. He can easily listen for those words (or whatever the activity is) during church talks also. He is excited to see it when it's done. I just had to share this wonderful site! And it's got all kinds of things, nursery, young women's relief society. I could spend all day on this site! Hope you enjoy!!! It's www.theideadoor.com

Am I Done YET???

2008-04-03T20:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I try really hard not to complain too much.......but I've hit rock bottom. I wanna be done!!! I get heartburn so bad it brings me to tears and wakes me up at night (that's IF I can fall asleep). I lay awake until 3 or 4 every night cuz I can't sleep. I get leg cramps every day. Anyone ever had both their legs, one foot and one set of toes cramp up all at the same time? It hurts! I'm on medication to stop contractions, and it doesn't even work anymore. So why am I still taking it??? I can't even walk up stairs without having a contraction these days. I'm so tired and sore that I'm a complete grump. Tonight in his prayers, Kaipo asked that Mommy could sleep well so she isn't so grumpy. Wow. That's just great. My almost two year old can't decide if she knows how to sleep through the night or not. And if she doesn't-wow does she know how to scream! Oh and I still have to break her of the whole bottle thing. Yeah, like I have enough patience to do that anytime soon. And then there's the whole falling alseep without the bottle too. Man I suck. I'm sorry I'm complaining so much, I know there are others out there who have their own battles......but I'm pregnant and hormonal and miserable and I'm gonna say so!!! Ok, I feel better getting that out (not really though). I'm going to bed now.

I LOVE YOU, MOM!!!

2008-04-02T16:48:00.000-07:00

I absolutley LOVE my mom. I guess that's pretty normal, but today she spent about 3ish hours cleaning my house. And I mean CLEANING!!! It seriously looks like we just moved in. I don't consider myself a clean freak, but it feels sooooo good to have a really really clean house again. It's all I've been able to do the last month or so to keep up on wiping down counters and toilets. I have to admit my house has been ignored. :-( And the best part.....she plans on coming back every couple of weeks to clean again. Though I promised it wouldn't get this bad again! Ahhhhh, cleanliness!

Spring Break??

2008-03-31T09:23:00.000-07:00

We woke up yesterday to almost 5 inches of SNOW!!! Welcome to Spring Break, Kaipo! He is outside playing in what didn't melt right now. Kinda weird way to start the break, but oh well. I have LOTS of projects to do this week. My mom and sis-in-law are coming to visit (and help clean) on Wednesday. I don't get down to Tacoma as often as I wish I could, so I miss getting to see them lots. Especially my neice and nephew! :-) We should have a fun day. We were going to go up to Everett to the Children's Museum, but I'm not really up to that. :-) So we're gonna get some stuff done around the house that I need help with! Soooo nice!

Better News!

2008-03-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

So I had my 28 week check-up on Friday. Though I am still thinning out a little, I am not dialated any more. :-) The doc did another FFN, and since I haven't gotten a concerned phone call, I'm assuming it was negative again. We discussed all of my concerns, although I didn't get much help with any of them. :-( We also talked about the fact that I am still having contractions on average every 10 minutes on the Terbutaline. I have to stay on that until around 34-35 weeks, then I can stop it. This may not put me into labor immediately, but when it's obvious labor is beginning, I will get the steroid shot to help the baby's lungs develop. It's nice to know I won't be forced to go full-term, but I do have to hang on at least 5-6 more weeks to be safe. I'm getting a lot of boy stuff from my sis-in-law this week, and my baby shower is in 5 weeks, so I should be ready in time! I still feel like there's way too much to do before then, but luckily I've got an amazing Mom who is coming up this week to help out. (I can't wait to have a sparkling clean house again!! Boys just don't do it QUITE the same!) I'm feeling many things this week: overwhelmed, excited, nervous, annoyed, unappreciated, alone. Too many to list really. But mostly- I'm tired of contractions!!!!!

Ramblings.....

2008-03-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

I don't really have a certain subject to write about, just a few things on my mind. I have my 28 week appointment tomorrow. You know how people say to make a list of what you wanna talk about when you see your doctor? This week, my list goes like this-

1. contractions. still. how much longer do you expect me to have them every 5 minutes?
2. cramps. leg, thigh, toes, feet, everywhere. even at the same time. seriously, both of my legs and feet and toes all cramped up last night at the same time. i was in tears!
3. heartburn. the over the counter stuff ain't workin anymore. and i think i went thru an entire huge bottle of tums this week too. ahhhhh i'm dying!
4. insomnia. really bad. i average 2-3 hours of sleep a night for the past 2 weeks. i'm such a grump all the time-ask kaipo!

Well, that should give you an idea of how I've been feeling this week. :-) I can't believe I have 12 more weeks. Ugh.

Kaipo went on a field trip yesterday. They have been studying sea animals so they went to a beach and the Seattle Aquarium (which Thad and I haven't even been to yet!) I was kinda nervous with him being gone ALL day long. They left school right away and got back at 7pm. I was happy to hear that our good friend Brad was going along as a parent helper. He is Parker's dad, who is not only in Kaipo's school class but also church. Which means they spend like 35 hours a week together. And they still wanna play together after school! Anyways, I was more comfortable knowing Brad would be there too. And jealous I couldn't go!

Sarah Beth has been testing her limits this week. For the past two days, she has been giving these fits. I'm talking SCREAMING at the top of her (very powerful) lungs. Crying for no reason (that I can figure out). Today, I tried everything to get her to stop. She went down for a nap, then right as I was falling asleep, woke up SCREAMING!!! I went in, picked her up, and offered to have her come sleep in my bed. She screamed. After a while, I actually ended up just putting her in her room, standing in the middle screaming and crying, and shut the door. She cried some, then stopped. So I went in, and it started again. This went on for about 20 minutes. I finally just went in and sat on the floor. She huddled in the corner, eventually stopped the screaming. Somehow I got her dressed and settled down. Now by dressed, I mean the cow Halloween costume she found. She wouldn't let me near her with anything else. Whatever!! I give up!

So needless to say, I'm tired, I have a headache, and I'm soooooo tired of pregnancy complications/symptoms. I know I don't have it as bad as some, but just for today, I'm going to wallow (is that the word?) in my own miserableness. :-(

Happy Easter!!

2008-03-23T17:47:00.000-07:00

We began our Easter festivities yesterday with an egg hunt and ward breakfast. (I'm fired-I didn't bring the camera). The youth hid eggs in a field next to the church building, and starting with the youngest, the kids searched for them. Sarah picked up about three, then we decided we were done and went inside (it was cold!). Kaipo came inside, eventually, with a bagful of eggs. We then warmed up with yummy sausage, hashbrowns and pancakes. There was a great turnout and it was wonderful to see all of our ward friends!

The Easter Bunny came to visit our house this morning! I could tell Kaipo made it downstairs before he came to get us, since the basket and goodies were rearranged from how I had put them out. Sneaky kid! I got a few good pics of the kids before church today. You can notice Kaipo's eye/cheek (above pic, the header), he got many many questions about it today! Kaipo went over to Thad's cousin's house yesterday to play for a few hours, and the boys (Luke is 5) decided to go hit golf balls outside. One would hit, while the other would stand far away and catch it. Well......needless to say......Kaipo didn't catch his. It actually looks TONS better since yesterday. It was HUGE!! I wanted to go get xrays, but Thad insisted it would be okay. Kaipo says it feels much better today, so I guess nothings broken. Poor Aunt Sharon felt sooooo awful! I'm actually shocked that's the worst Kaipo's gotten hurt in 7 years!

We DID color eggs, but we aren't quite done yet. (And I got the cheap dye packet, so who knows how they will turn out!) If they are worth showing off, I will post them later. I'm doing okay, just attempting to stay off my feet as much as I can (easier said than done!). Still having plenty of contractions, even on the Terb. But as I was reminded by a dear friend (who's pregnancy is also proving hard)- the things we do for these wonderful children of Heavenly Father. How blessed we must be to be trusted with their little developing bodies. It's all worth it in the end!

Not So Good News

2008-03-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

NOTE: If you are male and can't handle the details of pregnancy.....stop reading now!!!

So it all started on Sunday. I'd been on Terbutaline to stop the contractions (which was working wonderfully) for a week. As we were leaving for church I felt a little "gush" on fluid. Not enough to make me think my water had broken, but still wierd. As we sat through Sacrament Meeting, it happened a few more times, and I was also having a few light contractions. I got a little concerned so I called my doctor's office, who of course wanted to see me. We left church, trying not to make a scene (though too many people saw and rumors started that my water had broken). After being monitored and checked at the hospital for hours, I was sent home. Wasn't leaking amniotic fluid, so go home and rest.

Then Wednesday morning I lost my mucous plug. Now alone, that doesn't really mean much. Except that 26 weeks is pretty early to lose it, and the contractions picked up after that. I again called the office, and they wanted to see me, again. I didn't have anyone to watch Sarah Beth, since they wanted me to go to triage to be monitored for a few hours. So Thursday my mom came up from Tacoma and we went in. I was still having contractions, despite being on Terbutaline continuously. I was on the monitors for almost 3 hours, having contractions every 2-4 minutes. They checked my cervix, and I had thinned out a little, and was dialated "a fingertip" or so (less than one but something). They did a FFN test, which determines to about 95% accuracy whether or not you will go into labor within 14 days. That came back negative, luckily! So I was sent home, told to stay off my feet as much as humanly possible with an almost 20 month old daughter at home, and stay on the Terb every 3-4 hours, round the clock.

For those of you who were around during my pregnancy with Sarah, this all sounds very familiar. I lost my plug at 20 weeks, went on bedrest, and started my Terb shots and visits to the hospital around 30 weeks. So it's all starting a little earlier this time around. I'm 27 weeks today. I'm actually feeling okay, except that the medicine I was hoping would stop the contractions to make me more comfortable isn't working anymore. And I'm bored. Not that I was out and about all day long before this happened, but now I really can't be. And Sarah isn't really the best at holding on a conversation yet. :-)

Dora Saves the Day!!!

2008-03-17T17:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, those of you who have heard my dilema of Sarah being scared to death to sit on the potty will enjoy this. We have two potty seats. One is the small kind that sits on the bathroom floor. After figuring out that Sarah won't sit on it naked (as long as there's a diaper on her, it's okay though), we bought the soft seat kind that sits ont he big toilet seat. That one has Dora on it. And we all know how OBSESSED my daughter is with Dora! For the first week or so, she would carry it around the house and sit on it, talking to Dora and exclaiming "Boots" or "Map". Now for the last few days, she has been telling me "poopey" and pointing to her bottom. At first, I thought this meant she had already gone poopey. Nope. It meant she HAD to go poopey. Ok, it's time to get this kid sitting on the potty!!! So last night I decided that when she told me "poopey", I would sit her little bum on the potty, whether she liked it or not. She didn't mind, and she went potty. She has gone potty about 7 or 8 times on the potty now. I ask if she has to go, and she either tells me yes or no. Each time she sits, she goes. Amazing!!!!

R.I.P. Ginger

2008-03-11T16:49:00.000-07:00

I'm sad to say that our family dog passed away peacefully on Sunday evening. My mom called and told us that she had been losing weight and not eating much for the past week, so they took her to the vet. She had an enlarged heart, which meant either heart disease or cancer, both of which would have put her in pain while it killed her slowly. My parents chose to have her put to sleep before she suffered any longer. Dad went out and bought a big steak, and apparently Ginger enjoyed that! My parents got Ginger the summer after I graduated from high school, so while I wasn't living at home much while they had her, she was still the family dog. She was so sweet, all the grandkids would hug her, poke her, try to ride her, and she never complained. When I told Kaipo what was happening, he was very sad that Ginger wasn't going to be around anymore. We are all sad. We love you Ginger, we will miss you very much!

Feeling Better!

2008-03-11T16:41:00.001-07:00

Thanks to all of you who have emailed with concern about how I've been feeling lately. I have great friends! I talked to the doc on call yesterday, and she took me off the Nifedipene and changed me to Terbutaline. Now, when I was on that with Sarah Beth, it gave me the shakes real bad, a racing heart, and wasn't too much fun all together. But at least it stopped contractions and right now anything sounded better than what I was on! I'm happy to say though, that the only side effects I'm having so far are some lightheadedness and very minor shaking, and a bit faster heartbeat. Nothing I can't handle! So far so good with this one then! I thought it was funny how the nurse kept insisting that if this didn't stop the contractions I HAD to be seen and monitored. Ummm I know that! If the meds don't stop the contractions like they are supposed to....hmmmmm maybe that means something is wrong??? :-)

So THAT"S What It's Supposed To Look Like!

2008-03-08T17:45:00.000-08:00

I am happy to announce that we bought a new computer monitor today. I can actually see what I'm doing now! It's wonderful! A little update, since my last post was so short. Kaipo got his "report card" this week and is still doing wonderfully. The constipation medicine we have him on is doing wonders, he no longer complains, which is great! Sarah Beth has decided that she isn't going to sleep quite as well as she had been lately, so we are again struggling with that. (Yawn) We had a consultation for Thad to get Lasik done, we just need to find the time and money to make it happen sooner than later! I am still not liking the medicine I'm on for contractions. I think I'm going to call and ask for something else next week. I can't remember if that's all, but my mind can't think of any other news right now.

25 Weeks

2008-03-07T15:33:00.000-08:00

I will make this short, given that we are having monitor issues with our computer now, and i can barely see what I'm typing. :-( I saw my new doctor this last week, and she is great! She listened to my every complaint, about feeling like maybe we should re-test for diabetes sooner than later, all the many contractions and not being able to funtion much with them. She was happy to do my glucose screening over (which thankfully came back normal, though that means it's probably just the morning sickness coming back). She also gave me some meds for the contractions!!!!! Though I have figured out that I'm not sure if I can take it or not. It's alos used for high blood pressure, so it makes me feel REALLY weird. And sick. It's hard to explain, but I don't like it at all. I'm going to ask for something else I think. Anyways, Sarah is now whining to be paid attention to. More later......

No More Shots, Please!

2008-02-28T18:49:00.000-08:00

Okay, after reading this, you will probably be thinking "how many shots did she say Sarah got?" ONE. Since we just got new health insurance, I was a little late in getting Sarah in for her 18 month check up. (Not even a full month) We went yesterday, and let me tell you, it was a family affair. Kaipo's tummy troubles started again, more on that later though. So she is doing great, except for that whole bottle thing. I know, I know, it's on my list. First and far more important was getting her to sleep thru the night. We have finally accomplished that. (Yes, just recently though.) She is in the 43rd% for height and 15th% for weight. She weighs 22 pounds, my ittle lightweight (hey my preggy back ain't complaining!!) She was due for one shot. ONE. After we got home, she seriously spent the entire day whining and crying. I gave her Tylenol, offered bottles, which she refused. She finally passed out (while crying) in my lap int he evening. I was reluctant to let her take such a late nap, but I was really tired of her crying. She was okay after about an hour and a half of napping. She played a little before we put Kaipo to bed. I wasn't even going to try and put her to bed yet, given the late nap and all. Around 9, I finally told her it was time for a bottle and night-night. She whined, pointing upstairs, saying "bed". Okay, this little girl still has to at least have a bottle before bed, if not fall asleep with it. It had been at least 2 hours since her last bottle. So we put her in her crib, fully expecting her to start crying within minutes. Nope. She slept till 6am. Then had a small bottle, slept a couple more hours, and has barely drank/eaten all day, and been crying 90% of the day. I'm not exagerating. And to make it all better, my call to the nurse wasn't returned. This is not normal. She's never reacted to a shot like this. Sure a little fussiness, but not 2 days of crying. I'm clueless as to what to do now. I can't just "let her cry" like Thad wants to. It gets to me. I've been listening to it ALL day long. And of course she wants Mommy. I don't know.

Best Friends!

2008-02-20T11:11:00.000-08:00

Sarah Beth has two friends that she could play with ALL day long! Our good friends Jacki and Terrence have a son who is about three months younger than her (Connor) . They also have a newborn (Corey), which if you don't hold onto tight enough, Sarah will pull right out of your arms! Our neighbors down the block have a daughter who is a month older than Sarah. They love to play! We are actually babysitting Emily today. Her mommy is pregnant just like me, and is also having a boy, due about 3-4 weeks before me. I've taken a few pictures of Sarah's playdates......

Sarah and Connor, best of buddies!

Sarah trying to give Connor a kiss. Almost!

Sarah holding baby Corey. (Excuse the crazy hair, she had taken it out for the day!)

Sarah and Emily, giggling girls!