Oh A Camping We Will Go!

This past weekend we packed up my dad's truck and headed to the mountains for a little camping trip.  The orginial plan was to leave Thursday after I got off my rotation at noon, but it turned out that my father had other plans.  If you know my dad at all, you know that he runs on "Todd Time."  Love my father to death but that man has no concept of time.  He was well aware of our plan to leave around 1:00'ish days before (infact he was the one that wanted to get there as early as possible).  On Thursday, I acutally left my rotation early and grabbed all the kids at Marcia's and was at my dad's by 11:30.  Then we spent the next 2 hours just waiting on my dad.  He had to pack (who know what!), feed his chickens, get the 4-wheeler ready, pack the food and load the car.  I tried to speed things up a bit by pack the food myself and loaded up his truck. 

Finally around 1:30pm my dad was ready to hitch the 4-wheeler trailer to his truck and make his way to Marcia's.  The plan was to load Marcia's camper trailer with all the stuff and head to camp.  Kurt would come up after he got off work with the trailer and meet us there.  Marcia and I put the kids in her car and headed to her house with my father to follow.  As we were pulling out of my parent's house, Marcia stopped and waiting to make sure my dad was actually getting in his car before we pulled away.  We got to Marcia's house, got the camper ready and waited for my dad to show up so we could FINALLY hit the road.  Well, a half an hour went by... and then another...and then another.  By this time I was ready to get in the car and go find my dad determined that he MUST be broken down by the side of the road without cell phone service cuz there is NO WAY in this green earth that it should take an hour and a half to get from my dad's house to Marcia's (it's only 5 mintues away).  When he finally showed up, he informed us that he had to get the 4-wheeler trailer hitched to his truck and he had no help so it took some time.  (Okay, whatever, let's hit the road).  Then I remembered that I forgot the paper cups for drinking in my car at my parents house so back we went.  I jumped out of the car and ran and grabbed the cups, well, my father took this opportunity to decide to put some oil in his truck (since we were there and all) and so we waited so more.  FINALLY, at around 3:30 we were headed to our campsite.  

We just went 10 minutes outside of Brigham city.  It was far enough away that we were in the mountains with nothing but nature around but close enough that if we forgot something or needed something it was just a short trip away. Once we got on the road and after about 20 minutes, Brennen asked "Are we there yet?!"  to which my dad reply "I think this might be the only time I will ever be able to say this...but yes, yes we are." We pulled in, decided where the tent should go and 10 mintues later Kurt arrived.  We had a good laugh about how long it took us to get up there, but secertly I wanted to strangle my dad all day long.  I HATE waiting around.  It might be my one pet pev.  If we have a plan and a time line I want to be within that time line and get to where we are going....I guess I need to work on patience.

Anyway, our campsite was next to a little stream and so of course the girls IMMEDIATELY wanted to play in the water so we threw their swimsuits on and let them at it.  It probably took all of 5 mintues and they were covered in dirt/mud from head to toe.  My dad and kurt got the tent set up and the camper situated while Marcia and I got dinner prepped.  The kids had a blast just playing in the dirt.  They found the helmets we brought for the 4-wheeler and decided they needed them on.  Then they started dancing and posing and rolling around in the dirt.  I could not stop laughing.  They were cracking me up.  One would stand there and say "Pose!" and then they would all strike a pose and then run around again and then the next one would yell "Pose!"

I should have known and just stopped trying to get my daughter to get up off the ground because it was all in vain.  There was dirt and she wanted to play with it. 

At the end of the night after the girls were covered in dirt and marshmallows, we took them over to the spiket and literally hosed them off while they screamed because it was so cold. Then we headed to the camper to tuck the chicklets in and get some rest. The night ended with bedtime stories of magic rocks and purple dragons. 

My dad and Brennen slept outside in the tent and in the middle of the night Brennen came a knockin' on the camper door.  He told Marcia that is was raining and he was all wet!  Well, my dad had worked the night before and with our long excursion to the camp site he was plain exhausted.  He put his earplugs in and his eye cover on and he was OUT!  Well, Marcia told Kurt that my dad didn't put a rain fly on and to "Go do something!"  So Kurt ran outside and tried to wake up my dad...no go!  So being quick on his feet like he is, he grabbed the table cloth covering the pinic bench and threw it over the tent...then went back to bed.

Worked like a charm!  My dad said at one point he woke up and noticed his sleeping bag was wet but he, himself was still dry and so back to sleep he went! 

The next day we woke up and within minutes my once clean girl was covered in dirt (and lovin' every minute of it).

Can we say "I love camping?"

Next, we headed to the lake for a picnic and some fishing.  We found a prime location and started setting up shop.  It was a bit windy and BLASTED hot.  Marcia and I struggled for about 20 mintues trying to put up the shade canopy and just about took flight a few time in the process.  Brennen was dead set on fishing and so he required all of my dad's attention so he could get his fishin' pole ready.  Eden and Ever just wanted to reel in the line.  They had no desire to sit and watch the bubble bob up and down in the water.  So my dad took off the hook and just attached the bubble to the end and let them cast and reel. 

Everytime Eden reeled her line in she'd yell "Pa!  Look I caught a weed again!" and then laugh.  The kids had fun fishin' and throwing rock in the water.  They probably could have stayed out there all day long.  Marcia and I on the other hand felt like we were literally melting!

After a couple hours we headed back to the trailer for a nice cool nap.  The kids zonked out right away and gave Marcia and I some much needed "mommy time."  Later that evening the my dad and Kurt loaded up the kids and took them for a 4-wheeler ride and left Marcia and I to again enjoy some alone time to read books and play games on Marcia's kindle (love!).

After the gang got back we made some dinner and kicked it by the fire until it was time for bed.

The next morning we woke and made some delicious breakfast (I don't know why, but food always taste better camping).

We talked about going fishing again or heading to the lake to let the kids swim but then we decided to just pack up camp and head for home.  Twenty minutes later we were taking baths and feeling clean.  I love camping more than anything.  I would camp every weekend if I could.  I'm an outdoor girl all the way and by the looks of this weekend it seems that Eden is right there with me!

4th of July

Let's play catch up a shall we?  4th of July was pretty low key this year.  We didn't do much.  We just mostly hung out at my mom's and enjoyed the day, but that didn't mean we didn't celebrate...I mean seriously, who do you think we are?

What's a holiday without a delicious holiday inspired breakfast?  I give you my Stars and Stripes Breakfast.  Eden loved it!

Ever came over later and her and Eden just played outside all day long.  They enjoyed dipping some strawberries in some blue sugar and playing a game of "Jaken" (Jake and the Neverland Pirates...a.k.a Jake-and).  This is a staple around my house.  Eden is ABSESSED with the Disney TV show.  She walks around the house saying "Yo Ho Ho!"  or "Ahoy Mateys!"  She cracks me up!

Ever has had her eye on a little cheerleading outfit of Eden's since the day she saw Eden wear it. I believe her immediate response was "Why don't I have a dress like that?!" And so that day she made it a point to tell Eden they were going to play dress up and SHE was going to be the cheerleader and Eden was going to be the daddy...Not liking that idea too much, I interveened and told Eden she was going to be a USA soccer player and Ever was her cheerleader.

(insert VERY proud mama here)

My girl is pretty much a natural!  I gave her the ball and told her to dribble across the backyard so Ever could cheer for her.  Well, she took that ball and took off! Dribbling with BOTH feet might I add and I wasn't the only one SUPER impressed.  My dad even said "Look at her go!!  She's using both feet!  Did you teach her that?!"  Nope, my little girl just knows the way to her mama's heart.  Soccer star here we come!

Later that evening the rest of the gang cam over for a BBQ.  I tried to get Eden to show everyone her mad skills but true to her character she decided that she needed to "stretch" before she could preformed. She bent and twisted and did all sorts of stretching exercises I've never seen before and then decided she needed a break. So I guess the family will just have to wait until she makes her big soccer debut! 

Of course I didn't get any pictures of the BBQ but I did take some pictures of the 4th of July inspired food we had, cuz well... like I've said.  We do holidays right.

I hope everyone had a fabulous 4th of July.  I love that I live in a country were I can spend my days with my family in a land that is free for us to be the Awesome Amazing family that we are!  Happy 4th!

15 Weeks

Well, it's been 11 straight weeks of nausea and I think it's finally starting to wain...(cross your fingers)  If I could just get rid of this cold I might actually be feeling okay. Besides the constant nausea and getting a cold, in the middle of the summer might I add, on top of everything else, things have been good. 

I went to the doctors for the first time about a week ago and she said everything looks good.  We are still shooting for 12.12.12.  My doctor told me that if I made it that far and my body and the baby looked ready she would be more than willing to induce me on the 12th so that my little person can have an awesome birthday.  I am really liking my new doctor.  When I had Eden I was seen by a resident at St. Mark's Family Medicine, but she is no longer there so I am now being seen by Camille Stevensons at Milcreek Women's Center that is located inside St. Mark's Hospital.  So far, so good.  Dr. Stevensons is a spit fire of a lady who talks about a mile a minute and I feel really comfortable with her. 

I've been starting to slowly decrease my zofran dose which has been good.  I used to be taking every 4 hours like clock work or the nausea would set in but now I'm only taking it once a day and that seems to do the trick.  I tried not to take it at all yesterday but by the end of the day I wasn't feeling so hot so I think I'll stick to once a day for a bit and hopefully that will do the trick.

My little baby bump is just growing and growing.  I haven't felt any kicks yet but if I go from a standing position to a laying down position and can feel my whole stomach shift a little bit.  I'm very excited to feel this little person kick,  just so I can know that everything is okay.  I can't wait for Eden to feel baby kick for the first time either.  Every day she lifts up my shirt to make sure her baby sister (she's convinced) is okay and growing big.  I can't wait for her to be a big sister.  I see her take such good care of her babies and it melts my heart to see her so big. Every day she tells me that when her baby sister comes out of my belly she is going to sing her songs and feed her bottles and give her a binkie (which makes me a little concerned given that Eden has only been binkie free for about 6 months).

I go back to the doctor on the 9th and hopefully (cross your fingers again) the doctor will give me a sneak peak at the gender.  Les is really banking on a boy.  He wants a boy and wants to be done.  I'm a little nervous to have a boy 1) because I am overflowing with girl clothes and don't want to have to buy all new stuff and 2) every girl needs a sister and I would love for Eden to have a sister, but honestly I just want a healthy baby.... I guess we will just have to wait and see.  I'm looking forward to the weeks ahead especially minus the nausea!

Backstory on picture.  I am making a pregnancy journal for this baby and I wanted a picture of my belly each month (if I can remember...I'm already behind) I did this for Eden except I had a shirt on each month and I just felt like you really couldn't see my belly growing...hence the no shirt.  Well, anway, I asked Les to take this picture and when Eden saw she ran into her room and came out in her swimsuit and said "Okay, Dadda now I'm ready!"  We both laughed so hard.  Love this little girl!

It's Official!

I have been talking to Eden A LOT about the baby in my belly.  I am hoping the more we talk about it the more "ready" she's going to be when they actually arrive.  Today we sat down and looked at the pictures of the ultrasound.  We pointed out the head, the legs, the arms....and then looked and patted mama's belly.  Then we ran down the street with our ultrasound pictures to take some pictures of my soon to be BIG sister. 

Eden is so excited to be a big sister.  She talks about it all the time.  She likes to talk about when the baby gets big and comes out of my belly that she is going to hold it and feed it and sing it songs.  We talk about how they are going to share a room and she is going to read them the scriptures when it's time for bed... its' all very adorable and melts my mama heart.  It makes me love this little girl even more!

We are trying to teach her how to be a BIG sister starting now.  Like, she isn't allowed to sleep in mama's bed anymore because she has to be BIG and she needs to wipe her own bum and wash her hands after going potty because she's BIG...and so on and so on.  It seems to be working so far but we'll see how much she'll take (I swear she's almost smarter than me already!)  I am so proud of my big girl and I know she's going to be an AWESOME big sister!

13 Weeks

Reason #1 for my long, extended hiatus from blogging.  WAAYYY back in April I started getting sick.  I just attributed my sickness to getting the flu and being super stressed at school.  Oddly enough the block we were studying at the time was "Women's Health" (go figure).  All my studying buddies kept telling me I was pregnant because I was so sick and I told them all they were CRAZY!  Anyway, May rolls around and my sickness wasn't getting any better and then I tried to remember the last time I had my period and well... I couldn't.  So it was off to the store to buy a test.
Back story/side note.  At the beginning of January, Les and I were talking about when we should start trying for another baby.  It took us just over 2 years to get pregnant with Eden and so I figured it was going to take a while to get pregnant again.  I told Les that I had a master plan.  If we got pregnant in March, I would have a baby in December and then I would take my 6 week break from school in Jan/Feb and it would work out FABULOUS!  Well, Les IMMEDIATELY shot down the idea.  After a long discussion and a couple good bribes, Les told me that if I waited until after I graduated to get pregnant he would let me have 3 kids instead of just the 2 he said he only wanted.  So I quickly said "DEAL!" and that was the end of it... or so we thought.  

After I took the test, I avoided telling Les for a day or two because I wasn't sure how he was going to react. Finally, one day after work/school Les asked me what the crap was wrong with me because I hadn't been feeling well.  I told him "I'll give you one guess"... well, he guessed.  Then he proceeded to tell me that I had tricked him and that this had been my plan ALL along (false!).  After the initial shock of "how are we going to afford this?" and "what are you going to do about school?" freakout, Les was happy that now he only had to have 2 kids instead of three (or so he thinks)...

I avoided my family for the next couple of weeks as the nausea and sickness and death over came me.  Have I mentioned that my body hates me the first couple (and by couple I mean like 5) months of pregnancy? Some how, I miserably made my way through my last few weeks of school (thanks for putting up with me Sara!) and tried my hardest not to be a dead beat mom, but can I just say that being a mom, going to school, having a job, cleaning the house, being a wife is NOT fun when all you want to do is hang out with your new best friend the toilet!

After my last official day of school I headed up to my parents to pick up Eden and see my mom for mother's  day (a few days late).  I had my mom's mother's day gift and so when I got there I changed Eden into a shirt that said "BIG SISTER" and had her walk the present out to my mom with the rest of my family in the room.  Marcia was the first to notice and also the first to be VERY upset I didn't tell her sooner.  I had unsuccessfully avoided a 5K I was suppose to run with her the weekend before because I was so sick.  I blamed it on the flu but she didn't believe me.  The best part was when my dad saw the shirt, he was really confused.  He was like "Why is Eden wearing a shirt that says big sister when it's Christy who is pregnant?"' (um..ya, he couldn't connect the dots).  Marcia had to spell it out for him to which he replied "OOOOOHHHH".  We all got a good laugh. The following week it was my little nephew's birthday on Les' side and so Eden wore her shirt there as well to spread the news.  Les' mom is VERY excited to say the least.  She has been bugging me for a while to have another baby... well her wish is coming true!

Anyway, I haven't done much beside lay and bed and suffer through my rotations for the past few weeks. I haven't been to the doctor's yet, but on Wednesday I went to fetal fotos and had an ultrasound done.  Mostly because I wasn't sure of my due date and I wanted to make sure there was only 1 baby and a heart beat.  For weeks Eden has been telling me that I have a baby brother AND a baby sister in my belly and frankly, I got worried. Thankfully, there is in fact only one baby inside me and it's heart was just a beating away.  Eden got to come with me and she loved to see her baby sister (or so she now claims) on the TV. 

According to the ultrasound my due date is 12.12.12.  Wouldn't that be totally awesome if that was the birthday?!

It was kind of a surreal moment being in that ultrasound.  I'm still having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that I will have another baby.  I remember being so excited and emotional during Eden's first ultrasound and this time with Eden in the room and looking at the little baby now inside me, I felt a little worried... I'm not sure how this is all going to work.

Eden has been my world for 2 1/2 years now and she's my first born, my little baby.  How is she going to feel about another person taking up my time.  She already throws a fit if Les tries to help her in any way.  It's always been "I want my mama to do it!" So as you can see...It's going to take some time for me to figure all this out, but until then.. .I'm just going to focus on not being sick!  Say a prayer for me! 

Well, there you have it.  If I have been avoiding you or have played the I have the flu card on you... now you know why.  With all this said let me just add that I am very excited to have another baby.  I can't wait to hold them and smell that new baby smell.  I will definitely be more excited when the sickness ends...(have I made it clear that I'm awful sick?!)

My Brave Girl!

Last week at Daycare (or school as we call it)  Eden was playing outside on the playground.  She was riding one of those toys that have a big spring on the bottom and you rock back on forth on... ya know what I'm talking about?  Anyway, she fell off.  No big deal right?  Well, she didn't cry and after wards went to lunch and took a nap without complaint.  However, when she woke up from her nap she starting saying that her arm was hurtin'.  Well, her teachers just thought she might have bruised it or hyper-extended it because it wasn't swollen and she never cried when she feel off. 

I had to work that night and so I didn't get home until 10pm.  When I walked in the house Eden was sitting on the couch and her arm was hanging from her side.  I ask Les what was wrong and he told me that she fell at daycare and that she was fine.   Well... I'm the mama and I know when things aren't fine.  So I asked Eden to squeeze my hand and she couldn't do it....that confirmed it.  My baby girl was NOT fine.

So the next day I took her to the doctors.  We didn't see our regular doctor (and thank goodness we didn't)  The doctor thought that maybe her arm was just dislocated at the elbow and so she tried this maneuver to pop it back into place... well Eden screamed bloody murder.  The doctor was afraid she did it wrong so she had another doctor come in and take a look.  Well, he tried the same thing and Eden about passed out because it hurt so bad!  I felt so aweful for my little girl.  She just screamed "Don't touch my arm!!"  We were sent to Riverton Hospital to get an x-ray.  The whole way there Eden kept asking me to not let anyone twist her arm.  I told her I promise I would not let anyone twist her arm again....but she didn't seem to convinced.

Every person who came near to us from that point on got a "Don't touch my arm okay?!" Luckily the radiology nurse was SUPER nice and promised not to twist her arm.  The nurse said with her while they did the x-ray and made sure to ask Eden each time she needed to move her arm if it was okay?  Eden said "No" every time until the nurse offered her a sticker in return and only then did Eden allow the nurse to touch her arm.

After the x-ray, we were sent to an orthopedic surgeon to verify that the break was not on the growth plate.  Lucky for us it was not and just a hairline fracture. So we were sent back to our doctors to get a soft cast on.  When I told Eden we had to go back to the doctor she informed me that she was NOT be seeing the "bad doctor" this time around.  I assured her that we were going to see the "nice doctor" who would make her arm feel all better...again she didn't believe me.  When we walked into the doctor's office. She made it very clear to everyone around that she did NOT want to see the bad doctors...only the nice ones.  When her name was called she asked the nurse if she was bad or nice?  The nurse told her she was very nice and that she was going to help make her arm feel better.

While we were in the room waiting for the doctor to arrive, Eden was very nervous that the "bad doctors" would come in.  She kept asking me to not let them twist her arm.   I felt so bad she had been so traumatized.  All I could do was keep telling her that the doctor was going to make it all better.  When the doctor walked in, it was a different doctor and that seemed to calm Eden down a bit but she did make sure to tell him not to twist her arm.  He promised he wouldn't and told her he was going to make her arm ALL better.  He carefully put on the soft cast and sent us on our way with yet another sticker.  Eden was so happy her arm felt better and her shirt was covered with stickers!

 We headed back to the doctors after the long Memorial weekend.  When we pulled up to the doctor's office Eden got really anxious.  She wanted to confirm with me for the 100th time that we were here to see the "nice doctor"....yes, the nice one.  I told her that the nice doctor was going to put a purple band-aid on her arm and make it feel all better.  She was pretty excited about the purple part of the deal.  When the doctor walked in the room (the same doctor who put on the soft cast) Eden squealed "OH IT'S THE NICE DOCTOR!  HOORAY!"  The doctor got a good laugh about that. 

First the doctor put on the cloth sleeve that goes under the cast.  When he pulled it on her arm, Eden looked up at me with big eyes (she was on my lap)  and whispered "It's not purple mama" ready to cry.  The doctor said "hold on!  I have the purple right here!"  He then pulled out the purple gauze and Eden's face lite up!  She said "Oh, it's beautiful!".  The whole time the doctor was wrapping her arm Eden kept looking up at me with a HUGE smile on her face.  She whispered "I love it!" When the doctor was all done, he asked her what she thought and she told him "I love it!  You did a good job!"  The doctor laughed and said he'd see us back in 4 weeks to take it off to which Eden replied "No!  I don't want it off!!!" 

Eden couldn't be more thrilled that her whole arm is purple.  Sometimes I catch her kissing her arm and saying "you are beautiful!".  She cracks me up! 

 

 

Holy Taleto! Where have a I been?

Well after my two month long hiatus I'm back!  Life has been VERY crazy in the Rose household these past two months.  So much to catch up on.  So where do I begin?  First, Jaxton's Birthday Party.  Mr. J-T turned two years old.  We had an Elmo/Sesame Street Party for him at my parents.  We played lots of games....

like "guess who's tickling you Pa?"

and "Oscar the Grouch's trash throw"

least we forget the classics like "Red Light, Green Light or Duck, Duck, Goose!" We had lots of fun just being outside and enjoying the warm weather.   Birthdays are always a blast when you are a Hutchison....

Finally, we sang a song, opened some gifts and celebrated our all that is Jaxton!

What else have we been filling our time with?  Well, I'll let some pictures do the talking!

Oh! and did I mention... I'M DONE WITH SCHOOL!  Hal-le-FREAKING-lujah!  No more tests, no more studying my brains out every night, no more late night cram sessions... I'm done and I won't be going back....EVER!  If this whole pharmacy thing doesn't pan out, I'll work at McDonald's flipping burgers cuz I never want to go to school again.   10 years was long enough for me, thank you very much!

My last week of school I pawned my daughter off on my parents so I could focus and when I went to pick her up after my last test was done... I was welcomed with this...

(you kick booty)

A surprise "You are FINALLY done with school party!"  Have I mentioned that my family is awesome?!