9.5 weeks and counting

:) Thanks for all the comments and words of support, really it has made my day. As most of you have guessed that last photo was an ultrasound pic I had taken Tuesday of Penrod baby #3. I am only 9.5 (only said a bit begrudgingly--working in a lab I have known since 3 weeks 2 days when my HCG was a whopping 5.8 and the last 6 weeks have been tortuously slow) weeks so it is a bit early to be announcing it already and I do so a little guardedly knowing it is early but also knowing a normal ultrasound at this point drops the miscarriage rate substantially. Mostly it is killing me to not write about it in the blog. This is my journal and it just seems wrong, untruthful even to say we did this this week and that and not include and then I spent the rest of the night throwing up. So, even if I were to lose this baby, I would rather write about it and be able to voice all my thoughts on this, my blog than to not. You all probably don't mind, well after I get whining you might, but I just figured I'd put my reasoning on here.

We are cautiously excited about this new little life. I am due the end of September so the boys will be nearly 5 when this baby arrives. It is indeed just one baby which was a big question in my mind. I *almost* wished it was 2, one because I would be done and never have to go through the first trimester misery again and two because as much trouble as they are, my boys are such the best of friends and I almost feel sorry for this little one who will have to be a loner until/if we decide to give it a sibling. But anyway, it is just one so we will get to figure out life with a singleton. Contrary to most of my posts on the subject, this baby was planned, though we conceived on the first month trying. I guess the Lord had a little one ready to go and wasn't going to give us a chance to change our minds. It was a very tough decision as I had a pretty clear memory of how I felt the first time and didn't want to take anything away from my little men, but we both felt prompted that this is the Lord's plan, and hey, He's always right. Following his promptings has only ever brought good consequences so we're holding on to that for this case too.

It has been hard though, and I feel unbelievably ungrateful complaining when there are so many who are desperately wanting to be pregnant even if it means being this sick but my sweet sweet SIL who has been through more infertility H*&$ than any one person should be subjected to says it's okay to not be happy about morning sickness so I'm not. Just miserable most of the time really--I've thrown up 5 times in the last 24 hours, lost 6 lbs in the last 2 weeks, don't want to eat (and I LOVE food) miserable. And I hate feeling like a loser mom to my boys. I am using up all the energy I can to keep things as normal as possible but today I still spent an hour on the couch watching Phineas and Ferb with Davis while Carter zoned out to Lego Star Wars on the wii. And Lowell had taken such a brunt of the load, poor sweetie, he is amazing but I know how hard it is for him to keep up with 2 very active boys and a whiny invalid wife.

Sigh, just ready to be past the sick. I threw up almost every day from 6 weeks to 28 weeks with the boys but I am praying with just one it will be much shorter. Even remembering what that was like I didn't take into account that now I have 2 kids to chase around too. Last time I slept in and lazed about besides still working full time, no such luck this time. Maybe it is better--I really do prefer to just be moving and groaning about it internally than to wallow in it alone. And it's not so terrible, just getting old fast. I have given myself a few liberties with my down time. When it is quiet at work I have started reading Twilight again. Yes, there are many (many) better books even on my shelf waiting for me, but you know what, Twilight makes me happy and helps me escape, so I'm reading it. And I am eating Lay's potato chips and over priced watermelon today because that is what sounded good. I hope to keep it down.

I have to admit a fair amount of trepidation awaiting this baby. It's like, I know my boys and I adore them. I hug and squeeze on them all day. But the little gray blob on the ultrasound is wholly unknown. I'd like to say I love it already, but I just don't know it. Everyone says you'll love all your children but I don't know what to expect. And I worry of course about all the baby trials and starting over again after having kiddos that are so independent now. Just being honest about my feelings here in my journal, I am sure I will look back on this someday fiercely in love with my baby and now it was not such a big deal. But now riding the vomit and hormone roller coaster it seems concerning.

Whew, so good to write that down, a weight off my shoulders. Sorry if it is just rambling for the rest of you. We told the boys after the ultrasound and they were so funny. Carter kept looking down my shirt trying to see the baby. I told him he couldn't see it and he said he wanted to hold it. I told him it is still really little and it will be a while and he seemed content with that. Davis is intent that he has a baby in his tummy too. He got sick last night and was throwing up and he said it is the baby in his tummy making him sick. Funny boys. As I get bigger and they can feel the kicks and such I am sure it will mean more to them. They are great with babies and will be all over this one I am sure. Anywho, that's what is new with us, thanks for the love!

Wonderful W

Wow, where was my camera all week? Lame sorry! We actually did do a fair amount for W but I didn't bring the camera along. Monday we went to the Wood Park in Pleasant Grove (also known as Discovery Park). It was still lightly snowing but dry enough so we had fun getting out and especially enjoyed having Daddy home that morning.

Carter spinning

Davis as the "King" Bee. He came up with that himself.

We then drove up the canyon to see a Waterfall (Bridal Veil) since we can't hike there currently. It didn't end up being the best plan as we got stuck in a traffic jam from a rollover accident. We did, however, get plenty of time to look at the falls. Oh we also ate at Wienerschnitzel.

Wednesday we met up with our favorite Weber student at the Discovery Gateway where we played with the Water table and the Wind tunnel. Mostly my pass is about to expire and I don't plan on renewing it so I wanted to get one more visit in. Really the kids do enjoy it there but it is always TOO busy for me and I hate fighting with the over-bearing moms there. And I hate fighting with the kids who no one is attending to either. Maybe I'm odd but in a busy place that size I am right on my kid's heels the whole time. It's fun for them too as Davis had me "order" from the little deli and then he weighed the food and we checked out, etc. He had a play mate while Carter was busy with Hillary. But I was the Only parent in the little grocery store and there were 10 or so kids in there. Sorry for the soap box. Plus it is in Salt Lake and somehow always seems too far away to visit as often, even though the zoo is farther and we go there more often. I dunno, just one membership I feel okay in dropping. We'll still go to the Gateway in the summer and play in the fountains, we'll just go see a show at the Planetarium while we're up there instead.

Friday we had a few plans that kept falling through, something about a napping mama that slept too long to get to do what we wanted to . . .but that we did do Monday so it's okay. But we did go have some fun at the aquarium and were glad that Cyndel could join us. Somehow we always end up there 30 minutes before they close and the entrance gal gives us a dirty look but then we leave with about 5 minutes to spare with the kids having done everything they wanted to. I guess that says the aquarium is not especially large (sure wish we lived closer to the Monterey Bay Aquarium! No way you could do that in a half hour) but we do enjoy it for what it is. Oooh and next month they are adding penguins which Davis has informed me is now his favorite animals.

Stay tuned for next week (this week) when we went to the Farm, and will be going to the zoo to find Pirate Treasure, hooray!

Oh and I do have one more picture to share, though I didn't take this one myself, enjoy!

The Ready Project

I just wanted to pass along this website I found: www.thereadyproject.com. It is a food storage company and what I liked about it is you can have an auto shipment of food each month for just $30. For me I have a hard time remembering to get something each month but this way I have food coming every month within my budget and the shipping is free if you commit to a year. You can get 5% off with this coupon code: 65830. Anywho, check it out!

U, V

We squeezed 2 letters in this week since I didn't have a lot planned for U and Valentine's fell this week so we had to scoop up that opportunity.
We went on a hunt for Utah Lake and apparently did not know where to look. I know I have seen great pics from docks in Saratoga Springs but in driving around we found no such locales. We found weeds for quite a distance into the lake everywhere we looked. But we did find a park to play at which the boys enjoyed and then we hiked through some smelly weeds to what is indeed a portion of Utah Lake. It was frozen so nothing too exciting, we'll make a better attempt at it when it is a little warmer. I feel like I say that all the time, when it is warmer we'll play. We have had some fair temps of late and rain today instead of snow (thank you!) but I am still itchy for real Spring and even more so for summer. Can't wait for lazy warm days in the backyard and camping. Plus Lowell and I have a getaway planned in May, and I can't wait already!

Carter with the lake and gorgeous Timpanogos in the background

Davis too. We were planning on visiting the U of U as well but schedules didn't work out so we just visited with our favorite University of Utah student, lovely Cyndel. Always fun to see her at the candy shop!

Valentine's Day was quite the production at our house this year and the boys sure enjoyed it. First they handed out cards to their preschool class and got to address them themselves, well, they initialed them anyway. Then we had the UVMOM play group at my house this month where we decorated sugar cookies (thanks Kari for the recipe!) and passed out Valentine's to all our favorite twinners. There were 10 moms and 25 kids, so a little crazy in my little house but it is nice to have people over. Really, it makes me feel loved to have visitors so it was a good, if tiring day.

Davis using excessive sprinkles with little M looking on (thanks Jess for the pic).

For Valentine's night we got the boys a heart shaped pizza and little plastic wine glasses for their Martinelli's:

They thought saying Cheers! over and over was great fun. The cups were a hit, and promptly broken the next day. Yeah for the dollar store, can't be too upset about that. Lowell and I had a nice dinner in after the boys went to bed. We order in every year and almost never have a problem but this year we tried Texas Roadhouse and I am not impressed. Don't get me wrong, I love love their food but their take out service left a LOT to be desired. We order from Applebee's and it is ready in 20 minutes and they'll even bring it to your car. It took nearly an hour just to get Texas Roadhouse to answer the phone, then 45 minutes until the food would be ready, then another 30 minutes Lowell sat and waited--and then the order wasn't even complete. I know it is a busy night, but that's why we order out and everyone else does it well. Oh well, live and learn--and we did still enjoy the meal and a nice snuggle.

This is what the boy found waiting for them V-Day morning. They were so excited, Davis kept going on and on wishing everyone a Happy Balentine's Day and saying how much he loves everyone. He can sure be a sweet boy. Carter was busy eating the candy--kid after my own heart. They brought Valentine's for their church class too, love spread all over this year.

My special Valentine Davis

Cutie Carter love

So, there's U and V for you, as usual we had a good time. I'm just soaking up my little love bugs while I can and while they still like me so much. We have had some other challenges this month but mostly staying above water and looking forward to warmer days to come. Lots of love!

I can't forgot to mention how thankful I am for my super sweetie Valentine and husband Lowell. Truly the love of my life. He completes me in every way and is so patient and kind to me. The best decision I ever made was listening to the Lord and choosing my Lowelly. Can't get enough of that cute man, love you forever honey!

Time for T

Yeah blogger is finally letting me post these pics. Seriously, there isn't much to share without the photos and I can't keep track of what we did without them either. If I didn't take a picture, did it really happen? Oh well, there are about 4 pictures of me from birth to my kids' age, I have no regrets for having 4,000 of them.
We finally have thawed out just a little bit here and took advantage of it by riding the bikes to a park. We still had to steer around snow and climb over it to get to the play equipment but it was comfortably "warm"--40s and the slides were dry, so yea! Ready for a ride--the bikes were their big Christmas gift this year and they have enjoyed them. Davis is a little better of a rider and so Carter will get frustrated and give up. I get frustrated when I can walk faster than he is riding so I end up pushing him half the way while he tells me about all the little things on the sidewalk that are distracting him.

I was loving the lighting on this rock wall, so we got a couple of cute shots. They are on the header as well, I still laugh that I gave them the same direction (act silly) separately (they did not watch each other) yet I got almost identical faces in response. The nice shots were in response to, show me your I love Daddy face--they really do!

My fav Carter pic in a long time! :)

Yeah for double slide races

For T week we decided to be Tourists and visit Temple square. I of course have been there many times and the boys have been to see the lights but I was surprised at all the stuff they had never seen and what was new to me as well.

A fountain in front of the Conference Center, yes the water was cold and the boys had to check to make sure.

Davis pointing out the T on the Temple Square sign--thanks to my Dad for coming with us (Cyndel joined us later, she lives a couple of blocks away).

I didn't get any pictures inside the Visitor Center, but what a cool place. We spent over an hour there and I still can't believe I never thought to go there before. Each level had something fun, the basement had a whole series of Help Thy Neighbor displays about the Good Samaritan and all the worldwide Humanitarian Aid the church has on-going. There were also examples about just being a friend. There was a row of prophets, life size figures and stories about them. There was a Book of Mormon section with pictures and video screens you could touch that would elaborate on the story. And of course there were dozens of sister missionaries milling about, offering help, and telling the boys how cute they were. This was a Friday morning and we were nearly the only people there so we got a lot of attention. Upstairs we went to see the Christus (which was on the cover of the Friend this month, so the boys thought that was cool) and who wouldn't love that room! Then the sisters took us through a presentation for families with 6 rooms decorated like a home with the general synopsis being that Families are Forever and what a blessing that knowlege is. Davis sat through it quite well, and it wasn't too long. 2 thumbs up. I'm sure it is an obvious destination that everyone else thought of before me, but if you haven't been in a while, especially if your kids haven't--go.

Carter with the Tabernacle

Davis inside the Tabernacle

Another exciting thing about slow time at the temple, the side gate was open so we could walk right up to the front of the temple. The boys thought the steps and giant doors were really cool.

Carter

Davis

“As we touch the temple, the temple will touch us.” President Monson

He also said, "As a loving teacher guided a boy or girl to the large door of the Salt Lake Temple and the little one reached out and up to touch the temple, I could almost see the Master welcoming the little children to His side and could almost hear His comforting words: “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.”

The boys have really come to have an interest in and love for the Temple since the 2 Open Houses they have been lucky enough to attend (Draper and Oquirrh Mountain). With the announcement of the Payson temple we look forward to another one. In the meantime I think we will stop when we pass these amazing temples that we are so blessed to have dotted all around us and touch the walls.

Cyndel with Davis--so photogenic that girl, we sure love her!

On to more Ts--For Christmas the boys got a butterfly house. They are very interested in sending away for the caterpillars and watching them Transform. However, the weather is not at the right place yet (and still has some time to go) so I thought of another plan to tide them over and to enjoy T, tadpoles! I have been reminiscing over the tadpoles of my youth, when I went with my best friends, from I'm going to say 3rd-4th grade, Terri and Kerri and we caught tadpoles from the "ditch" behind our school and watched them eagerly. I don't really remember, but I think they all died. But it was still cool to watch them develop. We don't have a "ditch" handy here (they cover such things over now, kind of sad but probably safer) so I ordered ours online. I had sent one to another friend's little boy--who in retrospect does not like pets and this was not the best one to send either, they are creepy looking (sorry Kris, I meant well). They really are odd, ours already had little back legs sprouting and just today one of them had his arms come out. It almost looks like the frog is inside the tadpole, you can pick out what it is going to look like after all the extra bits are absorbed. Weird.

But of course the boys think they are super cool and it has been fun to watch. They will live in the water their whole lives and I have since discovered they live from 5-20 years, so I guess they may be with us for a while. I tried to take a good pic but they aren't very photogenic, sorry.

We also visited the Dino Museum for T (renewed our membership, we didn't go for a month, hard to believe!).

Davis found a Triceratops in the erosion table

And we got to act like Tyrannosaurus Rex. The pic is pretty dark on my screen, hopefully you all can make it out. Funny boys, and yes, all all boy.

We also went to Target, and that was T week.

The rest of the letters aren't too easy, so we may just do one activity for each. Maybe I am getting lazy or burning out of ideas. We'll just do the best we can. Loves to all-

Super S

It seems like I say this every week but S was really fun. The alphabet adventures have really stretched our imagination and encouraged us to try a lot of new things. Thanks to Jill for the idea! So Monday we had play group at Jumpin Jack's which I'll count the Slides for S. We also ate lunch that day at Sonic.
Then Tuesday after school we made a Snowman: The boys thought it was awesome, I thought it was a surprising lot of work and also that the face pieces were not at all easy to put on (my first snowman--as an adult anyway). Maybe I was doing something wrong, but on TV it always looked a lot easier. Anywho, the kids still loved him, kissed him and everything--and then promptly knocked his head off.

Wednesday we trekked up to Soldier Hollow to do some Sledding. I've had a BOGO coupon for a month just waiting for S week!

Carter ready to head up the hill
Davis is excited
It was snowy and cold but not terrible--we all still had a good time. And as the photo shows, we were pretty much the only ones on the mountain. No waits at all--it was great! Of course it was our first time so I have no reference but apparently it can get pretty busy. Also in the above shot is the reason we paid to play here, a tow rope. How fun to just lay back and be pulled up the mountain after a long run down. The boys thought it was great.
Lowell with the boys at the top
Heading down with them both
Toward the end the boys got brave enough to go down just the 2 of them. "We go both together". They really are just the best of friends, they want to do everything together and make each other laugh all the time. My twins laughing hysterically at each other (and I have no clue why) is one of the greatest joys in my life.

Friday we made Sweet Sugar Snacks, i.e. No Bake Cookies in this case. I was craving them--sugar cookies would have fit the theme better, but sometimes we eat what mama wants to eat! And they both identified the S on the Sugar bag, so it counts.

And of course we also licked the Spoon.

Then we planted Seeds:

And yes, sometimes we hang out in our underwear all morning. I really liked this little "greenhouse" container. We just added water and the little cups puffed up and then we poked the seeds in and were done. Much cleaner than scooping dirts into cups, etc. And so cool, they are already sprouting. Of course Lowell has a good point in that S week fell too early in the year because the garden is FAR from ready to be planted but oh well. We loved planting them and are thrilled to see them growing. Me, not the least--I check them everyday. When I showed Carter today he said, Wow! and They're kind of cute! :) We planted Sugar Snap Peas (my fav) which are the ones growing so nicely, and cantalope and apple seeds from breakfast.

That afternoon we were supposed to go swimming with A and A and my day just kind of fell apart as I got ready for work (I couldn't find my suit and now I have to clean my closet, grrr). So we had to miss out on playing with them and were all pretty bummed. But we did go with Daddy on Saturday to make up for it.
Carter is not very enthused as we were on our way out which was the wrong answer for him. Davis is just playing along, he could have stayed for another couple of hours. It was VERY busy though, don't think we'll be going back on a Saturday anytime soon. But of course, they loved it--and I loved the bonding time.

I think that's it, except for enjoying the Sabbath on Sunday I suppose. Saturday night Lowell and I got to go out to dinner thanks again to Hillary--I am so spoiled with great babysitters. I love Mimi's and french onion soup.

Another week of winter down. We are ready for spring. We've had a couple of days of sun, though cold it has still been nice and somewhat deceiving as storms are on their way. Le Sigh!