Good vs Best

For a while now I have been contemplating homeschooling my children. I home schooled Zechariah when he was in Kindergarten and it went pretty well. I researched the heck out of it, set my toy room up into centers, had a great schedule and found good curriculum too. I felt accomplished after that 1st year and happy with both his and my progress. I was pleased that when we moved to MD and he went to public school, he was WAY above his peers in reading and math. Our elementary school is great. It has wonderful teachers and I really like their curriculum choices. Zech recently got assessed and picked up for TAG and Gabriel is on a 2nd grade reading level already and his teachers call him a wiz at math. I can toot my own horn about Zech's success b/c I taught him how to read and his basics with math but I can't do that with Gabriel. His teachers and school are truly wonderful. So, I vacillated. Why take them out? It's a good school. They are doing so well! I'm about to have another baby!!! Which means I'd have 3 at home, why not 2 more? I'm so tired of not seeing my boys.

When pondering about decisions like this, I typically feel strongly one way or another. My feelings on this issue (to home school or not) was that they were both "good" choices. In May, I even went to the LDS homeschool conference with my SIL. I had still not made my decision but was interested in finding inspiration. I didn't. There wasn't that lightening bolt I was looking for or the "YES!" declaration in my mind and heart. I became frustrated at not receiving a prompting one way or another and not being able to say a definitive "YES! I will homeschool" or "YES! they will go to their elementary school next year". After praying for inspiration for a few days, I woke up one morning hurting-I'm kinda big at this point in my pregnancy :) I decided to take a hot bath. I typically like to read whenever I do this so I picked up the Oct conference ensign and flipped through the talks. I rested on one by Dieter F. Uchtdorf entitled, Of Things That Matter Most. It was a good read and I was enjoying his thoughts on simplifying our lives and such when I read this quote that hit me like a ton of bricks:

Elder Dallin H. Oaks, in a recent general conference, taught, “We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families.” ² 

Well, my friends there you have it. After reading that I knew that homeschooling was "best" for my children and my family. I took it to prayer and He agreed. Wish me luck b/c we have begun a very important journey.

Elijah turns 2!

 My sweet baby boy turned 2 May 28th. Since he loves all sports that deal with balls, I decided to have a sports party for him. There has been so much going on that I didn't even know if I could pull it off but b/w my 4 boys, our 4 cousins next door, and Jordyn-who is here visiting from Utah, we had quite the turn out by ourselves! Being my 4th son, there was little I thought he needed and we didn't have. I have always wanted to get a little tykes basketball hoop and set out to find one. I went to Goodwill first and found a perfect one for $5! SCORE! I set up 3 stations: Soccer, Basketball, and T-ball. The kids were divided into groups of 3 and rotated through the stations. Afterwards we had cupcakes and presents!

 Baby boy Batter Up!

It was really hot so Gary decided to cool them off with a little spray from the water hose.

      



When in Doubt-Fire the Doctor!

DRAMA! 

That is the word that surrounds much of this pregnancy. Overall, I have really good pregnancies but this one has been one thing after another: debilitating migraines, trips to the ER due to migraines, an ultra sound scare at 20 weeks due to white spots on her brain, an ultra sound scare due to low AFI, early labor (contractions) where the doctor put me on meds to stop them, an allergic reaction to said meds, bed rest to stop contractions since I couldn't take the meds, a follow up with the doc and his nurse who seemed to want no responsibility for the fact that they did no testing to find out why I was contracting. So...what do I do?

FIRE the doctor and get a new one! 

So I did. I am now back on Tricare Prime so that I could be seen at Andrews Air Force base. Guess what? I had an infection which was causing the contractions! Hmmm... Didn't I say to the previous dr-I've NEVER gone into pre term labor before? How do you know I'm contracting? I always have to be induced or induce myself? I cannot stand it when doctors don't listen to you and think you don't know anything. Yes, I know they went to medical school where they learned everything about everything (insert sarcasm) but who walks, talks, and breathes in this particular body every single day? Why the arrogance? I'm not a combative person. I just want dialogue. You talk to me and I'll talk to you with respect! Oh well, needless to say, I am back to my Wonder woman stage. I'm big as a cow and I have lost a whole month of shows (I desperately need the money) and a month of ability to get stuff done. But! I have learn that people are willing and ready to help. My children are capable of more than I let them do. Hahaha! Poor kids are doomed now! Prayer works. Why do I always have to be reminded of this? Oh yeah, cause I'm thick headed! My husband can handle much more than I let him do...(insert a sly smile!) And family rocks! I love mine. My SIL's in Alabama got together and figured out this whole time line on who could come when to help me. My SIL next door brought meals over for almost a whole week and took my little ones as much as she could AND pulled soccer duty for at least a week or more while her hubby was in Germany and mine? is owned by the Army and is never home to help! Yep, I'm a blessed little lady. I love my friends and family. I love my life. And I LOVE this beautiful little girl inside me. And I can't wait to meet her in person. :)

(Sorry no pics---boring huh?)

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.