An introduction… finally

Okay, I am feeling really guilty for not introducing our little one to the blog yet.  This is cute baby #3.  SHE is due May 21-22 and we cannot be more thrilled.  We found out when Dave and I were in NYC. I thought I was for various reasons and when packing I took a pregnancy test with me.  I felt pretty good most of the trip, a little tired and nauseous, but couldn’t really blame it on a pregnancy quite yet.  I took the test on our last day in NYC.  What a GREAT day. We were very happy and excited.  We waited for weeks to tell people and I think we kept a pretty good secret.  (Besides my mom who said, “I just knew it.”  We announced it at Dave’s birthday party at my parents house.  The girls wore “Big Sister in Charge shirts,” and might I say they looked stinkin’ cute! We didn’t tell Anna until we put the shirt on so it was a good surprise for her too!

In the beginning I was really nauseated and exhausted.  I swore it was a boy because I hadn’t been that sick with the other girls. It was pretty pitiful some days, I was doing my best to keep up, but some days the couch was my best friend. We have a boy name, I was sick, and we already have 2 girls… it was a boy for sure….

WRONG.

I had an ultrasound with Dr. Kaelberer and told him to write it down for Dave and I to open together. He said he was only 85% sure and I shouldn’t tell family at our party that weekend. I got out to the car and called Dave, I couldn’t wait to open it, then all the sudden I didn’t want to know, I knew it would say a girl.  I shouldn’t say this, sorry baby #3 but a little disappointment set in as I read it to Dave.  I thought for sure it was a boy and I was excited at that possibility, mostly because of the dynamic a boy would bring to the family, and also so Dave would have someone to do sports with.  I held out until another Ultrasound with my mom and her co-worker.  Another girl!  Then our “real” Ultrasound confirmed it again.  GIRLIE GIRL! I love my girls and am excited to see the dynamics that this little one will bring to our family.  There is a sweetness about girls, I love pink and girly things, I love that I don’t have to do much shopping in the beginning… only for more girly goodness and she will be loved just as much as any other baby! I cannot wait to see her beautiful face and little features.

Now,  I am almost 25 weeks and she is an active little one! She kicks and moves quite a bit. It is fun to feel again. Some days it catches me off guard like, What is that? oh yeah, I am pregnant.  I started showing quite a while ago, but this week has set in the uncomfortable hard tummy stage. I feel large and in charge,but try to remind myself it’s okay I am growing a human for heaven sakes!  So crazy. So amazing. So exciting!

Baby girl we love you already and cannot wait to meet you soon! (3 1/2 months….but who is counting… oh we all are!)

Jake Cake

Anna was so excited to have a Jake and the Never Land Pirate’s cake and party. She is my number one cake making fan and always has the cutest most positive things to say about my creations. One of my favorites, and something I’ll never forget is when she said, “Mom everything you make is good and pretty!” Melt my heart.

Here are some pictures of her birthday party cake. Despite the fact that my frosting was too thick and defiant that I had to start over, and that I started super late at night, I think I turned out almost how I envisioned it.

I decided to try a trick I did on another cake and make the inside a little more fun. Zebra print… This is what it looked like when I cut it straight across and took off the top. Before all the decorations where added and as I finished the treasure box.It was late, or should I say early in the morning and I needed a treasure box! I wasn’t about to make fondant for it. And figured I could make do with stuff I had.  So the base of the box was made out of graham crackers and marshmallows . Then I did the classic basket weave icing method to cover it. Turned out pretty good for 2 am. (:

Here is the 360 of the cake…

Happy little pirate princess!

Great Grandma’s Fall and Grandma’s Home…

Well we had a interesting week this past week.  We woke up Wednesday and got a phone call from my mom saying that  Grandma had fallen and broken 3 vertebrae in her back.  She, as stubborn as she can be at 95, wouldn’t go to a rehab. My Mom and Dad had a large cruise trip planned that they almost cancelled.  My siblings and I told them to go and we all took turns watching Grandma.  Kjersti, my 21 year old sister got stuck with the brunt of the work and I was very impressed with her ability to step up and step in.  Also, Saturday was the funeral of a cousin (we would call him a great uncle).  This man was someone Great Grandma was extremely close to and she was so sad she couldn’t go!  In his dying wishes he wanted to dedicate his Sigma Chi White Rose to “Aunt Ramona,” my Grandma. So my sisters and I went in her place and were sung to by Sigma Chi’s. It was a sweet gesture for Grandma.

We played a lot at my mom’s, took care of Grandma and had some funny moments with her.  One of my favorite one liners from a grandma who was all looped up- “my daughter told me off, these director (me and my sisters) are in charge of me. My authority has diminished. No wait.i can control my dog, and I do. I tell her off sometimes! My kids are getting sassy! To KJ: do you want on of my pills? You’ll go to heaven!”

My kids love “Grandmas” it’s like their second home.  Sometimes I wonder if they’d rather live there.  Here are some photos from our time…

Gurgling water…

It was so cold! I had to snap some photos of the icicles for Mom and Dad.

Grandma won’t be very happy about me snapping these photos, but I had to take note and capture the memories. Maddie loved bringing her toys or things she found.  Great Grandma was so cute with her, even while she didn’t feel good and was trying to eat.

We had to get Great Grandma a change of scenery, so she sat in the front room and looked at photo books.  My girls had a great time telling her about the experiences of Disneyland.

Afterwards the girls and Lily danced to all sorts of music from a little player.  Great Grandma, I thought was enjoying it, later she said it “worried her” and they were “noisy.” To each his own.

Here are some pictures from the funeral.  My mom’s cousin Ron is Rick’s brother and this is his family.  Ron and Sue’s family are some of our closest cousins. We used to spend a week every year at their California home. Whit and I were always close and even though we don’t see them as often as we should we’re glad that they are here in Utah now!

The story doesn’t stop here though.  We took care of her until Wednesday when my uncle Scott came in town.  Thursday was the day of a HUGE Ice storm.  I have never seen anything like it, nor been so scared to drive in my life.  My Uncle was out on the ice and fell and broke his leg.  The paramedics took him to the U of U hospital to be taken care of and have surgery.  So not only were we all worried about Grandma, but we didn’t know what to do for Scott.  Needless to say we were all happy when my mom got home Saturday night, even though the stress wasn’t gone, just passed back to her. 

Grandma is doing better, but still week and I worry about her being alone!

Stomach Flu

We had a small bout of sickness right up until Anna’s birthday.  Poor girl was fine, we went to dinner with the Waltons, (FINALLY, after they have been moved back to Utah for a month), Anna was complaining about being cold at the restaurant, but I summed it up to sitting by the door.  A few minutes after we got our food Anna said she needed to go to the bathroom and the next thing I know she is throwing up all over the floor.  We had a horrible night, with her throwing up every 15 minutes.  She kept trying to keep liquids down, but I think it made it worse.  We built a bed in our room on the floor near the bathroom, however halfway through the night she just slept on the bath mat.  Poor girl.  I hate seeing her feel so awful!  She was so weak the next day, sleeping a lot, and trying to get something back into her tummy. But to no avail, anytime she ate whether it was a popsicle or a lot of water she couldn’t keep it down.  She was so sad that we had to miss family dinner at the Miners and was really worried about her birthday in 2 days.  She also was worried about throwing up in her bed, so many times she would fall asleep in the strangest places. Luckily, especially for me, she always made it to the bathroom or in a garbage can. Fortunately most of the disease was gone by her birthday.  And I had washed my hands religiously so no one else got it. She was still exhausted by her birthday, but tried to be chipper.  I made her favorite dinner, Chicken roll ups and the only thing she had been requesting was “Menchies,” a local yogurt stop.

Here are some photos of my sweet little sickie…

I had to snap some of the supportive sister….

Birthday morning scone and movie…

Painting with Icicles, I was glad to see Anna have her energy enough to want to do a project, though she looked sick still…