September and part of October

Apparently I haven't been very good at keeping up with this blog.  I have good intentions, but it doesn't happen.  Right now I find myself with 50 minutes of spare time, which has become very rare.

Okay September.  School was a huge challenge for Olivia.  She'd cry every morning when I dropped her off no matter what I said to her.  It would tear me to pieces seeing her that way, but I kept a strong face and tried to encourage her.  It eventually got to point where I had to tell her that I wasn't going to listen to the crying anymore.  That seemed to help.  What made the biggest impact was asking her what her last name is. Odd, yes, but this worked.  She told me what our last name is and I told her because of this last name we can do hard things.  She thought about it and proudly walked into her classroom, tear free, and told her teacher that she could do hard things.  We talked about this later in the day and I explained to her that some things might seem hard right now, but soon they will be easy.  We have been tear-free almost every day since!

We found out the gender of the baby in early September too.  We're having a BOY!  I'm very excited.  After having my two girls and planning on this being my last child; I really wanted a boy.  This will be the first grandson on both sides.  My mom currently has 9 granddaughters!

Olivia started swim lessons again after having a break for 2 months.  She is s-l-o-w-l-y making progress.  Coming from a girl who was afraid of getting her face wet, the progress she has done has been remarkable.

October 9-- Third week of lessons Olivia finally puts her face in the water.  She said it was amazing!

Lucia decided to potty train herself.   I'm not complaining.  Lucia is stubborn and pretty much does things on her own timetable.  One day she decided that she was going to wear panties and go potty.  I wasn't able to argue with her.  I made her a potty chart that she worked diligently to complete.  The reward was swim lessons with Olivia.  We're now starting a new chart to record the nights that she wakes up dry.  She really wants to wear panties to bed like Olivia but this will come with time.

Olivia was recognized at her horse lessons this past week.  She was their 2000th session this year and to celebrate there was cake, balloons and a bag full of goodies for her.  This week is their last session for the year.  I complain to myself every week about the hour drive (each way) but once we're there it's total bliss.  I look forward to next May when sessions begin again.

Olivia at Resolution Horse -- Their 2000th session rider this year.

Lucia and Olivia with two of the volunteers.  Patty in the blue and Terry in the brown.  They have been wonderful to work with!

Lucia started her first swim lessons this week.  She is doing really well.  She won't jump into the pool unless helped and won't put her head under the water, but this will come with time.  I was determined to start her much earlier than Olivia to hopefully get rid of the fear early.

Lucia-- first swim lessons with her teacher Amie

I have been carpooling with a lady in my apartment complex to and from school.  I take the kids to school and she picks up.  I am not a morning person but I LOVE this time in the morning with Olivia.  It's 20 minutes that we get to talk.  I'm using the time in the car to work on various things like memorization, reading, math facts, or just to talk.  On Tuesday I asked her what she wanted to talk about and she wanted to talk about the circulatory system.  She's always been fascinated with the human body.  You would think that she'd want to become a doctor in the future but her reply is a cowgirl mommy.

September was also the Brigham City Temple open house which was a very special treat for our family!

Olivia, Nicol and Lucia at the Brigham city open house.

I guess we're caught up now.  Hopefully I can stay on top of this a little better....

B6 and Unisom

This pregnancy certainly has been different then my others.  With previous ones I NEVER got sick.  I mainly felt tired.  This pregnancy, I have been nauseous this entire time (12 weeks).  It really hasn't been bad but it gets to the point that I simply can't stand it anymore.  I'm not 'sick' with this nausea, but a very sick tummy.

Yesterday a neighbor told me about taking 1 B6 vitamin and 1/2 a Unisom at night and that will help with the next day nausea.  After a very sick stomach all day yesterday I decided to give it a try.  Naturally these pills are not something I typically have around and of course Ed was in class last night.  I put out a plea on facebook in hopes that a neighbor would have these pills that I could take.  Thankfully someone offered to head to the store for me.

One and a half pills later I was completely out to the world last night.  Man, I slept great!  Once morning came, I continued to sleep.  I eventually dragged myself out of bed only to doze on the couch.  I lay listening to Olivia hum 'Sweet Hour of Prayer' while coloring for an hour, and Lucy playing with Ed.  This went on until 2p.  Through this all I am grateful that Ed was home.

So perhaps the B6 and Unisom are not a good combo for me.  My stomach feels great today (a little sick after lunch) but I need to function.  With all the sleeping I've done today, hopefully I can sleep tonight.

Countdown is On!

So last night after a very emotional talk with Ed (everything is emotional right now with being pregnant), he helped me realize something.  Well actually two somethings.

First, is our LONG journey pursuing the Foreign Service.  It has always been at least 1 to 2 years out that we would have a clue if this would even be a possibility.  In my mind it seemed that it was still far off in the future and that we might not reach it.  Well Ed helped me realize that in a little over 3 months we'll know if he passes the final step.  Wow, 3 months!!  And we'll know if he is put on the register (like the job waiting list.  They go off of this when offering jobs.) after security clearance and such in roughly 6 months.  So in 6 months, I might actually know which path in life we are taking!   This made me feel so much better last night.

Second, is that this semester at the University for Ed is practically over and that means that if all goes as planned he only has 1 year of school left!  1 year!  I can totally handle 1 year!

So my countdown is on.  In 3 months we'll know if Ed passes the final step in the Foreign Service process, 6 months if he is on the FS register and about the same time I'll have a new baby, and 1 year graduation!

And for fun, here is a picture of my girls, sucking on ring pops pretending to be babies.  

Baby!

I have never been this nervous to announce a baby but I simply can't keep it to myself any longer.

Baby #3 due February 8, 2013

We are super excited for this baby!!

This TOTALLY explains my lack of motivation!