Just browsing

I was just browsing some blogs while searching for a recipe...I stumbled across a friend's post about flying. She had a link...and if I knew how to post links, I would...to Stephanie Nielson's story on MormonMessages on YouTuble called My New Life. It was touching. It was inspiring. It made me cry...like the movie Charly. It was beautiful.

Fun family pictures...from August

I finally got some pictures of our wild west experience blogged. We had these done in West Yellowstone in August. The kids had a blast and I think that Troy and I had a good time, too.

Allergies or sick?

Last night Troy and I decided to take a break from life and got to dinner and Harry Potter. It was fun and, besides the fact we missed half of the movie due to potty breaks, we enjoyed ourselves. Rule of thumb? NEVER drink six glasses of water and eat Chinese food before a LONG movie. I always get thirsty when I eat Chinese...the people in front of us at the movies probably thought we were going our to get high or something with as many trips as we both made...and the bathroom was across the theater. I almost didn't make it twice!! Anyway, to the point. This morning at about 5:30 Tevan started wheezing and coughing. He woke up to tell me he had ucky coughs. I knew he was not sleeping well, so I got up, filled and plugged in the humidifier, covered him up with his great new snuggie and laid by him for a couple hours. He tossed, turned and coughed. I laid there thinking, "Great, a sick child for the holidays? Really?" But after laying there a bit longer, I started to realize that every time we go to my grandma's (who had a cat) he gets sick. Every time he gets around cats or other furry critters, he gets sick. (with the exception to dogs) Lat night we had some great friends watch the boys. They have rabbits. I think he may be following in Danielle's and my mom's footsteps: allergic to animals. I sure hope not. Benedryl makes my kids and husband go crazy, so I cannot give that to him. I am not sure what it is. I have no idea. Today he seems a bit better, whiny due to the lack of sleep, but better. So, tonight I will see how he does. I hope he is not sick, it is not fun to be sick on the holidays. I feel bad for him. Poor Tevan, it's been a rough time for him lately.

Sweet sixteen

Today I went to the doctor thinking I was 15 weeks, but he informed me that I was 16 weeks and that on January 18 at 1:30, I will find out if my baby is a boy or a girl. This is exciting for me. Tevan didn't like the doctor's office much...he declared that he hates babies. However, he said that I was good so that I got a candy. What a funny kid!

I have felt okay lately. Last night was a bad night...I was very sick to my stomach, tired, emotional, and kinda blue. I have overwhelming feelings sometimes. I have a lot to do before Christmas, before tax season, before this baby comes and before the summer hits with all of it's demands. One day at a time is what my motto should be, but I am not that personality to do that. I want it done, period. I want to get it off my list and out of my overstressed brain.

This past Saturday we had the Smith Christmas parties. Saturday night my brothers came to my house for a rockin' partay. This was fun to visit and open gifts. I got a really neat picture and some bath soap and lotion from Justin and Hailey. Troy got a neat spot light thing from Jess and Carlie, Daeson received a Star Wars Lego set from Jaxon, and Brooke gave Tevan a Lightening McQueen snuggie. We had good food and happy spirits. Brooke spent the night, that doesn't happen, ever. We had a good time with her. We took her to Primary and sang to her. She even got to sing with the Primary kids in Sacrament Meeting. Everyone knew she was my niece...some even thought she was my daughter. We were glad she got to stay the night with us. We don't get to see them often enough.

Sunday we went to Pocatello to visit. We saw Aunt Virginia and Darrold and Grandma and Grandpa Lish. We had a great visit...but they are never long enough. We were headed to Aunt Lindy and Uncle Ron's, but they live by the ski hill and the roads were not permitting. So, we will visit them soon. At Dee's we had good food and great company. I even got adventurous and tried Uncle Kip's bbqed meat...what kind of animal you ask??? After I ate it, swallowed it, and declared that it was pretty good, they told me it was cougar. Yup, I ate cat. I am not sure how to feel about this...but to be honest, it wasn't bad. We played fun games and had a lot of good laughs when it came to the home videos...I think I was 12 and got a glance of how I acted...I was kinda a brat. I was shocked even at some of the things I said and how I acted. I didn't even know those videos existed. The roads were good and we made it home in good time.

Last night we went to a live nativity. This is always a fun family tradition. I didn't get any pictures...surprised? But we had a great time. We even got to see our old dog, Kai, who is now Tugger. This made Daeson's day. He was on cloud nine. What a great family home evening...or as Tevan calls it "Flamly Home Namename." I love it! I started feeling ill yesterday afternoon and had to take medication all day. I was certainly glad I took it on the way to the nativity as it is held in a real stable. The smell was intense, but the setting was so authentic. It made me realize how amazing and wonderful Mary must have been. What an experience she must have had. I bet Joseph shed some silent tears as well, for how could he take this strong and amazing woman into a stable to give birth to the Son of God? I definitely pictured the stable last night as we sat on straw bales watching this historical event acted out. Moving, just moving.

My Christmas list piles up...neighbor treats are probably not happening this year. Sewing for Christmas Eve is supposed to be happening right now...and the laundry and house work falls behind every day. Sigh...............Oh well. That is all I can say for now. Christmas cards will be mailed today. One thing off the list. Presents are in order and Tevan's Woody doll came in the mail yesterday. Stockings have the items purchased to be stuffed and the bows are all in place.

Tevan plays amazingly well by himself and I enjoy the times that he and Daeson are separated because that means they are not fighting. This happens a lot lately...about everything!!!! I hear, thump...screaming...then the famous phrase, "I'm telling on you!!". Everyday...at least five times we go through this routine. They are angels when they are sleeping and when they are by themselves, but put them together and they fight and bicker about EVERYTHING! Maybe it is the age...maybe it is the fact they have a lot of free time and not enough constructed activities to keep them busy. Who knows? Not event he threat about Santa not coming works. With only 4 days until Christmas, they better be on their best behavior!

Countdown until Christmas

Every year I do the 12 days of Christmas for the boys. I used to do it for Troy, but it got too hard to figure out the 12 days. After 10 years, I quit. I will go back to doing this for him after the kids are grown. This year, because of the lack of ability to go out, I am not doing this for the boys this year. I am kinda sad, and since the countdown has begun, I sorta miss this tradition. I also realized that I have lost track of when Christmas is. Today is the 16th. It is Thursday. I have something planned every day until Christmas...every day. There is not one spare moment. I still have so many things to do...I am afraid I will not get everything done. The bad part is that some of these tasks need to be done by Saturday and some by Sunday. Others don't have to be done until Christmas Eve...but even then I am not sure if I can accomplish all of that. I have an apron to make, pj bottoms for the boys and Troy for Christmas Eve, goodies to bake and chocolates to dip. I have a couple more gifts to wrap and I still have to purchase something for Troy. Any ideas??? I still have cards to send, parties to plan, and a house to clean. Sigh...I love the holidays, but man they are busy.

Tevan's last preschool day was today until Jan 4. This is fun to have him home, but a bit more time consuming. Daeson gets out of school Wednesday. He is ready for Christmas. He is excited for Christmas. He went shopping last night with Grandma Blue. I guess he asked her if Santa was real...really? At age FIVE???? Shhesh! I did not find out until I was TWELVE!!! That is right. I was devastated. I still love the magic of Santa. I still love that he is a part of Christmas. I love that I can threaten my children to be good because of him!

So on this 16th day of December and only 8 days to get everything done, good luck to all of you who are still preparing and running behind...I hope I am not the only one on a sinking ship!!! :) Merry Christmas to all of you...I am off to sew some pjs and an apron.

Tevan's fetish

Tevan has a fetish with Toy Story 3. He has no ides his Grandparents got it for him for Christmas, and I know he will be overjoyed. Well, last night I told Tevan I had the Toy Story 3 Barbie in my old toys...you know, the one with the nice leg-warmers? I actually have two of them. We got them our of storage today. I also got Ken out. Tevan is so happy right now. I never thought Barbies would make my son happy, but they did!!! It is so funny to me to watch him play with Buzz, Ken, Barbie, Mr and Mrs Potato Head and pretend he is acting out the movie. You make me so happy, Tevan! I love you so much!!!

Survival

I am surviving...I am actually doing quite well of late. I am taking the max amount of Zofran some days, but some days I do not have to take anything at all. I am officially 14 weeks and this baby is growing...or according to my expanding waistline it is growing. I have taken to the treadmill lately and I love the burn after a couple miles with an incline of six percent with some leg squats thrown in. I forgot how much I like to exercise and I am grateful that I am able to now. I also am able to eat a variety of foods. I still don't do a lot of red meat but chicken and pork seem to taste well. Sweets are still out of the question. I could not even attempt an eggnog milkshake the other night. How sad is that. It is what I crave 10 out of 11 months and now that I can have it, I cannot stomach it. Go figure. However, I am trying to regain my role as a mom and a house keeper. This still makes my stomach turn but I can at least keep up. I am grateful. Troy is grateful. My kids are grateful.

Christmas cards have consumed some time this year. I am behind as I usually have them done by Thanksgiving. I also usually have my shopping done and wrapped by the very latest Thanksgiving. This is still not completed. I have a couple of things to pick up for Troy and the boys need to get something for each other. We have a lot of parties coming up and busy days ahead. The kids and I read a Christmas story every night before Christmas starting Dec. 1. This is a fun tradition that we have done for quite some time. This year we also did the countdown for the Friend. The boys have enjoyed this, although there are some days we have forgotten and had to catch up. Tevan and Daeson are handling the fact they are not allowed to touch the presents under the tree. I thought for sure Tevan would cave, but after the first couple days he didn't even pay attention to them.

We will be posting some fun pictures soon. I promise. We have the nativity, gingerbread houses, my family Christmas party, the Smith family Christmas part, the Harris family Christmas party and a primary activity coming up. I am not sure if Daeson's school does anything for Christmas, but Tevan's preschool always has a fun party. This is always exciting. The kids have a blast.

I cannot believe Christmas is less than two weeks away. Sigh. I haven't done any baking yet and I still haven't prepared anything for friends and neighbors. Peggy leads us every year in homemade chocolate making, but I am not sure it is going to get done this year. I hope so because I love it, but we are quickly running out of time. Merry Christmas!

Doing it on my own

Well, my mom left yesterday after a week of being here. It was so great to spend time with her. Fortunately there were a few days that I felt good enough to do a little shopping. So, I will back up (mostly for journaling purposes so I don't forget) and share her stay.

Thursday after she got here, we traveled to Rexburg for a small Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma Grover's. There were not a whole lot of us there, but it was great to visit and enjoy each other's company. Troy's uncle married a lady from Inkom who lived right by my mom. So, they got to chat a bit and catch up. After dinner, I started feeling queasy so I kept eating my B-Natal suckers from the doctor and we braved the movie theater. We all enjoyed the movie Tangled but we were forced to sit in the front seats due to lack of seating. I had no idea that many people go to the movie on Thanksgiving!!! The boys loved it and we had a great night.

Friday we took it a bit easy. I didn't feel too well, but there was no where we needed to be. Troy took the boys to Grovers to work on Peggy's wood floor.

Saturday Troy took the boys to his mom and dad's again. Mom and I ventured out in the after noon to do a bit of shopping. This was a nice break to get out, but I still didn't feel super. After dinner, we headed home to lay down. We picked up a couple of names off the angel tree and I decided that we would do this for FHE.

Sunday we had a nice time at church. We were just a few minutes shy for the sacrament, but I was suprised to see us there at all. Primary went well and I was pleased at how well I felt...with the help of Zofran. Later, the story changed and I threw up, threw up, threw up. Warning: Do not eat popcorn before throwing up. It is not pleasant. I laid down after this episode and soon was asleep.

Monday I was determined to feel good. We took the boys shopping for the angel tree stuff and then had dinner at Sizzler. I am glad the salad bar was so stocked with yummy food. I was able to eat a lot of things I have not been able to lately. We filled the order with the exception of a batman toy. We could not find one we liked.

Tuesday Troy headed to his mom's again. This time finishing the floor. Yeah! Tevan went to preschool early at 9, I had Primary presidency meeting at 9 and Daeson had to go to school at 12. We took mom to get her hair cut, went to Jack-in-the-Box for a quick lunch and ran some errands. We got the angel tree boys some boots and coats and finally found a batman. We picked Daeson up at 3:30 and did a bit more shopping. We had tacos for dinner...surprisingly I crave these things! We had our formal FHE and it was great to talk about service and giving. We were able to purchase for two boys: pants, long sleeved shirt, a zipper sweater, boots, a toy, and coats. Mom helped fill the order and we all had a great feeling inside. I am glad that the boys can learn early in life that giving is a necessary part of life on this earth.

Wednesday we dropped and picked up Daeson. We loaded pictures on to the computer and ordered them from Walgreens. Christmas cards are about ready to be sent out!!! We went to the Dollar Tree and got some necessary items to wrap gifts with. We ran to the mall, the boys saw Santa (I did not think he was very jolly though). I was able to get some maternity clothes...already!!! I cannot believe at 12 weeks my body is ready for maternity clothes. I guess with this being my third baby, everything starts a little early! After the mall, we went to our ward party. I felt bad for Judy, she and her husband were in charge. They planned on 96 people being there and there were A LOT more than that! The primary sang and the choir did some beautiful numbers. We also had a piano solo by a guy in our ward who plays the piano beautifully. We were ready to go home by the time this night was over. We were all tired and ready for bed.

Thursday mom got ready to leave. This was sad for me. The boys were sad, too. I worked on Christmas cards to be mailed, we wrapped some gifts and I picked up Daeson from school...almost not making it. I was so queasy that I had to take two Zofran during the day. This is becoming a regular thing to just make it through the day. Troy's truck was a day behind getting to the warehouse, so we cut it close leaving to Pocatello to take mom down. But, we made it by 6:30 and we were at the Golden Corral by 6:33. It was nice to see my brothers and to visit with them. And, once again it was so nice to eat some good food that I had been craving. I recently swore off mashed potatoes, but I chanced it last night and they tasted soooo good. The cantelope and the grapes were good, too. We got home about 9:30 with out mom. She stayed at Justin's and they left this morning to go to Boise where my dad will pick her up.

Friday is here. The day I have been dreading all week. The boys were easy this morning and wanted cereal. They have been eating a lot of cereal lately where I usually only let them have it on Saturday mornings. Tevan has been eating a TON of everything, but mostly applesauce, grilled cheese, mac and cheese and cereal. Daeson is getting a bit more picky with his food choices. I made it through lunch and now I am staring at my treadmill wondering if I get on, will I be able to do a good walk or if half way through I am going to get sick and not be able to go on. I have got to do something to get my blood pumping. I feel like the last nine weeks has been spent on the couch. I have been able to do some great reading, but other than that my body feels neglected. I am getting a bit bigger, faster, than with Tevan. I am trying to stay positive, but if I don't gain 30 pounds like I did with the boys, I am okay with that. I think I would prefer to gain about 15-20 max. I am not trying to loose weight, I just want a healthy pregnancy. I was doing really well on the treadmill when I first found out that I was pregnant, then I got that horrible cold, then I got to sick to do anything. Now, with two pills a day, I should be able to tone this up a bit.

The boys called Grandma this morning and told her they missed her and that they were sad that she was gone. They love their Grandparents! I wish Mom's visit were a bit more fun for here, but I really appreciate all that she did for my family. She ended up washing about 27 batches of laundry in one week! Everything in our house was dirty...sheets, towels, clothes, pajamas...you name it. Troy tried to keep up, but he had so much to do! Thank you, Mom, for coming and doing so much. I really appreciate it and I know my kids and Troy did too. Troy teased me the whole time about not being able to keep up with my mom and she was the one doing everything! Haha. So, today I am doing it all on my own with a bit of help from Troy. He has to work long hours lately because the snow prevents the trucks from being here on the day they are supposed to. I am trying to figure out what to have for dinner, heavens knows we do not need to eat out again!!! I need something easy and non smelly if anyone has a great recipe!!!

A funny thing about Tevan lately: He is always telling me he loves me, but he tells Troy he hates him. Not nice, but it does make me feel like he is still my baby boy. He told me today, "I love you mom and that makes you happy." You are right Tevan, it does make me happy.