And baby makes 3.....kids

I've debated on whether or not we should share this information just yet. It still seems so early. But, since Bria knows, word seems to be spreading fast (Not to mention that we have practically dropped off the face of the earth since I don't feel that great - people are starting to guess)! So, hopefully, we don't jinx anything by sharing our news so early.



We went to our first Dr's appointment yesterday and got an ultrasound. The baby is so small....they said just barely over 1". Small. But, we were lucky enough to see it move. If you look close, you can almost see it wave. The head is on the right and body on the left. You can see the 4 little stubs that are the arms and legs. So cute. We are just happy that things seem to be going well.

So, I know everyone is going to have tons of questions, so I'll do my best to answer what I think people will want to know.

When are we due? Officially... September 2. But, the ultrasound measurement said August 30....I think I would rather go with that. It is 3 days earlier! Lucky me! I get to be huge and pregnant right in the heat of the summer! But on the positive side, this child will probably have the funnest birthday parties not having a winter b-day like our other kids.

Are the kids excited? Yes! Well, I don't think Max really knows what is going on, but Bria is elated!!! She talks and asks questions about the baby almost constantly. She has her own theories about how the baby will be born (the latest is that it will crawl out of my throat) and what the baby will do after it is here. If I ask her where she comes up with her ideas, she just says that her head is smart and it tells her all the answers.

Has Bria had a hard time keeping it a secret? YES!! But, she has done an excellent job. However, she has found ways to get around actually spilling the beans. One way she has told her friends is that her mom will have to go the hospital after a while. Or, that her mom has been really sick a lot lately. Most kids seem to figure out what she means. Oh - the pinkie promise method also seems to be popular. I guess when you are 5, you can tell any secret to anyone as long as you pinkie promise. To what? I don't know. But, I can usually tell if she is telling me the truth because she will always add that she pinkie promises.

Have I been very sick? Yes! Yes! Yes! Not as sick as with Max, but pretty sick. I am taking some anti-nausea medication, which seems to help, but not completely cure it. It has a drowsy side effect, though. The kids have been trying their hardest to take care of me. I told Bria once that I need to make sure to eat every few hours so I don't get sick. When I run to the bathroom to start throwing up, she always yells - "Quick! Get mom some food so she can stop being sick!" Bria also includes me in nearly every prayer, which I'm very impressed with. Usually her prayers are full of silly requests for herself (like "bless that it will warm up tomorrow so I can go outside and have a picnic"). It's very considerate of her. Max asks me many times in the day "you feel better now?" If I tell him no, he will go cook me up some concoction in the play kitchen....soup is his favorite to make. He is also very good at just snuggling with me, which is sometimes all I need to remember that all this sickness is worth it.

Dave has been wonderful! He never shows that he is tired of me complaining about the nausea. I'm sure he probably does get tired of it, though. He has been a savior around the house. I hadn't folded the laundry for 2 weeks, so he took care of it. He's been doing a majority of the dishes and straightening up the house. He also has done most of the shopping. I've only been to the store 4 times since before Christmas and 3 of those were to refill my anti-nausea medication. I try not to be completely useless, but I am nowhere near the top of my game. Despite his insanely busy schedule, he is making up for my slack at home. I'm lucky to have him.

I can't think of anything else right now...hopefully that answers any potential questions. We are very excited, but right now it seems so far away! I know it will go fast....if we could just get through the nausea, that is.

A Tag: Some Things....

I've been having a blogging dry spell lately. I guess that goes with being stuck in-doors for extensive periods of time, so a tag is just what my blog needs. Thanks, Brittany (very clever tagging method, by the way....)

Something I want to see: It's hard to narrow it down, if you are talking geographical. I have a burning desire to see much of the world. After our kids are grown and gone, I want to travel all over with just Dave and I. Not geographical: I want to see our kids grown up to be happy and successful and have strong testimonies.

Something that inspires me: Mom's with perfectly clean houses. I don't know how they do it! Mine is never really dirty. I clean a lot and try hard not to let it get too out of control. But, there always seems to some mess or another that needs to be cleaned up! I can never understand how I go to some houses (without warning) and their house is immaculate. How?!? Please teach me, somebody!

Something that makes me angry: Celebrities who share their political views. I mean, seriously....I don't want to know. I want to be able to watch a TV show or movie without worrying that I'm supporting someone that believes in something that goes against my values. Plus, really, who are they to have such expertise in the field of politics?!? Okay...I'll stop there. I could go on and on.

Something that hurts a little: Stubbing my toe.

Something I've gotten used to: Sleeping with no sheets on the bed. Dave is a no sheet kind of guy. It took some time to get used to, but after 8 years of marriage, it's pretty normal now.

Something I collect: hmmm...that's a hard one. Maybe, TV shows recorded on the DVR.

Something I always carry with me: wallet, diapers, checkbook and debit card

Something I want to be: Obviously, a better mother - there are countless way I could improve in that area. I'd also like to one day be a teacher...but we'll see how that pans out.

Something I dread: laundry. If I just had to wash and dry it, no problem. It's the folding and putting away. My kids love to undo what I make so nice and neat. Max empties his dresser almost daily.

Something that I have learned: How to cook and sew. I'm not the very best at either one (better at cooking than sewing), but they are both something I've learned since I got married.

Something I read: Book of Mormon, endless amounts of stories to the kids, Readers Digest, and I have to check the news on MSN.com and Foxnews.com pretty much daily.

Something I want to understand: a foreign language

Someone I'm going to tag: Melissa
[directions: copy and paste this into your text window, then erase my answers and add your own.]

Cabin Fever

I have a serious case of cabin fever. It's not just me. I really think Bria is suffering from the same malady. It happens every winter, but not usually until February. Winters in Idaho are LONG. Even when it starts to warm up, it never really warms up until May or June.



But lately the weather is playing tricks on my subconscious. Over Christmas, we got large amounts of snow. It was not uncommon to see 5 foot snow drifts around the neighborhood. But, when the snow blows so much, there are places that are left with just a skiff on top of the grass. Enter a few days of warm weather. Not really warm weather, but maybe 33 degrees. Just enough to melt some of the snow, but not warm. So, a good part of our yard lost it's snow. The only parts that are left were around the edges where the snow drifted really high. Then, the weather cooled back down. So, now it's COLD. We have had beautiful, sunny skies the last week, and every time I look at our back yard out the window, it looks deceptively warm.....like the snow is melting and spring is coming. But, it's not.....it is still winter. To make matters worse, I am a serious homebody during the winter. I left the house 3 - yes 3 - times last week. That's all. Only 3. It's my own fault, I know. I think I'm probably a lot the same during the summer, but we spend so much time outside that I guess I don't notice all the staying home.



So, to help with my winter blues, I thought I would make a list of the things that I miss about summer......



gardening, warmth, picnics on the grass, watching the kids on the trampoline, sprinklers, the smell of fresh cut grass, gardening, color, sleeping with windows open, the sound of laughter out the window...pretty much all the time, backyard barbecues, gardening, flowers in the front yard, fresh veggies, landscaping our yard, no shoes, did I mention gardening?



I guess I shouldn't complain. Before we know it, summer will be here, and instead I'll be missing winter!

A Sad Gingerbread Tale

Better late than never (see previous post)!

One of our Christmas traditions is making a gingerbread house. We fully intended to do one before Christmas. When that didn't happen, the plan was to make on Christmas afternoon, but ran out of time. Then came the Webster Family party.....a sick mom.....a dad who had to go back to work.......To make a long story short, poor Bria has been asking every day for 3 weeks if we could make the gingerbread house. At least our kids are young enough to not realize the difference.

On to the gingerbread story. We bought a gingerbread house kit. As much as I like homemade, sometimes I go for easy - (and apparently that wasn't even easy enough this time). These were the package instructions:

1. Put frosting on edges of walls and put 4 outside walls together.

2. Wait for 30 MINUTES

3. Put frosting on top of walls and place 2 roof pieces.

4. Wait for 30 MORE MINUTES.

Okay, I'm thinking that whoever put this kit together does not have small children. I mean..... ONE WHOLE HOUR before you can even start putting the candy pieces on?!? What fun is that!! SOOO, we took the shortcut and just put the whole thing together. I mean, who cares if it doesn't last.....we're already getting this done late, right? After about 6 tries, Dave finally got the house to actually stand up. He mostly decorated it because if either of the kids touched it, it would fall apart. Bria acted as decoration consultant so, all the candy pieces went right where she wanted them. Max acted as candy janitor (.....or candy eater, whatever you want to call it). And, they both had a blast!! So, better late than never, right?!?

Literally 2 minutes after we took the pictures of the kids, we had complete and utter gingerbread destruction. The whole house collapsed on itself. I guess it wasn't up to code!

2009 - The Year of Better Late Than Never!!

Okay, I know January is pushing halfway over. But, we really did have a New Years party this year. It almost didn't happen. The entire credit goes to Dave. He cleaned the house and made all the yummy food. I was sick, sick, sick pretty much that whole week. I woke up on New Years Eve morning and didn't think I would even be able to get out of bed. But, after a quick trip to Community Care and subsequently the pharmacy, and I was good to go. (I secretly think Dave really wanted the party so he could light off the $70 worth of fireworks that he bought for the occasion.) It turned out to be a way fun party. I had dreams of inviting large numbers of people.....that didn't happen. But, we did have a couple of neighbors and some of our other good friends over (Melissa, this post is especially for you =) ). We played Catch Phrase (men against women, of course) and had some great snacks. It was so much fun! So, Happy Late New Years!!!

Growing up

Last year, we decided to start measuring our kids. At first we thought every six months we would mark their growth inside of our pantry door. But, time got away from us and last night we realized that it had been a whole year. I can't believe how much our kids have grown!! Bria grew 3 1/4" and Max grew a whopping 4" since last January. No wonder they are always so hungry!

Our Little Easy Baker

Bria got an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas this year. She was very disappointed on Christmas day because we needed a 100 watt lightbulb to use it. So, the next day, Dave went to the store and brought home a lightbulb. She was so excited....until we discovered that the lightbulb could not be high efficiency (which makes sense) or soft white - which is what he bought. I don't understand the soft white, but....okay - those are the instructions. So, later that day, Dave went on another shopping trip - stopping at several stores and it seems that everyone was sold out of their 100 watt non-softwhite, non-high efficiency light bulbs. Who could have been buying all the lightbulbs?!? So, poor Bria had to wait a whole week to use her Easy Bake Oven. She was so excited when we finally got to make her first little cake.

Mmmmm!! Her very first cake. She was already enjoying it by the time we could get the camera.