Out of commission/Update from the past month

I can totally admit that I’m not much of a trooper when it comes to not feeling well. I whine, cry and complain a lot but I feel justified because I feel like crap:) I have never felt as tired and sick as I have with baby #4 and even worse than not feeling well is the guilt that I feel for neglecting my kids and other responsibilities. It has been a whole month since I last blogged. I have been out of commission. In the past week the nausea has let up most days and the exhaustion hits hard most days with the occasional functional day. Yesterday I had to pull out my compression stockings because the varicose vein pain in my right leg started. Oh joy. It’s gonna be a painful 7 months. We had a big scare a few days ago that left us with a worry we’ve never had during any other pregnancy. We are SO looking forward to the second trimester and hope that it will bring with it some much needed energy.

There is much to update since it’s been a whole month. Quick rundown:

~We pulled Aidan out of Kindergarten because his teacher was doing more harm than good. He still goes to Chinese every day from 11-3 and absolutely loves those teachers. Our very bad experience with the Kindergarten teachers led us to make our next very big decision…

~In the next 2 weeks we will be moving from our house in Mountain Green to the on base housing. This one I am EXTREMELY excited about. I have not been able to settle in or feel a part of our area or neighborhood. While I love our home here, I am more than willing to give up the extra space for a smaller house close to my Air Force wife friends that live in town. They too are excited to have us closer:) There is only one thing I will miss about Mountain Green…Tami, my one and only friend out here.

~Aidan’s front teeth regained their natural color and are strong and tightly in place. Then, he developed an infection in one of his teeth. GRRR! We took him into the dentist who recommended waiting to see if it would not affect his tooth. We waited a couple of weeks and while the infection seemed to clear up, topically at least, his gum line has begun to recede! Poor kid just can’t catch a break! We are going to take him in to have it checked out and most likely pulled.

~My kids are obsessed with the song and video, Gangnam Style. No, we did not introduce them to it. Whoever it was…thanks.

~We had the most awesome visit from my mom for 2 weeks, my sister and kids for 3 weeks and my brother and family for 1 day! They were all the most perfect and much needed company that I needed at that very moment. I only wish I hadn’t been sick the whole time. Thank you to my mom and sister for doing all of my laundry the whole time they were here and for all of the divine frozen meals my momma left us.

 

 

I don’t know why I always feel the need to explain the following picture. She is making that goofy face on purpose. Why? Because she’s weird like that.

Grocery shopping in a show storm!

~We had a great visit from our great friends from our Florida days, the Odenwalder’s. It was so good to see them.

 

~I have not picked up my camera in a month. That makes me beyond sad.

A few more random pics from the past month:

I sent my child to school in snow up to her knees!

My ferocious superhero!

Horrible quality pic but it captured an amazing moment. On my way to take Sen and her kids to the airport after their 3 week stay, Chloe and Arabella were holding hands. This is amazing because the entire 3 weeks Chloe had it out for Arabella and would hit her almost every time she saw her. She would even chase her to hit her. Suddenly, they are BFF’s.

Update 2-18-13: I can’t believe that I didn’t just go ahead and post this when I wrote it but alas I did not and another month has past. Next time I just won’t worry about getting the pics off of my camera and just post what I’ve got. Another update will soon follow:)

Working On Our Dozen

After a long 3 year break from being pregnant, Rich and I decided it was time to enter that realm once again. We are, in fact, PREGNANT!!!! I say “we” because this time around has been a doozy and Rich has had a very tired and nauseous wife to deal with. He has been a trooper and thankfully the nausea, at just 2 months along, has decided to mostly leave me alone (I know, I’m lucky)! What hasn’t left is the extreme exhaustion. I’m not complaining though, after dealing with nausea I will take being tired any day.

We will have quite the gap between our current 3 and this little one. That is definitely something that we were concerned about but knew that we absolutely could not get pregnant before I was physically and mental ready. To be honest, deciding whether or not we would even have one more took me 2 1/2 years. I always told everybody that I wanted one more but when I thought about what that meant as far as our history goes, it would send me into such a confused and scared place. Just dealing with the traumatic births, 3 months worth of NICU stays, countless surgeries/therapies and 3 years combined sleepless nights and trach care have put me through the wringer. My body has been out of whack due to the stress that it has been through and mentally…I don’t think I will even go there. I can say that 3 years has not been enough time for me to really be where I want to be but I feel like I’m in a good enough place that I WILL survive this next little blessing however he/she will come.

That being said, we are EXCITED!!! We are being so realistic, though. We know that there is more of a chance than not that we are in for a long, hard journey but we are excited none the less to have one more sweet little Baker to complete our bunch! That’s right, I said COMPLETE our bunch. This little angel will be our last and final piece to our family puzzle. Actually, I take that back, if by some miracle (and it would take a miracle) we decide that we are still missing a member of our family, then we MIGHT reconsider. There is also a really good possibility that we will adopt in the future. Adoption is a whole lot more likely than us having another baby though 

It has been a long journey getting to this point and now that we are here I know that it is exactly where we need to be. We are blessed.

Sweet Maya Moment

This past Wednesday Maya’s class had a pajama/Christmas party. Maya LOVES pajama parties and asks me regularly if she can have one so she was beyond excited to get to wear her pj’s to school.

I got my girl’s coat and backpack on and sent her on her way to the neighbors house to catch her carpool. I watched her walk halfway there and then closed the door and went about my business. A minute later there was a knock at the door and I heard Maya’s little voice calling me. I opened the door and she reached up for me and said, “I forgot to give you a hug and a kiss!”

She is my sweet, sweet girl that ALWAYS gives me a hug and a kiss before going to school and before going to bed. If daddy puts her to bed she will not go down until I go in and give her smooches. These special moments I will treasure forever.

Will they stay or will they go?

It has been 2 weeks and 3 days since the incident with Aidan's teeth. I honestly did not think that they would last this long but they are holding on and going strong! There was one tooth that was completely knocked back, I mean pointing straight back, and surprisingly that tooth has not died. It is extremely loose and will probably fall out in the next few months but it has maintained it’s natural color.

The other tooth was knocked back but not as far. I thought that it had a better chance of survival than the other and it may stick around longer but it has turned gray which means it's a dead tooth. He never got any kind of infection and has learned to be very careful and only use his back teeth to bite and chew.

Gray teeth, no teeth…he’s a little stud, regardless.

P.S. He doesn’t usually smile like this. I kept telling him to show me his teeth:)

Sunday Night JENGA!

We introduced the kids to a new game and I think it could be a new favorite. Rich and I thought we should show them how it’s played instead of trying to explain it to them.

 

Was there ever any doubt as to who would win? Of course not! I WON!!! Rich took it like a man, though.

Then, we let the kiddos have at it!

They figured it out really quick and got quite good at looking for the loose brick.

The only bad thing about Jenga is that there is a very clear winner/loser. There is no way around it and there is no way to sugar coat it. Makes it rough when someone hasn’t figured out how not to be a sore loser…

HAHAHAHA! Love these pictures even though they are a funky orange! It was a good opportunity to teach him that we don’t always get to win. I think we will have to practice some more.

Nothing Much But A Few Pics

(This is the post I was working on 2 weeks ago,before Aidan’s teeth got knocked in and life got exciting.)

I’ve been surprised with myself lately. As I looked through my camera I really haven’t found very many recent pics! What’s going on here? I need to get back into taking pics of my monkeys because they aren’t going to stay little forever! I think that it’s because life had been so eventful for so long and suddenly we don’t have much going on so I’ve stopped picking up my camera. I need to remember that these every day moments are to be treasured.

 

 

Today, was an emotional day for our country. 20 children were killed while sitting in their kindergarten classroom in Newtown, Connecticut. Picking Aidan up from school today was different from every other day because I was thinking about those parents that kissed their babies goodbye this morning, not realizing that it would be the last time in this life. I was thinking about the presents under the tree that will remain unopened. My heart goes out to all of those parents that lost their little treasures today. Families are forever and  in the end family is all that matters.

Christmas Times A Comin’!

I so love this time of the year! It makes me want to spoil my kids to pieces! My home never feels as homey as it does when decorated with Christmas décor. Everybody is more focused on the Savior. I just love everything about it!

Buddy comes out and allows me to constantly threaten lovingly remind my kids that they need to make good choices or they are going to get poop in their stockings. Yes, I actually tell them that and they scream and cry. Hey, it works!

Stockings are hung.

Nativities are set up. The one on the left was recently given to me by my mother-in-law who received it from my Rich when he was serving as a missionary in Guatemala when he was 19. So special to me!

Last but not least, we are all excited about having a full sized Christmas tree!!

Do you like the party hat on top? We need to buy a star…

This was the very first time we got to decorate our Christmas tree as a family and it was such a special experience. I’m so excited to do it every single year with the kids! I have a video to share but for some reason it’s not working…I will add it later:D