Our little princess Zoe

I can't believe my little Zoe is almost four years old. It's crazy how fast the time flies! She still seems like such a baby to me, I really need to see and treat her as a big girl now. She is definitely our little princess and sometimes changes her outfits three or four times a day. She is also a little instigator, she likes to pester her siblings, especially her little brother. I wish she understood that his screaming isn't a good thing, even though she obviously finds it funny because she's usually giggling. She says some of the funniest things and is pretty good at making us all laugh. I love her prayers and she loves to say them. She takes things a little too seriously sometimes, like when we play the wii and she wants her mii to show up or be put in the right barrel and if it doesn't happen she'll cry. She loves to give hugs and she usually makes them long ones. When she wakes up at night she'll come in and ask if she can sleep with us for a little while. One time she came in and fell asleep in bed with me, when I finally picked her up to move her back to her own bed she asked "has it been 10 minutes?". I am SO glad that this little angel is in our family, I love her very much! I hope you have a great birthday and another great year Zoe!! We love you very much!! Happy birthday on Wednesday my little zower mower!!

Updates

So, I updated the pictures and the look of my blog so I decided that I should also give a little update blog as well. Things are going well here, Randy is loving his job and the girls love school. I love being at home (most days) and spending some time with just Zoe and JD. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy having a little boy here? Oh my goodness he is a cute little bug!! I love my kids, even on the days where I've had enough of their "I don't need to listen to you" attitude I still love them. They are beautiful and smart kids, I'm constantly amazed with Hailey and how smart she is. I love the things they say and I'm so grateful for their forgiveness when I make mistakes. There will be more of an update, with pictures, but right now I have to go get Zoe dressed so we don't have a little naked girl running around the house!

Healthy Lifestyle

So my friends, the time has come to change my lifestyle habits. I actually started changing them in January but it's been a long up hill battle, I do have 20 pounds lost to show for it, but it should have been more. I'm still working hard, and I've started exercising along with dieting now. I started P90X on May 11th, but I'm only on week 5, confused? Looking at the calender and saying, but Jessica, that doesn't add up! Yeah, that's because I took about a week off due to sickness and then vacation. It was really hard to get back in to things after our St. George trip and I just started up again on Wednesday, but then I had a Relief Society activity last night and I ate more than I should have. Why is it so hard to be good when you're at functions like that? I wish I had the willpower to say no to desserts and definitely no to seconds (of dinner and desserts). I am human though and I make bad choices just like everyone else, I just can't wait until a night like that every once in a while won't set me back. While I'm in the mode of weight loss though I really should refrain from doing that, but oh well, as long as I get back on the horse and try very hard not to get off again. I've talked to a few people who have also done P90X and the South Beach Diet and she said the first two weeks went really well, so I'm planning on doing phase one of the South Beach Diet but also staying under my 1200 calories. The week after that we'll be camping and I'm going to focus on planning meals that can be made fairly healthy for me, although, it's really hard to diet when you're not at home, so I plan on going on the phase 1 after we get home and complete the full two weeks. I'm really hoping to get back on schedule to meet my goal by mid-September. Currently I'm 4 pounds away from my marriage weight, which is pretty cool, unfortunately that's still 25 to 30 pounds away from my goal weight. Baby steps, baby steps, I have to just focus on the day to day and not think about how far I have to go. I'm also really clueless as to how I'm going to maintain my weight once it's gone, I'm not sure how to up my calorie count without losing weight. Do you have any tips for me? I will take any at this point.

In other news, our little family is doing well, Hailey is done with school and her week of summer camp that she had. It's nice and not so nice to have her home, she's definitely excited for school to start and is very excited to go to second grade. Katie will start Kindergarten this year, I hope Zoe will handle being the only one (besides JD) not in school, when the other two girls were going to school Zoe would tell them how she had her school. I have no idea what she's referring to, cause I certainly never did school with her, I really should though, I think that would make the transition next year easier for her. Zoe is our little mischievous one, she pesters her sisters (and brother) a LOT and pays for it by getting hit, then she comes crying to me. Sometimes it's all I can do not to slap her and Katie silly when they get going. When they get along, they do awesome and they have so much fun with each other. Sometimes I look at my kids and realize how amazing life is, that we start out so little and helpless and eventually we grow up and our bodies change. It strengthens my testimony of our loving Heavenly Father, there's no way life would be possible without a higher being over all of it. I love this gospel so much and I'm so thankful to have it in my life, I don't know what I would do without it!

Well, that's enough I hope that whoever reads this is doing great, cause I'm certainly trying to do just that!

Skinny People

Ever notice how when you buy a new car suddenly you notice that everyone drives that car? That's how I feel right now with skinny people. I am struggling BIG time with losing weight, I've been dieting since January 10th, and I keep having set backs where I stop dieting for about a week or so and then I get back to it. Therefore, I have been stuck in the 160's since March. I'm very VERY tired of being overweight, but especially of being stuck around 166. I feel like all the people around me are super skinny, and it makes me feel like a fat blob. Why is it SO hard to eat healthy, not just eat healthy but actually diet?? I want to lose weight so bad, the desire is there but apparently no drive cause I'm not going anywhere. I looked over a couple of the different diets that I've done, and I got really motivated, and I think I may have figured out where my mistakes have been that's been keeping me stuck. Then, not even two hours later, I'm feeling depressed and hopeless again. Is it too much to ask of myself to change a few things?? Why am I so scared to change even when I don't like how things currently are? I know what changes would help me feel better about myself and yet they're the things I'm most scared to give up. Why am I holding on to things that are so hurtful to me? I know that through Christ ALL things are possible so why am I not willing to make that leap? Why don't I have the faith to say, "Ok Father, I'm ready to really give this a go, will you help me?" I feel like I've prayed for help with these issues before, but I don't think I really had any intention to change. I'm scared and I don't know why, I know that these changes would make me a happier and better person, wouldn't you think I'd be jumping at the chance?? I want to change, but I'm not sure at all how to actually go about it, and I'm scared. So.... that's where I am.

On a more positive note, JD turned one on Sunday, I can't believe it's already been a year! Oh how I love my little man, sometimes I just watch him play and try to figure things out and it never fails to amaze me that he is a little person with his own little thoughts. I watched some of the videos we took of him in his first moments of life and it never ceases to amaze me. The miracle of birth is astounding to me! All of us are created inside someone else, it's unbelievable! How can anyone doubt that there's a higher being who is over everything. Anyway, enough of that, we had a lot of time partying with family. JD mostly got clothes which is great because kids always need clothes, he also got a singing card from his great-grandma Grimes, and I think it might have won the favorite gift award. He would open it and shake his head with a grin on his face. He played with that for probably 5 to ten minutes (which is a long time for a one year old) it was so fun to watch him "dance". He is still small for his age, but he's staying on his own curve, so I'm not worried about him, his oldest sister is still small. He weighed in at 16 pounds 1 ounce yesterday at his WIC appointment, that's up almost a pound I think since the last time he went in which was in March, so I'd say he's doing pretty darn good!

In other news, Hailey's school has been doing a program called "Reading on Down the Road" where they challenged students her age to read 1000 minutes by April 30th and they'll get a t-shirt, and I am happy to say she is going to make that goal! I am so proud of her, I never did these sort of things while I was in school and I always regretted it, and I am so glad that I've been able to help her accomplish this. I've been reading Harry Potter to them every night just before they go to bed and it's been a lot of fun for me, plus, it helps them go to sleep better (Zoe is usually asleep within the first five minutes or so of me ready).

Katie is just about done with Preschool, and I can't wait to be done paying for it! She is really excited to go to school with Hailey next year! She has such an amazing memory, I am constantly blown away by how well she remembers stuff. She still can be quite challenging sometimes because she is so stubborn, maybe that memory thing isn't so great after all. Just kidding, I'm very excited, a good memory will really help her out in life (I wish I had that).

Since I've given an update on all the others, I can't forget Zoe. What can I say about my little Zoe, I am so grateful that she is in our home, that little stinker is awesome! I love her so much, it's amazing to me how much families all fit together! Zoe will be so happy to go to school, she already talks about "her school" I don't have a clue where she comes up with all the stuff she does in "her school" cause I don't do any of it. I really should take time out and come up with a "school" she can go to. She is excited to be a big kid like her sisters, and I need to let her be a big kid. I know I baby her, and I'm not sure why, I guess when there's older kids in the house 3 doesn't seem as old as it does when your first child is 3. I have no idea if that made sense or not, oh well, if it didn't just read it a few times and think about it, it might eventually make sense.

Well that's that, I'm really hoping to start writing regularly here, so that I have a journal of some sorts, it would be good to write down experiences somewhere and I'm not sure why, but it just seems easier to blog than to write in a journal. Although, both would probably be good. Anyway, until next time!!

Change

So.... I feel like we've dealt with a lot of change in the past 5 weeks around here. The first and biggest change has been Randy's new job, it's been interesting to get used to that, the second is that JD is now on formula. That was a hard switch for me (which actually kind of surprised me because I bottle fed my first two kids) I felt guilty and like I wasn't enough because I couldn't give him what he needed. However, I am better now, and I am just excited to see him so happy and content. He has been so much better since Sunday (which is when we made the switch) and I'm hoping that he'll go back to gaining weight! You see, he lost weight and both his WIC appointment and his doctors appointment, but what really sealed the decision in my mind (I'd been thinking about since the Tuesday before the Sunday we made the switch) was when Randy sweetly commented that maybe we should supplement him with a bottle. He said when he bathed him he could see JD's ribs, and that was it, I was done. So I gave him a bottle, and I think that day I already noticed a difference. So now, I don't need to stress about whether or not he's getting enough, it's EXTREMELY relieving!!

Valentine's day is coming up soon, I have no idea what I'm going to do, right now, I don't want to do anything. When did I turn in to such a party poop? For the most part I'm content to just sit at home and watch a movie here. I think this year I want to make it more about my entire family, not just my husband. I'd like to come up with a way that I can make it special for my kids too, I want them to feel especially loved on Valentines day, what are some things you guys do for your family? Feel free to leave me with some ideas!

So I don't have much to say, things are going good. Randy is very excited about his new job, he's had training for the past couple of days and he'll actually start his job next Wednesday, he can't wait! He was actually hoping he would start this week, but he's done after tomorrows training. Then the real adjustment will start, I think we're all ready for it to come though so we can start adjusting. I took Katie to the doctor this morning, I was pretty sure she had a kidney infection, however they didn't get enough urine for a culture but they had enough to do a stick test which showed that it was an infection they just don't know what kind. So they gave her an antibiotic shot and then we also started oral antibiotics that she'll take every 12 hours for ten days (or until it's gone). Poor thing has not been feeling well at all today, I really hope that she'll be better tomorrow. We went to bed at midnight last night and she came in our room 3 times between then and 3 or 3:30 when she came in our room and threw up. She had it in her hair, on her hands, her feet, our carpet, our sheet. It was awful, and it smelled SO bad, I thought she had an accident as well, but nope just throw up (sorry if that's too much information). So we had to get her in the bathtub, poor thing, it was an awful experience. After I washed her hair there were too many floaties in it so we had to drain the tub and refill it, but along with her fever she had the chills. She was shaking SO bad!! So we got her bathed and then I blow dried her hair and sent her back to bed with a bucket in case she needed to throw up again. Then when she woke up this morning she came in to my room and announced that she had to throw up, so I told her to go to the bathroom. While she threw up she also peed, so we had to clean up that mess, however, I would rather clean up a pee accident then throw up. So then the rest of the morning was filled with taking her to the doctor which was crazy! I got home at noon, and at about 1:30 I crashed on the couch while they watched The Cat in the Hat. I know that we're not supposed to use the TV as a babysitter, but I sure am glad for the option on days like today. Other than that we're all doing well here! I am so grateful that she doesn't have anything contagious that I have to worry about the other kids getting. It's been awhile since I've posted pictures here, I'll try to remedy that soon, but not tonight. I really need to go to bed as well!! So, until next time, which I'm hoping will be soon because I want Sam to also write a new post. We have a deal going on now where she'll write a new post after I do. So....get writing Sam!

I never know what to put

I really don't like labeling my posts, cause I really never know what to put. I now have a reason (at least I feel like it's more of a reason) to blog, my sister in law and her husband moved to Cedar City so now when they want to see how we're doing they can check out the ol' blog. I'm very excited, perhaps this will help me blog more. So, we're getting ready to go back to school, or at least Randy is. I'm really excited for him to do this, he wants to be a PT, how awesome would that be? I think he would enjoy that a lot, apparently it's a pretty competitive field, but where there's a will there's a way, especially if you include the Lord. So we've been praying and I'm pretty sure Randy has fasted and we'll see if that's what we should be doing. In other news, JD is cutting his bottom two teeth, I'm excited and a bit relieved (I hate feeling like he's slow) but I'm going to miss that gummy smile! He LOVES to play the piano with Daddy, I took a video last night, I'll post it soon. He also is starting to talk more, or should I say scream. It's pretty cute, I love my little guy. The girls REALLY like him too, especially Katie right now. She was told that she was ok to hold him, well, she's taken it to a whole new level. She'll pick him up and walk around with him, you know those pictures with kids holding cats and the cat looks like he's screaming for help? Her holding JD reminds me of those pictures, she does all right with him, except that she'll get him out of his bouncer, his crib, his swing, she's tried walking down the stairs with him a couple of times. It's frustrating when he's playing just fine in his bouncer or swing and she'll get him out which after a minute or so of her holding him he gets mad. Then he doesn't want to go back in his bouncer which is a downer for me because then I can't continue doing whatever I was doing in the first place. Oh well, at least she wants to interact with him right? I don't really have much else to say right now, and I really should be getting Katie ready to go to school, so for now I'll say adieu, but I'm sure I'll be back soon, just don't hold your breath on that ;0)

Hello, yes, I'm still here

So I must admit, I have a hard time writing on my blog because I'm not really sure why I do it, all my family lives close so they have no need to check it out, I'm not sure if I have any friends that still check it out. So it's very hard to update it, I enjoy writing my feelings here and putting up pictures, but like I said, it feels like it's all in vain. Oh well, I guess I should write it just so it's written. We're all doing well here, Hailey is LOVING school, I told her we have a dentist appointment on the 21st which is the last day of school before the Christmas break. She was very upset because she doesn't want to miss school, I told her I would try to figure something out. Usually kids want to miss school, but not her. She loves her teacher and loves helping her out. SHe is such a loving girl, she loves to give hugs to everyone, and I mean EVERYONE! She can also be an amazing helper around the house when she wants to be, she is such an amazing big sister (most the time) and is pretty good to help out with the younger kids. She loves to bear her testimony, she'll ask us in Sacrament if it's the free time (testimony meeting). I love her to pieces!! Katie has been fun too, she likes her preschool, but I think she really wants to go to Kindergarten. I'm excited for next year, I know she'll absolutely LOVE going to the same school as Hailey. We just had her birthday, she's five now, she had a lot of fun being the center of attention! Zoe is still the boss around here, everything has to be just right for her. She is constantly correcting everybody! If you call her anything but Zoe she makes sure you know her name is Zoe, not whatever you called her. They all have quite the personalities! Then there's JD, he's doing really well, we started him on solid foods a month ago, so far his favorite is sweet potatoes. It looks like he's going to be like his sisters in not liking any fruit, which doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but whatever! He's finally started to roll over, he doesn't get very much time to practice, his sisters don't think he can be left alone so he doesn't get much of an opportunity to try. He sure is loved by all of us!

I am so grateful for the opportunity Randy and I have been blessed with to have children. They are such fun little people to have around, they constantly teach me about Heavenly Father and His love for us. What a blessing it is to be here and to be the mom to these wonderful sweet spirits, even if I'd really like to smack them around sometimes!! So yeah, we're doing well, getting ready to do some new things soon, like school, hopefully a new job for Randy and other things. Hopefully I can keep blogging, even if it is just so I have a record of things. Well, until next time, enjoy life! Merry Christmas, in case I don't get around to it :0)

It happened again

It's happened again, it's been forever since I blogged, I have no idea if anyone even still looks at my blog. We're surviving here, things are tight financially due to slow business. We are getting in to the busy time of the year though, so hopefully things will get better. We're all doing well, we're getting ready to celebrate Zoe's third birthday, I can't believe she's 3! It's insane, she's the cutest little thing ever, but she can also be the biggest pain in the butt!! Her and Katie are getting along better though, which is so nice, I think having Hailey at school all day has been good for their relationship because it forces them to play together. Katie is in preschool now, and she loves it!! I really like her preschool, it's called Wiz Kidz and they do some really cute things and it's only about a mile and a half away so it only takes about 5 minutes to get there. Hailey I believe is enjoying school, she has a boyfriend named Nicky, I guess they hold hands when they walk/run the golden mile. That's where they walk around their school I believe 4 times to make it a mile, they do this every day. Then you have little JD, he's definitely growing, at his 2 month check up he was in the 3% for height and at his 4 month checkup he was in the 75% for his height. That's a serious amount of growth!!! He's the tallest of our kids, he is SO stinking cute! He's kind of starting to roll over, he gets stuck on his arm. He doesn't get very much time to practice due to his loving older sisters. They just can't seem to leave him alone!! He talks quite a bit too, we really like him! Other news on me, I dyed my hair brown, I lost weight, gained weight. I really need to diet again, but it makes me depressed so it's very hard to stick to one. Hopefully things will get a little easier and make dieting less depressing for me. Anyway, that's that, we're just plugging along. I hope all of you are doing well too!

I quit!

Sometimes, I really wish I could say those words and magically all my cares and worries would disappear. This morning I woke up to a mad house and I wanted so badly to just go back to sleep and have it all go away. Oh well, we don't always get those wishes do we. It's a day, things here have been a little rough lately, but I have hope for the future, it looks brighter than the past. I'm hoping JD will start to calm down even more, and as soon as Zoe can get past this terrible two stage things will get a little easier. I must throw in here, I do love my kids, they're a huge blessing in my life. I just have my moments, but then again, doesn't everyone? Well, I don't have much to say, life is just going, I'll try to post some pics soon. There is one funny story I can share, like all the other moms out there (hopefully this happens to you) I've been losing a lot of hair since I've had JD and I just roll them in to balls and stick them on the side of the tub until I'm done showering. I'm supposed to throw them away when I'm done, but like a lot of other things it doesn't get done. So we were in the bathroom the other day and Hailey said what's all this hair in the bathtub? And I told her it was mine. Then she asked, "Are you going to be a bald grandma?" I just started laughing. What a funny kid. In other news, Hailey will start 1st grade on August 24th, I can't believe she'll be in school all day long. It kind of scares me, Katie will also go to Preschool this year, that's just weird as well. I'll have two kids in school. It's kind of scary how fast they grow up, one minute they're little babies, and the next they're going off to college! I really like the song that talks about how life goes by fast, it says don't blink, in fact that might even be the title, I'm not sure. Then there's the song You're Gonna Miss This, I really like that one too. They're all so true! I just have to remember that one day I will miss this stage, sometimes it makes it a bit easier to deal with everything. Well, anyway, I think I'll finish this up now and go get something done. Until next time, be safe!!

Sweetness

So it's been a long time since I've put any pictures on here, there's a reason for that..... I'm a little busy these days. Everyone has always told me that after they had their third child they could have had a dozen more, because the third was the back breaker. Not for me, with Zoe things seemed to just slide back to regular life, we came home from the hospital on a Sunday, Randy went back to work on Monday and life went on. After JD was born, I had total separation anxiety from Randy, in fact he took another day off because I wasn't ready for him to go back to work. My emotions were extremely crazy and all over the place and I stressed about him a lot. It almost felt like he was my first baby, it was crazy!! Things are finally starting to settle down now, for the most part, I definitely have my days where I don't know why I wanted all these kids, but then they go and say or do something to remind me why I wanted them. I love my children, and even though I know I have a lot of things to work on to be a better mom, I am grateful for my children. Hopefully soon I'll get a better handle on things and become more of the mother I want to be. Anyway, here are some pictures of JD, I have others I'm going to post of the goings-on around here for the past couple of months, but we'll save them for another post. I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I do.

Gone too long

So it's now 12:46 AM on July 8th, and I wasn't really planning on writing a post, but here I am. I just want to let everyone who might possibly still read my blog that I am in fact still here. Things have just been a little off balance as you can imagine and blogging has taken a back seat. Hopefully though this is the beginning of a return! Things are going good for the most part, I still have days that aren't that great, but doesn't everybody? Well, I promise there will be more posts soon, and I have lots of pictures to share but right now JD is asleep in his crib (thanks to my wonderful husband) and I need to take advantage of this opportunity and get some sleep, so until later, bye!

JD's arrival

So, if you haven't heard, JD is here! We were taken completely off guard by his arrival, I didn't think he'd come so early (ok, so it wasn't really that early, only two weeks). As many of you know, I wanted a May baby, and I had everything planned out, I was going to go see my doctor on Monday May 3rd and have him strip my membranes which has always caused me to go into labor the next day. Obviously Heavenly Father and JD had different plans! Friday April 23rd my back was killing me all day, and then I'm pretty sure thinking back now that I was actually contracting that night around 9, but it didn't really hurt it was just uncomfortable. It just felt like he was stretching and putting pressure on my stomach like he was prone to do. Randy and I went to bed about 11, I woke up because my stomach kind of hurt and I figured it was just because I needed to go to the bathroom. So I got up (thinking it was 5 like every other morning) and looked at the clock, it was midnight, I remember thinking Oh my heck, it's only midnight?! Tonight is going to take forever! So I went to the bathroom came back and laid down, I didn't sleep very good because my stomach hurt. Sometime between 12 and 2:30 Zoe woke up, Randy went and got her and she came in with us for a little bit. Then at 2:30 I got up again to go to the bathroom, when I came back Randy took Zoe back to her bed. I laid down but I couldn't go back to sleep, so I turned on the lamp and looked up in my What to Expect When You're Expecting book to read about Braxton Hicks contractions. In the book it said if you changed position and they were braxton hicks they would go away. So I got up and started walking. To make a long story short, I tried to get the "braxton hicks" contractions to go away until 4 in the morning. Finally I told Randy I thought we should go to the hospital because I knew if I called them they would just tell me to come get checked out anyway. So I called my neighbor Virginia to have her listen for the girls. I told her I was hoping they would just send me home, but that we were going to go get checked out. I still didn't think it was real. When we got to the hospital it took about 20 minutes to even make it up to Labor and Delivery, then we had to ring the bell for service, they had another pregnant lady there that was going to be going in for a C-section so they were a little busy. When they finally got me in the bed and checked me the nurse said, ok there's a bulging sac, and lets see about an 8 or 9. I was like, say again?? I made sure to ask her if I could still have an epidural, yes, that's right, I still got an epidural!! The nurse really wasn't sure what I was dilated to because of the bulging sac so she had another nurse come in and check me. She said she probably had the same thing so they called my doctor. When my doctor got there, he said if we had waited another half an hour to call he wouldn't have been able to deliver me because he was going to be taking his daughter to the airport. Anyway, so he went and changed and got ready. When he came back he said "Ok lets break her sac and get started." I asked him if I'd be able to get an epidural, he told me he didn't think we could. Then the nurse informed him that the anesthesiologist was on his way so my doctor said we could wait a few more minutes for him. Just at that moment the anesthesiologist walked in, oh hallelujah! So he gave me my epidural, then the nurses got everything ready and we started to push, according to me doctor he came in one push, but it was three. I think it was all in one contraction though, so that's probably why he says one push. I took two breathing breaks and kept pushing, so I guess technically maybe it was just one push. Anyway, so he came, all on his own and earlier then I wanted but there's no way I was going to put him back. We are very glad to have him here and be a part of our family, and he shares a birthday with his aunt Weslie who thinks that's just awesome!

(The very end part was written on July 8th, so if it seems a little disconnected that's why)

We're getting ready for our little arrival here at the Grimes house. We finally got the crib set up and I bought a bumper set at Walmart. I decided to post some pictures up so I could share. We are all excited to welcome little JD into our home, only a couple more weeks and he'll be here. I can't WAIT!! I think I'm more excited then miserable, which is nice, I will admit though, at times being pregnant seems unbearable! The girls are so cute, and I can't wait for them to see him for the first time, they give my belly hugs and kisses, it's very cute. I wish I knew if they understood what this really means, there's no way to really know though. Hailey might understand, but I'm not sure if she even does. Here are pictures of his crib:

It's so weird to have blue colored stuff, I'm so used to the pink girly things. In other news, things here are going ok, Hailey is still doing really well in school. She's really good at math and I hope that continues as she progresses. Katie is doing well, I think she'll love going to school next year (preschool) it will be a good distraction for her when Hailey is in school all day. She's so cute when we drop Hailey off, she always yells that she loves her then when we drive away a lot of times she'll say to me "I'm really going to miss Hailey!" They sure can be pretty cute together sometimes, they can also be really awful to each other, I guess that's just what happens with sisters. Then there's Zoe, oh my goodness, what a character she is. She can be the cutest little thing one minute and the next you're ready to shove her in a box and ship her off to the gypsies!! But we sure do love her, she has been so much fun. I don't think we've ever really been able to enjoy this stage because we've always had another baby by this time. It's been a lot of fun to really be able to enjoy it. It feels like it's been forever since we've had a baby, this is number 4 and yet I feel like it's the first. Maybe it's because it's a boy and I know it will be different, but it shouldn't feel like it's been forever since we've had a baby, it's only been 2 1/2 years. Anyway, I don't really have much else to say right now. Hopefully I'll post again soon! Until next time.

Update

So I realize it's been awhile, I really should try to be better at this blogging thing. Oh well, I guess there's worse. Things here are going well, we're ready for Spring, we didn't really go outside at all this week due to the weather, which is really sad because it was Spring Break. I'm down to weekly doctor visits now, which should help the time go by faster, I'm a dork and I made a baby chain. Like the ones you make for Christmas, only this is for our baby. I know, I'm kind of dorky, but I thought it would be fun for the girls (and me) to be able to see how many days are left. Not that you can really know, but it's color coded so they'll know when he can come. He can't come until May, I don't want an April birthday. I know it's odd to hear a pregnant woman wishing her baby will stay in a little longer, most are wishing they'd come as soon as they can survive. Not me, I really REALLY want my May baby!! Everything is going good though, baby seems fine, I'm fine. I'm getting more and more uncomfortable as time goes on, but I'm doing good. Nights are beginning to not be so much fun, I have a bit of a hard time falling asleep which is a really new thing for me. All my life, I have never had a hard time falling asleep. I don't enjoy it at all!! Then of course, I always have to get up at least once to go to the bathroom, and if I eat too late I wake up coughing on stuff that comes up from my stomach. That was probably too much information, but it's my blog so I can write it if I want, right? Anyway, the kids are doing well, Hailey is excited to go back to school tomorrow, I'm really glad she likes school, it makes me happy. At the end of March we put all three girls in the same room, so far it's been ok. It takes them a little longer to go to sleep and they wake up earlier, but it's been good. It will be nice to have the baby in a room all by himself. Our friend is going to let us borrow a crib so Zoe will be staying in a crib for longer which is really good. I wasn't looking forward to having her in a toddler bed. I'm just fine keeping her in a crib as long as she'll stay!!

So I've decided to potty train Zoe, I'm probably crazy because I've heard they backslide when a new baby comes in to the family, but we'll see and hope for the best. My friend let me borrow a little training potty, and Zoe seems to like it. Now I don't need to constantly listen for her to pee, I can let her sit on the potty and I'll be able to see if she goes. Today was the first day and so far we've only had one accident, it was a poopy/wet accident, not fun to clean up but thank heavens for latex gloves!! I don't think I could have taken care of the panties if I didn't have them. We use cloth training pants so it's not fun to clean up accidents. Then I put her back in a diaper for her nap time and that was a little wet when I got her out of bed but not much. We'll see how this goes, like I said maybe I'm crazy, but if I don't train her now it's going to be a while before I do because I can't train her with a nursing baby, I tried that with Katie and it didn't work! Well, I don't have much else to say, I'll keep you updated on the training and the baby. If you want to give guesses as to when JD will come and his size and weight and all that jazz, you might want to do it now :0) He'll be here soon!

Beautiful Day!

Today was such an amazingly good day, it was nice to be able to spend some time as a family outside. So, I may not be writing every day, but I am writing more frequently so that's good. Lately I've been having a lot of weird baby dreams, like this afternoon when I took a nap I had a dream that I was playing basketball (not pregnant that I can remember) then I sat on the floor and my water broke. My doctor (who was one of the drs from Greys Anatomy, one of the girl ones) came and knelt down and said, ok here we go. So we went into this room and she started getting all these supplies ready. Then we went in to this big room where there were a bunch of women in beds (all delivering) and they took me to my bed, number 130. Then I was getting in the shower by my bed, and all I can remember of that was trying to shave my legs. Randy had sent out a text to a bunch of people and his sister Weslie called and was saying she didn't believe we were really at the hospital and Randy asked her why he would send the text to a bunch of people if we weren't really there. Don't ask me why the phone conversation was in my dream. Then I remember I was upset because it was still April, and it was before or right around Weslie's birthday which is the 24th of April. I was really upset that it wasn't May! Anyway, I never did actually give birth to the baby in this one, but it was still weird. I had another dream where I had the baby and I made a comment that he looked like Hailey. I had another dream where I had two babies to breastfeed, one was Zoe and then JD, I remember feeding the older one (Zoe) and then being like I don't have enough for the other one, and I was panicked. Then I said to myself, wait, Zoe's not a baby. It was really odd! So, I've been extremely focused on babies apparently, I don't understand ;0)

I have been getting so anxious to have this little guy here, I can't wait to see him! The thought of having a baby be a boy is really weird to me, I guess that's to be expected after three girls. I am also excited to see how the girls react to him, I'm a little nervous about Zoe, she can tend to be a bit possessive of me. I'm a little nervous about Hailey because she is so hyper, she can be a bit abrasive without meaning to be. I'm worried she's going to constantly be in JD's face! I guess they probably all will be to some degree. Anyway, things are going well with the pregnancy, I've been tired a lot and I'm progressively getting more and more uncomfortable! Nothing is really comfortable anymore, thankfully though, I still seem to be sleeping ok at night. I'm extremely grateful for that, I'm not sure how long that's going to stay. The other day my heart started to race, (which actually hasn't happened that much in this pregnancy) and it took a few minutes to get it kicked out of the fast cycle. I had bent down to pick something up and when stood up my heart started racing and things started to go black. So I went over to the couch and laid down and started to try to knock my heart out of the fast cycle. Usually I can bear down and it knocks it out, but that wasn't working. Then I started to sweat and get really warm so I went upstairs to lay in front of my fan. Finally my heart slowed down and I accidentally fell asleep for about 45 minutes. I'm glad I haven't had too many problems with the fast heart racing this pregnancy (there is an actual term for this, but don't ask me what it is, it was long and I don't remember it). Anyway, so with my mind being on babies, I thought it would be fun to post pictures of my girls when they were babies, I hope you enjoy! Until next time!

Hailey then

Hailey now

Katie then

Katie now

Zoe then

Zoe now

Daily Stuff

So, my goal to write a post everyday hasn't really happened, but I guess it's never too late to start, right? On Saturday Randy and I had the opportunity to go to the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City and enjoy a training with WFG, it was long, we got there at 8 and didn't leave until 6, but it was SOOO worth it!! The speakers were amazing! It was such a thought provoking, eye opening experience. Then as we were getting ready to leave I heard someone say to their dad, "Dad, there's the prophet." So I start to look around and sure enough there he was waiting to get on the elevator. So Randy and I walked over by him (we were three steps away from him). We didn't get to shake his hand or anything because there was a crowd, but it was so neat to see the prophet just walking around in regular life. He was with his wife who was in a wheelchair, someone was pushing her, and I'm pretty sure he had two security guard type guys with him. He was being his usual self and joking around, when we walked over to him there was a girl giving him a hug and she was crying. She was saying, oh this is so embarrassing, President Monson said, something about not wanting to make the girls cry. Then as he was standing right next to the elevator he was standing next to a guy who was taller then him and President Monson made the comment about him squatting a little so he would be shorter then him (President Monson). Anyway, hopefully that all made sense, even though we didn't get to say anything to him or shake his hand it was so awesome to be that close to him. I'm pretty sure that's the closest I've ever been to an apostle let alone the President of the church. It was so amazing!! So that was our weekend, well at least the beginning of it. Sunday was nice, we went to church and all the meetings were great, then we went to our neighbors house for their little girls birthday party. Then after we put the kids in bed we cooked steaks and ate together (we ended up eating at about 10:30) then we watched AFV together. It was a lot of fun! Today I had my doctor appointment and I took Hailey with me. She was very excited to hear JD's heartbeat, but thought it was really funny that I had to pee in a cup. It was kind of funny to hear her tell Virginia went we got home "Mom had to pee in a cup" as she's laughing. When I got on the table and exposed my belly she started to laugh, then when we heard the heartbeat she just stood there with this goofy grin on her face and she would giggle a little. It was a lot of fun to take her, next time it will be Katie's turn. Then I think I'll continue going by myself. I talked to my doctor about what happened on the way home from my last doctors appointment and he said what I was describing was a fainting spell. So apparently for the first time in my life, I fainted, unless you count the time I made myself pass out (do you remember when that was big to lean over breath in and out really fast then stand up and put your hands around your neck and cut off the air until you faint? I did that). He didn't seem to concerned about it, then I talked to him about my heart, and he didn't seem to worried about that either. He did check my chart and make sure we had all my labs done which we have and they all look good. So we'll just take it one day at a time and see how it goes. For the most part things are going well, I am getting so ready though, walking isn't too much fun anymore, thankfully I've still been sleeping pretty well. I won't be surprised if that changes soon though, it's just a part of the last 8 weeks. Actually if you really want to get technical it's 7 weeks and 5 days! I am however hoping that it's only 7 weeks from tomorrow, that is if he follows the same pattern as his sisters. If he does I'll go to the doctor on Monday May 3 and have my doctor strip my membranes and JD will come the next day! I'm not sure if it will work this time, because I've never had a boy! We are all getting very excited for this little one to come, it will be a lot of fun, a lot of work, but a lot of fun!! Well, hopefully I can write again tomorrow and then the post won't have to be so long! Until next time, have fun.

Grateful

So, I really haven't blogged a lot lately, but I've decided I want to try to write a post every night before I go to bed so that I can share all the funny and amazing things that happened. Sort of like a journal, which, I really should be keeping one on paper as well. Anyway, so I titled this post grateful because lately I have been so grateful for my kids. I am so amazed that they are mine! I've been getting really excited to meet JD and to see what he'll be like. This morning I woke up at 6 because I had to go to the bathroom, and I never did fall back asleep. JD was moving like crazy so I decided I would sit up and watch him move. In total JD fashion, as soon as I sat up he stopped moving, so I decided to read the Ensign. It was nice to sit there and read uplifting messages, it was such a nice start to my day. Then I got up at 7 so I could shower and get ready for the day, but before I did that I said a prayer. It was so nice to have a quiet un-rushed moment to thank my Father in Heaven for all of my blessings. After my shower, I was sitting on my floor putting on my make up when I heard Zoe, she was singing Angels We Have Heard on High (which she calls Gloria). It was so much fun to just sit there and listen to her. All she sings is the long drawn out Gloria in excelsis deo. She kept singing that over and over, sometimes in an extremely high pitched voice, it almost sounded like a mouse. I just smiled and laughed, it was so cute to listen to her. Then she started shouting, "I'm singing Mom, Mom, I'm singing" so I finally knocked on her door and waited for her "come in" then I got her out of bed. Last night when I put her to bed she wanted her church shoes, so I gave them to her, when I got her this morning she was wearing them. She was so cute this morning, I really enjoyed the time we had before everyone else was awake. So I was supposed to have a doctor appointment today, I was completely ready, I even curled my hair, I had Hailey all ready. We were getting into the van at 9:40, which is on time, those who know me know what a big deal that is!! As I was getting Hailey in I got a phone call, it was a number I didn't recognize but I decided to answer it anyways. It was my doctors office, calling to let me know he was coming in today and that I would need to reschedule. It would happen on a day where I was completely ready and out the door on time. Oh well, I'll just have to make sure I'm out the door on time Monday too. Anyway, now that I've rambled on and brought on the cheesiness, I'm not sure what to say! I only talked about Zoe, but Hailey and Katie are awesome and amazing too! Hailey says the funniest things! I love Katie's expressions, especially when she's telling you something that she's excited about. We've been spending a lot of time outside, and I've been trying to take more pictures because I realized the other day we haven't taken very many, I didn't have any pictures of Christmas morning. We got a video but now still pictures. That's so sad!! So now, I'm taking as many as I can! Here's some I've taken recently:

I look like crap in this picture, but Zoe is pretty cute so I posted it. She was having a hard time falling asleep so I took a nap with her.

It's a little fuzzy, but she's still super cute!

Playing outside, she's so cute.

She was so concentrated on her game!

She wanted the flower in her hair

I ABSOLUTELY love this picture! I couldn't have posed her any cuter!

Randy was helping Hailey learn to ride her bike without training wheels.

She's so flippin cute!

I don't really have much to say about this one, but I commented on the rest so I thought I would on this one too.

Such a cutie!

Well, hopefully this post wasn't too mushy for you and you made it all the way to the end. So, look for daily posts, even if they're only one liners. I'm going to see if I can do it, at least for one week. So, until tomorrow!!

St. George and stuff

So this past weekend we went to St. George, it was so nice to just get away for a couple of days. We went down at the same time as our good friends Marc and Heather Grimes (no immediate relation) and we got to hang out with them a lot. We watched a movie and played games at Marc's brothers house on Friday, then Saturday afternoon we went shooting. It was a lot of fun, I even shot our 40 caliber glock and it was much better outside then in a shooting range. I also shot a 9 mm, a 22 rifle and a shotgun. We also did some skeet shooting, which I am TERRIBLE at, but it was still a lot of fun. Then we hung out the rest of the afternoon and then we went to dinner. We drove home on Sunday. It was so nice to have it just be the two of us for a couple of days, this will be the last trip before JD gets here. I'm now getting close to the 8 weeks to go portion and I'm not exactly looking forward to it. The last 8 weeks are so hard, but it will be nice the closer we get because then it will be over!! So the other day an extremely odd thing happened to me while driving home from the doctors office. I get these aches that are hard to explain, but I'll try, it feels like my body hurts because it has no energy. That probably doesn't make sense, but it's unpleasant to say the least. Anyway, so I had this a little at my doctors visit and it persisted while I was driving home, but was steadily getting worse. While I was driving down Main Street in Spanish Fork it hurt to have my arms stretched out to the steering wheel. So I tried rolling my window down a little because usually if I can have cold air on me it helps. I have to mention that I took Zoe with me to this doctors visit, poor thing. Anyway, so I get on the freeway and decide the window isn't working so I turn the air on full blast on cold ( I was in the car not the van). I did at least turn one of the middle vents off and the other one was pointing at me to try to keep it from hitting Zoe. So it is progressively getting worse as I'm driving on the freeway, after I pass the Springville/Provo exit things get really weird, my vision starts to cloud up, so I decide I need to pull over. After I did, I sat there for a minute and it felt really hard to breath, so I laid the seat back. As I was doing this my hearing also sort of went muffled too, I accidentally got Zoe's leg caught between the back of my seat and the side of her car seat so she started to cry. It took me a couple of seconds to realize why, and so I put my seat back up, moved her leg and laid my seat down. I probably laid there anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes, I was trying to sing and count with Zoe to keep her distracted. It took a lot of effort to talk, just like when you're half asleep and you REALLY have to work to get the words out. As soon as I laid back, the feeling started fading away, and after the 5 or 10 minutes I was finally ok enough to drive home. After I got home I went straight up to my bed and laid down, my body felt the same as when you go outside in the winter when it's cold and you do hard work. When you come in, the inside of your body feels warm, but the outside is cold. That's what I felt like, anyway, I slept for about an hour, got up and ate and then put Zoe down for a nap then laid back down for a couple of hours. It was such an odd experience!! I really hope I don't go through that again, I did talk to my visiting teacher who used to be a nurse practitioner and she said it's just a hormonal thing and it isn't anything to really worry about. I will talk to my doctor about it when I go in next week, but so far I haven't had that experience again. Well, I don't have much else to say right now, I'll do a post on Hailey's birthday, but I'd like her to help me write it. Since she's in bed, that's not going to happen right now, but soon. I'll also post some pictures of our shooting excursion and Hailey's birthday and other stuff. There's a lot more to update on, but for now, I'm done!!

Two down, many more to go!

Today is the third day of eating on the South Beach Diet, I'm not necessarily trying to lose weight, but I'm trying not to gain anymore (thus I will be losing as I'm gaining) I have already gained 30 pounds this pregnancy, and I don't need to gain anymore. I am so proud of myself for finally taking this step, it doesn't make me like my current look, but when I look in the mirror, I know I'm doing something about it! I am so excited!! This diet isn't even really like a diet, I get to eat as much of the right foods as I want! So I'm never hungry, it's awesome! I also think JD is getting better nutrition now then he was before. Things have been much better since I've started, it's amazing how much your attitude changes when you're doing things that are good for you. I've been more productive around the house, and I don't seem to feel as tired. I am SO excited!! Anyway, Saturday is Hailey's 6th birthday, I can't believe it! It's crazy how fast the time goes by. She's extremely excited for her birthday, and for Friday night. My sister Gina is coming to pick her up and take her to dinner, then she's taking her to Build-A-Bear to let her make her own bear. Although Hailey doesn't know any of this, so if any of you readers talk to Hailey, DON'T mention this to her so she's surprised. Then next week I have a doctors appointment on Thursday, and I've reached the two week mark, so I'll go back to the doctor two weeks after that. Then on Friday Randy and I are taking off to St. George for the weekend!!! I am so excited!! Our friends Marc and Heather are also going down so we'll hang out with them for some of the time. It has been a while since we've gone away without the kids. This trip will be like our Valentines Day, Birthday and Anniversary trip all in one. I'm pretty sure I've already said that in a previous post, oh well. Anyway, things are going well, I'm excited to get past this month and on to the next one! It also gets me closer to JD coming, I'm looking forward to having him here with us and not being pregnant anymore. I'm ready for the aches to go away!! Well, I think I promised pictures, but I don't have any ready yet, but hopefully soon!