Acts of kindness

Tonight my good friend Jen brought us a delicious meal of cheesey broccoli soup and homemade, home-ground wheat bread. It was wonderful...and, get this: homemade. My family got a homemade meal tonight. I was so thankful. We have been eating out a lot because A) nothing sounds good to cook and B) my kitchen makes me want to puke. It is not a messy kitchen, but the smell of food cooking and the idea of cooking food turns my stomach inside out! For those of you who never get sick...I envy the heck out of you. For those of you who do get sick...I feel for you. As we were partaking of this wonderful meal tonight, Daeson asked where we got it. I told him Jen made it and he said, "Jen made all of this for us? That was so nice, Mom." It was nice. It was a wonderful act of kindness. I was able to send Jen home with some goodies, but nothing beats a soup and bread!

This week is going to be extremely busy starting tomorrow. I hope I can muster through it. Tomorrow we have preschool at 9, drop the car off to get detailed (it smells like kids and I cannot stand to be in it), pick my new recliner up at the store, pick Tev up at 11, take Daeson to school at 12, teacher orientation for primary at 1, pick Daeson up at 3, clean my house???, pick car up, pres mtg at 6:30 pm, dinner and bed. I have cakes to do this week and Halloween to get ready for. We love Halloween at our house. We have a great time...I just hope I can pull this year off. I have to get the garage cleaned out, bikes put away, canning stuff packed up and fall decor to find. Wednesday I go to the Doctor, which Jen will be performing another act of service by watching my boys. I normally would take them, but we do an ultrasound to make sure the baby is growing where the baby should be growing. I am hoping everything is fine, but in case it is not, Troy will be with me. He hates going to Dr visits with me, it grosses him out that people would choose the profession of an OB/GYN. So, once again, Jen, thank you. You are a great neighbor and friend. I really appreciate it!

Longing for change

I am not sure what brought these feelings on. Pregnancy hormones most likely. If you know my family at all, you know that we moved around a lot. When I was 7 we moved from Pocatello to Missouri. Then four years later, we moved to Denver. Three years after that, we moved to Malad. I lived in Malad for four years while I was in High School, then moved, pretty much the day after graduation, to Pocatello to attend ISU. Although I loved spending time with my Grandma Tom, I moved back to Malad for 8 months while I worked, waiting for my semester at Rick's to start. I then moved to Rexburg, met Troy, lived in four different apartments (two before I got married, two after) in three years and then we moved to our home here. We have lived here since Dec 26, 2003. This year marks our 7th year. We have loved our neighborhood and we have some close friends here. I have lived in my house that I own longer than I have lived anywhere. I guess when people ask where I am from, I can now say here. If I died tomorrow, I would be buried here. This is where I am from.

However, for the last few months I have been feeling like change is in the air. Our ward has changed, some of the loved ones have moved out and some great one have moved in. Friends that used to be are no more and new friends have been made. There are only a few things that I do not like about the neighborhood we live in: there are not enough babysitters and there are no boys my kids ages. This really stinks. Daeson is forced to play with girls...dress up and dolls. There is no one Tev's age so when Daeson is invited for a "playdate" Tevan is left at home bawling his eyes out. I am not one of those mom's who makes my kids stick together. I think it is very important for kids to develop their own personalities and friendships. I will not force them, two years different in age, to play together with other friends.

I just feel like I am ready for a drastic change, not just by having a baby. No, I want to add to the chaos by moving. There, I said it. I want to move. We have outgrown our home. We are ready for some land and I would like to live closer to Daeson's school. No matter where we live, Troy has to drive all over for his job, so that would not make a difference. I would give a carpet allowance since ours is trashed and I would have to give an allowance for siding since we never got around to replacing it. Other than that, our house is okay. The basement is finished (other than the bathroom) brand new in the last three years. The bathrooms have3 been torn out and redone in the last four years and the windows and doors are new in the last five years. I need a bigger kitchen. This kitchen is fine for a few people, but when we have gatherings, we do not all fit and we are forced to eat in the garage. I am ready for change. I am ready to make that change before this baby gets here. I am ready for something huge to happen...like a house. Troy fights me on this everytime I mention it, but I am to that point where I just don't care. So, if you happen to see a for sale sign in my yard, there will likely be some angry feeling in my house! But, really, I am ready for a change. Ready for bigger and better things...I am calling it my 7 year itch.

Christmas 2010

I better get these posted, I am already behind! There are some ideas posted for the Smith side. Let me know if you want anything added!

Grovers:

Child gifts $5.00 and under

Adult gifts: Whatever you want to spend

Adam; Dani

Kayla: Troy

Adalyn: Sadie

Mieley: Ryker

Tora: Daeson

Troy: Todd

Jandy: Adam

Daeson: Adalyn

Tevan: Tora

Danielle: Heidi

Todd: Kaden

Sadie: Tevan

Ryker: Mieley

Heidi: Kayla

Brad: Jandy

Kaden: Brad

Adam and Todd, we need some ideas or you'll get a super cool t-shirt!!!

Smith side:

Child gifts:Under $10.00

Adult gifts: Less than $20.00

Justin: Jaden

Hailey: Jandy

Jax: Daeson

Jandy: Carlie

Troy: Jesse

Daeson: Brookie

Tevan: Carson

Jess: Troy

Carlie: Justin

Brookie: Tevan

Carson: Jaxon

Jaden: Hailey

Ideas:

Justin: white ankle socks, g's, Gift certs to McDonalds,

Hailey: food storage, smelly lotions,

Jaxon does not need clothes but would like: Cars, trucks, Sesame Street DVDs, Elmo and Dinosaurs

Troy: Home Depot GC, tools,

Jandy: diapers Pampers swaddlers N, Huggies size 2, wipes from Costco, baby bath soap, Dreft laundry soap, Vaseline yellow lotion, Gift Cert to Home Deopot or Lowes for paint and bathroom stuff

Daeson: Pokemon or Bakugan stuff, Size 5/6 warm pajamas, bath stuff with characters on it, Dr. Seuss books for both boys

Tevan: ZhuZhu pets stuff, size 3t warm pajamas, bath soaps with buzz or other characters on it

Carlie: laundry detergent Tide, Pampers size 5, Snuggle fabric softener

Jess:

Brooke: jewelry, Barbie, dress-up stuff, Princess hair clips, Belle princess stuff

Carson: 2T/3T clothes

Jaden: HMK4/klim boots size 12, g's, laundry soap, Gift cards to foot locker, sporting goods store (not Cabellas), tools,

Mom: silver stud earrings, lotion (all kinds), slippers size 8 1/2-9, mid-calf blue socks not trouser,

Dad: Paint ball gear bag, bathroom books, cross word puzzle books,

Sick and sicker

Two nights ago I came down with a very obnoxious runny nose. Yesterday when I woke up, my head was pounding, my nose was running and I developed a horrible cough. This morning I have all of those symptoms plus a sick husband. It is bad enough that I cannot get caught up on laundry and cleaning, now I have to add to the fire. I have been taking Airborne...one of the greatest supplements in our time if you ask me! But as for other medication, I try to stay away. I don't even take medication when I am not pregnant.

My house is a wreck. I did get two batches of laundry washed, dried, and folded. I managed to unload the clean dishes this morning and load all of the dirty ones from yesterday. My beds remain unmade, the floors unvacuumed, the hermit crabs unkept (I am not even sure they are still living). If someone were to come over, I would either lock the doors and pretend I was not home or open the door looking like crap and welcome them to my very smelly, untidy home. I have not cooked since Sunday. Here it is Thursday. Troy has been really good, but now he is sick so I am sure that will take care of his enthusiasm. It is 8:40 in the morning. Tevan has preschool in 20 minutes. He is still in his pajamas, he has not been fed breakfast and he will probably stay home today, or be VERY late. I am not usually like this. I am usually very on the ball and organized but right now, I do not give a flying monkey's tail. It would be nice to have a long, hot bath filled with Vicks Vapor Rub. It would be nice to heavily medicate myself with TheraFlu or NyQuil and just sleep the entire day. It would be very nice to have my children old enough to take themselves to school and cook their own meals. But, I am a mother. I take care of my husband and my kids even when I am not 100%. I have to. It is my job and my responsibility. It is my duty to my family to hold my pounding head up high, keep my fanny out of bed and get to work. It is now 8:50. We may have tears (from both parties) as I hastily get Tevan ready for school, fed and out the door. But with luck, I will pull it together.

Tired and nauseous

So, I know it is a bit early to be posting this, but our family members have been told and my children will probably spill the beans sooner than later, so here is our news: Baby #3 is on its way. How do I feel about this? Well, we decided to try until September. Then two Tuesdays ago, I decided that I wanted to stop and be completely done. The sickness, the tiredness, and the hustle and bustle that we are already experiencing overwhelms me. I am tired now. I don't know what I am going to do in nine months when this little Grover comes.

The funny thing is that it is due in June. Let me give you a quick run down of June...or starting with May 28: Daeson May 28, my niece Brooke and my Late Grandma Great June 5, Me June 8, Kayla June 9, cousin Shailee and Aunt Vicky June 11, Uncle Scott June 12, June 13 my Mom, June 14 this one, June 15 my Grandma Tom, June 16 Uncle Dirk, June 19 Tevan, June 21 my Grandma Lish, Aunt Lynne June 22, June 23 Uncle Kip, June 28 Dad and June 29 Aunt Kristy. I tried to get it to come sooner, but it was not supposed to happen that way I suppose.

I now get to rearrange furniture and bedrooms. I have my eye out for some bunk beds. I found some yesterday that if they are still there tomorrow I will go purchase them. I need to paint, get new carpet, weed out toys, and try to find space. One option is to get rid of the guest room, but I am not ready to do that. I don't get a lot of visitors, but it is nice to give them privacy when I do get them. Also, I do not like that the boys would be downstairs. I like them up with me. So, I think the toy room will dissolve. There were 5 bedrooms when we bought the house, but we turned one of them into an office for Troy. The other is a guest room. Then upstairs we have our master bedroom, the boy's room and the toy room. The toy room will become the boy's room, the boy's room will become the nursery and our room will remain the same. So over the next 7ish months, I need to get the energy to do all of this moving and rearranging. Right now it seems a bit overwhelming, but it will all work out. I guess that is why we have 9 months to prepare. Unfortunately my raised vegetable garden and my pavers will have to wait as will our siding and our hardwood floors and our living room. Our deductible is outrageous. I cannot believe insurance companies!!!! They make you pay a TON during the year, then they cover NOTHING! I hate it. Being self-employed makes it even harder to get good insurance.

So, what are we hoping for? I think we all will be okay with either a boy or a girl, hoping that it is healthy. However, I would really like a boy. We have everything for boys and considering when it is due, I will have the proper sizes and seasons. If it is a girl, we will be equally happy, but it will cost a ton to buy all new stuff. This will likely be our last baby, if I have anything to do with it. Three is plenty for me. So I think it would be silly to purchase things for a girl if it is our last. I would just like a healthy and happy child. That is really what any of us want. God willing.

My cake business is on a slight hold for a while. I have four cakes ordered right now and as long as I feel okay, I will continue taking new orders. After the baby comes, I will completely stop for about 10 months or so. Then I hope I can resume in full swing. This makes me a bit sad. I love doing cakes and I love expressing myself through frosting :). But there is a time and a place, this is not my time I guess. I will keep everyone posted and updated through the BLOG. I go to the Dr on Oct 27 to do an ultrasound. They have to do this because of the previous ectopic pregnancy I had in 2002. They just make sure everything is where it is supposed to be. Until then...

Fast trip

Wednesday night we decided to go to Grangeville on Thursday. The boys wanted to see Grandma and Grandpa again and the horses. So, Thursday we picked up Miki (my 14 year old cousin) and drove, and drove, and drove. Finally about 7:30 pm we arrived and we were able to relax for a bit. We visited and had a good two days. The boys got to ride the horses a little bit and Mik, mom and I went shopping for an hour or two. It was nice. We had a ward party while we were there, too. We got in the car Sunday morning only 7 minutes behind schedule. It was a long drive home, very tiring. Tevan came within inches of his life and finally settled down about Fruitland. They were good most of the time and we were glad to be home at last. The boys did not want to go to bed right away, but they had no choice. It was bed time. I did not take my camera...I don't even know where it is to be quite honest. Now I am going to tie in to my house and 72 hour kits and get things organized. Today is clean the house day and I hate Mondays for that reason. The entire house gets cleaned up top to bottom. It makes the rest of the week go a lot smoother if I just have to touch up. Thanks mom and dad for letting us crash your weekend, and thanks Mik for going with me! You were a big help!