11 years and still going strong!

General Conference

I love conference weekend. It's really hard to be able to listen with little kids, but I was still able to listen to most of the talks even over the noise and chaos. I felt like there were several talks just for me. I can't wait to read the talks and be able to get more from them. I also loved the music from the choirs. It was a nice weekend. We also love our new conference tradition, crepes for breakfast. Mmmmm, they were spectacular!

Huge

Huge just about says it all. I'm feeling huge these days and I'm down to the last few weeks of pure misery. Last week was pretty hard. I went to bed on Tuesday not feeling well, I had an upset stomach. During the night I started having horrible stomach cramps. I've had a lot of stomach cramps in my life, but these were the worst that I have ever had. I figured that I had the stomach bug that was going around. Ben was sweet and stayed home Wednesday morning to get the kids off to school, but things were not good at work and he couldn't stay home. My mom jumped in and took Maren for the day. I took a Phenergan and quite literally slept all day. The cramps were so bad that all I could do was curl up in a ball and cry. Wednesday was a little better, Ben got the kids off to school and Maren and I hung out watching PBS all day. I was finally able to eat a little and drink some without wanting to die. During the night the cramps came back and all I could do was cry. I remember praying and telling Heavenly Father that I just couldn't take any more. Things settled down a little and I was able to get my kids up and off to school. I called the doctors office and waited to hear back. I then called Ben and shortly after his dad showed up to take Maren for the day. After talking to the nurse at the doctor's office I was ready to scream. I think she thought I just needed to tough it out. I should have asked for Val, my regular nurse. The nurse kept trying to convince me that I either had gas or was maybe going into labor. I don't think so! Finally she said let me talk to one of the other nurses and I'll call you back. She called back about 2 minutes later and said we think you should go to labor and delivery to be checked out. Thanks. I called Ben and jumped in the shower. We showed up around 10 and waited for a little while and then were taken to one of the patient rooms. I was hooked up to all of the monitors and was having regular contractions. Amazingly though, the stomach cramps stopped once I was all checked in. I felt a little silly, but it was a good thing I went in. I was really dehydrated. They put in an IV and gave me fluids and anti nausea medicine. After 5 needle pokes and 5 hours of monitoring I was finally told that everything was okay and I could go home. My blood pressure was high and I was sent home with the jug for the 24 hour urine test. I thought "here we go again" with the preeclampsia and the bed rest. I was able to go home and eat and drink and the cramps stayed away. Ben and I went back to the hospital the next day for some follow up monitoring. Everything looked great, the baby was doing great and my blood pressure was down. No bed rest for me, yet. I am so glad to be feeling better. I really don't like these scary moments. I will admit that I am feeling huge and uncomfortable, but I'm grateful that my baby is healthy. If I can just survive the next two weeks, then I'll get to hold my new little baby. I am so thankful for my family. They are all so good to jump in and help out. Thank you, thank you!

Spring Choir Concert

Addy had her final choir concert last Thursday. She was so excited! Addy loves to sing and she has a beautiful voice. The choir has been practicing really hard since January and they sounded great. I think my favorite song was "what a wonderful world." Addy's favorite was "Never Neverland." It was fun to see her sing her heart out. She was also excited because she got to sing for the school twice and on Friday they went on a field trip and were able to sing at the two local care centers. I am so glad she loves to sing and has been so willing to get up early for practices all year. I know she'll miss it, but it will be something for her to look forward to next year.

The Hunger Games

I loved the Hunger Games book and could hardly wait for the movie. Camille bought our tickets the day they went on sell. Our nephew Parker loved the books as well and also shared our excitement for the movie so we gave him tickets for his birthday. Camille made sure that his tickets were in a different part of the theater so we wouldn't embarrass him. Camille and I thought it would be fun to dress up as one of the characters but decided that wasn't going to work, so we painted our nails instead. We really wanted flames on our nails like in the book, but we settled for the capitol colors riveting and electrify made by China glaze. Yes, I bought the official nail polish. We had a great time and enjoyed the movie. I'm not sure I loved the movie, I'm going to have to watch it again to make sure, but it was fun to watch with Camille and Leanne. Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!

Happy birthday to Ben!

Maren modeling Ben's new shoes

On the 21st of March Ben turned 36! He took the day off of work and we were able to spend the day together. We had lunch out and then celebrated with the kids by having grilled kabobs for dinner and rice krispie treats for dessert per Ben's request. It was a nice relaxing day. The girls and I gave Ben some new shoes and some new pans for cooking. It was fun to spend the day together and just relax and enjoy each others company. I'm so glad to have Ben as my husband, he's the best!

Oops, she did it again!

I'm not sure we need a boy at our house, we have Maren who is our daredevil. She's always getting into things she shouldn't and hurting herself. Two weeks ago (March 18th) we were at my parents for dinner celebrating the March birthdays. It was already past the girls bedtime and we were getting ready to leave. We called out for Maren and she came running down the hall at full speed. She missed the entrance to the kitchen and face planted into the wall. She started screaming and was holding her forehead. It was one of those moments when I couldn't get to her fast enough. She moved her hand and blood was running everywhere. I picked her up and someone threw me a towel. I laid her on the bar and took a look and knew right away we were headed to get stitches. Grandma gave her a candy cane to suck on and she calmed right down. Thank goodness for Grandma and Grandpa. They took Addy and Sydnee home and put them to bed while Ben and I made a trip to the Instacare. Maren did great! She started to cry when the doctor took off the bandaid with the numbing medicine because it pulled her hair. She cried while he numbed her up with the needle, but then calmed right down. Ben and I held her hands while she got her stitches, but she held her head still and didn't have to be held down. She was so brave. She got 9 stitches, that's 3 more than the last time. Afterward the doctor gave her a token so that she could get a prize out of a machine in the lobby. She thought that was pretty cool. When we got home she ran in and told Grandma and Grandpa that "The docor fix my head!" She was quite happy. Hopefully we are done with this stuff for a while, or else we are going to have to buy her a helmet.