Yeah he's cute, but...

Sometimes all I can do is stare at K and shake my head. A few months ago he looked at me and said with a huge smile on his face, "Mommy, your belly is fat like a wolf that just ate two pigs!" Thank you K. That makes a large prego woman feel so good about herself! Oh the brutal honesty of children! So, he doesn't get that you can just say that something has a hook on it. He calls all hooks a hooker. For example, Captain Hook has a hooker, Mater has a hooker, and it sounds so funny when he says, "Ya know how Captain Hook has a hooker?..." I just haven't corrected him yet. Anyway, last night during Family Home Evening we were talking about how we chose to follow Heavenly Father and Jesus in Heaven and doing so made it so we could come to earth and get a body. He got a really puzzled look on his face and said,"but, when I was in your tummy and there was that hooker thing that hooked me to you. When I came out of your tummy and daddy cut it, what day was that?" I told him the date and his whole face lit up. He got all excited and said,"Hey! That's the same day as my birthday!" All I could say is,"Yep, isn't that cool?!" One more though on this crazy kid. We were singing that sacrament song on Sunday. He was sitting right next to me. He stood up so he could get right next to my ear and whispered,"When the baby is born I want to pick it up by it's feet." Then he sat down and continued to sing his version of the song. Needless to say it was a little bit hard for me to concentrate after that. All I could think about was this tiny baby being picked up by it's feet while K laughs. B and I talked about the safety of this baby while being around K. We already knew that K and baby could never be left alone. We talked about how bad things could happen. Hearing K say he wants to pick the baby up by it's feet just sealed the deal. They will never be left alone! We love him and wouldn't change him, but sometimes all you can do is shake your head!  Sorry no picture. I tried, but it wouldn't work. Just imagine a picture of a cute kid with glasses that looks innocent, but is far, far from it!

Baby news

We wanted to do something different for Christmas this year. Well, actually we hadn't planned on this specific gift for Christmas, it just worked out timing wise to be a great Christmas gift. We found out in August that baby number three was on it's way. Pregnancy isn't kind to me, this one hasn't been different. Well, it wasn't as bad as the other two in the fact that I didn't have to have a feeding tube. I did have to get a P.I.C.C line. That wasn't put in until I had gone to the hospital everyday for three weeks to get fluids and medication. I went to the same place as Cancer patients who were getting their Chemo treatments. Seeing them there was a good reminder that it could be a whole lot worse.

The place was freezing! It didn't take the girl who asks if you want a pillow and a blanket very long to remember when she saw me that I needed at least two warm blankets to wrap around me in order not to freeze to death. The girls in our ward were amazing during this whole thing! B is busy and gone most of the time. So the girls in our ward took turns driving me to I.V. therapy. It took about three or four hours for me to get all done. So, these amazing women would find places to send their own children and take me to the hospital. M was at school during the week, which these amazing women also took care of. Her school is 20 minutes away each way. We drive her to school, so they had a sign up sheet so M could have rides to and from school. K went to different houses and would be gone all day. Once I was done with getting fluids, I came home, and slept. They basically raised our kids for six weeks. I will never be able to express how much their sacrifice and service helped our family. They also brought in meals so that B, M and K could eat things other than mac and cheese, frozen pizza, corn dogs and cereal. The reason I had to go to I.V therapy for three weeks is because it took forever to get insurance worked out. Our insurance would cover the supplies, but not for a nurse to come into our home. Thankfully, I'm married to a swell nurse and he said that he could do the P.I.C.C line stuff. The problem is that the fluids needed to be given in the morning and he had to leave our house at five or before. So, my dear friend M, came over every morning and hooked me up. Just thinking about how much time she sacrificed for my behalf makes my eyes fill with tears. Truly, these women will never know how much they are loved and appreciated for all the service they gave.

This is the P.I.C.C line. The one that I had with K got infected after five days, so it had to be taken out. Thankfully, this one didn't. It was able to stay in for five weeks. I'm sure that the fluids and the medication helped somehow, but I still felt totally awful. I will say that the really nice thing about being so sick is that I lose so much weight that my legs look awesome! (Just trying to be positive is all.)

I don't know why the lighting is so dark in this picture, sorry. I am so thankful that I was able to do this at home. Going to and from the hospital every day was not great. I fall in the small group of people that can taste the medicine that was put in the I.V. bag. It tastes awful and the taste was one of the big reasons I couldn't wait to get the line pulled.

The dressing of the P.I.C.C had to be changed once a week. So, every Wednesday night was dressing changing night. The only part I hated was when he had to clean right around the hole where the P.I.C.C line went in. That stung a whole lot.

For some reason I had gotten really light headed and almost passed out. B decided after that that the next time he changed it, I would just stay on the couch. I am so thankful for all the help we received and we are so blessed to live in such an amazing ward. We are all excited for baby to show it's cute little face. I don't know why time slows to a crawl when one is pregnant, but it feels like the next 11 1/2 weeks are never going to pass and I will be pregnant forever. I have a pretty firm no pictures whilst with child, so this is probably as good as it's gonna get. Just use your imagination if you really want to see a picture! Happy New Year! This should be an amazing year, First a baby and then graduation! Yipee! We can hardly wait!

Cousins rule!

My sister, S and her husband, J and their kids came to visit us for a couple of days this past week. It was so much fun! They got here on Christmas night. M was so excited for them to come that she took a book and went and sat on the driveway and waited for them to get here. We only got two days with them. We tried to show them things that you can only do here. We had a total blast!

Of course we had to take them swimming. I know that there are other places in the country that are warm too this time of year, but they aren't from one of those places. So M and K thought that they would really like swimming outside in December. We never get tired of these people! From left to right there's: K, X, T, J, M and K.

We took them alligator hunting. We had to ride in two separate cars because our shoe box of a car doesn't hold very much more than dirt on the floor really. Anyway, as we drove down to this magic road that always has alligators on it, we missed a bunch. S says that on the main road as we were driving, they saw a ton of them just laying on the side. J had come in our car and she and I were talking about all kinds of things and not watching for alligators. So, I guess we could have turned around before we got to this magic road that's an hour away from our house, but then we would have missed Skunk Ape. And, who wants that? Anyway, I know that I'll for sure get parent of the year award for this picture, but it was so awesome that I couldn't pass it up. Both M and K were more than a little worried about standing with their backs to an alligator, but I had them do it any way. M kept looking over her shoulder. I told her not to panic. If the alligator started coming towards them, I wouldn't make them take the picture. Their uncle J told them not to worry, if it came to attack he would jump on it's back and wrestle it. I think he was kind of hoping that he would get the chance, but thankfully the alligator didn't even move.

Here we are at Skunk Ape. This is a place that I am truly going to miss when it's time for us to move on. It's a petting zoo of sorts. I can't say that this wonderful gem is legal or not, and the food for the animals might be provided by drug money, but it makes for a great place to go visit! Where else can you hold a baby alligator, baby turtles, snakes, an assortment of birds and ride on the back of a tortoise? I would venture to say not many places offer that kind of experience! It truly is awesome and we love it! T said that Skunk Ape was his favorite thing to do while they were here, and he doesn't even like snakes! Especially the one that is 19 feet long and weighs 250 pounds. You can't hold that one, but you can touch it!

Since we only had two days we went and went and went. We stayed up late to play games and let the kiddos watch movies. Of course there was no sleeping in to compensate for the late nights. But if you ask me, it was totally worth it. The only thing that wasn't great was when we went to the beach, I locked the keys in the trunk. Yes that is the fifth or sixth time that I've done that since we moved here. You would think that we would hide a key some where. But after each time I think I won't do that again. Darn is all I have to say about that. We loved having them here and I cried when they left. I tried so hard to be brave, but as they pulled out of the driveway, I couldn't help it. I cried and my heart broke a little. We hope that they had as much fun as we did! We love you guys and hope we can live closer to you soon!

Three day weekend!

 So, the wonderful, amazing, overly generous program that B is in allows each student to request off two three day weekends over the year and a half that they are in the clinical part. I know, their generosity is overwhelming! Anyway, B was able to have this last weekend off! We didn't tell the offspring that he didn't have to work. We wanted to surprise them. We wanted to use our SeaWorld passes one more time before they expire at the end of the month. So, on Thursday after he got done at the hospital and had studied a little for the upcoming test, we left. I had had all day to pack all our stuff and load it into the car. Now, you might be wondering how I packed bags, snacks and the car with a four year old at home. Thankfully he is more than a little clueless. He never asked what I was doing. When we went to the store to get snacks for the car ride, he didn't ask what they were for or if he could have any. As I carried out his pillow and bear to the car he didn't ask why. So it was no problem packing with him around. Anyway, B had told me that he didn't want to tell them where we were going in case it didn't work out for some reason. I thought he meant that he would tell them after he got home on Thursday and had studied enough. I was wrong. He just told them to go get in the car. M was trying to guess where we were going. Once we get home from getting her from school, we are usually home for the rest of the day. So to leave again made her very curious. She kept asking if we were going to a restaurant. B basically ignored her. We were almost half way through our three hour car ride before he finally told the small ones where we were going. When he told them that we were going to SeaWorld they both freaked out. K did start to panic when he realized we were staying in a hotel. He leaned as far forward as his seat belt would let him and said,"But, what about my swim suit?! I don't have my swim suit!" Remember how I said he's pretty clueless? When I told him that I had packed his stuff he said,"You did? Did you put it in a bag?" I said yes and he asked,"My Spider man suitcase?" I said yes and then he asked where it was at. I told him it was in the trunk. "Did you put clothes in my Spider man suitcase too?" I assured him I had put in everything he would need to which he said,"Oh! I didn't even know that you packed my Spider man suitcase!" I didn't even hide when I packed it, bless his sweet little heart! One of the requirement's for us to stay at a hotel is that it has to have a heated swimming pool. The hotel we stayed at kept their pool open until 11. As soon as we got there, both kids wanted to go swimming. I freeze swimming during normal daylight hours. So swimming at night in an outdoor pool is not something I participate in. But, B is a rock star and took them swimming. The water was warm enough that there was steam coming off of it. They loved it until they had to get out and walk back to our room. Then they thought it was too cold. As we left to go back to our room, we saw a tiny kiddie pool next to the gate. K walked by it and said,"Mommy, that pool is for kitty's. If you want your kitty to go swimming, that's the pool it uses." He makes me laugh a lot!

We spent all day on Friday and half day Saturday at SeaWorld.We had a total blast! We didn't know that there was an underground viewing area to see the whales. We were really excited to find it. It was awesome!

We learned that this whale's name is Kayla. For awhile they just stood by the glass and looked at her and the two other whales that were in the pool. Then the SeaWorld guy said that the whales will sometimes interact with you. He said that if a whale comes to the glass, wave, jump, spin in a circle or whatever you want. He said that the whale might wave back. He said if nothing else, the whale will be entertained as it watches you wave, jump or spin.

Kayla was swimming towards them. M started to wave and jump. When she got to where they were standing, she stopped swimming. K yelled,"She's looking at me! I can see her eyes!" M loved that she could see her eyes too. She also loved that as she jumped up and down, Kayla just watched her. I think these pictures are awesome!

We also found the underwater viewing area for the dolphins. We've gone to SeaWorld six times this year and never knew these viewing area's were here. I'm so glad that we finally paid attention and were able to look at the whales and the dolphins closer. One time a dolphin swam up to M. M started to nod her head up and down and the dolphin did it back! M loved it! We have all loved having the SeaWorld passes. Having them has made it so nice to go to the temple. B and I are able to switch off taking them to SeaWorld while the other one is in the temple. The passes truly have been so great to have!

Oh how I love thee!

So the other week I was feeling a little blue because I had finished the last five of my mini cadburry eggs from Easter. Now you might be thinking that I have the best self control in the world to still have five of these little pieces of heaven still in the bag from Easter. That's not the case at all. Around Easter I decided that I wanted to save the last few for a really special occasion. Like if I were to get all green lights on the way home from the store(there's only one light between our house and the store), or if I ran three laps instead of only two or something of that nature. Well, I never got the light green and running three laps was hot so I didn't do that. I was never able to justify eating these wonderful rewards and I forgot they were there. Just the other week I pulled out the candy to get rid of the rest of the Easter candy before we went trick or treating. What to my surprise should appear but the mini cadburry egg bag with five eggs in the bottom! I'm not lying when I say I almost cried from the joy I felt inside. I did try to pace myself as I ate them. I tried to stretch it out over at least a full day. That didn't happen, they were gone within two or three minutes. That was a sad moment around our house. Wipe your eyes dear friends. I know that having no more mini cadburry eggs is a faith testing trial, but there is a happy ending to this story. A week after Halloween I went to Target to get next year's Halloween costumes. Target, that's another thing I totally love. Just walking in that store feels me with happiness. Anyway, we found that the costumes were 90% off. So we got the kiddos costumes for next year for two or three dollars a piece. Isn't that great news?! But that's not even the best part. The best part is that as we walked to the front of the store, the lovely Target employees were getting out the Christmas stuff. Call it a feeling, call it a prompting, call it whatever you want, but for some reason, I walked through the Christmas things. As I rounded the corner of an aisle, there on the bottom shelf was a pile of mini cadburry eggs! The Christmas ones had come! I almost ran to the Target employee and with tears running down my cheeks, kissed and hugged them! I did manage to muster up enough self control to make it all the way to the car before the bag was opened. The car ride home was a happy one that day! If I could buy cases and cases of these candies I would. I would buy a deep freeze and fill the entire freezer with them. These could be my entire food storage! (Ok, clearly I need some professional help. I'm looking into it!) 

Aren't they beautiful?!

One more thing I need to write about is Grooveshark. It's a wonderful website that lets you listen to any song in the whole wide world for free. The whole song, not just a few seconds. We here around these parts love to put in all kinds of songs and sing and dance our little hearts out. The song we listened to tonight was none other than, "I would do anything for love" by Meat Loaf. B and I sang it out at the top of our lungs as we were taken back to sixth grade. We think that's when the song came out. I just remember sitting in Sara and Coutney's underground house playing the song so loud as we sang and sang. Oh the memories! Grooveshark and mini cadburry eggs, I don't think tonight can get any better!

It's a dog!

Now, I know that there are dog lovers all over the world doing things for their dogs that I can't EVER see myself doing if it were my dog. For example, when people put clothes on their dog I just have to bite my tongue and keep walking. The other day when I was looking at pictures on a news website of Utah's snow storm, there was a picture of dogs in coats. To me it is so annoying that a dog is wearing a coat. Heavenly Father sent them to earth with coats. They get more hair in the winter months just for the purpose of staying warm. I get that people love their dogs like their children. I know that there are strong human animal bonds. It wasn't until moving here that I realized just how deep these bonds can go. They do a canned food drive here just like they do all over the country. It lasts two weeks and we feel all warm and fuzzy when we remember to send food to school with our children to help those in need. Imagine my surprise when I learned that the week following the canned food drive was in fact another canned food drive. Again?! Don't worry, it's not for humans, it's for animals in the area. Well that's a new one! To add to my surprise I learned that the animal food drive is in fact longer than the human one. There is something seriously wrong with that! When we moved here, I had heard that the old folks here LOVE their dogs. I think that is a gross understatement. Here, dogs are not required to walk, oh no! They get to ride in strollers. The first time I saw it I was running and thought I must be hot and seeing things because why would a dog be in a stroller. But no, it was real and you see more dogs in strollers than humans. Not only do they ride in the strollers, but if there is a human child walking by, the old folk will stop, bend down to the dog and in a voice like they were talking to a human rather than a dog they say,"Oh it's a baby! Isn't the baby so cute?! Yes it is!"

This is what it looks like to see a dog in a stroller. Yesterday as K and I went to get M from school, there was a couple getting a stroller out of their car. We parked by them and all I could do was shake my head as I saw them put their dog in the stroller. To add to my head shaking, the lady walked around the car and took a small child out of the car. The small child walked while the dog rode in the stroller. Then small child didn't want to walk, so mom carried small child while the dog rode in the stroller. It was all I could do not to walk over to them and say,"It''s a dog! The dog can walk. Save mom's back and put the child in the stroller!" There are some things I will never understand. Dog's in clothes, costumes, coats or stroller. Or why oh why the bad guy was re-elected. I know that has nothing to do with dogs, but if 21 states have petitioned to secede from the nation because he won, why did he win? I'm not a political person or a bumper sticker person, but if I were the latter, I would buy the bumper sticker I saw the other month that said, That Obama Biden sticker on the back of your car may as well say stupid. Amen is all I have to say to that!

Happy Halloween!

 K decided at the last minute that he wanted to be Mater instead of the police man. Here they are, all ready to go.

 As we left our house this snake was outside our door. We all thought it was quite fitting that it was at our house on Halloween.

 Before we ventured out to go trick or treating, our clubhouse did a little party for the kiddos. It was awesome! There were little mugs that the kids got to color. K liked to color for about 2 minutes. Then someone walked in dressed as Cat in the Hat and all he could do was stare at them.

 M loved the coloring. There were games with prizes, but she just wanted to color.

 Here are their mugs. Obviously, K didn't really color that one. M was taking so much time on hers that I had time to color one too. So I colored K's.

 Once we started getting candy, he had to stop every few feet and ask if he could have a treat. I'm mean and only let him have one. If we let him have a treat every time he asked, we would have had to roll him home. I'm so glad we had brought the stroller. There had been a cool breeze all week and so I was worried that after the sun went down it would be cold. I didn't want to carry the jackets, so we took the stroller to hold everything. Pretty soon, there were a few kids that didn't want to hold their bags any more. So they put them in the stroller too. I can't wait to get to Heaven and meet whoever invented the stroller and drown them in hugs and kisses!

Aren't they so cute?! This isn't the whole group but the bigger group picture didn't turn out that great. We love having so many kids in the ward to go with. The kids had a blast and we came home with enough candy to last until at least Easter.