I think most of you know that I go in to my OB's office weekly for progesterone injections - theory is it will help prevent pre-term labor...hey, we're game! Anyway, I see my doctor every other week, and the nurse on the off weeks for the injections only. Today was an "injection only" day - I met up with my doctor and the nurse in the hallway before I was taken to a room and the doctor came in with us - we truly do love this doctor! Here are the ultra sound pictures I was sent home with on an "injection only" day! :)
They aren't fabulous - I have an official ultra sound scheduled for this Monday. This was a quickie peek to measure and see how she's doing! She's still a she! She weighs 2 lb 13 oz and measures 29w2d (we're 27w3d today). So she's doing just GREAT!
Holy Crapoly - why can't the weathermen ever be wrong in OUR favor? It seems any time they say things like, "Cold and clear with no chance of snow..." we get snow anyway...and then, take this weekend for example..."Snow Saturday afternoon, 1-3 inches expected..." which apparently, in weatherman speak, means "Hunker down sucker, because you're going to wake up Sunday morning to over 18 inches of snow!" NO JOKE!
We went to bed Saturday night knowing we'd have some shoveling to do if we wanted to get out of our garage Sunday morning for church. At 7:00am Sunday, Brandon and I woke up to the sound of a plow in our driveway. My first thought was that it was our neighbor from up the road...and my second thought was "Man, we're are going to be in debt to him for the rest of our lives!" (He's plowed our driveway several times this season already!) Brandon jumped out of bed and before I could roll over to see what he was doing, he was dressed and heading out the bedroom door. I honestly wondered if he had slept in his clothes!
I wallowed out of bed and looked out our window and was surprised to see "Blackie" - a few of you will know who/what "Blackie" is, most of you won't. Brandon's father used to drive a black pick-up every day of his life. It was his work truck, the farm truck, the Sunday-go-to-church truck. After Barry passed away, Brandon's brother Courtney bought the pick-up from Barry's previous employer and keeps it at the farm.
So even though I had a split second of thought that went something like "Isn't that just like Barry to wake up early Sunday morning and come plow our driveway?" I realized when I got bearings that it was, in deed, "Just like Barry"...it was Courtney. Court woke up early and drove from town out to the sticks where two of his brothers and their families live to plow their driveways. So standing in the window yesterday morning w/ tears in my eyes, I wasn't sure if it was because I still miss Barry so stinking much I can't stand it...or if it was because I was so touched by Court's love and sacrifice for his brothers.
I wish I had a better picture of Courtney and Barry to share. But this one does make me think of how much, not only Courtney, but all of the boys benefited from little impromptu chats like this with their dad.
Ok, I didn't mean to turn this in to the Courtney Show. But - when you look at the following pictures and realize what a chore plowing this slop would really be, I wanted to make sure he got his due credit!!!
Oh sure, it's "pretty" - this is out our living room windows.
This is a picture out of Joseph/Jared's bedroom window - it's the snow piled on the top of the garage. Here's hoping our roof doesn't collapse!
And our beautifully plowed driveway! (With an additional five inches of snow that fell on it after it was plowed Sunday morning!)
Here's why it was such a blessing to have Court come and save us - this is OUR truck...fat lot of good it was going to do us!
And here are the trees out our bedroom window - I don't know how some of these little whimpy trees are able to hold up this snow!!
This little man has become a terror in our kitchen. He is not afraid to climb on anything. All day long I hear the sound of the chairs from the table sliding around the kitchen to various locations at the counter top. His favorite landing point is just below the cupboard that holds the marshmallows.
Earlier this week, I went and got Joseph out of bed and put him on the floor to walk down stairs. As we walked past the laundry area upstairs, I stopped so I could sort and start a load to wash. By the time I got down to the kitchen, this is what I found...
Joseph teetering on the most narrow counter space in the kitchen, eating from the entire bag of mallows that he dumped on the counter top.
I'm glad I got this recorded before Jaynie outgrew this cute phase. Lately she's been reciting little songs and poems for us. Her favorite has been "Little Sally Walker" which I believe is a jump-rope song.
Subtitles for those who couldn't quiet understand our princess...
"Little Sally Walker walking down the street, But she did not have a partner so she stopped by me. She said, Hey girl, do that thing, do that thing you like to do."
Malorie has sure enjoyed turning 5! She had a little party on her birthday with the family family and Aunt Kandi & Maddi and Aunt Rachel & Eliza! Ever since her birthday, everything she wants she asks for and follows her request with "since I'm five now." Like that makes a difference - "Can I say family prayer - since I'm five now?" Never mind the fact that she's been called upon to offer family prayer just like everyone else...but now she can ask for it - and get it - "since she's five now".
Before dinner on her birthday, Grandma Janet and Grandpa Gary stopped by with a couple of presents. Didn't get any pictures of Grandpa because the boys whisked him away to play air hockey the minute he walked in to the house. Then I didn't get any pictures of grandma and Malorie because - well, I just didn't. So here's grandma and Joseph.
And here is the loot that the grandparents came bearing...some Play-Doh and a new outfit.
A gift for Jaynie from Maddi because, well, because Malorie and Melanie are joined at the hip and one can't do/get/say/eat/breathe/drink something without the other doing exactly the same. I would have made fun of Aunt Kandi for caving and getting Jaynie a gift to open on Malorie's birthday, but I did the exact same thing and got her a matching baby doll.
Aunt Rachel & Eliza and Maddi -
CRAYONS! Everyone loves new crayons! A new huge package of them to go with the huge Tinkerbell coloring book she got.
This is secretly why we keep Aunt Kandi around - our built in clean up committee! (If she only knew how much I appreciated that she was the one bending over picking up wrapping paper and not me! Thank you!)
Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday Dear Malorieeeeeee, Happy Birthday to You....Make a wish!
Was it really five years ago? It was about six in the evening when my doctor came by to say good night - I was in the hospital at 33wks with preterm labor. He told me he'd see me in the morning when he did rounds - introduced me to the doctor that would be in the hospital during the night - we talked about the Utah/BYU game (He's a Ute, we're Cogars!)...everything was peachy. Then less than fifteen minutes after he left my room we went from peachy to terrifying. My nurse ran to the parking garage to catch my doctor before he left. In my room alarms were sounding, oxygen was being turned on - Malorie was making her grand entrance whether we were ready or not. My doctor came running back into my room and said, "You've done all you can do for her, it's time." Less than 15 minutes later, we met Miss Malorie, face to face.
We spent 22 days in NICU...
And since then - we've enjoyed nothing but years of blissfully happiness with her!
We started out our morning with a quick jump on the trampoline. Joseph is in love with this thing! It's so hard to tear him away from it!
So we were expecting a house full of 60 people New Year's Eve (including our 10). Our children must have asked, over 100 times during the day, "What time will everyone be here?" LOL
Madilyn put out some cute candle lights along the walk. She just took fruit jars, added some sand to the bottom and then lit tea light candles. It was so simple, but so cute. Here is a picture in the dark...
...and when I took this one with the flash, I realized the cat was sitting there on the porch. I had no clue he was there when I took the first one.
One by one, the families arrived! Matt, Sylvia and Ava...Eric, Andrea & Ruth...Nick, Nadine, Audrey & Eric, Bruce, Jane, Mykelle, Seth, Brian, Marelle, Peter...James, Lisa, Shiloh, Shane, Shauna, Tony, Cameron, Alison, Josh, Rebecca, Katie, Ryan, Caleb, Levi...Justin, Rachel & Eliza...Brian...Carson, Kandi and Madison...Kevin, Natalie, Jack, Taylor & Noah...Courtney, Alicia, Cami, Zack, Dylan & Emma...and of course Brandon, Shiela, Jason, Madilyn, Jacob, Megan, Jared, Malorie, Melanie & Joseph!
For those of you who took the time to count - that was only 59...we were stood up by #60 who opted to spend the evening with her friends...who doesn't remember being a college student and the fun that was!?
Finally, the Mexican Buffet was under way - the food was all spread, the tables set...time to dig in!
After dinner everyone spread throughout the house...some went to the video games (Yes, those are boxes that still have not been unpacked - but they made for GREAT tv stands!) By my last count we had 3 game systems hooked up last night.
The trampoline was a hit all night long! The adults loved it, the kids loved it, the babies loved it! It was GREAT fun!
Others spent time playing games! Favorites were Apples to Apples, Mad Gabs (A new one to me...and can I just say Aunt Jane RULES that game!) Boggle...and a dice game that Court brought - HOURS were spent playing that game...whatever it was! :)
The air hockey table stayed on all night also - and Polly Pockets was ever present!
Everyone managed to make it until midnight - some looked more tired than others...
...others required a Dora DVD pick-me-up...
...and others "picked" different ways to stay awake!
Finally the time came - I had a great plan to call everyone in to the living room for the count down and I'd stand up on the bridge and record from above...didn't happen. I sat on the couch and held the camera behind me and recorded the action in the kitchen! Happy New Year Everyone!
Saturday morning was pretty amazing. Our trees are so heavy with snow (or at least they were).
I tried to catch a picture of snow falling off the branches, but every time I would click a picture, I'd miss a great picture just a split second later...I was too impatient!
The kids have been enjoying the snow more than I ever imagined they would. Jaynie looks like a little marshmallow in her snow suit - but she loves it!
They've also been enjoying our little snowmobile. This thing is at least 25 years old! MY mom bought it for me when I was young, and it wasn't new then. It's running strong and I'm sure our kids have put 1000 miles on it just this week!
Jaynie loves to ride with the big kids. I'm betting by next year she'll be brave enough to drive it herself.
Malorie tolerates riding with bigger kids. She started out very leery of the snowmobile. She seemed very content just watching others ride - but day by day she gets a little braver...she'll be bucking to drive next year too, I'm sure.
It has become apparent that we'll need to build a sledding hill this summer. The little hill out on our road just doesn't cut it and our acreage is just to flat (for now). Of course this didn't stop us from dragging out the sleds...
...and doing a little hookie-bobbing (view from the mirror as I was driving).
Someone had a "great" idea to take family pictures at our Christmas Eve party this year...no, don't take them the year that I'm at my goal weight, don't take them the year I have a decent hair cut, pick this year...thanks! Other than THAT - look at those cutie-patootie kiddos...and their cutie-patootie dad! ;)
In our 37 years as a family I think this might possibly be our only family picture...seriously! We were so happy that mom had her eyes open and dad finally looked at the right camera! My little sister Lindsay is to the far left, then dad, then me, then mom...
Brandon opening "the best gift ever" from my sister...tickets for both of us to see Brian Regan in February!!! Thanks Lins!
Our family gave my mom a Kodak Digital Picture Frame for Christmas. We spent the night before picking 80+ pictures to add to it...then we sat and watched it over and over. Apparently my kids can't get enough of this thing because Joseph sat with Auntie Joy and watched it again...
...and then Malorie and Melanie sat glued to it for the longest time...oblivious to the party going on around them!
Mom in all her glory. She loves hosting Christmas Eve at her home. She loves Christmas, period. Her decorations are always amazing, her baking is always amazing...(see picture #1)...she is just amazing.
Here's the whole gang...spread out over 3 different photos so everyone would fit!
Apparently I'm the only kill-joy who thinks that we don't fit in mom's house anymore...
Or maybe I'm the only one who will say it out loud!?
A quickie shot of mom's tree...
8 Hours Later...
Christmas morning at our house...
The kids started to stir around 4:30...
At 5:00am the phone rang (one of our traditions is for one of the kids to take a cell phone to bed with them and then call us when they wake up...so we don't miss anything exciting...)
