Home!

Well we are home from our trip to Hawaii.  I am so glad to be home!! I missed my kids so much, and honestly, I just got sick of go-go-go!  I also got sick of being on boats, airplanes and in cars.  I am so grateful to just sit at home, snuggle with Gabe and sleep in.  Now, there were lots of fun parts of the trip that I can't wait to share- like snorkeling with sea turtles and all the fun foods, being with good friends- Hans and Jodi, and coming home to a house that my mom gave lots of love and time to.  But that will all have to wait.  I gotta catch up on a couple of things before I blog.  I can't wait to tell you all about it!

A Compliment

Usually when I'm pregnant it seems like people say the dumbest things to me, like, "Wow, your huge!" or "Are you having twins" or "Do you get this big every time?" But I have to say today someone said the nicest thing to me.  I was at Home Depot, we were about to go swimming so I was wearing a fun sundress over my swimsuit.  As I walked passed a man he said, "I hope your husband appreciates how cute you look when your pregnant.  That's a really cute dress."   I said, "Thank you! That's so nice of you to say!" Hahaha!  I don't know if he was flirting or not- but I don't care- he made my week!!

How Are You Doing?

I frequently have people ask me how I am doing.  And I almost always reply the same- I am doing amazing!!! Any day that I am not sick is a wonderful day!  It feels SO good to not be sick!  I love it! I have been back to my old self- doing projects and such.  I can't wait to share some of them.  I feel like a normal person.  I am so grateful for my good health every day.  Pretty soon here I'll get big and uncomfortable- but I don't mind, I am just so grateful to not have morning sickness anymore. I MADE IT!!!

A Teenager in the House

Well Paul has officially turned into a teenager!! I don't know why people complain about teenagers- Paul is awesome!  Ok, the boys were kinda crazy at his party- but that's just when teenagers get together.   Paul wanted a Minecraft birthday party- so that's what he got.  He helped so much getting everything ready.  WE had so much fun.  One of my favorite things about having a party is just getting ready for it.  It's so easy- just go to Pinterest and pint off all the free printables- and boom, great birthday party.

We had a great group of teenagers.  And with the exceptions of a bunch of them climbing on top of my shed- they behaved themselves pretty well.  Have I mentioned that teenage boys are stinky?  Like, they really smell bad.  I had to open all the doors and turn on the fan in my house while they were all here.

Lily was the hit of the party.   I had to set a timer for kids to share holding her.

Ok, is candy the cool present to give out at birthday parties or something?  Or just the easiest and cheapest? Because parents, just don't.  This is a sample of what Paul got for his birthday from his friends.  This doesn't even include the half eaten 5 pound bag of Sour Patch Kids from Costco someone else gave him.  I guess that mom got sick of her kids eating so much candy and unloaded it onto us.  I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but I don't want any of my kids getting a huge bin of red vines for their birthday.  I barely even want him getting presents- let alone the worst thing for a kid to have.  Every party I have I want to put, "No gifts please" on the invitations, but the kids freak out, and Darren says that's just cruel, so I don't.  Seriously, I would rather if Paul got nothing than a huge amount of candy for his birthday.  Maybe I'm just weird.

Anywho... It was a great day and we all had a great time:)

Running

 I have REALLY wanted to do a race while I was pregnant so when I heard about this one that was a race for cancer I jumped at the chance.  Run for Ray, and do a race while pregnant- perfect!  Darren was at a camp-out for Fathers and Sons, and I didn't hear about it till Friday night, so it was kind of a last minute thing.  I ran it and felt great! My time was 31:18- which is just over a 10 min mile.  I was so proud of myself!  I even got 3rd place!!! There were only 26 runners/walkers, and it was not a very serious race- but I was still super stocked. 

 I have continued to keep running while pregnant.  Some times it's torture, sometimes its wonderful.  We'll see how long I can keep it up.

Bad News

We recently received the bad news that Darren's dad has colon cancer.  This news was both shocking and unexpected.  Ray is 72 but as healthy as a horse.  When he recently came to help us paint our house he worked Darren and me into the ground!  I guess recently he had been more tired and just not feeling normal.  So the doctors checked things out and sure enough- found cancer.  We aren't really positive about what stage it is yet.  They are thinking a stage 2- but won't know for sure until they do surgery.  The plan is Chemo for 6 weeks, and then surgery to remove it.  Hopefully that will be the end of it.  He just got a port hookup in his chest and wears a fanny pack that has the Chemo in it.  He has to wear it for 5 days, then gets 2 days off.  He has to do this for 6 weeks.  So far the Chemo has not effected him- but that's cause he just started.  We know it's only a matter of time.  My heart goes out to him.  Every time I have morning sickness I think about Chemo patients.  I'm sure there are different levels of both- But the only thing I can imagine worse than morning sickness is Chemo.  Felling AWFUL all the time.  Throwing up all the time.   Not fun.  We have been praying and thinking about Grandpa Shep.   It's hard to imagine him not working hard every day.  Hopefully the chemo and surgery will take care of it and he will be back to his normal self:)

Lily

As you know, we pretty much got coerced into getting a puppy.  We debated about the best time to get her.  I didn't want to wait till I was too big- or had a new baby, so we decided the best time was now.  While I still feel good.  Plus once we made the decision there was nothing the kids talked about except when, where, and how we were going to get a puppy.  They were constantly on the computer looking.  Finally we found the perfect looking sweet little 8 week old puppy on  Craigslist in Tri-cities.  She is half Shih-tzu and half Havanese.  Ellie named her Lily. Having a new puppy is a lot of work.  Like, a lot.  The first couple of nights I got up every 3 hours to take her out to use the bathroom.  I felt like I had a newborn baby! But she is a sweet little thing.  My kids love her! And she loves my kids.  I have her crate trained- but we are still working on the potty training.  Once that is done she will be the perfect little puppy:)  I am happy The kids love her so much.  While dogs are so much work- I think it's really good for kids to have pets.  It's good for them.  And Ellie was so sad about never having a sister.  She said, "Lily has fixed my cracked heart."  That makes it all worth it.