Egg hunt fun, a trip to L & D, and Easter miracles

Sarah decided to host an Easter egg hunt and party on Saturday. It was great fun to make and hide the eggs and then watch 12 children canvas the yards (4 of them!) for their goodies! She grilled hot dogs for the kids, chicken and steak for the adults, I made potatoe salad, Emily McCammon made a fruit salad. Our new neighbors came over, Sarah's friend from Bowie, her brother, Sister in law, and their twins were there as well as Emily and her children. We had a great time visiting and socializing.

 Elijah's 1st real Easter Egg hunt! He loved every minute. He was more interested in opening the eggs right away and eating the candy out than he was in finding more eggs though. So cute!

                                                   Ammon and his friend, Rowan, hunting for eggs.

 'Lilla' is pretty in pink as she braves the very soggy ground in hunt for candy filled eggs. The kids were all pretty muddy by the end. I don't think they minded. :)

                                                                Rowan with his loot!

                                      Ammon and Elijah with William still looking for more goodies!

 Rowan's sister, Blythe in an adorable outfit that I couldn't resist taking a pic of. Is this what I have to look forward to? It'll break my bank! :)

Hannah, William, and Gabriel had found their alotted 12 eggs they were allowed to find and dug in!


A trip to Labor and Delivery
Sunday morning brought excitment as the kids got up to see what the Easter bunny had brought them in their baskets. After snapping some pics on our phone b/c I left my camera at Sarah's; I got up to make deviled eggs and take my medicine b/c I was having some contractions. Now, let's back up to Friday. I went to my regular OBGYN apt and took my glucose test. My dr felt my uterus and said I was contracting and to take these meds to stop them to give the baby more time to mature. That's it. I said "I am?" He said, have you been? I said, maybe during relations but I don't really notice any other time. Come on, I'm a busy woman! He said to rest and drink plenty of water. (He ALWAYS says this!) Ok, I'm upset, I'm confused, and I'm a little mad. What? No cervical exam? No baby monitoring? No ultrasound to check cervical length? What the heck! So, i go home, fill the scrip and start paying attention to my body. Sure enough, I was contracting! Weird! They weren't hard just there. I took my meds 2x on Saturday. About 15 mins after taking them Sunday morning, I start itching my ankles while I was cleaning the kitchen and making the deviled eggs. The itching doesn't stop so I look down to see how dry my skin was only to find my legs are bright red! Oh crap! I get online and find that this is a allergic reaction to the meds. I callec the dr to see if I could take some Benadryl but they tell me to go in to labor and delivery instead. I had to make some phone calls to cover my nursery class and to pawn the kids off to my SIL, Aunt, and others to get them to church  and then we were off. By this time, I'm having trouble breathing.

Easter miracles
Yes, having an allergic reaction to the meds was in fact a miracle. Why? Because we were able to get tests and answers. They took such good care of us! They put me on the monitors for baby heart rate and contractions, they did a sonogram where they measured my AFI at 20!!! I went from low AFI to 20!!! Our prayers have been answered, our fasts were accepted! Emma Lee looked great and healthy and the cervical length was good. A cervical exam showed no dialation or effasion. I was elated to know ALL this news! What a blessing that challenge turned out to be! I missed Easter church but was able to make it home in time for our family to join us for an Easter feast.

 Jesus lives and loves us and is in charge of all things! 

Now, I am still contracting and really do not know what to do about it but one thing is for sure, I am finding a new doctor! :)

Visiting my fam in DC

On Thursday, April 14th my cousin Drew's marching band visited DC and played at the WWII memorial. I was super excited to see him and my aunts from Georgia. Since moving to TX and now Maryland, and especialy since my mom and dad divorced, I haven't been able to see them very much. It was a special treat for me and the boys. I planned to take Zech and Gabe out of school that day to go with me to DC but Zech was home sick with tonsilitis anyways. That was a HUGE scare for me! OK, here's the skinny: Zech had been struggling with his after school activities regarding his behavior and focus. Soccer had been especially diffcult. This is his 3rd season and he's never had problems before. After much thought and prayer, I decided that he may need his meds adjusted and took him to the doctor. I've been trying to get him in to see a child therapist for over a year now. What a joke! The people my insurance say I can go to either do not take kids his age or have a waiting list 6 months or longer. WHAT?!? Anyways, I just took him to the dr and we decided to try a different medicine all together. His 1st day on the new meds was Tuesday. Tuesday night he comes home and is complaining about his right ear hurting and says it hurts when he swallows. He then launches into a high fever. It was SO sudden! I was extremely worried he was having an allergic reaction to the meds or having sever side effects. He was up all during the night moaning and I contemplated taking him to the ER. I opted for urgent care the next morn and was very relieved to know it was just tonsilitis. I've never been so worried in my life. There is an element of guilt too b/c I am still not a 100% fan of these ADHD meds. They work though. I took Zech off them for 2 days over Spring Break but had to substitute with 20 herbs a day to keep him balanced! Poor kid!

Anyways, back to my day in DC. My Aunt Sis had told me they would leave their hotel at 10:15 for the memorial so I planned to be there at 10:30 for a 11am perfomance. I opted to take the Metro b/c I drive a tank, can never find parking, and did not want to walk that far from the parking garages. I needed to leave my house at 8:30am in order to get everywhere on time. Aunt Sis called at 8:30 saying their performance was at 10:30! AUGH! Panic mode! We got in the car, drove to the Metro, couldn't find a parking spot so I created my own (and got a ticket at the end of the day------%$#@!) The boys LOVED the Metro! They were SO good. I mean, honestly-they were awesome! I got SO many complements on how well behaved they were and obedient. They were kind to one another and stayed with me. People were asking me how I did it! Man, I was pleased to be a super mom that day! Anyways, we had to switch lines from green to blue and asked for some assistance from a Metro worker who put us on the blue line going the wrong way! We had to get off and back on again. Needless to say, we got off the Metro at Smithsonian at 10:30am then had to walk through the mall to the opposite side to the WWII memorial. We were booking it and got there just as the band was playing their finale. UGH! How disappointing! But, we got to see our cousin and aunts and even went to a few other memorials with them and visited for a little while. We had a picnic and then headed back home. Overall, it was a great day!
                                                 Aunt Laura, Drew, Aunt Sis, Zech, and Gabe

                                                        Drew all decked out in his band uniform.

                                      Aunt Laura is great with my boys, she's quite the big kid herself!

                                We had never been to the WWII memorial. It is so beautiful and inspiring.

                                                    All the boys (Eli is in the back of the stroller)

 Can you see what it says? It reads, "Here we mark the price of freedom". Each one of those stars represented over 1000 men who died in the war. I can't even tell you how many stars there were. It brought tears to my eyes.                            Freedom is not free.

Ok, I'm a nerd. I love Abe Lincoln. Ever since I was in 4th grade and had to do this huge research project on him, I've loved him. Here he is! At this point Zech was really tired and cranky-his fever was back. I told him as soon as he read Lincoln's speech adn told me what it meant, we could go. That kid is a fast reader and he's bright. It only took him about 8 mins to figure it all out but I was happy for the teaching moment anyway.

                                                  See his flushed cheeks? Fever! YIKES!

Below the WWII memorial is the Korean War memorial. I didn't even know it exsisted. It was haunting. Truly.

 My Gabriel thought it was really neat. But he wondered why the soldiers all had a sad look on their faces. I told him that war was hard physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. They probably missed their families and were struggling with the sad things they had to see and do.

 On our way back, we stopped in front of the Washington Memorial for a picnic. Aunt Sis had brought a Quantum Leap for the boys so they enjoyed playing with it and eating their lunches.

 All I have to say is WOAH! Ammon is too cute for his own good. I cannot tell you how many times I get stopped with people just gushing about his dimples and bright flashy eyes. He is so dynamic and fun.

Elijah likes to explore. Thank goodness for older siblings who can run after him if he gets too far. I see a future problem when this new addition comes. I may have to be one of those mom's. You know the ones with the harnesses for their kids? EWWW! I hope not!

Elijah's surgery

I got home from Utah at 12:30am on Sunday nightApril 10th/Monday morning April 11th. By the time we got to bed it was 2am. We were up at 6am to take Elijah to the hospital to get a 2nd set of tubes put in and his adnoids taken out. We were SO tired but he was a trooper and I was very grateful Gary could go with me this time. Gary just calms me. Even though he lets me take the lead on everything regarding money, kids, house, etc. I always rely on him to calm, direct, and guide me and the kids. It works. He's great!

Pictures from Utah

This is Jordyn. She was the honorary babysitter of Elijah  and she was SOOO good! She is kind, thoughtful, responsible, and very obedient. She's just an all around great kid and I love her!

Here is DeDe, my cousin by marriage and newest jeweler. Doesn't she look pretty? She has turned in her sweatshirts and sweatpants for shirts, slacks, and jewelery. Go DeDe! I'm excited to watch her success in the business and feel pretty and good about herself!

 This is Madison. She is quite the character. She hates being a girl. She wants to be a boy desperately but just look how gorgeous she is! I told her that girls are way cooler than boys. They can do everything that boys can do (except hold the Priesthood) PLUS they can have babies! How cool is that!?! I don't know if she was convinced. (sigh)

 This cutie is Jackson. He is a 4 year old going on 14. He thinks he is just as big as Tanner, his older brother who I wasn't able to get a pic of, He goes over to "2-Grandma's" and pretty much gets whatever he wants. Could you resist that face?  He was very kind to share his balls and other toys with Elijah. I think he was ready to see us go though. :) He's kinda used to having Mom and Grandma all to himself.

I didn't get pics of the 2 oldest boys: Rob, DeDe's hubby and Tanner, her oldest son. They are both wonderful people and I love them dearly. Great times were had and strong loving relationships were built.

Utah and learning new things

I went to Utah! 

Yep, last week I flew out on Tuesday morning with Eli in tow to SLC, Utah for a week. First of all, I hadn't planned on bringing Elijah but of course the day before I'm set to leave he developed a high fever. Thank goodness he's still under 2 and flies free!I knew I would feel SO much better having him with me than worrying about him constantly. I'm so glad I brought him. Besides his ears hurting him like crazy on the flight over and much of the week-he was a doll! He is such a joy! 

Why did I go to Utah? 

No, it's not b/c I love the cold and just had to hit the slopes. I went out to train a new jeweler for my Premier Designs Jewelery Business. DeDe Griesmyer, my cousin by marriage, decided to become a jeweler so I flew out to conduct her training show. She did great and will be fabulous! I had a lovely time too! She is absolutely fabulous and so is her cute family. I totally love them! She's a football fanatic and used to wear sweatshirts and sweat pants everyday. Teeheehee. :) Now she wears earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. She ROCKS! I love her personality too. It's kinda hard to pinpoint or sum it up with just one or two adjectives. You know like people give me: "OCD, neat freak, dramatic, etc, etc" She is kind and thoughtful of others and their feelings while being independent and not caring what others think of her. She is loving and nurturing to her kids and other people's children but lets them do their own thing and roam free.  I learned a lot from her this past week. The biggest thing I learned is to let go. I want to give up the 'messy house is bad' frame of mind. Ok, I really cannot function if my house is messy or trashed but I can let it get messy to ensure the happiness of my family and friends. I mean, I love when my kids are home and feel peaceful and calm but when there are others in the house too, I feel responsible for them. I must watch them at all times! I worry over the state of the house and things getting broken or damaged. I know many moms who can easily just let loads of kids come over and never bat an eye about it. I watch them. Not to get them into trouble but b/c I feel like they are my responsibility and they need to be safe. I can't just go to my room and get on the computer if my kids have company over. This makes me limit my kids from having people over if I have things to do. But here's the catch: I would rather them be here than anywhere else. I want this to be their safe haven. So, I have decided to be more embracing and let things go a little more. It will take me a while but I am determined to get there. Thank DeDe for teaching me this ultra important concept. You see, EVERY kid in DeDe's neighborhood hangs out at her house. Kids call her if they miss the bus in the morning, they come over to chat with her, they eat her food, they make jokes and laugh with her, they call her Mom. She has created a safe place for these kids. Because of that, her own kids are always at her house. What a blessing! I want that too. 

About Utah:

It truly is a different world out there. It's Mormon country. This thrilled me! I told DeDe she  had to take me "Mormon shopping". I don't like to online shop. (Aren't I weird!?!) I have to see it, feel it, and all that jazz before I'll buy something. Anyways, they have Deseret Book on every corner just about, not to mention LDS books at Wal-Mart! How cool is that?! Their grocery stores have huge emergency preparedness aisles and food storage stocked aisles. People out here are like, "food storage? what's that? Won't Obama just give us food"? (Ooooohhhh!!! Did I really just go there?! HAHAHA! Yes, I did!!!) 

Anyways, I digress: Ok, so there's missionary malls, and just about everything LDS you could want. There's a ward building on literally every corner and a temple 4 blocks up the hill from DeDe's house. How BLESSED are they??? When I told my husband about this and how cool it was he asked me if I wanted to live there. To which I replied. No way! 

Why do you ask? They do not know what they have. Everyone is LDS. They are immersed in this culture and do not seem to be as committed or as strong as the people out here. I liked being different in school. I liked having to stand up and say, "I don't drink." I want my kids to have to stand up as well. I want them to be 'peculiar' people. I think this gives them character. I think it will only benefit them in the long run. Now, yes I know that sometimes it is just too hard for some kids to withstand peer pressure out here in the 'field' but kids in Utah fall too! What makes it worse is that all their friends are LDS and fall or are the ones dragging them down! At least out here you know where people stand. You're either hot or cold. It's pretty easy to tell which. Maybe I'm wrong about this but I just know from my experience of living in the Bible belt. I was one of like 5-10 Mormons in my entire high school at any period of the 4 yrs I was there. I was different. Everyone knew I was Mormon. Everyone knew my standards. Everyone knew and respected that! They'd ask questions. The truly huge bible thumpers would try to get me to "convert and see the err of my ways" but mostly they helped me stand for what I believed in. I remember being at a party and I was very depressed. I decided it was time to try a beer. I couldn't believe no one would give me one! My ex boyfriend was there and some of my other friends and they saw to it that NO one give me anything to drink! Boy was I blessed that day. I can't imagine what would have happened if they had not cared and let me do something I would forever regret. Hopefully my boys will not put themselves in a situation like that but if they do, I hope they can stand strong and their friends are respectful enough to help them. BUT since the parties are gonna be at my house, because I'll be the coolest Mom ever, there's nothing to worry about right?!? :)

Wow! What a long post this turned out to be.I'll upload the pics tomorrow. I'm tired!

Yep, I learned a lot of new things and I had a good time and I'm happy to be home. Even though it's been a whirlwind of no sleep, surgery, and dr visits. BUt that is for another post!

Nightmares

I had a horrible dream last night! First of all, I usually never dream. Secondly, I was already tired but got onto Hulu to "wind down" and ended up watching one of my fav shows, Law and Order SVU. Gary HATES this show! Mainly b/c that's what he deals with at work and he doesn't want to watch it on TV as recreation. I watch it b/c #1, I love Stabler and Benson. and #2 it makes me feel like I kinda understand a little of why he's a nut case about stuff sometimes and what he doesn't bring home to expose me to but keeps inside all locked up. Sick right? OK, well then my DH informs me that he got Black Swan for me. WooHoo! A dance movie! Awesome! Seriously, that is about ALL I knew about it. It won a bunch of awards and it was about ballet. I figured I was in.

WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!?! 

I was shocked! I was appalled! And yet, I kept watching? I could go on and on about the garbage that is being forced down our throats through "award winning" movies, TV, documentaries, etc. But you really don't want to hear it and I'll just get myself even more pissed off. Let's just say that I am more grateful than ever to have turned off our cable. I will not be spending my money or my time on Hollywood and their agenda to destroy our families, our morals, and our  country. Even if that means I miss out on "culture". I'll make my own-thank you very much! I just wasted a whole lot of time and subjected my mind and spirit to garbage. It's going to take me a lot longer to get this out. And that my friends, is the power of the Dark Side. Lying in wait.

Thank goodness today is General Conference. Let the Light Shine Before Men!

A month (or more) in revue

Where to start?
Beginning of Feb we found out the sex of our baby: A GIRL!!! Super excited!

A week later, I go back to the OBGYN and am told that I need to get a follow up ultrasound b/c of cysts on the baby's brain. I freak until I talk to my BIL and SIL and do some research about how common this is and how 95% of the time, it goes away.

I go to Atlantic City with Gary! By myself for a whole week! My mom came from GA and took care of my boys for me so Gary and I could get away. Gary had a training there and spouses could come, so I decided it was now or never since the Army keeps jacking our leave and such. UGH! That's another post in and of itself.  Anyways, I was totally bored during the day but brought all my Premier Designs paper work that I inputted while Gary was in class. We had lunch together everyday.  He would get off work and we would go explore and eat fabulous food full of lovely conversation without interruptions. So great! Thanks Mom for taking care of my babies!

I get back and have to take Eli to the Dr. He has strep and maybe another ear infection. His tubes had fallen out already. Since then he's had 3 more ear infections. YIKES! I took him to the ENT a week later and he still has fluid behind his ears. They gave him a test for his ear drums (or something) and both of his ears are completely flat lined-NOT GOOD!

Eli playing before getting his 1st set of tubes in!

Elijah about 1 yr ago getting ready for his 1st set of tubes :(

Meanwhile, I'm working my butt off with Premier. I had many shows as well as my own renewal show for my 1st anniversary with Premier. It coincided with my b-day. So I threw myself a party! My girlfriend, Salena, made me a Wonder woman cake. I loved it!

On my actual birthday, Gary took the day off. We really didn't have plans (b/c I did not make any! UGH!) so we ended up being "persuaded" by my SIL to get food storage. What?!? It was my stinkin' birthday! But, that's what we did. We bought 1/2 year food storage for our whole family. Because we spent so much on that, I wouldn't let Gary take my truck in to get a new CD player put in. ---This is one of the things I told him I wanted for my birthday 2 months previously. Somehow, it didn't seem as important as before. Because we bought that much food storage, we had to find a place to put it! Which meant we had to clear out our garage, which meant putting up bunkbeds in the boys room, which meant cleaning and rearranging their room, and the list goes on...
Soccer practice and then cake with family sealed the jammed backed day.

Me at 19ish weeks preggo

Meanwhile, I went back for the follow up ultrasound. Then I go back to the OBGYN where they say, I need another ultrasound b/c my AFI is low. And with a smile on the nurse and doctor's face says, "Don't worry, just drink lots of water and rest". I had all 4 boys with me at this apt. They were great waiting for 45 mins in the waiting room but were spent by the time the actual apt came. Rest? While I'm wrestling with Ammon and Eli and threatening Gabriel and Zechariah with bodily harm if they touch one more thing...  Really? HAHAHAHA!!!

I go home and start researching low AFI: then, I start to freak! Fast Sunday was coming up so I asked all my family to fast with me and my boys (anytime I say "boys" this includes Gary) that my AFI would increase and the baby would be healthy and my body would support this pregnancy the way it needs to.

I went back for my follow up ultrasound. Guess what?!? My AFI is higher! Prayer works and God hears and answers them. I'm still downing the water and trying to rest (this may be a permanent change for me!) So, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! to everyone who joined us in this fast and praying for our baby girl. She is already gorgeous and I can't wait to get her here healthy and whole and perfect in every way!

Isn't she beautiful?!? That's her little elbow tucked around her head while she sleeps. I'm in love already!

  

I feel extremely loved and blessed by my Father in Heaven. Faith is a hard concept for me sometimes as even though I know prayer works and I need to trust in Him, sometimes I can't let go of the panic and fear. I'm working on it though. Gratefully, God is willing to work with me! :)