2016 Summed Up

• Dad was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy; Joseph broke his neck
• Cora's tear duct tubes were removed but surgery wasn't successful; Cora's food allergies were negative for wheat, egg, and beef; Cora no longer needs her orthotics
• Made a surprise trip to Twin Falls to visit mom, dad, and Christine; Lance and I went to Las Vegas without kids for four days
• One year anniversary of self employment and the lights are still on
• Lance and Kimball went on a man trip to Twin Falls
• Attended Marty Meyers' funeral
• Went to the Watson reunion and spent a few extra days with Mom and Christine in Boise
• Lots of swimming and fun in the sun
• My first year making homemade jam with my own raspberries
• First camping trip with the kids - Kimball was attacked and bitten by a dog and Cora nearly strangled herself with floss 
• Cora decided to talk
• Christine, Mom, and Dad came to visit us in Spokane 
• Baby #3 is on HIS way
• Kimball started preschool
• Kimball graduated from speech therapy
• Cora graduated from the Guild School

My Rays of Sunshine

Oh these two cubs! They drive me up a wall sometimes. My patience while being pregnant is slim to none and the littlest things will really get me frustrated quick. I'm mom enough to admit it and ashamed as well, I just hope it passes quickly because I feel guilty a lot for being so short tempered sometimes. I blame it on the hormones. But aren't they just the cutest?! Cora's new little dress was so bright and cheery on this dreary Sunday morning and this is Kimball's first suit. A hand me down of course but he was so excited to look just like Daddy. Oh melt my heart!

Happy As A Clam

This winter has been brutal, today is January 9th and I haven't seen the ground in over six weeks! When it snows it snows a lot followed by several days of very frigid temperatures so the snow never melts, it just accumulates on top of old snow/ice. This particular morning with the wind chill it was -20 degrees at 8am while Cora and I were waiting for her bus. We waited for 30 minutes out there in the freezing air but she was just as happy as could be to go to school.

Little Everyday MOMents

I can't get this picture to turn, oh well. This was my view last week as Daddy was doing FHE on Sunday. The kids adore him and so do I!

Christmas Festivities

 

 The kids and I made jingle bell sticks.

Mom sent down this plastic makeup container - it was mine as a little girl and I can't believe mom kept it all these years. Needless to say, Cora loves it and all of her play makeup.

 Making gingerbread cookies with Dad.

 We've had a lot of snow!

 I even took the kids on the sleigh as I ran up and down the street pulling them.

 

 The Christmas Eve sing along, and the kids had their jingle bell sticks going in rhythm with Dad's ukulele.

These are the kid's new pajamas and their super hero mask and cape I made for them.

This is probably my favorite keepsake - Cora's class did homemade snow globes for all the parents, aren't they cute?!

We had a lovely Christmas together and it was so fitting that Christmas was on sunday, I loved going to church. We are so thankful for our families and miss them terribly especially during the holidays but I love my little family and all the memories we make!!

It's A Boy!!!

Around 15 weeks the hyperemesis started to ease up a bit which was right around Thanksgiving. Thank goodness!! With the other two pregnancies it was like a light switch - the nausea and vomiting was gone all of a sudden and I instantly had energy and strength back. This one was different, it was definitely a gradual process. I'd have a few good days here and there and then be back to being bedridden. It was frustrating. I waited a few more weeks for the nausea to subside altogether before I talked to my doctor about getting the PICC line removed. I was certainly anxious to have it out; it's extremely itchy under the dressing and trying to shower with my arm saran wrapped is obnoxious! But it was by far a huge life saver and I would never go through another pregnancy without a PICC line, it was bittersweet getting rid of it. That happened at 17 weeks.

We had our anatomy ultrasound at 20 weeks and found out that it's a boy!! I'm so thrilled and I didn't care what it was either way but I'm thrilled it's a boy and Kimball is very excited. Good news is that all the measuring and pictures they were able to get of each organ and limb looked good, no abnormalities or soft markers. The placenta is anterior so the baby's face was squished right up against it, they weren't able to get good measurements of the face or abdomen so I'll have another ultrasound in two weeks to check that. But so far everything is looking really good and normal.

I've gained back all the weight I've lost which was super fast compared to the last two times, he told me to watch what I eat so I'm not gaining too much weight. I can't help it though, if it sounds good and it stays down, I'm going to eat it! I do still throw up once or twice a week but it's definitely livable and nothing compared to the hyperemesis sickness. I'm so happy and relieved to be feeling better!!!

Quick Trip Home

The second weekend in December Lance let me fly home for a few days without the kids! I was so looking forward to it, I was losing sleep because I was so anxious for a break and excited to see family. One of the young women in our ward babysat the kids and stayed at the house overnight taking care of them since Lance had to work and had a ton of barbershop singing gigs going on. The kids had so much fun with Kendra and I'll admit, it was nice being missed.

My flight into SLC was awful, the worst flying experience ever! First off, it was at 6am and everything was going ok until halfway through the flight. I needed to throw up and I had a middle seat. I finally got into the aisle clutching my purse and a barf bag and made my way to the bathroom only to have the stewardess with the drink cart blocking the aisle. I had to run to the other end of the plane only to find it was occupied. So I threw up right there in front of everybody in first class. Yep.

Man, I couldn't get off that plane fast enough, I was so hot and sweaty and felt like I was about to pass out. After discovering hat my connecting flight was a few terminals away, I started to slowly make my way to the next gate. I walked about 50 feet and needed to throw up again. Ugh, why didn't I check my duffel bag?! It would've been so nice not to carry it around because after throwing up I had zero energy, zero strength, and zero motivation. I just found a chair to sit in and had to wait for an airport employee to walk by so they could help me get a wheelchair - there was no way I was going to make it through three terminals to my connecting flight.

Fast forward...I made it to Twin Falls and had to take a lengthy nap and be super cautious with my eating and activities for the rest of the day. I was so nauseous! But I was able to visit Adam and Lynnette that night for her birthday.

The next day I threw up some more but I got my strength and energy back which was nice to have on vacation! The rest of the time was spent with family at craft day, I invited myself to the Kinetico christmas party so I could see the rest of the family, dinner with Donna and Stephanie, and visiting with Christine. Christine let out her secret - she's pregnant too!!!!!!! I'm so excited to have someone share in my misery for the remaining months that I have but I'm so excited that we're pregnant together again!! I'm due mid May and she's due the end of July.

It was nice to be home for a visit but I would never fly again while pregnant, that was so awful. My flight home was delayed and I didn't get back until 1:30am but it was SO LOVELY to be greeted by the kids the next morning. I missed them so much and couldn't get enough of them!!