January 2012-Gwen and Georgia's Birthdays

I'm finally updating my blog!! Oh my goodness what a shock!! 

 

I feel really bad that I haven't done it in a year, but this year has been one of the busiest our family has had, and with all the craziness (morning sickness, moving, vacation, baby, start of school, and the holidays) it's taken me forever to organize all the photos from the past year and put together the photos I wanted to blog.  Hopefully I will be able to get the blog completely updated within a week or two.  We'll see.

 

So usually when it's the girls birthdays I take the time to think over the past year and write them a letter about all the ups and downs, milestones, and exciting things that had happened to them since their last birthday.  Since I was super sick with morning sickness (or all day sickness in my case) last year, I didn't write Gwen and Georgia letters (but I will make up for that this year by reflecting on the last two years of their lives instead of one). So, this will just be some pictures of the girls from their birthdays.

 

Georgia Turns 3

 

 

My sweet girl on the morning of her birthday.

 

 

Quick story-Rob was out of town for Gwen and Georgia's birthdays (they are one day right after the other), and since he wanted to be there for the cake and presents, I bought Reese's Peanut Butter hearts and we stuck candles in those and sang happy birthday just to keep their day special.

 

Georgia blowing out her candles

 



Georgia was so obsessed with the movie Tangled.  I swear we watched that movie once a day (we still watch it at least once a week).  She really wanted a Tangled cake, and even though I had taken all of Wilton's cake decorating classes, I had zero energy (let alone a strong enough stomach) to sit and decorate a cake.  So I bought a toy set and stuck it on top of her cake.  She loved it, especially when she realized she got to play with the toys on the cake after we cleaned them off.

 



My big 3 year old

 



She had a great birthday!!

 

Gwen Turns 6

 



 

My little peanut on the morning of her birthday.

 

 

Again, the candles in the peanut butter heart.

 

 

Make a wish!!

 

 Gwen wanted a Snow White cake, so I used the little Snow White doll they had already, bought a bunch of little animals, tried to make the cake look like grass, and stuck them all on.  Gwen thought it was cute, thank goodness.

 

 

Can I blow out the candles yet?!?

 

 Gwen was pretty pleased with her birthday too.

 

Gwen's Birthday Party

 

We have always told the girls that they had to be in Sunbeams before they had their own birthday party, so no party yet for Georgia.  Gwen however decided to have a dinosaur birthday party because she loves and is fascinated by dinosaurs.

 

 

We made trees from green poster board for the leaves, and brown packaging paper twisted up for the trunks.

 

 

We hung dinosaur decorations from the ceiling, and put up green and orange streamers around the windows and doors.

 

 

We played a bunch of games that were dinosaur themed, and at the end the kids took turns trying to defeat the awful tyrannosaurus rex.

 

 

Robbie wanted to make the cake this year.  Not sure if he wanted to do it because I was so sick, or because of this vision he had for the cake.  He used rice krispy treats to make the volcano, did all the icing himself, and added little plastic dinosaurs .

 

 

He even tried to make some of them look like they were attacking the others and eating them...hahahaha.

 

 

Gwen loved her cake, and all the kids thought it was pretty cool looking too.

 

 She had a great birthday party, with great friends coming to have fun with her.  It makes my heart soar to see my kids so happy and having so much fun.  Happy birthday to both my girls!!

Finally Updating

I know that I haven't updated in a really really really long time, but now that I have all my photos organized and ready to go, I am going to take this nice vacation break and update, possibly more than once a day.  So, get ready!!

#4

Robbie and I felt back in June of 2010 that it was time to have another baby. We were so excited to have another baby! Unfortunately, for some reason we still can't figure out (other than maybe the Lord's timing...and trying to teach us something?), we went through month after month of disappointment. Nothing happened. It was really hard, and there were times where we questioned whether or not it really was time to try for another baby, but when we would pray about it, we would get the same answer-it was time. After switching jobs and having to move to Oklahoma, we thought for sure it would happen. Still nothing. We kept trying, but we stopped focusing on it so much. Finally, after trying for a year and a half, we both decided that we should go see our doctors to find out if there was something preventing us from being able to get pregnant.

I made my appointment for December 15th for an annual exam and to find out what was going on. My doctor ordered some blood tests to check a couple different things (my thyroid, if I had developed diabetes, etc.), and said she would know in a week or two (everything came out normal). So I went home and focused on getting ready for a trip back to Vermont for Christmas.

The following Tuesday I realized that I was three days late for my period. I went to take a test, but didn't expect it to be positive cause I had been really stressed out lately, so I figured I was just a few days late.

It was POSITIVE!! I literally ran down the stairs to show Robbie before he went to work (he couldn't figure out what it said, so I had to tell him). We were super excited to tell our family at Christmas.

I have never had problems with spotting before, but I had some spotting twice during Christmas vacation. I didn't think too much of it because I know it happens to some women during pregnancy, and every pregnancy is different. I went and had my first doctors appointment in January and told my doctor about it, and since each incident went along with straining myself in some way, she didn't think too much about it, and I got to see our new baby for the first time!! Yay!!

8 weeks (that tiny little blurry lump is the baby)

Two weeks later I got really worried, because I had spotting for two days for no real reason that I could think of. I called my doctor, and she had me come in to see her. She did another ultrasound, and found two things. First was that I had placenta previa (where the placenta is very close to or over the top of the cervix). My placenta was very close to my cervix, and when I would strain myself, I would bleed. So she told me that for the time being I needed to take it very easy and not do anything that required the use of my abdominal muscles (including vacuuming...my kids learned how to do that real quick). She told me though that as I grew bigger, the placenta should migrate away from my cervix and I wouldn't have any more problems.

The second thing she found was way scarier. Apparently I have fibroid tumors (we think it's genetic), which are little growths on the inside of my uterus that can cause heavy periods and sometimes pain. They are benign (only malignant in very very rare cases), and usually aren't a problem, even in pregnancy. The problem with me was that my placenta was directly over this fibroid and because of that the placenta was drawing some of the baby's blood supply/food through the placenta and making the fibroid grow. The scary part? If the fibroid grew faster than the baby and got bigger than the baby or placenta, it would suck away all the baby's blood/food supply, and kill the baby, causing me to miscarry. The doctor told me that I should prepare myself for a miscarriage.

10 weeks (the baby is on the left of the picture...you can see the line going through the body when they checked the heartbeat).

Robbie and a close friend of ours gave me a blessing that night, and in the blessing I was promised that the baby would be fine, and that any and all fibroids I might have (there's usually more than one at a time) would shrink, and that I should remember that I could ask the Lord at any time for faith and comfort.

I kept faith that everything would be ok, and I prayed a lot...a lot...a lot. 2 weeks later at my normally scheduled appointment I had another ultrasound, which showed that the fibroid was larger, but the placenta looked like it was not only moving away from my cervix, but possibly off of the fibroid as well.

12 weeks (baby's profile)

I waited another month to have my next checkup, and my next ultrasound to check on things. I truly have so much to be grateful for, and I have never stopped thanking my Heavenly Father for His love and help and blessings. The doctor found that not only had the baby/placenta continued to move away from my cervix and into a safer spot, but that the placenta had moved off of the fibroid, and the fibroid had shrunk. All I could feel was relief and gratitude. Even though I liked having ultrasounds every month and getting to see the baby, I was soooo glad that things had righted themselves and that the baby was healthy and having no problems.

16 weeks (baby's back...head is on the right)





The doctor did try at 12 weeks and at 16 weeks to determine the sex, but the little bean kept it's legs crossed, so we had to wait for the big 20 week ultrasound (which was yesterday). The first thing the ultrasound tech saw was...

It's another GIRL!!

Hahahaha...yup, no doubt about it. She got a very clear look three different times, and even printed of a picture of proof for me to show Robbie. We are going to have 4 little princesses in our home!! I am excited, but even more so that the ultrasound showed that there are no problems with our little sweet pea, and that she's growing well and is healthy. It took us so long to get pregnant, and then having problems that could've led to a miscarriage...it just helped me realize that I didn't care what the sex of the baby was-I just wanted this baby to live and be healthy, and I am so glad that the Lord has blessed our family with this sweet little girl within me.

20 weeks (the baby's face)

I am so excited for the next 19 weeks (or 136 more days-I'm due August 27th) to pass so that we can meet this special little girl...and I am totally excited to make a whole bunch of things just for her, and go shopping for some uber cute little girl cloths just for her. I knew how special my children were before, but this pregnancy has really opened my eyes to the great gift they are to me from a loving Heavenly Father, just how special each of my children are, and how very very grateful I am for each of them and their own wonderful personalities. We have been so blessed!! Yay for little girls!!

Georgia Funnies

So each one of my kids, sometime between the age of 3 and 5, seem to go through this stage where they are constantly saying funny/embarrassing things. Last week Georgia really made us laugh a lot.

Last Monday Georgia and I went to Hobby Lobby (our local crafting store) to get some ribbon to make some Easter hairbows. She's going through this phase where she doesn't want to ride in a shopping cart any more-she just wants to walk. Since I didn't need to get too much, I grabbed a shopping basket and let her carry it when she asked to. We headed over to the ribbon/fabric section, and because of the aisles being so small in that section, she walked right behind me. We got over to the ribbon, and as we were walking past another lady shopping for ribbon, Georgia said as loud as she could...

"Mom....I can see your butt!!" Hahahaha...surprisingly it didn't embarrass me-just made me laugh a lot. Since she was walking right behind me, all she could see was the bum of my jeans. Really funny.

Two days later Georgia and I were getting ready to leave the house to pick Gracie up from preschool. When I went to buckle her in, I found a pair of her sunglasses wedged down in her seat. So I put them on her and buckled her in. I was really surprised when she started freaking out at me and ripped the sunglasses off of her head. I tried to get her to put them back on, telling her that they would protect her eyes from the sun, and that she could be just like mommy (cause I had mine on), but she just kept saying no. I asked her why she didn't want to wear them. Her reply?

"Because I don't want to see the Holy Ghost again!" Hahahahaha...I started laughing and asked her what she meant. She repeated that she didn't want to see the Holy Ghost again, and that he was scary. Still laughing, I told Georgia that the Holy Ghost isn't scary and that He helps us. "No mom, he's scary." I just kept laughing and decided it wasn't worth fighting with her about. The whole conversation reminded me of when Gwen was almost exactly the same age as Georgia is now-Gwen would put a blanket over her head and walk around saying "Wooooooo....I am the Hoooly Ghoooooosttt!!"

The following day was her final funny for the week. Georgia and I were snuggling together on the couch watching cartoons while Gwen and Grace ran around playing. I told her that I would have to get up soon to go get her some dinner (we were having leftovers that night). Georgia looked at me and said "Okay-go get me some dinner!" I laughed and started teasing her for the way she talked to me, telling her that I had to get some Shmooda (a nickname for her) bum first (she is super ticklish on her thighs, bum, and hips) and I started tickling her. Georgia looked at me after I finished tickling her and said "Silly momma...we don't eat bums for dinner!"

It's funny that all of my kids have gone through this ridiculously silly stage, and that Georgia is starting to go through it now. I am looking forward to all the silly things she comes up with and says in the next year or two. She has such a strong, stubborn personality, and is very sure of herself and what she wants/likes (like in the picture below-she loves wearing dresses or skirts, and that morning decided she wasn't going any where unless she had a necklace, non matching princess dressup shoes, and the sunglasses she refused to wear the day before...but wouldn't let me do her hair). She sure is giving us a lot to laugh about.

Christmas

Updating the blog again...finally getting around to the Christmas post. My brother came home from his mission right before Christmas, so we decided to go back home to Vermont and spend Christmas with everyone and spend some time with my brother before he went back to school. I have a lot of photos from our trip, but this is just a few cause I didn't want to post tons of them, and didn't want to do more than one Christmas post.

So right after Thanksgiving we put up our Christmas tree so that the girls could enjoy it for at least a couple weeks. They loved hanging the decorations and were really upset when all the ornaments ran out.

The Monday night before we were to fly out we decided to have our own little Christmas for family home evening so we wouldn't have to ship all the girls presents back to Vermont and then ship them back to Oklahoma again. They had a blast opening gifts and got things that they had wanted for a really long time, some really cool games, and a few surprises.

One of their surprises were these big puppy dog pillows that my mom's parents (gigi and pappy) hand made for the girls. They love them (Georgia fell asleep on hers with Gwen's slippers)!

We flew back to Vermont a few days before Christmas and split time between my family and Rob's family for the next two weeks. We spent Christmas Eve with my family (and the missionaries) and did all the family traditions: made Christmas cookies, decorated Christmas cookies, played Christmas bingo, and read Twas the Night Before Christmas. Rob and I also have a tradition with the girls where they get to open their new Christmas pjs on Christmas Eve, and we did that as well.

My brother and sister with the girls Christmas morning at the top of the stairs. I curled the girls hair the night before for church.

The girls were pretty pleased with what Santa brought...Gwen got My Little Pony Princess Celestia. Grace got a Barbie car (something shes wanted for a while) with a little Barbie. Georgia got a Disney Tangled doll-Rapunzel. Each of the Santa presents were at the top of the girls Christmas lists.

Shortly after Stockings and presents and breakfast, we got ready for church, and the girls got to wear the brand new dresses that Rob's mom got for them to wear that day. They liked posing on my parents stairs in their new dresses.

After church and some lunch we went to spend some time with Rob's parents. I totally spaced about taking pictures while we were there, but the girls had so much fun. We visited a lot of Robbie's Nana and Pappy, went sledding, shopping, played in the snow, met up with some of Rob's friends from high school, and just relaxed. We had a great vacation, and it was fun to see everyone again.

Girl Scout Cookies!!

Gwen decided that she wanted to try out Girl Scouts this year and see how she likes it. So far it's gone well, and now we are...

Selling Girl Scout Cookies!!

We have a case of each type of cookie sitting in our house right now (Thin Mints, Trefoils, Samoas, Savannah Smiles, Do Si Dos, and Tagalongs). We signed up to sell so many cookies because we thought we could sell most of them in our neighborhood.

Hahahahaha.

Some of the High School girls who are members of Girl Scouts apparently beat us to it. Gwen's pretty disappointed. We are still going to try and sell some here, but I'm not sure how much luck we will have.

SOOOOO...if you have a craving for cookies...or just love girl scout cookies...I will happily ship cookies to you (it's better than having to pay for 72 boxes of cookies ourselves, times $4 a box, which is what will happen if we don't sell them all, including doing a booth). Seriously-

I will ship cookies to you!!

So if you are interested, please please PLEASE let me know!!

Photos From School

So I'm trying to play catch up once again. Here are some photos of the girls from the past few months of school. Some of the photos are really poor quality because they were taken with my phone.

Gracie's school celebrated spirit week during the week of homecoming, and each day they had to dress differently. These are three of the different ways she got to dress: as a cowgirl, ready for a beach party/luau, and as a rock star. Grace had a lot of fun dressing up for school each day (the other two days were each grade level dressed in a specific color-gracie's pre k did the color red- and the other day was wearing a jersey or shirt in support of the local high school).

Right before Christmas Gracie's Pre-K had a Polar Express day where her teacher and assistant teacher set up the room to look like the north pole and set up chairs in two lines so they could pretend to ride the Polar Express. Grace got to wear her pjs to school, got a ticket to ride the Polar Express, and got a Christmas Bell just like the boy in the story. She said they even watched some of the movie and ate some Christmas snacks. It was a lot of fun for her.

Right in the beginning of the year both Gwen's school and Gracie's school had a walk a thon to raise money for the libraries of each school. I had a picture of Gracie's walk a thon, but it won't work, so here's a picture of Gwen that actually ended up in the local newspaper.

When they hit 50 days of being in school, they asked everyone to dress up in 50's attire. I called my Grandma and asked her what they wore in the 50's and based Gwen's outfit off of what she told me. Right before we moved out here, my parents were getting ready to move as well, and so they had me and my sisters and one of my brothers (the other was on his mission still) go through all their stuff they were going to get rid of and pick out what we wanted. I saw this skirt in all their Halloween stuff, and since no one else wanted it, I took it cause I figured one of the girls might want to wear it one year (and save me from making a costume that year). Lucky I grabbed it-it was perfect!!

Just a week or so ago they also celebrated 100 days of school. All of the kindergarten teachers sent home a paper asking us to create a shirt that had 100 of something on it, whether it was 100 dots of paint or you glued 100 pieces of candy onto the shirt or something like that. Gwen decided she wanted 100 buttons, so I sewed 100 buttons onto the front and back of her shirt for her. She loved it (even though she doesn't look it...she hates it when I take pictures of her now because she hates the flash)!

The following day the had a 101 celebration and watched 101 dalmations as a special treat. They did a bunch of 101 activities and made 101 dalmation ears. Gwen thought it would be fun to pose goofy for this photo.

A couple months ago when it was still warm out in the mornings I caught Gwen pretending to meditate before the bus came. It caught on with the other two and they tried it as well. Those girls sure make me laugh sometimes!

We sure do love the school system here and the wonderful teachers Gwen and Grace have, and we will be sad to leave it all behind when we move to Texas after school ends in May. It will be sad, but we are grateful for the chance we've had to live here and for the wonderful people we have met. And I can never express how grateful I am and how much I love my sweet and silly little girls!!