And the date is.....

So went to the doc today and all is looking great!!  I had a few bad days this week but I am having a great day today.  The doc just went out of town today and will not be back until Monday.  I have an appointment Wednesday morning and he will check how things are progressing with me.  I told him I have a cervix like and iron clad trap but he still want to check things out and then make a plan on how to start the induction which will occur on .......... Thursday morning June 12.  We are very excited to have a goal to work toward now!!  That will put me between 38 and 39 weeks depending on which due date you want to pick.  I feel really good about it and I am excited to have a light at the end of the tunnel.  We have really appreciated all the help and support that we have been given.  We love you all and hope to have more exciting news and pics to come!!

WHAT????

So I went to the doc yesterday and my bp looks pretty good just a little higher than it has been. The goal all along that I was given was to keep my bp below 140 and stay on my left side as much as possible. I have been doing that mostly!! The thought the doc had been telling us all along was just make it to 37 weeks and we will induce. I fully went to the doc intent on trying to talk him into letting me get to 38 weeks. So he looks at all the tests results and the babies readings and says......"well if you do not go into labor by 39 weeks if you are into it we could induce you"............WHAT????? I mean I am very excited that the baby is doing awesome and that the Lord has blessed my body to be able to carry this child longer and make him stronger...but I was not prepared for that. Anyone who knows me knows that I do not have babies on my own. I have always been induced and it is usually at 40-42 weeks. I just cannot do it normal as with everything else I guess. So it looks like at least another 14 days on my left side which is a little discouraging, but I did cheat and go to the movies and dinner last night with Jared just to lift my spirits. I know everything happens for a reason and I am trying to be positive but if anyone knows anything fun to do while laying on your left side all day let me know!!!

Time looks short

Well I went to the doc on Thursday and he sent me over to the hospital for tests as soon as he saw my bp. I was there with Jared for a couple of hours. They were thinking maybe they would be inducing me but we got it under control. They found some things in my blood that indicate I probably can not go much longer. I have to go back to the hospital on Monday for more tests on me and the and the baby. If nothing has changed they will let me go til Thursday. I am really swollen and feeling very crumby but I guess that is the name of the game. They did say that Noah looked great in all the tests! A model baby so that was a comfort. We hope that all will be well and that we can keep this little boy incubating as long as is possible. Jared is being a huge support physically and emotionally. Thanks again for all the love, prayers, and support from everyone. We love you all.

More of the same!!

Well my 4 minute doctor appointment went well yesterday once it finally got started!!!  I sat in the waiting room for 2 hours and 10 minutes before I was called back a room.  That is right, 2 hours and 10 minutes!!  I would call that a little excessive wouldn't you?!  They were really nice and felt really bad about the wait and I was not the only one waiting but it was still a stinkin long time!!  So when the doc finally came in he was there for all of about 4 minutes.  In all honestly there was really not that much to say.  Just more of the same.  My blood pressure was looking good( for me at least) he said to keep it up and take it easy still-moderate bed rest.  He said I am measuring at 35 weeks so we will just have to see where I am at in 2 weeks.  So it is just the hurry up and wait game!!  I really appreciate all of the calls and help that everyone has offered.  The kids are doing the best that can be expected, missing there dad terribly, as am I.  Kaitlynn is doing great in school down here and loves having her cousin Sam in her class.  The boys are getting a lot of play outside time on NaNa's porch and JoJo got everyone a bike to ride around on.  Jared should be here next weekend so we are all on a countdown.   That is about all to report!!  Hopefully the next 6 weeks or less flies by!!!!

Moderation is GOOD!!!

So I went to the doctor yesterday and I guess you could call it good news. He told me that the baby sounds great. My blood pressure does continue to slowly creep higher and higher. Right now he called it "borderline risk" whatever that means?? Basically he would like my blood pressure to stay in the 130's until I get to 36 weeks. If I can do that then I can be on "Moderate" bed rest which to me sounds so much better than strict bed rest. If I go too high though we will have to renegotiate. He would just like to get me to 38 weeks and then he says we will be in good shape. He says he will probably take the baby early but I am hoping that I can keep everything low enough so that I can go full term which in June 20th (as long as the baby is okay). I am really liking the doctor up here and the hospital is amazing. The help and concern here has been awesome even if I complain that they ask me way too many times to take my blood pressure!! Jared and Kaitlynn were able to come down for a few days and it has been wonderful. They have really helped lift my spirits. Oh, how I have missed them. Kaitlynn looks so much older even just after 2 weeks. Well, we will keep updating and hope that all will continue to be good news!! All the best.

Enough with the Bed Rest!!!

So for those of you who do not know I have been on and off bed rest for the last few weeks.  My blood pressure has been all over the place, swelling, and some signs of preclempsia.  It has been really lousy but very humbling at the same time.  Jared and I have decided that we absolutely love giving help and coming to the aid of others but the receiving side is not for us.  Right now the boys and me are in Az with the family who is very Very VERY restrictive on my allotted activities ( I love you guys).  Really though I do appreciate everything that is being done for me.  I am seeing a doc down here and he is running a bunch of tests that I will get the results from on Thursday.  Much to my families dismay I am hoping that all will be on the up side and I can go back to Moab.  I dearly miss my sweet and helpful husband and my darling Kaitlynn!! She scored her first soccer goal today and it was the last game of the year.  We have told her and Connor all season long that if they scored a goal during a game we would by them a big, fat, banana split!!  So yes she had pancakes and banana split for breakfast today!!  I am so sad that I missed it but at least her dad was there.  The boys are having a blast with cousins and even spent the night out at PaPa and Jojo's farm.  They loved it!!  The baby too come(aka Noah) is doing really well despite all the other drama.  We will have another ultrasound soon to make sure that he is still growing good.  The doc here has changed my due date to June 20th and says he will probably take the baby before that if I am still here.  I do not know how I feel about that?!  I will do my best to keep all posted on progress but as for now I am mostly bed or couch ridden and learning many new hobbies from my mom (ones that I can do while I sit on my rump of course).  All the Best!!

Construction Worker in Training

Yes we are still kickin' here in Moab just very busy with a move-in and remodel.....yes at the same time.........in the same house!! It has been fun to work together!! Dad, Chels, Devin, and little Tyla Jo came to help!! Thanks you guys were amazing! We are replacing all the flooring in the house well not because I am spoiled and need new floor (despite popular belief) because they had a nasty, shaggy, pee pee prone dogs that lived in the house with them, all the time!! Yuck!!!! Sorry for you dog lovers but dogs belong out in nature not in with carpet!! But we are so excited and hopefully will be all done by Friday and move in Saturday!! Of course that is what we said last week! Jared has worked so hard and Grandma and Grandma 2 have been lifesavers with the kids!! They usually do pretty good at the house just playing outside but I tend to get a lot more done with out them!! The pic below is Brig helping his dad tear down part of a wall. He was so excited he get to help!! As you can plainly see by his huge smile! The only remodeling mishaps so far are that I painted a wall a deep burgundy red in one room and forgot that I left the roller on the ground with the paint can and then left to touch up another room. Well, stealth Brig decided to "help" me finish painting. He painted the other white walls with it and also the carpet (well at least we are replacing it). He was covered in paint and devastated that I was not pleased with his work!! Jared found it hilarious though!! Well, that is all we are doing well and loved conference!! It was so hard to pic a favorite talk but I loved Elder Ballards talk about motherhood!! I am so blessed to be able to stay home with my children and be a mom!! I have an AWESOME husband and a very supportive family that help me do that!! Thanks to all of you (you know who you are)!! Hopefully we will have more pics and news to come!!

Happy Jeep Safari...or I mean Easter!!

So here in Moab, Easter is not celebrated with baskets, eggs, and bunnies, at least not by the majority of the Moab population and it's 1000,000+ tourists. It is celebrated with jeeps, four-wheelers, insanely high lift-kits, and alot of testosterone. So Tiera, Jared, the Kids, and me decided to go check out the displays and free stuff!! Aunt Tiera had here heart set on winning the free jeep and the kids just wanted the free posters. Thank goodness they have cheaper taste. In true Aunt Tiera fashion we found a photo op. Aren't we cute!! Brigham must have been off with Jared ( I hope). It was a ton of fun and was nice to have Tiera to ourselves all weekend!! We have more real Easter pics but they will have to go on later!! Oh by the way, we are moving hence the short blog and will probably be a while til the next!! Happy Easter and Jeep Safari!!

Have you had your Leprechaun Milk today????

Happy St. Pattty's Day to all!! As you can imagine this is a big holiday in our house!! Jared loves all things Irish and so do we. Although there was much dispute over what we would have for breakfast on this lucky day....Jared wanted the traditional Bangers and Eggs and I wanted something everyone else could stomach....I won. We ate just what the leprechauns do!! We had "irish green" french toast, sausage "patties", and leprechaun milk! Jared wanted to know who was going to milk the leprechaun. I told him not to worry we had some "leprechaun drops" in the pantry!! It was fun and the kids are now on rainbow look-out so that their dad can drive them to the end of the rainbow!! We could certainly use the gold at the end. The kids have planned many ways that they will catch the leprechaun!! Who would not want a pot o' gold!! Have a great St. Patrick's Day and don't forget to drink your leprechaun milk.........it does a leprechaun good!! :)

Precious Moment!

I had to share a special experience that Kaitlynn has had over the last few days and also I have to write it down or I will forget like I always do. Kaitlynn has been having trouble at school with a little girl who is very much a bully and a brat (I am just a little protective). It started at the beginning of the year with her kicking Kaitlynn in the shin under her desk when the teacher was not looking, calling her names, laughing at her on the bus, at the bus stop, and at recess. This girl is not mean only to Kaitlynn but she seems to focus most of her hatred towards her because Kaitlynn and this girl used to share a common friend. (That friend has since devoted I guess you would say to Kaitlynn, we love her she is a sweetie). So anyway just wanted to give you a back ground. Kaitlynn came home upset on Friday that this girl was making fun of her and some other girls. She was relentless and would not leave Kaitlynn alone. Now mind you, Jared and I have tried everything to help her through this. We have told her to ignore her, stand up to her, try to befriend her, talk to the teacher, etc. NOTHING has worked for very long. So Kaitlynn and I talked on and off about it all weekend. Finally, on Sunday or Saturday I had a revelation. I was telling Kaitlynn to do everything, but the one thing she should do. I told her about when I was younger and how I would sometimes do like the scriptures said and go into my secret place (my pink closet) and talk to the Lord just like you would talk to you mom or dad. I told her to tell Him her concerns, fears, and ideas and ask for his help. I told her that the answer would come, maybe not right away, but soon, as long as she really was sincere. So Monday morning came and I was expecting the same hesitation about the bus stop but she just bopped out the door. I asked her "Are you going to have a good day?" She sincerely and I really mean that she was serious and sincere. She looked at me and said "Yep I am, I got my answer!" And that was it. I lived in suspense all day long to find out what had happened. When she got home she said she had a great day and I asked her if she could share her answer with me. She said "Heavenly Father told me to just keep being Kaitlynn and that I should love my enemies." That was it! Some days I wish that my line was as directed as my childrens, they are so precious and important to me. They truly have been sent here to teach Jared and I!! I am happy to report she has not had another bad day since then and I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for answering her prayers and mine!! He truly does love his children!!

Happy 5th Birthday Connor!!!

So prepare to be overwhelmed with pics!! I do this mainly for those of you who were so sad to not be there!! We had a great b-day party for Connor on Saturday!! It was a "Rootin' Tootin' good time!" as one of the party members said!! It was our very own western how-down. So I will give the details with each pic...........

This is the sweetest pic of him and you can really see how excited he is! We got him boots for his birthday and it has been hard to keep them off his feet since. We gave them to him before the party so he could be a real cowboy!

These are Connor's friends and our kids. There was about 11 kids there which was more managable than I thought it would be (well maybe that is because I had Grandma, Grandma 2, Tiera, Jared, and one of my young women from church there to help!!). We had hot dogs, baked beans, and chips that we ate in pie tins just like the cowboys did!! We drank Cactus Juice (lime sherbert and sprite) they all thought I really juiced a cactus!

So we had a few games to play with the kids. Here is Jared organizing the Shoot-out!! Surprisingly the best shooter was a little girl!! Way to go!!

We also panned for gold!! Kudos to Jared for going and digging up the softest sand in Moab for the kids to pan through. We had a ton of "gold nuggets" in there for them to find and they all thought that were rich!! It was so cute!

The last game we played was called "Stomp the Snake". They loved it except for Jake who really did not want his snake to get stomped!! Emily Newman won that one and the kids loved chasing her to get the last snake!!

This is just a candid moment of Jakers!! He did not have the best day because he bit a hole in his tongue right before we left for the party. We did not realize it needed stiches until later that night when I talked to my friend who happens to be a dentist. She took him down to the office and her and her husband stiched it up for us no charge. They are awesome!!

Brigs as you can imagine had a blast!! Being at the park all day and eating it was heaven! He loved his cowboy hat and he only had one major biff-it!! He slid down the big kid slide head first and bloodied his nose and lip!! What can you do???

Here is Connor opening his presents!! He was so excited with each one even when he had no idea what it was! It was precious!! The kids were so excited to watch him open the ones that they got him!! His top two of the party were a Bubble Generator (it blows up to 1000 bubbles a minute, why did I not think of that) and a transformer dinosaur (that Brigs has already broke go figure).

He was so pumped about his cake! He wanted chocolate on chocolate and to have horses on it. I did my best to please! It is hard to have b-days without my sweetheart and talented sister-in-law Amanda to make amazing cakes for us!! But it will do!!

Here is a close up of the cake!! It is not leaning it is just the pic I promise!!

So before each kid left, we gave them a real, authentic cowboy root beer!! They thought is was so cool!! So now you feel like you were there. You did not miss a thing!! It was a great party and if anyone needs cowboy ideas just let me know!! Happy Birthday Connor!!!

Yes, it is true!! Shawnee will be a SUNDEVIL!! Asu called on Sunday night and offered her a full-ride scholarship to come and play volleyball for them!! She is on cloud nine! We knew that they would be offering soon and that they had something, but no one thought it would be a full-ride!! We are so excited to watch her play and are proud of her!! She is definately living a dream for all of her siblings! And the most exciting thing of it all is that her head coach is the former BYU women's volleyball head coach! He is an awesome guy and it will be his first year too!! Shawnee and him will be the only members on the team but at least they are not alone!! Congrats Shawnee Bear, we love you!!!

Great Reminder!!

Have you ever thought how easy it would be to live right if your were just around good people. You know the kind you never really meet. No guile, they are selfless, thoughtful, helpful, unassuming, always willing to lift you up when you need a boost, ect. Well I have. A few days ago grandma came home with this quote and it put things in prespective for me so I thought I would share!!

"Surround yourself with sinless people. Associate with children as often as you can."
-Mary Ellen Edmunds

Just a little reminder that they are perfect and we are the ones that mess up everyday!!

Boy Genius'!?!?

Although there have been a few disputations here in Moab as to whether my boys actually have the genius level IQ that I claim................at least they look the part!!! How can you even contest their brilliance????

Mucho take it EAZZZZY!!!

So as you can plainly see my kids are BIG nacho libre fans!! They got these capes from their Aunt Shawnee when she went to Mexico. Jacob has always been very fond of his but just recently Connor decided he liked his. We think they are hillarious!! So enjoy another glimpse into our CHAOS!!

Right here they are yelling "NACHOOOOOOOO!"
Doesn't Connor look intimidating!!!

Jacob is actually the one to watch out for when he has on his mask!! He is way to fast!

A Tribute to Elder Chan the Man!

So this is our tribute to my AWESOME brother!!! He is serving his mission in Tallahassee, Fl on the FSU campus. We miss him so much but love that he has chosen to serve the Lord and set such and amazing example to our children. I realized as I was doing the blog that I do not have that many pics of him. We have so much fun together we must just forget to take pics!! The kids absolutely adore him and cannot wait to pester him again!! But they love to hear his missionary stories and they pray for him to feel the spirit and have a great mission every night. He is such an amazing person and we love him with all our hearts so enjoy the pics! For those of you who know Chan he is with his second companion right now and the new companion was a greenie!! So that is right, Chan was a trainer on only his second companion. He is staying humble and knows that the Lord is bound and determined to mold him into something more than he has planned himself!! If anyone wants his email just let me know!! He loves to hear from friends and family. Oh, by the way, he has only been hit by a car once so far so we think he is doing great considering his track record!!!!

Connor's Sweet Song

So I totally have always loved to hear this song, but it is so much the sweeter when it is sung by one of your own children!! Enjoy!

They're not heavy, they're my brothers!!!

So I so wish I could turn these pics the right way. Jared took the boys to the moutain to find some snow igloos the scouts had made a few weeks ago. He wanted to let them explore and play in some real (non-slushy) snow. When they got there the road was so covered they could not make it in the truck. Jared loaded Brigs and Jakers into the sled and him and Connor decided to pull them to the igloos. Jared said the snow was half way up his own leg and was really tough to walk in. However, I looked at these pics and Connor seems to be really happy to be pulling his brothers. It just reminded me of the saying " He is not heavy, he is my brother." I love my boys and they are just awesome friends and kids! They truly love each other and love being together. They finally got to the igloos and they were collapsed but they had a blast anyway!!

GIRLZ WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!

So this Pres. Day weekend just the girlz got to go to Las Vegas (compliments of JoJo) partially to watch some seriously awesome volleyball and partially just to have some bonding time! It was so much fun! Shawnee's club team played in a tournament there were over 700 teams. It is the biggest recruiting tourney of the year. She was absolutely amazing!! She had BYU, ASU, USC, Gonzaga, Uof A, Texas A&M, Boise State, UVSC, Snow College, San Angelo University, Georgia University, Montana University, and on and on there checking her out. She was on fire!! While we were there she had 3 full ride offers. She has since got 4 more. She is holding out for another couple of weeks and then she will make a verbal committment. I think she really wants ASU and they say they are trying to scrape together a full ride for her so we will see!! So here are some pics of our weekend!! So much fun!! Enjoy!

Here is all of us at the Venetian waiting for the gondolla rides!!

Shawnee the Stud!! Brooklyn says she would almost trade her kids to have Shawnee's legs!!

Here we are watching the games and this is my cutie-patootie niece Addy Mae!

So what would a Las Vegas trip be without at trip to the FAO Swartz store!! Kaitlynn could not believe all the toys and had a hard time not wanting to pick something out for everyone in the family!

Kaitlynn found the cutest hat in Vegas and we can hardly keep it off her head now!! Keyera wanted to copy her every move and usually did!

Here is me, my mom, and the bug on our ride!! It was fun mostly just to watch Kaitlynn!
This is a pic taken from Brook, Jojo, and the girlz gondolla.

Shawnee had so much fun with the girls they sure love their Aunt Shawnee!!

So we ate at the Grand Luxe Cafe which is basically a Cheesecake Factory! It was scrumptious! Kaitlynn snarfed down her food in hopes of a great desert and she found one!! Strawberry Shortcake was her choice and it was huge!! She loved it!

Here she is being so Kaitlynn, never a serious moment!! She made those glasses out of Wikki Stix! They are pretty cool way better than crayons and a paper to entertain while you wait for food!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Late Valentine's Day to all I hope you had a great one!! Just thought I would show you one of my valentine creations! I do not know what happened to me this year, usually I am not that into V-day, but it was fun this year. I am so mad I did not take more pics though. We started off the morning with hot pink heart shaped pancakes and had heart shaped pizza for dinner. I did the games at Kaitlynn's Valentines party at school. Such cute games I found so if anyone needs any for next year let me know!! (Way easy, way fun). I made 41 heartshaped pink ricecrispy treats sprinkled with sugar and wrapped in red cellophane with a tag on them for each member of Connor and Kaitlynn's class. Once again so mad did not take pics so someday I can prove to my kids I was a good mom somedays. Jared was Mr. Romance on V-day and took me to a way nice resturant the Center Cafe. It is like one of those 8 course meals and the food looks like it is from Iron Chef! Yummy!! He surprised me with a huge vase of red roses on the table of the resturant. They were there waiting when we got there and Ms. Observent me did not even notice them til the waitress pointed them out!! What a sweet heart! It was a great day (not to brag) and the kids had fun too!!

A Few Nice Dayz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So we finally had a few nice days here in Moab! It has been an abnormally cold, snowy, and windy winter. We usually have a really mild winter and not too much snow. Well in these pics it is the first we have seen the ground in months!! I am serious the kids have been going crazy. We told them they could go outside and play for a little while and the following MUDDY pics are the result!!!

Connor first lost his shoes and then lost his pants!! It was quite the shoe, good thing our backyard is fenced in!!
Connor and Kaitlynn decided maybe mudbogging was not the funnest activity!! I was not about to go out there and get them!
Finally he made it out!

So on Saturday after the Worldwide Training meeting Jared and I decided to take the kids to the Old City Park!! It was so nice and beautiful!! It was still cold enough for coats but at least we saw the sun!! I actually got a sunburn....how sad!! Kaitlynn lost her other front tooth this month and we think it is hilarious to hear her talk!!
Connor has quite the baseball stance.....not!
For those of you who know Jake, this is so Jake!!!!!He was sitting on first base waiting for his brother the hit the ball, he finally got irritated enough he just sat down!

Totally love Brig, he has the same face in amost every picture we take of him, but what a precious face!!

All in all it was a pretty good week and a great weekend!! I love being the mom to these kidz!! (I might have to come back and read this in a few days to remind myself!! hahaha)