Craig is funny!

Craig likes to sing. He sings anytime, anywhere. He's good too! Sometimes he sings so loud in the shower it wakes the kids up in the morning. So, the other night Craig & I had a meeting with the second counselor in the Stake Presidency, President Claussen. News of that to come later.... but before we went to Pres. Claussen's house for the meeting, we stopped at our office to print out a map on mapquest for directions how to get there. Craig went in, I stayed in the truck. Then, I see a man walk in the office a minute later. There is a bell on the door, but Craig is in the back & I know he can't see him. I'm thinking "Craig is going to hear the bell on the door & think it's me, instead of this 'customer'. So, I go in to see if I can help this man. He wanted to know the pricing for sending a fax. So, as I'm telling him, Craig comes out from the back of the store laughing hysterically!! I was thinking 'what?' Then Craig goes on to tell us when he heard the bell on the door & thought it was me, he started singing ' you are so beautiful' ....to this guy!! We all laughed! The guy says ' yeah, it was good too. Better than my mp3 player." I thought it was SO funny. Had to share. Hope you got a good laugh too. I love my Craig!!

Feeling better.....finally!

Yes, I am so excited to finally be feeling normal (as much as a 4 month pregnant mom can be). I actually got a work out in today without feeling like hurling! I have only been sick for about an hour in the evenings around bedtime, so I can handle that. I haven't been sleeping well though! I get up to use the bathroom & can't get back to sleep! I was up for 4 hours last night (early morning). It's frustrating because I KNOW I'm tired & I KNOW I'll be even more tired later in the day, but I can't sleep! I hope the whole pregnancy isn't like this or I'm gonna be one grumpy mama! I need my sleep! I'm really hoping to get a nap, but then I feel like if I take a nap maybe I won't sleep good at night! It's a vicious cycle!
I go in for our ultrasound on April 1st. Yes, April Fool's Day. I'm starting to feel a little jinxed! Should I call & reschedule? No, I'm kidding. What's there is there. No worries! I can't wait! I'm very excited! I'll write about it as soon as we know anything!
I just found out that 2 of my friends are pregnant too. I'm pretty happy that they can go through this with me. I don't feel so alone. I think they are both due around the same time as each other & are about 6 weeks behind me.
I'm at that in-between stage with clothing. Nothing fits, maternity clothes are too big & you just feel fat. Remember those days? I hate it. Just to find something to wear to church yesterday was a chore. You should see the pile of clothes in my room! I can't wait to actually 'look' more pregnant rather than just fat!
Wow! It seems like I just complained a whole bunch! I am actually very grateful to be over the real sicky part. The other stuff is just what comes along with being pregnant too. Fun, fun!

Hershey, PA

Well, Craig went & bought a dirt bike....... without permission! He found it on ebay, so we took a trip to Pennsylvania to pick it up. I planned a vacation out of it. I figured, we're NOT just going to drive 5 hrs to pick up a bike. We're gonna have fun too. So, we got a hotel near Hershey, PA & stayed 2 nights. The hotel was nice. The service, another story! We had some guy walk into our room at 11:30 at night. The hotel had checked him into our room-that was already taken! We were ticked! Then, the guy ended up getting the room next to us & was banging on the walls until about 1 am, then again at 5am. So, we complained! They gave us our first night free. The next day we headed to church in Harrisburg. Craig ended up seeing some people there that used to be in our ward in NY a long time ago. It was neat! Then, back to the hotel to take a nap, since we didn't sleep well the night before. So, we're taking a nap & the housekeeper walks in! I thought, "Man, these people really want to see us in our underwear, don't they" LOL

The kids had fun swimming in the pool. We went every day, sometimes twice. I kept forgetting to take my camera with me when we went, so, no pics. Sorry. We were going to go take a dip in the pool before we left the next day. We got down to the pool & it looked like 'manly fluids' were floating on top of the water!!!!!Gross! We went back to the room to pack up & leave.

Next, we headed to the Hershey Chocolate Factory. It was fun! They take you on a tour to see how chocolate is made. It was pretty interesting. The best part was the tasting though. We got pulled aside by one of the workers & she asked us if we would be willing to do a taste test. So, we went to this secluded room with little cubbies & each got to sit with our little cup of water & test chocolate. It was neat. The boys thought that was great! They got to test something that nobody has ever tested before. They think it's 'top secret' & they aren't supposed to tell anyone. I don't know where they got that from, but they had fun.

Taste testing


The kids also got to package their own hershey kisses. They got to push the button & fill a container. They liked that.

Then, on to the Hershey store. How can you go to Hershey, PA & not go to the factory & buy chocolate? So, we did.

Eric at the store

We had a great time. The car ride was long, but the kids were content watching the DVD player & playing PSP. It went pretty well. Emily was surprisingly good! She got sick of being in her car seat & wanted me to hold her, but she did well.

Can you tell, they aren't even looking at the camera? Except Emily. They all have there eyes on the movie instead. Stinkers!

Oh, the bike.... yeah, we picked it up. I guess it's just like the bike that Craig had when he was younger. It doesn't run, so I'm not too worried about him crashing anytime soon. He's excited about it. We still aren't talking about it though........

Heartbeat!

I went to my 2nd OB appointment last week. Dr. says everything is going great. I actually got to hear the heartbeat for the first time too. It was so exciting! I love to hear it. I always get teary eyed when I hear it, especially for the first time. It's amazing to me! It makes it seem so REAL! There really is a tiny baby inside me! I'm not just getting fat! Yeah!
I also heard that after you hear the heartbeat there's only a 5% chance of miscarriage, so that's reassurring! I am so excited to have this baby. You'd think that after the first few babies it would all be the same, but it's not. I am so excited to meet this little baby that WE made! It's so precious to us. I know it will probably be the last, so I'm really trying to enjoy it ( here I am, crying). Definately pregnant! LOL
It's so much easier to enjoy when you don't feel like throwing up all day long! I have felt SO good this past week. I am so glad to be over the sick part! Crossing fingers! I have only been feeling yucky around 10pm, right before I go to bed, which I can't complain about! So much better than all afternoon! Now, I feel like I need to get back to my work-out routine a little bit more now that I know I can handle it without getting sick. Yeah! I told the Dr. I was worried about gaining too much weight. I've gained 8 lbs. Yikes! I've only ever gained 25 lbs. with each one though. So, I'm not too worried about it. She looked at my charts from Matthew & Emily. I am the same exact weight as I was with them, from month to month! I couldn't believe it. She said I looked great & my body must just like this same weight at pregnancy.
Now, if the weather would just warm up a bit I could actually stay outside for more than 2 minutes & go for a walk!

Cravings!

Ok, I know pregnant women have cravings, but my goodness, how many english muffins should one person have in one day? So, my main craving is english muffins. Plain with butter (real butter), or peanut butter & grape jelly (I make homemade strawberry & raspberry jam every year, so no explaination for craving that purple goopy stuff... I know, weird) I could eat 3 a day, but I know that isn't healthy or very balanced, so I settle for one in the morning & maybe one before bed if I'm REALLY still hungry. One of Craig's customers is a bread wholesaler, so he gets bread from them everytime he goes there. I knew I had a problem when he came home from the bread store with 4- 12 packs of english muffins. What a guy! They do freeze well!

Yogurt & granola is my next craving. I love yogurt, especially strawberry. I make homemade granola & they go perfect with each other. I actually just ran out of granola, so I'll be making that tonight. I have made 3 batches in the last 2 weeks. When I have cravings, I REALLY have cravings, I told you.

Milkshakes is my next craving. Yes it's winter & freezing outside, but they sound so yummy, especially chocolate. So, this afternooon when I was driving by myself, I stopped to buy a milkshake, Chocolate. I drank/ate the whole thing in the car. The best part is when I got to the bottom of the cup, I slurped it as loud as I wanted to to get every last drop. Hey, I was in the car by myself, nobody heard it. The things pregnant women will do. I also love smoothies & make those at home. They are much healthier. Don't get me wrong, I don't go buying milkshakes everyday. I am a little worried though, I'm not even in my second trimester yet! Yikes

Baby #5

Well, its true, we're having a baby. Yes, #5! We are very excited! At first I was hesitant to tell anyone. I was worried about what they would think- If I was a good mom, If I could handle it, etc.... But, I had to get over that real fast. I know what we want & what we feel is right. So, here we are expecting #5! I think the kids are excited. Matt said he doesn't want a sister, they're annoying, or a brother they're annoying too. So, this will be a long few months! It doesn't seem very 'real' right now, maybe further down he'll feel more excited. I hope so. The older boys are excited though & Emily is already telling me what we're going to do with our baby- rock her, put her in bed, change her diapers, dress her, etc. Yes, she thinks it's a sister. We'll see. She actually keeps telling me that there are 2 babies. Heaven help me!

I had my first appt. today. I am 10 weeks. I didn't get to hear the heartbeat, so it still doesn't feel 'real' to me. A little disappointing, oh well. I have always heard it this early with the others, so I don't get it. Now I have to wait another month to hear it. UGH! At least there weren't 2 heartbeats! LOL

My due date is August 19th. I have already told Craig we are NOT planting anything in our garden this year that I would have to 'can'. I will NOT do that with a newborn! I can't even imagine. For some reason I am dreading this summer.........already. I am going to be 8-9 months pregnant during the hottest & most humid part of the summer. It will most likely be around 85-95 degrees with 95% humidity! Yuck! Thank heavens for A/C. I will be inside most of the summer or at the pool at grandmas house! I am happy however that the kids won't be in school, so no having to get up too early to get them off to school. We can sleep in! Grandma doesn't work during the summer either, so hopefully she'll be around to help, hint, hint grandma. The kids love going over to grandma & papas house. Especially Emily! She does grandmas makeup, lotions her all up & eats everything in sight when she's there. We have lots of good help.

I really need to post some pics, but we haven't really been doing anything picture worthy lately! I have felt so sick in the afternoon (when everyone gets home from school) that I don't feel like doing anything. I hope that part ends soon. I'm crossing my fingers! Any suggestions for what helps the sickness part? I've tried B6, didn't do much. HELP!

Happy New Year!

I have really enjoyed the time that my kids had off school this year! There are some times that I dread it, knowing that I won't get the things done that I want to, but this year It was a much needed break for everyone. Craig even took a few days off during the week so we could go shopping or just go to lunch as a family. It was so nice!

Christmas was great! It was so relaxing! I hear some people say how hectic it was & I am so glad ours wasn't like that. We had a more simple Christmas this year & I loved it. I didn't feel like we opened presents all day long. Our breakfast was ready by the time we finished with gifts, then I fell asleep in the recliner around 11am while the kids played around me. We went to my In-laws for dinner, so I didn't have to cook much or do much clean-up. We got home around 8pm which wasn't too late either.

I really enjoyed the day. Craig & I decided to not do too much for each other. We are purchasing a large Greg Olsen picture to go above our fireplace, so we wanted to keep it simple for each other. I have a few 'Willow Tree' figures & he bought me the one of the couple dancing. I have always wanted that one, but never said anything about it. We met at a dance, so It has always meant a lot to me, but he didn't know that. It must have meant something to him too. I cried when I opened it. He also picked out some jewelry for the kids to get for me. It was nice.

My mom & dad also sent us a sketch of a mother holding a baby. I have always loved that picture. It has been hanging in their bedroom for as long as I can remember. I have asked her where she got it before to see if I could get one. So, I cried when I opened that too. I don't know what my problem is........It seems like it was a very thoughtful Christmas for me.

Well, our 'Secret Santa' didn't work as planned.....There was a foot of snow out & we had heavy things to take to the porch, so we pulled up to the house instead of hiding the car. We were going to sneak everything up onto their porch & the kids came running out of the house! They were so excited! No surprise this year, just a good feeling of helping someone in need. It was still great to do, just not as planned.

I'm still thinking of a New Years' resolution......Every year it seems to be the same-to lose weight! Sad, I know. This year, I just want to be healthier. There will be a lot going on, so I thought if I just stayed healthy that would be a good goal. More veggies, less sitting around, you know?

Well, we got a new camera for Christmas from the in-laws! It is so nice. Craig isn't so impressed with the pink color, but it works great! I love it! I'll post pics later. I don't feel like it right now. Besides, the kids go back to school on Monday, & I think we're going to play 'Candyland' right now! Happy New Year!