A Few Thoughts...

1 - My laptop is dying - having all sorts of probs. I haven't been online much because of this. I don't want it to die yet! We've had it 3 1/2 years, but have used it SO much. Yet another expense...

2 - Today is my birthday. I'm 29. Not a big deal and I don't have any issues w/turning 29, but it is starting to sound older than I feel. Or...maybe a better way to describe it is that I don't really feel any certain age (if that makes sense). I just feel like me! It is a little strange, though, to turn 29 because I remember my mom being 29. I think that was the first age I connected she even HAD an age! I was 6 or 7.

3 - Lexi has perfected the art of climbing out of her crib. This is a sad thing for us. It means that she gets out like 5 times a night before falling asleep. And she is getting up about 1 1/2 hours earlier in the morning because she CAN! Guess she's ready for a big girl bed, huh?

4 - My grandma (mom's mom) had a really hard week. She's been in the hospital and had some cognitive and physical traumas recently. My mom has been down in Anaheim at her side. It's very hard to see someone who has been a pillar of strength my whole life become so weak and needy. She is actually doing a little better now and is home, but is still very fragile.

5 - I am starting to have better parts of the day (nausea-wise), but definitely NOT whole days. The nausea just a nagging, lingering feeling that I am obviously getting sick of. I know pregnancy cravings are normal, but it is so strange that the past week that I have craved: Orange Juice (which I NEVER drink because one sip usually gives me heartburn...the past few days I've drank a half gallon per day!!!) and Spaghetti (which, again, I eat MAYBE once per year. One of my least fav meals usually). So wierd! (I'm a little embarrased to post this pic of me, but I thought some of you may get a kick out of my budding belly).

Better go...kids are hysterical and need to go to bed. More later. :-)

Silly Girls

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It's amazing to me that the girls could be this wild and silly one minute...and then a few minutes later be asleep in their beds! But wow, they sure are entertaining and fun for Tucker and I (and exhausting!).

A Child's Point of View

Just had to share this funny story...

So, the other day Jordyn spotted a toy on the counter that actually belongs to a dollhouse at my mom's house. She pointed it out to me and I said "Yep, we'll have to take it to Grandma next time we go over there". She said "Uh oh mom, Grandma needs this. We better email it to her!".

I got a kick out of this and thought two things:
1 - Maybe...Jordyn...just maybe someday!
or
2 - Maybe I need to spend less time on the computer!

Lexi Lou

I just have to post these cute pics of Lexi. She's such a little ham. She loves to get ready for dance class and feels like a princess in her outfits. We love Lexi's independent, silly and strong-willed spirit. It's really been fun, as our kids keep growing, to see what attributes each person adds to our family's 'personality'. When the kids are babies, you do a lot of wondering about what they'll be like. Now that Jordyn's 4 and Lexi is 2 1/2, we're really getting to see them unfold rapidly and it certainly makes for no dull moments around here!

Great Grandma Sealy's Blankets

Tucker's Grandma Sealy has started the greatest tradition. She makes all her great-grandchildren these special silky blankets when they're born. Jordyn has a purple one and Lexi has a pink one...and for both my girls these are their favorite-sleep-with-them-every-night blankets. So today I got a package at my door from the mailman and inside was a beautiful yellow silky blanket for this next baby! I was so excited - I've actually been covering up w/it all day! Not only are they soft and comfy, but very meaningful too. Thanks a million Grandma Sealy!

Our Easter

We had a nice Easter Sunday yesterday, spent with my family. My fam is big into BBQ, so we had steaks with all the works. Unfortunately we weren't great picture takers (no pics in their cute dresses) but I'll post a few we did get!

Coloring eggs at our house

These two pics (above and below) are of our 2nd Annual Easter Egg Smashing Contest (an idea we stole from the Maxfield side!). It's done tournament style. Two people at a time smash the ends of their boiled egg together...one side will always break, but there is no rhyme or reason as to which one. So in the end, there is one person with a non-cracked side (after LOTS of smashing) and they are the winner. It's fun! Congrats to Lindy for a big win!

Jordyn didn't quite get the concept...she would cry when her egg DIDN'T crack! :-)

Sick of Being Sick

Can I just complain for a minute? I'm just SO tired of being sick! ALL day EVERY day. It's like having the worst stomach flu, but still having to choke food down every two hours. Yuck. In NO way do I wish I WASN'T pregnant and this baby is very wanted, but I just don't know how much longer I can endure this constant nausea. I hesitate to post about it because I can't even begin to put it into words...saying "I feel nauseaus" does not even begin to describe it! Because my other two pregnancies were this same way, I KNEW it would be hard. But even though I expected it, it still didn't prepare me. Then on top of it, my kids have tag-teamed having fevers and tummy aches for the past three days. It should not be allowed to have kids get sick when the mommy is sick!!!

Tucker's Grandma Sealy emailed me a few weeks ago and said this: "I'm sure Heavenly Father will bless you as much as He can and still allow you to learn what you need to" (refering to my nausea). For some reason this impacted me. I have often prayed and wondered why He hasn't taken this from me, sort of forgetting that He is allowing me to learn something from this trial. In fact, if I don't, then it was pointless for me to endure.

I've had so many thoughts about this. I tell myself "this shouldn't be THAT hard, because you know eventually it will end AND you will have such a miracle from it". But for some reason, knowing that doesn't necessarily make each minute of each long day easier. And I can't just push it aside and "live with it" the way I did with my arthritis. That was painful and annoying, but I just learned to live around it. THIS, on the other hand, is impossible to "live around it" because it has stopped any "normalcy" my life may have previously had.

Whew, ok. So there's my vent. I think hitting the 6 week mark of nausea is causing me to get a little impatient. Thanks for listening! :-)

Jordyn's Party

We officially celebrated Jordyn's birthday last night. She had a few friends over and lots of family. It was all she dreamed it would be! Lots of playing, presents, pizza and blowing out candles on her beautiful Cinderella cake (thanks a million to Aunt Lindy for devoting lots of time to making the doll cake!). It was lots of fun for her. Here are some pics of the festivities.

Parenthood Equals Sleeplessness

So here is a typical night for us:

Crawl in bed around 11:00. Without fail, around 3:00 am one child will start crying about SOME sort of issue: thirsty, nightmares, need to go potty, sick, etc. With my 'mom ears', I hear the crying within .05 seconds and wait to see if it will stop. Nope. In my pregnant/nauseausness I can't hardly move w/o puking, so I nudge Tucker (he's been a saint). He deliriously gets up to address the problem while I lay there listening and yelling out little tips (which medicine to give, what drink to give, etc). He finally solves the issue and crawls back in bed...asleep within a minute. I lay there for at least an hour trying to ignore the nausea and get back to sleep. Without fail, BEFORE I fall back asleep, the other child will start to cry. Another issue. I nudge Tucker again, he jumps up again. This cycle usually happens at least a third time before morning. So by the time all is calm and we are sleeping again, it's just in time for the sun to start peaking into the room and the birds to start chirping, the dogs in the neighborhood start to bark and POOF! It's time to start another day!

The other night after this ridiculous cycle, I asked Tucker how we'll survive with a baby waking every two hours on TOP of this? We're crazy, right?

Lexi has MAYBE slept 20 nights straight through in her whole life and she is 2 1/2. She's lucky she's so dang cute! ;-) Jordyn has been getting up every night because she's scared. She's lucky I
had the same problem for like 10 years, so I'm empathetic!

My point? I just wish I would have understood before I had kids how good it really felt to sleep a solid night through. But you can't know the sweet without the bitter right? And as exhausting as it can be (and frustrating) to get up multiple times per night...it's amazing what you will put up with when you love someone so much. I mean, even in the middle of the night when I'm dead tired and hear Lexi cry, it can make me laugh to open her door and hear a chipper voice say "Is it morning yet Mommy?? Is it morning?".

Swingset!

Yesterday was a beautiful day - with a break from our massive amounts of rain lately...it worked out perfect for us because it was the day we'd planned on putting up a swingset in the backyard. We've been wanting to put one up, and Jordyn's birthday was a perfect motivation to do so. Tucker, my Dad, Ryan and Mike (Lindy's hubbie) put it up, with the help of Jordyn and Lexi of course. It's amazing how tedious and lengthy a project like this can be! But the girl's excitement makes it all worth it. They are so excited and want to spend every waking moment out back! I think this completes our backyard...we've packed in about as much as our tiny backyard can handle!

Ultrasound!

(*Note: This isn't our baby's photo, just a photo that shows the baby's stage*)

Tucker went with me to the Dr today and we got to see the baby on an ultrasound! It was so cute and so reassuring. It's just so incredible that at only 10 weeks pregnant, the little fetus actually looks like a little baby swimming around in there! The heart beat was clear and the baby was moving and kicking. It's a good reminder that it IS real, there IS a baby there and it IS worth it. There are some days that are hard to remember that lately w/the severe nausea. So it was a good appointment! Now the BIG question is...boy or girl? We won't know for another 10 weeks!

Jordyn is 4 Today!

How in the world is my baby already 4? It's amazing and although I love her age...it's also a little sad how fast it goes by! It's hard to believe that four years ago today was the most frightening day of my life...I was laying in the hospital only 26 weeks pregnant PRAYING that she WOULDN'T come yet. But she just couldn't wait to join us and the tiny little thing was a fighter from the beginning! After 11 long weeks in the hospital fighting for her life, Jordyn came home so healthy that we've hardly looked back since! I still look at her as a little miracle and such a blessing in our family. She was so excited this morning when I told her she is now "4" and just keeps beaming with smiles about that new fact!

We're not celebrating her bday for a few days because she wants her cousin Alyson to come from Huntington Beach to be here with her....AND I'm not much good for any party planning w/my horrible pregnancy nausea. Getting them breakfast is about all I can handle these days! Anyway, Happy Birthday Jordyn!

Announcing...

Check out yet another cute little video!

Make sure to have your speakers on.