Pregnancy Update

I haven't posted about my pregnancy for a while, so I thought I would share what is going on. This time around it has been so very different from the other three. It has been a little rough to say the least. I am still sick, but not nearly as sick as I was starting out. I still take Zofran for nausea but instead of 3 times a day, I take it once at night. I am 33 weeks pregnant, so I still have 7 or so weeks to go. If you asked me, I would tell you that I feel exactly like I do when I am 40 plus weeks though. I feel like it is hard to breathe, it is hard to move and it is crazy to me that I am only 33 weeks along! Randy thinks I look a lot bigger than I did with the other kids, but I don't weigh more, nor am I wearing larger clothing than I did with them. I guess I could just be carrying her differently.

I have been having other issues as well. I am having contractions all the time. Some are Braxton hicks (which don't bother me at all) and some are actual contractions that stop me in my tracks. Because I have been having so many, my midwife has told me not to do anything at all. When I told her "I will try" she said "That isn't good enough, I want you to take it easy and not do anything." She hasn't put me on bed-rest because she understands that I have three other kids and a husband to take care of. So, I have been trying my best to take it easy, especially in the last couple of weeks. Randy and my mom have been very helpful by taking the kids off my hands and helping out with the housework. The last thing I want is for this baby to be born before she is ready.

Another interesting thing is the fact that I am still measuring big for how far along I am. I have always been right on my due date, measurement wise, for the other pregnancies, but for this one, I am consistently measuring at least two weeks ahead. My midwife has ordered another ultrasound for the 6Th of January. We will see if my due date is still around February 12-15Th or earlier, or if I just have extra fluid, or if she is just a larger baby. We just want to make sure there are no surprises when the birth time comes. I am excited to see what is going on with our little one again. We have no reason to think anything is wrong, I am healthy and baby girl seems healthy as well. We are just checking her out again.last night Randy and I took a hypnobirth refresher course to get ready for the birth. It has been nearly 5 years since I took the 4 week course when I was pregnant with Jacob, and even though I did a natural hypnobirth with lily, I have been a little apprehensive this time around and thought a refresher course was in order. I'm glad we took it. I feel a lot more prepared for the birth again. I know I have touted how wonderful hypnobirthing is many times, but seriously, if you are looking for a natural drug free painless birth, this is the way to go. It works. I know it is crazy, but after doing it, I look forward to the actual delivery of the baby because it is so amazing. It is the best part. I'm glad I have such a supportive husband/birth companion. He is amazing and I know that he is half the reason that it works so well for me. (I sure hope we can keep this baby inside for anther 7 weeks.) If you want more info, you can go to www.hypnobirthing.com.
or you can e-mail me for more info.

Christmas Day

On Christmas morning Randy and I go up at about 6AM to get ready for church. After we were ready we woke up the kids and had them open a present Santa had left by their beds. After that, we got them dressed in their church clothes and then they opened/looked at their stuffed stockings.

The kids clothes laid out ready for them to get ready for church.
The Christmas tree after Santa came
The kids checking out their stockings
Excited childrenWe rushed out the door about 7:15 and headed to Bountiful to attend my parents ward where President Eyring spoke in Sacrament meeting. My parents sang in the ward choir and their meeting had one other speaker besides President Eyring. He gave a wonderful talk. He talked about the spirit he felt there and that he hoped we would all remember what we felt. He talked about remembering Christ when we take the sacrament, he talked about Mary and Jesus and serving others. He got really emotional throughout a lot of his talk and he spoke for about an hour. My kids had had enough of sacrament meeting after the hour was up, but for me, it was still wonderful to hear him speak; no matter the length.

After Sacrament meeting, we headed back to my parents house and mom started fixing food for us to eat for lunch. I needed to rest, so Lily and I took a nap together. When I woke, Michelle's family had arrived so we were ready to eat. Again, Randy was a sweetheart and put everything I needed for my salad together and then my mom made it for me while I slept. We had a great lunch with my parents, my sister Michelle and her family, Ali and her family and Ben. It was really yummy and I was sad I couldn't eat more of it. (I tend to fill up really fast now that the baby is getting bigger.) After lunch, we decided to open presents. It was fun to see what all the siblings got for the family they were assigned. Ben had our family and he gave us a Kinect sports game which we will have fun playing. My parents shocked us all when we opened our presents from them and we saw we had each received a kindle fire! Unfortunately for me, Randy had already given me that gift for Christmas and I had opened it a few days earlier. Still, it was awesome to see every one's faces when we opened the gift. The kids opened their presents from my parents and of course they loved those as well. I neglected to take my camera out of the car, so I don't have any photos of us at my parents house.

When we got home from my parents, it was about 5PM and we decided it was high time to open our presents under the tree. We gave/received so many things. It was magical for the kids and they yelled "Thank you Santa!" after they opened presents even if the tag said it was from us. Christmas is so much fun. I love watching the kids open the presents I get them and Randy as well. It is truly much more fun to give than to receive.

The kids opening presents

They each got Disney booksLily got a new jacket from Grandma Bremner

Tyler with some books from Grandma Bremner

Randy's brother's family gave us a Wingers gift card. Yum!Lily the girly girl of course got a princess dress up set.

She opened it right away and opened the rest of her presents this way.

Jake was overly excited about opening the CARS 2 X-box game. Yes, this is his excited face, although to me it sort of looks like a crazy I want to kill you kind of face. It makes me laugh.

Jake opening his large present

It was a giant helicopter with guys and guns and everything!

Tyler loved his "long Nerf gun" it was what he had been asking for since September.

After a long day of fun, food and present opening, this is how I found Lily in her room around 7:30 PM. That's my silly girl.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas eve at 1:00PM we headed to my grandmothers house for a nice lunch and Christmas program. We do this every year and I love it. We had some yummy food including pulled pork, turkey, ham, potatoes, lots of different salads and desert. My midwife has told me "don't do anything!" so Randy was a sweetheart and made the desert I said I would bring. (I will post more about my pregnancy later). Ali had the program prepared and the kids sang I am a child of god and other Christmas songs. Then, my brother-in-law talked about his experience in Afghanistan. After that, Randy read the Christmas story from Luke chapter 2. We then sang more Christmas songs and the great grandchildren opened presents from Grandma great. They all received books that they adore.

Most of the Great grandchildren singing.

Uncle Ben with Lily and SarahMy mom with Jake

I love how Will (Michelle's boy) and Tyler look the same from behind. Can you tell who is who?

Lily opening her book from Grandma GreatShe absolutely loved it!

Jacob got Diary of a wimpy kid and loved that all the other kids were offering to trade him for it.

Tyler got a couple magic tree house booksI took this photo because Lily rarely goes near cowboy Ben. She has been slowly warming up to him and we were surprised that she sat on his lap for him to read her new book to her. It looks like Alonzo likes the book too.

We headed home shortly after that and got the kids bathed and they opened their Christmas eve pajamas. We set out cookies and celery for Santa and his reindeer. The kids went to bed early, but I had a difficult time staying awake waiting for Tyler to go to sleep. He was so excited he couldn't sleep. He finally fell asleep around 11 PM. I fell asleep very shortly after that.

Birthday Baptism

Our pre-baptism pictures. I took them myself and yes, they are a little bit cheesy.The baptism invitation

Tyler's eighth birthday was yesterday. I can't believe I have an 8 year old son! He was lucky enough to have his baptism on the same day as his birthday (we got special permission because Randy's parents are going to Kuwait). We didn't do much during the day except prepare by getting the house and food ready for those coming over following the baptism.

The baptism itself was wonderful. Mu mother-in-law gave a short talk on baptism, then we had the baptism itself. We almost had to do it a second time because Tyler's toe came up out of the water, but it was decided that he was fully submerged before that happened. Next, My dad gave a talk about confirmation. He gave a nice object lesson to go with it. My dad also played the piano for us and did a great job. Tyler was then confirmed and I feel bad because lily was running around making trouble. I missed a lot of the blessing because I was trying to hold her and keep her away from Randy while he was giving the blessing. I whispered to her "If you want cake you need to be quiet" she then replied in a shout "I AM BEING QUIET MOM!" Sheesh.

Randy and Tyler

(side note:I usually avoid pictures of myself at 32 weeks pregnant..or any weeks pregnant, but I suppose if it is your oldest son's baptism day, you should make an exception.)

Tyler got many gifts at the baptism. Randy's parents gave him a brand new set of scriptures with his name on them, my parents gave him a new journal, the primary president gave him a bag with soap (to remind him of repentance), a compass (to remind him that the holy ghost will be his guide) it also had a picture of Christ and the faith in God booklet.

There weren't many in attendance, but both mine and Randy 's parents were there, Randy's sister Amanda came from Idaho and my sister Michelle and her four kids came. The bishop and his wife were there and so were Tyler's primary teachers and the primary president. We were asked to keep it small and simple.

After the baptism we went back to the house and had dinner of ham and potatoes with salads and cake and ice cream. I made a CTR cake. I couldn't come up.with any other good baptism cake ideas....anyway, After we ate we opened some birthday gifts. Tyler was excited to get a solar system kit, an angry bird, a new scripture case, a board game and some money. It was a great day. I am so thankful that Tyler decided to be baptized. He is such a.good example for his brother and sister. He is so good at following rules, helping others and generally making good decisions. I am thankful to have such a sweet good boy in my life. We are truly blessed to have a son like Tyler.

The cake
Tyler with the cake

You can tell I'm pregnant because I'm including a picture of the food. It was really really yummy. Thanks everyone for pitching in!
Yummy cake
Opening presents
A celebration like this calls for dancing!
Happy Birthday Tyler bug!

birthday party

We had a fun birthday celebration for Tyler on Saturday night (December 17). Our family and Randy's parents picked up his friend Philip and drove down to Provo where we met my parents and my Bother-in-law Ben for dinner. We ate at the piazza pie cafe. We ate entirely too much piazza, pasta, and salad, but we ended with singing happy birthday to Tyler and eating some basketball decorated cupcakes I made. After dinner we headed to my brother Ben's UVU basketball game. They ended up losing the game which was disappointing, but Santa was there and we caught a Frisbee and four t-shirts; so if wasn't a total loss. :) Here are some pictures of our fun birthday bash.

Ty opening his present at the pizza placeIt was awesome!

Lily found Santa at the pizza place

She is not shy with Santa at all

I think lily also ate more pizza than I did

My mom and Dad at the restaurantTyler with his cupcake and UVU shirt

I made basketball cupcakesJacob, Tyler and his friend at the game

It was VERY exciting for the boys

Uncle Ben shooting a foul shot
Happy Birthday Tyler!