All the time in the world....

Well, I have not blogged for almost 2 months, even though and I guess because, there has been so much going on. I have just been too busy to sit down and organize the thoughts of everything going on.

On Monday night that all changed and now I have all the time in the world to blog and read and as Mark puts it " get the break I have always wanted". This isn't exactly what i had in mind!

Monday night I started having contractions and bleeding ( sorry if that's TMI) so I called my doctor who said to go straight to the hospital. The nurse was clearly very concerned from the second she first saw me and called for my doctor to come in right away. He got to the hospital soon after and did an ultrasound. To our great relief, the baby looked very well. We found the source of my problems, though, is placenta previa. This means the placenta is completely covering the cervix, rather than in the top of the uterus where it should be. There are a lot of complications that go along with it. So, after a couple days in the hospital, I am home and on complete bed rest. I am only to get up to use the bathroom. In three weeks I will go back to the doctor and he will reassess. There is a possibility that it will resolve itself as the uterus grows, but in my case that does not appear very likely. But, with the power of prayer, anything is possible, so we ask for all the prayers out there to help us get through this. There is no immediate danger to the baby, other than if I have problems again and they have to deliver too early. The first goal at this point is to get to 28 weeks ( I am 19 right now). If I make it to that point, they will deliver at the first sign of any problems. The next goal will be 34 weeks and when I make it there, they will schedule my c section. We are confident that all will be well, but it is hard for me to get through each day on bed rest, feeling like I am missing out on so much with each of the other four kids. They have been great. Mark is wonderful.
My amazing mom dropped everything and flew in immediately to relieve some of the stress. She will be here until Tuesday and then I know that my ward and good friends here will pick up the slack and I will make it through, I am just now sure how right now! Please keep us in your prayers that I can be well and keep this baby inside long enough!

For one of Aubrey's birthday presents, Mark took her skiing.   It was her first time, she did great and had lots of fun with dad!

The Princess and the Pea

Each year our school has the Missoula Children's Theatre come in and direct a play.  They provide directors and all the sets and  costumes.  This year our play was the Princess and the Pea.  Courtney tried out last year and did not get in, so this year she was really anxious to try again.  Aubrey went back and forth on whether or not to try out.   On the way to tryouts, she was crying, so I told her we would drop off Courtney and go home.  Well, she cried harder when we tried to leave, saying that she really wanted to try out.   So, after some encouragement from a teacher she stayed and her and Courtney were both chosen for parts in the play.  Aubrey was a dust bunny and Courtney was a snow and sleet smoother from the Kingdom of Glacierdom.  Yes, this was a bit different than the traditional Princess and the Pea.

They had practice for several hours every day for a week and then the performances were on Saturday.  They both did a great job and lots of fun getting in costume and on stage.  Aubrey looked like she might fall asleep in the matinee after 3 hours of dress rehearsal, but she made it through.  In the second show, she spotted Christian in the first row and was a little more interested in waving and blowing kisses to  him than in doing her dance, but she was adorable nonetheless.

 

A Beautiful Day!

The long awaited day arrived on Saturday, February 7, and Courtney was baptized and confirmed a member of the church.  Grandma and Grandpa arrived safely from Alaska to spend a few days with us and share in the day.   Courtney was baptized in a stake baptism along with 6 other little girls that day.  Two other girls are close friends of hers which helped make her day special.   

Courtney has been looking forward to this day for months and in preparation read the entire Book of Mormon and gave a family night lesson on baptism.  She was excited for her bishops interview to share with him her readiness and testimony, and she is happy to be in activity days now.

Saturday was a perfect day for her.  A good friend in the ward is a beautician and invited her to come to her shop in the morning and get her hair washed a braided- she said she felt like a princess!   

Then, her and dad headed to the church to get ready and we arrived shortly after and gathered with many friends who came to support her.

 She didn't even hesitate to go down in the water with her dad and couldn't stop grinning and giggling afterwards as she told me how happy she was.  She was confirmed and given a beautiful blessing by grandpa.  All in all a perfect day, we are so blessed.

Straight A's!

We are so proud of Courtney and Aubrey who both got straight A's on their report cards.  They both work extremely hard to do well at school and it is fun to watch their hard work show results.  They are both beautiful girls who do what is right and we are blessed to be their parents.

Things I learned from Elijah

I am exhausted and ready for bed, but I had to write for a minute about the conversation I just had with Elijah.  I was about to get into bed when I heard him crying and went in to see what was wrong.  He told me he had a dream that someone came to the door for daddy and gave him a candy and when he ate it his beautiful brown eyes turned to orange eyes.  He was very upset about losing his brown eyes and decided a banana would help him feel better.

So, I got him a banana and he talked non stop while he ate it- here are the things he told me

1.  If you try to stand up a banana, it will just fall over

2.  It is weird that you say excuse me when you want to get past someone and when you toot.

3.  If someone puts you on top of a light, you should call for help.

4.  If you see a bad guy while you are on top of the light, you should throw a rock at him.

5.   You will know it is a bad guy because he will not smile at you.

6.  You should not take candy from a bad guy because it will make your eyeballs fall out and your mouth go away and your feet fall off.

And my favorite, when I told him he needed to go back to bed and that was going to sleep too- " Moms don't sleep during the night, they just work and work and work so they can play with their kids during the day."

I sure love this boy!

HELP!!

I can't get my background to work and I can't figure out why....if anyone out there can help leave me a comment of what I might be doing wrong.