Wednesday, February 29th

I think we are almost in the clear with this sickness in our house. I still kept Easton home from school because he was coughing just a bit too much to send him today, but he did so much better last night and actually seemed to sleep without hacking all night. I put a humidifier in the room with them with some medicine this natural doctor gave me yesterday at Easton’s appointment, and I think that helped. I’m feeling a bit better, still really tired and not a lot of energy, but my throat was less sore when I woke up this morning.

Jacob’s brother Jordan (Tyler) got engaged last night. I don’t think I’ve ever talked to his fiancé Breanne except to say “Nice to meet you.” Everyone else likes her so I’m sure we do to, we just don’t know her yet. I don’t know the date or any details like that yet, but if I remember I’ll write them when I find out.  That’s all I know about that.

On Friday I am 35 weeks. That means I only have 5 weeks left. And that is not much at all! It’s been dragging along for the past 35 weeks, and then suddenly I’m here, just weeks away from giving birth. And hopefully I will deliver this little guy on March 24th. No, I’m not being induced and my due date isn’t until April 6th, but I like March 24th. I have an engagement session on the 22nd, and Hunger Games comes out on the 23rd and I plan to see that with my sister. So I have picked the 24th as the date that I would like to go into labor. Two weeks early. I have never gone early, or even on time. But this time should be different. Because I want it to, of course. I am so excited to meet Logan. He moves around having parties in my belly all the time, and I just want him to be here already. I ordered his bedding on clearance at Target last week, and it’s supposed to arrive by Friday. It’s just darling, and I got such a good deal on it. I’ve been crib shopping and planning the paint colors for his room, and I need to refinish a dresser in my room for his before he gets here. We have to turn the toy room into his room, so the toys will be moved into the boys’ room. That means their room needs to be organized and changed around a bit to make way for toys.

I’ve never taken pictures of my belly pregnant because I’m always so ghastly, but I kind of like the look of my belly this time. Instead of gaining weight everywhere and feeling so large, I’m mainly just carrying out front this time. With Teagan I went to get a pedicure once and the woman giving it told me I looked like I had a tire around my waist. I was pregnant in my sides too. She was dumb for saying it out loud, but I knew I looked that way. So far I’ve gained 16 lbs. this time around. With 5 weeks left, I’m hoping to stay right at 20, instead of the typical 50. So here are a couple belly shots. I would never post them on Facebook, but I’m nearly the only one that reads my blog, so I figure I’m safe here.  Here’s the belly at 35 weeks.

Here I am pregnant with Teagan at 34 weeks. I can definitely tell that I am much smaller than the last one. My face is not quite as chubby. I feel the working out and eating regularly have played a big part in being smaller this pregnancy. I’m pretty proud of myself for keeping my weight in line. For some reason I don’t have that brown line either, but I can’t remember if I ever had it with Easton or Teagan. And my belly button doesn’t poke out either, but that’s also never happened before.

Anyway, I am so so so excited to be to the end of this. Jacob and I are on the edge of our seats waiting for Logan to get here. The boys are going to eat him up. It will be such a fun sleepless time in our lives. Can’t wait.

Monday, February 27th Our Anniversary

Today is officially our two year anniversary. It’s a good thing we celebrated this past weekend because I am sick and feeling lousy and Easton has bronchitis and an ear infection. That’s what was determined at his doctor’s appointment today. I think I will keep him home for one more day and send him to school for sure on Wednesday. Today he missed his 4th day in a row of school. I feel so bad for these boys, all cooped up in our sick house, the stench of sickness like a green fog hovering around our house. At least that’s how it feels when you’re sick. Which is why I like to get up and get dressed and do my hair and makeup so that I don’t look as disgusting as I feel. I woke up with a really sore throat again, but I made hot lemon juice with honey and cayenne which is really the only thing that gives relief from my sore throat. I had a prenatal visit this morning at 9:20, and Jacob was home to watch the boys because we had plumbers coming to inspect our plumbing to see if it needed replacing. Apparently in our subdivision there is a lawsuit against the company that plumbed our houses for faulty plumbing in many houses, but ours was ok. And that is good because it would have been a nightmare to be without plumbing for a week. Anyway, since he was home, I didn’t have to take the boys with me to my appointment. I had to wait for about 40 minutes today to be seen by my nurse midwife, and when I wasn’t feeling good, waiting was not my favorite thing. I just wanted to lay down and sleep. It would have been terrible to have the little sickies there with me too. Easton is hacking up a lung every two seconds and driving us crazy with his incessant coughing. I don’t know how Teagan sleeps next to him, but he does. I know Easton’s not doing it on purpose, but it’s really annoying to have someone coughing next to you every second. I hope this cough passes quickly. It’s already been a week. Teagan’s cough is not nearly as bad, which is a blessing. Dr. Baker put them both on amoxicillin so hopefully that will kick their coughs and earaches in the butt.

As I said, I wasn’t feeling very well all day, so I got to do a lot of laying around after the boys’ appointment at 1pm. We didn’t have to wait long at their visit at all, and that was good. I have been so tired these past couple days. Probably from the pregnancy and being sick at the same time. But at least that means I should be good for a while as far as sickness goes. So maybe when Baby gets here I’ll be nice and healthy.

Jacob came home with flowers after work. I love flowers. They make me happy to have in my house. I can’t wait for spring to arrive so I can start planting flowers around pots on my porch. The flowers he got me for Valentine’s Day two weeks ago are still going strong, so I added them into my new bouquet, and I have a lovely arrangement on my counter downstairs.

I sure hope Easton’s cough will let up and my throat will stop hurting. That would be good for all of us. Luckily my husband is doing a juice cleanse right now, so I didn’t have to worry about having food for him. It’s so much easier to feed children than it is a grown man. They’ll eat anything. For the past week we’ve mostly been living on fruit, which I think is important to do when you’re sick. Easton had some wheat thins earlier and had a coughing spell after that for about 15 minutes straight. So fruit and veggies and broths it is until he gets better. He hasn’t had much of an appetite for a week now anyway. So he and Teags have been living off oranges and green apples and green beans.

That’s all for today. Happy anniversary to my wonderful husband, glad we got to celebrate this past weekend. :)

Saturday, February 25th Our Anniversary Getaway

Well we are home from our quick anniversary getaway. Now I know that we only went to little ol’ St. George, but I was alone with my husband for 24 hours. We got to talk and eat and shop as much as we wanted for one whole day. We had a wonderful time just the two of us. But on the way to drop the boys off to my mom’s yesterday, Easton started complaining that his ear hurt, and of course I didn’t bring any of his medicine or ear drops to give to my mom. So she got to take care of sick kids while we were gone. The boys really got hit hard with this sickness. Typically when Easton gets croup it’s over and done in a couple days. But his cough hasn’t really gotten much better and he had a fever today and earaches yesterday and today as well. It seems that Teagan might be getting better. I woke up with a really sore throat and stuffy nose this morning. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow.

After I dropped the boys off, I came home and finished getting my stuff ready. Then Jacob came home from work and got showered, and we headed to St. George. It was nice to be alone with my husband for a car ride. I love going on road trips with the boys too, but this kind of reminded me of our honeymoon to Lake Tahoe. Just the two of us chatting and having a good time without having to take care of the boys. Even though I wouldn’t trade the boys for anything, of course, and neither would Jacob. Still, husbands and wives need alone time, and that’s just a fact, so we certainly enjoyed being together just the two of us. We got into St. George about 8 Vegas time, and we drove right to Texas Roadhouse. I LOVE that place. Their rolls and rattlesnake bites are just about my favorite. Jacob had never been there before, and he was extremely pleased with our delicious meal. I didn’t get a pic of the two of us together there, just one of each of us separately.

After Texas Roadhouse, it was already kinda late and we just wanted to sit and relax, so we drove to Amanda’s house and got cozy in our jammies watching pointless TV. I’m glad that we don’t have TV. I felt like there was a whole lot of nothing on and what was on just made me feel dumber for watching it.  Jacob felt the same way. We stayed up late watching reruns and enjoying each other’s company before finally going to bed around 1:30 am. I didn’t sleep very well, mostly because I’m pregnant and have a hard time getting comfortable, and also because my throat started really hurting in the night. I finally got some good sleep in the early morning hours, and Jacob and I climbed out of bed around 10:30. So I started getting ready and washing the sheets and towels we had used, and after that was all done and the house was left like we found it, we headed off to spend the afternoon together. We started off with breakfast/lunch at IHOP around 12:30. It was sad to eat there and not be able to eat pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream, but my fruit crepe with yogurt and granola wasn’t terrible. However, I am now even more certain that the first thing I will eat after the next 6 weeks are over will be pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream. After IHOP we went to Downeast Basics Clothing and Home Store. My husband was so sweet to browse the store with me looking at furniture that I can only dream about. We found a table we loved and couches we will someday have. Then we went to a shoe store because we were on the hunt for new shoes for Jacob. So we went to Kohl’s after that and then to the Skechers outlet and found shoes for him that we both liked (and that was a miracle, let me tell you). There were also having a sale, buy 1 get the second pair half off, so I got a new pair of workout shoes since mine are falling apart. After the shoe store we headed to Tai Pan because I’ve heard all about it and have never been there, and it is a terrific home décor store. What a good husband, right? To let me drag him around home décor stores just to look around. He didn’t even complain – he did it so lovingly. After Tai Pan, we went and got smoothies. He wanted a treat but I’m not eating sugar, so luckily we found a really healthy smoothie place where I got a delicious all fruit smoothie. And the nice man who owned the place took our picture so that we’d have a picture of us together on our anniversary getaway. It is important to note that I was having a fabulous hair day, and it needed to be captured on camera. Annnnnd, we’re just cute together.

After our smoothies, we got in the car and headed home. About 20 minutes after we were out of St. George, we got a blowout. But we said, “We have a spare, so we’re fine.” And there was indeed a spare. But no jack and no tire iron. And we just so happened to have gotten this blowout right where we had no cell service. Perfect, right? So we stood at the side of the road for about 15 minutes staring helplessly at the cars passing by, hoping someone would stop and help us. I even  put my belly out there, like “Look, poor me, I’m pregnant and we’re stuck on the side of the road.” And nothing. Nobody cared about me and my unfortunate circumstances. Nobody cared that I might have gone into labor. Finally, after about 15 minutes of our pathetic waving (Well Jacob was waving) a nice man pulled over and had the jack and tire iron. He didn’t even speak much English, but he was so kind to pull over and see what he could do to help us. After getting the spare on and thanking the man for his help, we were back on the road. We got to my mom’s at about 6:45, and my poor Easton was laying on the couch with a fever and a slight earache. I hate it when my kids are laying down sick. It’s so not what kids do, so when they just lay there, you know they feel plain lousy. We ate some dinner at my mom’s and then got the boys home and into bed. I put some drops in Easton’s ear and gave him some ibuprofen for the pain and fever, and hopefully he will sleep well and feel much better in the morning. If he’s not better, I’ll take him to the Dr. tomorrow. His pediatrician’s office is open on Sunday, but hopefully we won’t have to go. My throat is still hurting and my nose is stuffy, and hopefully I will feel much better in the morning too.

I had a wonderful time with my sweet hubby, and I’m so grateful for the sweet things he always does to show he loves me. Even the small things mean so much to me. At IHOP today, my hash browns were a bit crispier than I like them, and crispier than Jacob likes them. I mentioned it, and he offered me his and said he didn’t mind the crunchy ones. But I know that’s not true. I know he just loves me, just like when he slept on the puffy pillow and ate the soggy sandwich. I blogged about those instances on 7-18-11. He tells me each and every day how beautiful I am, how blessed he is to have me, what a good wife and mother I am, and all the things that I’m supposedly so wonderful at. The thing is is that I know he really feels that way about me. And he never lets me forget it. I never feel like he underappreciates me or takes me for granted.  Our anniversary isn’t until Monday, but I am so grateful to have found this one. He is just what I need. I love you, my sweet husband! You make every day so much sweeter.

Thursday, February 24th

Today Teagan was pretty whiny, crying over every little thing that Jaedyn or Easton did, and I wanted to wring my own neck. I love being a mom, but some days I want to run and hide and shut my door and tell someone else to fix all their problems.  Especially since their problems are so small and not really problems at all.  Like, “Easton did a mean face.” Who cares? I laugh because I remember when I was a kid and how horrible it was when someone made a mean face at me. Now I wish I had such menial things to be upset about. But then I have to say, “Easton, don’t make mean faces.” It’s just little things like that that go on all day that make me happy that Jacob and I will have 24 hours away from parenting tomorrow. Not that I don’t love my children because I absolutely can’t get enough of their adorably sweet faces. But I want the job that the grandparents get – to just enjoy the little monkeys. I spend so much of the day playing the referee, and nobody ever likes the referee. And referees don’t get to enjoy the game because they are too busy keeping an eye on all the players to make sure they’re following the rules and not making mean faces at each other. Plus, when you add Jaedyn into the mix it makes for even more fighting because she’s a girl, and she’s moody and doesn’t always want to talk or be talked to, so Teags is always crying, “Jaedyn don’t wanna be my fwend.” I tell ya, it’s the end of the world in our house about a hundred times a day.

Easton was still sick today, coughing a lot, so I kept him home from school again, and he’s not any better to go tomorrow. I’m just glad this was a 3-day week so that he didn’t have to miss the whole week. It was kind of another lazy day around here. I lounged around watching movies with my sickies and stopping fights all day. After getting ready for the day, I made each of the children crowns to wear out of my scrapbooking paper because they all wanted to wear Easton’s crown from Burger King. Sometimes I have so many other things to do on my list than play with or do activities with my children, and I forget that those are the things that are most important. Cleaning will always be there. It never goes away, but my children aren’t always going to want to play or do crafts with me. They were all so excited about these silly little crowns I made for them. Children are so simple and find such happiness in doing the simplest activities.

I had mutual tonight, and our activity was eating pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream and talking about Personal Progress. We always have to bribe the girls with food to get them to come to a PP activity. But why did it have to be delicious pancakes with strawberry topping and whipped cream? I’m not eating sugar, and that’s just about my favorite thing on the face of the planet. But I was firm. I just ate the bacon and a plain pancake with nothing on it. It was not the same. So I decided that the first thing I will eat after Mr. Logan is born will be pancakes with sugary strawberries and whipped cream. And I will savor every bite.

Tonight after the boys were in bed, I found the bedding I wanted for Logan’s crib on clearance online at Target. So I ordered it. For $56 I got all that I need for his bed. That’s a steal of a deal. I never had bedding for Easton or Teagan in their crib because everything that I liked was so expensive.  And I figured it would be the same for Logan, but I found a really cute set for cheap, so I helped myself right to it. My parents are buying us a crib, so I was also shipping around for a crib, and I’m kind of deciding between two now. I will hopefully have a better idea when the bedding gets here. After getting his bedding and shopping for a crib, I’m really excited for him to arrive. I remember how much fun it is to have a new baby. And then when they get here I remember how NOT much fun it is to have a newborn. I prefer them when they start sleeping through the night.

Well, I have finished my ice, and it is probably best that I get to bed. My New Year’s resolution to be in bed by 11 has never worked out for me. I love my alone time when the house is quiet, and I just can’t seem to get into bed at a decent hour. So many nights I send Jacob to bed alone because he wants to be in bed by 10:30, and that’s just so early to me. When Logan gets here, I’m sure things will change, but for now I’m going to enjoy the time I get to myself. I won’t be getting that for a while after he gets here.

Wednesday, February 22nd

Yesterday Easton was off of school for Staff Development, but I wouldn’t have sent him anyway because he’s still coughing up a lung. So he was home laying on the couch watching TV. Teagan is doing better, still has a cough, but it’s improving. I spent most of yesterday making muffins. I’m on a healthy kick, so I was trying whole wheat muffin recipes. I made some whole wheat pumpkin muffins and some oat applesauce muffins. The pumpkin muffins were more our favorite, but the oat ones are good for being healthy. I also tried to make a healthy dinner with garlic herb chicken, couscous, herbed asparagus and broccoli. It was pretty tasty, but it was chicken, and unless chicken is smothered in a cream sauce of some sort it’s not my favorite. I’m trying to cook healthier meals. On Monday I made a black bean soup, but only Jacob and I liked it. I thought it was quite yummy, and it was super healthy. Tonight for dinner I made spaghetti with whole wheat pasta, but that’s just a normal meal we always eat. I only use organic whole wheat spaghetti whenever I’m using spaghetti noodles.

Today I got laundry put away and the house cleaned up. I had visiting teaching at 4, and then a baby shower at 7. I didn’t eat any of the adorable sugary treats that surrounded me at the shower, even though I sorta wanted to. Jacob took the boys to his parents house around 6 because he was going to a Rebels game with Juddy, so there would be no-one home to watch them since I had the baby shower. I was up late last night making food labels for the shower. My friend Melisa put the whole thing on for our friend Wendy (who I happen to visit teach) and did so much by herself, so I was glad that she at least asked me to make the labels. I got home from the shower at about 9:30 after running to Sonic to grab a bag of ice since I ran out yesterday. At Sonic the girl working at the window said to me, “We have an extra cherry limeade, would you like it?” Whose side is she on anyway? So kudos to me for turning down yet another delicious concoction tonight. Anyway, Jacob came home with the boys at 10pm, and we got them in bed shortly after that.

I’m pretty sure I’ll be keeping Easton home from school tomorrow as well. Poor kid can’t stop coughing. He hasn’t had a cough like this for a long time.

My friends Amanda and Karol are throwing me a baby shower, so I spent a little bit of today trying to decide what colors I want for the shower and what food I want to eat, per Karol’s request. I’m thinking it’s going to be March 10th at Amanda’s lovely house. I would like the baby to be born two weeks after that, on March 24th. I have pics on the 22nd, and Hunger Games comes out on the 23rd, so the 24th is perfect because then all that stuff will be over and done, and I’ll still be having him 2 weeks early. This is what I would LIKE to happen, of course, and not what I expect to happen.

On Friday, Jacob and I are going to St. George for the night for our anniversary. We’re just going to have a fun time going to eat at Texas Roadhouse, seeing a movie, staying at my friend Amanda’s house there, and then we’ll come home Saturday sometime. It will be fun to get away just the two of us and be someplace different.

Monday, February 20th

After I finished posting last night, Teagan decided it would be a good idea to jump to the floor from the 3rd step up. Jacob and I heard a crash, the death cry, and went running downstairs to see what happened. Jacob pulled off Teagan’s spiderman mask he had on, and the blood was just gushing from his nose. He also cut the inside of his upper lip just a bit. After getting his nose to stop bleeding and getting the floor all cleaned up, I got Teags ready for bed. He fell asleep pretty quickly but woke up a couple hours later crying and coughing because he still has the chest cough. So I went in to check on him, and his nose was bleeding again. It would start dripping again every time he coughed. Plus, his eye was stuck shut from all the goop coming out of it, so that made him upset. So the bloody nose, goopy eye, and chest cold were all waking him up. His nose finally stopped bleeding after a while, but I ended up sleeping with him to make sure he didn’t wake up covered in blood every time he coughed. Then I got a text from Jacob’s dad at 1:30 am, and Easton woke up with croup, so he wanted to know what to do for it. I told him to just put him in the bathroom with the shower on hot and let him breathe in the steam for 10 minutes. He texted back later and said that helped and that Easton had fallen back to sleep. My poor boys having a rough night last night. Once Teags fell asleep, he was pretty much out, but he did wake up a couple times to yell for me after I had gone back to my bed. He just wanted his mama next to him. He’s still sick today with the chest cold and runny nose and runny eye. He’s mostly been laying around all sick like, but he’s had cheerful moments too. I can just tell he feels pretty yucky. At least the throwing up has stopped. And he’s only had a slight fever if he’s had one at all.

Teags and I woke up about 11. Jacob was at the gym, and after he got home from the gym, I went too. We spent the day cleaning and organizing and taking care of Teags. I went to the grocery store to get some things, and I made a really healthy black bean soup for dinner that made Teagan gag. I thought it was delicious, but it does taste quite healthy.

Easton will be home from Beaver in a couple hours, around 9:30pm. I hope he has a good night and isn’t croupy tonight. Teagan will be happy to have his brother home.

Today is Day 1 of no treats. My sister is joining me on this 6 week sugar ban. I would say no sugar, but there is sugar in wheat bread so I can’t cut it out completely. Just no treats is good enough for me. My plan is to go until this baby is born. So that means 6 weeks. It sounds not doable if I think of it like that. This is one of those let’s-just-take-it-one-day-at-a-time goals if I’m planning on keeping it. Wish me luck.

My poor little Teagan just walked past me, and with the sickest little face said to me sadly, “I don’t feel good.” Then he walked to his room and shut the door. So I went in and he was already asleep. My poor little sick guy just put himself to bed which means he’s really not feeling good. I had to put a diaper on him, so I woke him up. And I offered him his blanket but he didn’t want it, and I shut his light off but that made him mad. So he just wanted the light on and his door shut and no kiss. Poor kid. I hope he feels much better tomorrow.

Sunday, February 19th

I know, it’s Sunday, so I shouldn’t be posting because we’re supposed to be playing in the snow at our condo. We left Friday after Jacob got off work, and we had a good drive up there. But about an hour or so before we got to the condo, I could tell Teags was feeling sick. He felt warm and just seemed to have that sick look to him. So we got him and Easton to bed when we got to the condo, and about 12:30 am Jacob went out to check on Teags and found him laying down throwing up all over himself. He wouldn’t even sit up, he was just laying there puking. We got him cleaned up and moved onto the bed with me, and Jacob took a mattress on the floor in the bedroom. It was pretty much a miserable night of trying to prevent Teags from throwing up all over the place. He threw up again – well he dry heaved – after I put him in bed with me. So every noise he made made me wake up and grab for a bowl. He had a pretty good fever too. So Saturday morning he woke up for a minute at 9am, and then I gave him some ibuprofen and he fell back to sleep till about 11:30. He seemed to be better when he got up, but kids just sometimes get that burst of energy in the middle of sickness so as to trick you that it’s over until it happens again. Which is what happened. He puked again around 2pm, so Jacob and I made the choice to head back home and deal with a sick boy without a house full of people. He couldn’t go out and play in the snow, and neither could we, so we just thought it wouldn’t be any fun up there with a sick boy. Plus, all of us, meaning Jacob’s parents and siblings and their little guy and the 4 of us were all in one condo, and I don’t think anyone else wanted to get sick either. So I asked Easton if he wanted to stay or come home with us, and he of course chose to stay and play and come home Monday with G-Ma and G-Pa Edgel. He was sad that we were leaving, and I know he’s missing Teagan because the two of them are never apart. And Teagan told me today, “I miss my brother.”

We left the condo at about 3:30 Vegas time and pulled into our driveway around 7:45. Right when we got in the door, Teags threw up again. But I had a bowl, so it was okay. I gave him some more ibuprofen and put on a movie for him. I got him to bed about 10:30, and he fell asleep right away. He woke up at what must have been around 2am, and I heard gagging, so I ran to his room and gave him a bowl. Luckily, he hadn’t started puking until I got him the bowl. He was also really hot, so Jacob heard me get up and he got up and brought me wipes and a washcloth for Teags’ head. I slept in Teags room, cooling him off with a washcloth, until about 4:30 am, when I woke up and saw that he was fast asleep and his fever had broken. So then I went back into my room because my back was hurting on his bed. He woke up at 5:30 for a minute, and I went in and checked on him again, but he was fine, so we went back to bed until he woke up for the day at 9am. I was glad that he slept because, of course, that means I slept too. Much better than the night before where neither of us slept at all. He hasn’t thrown up at all today, but he has a good cough and a pink goopy eye that keeps watering, and he felt slightly feverish just a bit ago, around 6:30pm. So I gave him some more ibuprofen for the fever. He’s been much better today because he hasn’t thrown up or had the fever until just a bit ago. He makes me so sad to look at because of his eye. He is in good spirits, though, except that his nose is hurting from wiping it and he keeps telling me his eye is sad. Look at that sad little face.

So hopefully he feels even better tomorrow after a good night of rest. He’ll be happy that Easton will be home in the evening sometime. And I know Easton will be happy to see Teagan because those two just love each other to pieces. And I have been in my jammies all day laying around watching movies with Teagan and getting some cuddles in. But I feel so lazy, and I haven’t left the house or even walked outside. I always feel so out of it and disassociated with reality when I have a day like this of doing nothing but sitting on the couch watching tv in my jammies and not leaving the house. I’m really happy that normal life is nothing like that. I’m very grateful for a sweet husband who helped me through the last two nights cleaning throw up and bringing me drinks and washcloths for Teagan. He’s such a sweetheart to not expect me to do it on my own.

Friday, February 17th

Today after Jacob gets off work we are off to the condo for the weekend with the rest of Jacob’s family. I have a million things to do to be ready for that, like laundry, cleaning, and packing, but I’m tired and lazy and I don’t want to do anything but crawl back into bed. I had a dream last night that I got to sleep as long as I wanted to and didn’t wake up until 11:48 am. That would be nice.

Last night I had a girls night with my sis and Staci. Andrea was supposed to come but she bailed 20 minutes before so we missed having her there. We went to Café Rio for dinner and then to see The Vow, which was fine but not great. I fully expect movies with Channing Tatum to be a disappointment, so at least it wasn’t a disappointment. Here’s a picture. Not a good one of me since my face is like right up in the camera, but oh well.

I can’t remember what happened on Wednesday. I know I watched Asher, and I guess that was about it.Oh, my friend Amanda brought Chinese for lunch. She works just around the corner, so we try to do lunch at least monthly.  And it snowed for like a couple minutes but I totally missed it! I had a relief society humanitarian meeting that night which we just used as our mutual activity, so I didn’t have mutual yesterday. While I was picking Easton up from school yesterday afternoon, Teagan threw up in the car. I could tell he was feeling off, so luckily I had given him a bowl before it started happening. That made for easier cleanup because it didn’t get all over his car seat.  Jaedyn was also here, and she got an earache around 2pm, but I thought she was faking it for attention since I was giving so much attention to Teags until she was in tears holding her ear. Then I felt bad that I thought she was just faking. I put drops in her ear and gave her some ibuprofen, and she stopped crying for a while until her mom got here. 

I need to get packing and cleaning, but first I’m going to lay in my bed for a half hour, so I better get going. Hopefully I can post again on Monday when we get home if there’s time and it’s not too crazy. Otherwise, I’ll be posting on Tuesday.

Tuesday, February 14th

This morning I made heart shaped pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream and turkey bacon for a special Valentine’s breakfast. I normally don’t make breakfast. The boys eat cereal or pb&j’s, or Easton typically eats a can of green beans because he wants that more than anything. It was a yummy breakfast. Pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream are my absolute favorite. I think it’s the greatest combination ever invented. And I don’t just mean for breakfast. I could eat it anytime, anywhere.

After breakfast, Jacob left for work and I got Easton ready for school and Teags ready to go to Asher’s. I went to Easton’s class to help with the Valentine’s festivities and other class work today. They got a lot of junk, but they were all so cute handing out their Valentines. Here’s Easton after all the valentines were handed out. I always think he looks so adorable as a student in his classroom.

After school we came home and I gave the boys their Valentine’s bags. I just got them a little football and whoppers and turkey sausage bites. Nothing fancy. But they appreciated them.

And this is what I’ve been doing for Jacob since the 1st of February. I’ve been leaving him a little card with a reason why I love him each day (although, some days I’ve forgotten, so I’ve had to double up). It turned out really cute.

Tonight we went to Jacob’s parents’ house to eat dinner with them and enjoy some Valentine’s treats. I didn’t grow up celebrating Valentine’s Day at all. We didn’t get anything, and my parents didn’t make a big deal out of it. So I never thought anyone else did either. But Jacob’s parents make big deals out of holidays. We had some pizza from Papa Murhpys and some sparkling cider, and the boys got to make jello jigglers and play with the little toys Grandma Edgel got for them. She brought them t-shirts back from Disneyland, and the boys love them. Easton is wearing his to school tomorrow – he already warned me. We had a good day together.

After getting the boys in bed I came out to flowers and candy and cookies on my bed. And a sweet homemade card from my hubs. He’s adorable and sweet to me every day of the year, but it’s nice to get extra attention on Valentine’s too.

This weekend we are planning on going out of town to the condo with Jacob’s family. It should be fun, but I don’t have any snow clothes that fit, and I can’t get in the hot tub either which really bums me out because this will be the first time with the new hot tub in. The boys will have fun, I’m sure.

The past couple nights Easton has been asking, “Mom, if Heavenly Father created us, then who created Heavenly Father? Doesn’t he have a dad or something?” So in his prayers last night he ended by asking, “And Heavenly Father, will you please tell me who created you?” I am amazed that he wonders such things at the ripe old age of 6. His mind is quite perplexed by this question, and he’s determined to find out. I love that about him. I love my boys each for their different strengths, and I’m happy to have celebrated a day of love with them and my husband.

Monday, February 13th

Yesterday wasn’t my favorite day. There was drama between two of my Mia Maids and their parents, and I somehow got stuck in the middle. People are sometimes offended easily, and it’s as if they want a reason to feel victimized. I am just grateful that I grew up with a mother that never held grudges or was never easily offended, or ever offended at all as far as I can remember, and who taught me to be quick to forgive. Not that I am perfect, but there isn’t anyone in the world that I hate. And holding a grudge is hard to do. I learned that with the ex and other people that have deeply hurt me in my life. It’s just easier to forgive them and not give my happiness away to them.

Anyway, after church I made chili and cornbread to take to my parents for my mom’s birthday dinner. Becca made a delicious strawberry cake with a strawberry cream cheese filling and a sweetened whipped cream frosting. The chili turned out delicious and the cake was scrumptious, so it was a night of good eating. It typically is on Sundays. We had a good time hanging out with my family, and the boys got to play with Sadie again and hang out with Grandpa. We sang to my mom, and of course the kids had to have turns blowing out the candles.

This is me yesterday, 32 weeks and 2 days. But I was having a good hair day, so a picture was a must. Once in a while I feel like I have a pretty day, and I need it to be captured for the days that I feel frumpy.  I hope I don’t gain a massive amount of weight in these next 7 weeks.

This morning I went walking with Melisa and Camille, and on our way back from our walk, it suddenly turned freezing, and an icy wind came out of nowhere. Once we were home, Melisa came over so that I could help her make her kids’ Valentines in Photoshop. After I picked Easton up from school, I came home and worked on some pictures and made lunch, and then we headed to my prenatal visit. I love that these are every two weeks now. It just makes it go by so much faster. I gained 3 lbs since my last visit, which puts me at a total of 14 so far. I wasn’t happy about it, but I wasn’t devasted by that number either. I prefer to lose weight. But I only have 7 more weeks of the numbers going up on the scale, and then it’s just all going to fall off quickly and effortlessly. At least that’s what I tell myself. This is the magic pregnancy that will get my weight back to normal.

After my appointment, the boys watched some TV while I did some editing. Then we made a Walmart trip like we do so often during the week because I am terrible about planning dinner in advance. I was too lazy to quick to I just bought a Stouffer’s lasagna and popped that in the oven and made garlic bread out of ciabatta rolls. It was yummy garlic bread. For FHE we talked about how to have happiness in our lives and why our family does things to make for a happy family. Easton is always sweet and receptive to the things that we teach him.

After getting the boys bathed and in bed, I made a trip to Target to get some some stuff for Valentine’s for Easton’s class and for some goodies for the boys. I am helping in Easton’s class again in the morning, and Teags is going to my friend Savannah’s to hang out with her and her son Asher while I am with Easton. We have plans to hang out with Jacob’s parents tomorrow, so we’ll see how it all goes.

Saturday, February 11th

The weather here has been magnificent. It’s 11:30 pm, and I just got back from a Sonic ice run, and I was not wearing a jacket nor did I turn the heat on in my car. It’s been warm and beautiful weather for the past couple weeks. And I absolutely adore Vegas’ climate for that very reason. No snow, just beautiful park days without coats in February.

Jacob left today around 11:30am to go to the UNLV basketball game with a buddy of his. Becca called me a little while after that to tell me to bring the kids over to play with Sadie on this beautifully warm day. It must have been close to 80 degrees. Maybe low 70’s, I don’t know. Yesterday was the same. So I washed my hair and gave the boys hair cuts, and we left about 2:30 to go hang out with Becca and Sadie. Then we went to Colleen’s to look through her recipe books for a cake for my mom’s birthday dinner tomorrow. The kids ran around outside playing and having a good time while Becca and I chatted with Bacleen. After Bacleen’s, we headed to Walmart to get ingredients for dinner at my parents’ tomorrow. I’m making chili and cornbread.  As we walked into Walmart, the three kiddies were holding hands, and you woulda thought they were having the most fun they have ever had in their lives just walking in the parking lot together. I am so grateful that we can live by my family so that the boys can be with their cousins. Teagan and Sadie are best buds, and Easton does so well with them. He’s such a good big boy. After the store we went back to Becca’s for just a little bit, and then headed home. Jacob had gone to a leadership training meeting after the UNLV game, so I didn’t just abandon him at home all day. Juddy actually did the same thing too, so Becca and I were husbandless for the day.

Tonight as we were praying with the boys before bed, it was Easton’s turn to pray. Jacob had talked to him a little before bed about not complaining when I tell the boys it’s time to get ready for bed. I had let them stay up later tonight while I finished making cookies, so it was a little after 9 when I told them to get ready, and Easton started whining. So Jacob explained why it wasn’t good to whine when I had already let them stay up later to eat snacks and watch TV. Anyway, as Easton said prayers tonight, he said, '”Thank you that mom let me stay up later, and help me to remember not to complain when she tells me it’s time for bed but to be happy.” I love that Easton really gets things. And I love even more that he’ll pray about little things like that, and he knows that Heavenly Father answers his prayers. When we were laying in bed, after I had finished singing to them he asked me who made Havenly Father since Heavenly Father made us. I told him we could ask Heavenly Father in the next life.

I feel blessed that I get to live this life with this little family and experience as mush joy as we do each day. Our home is a happy home – I have a husband who loves me and loves the boys and two little boys who love their mom and dad. And our family is important to us. Jacob said his leadership meeting focused on families, and one thing that Jacob said that he got from it is that Satan’s focus may be on the family, but so is ours. I definitely believe that as hard as he focuses on tearing families apart, he can’t succeed if we are focusing on building our families up and bringing them nearer to God.

Friday, February 10th

Yesterday was my sweet mother’s birthday. I meant to post about it, but I didn’t get a chance. After I picked Easton up from school, we headed over to my mom’s to meet Becca there before heading to lunch with my mom at Olive Garden. Yes, we did indeed have the 4 children under 6 with us. I was watching Jaedyn, so she came with us as well. My mom said she was so happy the grandkids could come to her lunch, but I’m not sure if she really meant it or if she was just being nice like she usually is. But we didn’t have anyone to watch all the kids so we didn’t really have a choice. Lunch was fine – it went as expected with 4 children. They weren’t bad, they were just kids. It was just chaotic. At one point Becca and I looked at each other and just started laughing because the kids were falling off chairs, having to go potty, wiping big green boogers on their shirts (Teagan) so that the adults watching us at the table next to us could be thoroughly disgusted, spilling food, spitting chocolate mints out on the floor, and just being cute little kiddies. Sometimes when I’m out with my kids and they’re being rambunctious I wonder if people judge me with my pregnant belly and think, “What the heck is she thinking have more of those things?” Maybe I wonder that too sometimes, but mostly these children just make what would be a mundane and monotonous life a whole lot more exciting and fulfilling. They were really very good at lunch, so I don’t want to sound like they weren’t. But they’re children – they do chaos naturally, and they do it well.  I didn’t get a picture of all of us, but here are the kids with G-Ma Romero.

They are all very cute. And my mom is such a wonderful mother and grandmother and showers those babies with love and Vitamin C. Jacob always jokes that they leave my mom’s house healthier than we brought them.  My mother has the kindest heart of anyone that I know. In all my years, I have never heard her say an unkind thing about anyone, even people that deserved it. She has always been an example of that sincere and pure love of Christ, and her heart is so good and so she is always so concerned with the needs of her family and others. I can’t even count the times my mom would go through a drive-thru at a fast food restaurant to buy a meal for a homeless man she just drove past on the street. Or the fact that she still wakes up in the night to make medicine from my 24-year-old brother who lives with her. I don’t know how she ever sleeps worrying about everyone else all the time. I also don’t think she ever ate when we lived with her. She was always giving her food away, and she still does that for all of us now on Sunday dinners. I so just want to be like her – the way she emanates the love that I know we are all supposed to have but haven’t figured it out yet. Happy birthday, my beautiful mother!

I’ve always wanted to share these pictures of my mom. These are from her high-school days. Oh that I could have her stunning beauty as well.

Isn’t she a babe?

This morning Melisa’s girls came over while she went to a baby shower. She has the most darling girls, and the boys love them. Jaedyn also arrived at 9:30. My friend Gina picked Easton up from school and brought him home since I had Melisa’s girls with me. They left about noon, and I started making the frosting and baking the sugar cookies for the cousin party we were having at 2pm. I actually made the dough last night, but we had to roll it out and cut the hearts today. The party turned out darling! All the kids had so much fun, and Easton said that he wants to always have a party like this. They ate so much junk, but that’s okay once in a while.  They exchanged Valentines and treat bags and played with their balloons and frosted sugar cookies and made foam heart Valentines. It really turned out great! The heart garland I made from paper plates. The little mailboxes were in the $1 spot at Target. Most of it came from Target. And the cake stand was made by my friend Andrea for a  birthday gift. There are a whole lot of pictures.

Our party was over at about 3:30. After getting everything cleaned up, Jaedyn left and so did Sadie and Becca. The boys hung out playing with their stuff and eating candy. I didn’t make dinner because it’s Friday, and I refuse to do that. So about an hour after Jacob got home the four of us had a nice and delicious dinner at Café Rio. It was a wonderful day spent with my favorite people in the world. The boys are in their room right now watching Hercules. I don’t let them watch movies when it’s bedtime, but I figured that it’s ok to watch a movie on Friday night in their bed. Right? And my sweet hubs just walked in their room and asked them if they wanted popcorn. I heard cheering, and then Easton said, “You’re the best dad in the WORLD!” Sometimes it is so fun to let your kids do things that they don’t normally do, like watch a movie and eat popcorn in their bedroom at 9:47 pm. We’re sticklers about bedtime, even on the weekend. But it’s okay to let them have a little fun too, and it makes me happy to do it because they think it’s the most awesome thing in the world!