Being Mom

Things are going pretty good. I love having my kids around. It is so cute to watch how the older kids love on Rachel. Taylor loves to hold her and when she gets fussy she will come and talk to her or sing to her. Lindsey loves to look at her and pet her head. Whenever she cries (screams), Michael is right there. He loves his "baby Rachel". It has truly been a blessing to have Robert around, too. When he first got laid off I was really stressing, but things have been working out for us. We got our tax returns back and have been using that until he starts work again. The kids love having him around and since we've had so many things going on it's been nice to have the extra set of hands. Robert has done just about all the cooking and most of the cleaning lately plus playing with the kids. Lindsey and Michael have especially needed their daddy. It should be interesting to see how things go once he goes back to work. I am just so blessed that I get to stay home with my children and read to them and play with them and watch them grow. They all have such unique personalities and it is so fun to see how they view the world. Being Mom is the greatest adventure I could ever go on.

With life being crazy like it has been I've been neglecting a few things, like getting online and writing. Normally this is something I enjoy doing, but some things needed to wait, so now maybe I'm back. I am still having problems with kidney stones. Let me tell you, that is one pain that I wouldn't wish on anyone. It shouldn't last forever, though and then I will be back up and running again. I am grateful that little Rachel is such a good baby. She sleeps pretty well at night. When she wakes up, she eats and then goes back to sleep. I couldn't care less if she woke up 5 times to eat as long as she went back to sleep. She actually wakes up about 3 times. The other kids just love her and are very attentive when she is awake. They get concerned if she starts crying and try to help her feel better. Taylor talks to her and reads to her. Lindsey loves to pet her head and look at her. Michael also loves to look at her. She was on my bed and I had to go to the bathroom. Well, she started crying and when I came out of the bathroom, Michael was sitting right by her talking to her. It was the cutest the thing. He is really soft with her, now if he would be so soft to the animals.

You know, life would be just about perfect if it wasn't for this kidney stone. My recovery from labor has gone really well. I've hardly had much bleeding, I'm not incredibly sore, I actually feel really good. The kids are great, the baby is great, Robert is great, and then I have a kidney stone. Maybe my life was just too great and I needed a little more adversity, I don't know. Well, I better get back to being mommy.

Monday's Miracles

1. Rain- I love the sound of rain on the roof and the smell of rain. Plus, it means slightly warmer weather.

2. Airplanes- My baby brother is being released from his mission today, but won't get home until tomorrow due to flight schedules. I'm so glad that he can fly home instead of slower methods of transportation. I can't wait to see him again.

3. 4-Wheel Drive- My driveway is a muddy mess!

4. Hot Chocolate- It goes great with rainy days.

5. Good friends that will take me to Twin when I need a day away.

Cabin Fever

After going into false labor on Tuesday and being completely bummed on Wednesday, I got cabin fever Thursday. I just wanted to go out and have some fun and go to Twin without kids. That meant that either I needed a babysitter so Robert could go with me, or I had to find someone else to take me. I don't drive when I'm this pregnant for 2 reasons: 1- I get these spots floating in my vision that makes it hard to focus, so I can drive short distances, but not all the way to Twin, and 2- I already went into false labor once, if I go into labor I don't want to be by myself. So, after making sure that none of my family wanted to go to Twin, I called a friend. J. said she had to work in the morning and do a few things, but later she could take me. That sounded great to me.

So, after she got off work, J. came and picked me up and we went to Twin. I had to take some movies back to the library since they were due (that was my excuse for going to Twin even though I could have renewed them online). I also picked up a couple of new books to read, since I haven't had this baby yet. Then, we went to the mall and walked around a bit, hoping the walking might have done something, but alas, no. After that we went out and visited J.'s step-dad and ended up laughing so hard, we thought that might put me into labor. It didn't, but I was feeling much better. We went out to dinner at La Fiesta, a really great mexican place. J. had never been there before and she seemed to really like it. Oh, and while we were there we got hit on by some drunk bull riders. They were at a table near us and they were so loud! You could hear them dropping the F-bomb all over the place and it was quite obvious they had quite a bit to drink. One of them came over and invited us to join them, which we declined. Later when I got up to go to the bathroom they were a little surprised to see my bump in front. Apparently they hadn't seen that before they invited us over. That was a little funny.

After dinner I called my sister and we met her at Chili's for dessert. I love their Chocolate Molten Cake! When we sat down and our waitress came over J. started to tease her and give her a good time. The waitress was great and was giving it right back. We ordered our dessert and when we were done (it took like 3 minutes for the 4 of us to scarf it down), the waitress told us it was all taken care of. J. went over to ask what and why. Well, I guess our waitress had been having a rough night, some customers had been mean and she was ready to just walk out when we were sat and we just made her night. Well, mostly J. made her night, so she took care of our dessert. I have some awesome friends.

My trip to Twin was just what I needed. I got out, got to relax and laugh and have a lot of fun. Thanks J. for taking me and sacrificing time with your family for me. Thanks Katrina for coming to dessert, I miss living closer to you.

Monday's Miracles

1. Tums- they have been a great friend to me lately.

2. Games- I love having game nights

3. Calendars- If I didn't have one I know I would be forgetting a lot more than I already do.

4. Pens- it seems like I can only find them about half of the time and I definately miss them when I can't find one.

5. My pizza stones- I love cooking with them and I love when my family cooks with them also.

Middle of the Night rambling

I'm up again at 2:30. I just can't seem to sleep lately. Either it's because I'm hungry (a common occurrence) or because I'm sore. Tonight it seems to be both. My back is achy and I have an annoying knot right by my shoulder blade. Normally I'd sleep on my back and it wouldn't put any stress on the knot, but I can't really do that right now. I'm really glad to be getting a massage today. Maybe that will help. Also, I'm hungry. It seems like I'm almost always hungry. Now if I could only eat the right foods and avoid gaining so much weight :) People like to use the excuse of being pregnant to eat whatever they want, but then after the baby comes you still have to deal with the extra weight from all those goodies. I've done better lately. I've swapped nuts and dried fruit for my chocolate chips. It's not the same, but at least I didn't gain any weight this last week. A part of me just can't wait to have this baby and have things get back to "normal", but at the same time, I'm scared of labor. I don't like pain (who does?), and I'd like to go natural this time. I had a bad experience with my epidural when I had Michael. I just want to get this over with. It's the not knowing that is the hardest part, I think. Still, I have a very supportive husband and a really great midwife, so I should be good. Mostly, I think I'm just tired and I'm done being pregnant, but more than that, I do want my baby to be healthy, so I guess when everything's ready, well, then we will have a new member of the family.

Spring Fever

I have got Spring Fever really bad. It all started with the seed catalogs. I didn't even want to look at them when they first started coming because the world outside was covered in white and I knew it wasn't leaving any time soon. Well, lately the snow has started melting, Robert has been out pruning the fruit trees and the sun has been shining. We've been going through our seed catalogs and planning out what we want to plant this year. Robert and I also went to a meeting and somehow ended up on a board to organize a farmer's market in Shoshone. We don't have any official positions, just board members. It would be cool to have a farmers market closer where you can get fresh produce and know where it came from. We would also like to try and grow enough to sell there and maybe earn a little extra money. If our apple trees do well maybe we will have apples this fall. So, all this talk of growing things has me very impatient for the warmer weather. I still can't see where my garden is going to be, it's covered in snow. The girls are helping me decide what to plant, though. Each of them also wants to have their own garden. Taylor has started a list of things she is going to grow in hers. Well, she is actually going to have 2 if she gets her way, a veggie garden and a flower garden. Lindsey mostly wants a flower garden and will help me with mine. I gave them one of the catalogs and a pen and they went to town circling things they want to plant. So far we will have tomatoes, carrots, peas, beans, pepper, and corn for sure. I don't know what flowers we will get and what other veggies we will plant. One of my goals is to grow and harvest an eggplant. I've tried before and haven't been successful, maybe this year will be the one! I've actually never had eggplant, but I really want to try it, and I want to say that I've grown something I've never grown before. If it ends up we don't like it, well I won't grow it again, but I want to try.

I know some people have already started their seeds. I haven't. I thought about it, but I decided to maybe wait until after I have this baby. I'm afraid that with the adjustment of a new little one I might forget to water or something. Of course, things don't really get easier after baby gets here, but maybe the warmer weather will be a reminder for me. Then, there is always the option of purchasing my plants if I don't get any started. Anyone want to start some for me?

Monday's Miracles

1. Library Cards- We just recently got our family library cards for the Twin Falls Library and we are all sure enjoying the many books we now have access to.

2. Bubble Baths- I think I take one almost every day right now. I love having a book to read while I soak away my sore muscles.

3. Above Freezing Weather- It has given Robert the opportunity to go out and prune our fruit trees. It also lets the kids get out and work out some of their energy. Of course, then they get all muddy, another reason I'm glad for bubble baths, get the kids clean.

4. iTunes- I love music!

5. Text Messaging- I don't use it as often as some people I know, but it sure does come in handy at times. Like when we have the baby, we are going to send out a mass message and then nobody can say they got the call before anyone else.