IF I WERE A GLADIATOR MY NAME WOULD BE...

...Vomitous Maximus.

For real.  This pregnancy was really unexpected.  And it has taken me a while to wrap my head around it.  Especially because I have been more sick than I have ever been.  Like vomiting 5 & 6 times a day EVERY single day, and constantly feeling like you are on day 2 of the 48 hour stomache flu.  Needless to say it has been a big challenge to try and live life and get ANYTHING done, when I feel shaky and exhausted from all the vomiting.  But finally things are getting better, I am only throwing up a few times a week and I have even gained back a few pounds.

I haven't blogged in so long because I have been so sick and have thus gotten SO behind, that the thought of catching up has been WAY too overwhelming.  But this blog also serves as my journal of sorts, so it is time for me to just suck it up and get it done :)

Now I will try to catch you up on the going-ons of the past couple months.  It will be really brief.  Each activity really should have it's own post, but instead we will go for a summed up megablog.

The first weekend in May we went to Thatcher, we saw 2 of my nephews in the play "Jungle Book" which was the youngest age group of EAC children's theater program.  It was so fun.  It was their first play and my nephew Kaleb (the older of the 2 brothers) was Mogli.  It reminded me of doing theater at their age and they were so cute.  That same weekend we went to the Gila Valley Temple open house and Matt's oldest sister Heather and her husband and 4 kids came Friday night and stayed all day Saturday with us.  We all stayed at my mom's house and on saturday we went swimming in roper lake and had a picnic on the mountain.  It was lots of fun.

I didn't take ANY pics on my thatcher trips this summer, since I was feeling pretty nasty and photos weren't a priority so thanks to Heather for emailing me copies of her pics.  Also my Mom is supposed to send me copies of the ones she has taken this summer, but the power is out in Thatcher and I am too impatient, so I will post them once I get them.

If you close the add at the bottom of the slideshow you will be able to read my captions

Also in May, Matt and I took our FIRST EVER vacation alone together.  Even though we are spending a TON of money on school this year, planning on paying off our car by the end of the year (2 years early) and trying to save $ for grad school, I just decided that it was TIME.  Matt has been SO busy with school and in May he got a 5 day break from school and also had those 5 days in a row without work, so I planned a suprise trip to a nice resort in Vail, CO.  He had NO idea and I packed for him and got it all set and ready so that I didn't tell him what was going on until we pulled into the airport.  He was totally suprised and he deserved it!  We had a GREAT time, even though I was puking my brains out.  One of the fun things we did while we were there was to go ziplining.  It was awesome.  I had also planned on us going white water rafting, but I had planned the trip the week before I got pregnant, so there were a few things that got cut out of the original plan due to the baby.

Here I am taking off on the first zip of the day, it was the slowest of the zips, the speeds got faster as the day progressed, they try and ease you in.

And here is Matt on the final zip, it was the lowest down into the canyon by far (it went under the other lines), but it was fast and long.  The zipping noise sounded kind of like a little girl screaming...but its not Matt, I promise :)

We got home and Matt started right back in with school and work and after a couple weeks I went to Thatcher for 2.5 weeks.  It was nice.  Although, I really missed Matt.  It was by far the longest we have ever been apart, but he was SO busy with school, I wouldn't have seen much of him anyway.  And it was SO good to let my mom take care of me and the girls.  My mom COMPLETELY took over full time care of the girls and let me try to relax.  I was still puking all day everday, plus getting up 1-3 times every night to vomit.  So she let me lay around and nap off and on all day.  I didn't do anything or go anywhere while I was there, I was just SO sick.  Although I DID go to the temple with GG, my great aunt and my mom and Hank one day.  It was SO great to be there and especially with them. 

 Part of the reason that I went to thatcher when I did was so that I was there for the one year anniversary of my Grandpa's death.  It was really hard on me to lose my Grandpa and even harder on my GG.  My mom and I wanted to do something special for her so my mom made a special dinner on the actual day for our family and GG and she emailed all of GG & Grandpa's decendants asking them to write out something about Grandpa, then I went through old and new pics and made a scrapbook of Grandpa's life and of his memorial services.  In the memorial section we inserted pics from the luncheon and the letters we had recieved about Grandpa.  I think it turned out nice.  We also bought her a bouquet of flowers in Grandpa's favorite colors.  Last year Grandpa passed away and just a couple days later (the day we held his funeral acutally) was his and GG's 60th wedding anniversary.  So it was that day, their anniversary, that we had planned to all go to the temple and then to lunch.  I really wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it, I was really just SOOO sick.  but I prayed and prayed for days hoping to feel well enough to at least be able to go and not throw up anywhere other than a bathroom.  I thought for sure I would be the first person to ever "not make it" to the bathroom in the new temple.  But it was fine.  I did great, and I was really lucky to get to spend that day with GG.

As soon as I got home I was in full speed mode looking for a new apartment or house to rent.  Where we were was great and cheap and was allowing us to pay for school without having to take out loans each semester (4,500-7,000 bucks a semester just for his tuition btw), but there was NO way were were going to be able to fit a 3rd baby into that place (which was part of the reason that we had not been planning on having anymore babies in the near future), and our lease was up at the end of July.  Anyway, after a couple of weeks of searching without feeling good about anyplace, we decided to pray about the offer that Matt's parents have been making us for a while now.  They have 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a large living room up stairs that they do not use and they have been offering for us to move in for a while now.  We have been too prideful to ever seriously consider the offer, but after I found out I was pregnant in April they have been offering more often (like every week), and the time came where we decided to humble ourselves (easier said than done) and really think about that option.  It would allow us to save some money towards his medical program.  We will apply next year for school and when we (hopefully) leave for school in 1.5 - 2 years it is going to cost us at LEAST a hundred grand.  So the offer of being able to save for a year to 2 years and be able to reduce the amount of debt we will have to get into for school was very tempting.  And we took the offer.

So we have spent the past 3 weeks moving the essentials over and packing up ALL our other stuff to be put into storage.  Matt has been a big help every moment that he isn't busy with school or work (which is not often enough), and I have spent all day everyday packing and organizing and taking loads over. My mom came down and took the girls back home with her for 5 days, which was a HUGE help.  Have you ever tried to organize or pack anything with the help of a 3 year old and a 1 year old?  It is tricky.  So I got A LOT done while they were gone and  now we are FINALLY officially done.  The day the girls came back I headed over to Chandler with them to babysit my sis-in-law Heather's kids.  It was fun and good to be able to spend time with them, and an interesting look into how much parenting changes as your kids get older.  I can't imagine my kids being that old.

Here are the girls upstairs at our new place playing dress up with thier cousin Rory (Barry and Janeal's oldest), who slept over to stay with Nana for a few days last week.

Anyway, so far it has been a vomit-filled, exhausting, HOT and busy summer.  We haven't done much of anything fun with our kids, but they have been great sports.  Next time we move we are hoping it won't be during July, in phoenix, with a sick & pregnant mommy.  Anyway, now that we are done I am looking forward to getting back to normal life...whatever that is!

PS- We should find out on monday, if the baby cooperates, whether it is a boy or girl.  So hopefully I will blog about all things baby on Monday!

Just so you know...

There is a baby in my stomach.

(and yes, this completely justifies my lack of blogging for 2 months.)

Quote for today

Wow.  Today has been quite an adventurous day in motherhood already this morning :)  So I thought I would share an unplifting quote that has made me smile today.

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.

I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.

I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.

I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.

I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.

I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."

 

-Majorie Pay Hinckley

Lucky You!...

...Another massive, all-inclusive, cath-up blog!  Isn't it lovely?

Well, after the last time I blogged I had my wisdom teeth out.  Yikes.  It was not fun.  My mother in law took care of the girls and I for the first couple of days, then my mom picked us up on her way home from parker and took us to Thatcher for 4 days.

The girls loved my mom's big tub!

Being home was so great.  Granted I WAS on drugs for the first couple of days.  :)  But really, it was nice just to be HOME.  Ya know?  My mom took such great care of the girls and I, and my sister Emily puree'd a bunch of yummy food for me, which fed me the whole time I was down there.  It was so nice to be around my family and not have anywhere to go (nobody really knew I was there), I stayed at my mom's house until the day I left.  I got to sleep and rest and just be.  I LOVED it.  It was good for my soul.

Em's catering :)

It did make me miss being in Thatcher and remembering how simple and easy life was for me there.  sigh.

Izzie stands in the corner all the time now.  When ever Lily is in the corner (and crying/throwing a fit), Izzie goes and stands in the corner on the other side of the door and "fake cries" intimidating Lily.  It is pretty funny.  I will also sporadically find her standing in the corner randomly thoughout the day.  When I ask her what she is doing she looks at me and grins, then sticks her nose back in the corner!  She's a silly girl.

Lily's latest trick on the other hand is getting into bed with Isabel.  That wouldn't be so bad except that she often also empties out ALL the clothes in her and Izzie's dressers and throws them in the crib and on the floor.  Then when she is in the crib with Iz, she strips them both down, INCLUDING Isabels diaper, which often leads to Izzie peeing on piles of clean clothes.

I feel like since I came home life has been NON-STOP!  It has been crazy.  Here are the highlights.  :)

General Conference.  AMAZING. "Nuff  said.

Easter.  We had a great Easter.  We went to matt's parents and our grandparents and all Matt's siblings were there.  We had (way too much) yummy food (which I could finally eat after the surgery), and the kids had and Easter Egg hunt, which they loved.  It was a really nice day.

The girls have been doing alot of reading lately and I often find Lily "reading" the books to Izzie, this I LOVE.  She even does the animal noises and voices.

I joined a gym :)  I forgot how addicting working out can be.  Especially when you put your kids in KidCare while you are there so they aren't crawling all over you.  It is much easier.

Lily helps me wake daddy up in the evenings so he can go to work

 

It was incredibly windy and that coupled with the fact that it is spring made for nasty allergies.  The kind where your allergies get so bad you pretty much have a cold and feel horrible with all the drainage and the headache, etc.  Yucky.  Plus I was losing my voice off and on (due to said drainage) and we had to sing in Stake Conference.  Which ended up being a pretty mediocre performance on Matt and my part (we did a duet), which was disappointing.  There were alot of factors that made it that way, it wasn't awful, just ok.  The rest of the meetings were WONDERFUL.  LOVED it.  So uplifting and inspiring and just plain GOOD.  I love this stake.

The night before Matt and I sang in conference was my birthday party.  It was like, TOTALLY rad!  It was 80's themed and we had a dance.  We set it up in the church's gym.  It was a ton of work and by the time it was starting I really didn't even want to be there, I was feeling sick still and I was WORN OUT, but as soon as the music started and I saw how AWESOME people looked (everyone dressed up), I got so hyped.  And I ended up having SUCH a good time.  I think that most of the people who came had a good time.  It was great to get to be silly and stupid, and also to dance with my husband.  I had a blast.  I felt a little weird initially about having a birthday party (since I am a grown-up...kind of), and I wasn't sure if people would come, or if they would really get that into it.  But people did.  we had about 30 something people and 90% of them dressed up and danced and seemed to have a good time.  I am glad I did it :)

You know your husband is sexy when he can rock a mullet!Matt's Brother Barry had a fake mustache and chest hair.  He was SO Magnum PI.  It was HILARIOUS!

The Earl SiblingsMatt and I

***I actually wrote this post 2 weeks ago, but I have been waiting on my friend Elisa to send me her pictures (her husband Jeff took a bunch at the party)...hint, HINT Elisa!  :)  So there may be other b-day pics added...eventually****

I am SO over March...so why isn't March over??

WARNING: I AM GRUMPY & TIRED...SO...sorry about that

this is definitly in the "ugly but honest" journal categories 

When we left Thatcher on the 3rd of March Lily was just getting a nasty cold (if you live in AZ, you or someone in your family probably had it this month), well she got it and then so did I, and then so did Isabel.  So we had about 2.5 weeks of "the cold".  Then just as Lily was getting over it, her fever spiked up again and she was REALLY grumpy, although she was no longer coughing and her nose wasn't really running much either.  I wasn't sure what was up with her, she had never had an ear infection before and when I was asking her, she kept saying that her ears didn't hurt, but lo and behold she DID have one.  Not really suprising with the HUGE amounts of "drainage", which is my nice way of saying snot out the wazoo, that we all had with this cold.  So 2 days after the fever spike she has her 3 year "well-check" and thats when the doc confirms that it is indeed an ear infection and writes her a script.  About a week later the same thing happens to Izzie, with the fever coming back and the misery, after a day of this I asked my Brother in Law (he is a PA) to look at her ears, and she has an ear infection too.  So the next day we take her to the doc and she also gets a prescription for an ear infection.  That same day I woke up knowing I HAD to have a sinus and ear infection, I give it a day or 2 to be sure (WHY?? I am an idiot...I was just hoping it would go away), then go to the dr and get some antibiotics myself.  Izzie and I are just finishing them up this week. 
 
Matt has been busy with school and work.  He had his spring break last week, but between work and Dr appts, we didn't seen much of him.  We were planning on having a temple day and then spending the night with his sister in Chandler, but Matt found out the Sunday before that they had rescheduled a scout/young men's snow day activity for that day, so we cancelled it.  So the girls and I ended up seeing less of him during spring break than we usually do during a normal week.  That made me a little sad if I am being honest, but he had a good time in the snow, so I am glad.  He came back bruised and sunburned and worn out, which is how you SHOULD look if you are tubing right?  It was probably a good break for him to get out and do something fun outside away from his family, work and school responsibilities.

So that is March so far. And I am getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow, so I am sure that it is going to be a lovely rest of the month :)

Oh and Lily has regressed in her potty training after doing so well before she got sick, so that has caused some frustration for me, I am not gonna lie.

I have really been feeling pretty worn out and pushed to the limit the past few weeks.  I am starting to feel pretty inadequate when it comes to being able to "do it all".  Do you ever feel that way?  Trying to be a good wife and mother (which is a lot of work, some days it is quite a battle to even attempt to be the kind of mom I wish I was), trying to be a good person, fufill my household, personal, church, and family/friend responsibilities.  It just seems like a lot sometimes.  Plus I miss my best friend.  Alot.  This whole Matt being unavailable 80% of the time and us both being tired and worn out thing, is rough on me.  Especially this month with me being sick and taking care of sick kids, it has been rough.  Most of the time I truly feel like a single parent and that is hard.  I see other people who have SUPER busy husbands and more kids than I do and I just don't know how they do it.  I am overwhelmed.  And lonely.

And I am eating my stress.  Yeah...I gained 5 lbs this month.  I keep resolving not to eat junk, and then I just give up an hour later.  I know in my MIND that if I was eating better and excercising I would probably feel better, and lets face it, excercise is a much healthier stress release than a cheeseburger and onion rings.  Back before I had kids when I felt overwhelmed I would run a couple of miles and feel in control and then feel better.  Running felt good.  Now I am so out of shape that running just hurts, so I feel down and decide to just give up and eat something (usually when I am exhausted at 8pm and the kids are finally sleeping and I am alone and worn out).  Not a good cycle right? 

Maybe having to get my wisdom teeth out won't be such a bad thing.  Maybe not being able to eat junk for a couple weeks will help me break some of these bad habits.

Anyway, I know I should stop complaining.  I have a lot to be thankful for.  2 beautiful kids.  A place to live, the ability to buy a cheeseburger when I feel like it.  The opportunity for Matt to go to school and pursue a career he is interested in.  His job.  Our extended family & friends.  Our church responsibilities that give us purpose and bless our lives.  Not to mention, the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The forgiveness I can recieve on all those days when I fall desperately short.  The peace and light and joy it brings.  That is the greatest blessing of all.

It's just hard to remember that sometimes, when you feel sick and are running off 5 hours sleep and cleaning up "potty accidents", trying to keep your 1 year old out of it (who is crying and sick and miserable climbing all over you), while your 3 year old stands in the corner screaming and crying, and you haven't had more than a 5 minute conversation with your husband in a week.  Ah, the glamourous life I lead  :)

****BUT on a truly glamourous and happier note, I am going to have a birthday party in April.  I haven't had a birthday party in years and years.  In fact I don't even remember??  My fabulous friends Lisa and Sara, from our fabulous ward suggested I have one, at first I said no, but then I thought about it, and why not??  Nobody has to bring presents or anything, but it seems like a good excuse as any to have a party and get together with friends.  It's a theme party (because we are fabulous) a, like, totally righteous, 1980's dance party.  It's going to be awesome dudes.  I am just worried that I will forget to invite people who might want to come...so if you read this and would want to come let me know and I'll add you to the list :) ****

Thatcher - Part 2 :)

So the day before we left Thatcher we went up on Mt Graham and had a snow day!  Lily ended up sick afterwards and since then all us girls have passed it around...but it might have been worth it!  It was Lily's first time in snow and it was a gorgeous day, we pulled off into a road side "undeveloped campsite" and it was perfect for all our needs.

There was a great little hill for sledding down

And a nice little flat spot for building a snowman

Just before we left a couple people pulled over to take some pictures and we asked them to use our camera to catch one of all 3 of us.

It was a great little family day.  Which by the way, have I mentioned those are scarce lately?  Even on our trip, Matt spent most of the time holed up in a bedroom doing schoolwork.  But he took this 1/2 day off and managed to go out to eat with a friend from Nursing School and even out to eat with me once!