Rainy Day

I was working at home on Tuesday when a very large thunder and lightning storm rolled in. Adelle decided she wanted to venture out in the rain. She strapped on her snow boots, found an umbrella and ventured out into the storm. She enjoyed looking for snails, especially the baby ones. Before we left to pick up Lydia from school she made sure all of the snails had been moved off the driveway!

What Camera do you Use?

I have loved reading all of your blogs and viewing your fabulous pictures! I am constantly amazed at the level of detail that people's cameras capture and how clear the image is. My camera has been dying for a good long while. My mother-in-law has been very gracious to give me her old camera, which is the same model as my current one, but has been used much less and is still operating well. I have probably taken over 5000 pictures with my camera and that isn't an exaggeration. My camera has done the job, but can be very lacking at times.

I am curious though...what are you using? Some day maybe I will be fortunate enough to buy a wonderful, amazing, detail capturing camera that fulfills my wildest dreams! I am the family historian after all. I am documenting every detail of my family and I love to do that through pictures. Now, I don't think that a new camera will happen anytime soon, but ... maybe... a miracle will happen! Okay, maybe not. But I have to know!

So you must share, spill it! What is your secret weapon that is capturing such stunning photos?

1/4 of the Way

Yesterday I was 10 weeks along and I just realized that I am already 1/4 of the way through this pregnancy. Since I never wrote much down when I was pregnant with my girls I thought it would be nice to write some things this time around.

I have had morning sickness at random times. I never actually throw up, but just get very sick to my stomach. Eating does seem to help most of the time, so I have been eating a lot it seems. I am still trying to keep most of my foods healthy, even though I have an aversion to vegetables. I craved them for a week, but ever since then I can't stand them unless they are cooked well with something else. Some of my favorite foods right now are pizza, sausage, egg muffins, and nachos. I am always trying to find ways to make these foods healthier which often means I make them at home. I have had a really big craving for Joe's Crab Shack crab nachos recently, but I haven't given in yet, probably because it is so far away.

I have been nervous this time around. I don't know if it because I'm older and I know more what can go wrong, the fact that it took longer to get pregnant with this one, or if it is just thanks to the Internet. I belong to an online pregnancy group with other moms that are due in December and every week one or two of the moms will miscarry. It is a large group and the odds of course are there, but it still doesn't help my fears. Prayer has been really great to help me relax and focus on the positive. My sister is also really great to provide down to earth advice and comic release.

I had my first ultrasound at 6 weeks and saw the baby's little heartbeat just thumping along! That is the earliest ultrasound I have ever had before. I know for sure there is only one little baby :) The baby measured 6 days ahead, so I keep wondering if my due date will be moved up. I have my first official prenatal appointment with my doctor this Friday. Lydia didn't know I was pregnant and why we were at the hospital. The girls waited in the waiting room and afterwards Lydia was horribly concerned that something might be wrong with me. She made me promise to inform her if something was wrong with me. I think she was afraid I was going to die!

Lydia hasn't been overly excited to be a big sister again, but as time goes by she seems to get more excited. She is really excited though that she is going to share a room with her sister. Adelle is super excited and will often ask about the baby. When I sit down to eat she asks me if the baby likes the food. She has had MANY questions. She has also told me that my "womb" is getting fat.

Lydia is really hoping for a boy and Adelle is really hoping for a girl. When asked why Adelle wants a girl she says it is because she likes the name Violet. It is the name we have been leaning towards. I am just hoping for a healthy baby, but my instincts make me think it is a boy. I thought Adelle was going to be a boy though so I may be WAY off.

I have outgrown all of my pants and capris that I could previously wear. I have resorted to wearing my "fat" clothes. I held onto a few things after I lost 40 pounds. They are a little big, but I just can't stand to have my abdomen squished. Most of my maternity clothes are horribly outdated so I have borrowed some clothes and I am sure will need to buy some.

I get very tired at times, but found out yesterday that Skittles are amazing energy boosters. Wow! I hadn't had that much energy since before I was pregnant. I will not be resorting to this often for obvious reasons. Instead I try and take naps on the weekend and take it a little easier after a full day of work.

I am continuing to exercise during this pregnancy. I rarely exercised when I was pregnant with my girls. I am glad I am keeping up with this healthy habit. I have had to slow things down a little, but I am not giving up! I will walk, ride the exercise bike or use the elliptical. House cleaning and walking around Ikea counts too, right?

I am planning on having this baby naturally if I can. I had Adelle without any drugs and preferred it so much better than Lydia's birth. I was fully induced with Lydia and received an epidural. I know many women will view this as CRAZY, but I preferred the natural birth so much more! I don't like feeling out of control and honestly the pain was manageable. I liked that I was able to move and walk around during the labor as well as after the baby was born.

I am excited to have another baby! I have wanted this for a long time. I am not overly thrilled about having a baby in December, but I can't complain! I hope everything goes smoothly and that come December we will have a beautiful, healthy baby! I will be taking a full 3 months off and then will start working from home 4 days a week and 1 day in the office.

Here is to the next 30 weeks!

There are Demons in my Flower Bed

Horrible Weed Demons! They have been plaguing me for a long time. I have been too tired or sick to do anything about it recently thanks to pregnancy fatigue and morning sickness. Wes has said on occasion that I can't blame everything on the pregnancy. Watch me! I decided that tonight was the night to tackle our weed demons. I was afraid that our neighbors were going to kick us out of the neighborhood if we didn't do something soon. Everyone on our street has such well manicured lawns. Even the 80 year old women who lives alone!

I rounded up my girls to their dismay and put them to work pulling weeds. I have decided that my girls need to learn the value of hard work this summer. No, I am not cutting short their precious childhoods and yes, they will thank me some day. I wore gloves to protect myself especially against the cat poop from stray cats! Darn Cats! It can actually be fatal to the fetus if the cats have certain germs. Anyway...I wore gloves and thoroughly washed my hands afterwards.
I saved this particular prickly demon for myself. My gloves didn't protect against its stings, but it is now gone! I first chopped it into tiny pieces and then carefully dug and yanked it out!

The morning glory had found its way and was starting to wrap around the spigot! Scary!

Weeds, weeds and more weeds!!!

This is what it looked like when it was all done. Yes it is somewhat bare, but at least I am free of the demons!!

I am now sniffly and snuffly from all of the weeds, but at least I don't have to be embarrassed anymore!

Our Memorial Day

I decided not to head to the graveyard this year for Memorial Day. I thought about it, but it gets so crowded and busy and I prefer to visit my deceased relatives when things are calmer and more conducive to deep thinking. I spent the early hours putting up flags with the cub scouts. Then I watched an older movie with my girls. From there I decided we should get out of the house into the beautiful, wide world. I remembered a wonderful park that my family used to visit when I was a little girl. I called up my Dad and got the address and we headed out to find it. It took some searching, but eventually my senses led us to the right place. The girls loved playing on the playground. Especially Cinderella's Carriage and Castle. Wes and I hung out and enjoyed some grown up chatting.
From there we headed to Crown Burgers for dinner. Can I say that our eating out has increased expediently since I became pregnant. I don't think the family minds. I am trying to get things back under control. Anyway...back to Memorial day. We ordered our yummy food. The manager then saw my girls and gave them ice cream cones for Free, and I'm not talking about the little kiddie cones. These were CONES. They ate them before they even started their dinner.

From there we headed home to hang out and enjoy the last hours of sunlight before the work week started up again. I zonked out on the couch, no surprise there, while the girls played PlayStation and while Wes played his computer game. It was a wonderful day!

Our Ward "No Talent" Talent Night

Last Wednesday night our ward held a "No Talent" Talent Show. Ever since Adelle heard about it she has been dying to be in it. She decided to sing the Mulan song. Lydia decided she would sing with her sister. Lets just say things didn't go as planned.

Adelle sang the rest of the song solo.

There were an array of other performances. Jello Slurping! Yes indeed, and this guy was good at it!

Piano Playing

Joke Telling

Creative Story Telling

I'm a Little Teapot Anyone?

Juggling. It was a little dangerous for those in the front row.

A very humorous Skit!

Movie Trivia. The Barnums (seen above) did an Amazing job with the activity! Thanks Guys!

Sweet Singing

Singing Like a Munchkin. This was a funny one!

This Talented Young Woman can lick her elbow. I dare you to try it!

We really had a wonderful time...well most of us in the family. Wes also brought his costumes to display and I set up a DVD slideshow of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers that ran while everyone was browsing. It was a lot of fun!

Lydia's an Author, Director, and Actress

Lydia recently has been working on a story at school called the 3 Cuckoos and the Big Bad Eagle. Her teacher then helped her turn the story into a play. The whole fourth grade has been learning about birds thanks the the Tracy Aviary. Last Wednesday each class presented something for the Tracy Aviary employees and the other classes. Lydia's class did a rap and also performed Lydia's play. Here is Lydia's class performing their bird rap.

From there Lydia's class performed Lydia's Play! It was wonderful. Lydia and her friend Nicole, with the help of their teacher, auditioned students for the parts, rehearsed and created sets. It was wonderful!

I am SO PROUD of my girl! She is amazing!! Who would have guessed that at the age of 9 she would have written and performed her very own play! She was quite the cute Cuckoo as well!