Pregnancy #4

I'm writing this a week before my 34th birthday & I am 34 weeks pregnant.  I feel very blessed to have had four "easy" pregnancies (and no miscarriages - I was afraid I would this last time for some reason).  All four pregnancies have had a lot of similarities.  I have only thrown up a few times, and don't get major morning sickness.  I am typically more tired and have less energy, but not sick.  I have learned that I feel better if I eat every couple of hours, so that seems to really help.  I drink as much water as I can, which is always challenging to me.  Mentally, I try to convince myself that I can still have productive days and can feel good.  I typically carry high and forward since there isn't much room between my hips and ribcage.  The major difference is probably that with Rachel I gained the most weight (45+ pounds), and the others have stuck right around 35 pounds (so far with this one, I have gained 30 pounds with 5 or so weeks left).  The other major difference, is that this is the first time that a pregnancy has actually "got me out of" girls camp!  Kendall and Andrew both came with me at 30+ weeks.  But the timing on this one, will not work - I am officially due on July 22, but will be induced July 18.  I was initially called as Ward Camp Director, but they leave July 17, so I had to let them know that I couldn't go.  I have still been helping on the committee, but won't be able to attend.

With this pregnancy specifically, I have craved white bread, sugary cereal and donuts (yikes!).  I really wanted to stay active this pregnancy to see if I felt better for the labor and recovery.  That was a great plan up until around 18 weeks, when I sprained my ankle playing basketball.  The last pregnancy sprained ankle was terrible (Kendall) and it was bothersome for weeks and weeks.  Thankfully, this one lasted about a week or two, then I felt much better.  But it got me out of my exercise routine, and I have not been super active with exercise since then.  Other than yard work!!  We have been working so hard in the yard all spring, and I have done as much as my body would allow.  I even helped Brandon lay the sod since a storm was coming in.  I feel like on lots of occasions when people check in and ask how I am doing, I tend to say, "really good" or "it's business as usual around here" because that is what I am constantly telling myself.  I don't have time to just sit around and be pregnant - I know what is coming and I feel like I have a ton of things I want to do before baby comes.  I want to be able to relax and enjoy the baby's first couple months - one of my most favorite times with my babies.

Just this week, I got hit with a 24 hour fever/flu that knocked me out for quite a few days.  I stayed in bed for a whole day, and then slowly tried to do a little more each day.  It put me in quite a funk, not being able to take care of my responsibilities, but I was very grateful to Brandon and others who helped me out while I was recovering.

For the next five days, Brandon will be gone with the Teachers Quorum for High Adventure Camp, and I have been anxious about him being gone and all sorts of things.  I asked him to give me a blessing, and I am grateful that it has helped to calm my nerves.  Before we got pregnant last year, I had so many fears about having another child (i.e., age gap/caboose, miscarriage, health concerns, being spread too thin, selfishness, delaying the next "stage" of life, unknown future and what we may face, etc.).  I just kept having the feeling that something bad was going to happen.  I felt very willing to do whatever Heavenly Father wanted us to do, but the fears were real and seemed hard to face/address.  These fears had mostly subsided after we got pregnant, but they have been starting to creep back in with us getting closer.  I am thankful for the blessing I received, and I am feeling more confident that with the Lord's help, we will be able to handle whatever comes our way.  We are anxious to meet this little guy and we know that he will be here before we know it!

approx 26-27 weeks

approx 31 & 34 weeks

Goblin Valley Camping

I was feeling generous and decided that I could camp for one night in a tent before I got too pregnant, so we booked a night in Goblin Valley for the very last day of school.  We invited Leslie & Morgan's family to come with us and they have never been camping with their kids (Allie, Gabe & Jordi)!  

It is such a unique place and the campground was fantastic and kept the kids entertained for hours!  The only problem was the WIND!  Holy smokes - we couldn't keep the tent up and Morgan and Leslie had borrowed a tent from some friends, and it broke from being blown over in the wind - oops!  We tried a fire, but the pit was so close to the tent, that it was blowing embers onto our tent, which we had given up on and it was just laying down on the ground at our site with all our stuff inside.  The wind finally calmed down around 9:30p, but we still had to keep the rain fly off and tie the tent down to help it be more secure.  Since the fly was off, sand blew into our tent a few times in the night and I could feel it land on my face a few times.  I really can't complain though - I slept pretty good on my air mattress, and the kids had a blast!  They love camping!  

The next morning, we packed up and went to the Goblins first thing.  Even though it was morning, it was SO hot down there, so the kids and I didn't last very long.  It was impressive and fun though!  Brandon could have stayed for hours, I am sure.  We learned that the biggest factor for Goblin Valley was the weather, so next time we go, we will be sure to book an air conditioned yurt for a better experience.  But really, we had an awesome time and made some great memories!

SaveSave

Last Week of School

The last couple weeks of school were filled with fun activities.  The kids did great in the dance festival and enjoyed dancing with friends and audience members afterward.  They also loved the fire truck coming to the school and spraying everyone down.  The kids all loved their teachers this year and learned a lot from them!  

RACHEL (Ms. Garbe)

- Favorite food:  super cheesy mac & cheese

- What do you want to be when you grow up?  vet or baby doctor & mom

- Best part of 3rd Grade:  Recess and crafts

- Best friends:  Olivia

- Favorite book:  Goose Girl or Out of My Mind

- Favorite color:  Teal

ANDREW (Mrs. Elisaia)

- Favorite food:  pizza and spaghetti & meatballs

- What do you want to be when you grow up?  ninja

- Best part of Kindergarten:  being with all my friends

- Best friends:  Logan, Gavin, Boston

- Favorite book (series):  Ninjago

- Favorite color(s): gold, silver, blue, green

KENDALL (Miss Jill)

- Favorite food: chocolate milk and cheetos

- What do you want to be when you grow up?  artist

- Best part of Preschool:  eating snacks and playing

- Best friends:  Cole, Avery, Miss Jill

- Favorite book (series):  Barbie books

- Favorite color:  pink

SaveSave

Springtime - April & May

Funny Moments:

- We saw a lady in Costco carrying a giant lizard like a baby on her shoulder.  I was hoping the kids wouldn't see her, but they did, so of course they went over to check it out.  The lady was so nice and even let them hold it.

- Rachel and Andrew wore matching BYU shirts to school one day.  Here's what the behind the scenes looked like:  Rachel came up with her BYU shirt on, and I ask her if she happens to also have Andrew's in her room because he had told me that his was lost.  Sure enough, she went and found it.  Andrew was ecstatic and immediately went to change, which made Rachel cry because she didn't want to match with her little brother at school (how embarrassing!), which then made him cry because he desperately wanted to wear the shirt.  She finally came around and agreed to "let" him wear it.

- Andrew (6.5) is catching up to Rachel (almost 9) in height, and they pretty much weigh the same.

- Kendall's favorite restaurant is Pizza Pie Cafe - she ate so much the last time that we were there, that she insisted that she needed to lay down on the bench to let her stomach stretch out.

- My brother, Chad, graduated from UVU with his Bachelor's (this was 12 years in the making!).  He has always worked full-time since he got married, and so school was on-again-off-again / part-time in the evenings.  Plus, they have four kids now!  School has never been his favorite, but he finally did it!  Go Chad!  I got a babysitter, and got to hang out with Brandon at the graduation, so we counted that as our date night.  :)

- Kendall often tells me that she doesn't want to be a mom (she thinks it looks too hard), so I just remind her that she will be the one that gets to choose.  Andrew is still on the fence about if he'll get married - he's not a big fan of kissing and asks if he will have to kiss his wife.  If he doesn't get married, he says that he will just keep living with us.  :)

- Andrew will miss Mrs. Elisaia and Kindergarten! And I will miss seeing him jump out of the car and literally run to the line.  He hates to be late, and prefers to be early to get a good spot in line. Like father, like son.  Mrs. Elisaia told me a cute story about Andrew - one day, she was feeling particularly frazzled and just not having a good day.  Andrew must have caught on, because he went back to her and told her that she was beautiful.  It made her day!  Another funny thing about Andrew is that he gets anxious when I say we are running low on gas in the car.  And even one more - when it's cold outside, Andrew still insists on wearing shorts, but he pulls out his soccer socks and wears them up to his thighs. "See mom, I am practically wearing pants!"

- The fidget spinner craze made it to our house - a little closer to the trend starting than I'd like.  Andrew had a dentist appointment and he hates the dentist, so I bribed him with $2 and a promise to take him to spend some of his money at the store.  He bought a fidget spinner for $7, and was absolutely thrilled.  Rachel desperately wants one but she is trying to save up her money and not be such a spender.  I got her one to earn from her piano practice tickets, but she is still a week away from having enough tickets to buy it (although she is handling the situation pretty good considering).  Anyway, later in the afternoon, Andrew came up to me and asked if he could spend $7 more of his money so that he could buy Rachel's fidget spinner for her!  What a sweet boy - it melted my mommy heart!  We didn't let Andrew buy one for her - we're going to make her wait and earn it, but when Rachel found out what he wanted to do, she gave him more hugs/love than she's given him in a year.

Matching with mom & dad!  Dream come true for Andrew!

Woke up to this cute face one morning!

Had Sunday dinner at the All-Inclusive Park in Orem to celebrate Ellie's birthday

Kendall at Pizza Pie Cafe & Kendall at Thanksgiving Point with Grandma Nancy

Zac playing with the kids before his family moves to California (Shalauna & Jason)

Field Trip with Rachel to the Curiosity Museum (Gavin, Juniper, Rachel) 

Chad graduated with his Bachelor's from UVU!  

 Happy Mother's Day!  I asked for a new tree (the one we are next to) and the kids couldn't figure out why that was the gift I chose.  

SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

Spring Soccer

Rachel and Andrew both had a spring soccer season and did really well.  They both made some improvements since the fall and had minimal complaints about going.  Andrew is working on not falling (on purpose) so much and anticipating where the ball is going to go.  Andrew was on a team with his buddies from the ward, and Adam's dad, Don, was his coach.  Rachel's coach wasn't our favorite and some of the girls weren't the nicest to her, but we were proud of her for finishing the season and trying her best.  She's a fast runner, and learned more about the positions on the field this year.  Unfortunately, I think it put a bad enough taste in her mouth that I don't think she'll continue with soccer.