Winter Fun

I'm now 30 weeks pregnant. It has flown past! I'm getting nervous about getting everything done before this little guy comes, though I'm excited to have him here, and I am so glad Josh can have a little brother. I'm fortunate to have another few shifts at work. It's going to be difficult to not have that extra money for 3 months, but with tax returns, we should have money to get us through my time off. I'm not willing to give up those 3 months, and the Lord seems to always know exactly how much money we will need to get by and helps us through. It is funny though, whenever we think we will have some extra, something comes up so we don't get it. I'm also really not looking forward to another surgery. I've been starting to walk Josh everywhere, even when he wants me to pick him up, just to get him used to my not carrying him for 6 weeks. That was the most difficult part after my last surgery, and he resented me for it. I fully expect him to feel the same way with this one, especially when I'll be carrying the baby, but I guess in the overall scheme of things 6 weeks is just a short moment. Oh, well, not a whole lot more to write. I guess I'll just now leave some pics of some of our winter activities. It's been a nice winter:)

Our finally finished bedroom. Pic is a bit blurry, but Josh loved posing and saying, "Cheese!"

Our "Big Helper" assisting his dad in moving furniture back into our bedroom.

Our first family snowman. We didn't have boots for poor Josh yet, so we put plastic bags over his feet. He kept falling, so he made us hold his hand whenever he'd walk in the snow:)

Josh loved helping Matt shovel the driveway. He found a small board in the garage, and decided it was to be his very own snow shovel!

Whenever we leave my mom's house, Grandma always has to give Josh ice cream. She ran out once, so she stole Brian's (my little bro) own ice cream. Josh loved it, and fell asleep on the drive home thoroughly satisfied:)

My handsome boys

Me and my sweet boy

This is my Grandma's grave decorated for Christmas. We drove through the cemetery on Christmas Eve to visit, and it was so beautiful! There were so many lights and lanterns, and someone even managed to make their own flying lantern! It was really neat, and I was amazed by how many people there were!

Josh loved the tree! He frequently pulled decorations off and piled them under the tree:)

Josh feels the same way as I do about Santa. SCARY!

Josh is a natural at attacking pinatas

Had to show off the other babies my soon to be born boy's age. This is cute little McKenna.

The other cute newbie, Justin Thomas

Josh loves to litterally run in circles around the house! This is him at my mom's.

Christmas morning

We were very surprised that as soon as Josh pulled his sword out of his stocking, he immediately went swinging at Matt. I don't know where he learned it, but I would guess my brothers are the culprits.

Josh loves airplanes, and it took us forever to find this one, but Josh's reaction was worth the weeks of searching!

Josh sitting with his cuz, Kyle, watching a movie. Josh lasted all of a minute, then he was off.

Gotta take the family Christmas pic!

Josh's big boy bed. He did fall out of it after a little over a month. I heard a thud, followed by "Ouch!" Matt ran in and Josh was still so sleepy, Matt just gave him a big hug and tucked him back in. He was out like a light!

I Love My Life!

I have the most wonderful life! My husband is so wonderful, and my boy is so sweet, and I am so excited and blessed to have another little boy on the way. I never dreamed after it was so easy to get pregnant with Josh, that it would take us nearly a year to have a viable pregnancy. Our struggles this year have brought Matt and I closer together, as do all trials and joys of life. I am so grateful to have such a loving supportive husband. I am so glad I did not settle for a lesser man just to get married younger. I had a blast all my single years, I have done things many people only get to dream of, and I am having just as much fun now that I have my husband to share my dreams with. I also am having the easiest pregnancy I could have ever dreamed (knock on wood)! I had some nausea that went away at 14 weeks, and only threw up 3 times! I felt my baby move before I was even 11 weeks pregnant, and I don't think he ever sleeps! The ultrasound showed normal anatomy, but the way he moves I can't help but wonder if they missed an extra arm or leg somewhere:) And I also think it is great I'm not nearly as big as I was when I was pregnant with Josh. I know, totally vain, but I have always been rather vain:) And I figure I better enjoy it, because I don't plan on having another ectopic pregnancy causing me to lose an instant ten pounds again! I'll just have to live with being large after this baby for the rest of my life. Or until I'm done having kids and have all the fat sucked out of me:) Now enough blabbing and I'll just show off my cute fam:)

We went up to the canyon to enjoy my birthday this fall and took some pictures. Josh with his best friend, Giz with his worst enemy:)

Matt bought me flowers for my birthday. He uses all holidays to buy me flowers, and then if it's been a while he loves surprising me with them as well!

My cute little Scooby-Doo for Halloween. The hat did not go over big unless we told him to say, "Cheese."

Matt is so happy he could cry with what a football and BYU lover our little guy is! Josh never wants to put down his football, and now sleeps with it every night!

We had our own little Thanksgiving dinner this year. It was so much fun cooking it together, though the turkey took a solid 6 hours to cook!

I'm too lazy to fix this pic, but this is me at 16 weeks. I definitely have a pooch now, but it sure was great not having it for a while:)

Our bedroom in the process of being fixed up. We started the end of June, and finished in December, but it was totally worth the amount of time it took! I'll post pics next time I blog of the finished product.

Last, but definitely not least, I finally got my piano. A tall upright, just like I have always wanted. I also always wanted it in black, because I have very fond memories of my Grandma's black tall upright, and she was such a gifted pianist! It makes me feel close to her, especially since she passed away over a year and a half ago. Miss her much!!!

Summer is Flying Past!

How is it already August? I cannot believe how fast this summer has flown by! I know I haven't blogged in a while, so I guess I should add that I am doing very well now. It has been so wonderful feeling good! After my surgery I got an infection in the incision, so that put me back initially. After that everything went well.I spent one week at my parents. Thank goodness they live so close! I couldn't have taken care of my sweet little boy. My mom has had many surgeries, so she taught me a few tricks for when I was alone my own house. I wasn't able to lift Josh for a month, so she showed me how to help him climb out of the crib and up to the high chair. My little boy wasn't happy with me for never picking him up, but he got over it rather quickly once I was able to lift him again.
The rest of the summer has been great! We went on a family vacation to Yellowstone, and had a blast! Matt and I loved the bears, and Josh never got tired of seeing bison. We got a little fishing in, not that we caught anything. It was my first fishing of the season. I really need to get my bro to take me out on the boat. Strawberry is my very favorite place to fish.
We also were able to go to the zoo. Josh loved it, of course. We have discovered since then that in Joshua's mind, Petsmart is every bit as fun as the zoo. And much cheaper! Matt and I went boating with my brother, Michael. Mike told us how bad he was at wake boarding, then proceeded to do tricks I could never even dream of doing! I guess that's not saying much since I can't even get up on water skis!
Matt and I have been fixing up our bedroom this last month. As soon as its done I'll post pics. I'm so excited for it! Until then, we have our bed on the floor of the basement. Well, guess I'll finish by posting some pics. I haven't downloaded our Yellowstone trip yet, so I'll try and do those pictures fairly soon.

Walking home from 4th of July parade

Josh loves helping when we do yard work

Matt sharing a snow cone at a Real Soccer game. Matt loves soccer, and Josh loved doing the wave!

My "big helper" took out all his wipes, diapers, and brought his toys and began stacking everything!

I love rocking with Josh in our rocker before bed.

Josh's first fishing trip at Strawberry

Josh's permanent pose while at the zoo

Josh and his daddy love the tigers!

Going on a picnic

We went to the Manti Pageant this year. Josh was good for the first hour, then we left and beat all the traffic.

My handsome little boy now loves combing his hair.

Josh helping Matt fix up our closet.

This is our temporary bedroom in the basement

I checked on Josh during his nap and found this. Don't worry, after I snapped the picture, I uncovered his head!

3 pregnancies, 1 baby

I'm very grateful my first pregnancy went well. I have a sweet little boy, and adore him! Never did I dream that in February I would find out my baby had no heart beat at 9 weeks, that I would undergo a d&c, then get pneumonia at the same time. It has now been 3 months. Just yesterday I was in the shower, when suddenly I doubled over in pain. It was literally that quick. I didn't even have the strength to get dressed. I just crawled out of the shower and onto my bed. Thank heavens Josh was asleep!!! I grabbed my phone and called my husband. I begged him to come home right away, that something was wrong with me. He made it home through memorial day traffic in 40 minutes from Salt Lake. When he got home, Joshua was just waking up. Matt helped me to the bathroom, but I couldn't stay up long. Everything was going dark, I could see spots before my eyes, and sounds were becoming muffled. I lay down on the bathroom floor, and Matt got a pillow for my head. He then went to find me some clothes so he could take me to the emergency room. I tried to sit up again, but got so sick to my stomach and everything went black again. Matt had to carry me to the car. The pain in my stomach was excruciating! At the hospital, I had Matt go in and ask for a stretcher. They brought out a wheelchair. Matt picked me up and put me in the wheelchair, where I did my best to lay sideways. The triage nurse took me in to get my vital signs and ask admit questions. I don't remember much of what she asked. Since I was sitting up sounds were all muffled, and my ears were ringing. All I could see was dark spots in front of my eyes. I just kept begging her to let me lie down. The pain was unbearable, and I felt like I was dying. My blood pressure was too low to register. Finally, they wheeled me into the back and let me lie down. It was still very painful, but as long as I lay on my right side, I wasn't sick or passing out. My blood pressure was reading 60/40's consistently. The EMT kept saying that he was sure it wasn't an accurate blood pressure, but they wouldn't let me get any pain medicine unless they got a higher reading. They kept making me turn to my back, but it hurt so bad I always rolled back to my right side. Finally, they had one reading of 100's/60's, and gave me pain medicine. After this it went right back down to 60/40's. An ultrasound tech came and took me for an ultrasound. He kept pressing on my stomach, and it killed every time he did. I asked if he saw anything. "I'm not allowed to tell you what I see." I can't get upset with him for this. I work at a hospital, and know that technically you are not allowed to diagnose or read reports, it must be the physician that does this. He did say that it answered a lot of questions. They called my OB, and soon I was going back to surgery. Dr Bean told me he believed it was an ectopic pregnancy, and my tube had ruptured. He said he would probably open me up to do surgery, but may be able to do just laproscopic surgery. They never gave me any more pain medicine because my blood pressure then was staying 50-60/30-40. Finally, I was put out for surgery, and had never been so grateful in my life! No more pain! When I came around after surgery, I was receiving my 2nd unit of blood. My family was there, and it was wonderful to see them! My parents took Josh for the night, and Matt slept in the room with me. I have now had a total of 3 units of blood, but my hematocrit is still going down. It is currently 24.7, so I'll have it redrawn in the morning. For now, I'll try to rest, but it really sucks! 3 pregnancies, and 1 baby! But at least I have the most adorable little boy. And the doctor told me my other ovary looks just fine, so he doesn't think I'll have problems getting pregnant again. I pray so, though I think I'll give myself a few months before trying again!!!

One Year!

Okay, Joshua is actually 13 months now. But wow! The last year just flew. We had a fun little birthday get together. I made a cake for Josh-of which I am very proud! I am not a creative person, but it was a lot of fun making it! Matt and I had our families over to celebrate, and it turned out to be a great day!

It is amazing how time flies so fast! Its been a very difficult year for my family. In one year we lost one of my best friends-my grandma, my aunt passed away, my nephew, and I lost my unborn baby. I like to think all of this tragedy has brought us closer together as a family. These losses help remind me how important family is, and how grateful I am to have an eternal perspective on life after death. I'm so blessed to have such an amazing husband and a cute little boy. I'm so grateful for my parents, my brothers and their wives, and my sister. I'm also one of the lucky few that has wonderful in-laws. Matt's parents and siblings remind me a lot of my own.

I don't want everyone thinking this whole year was just awful. It's been good in ways. My brother was sealed in the temple to his wife, and the sealer did an incredible job! I have 4 nieces and/or nephews that will be born by the end of this year. My little boy is walking and talking, and just being cute all the time:) Matt and I were sitting on the couch, and Josh was in the window crawling along the back of the couch above us. All of a sudden he started giggling like crazy. A second later he rolled off the back of the couch on top of us. I am loving being a mom!
And hopefully before too long I can join my throngs of pregnant sisters-in-law:) I'll end with just a few pic's from recent months.

Josh loves feeding his daddy.

Showing off his newly acquired walking skills.

My cute little brother, Justin, and his beautiful wife, Stephanie. They were sealed at Mt. Timpanogos Temple March 20, 2010. My parents are next to them.

Hanging out at the temple for pictures. My cute little sis, Alyse, watched Josh while we were at the temple.

Josh discovered the paper shredder. To his delight, we hadn't emptied the paper yet!

This is Josh's favorite place to play while I do my hair and put on make-up.

Matt and I discovered a delicious new late night snack. French bread dipped in oil and vinegar. We now are usually stocked on french bread!

I ran upstairs for a bathroom break, and Josh discovered I forgot to tie the pantry shut!

My cute husbands 34th birthday. I think our smoke detector batteries may be dead, because it didn't go off:)