Bowling

So, this past Friday night (a week ago now), we went to my cousin Carol's son Kyrelle's Birthday Party at a bowling alley in Lakewood. Christopher LOVES bowling. I'm not really sure why. He's had a little at-home bowling game for a while, and I thought if he ever did the real thing, he wouldn't be nearly as excited as he thought. But, he's been twice now, and he still loves it. At both parties, he was the only kid who we didn't have to hunt down for a turn at least once in a while. He was always standing by the balls, saying "Is it my turn yet?". The first time, I was actually really worried, because he insisted on holding a ball the whole time. That couldn't have been good for his little back! This time he was a little calmer (there were also a lot more kids this time, so I think he realized it would be a little longer in between turns). Anyway, here are some pics:
All the kids hamming it up for the camera. From left to right: Zander (my cousin Dan's son), Abby (also Dan's), Christopher, Jason (also Dan's), and Eilio and Kyrelle (both my cousin Carol's).

Sending the ball down. They got bumpers on the lane AND this nifty little ramp to help aim the ball (and give it enough power to get all the way down the lane!).

The (almost) final scores. My camera was dying, so I had to take it a little early. Christopher didn't even care that he won. He was busy crying because he didn't want to stop bowling!

Selecting his ball.

We broke for the kids to wat right in the middle of the game. Christopher looks happy in the pic, but he did NOT want to stop bowling, and we had to deal with a minor meltdown before we got to this point.

A new picture

And since it's been a while since I posted any pics at all, and I have this one handy, here's a pic for all you C fans.

He's sitting at a Spiderman table that Jo-Jo just gave him (along with the bed and bedding behind him), ready to play a game of Candy Land with Grammy. My mom sent this to me this morning. She's watching him for me today.

So, now he has a whole room set-up at Grammy and Papa's. Thanks again, Lorae! I was joking with Shauna earlier today (we're working together at the high school) that Christopher has taken over her old room (it's the toy room for all the kids) and now Jaime's old room (the one pictured here), pretty soon he'll have the whole house!

Things and people I'm grateful for

I've been horrible about posting this month. I haven't felt so hot, and honestly, it's been a rough start to 2009 for us. I won't bore you with the incredibly long story, a lot of you know it anyway. I think eventually I'll want to write about it for the sake of journaling, but I am going to need some distance from the situation first. However, due to our struggles, a lot of people have really helped us out, and I wanted to remember that. I don't know if it's pride or what, but I have a really hard time accepting help, and I don't know if I ever say thank you enough. So, here are some people and things I am grateful for during this time:

1. Joel. He works really hard and also is the equivelent of a full-time student. School just keeps getting more and more demanding and time-consuming, and I know it's not easy, but he's doing a great job. He ALWAYS does the dishes, because I can not stand the smell (this is not only when I'm pregnant, either!). For these and a million other things, I'm really grateful he's my partner!

2. My in-laws. They've helped us a lot financially, and I'm grateful for their willingness and love for us. I wish we got to see them more often.

3. My parents. My Dad has always been extremely intuitive when it comes to me. He can always tell when something is wrong before anyone else. And both of my parents help us in millions of ways that aren't always so obvious. I don't know what we would do without them.

4. My siblings. Whether they're just listening or paying my cell phone bill temporarily (thanks Shauna!), it's nice to have them. Each one of us is so different, and as we're all becoming adults and our own people, I really appreciate the different strengths each of them offer.

5. Lorae, who is practically a sibling, but different. If any of you have heard me refer to my "big sister," and been confused knowing I'm the oldest of 6, she's the one I was talking about. We adopted her and her 2 children into the family years ago, and now she's married, so we have Lester too. Anyway, she knows what she did, but it was huge and I can never say thanks enough!

6. Kelly. Kelly is my Visiting Teacher, but she has also become a great friend and advisor. She's been a great help to me through everything we went through last year. She probably understood our situation with child-bearing better than anyone else I know, so it was a great comfort to have her to talk to. And now she just keeps listening to me whine and helping out in various ways. I'll really miss her when she goes back to Australia!

7. My calling. I love working with the Young Women. I learn so much from them and enjoy all of their different personalities. We have a great group of Beehives right now who are really excited to be in Young Womens. It's also a great distraction to throw myself into at times like this! I hope they're learning from me half as much.

8. The Gospel. The past year has tried my faith in some ways, but if I didn't believe in anything, I know it would be a lot worse. I'm grateful for everything I know about the atonement and life after this one.

9. Christopher. This paragraph would be ridiculously long, so I won't elaborate. He amazes me every day.

Widget

K, so I added one of those cheesy baby countdown widgets. Mostly cuz I wanted to see what it looks like at this stage, cuz when we look at the books, C says our baby looks like a monster. He's kinda right. Not so much from the widget, but look up a good 3D image of a fetus (I think it's actually not even a fetus for another week or so), at 10 weeks, and it's a little monster-reminiscent. On the widget, it's just kind of alien-ish. Anyway, there it is. I don't know how long I'll leave it up, but it's pretty funny. Christopher says the baby is a boy and his name will be "Peel." He won't really put up with anyone saying anything different. He's going to be in for a rude awakening, because regardless of gender, I am not naming my child Peel! : P

By the way, thanks for the prayers, Amber! I really appreciate it! It made me cry to read that, and I'd like to say it's cuz I'm preggers, but you know me, and it's probably not, cuz I'm always a crier! : ). Love ya!

Dr.'s appointment

I should also add that today I had an appointment and all is well. It took the nurse a while to find the heartbeat, and when she did, it seemed very fast (168 & 170 the two times she could locate it); but neither she or the doctor seemed concerned, so we're calling it good. Christopher was usually in the 140's, so that seems pretty darn high to me, but whatever. Everything else is good. My due date is August 18th, not that that means anything, tho it would be really nice if the baby was born within a couple of days of that, because the Rockies are off those days and I'd like to not miss work if possible. I know, I'm a dork, but I hardly missed any last time and I'd prefer not to this time either! Now of course, I just cursed myself to a really complicated C-section or something. We'll deal with whatever, I just keep praying the baby is healthy and I'm still waiting for the end of the first trimester. 2 weeks to go!

I'm already wearing maternity clothes which I find deplorable, but I gave in because I had to wear the same pair of jeans every single day and that was getting really old. And whenever I washed them (which was obviously often!), they were still tight. The truth of the matter is, before I got pregnant this time around, I was the heaviest I've ever been, and even not pregnant I was growing out of my regular clothes. I'm going to need a workout buddy and a gym membership after this one, because I'm not letting that happen again! I can't afford the new wardrobe!

3

I've sat down to blog a lot lately but not really been able to think of anything. I'm pretty sure this has a lot to do with being pregnant. Thinking is highly overrated anyway, but I have an especially hard time doing it when I'm preggo. Having said that, I hereby apologize to anyone for forgetting anything the next few months. Feel free to remind me of things frequently! I'm starting to write more things down, but just in case.... : P

Anyway, I thought I would log something I want to remember about Christopher and his obsession with the number 3 right now. Most everyone knows about this, and maybe I've even talked about it before, but I find it pretty darn cute at the moment. Not only is it his age and favorite number, but he actually weighs 33 lbs and his height is 3 ft 3 inches. He tells me often that he's not going to turn 4. I find this ironic as well, because when Mitchell was 3, he was my little buddy and I just loved him and begged him not to age past 3. He alternated between promising me he wouldn't and saying "Nope, I have to grow up!" Obviously he did, since he's dwarfed me in height and now refers to me as his "older little sister." Now that C is 3, I remember why it's such a fun age. Don't get me wrong, he has a horrible independent/control freak streak goin' on, and we're in the middle of potty training, which is the bain of my existence, and some days it seems like everything is a fight; but he's also incredibly sweet and helpful when he wants to be. And they're just the perfect size for a good hug and cuddle at this age. And he's just so darn cute, cuz he's getting to be a boy and not a baby or toddler, but he's still so little and adorable. Everything is cutest in miniature. Anyway, I love him to pieces, and even when he is throwing a fit because there's not 3 of something, or it's the wrong answer, I find his obsession pretty dang adorable!

Tale of 2 Pregnancies

I am only talking about this pregnancy and the one with Christopher, of course. It seems to me that the only thing they have in common is that early on, I was and am, exhausted! I could take a nap every day! During our vacation, I did! Now it's just whenever I can. Otherwise though, nothing is the same for me. I am nauseaus ALL the time. With C, I only threw up once, in the 4th month. Couldn't eat Panda Express for almost 2 years. This time around, I've already thrown up twice. Ick. I am always either starving, or overly full. There's no in between! It's driving me crazy!

The worst part has to be the worrying, tho. With Christopher, I had already miscarried, but for some reason, I had no fear. I was thrilled with every horrible thing that happened to my body. Perfectly happy to be exhausted, worried when I was NOT nauseaus (Oh, what I would give for that now!) and relieved the very few times I was. Thrilled to be wearing maternity clothes.....everything. This time, although I am so excited, and I really, really do feel like I'm going to have this baby; there's still fear behind everything. Every little pain makes me want to call the doctor (I don't). I feel immense pressure, pressure I'm sure I'm putting on myself. I feel like it's a huge miracle I got pregnant at all, and if something happens, I'm not sure I'll be so resilient emotionally. My magic date (I hope) is February 5th. According to the chart, that's when I'll hit the end of the first trimester. I hope I'll be able to relax at that point!

The best part has been Christopher. Some days I really worry that we told him to soon, just in case something happens. But most of the time, I'm glad. He says the cutest things. Everyday at least twice he says "Mom, I'm happy" and if I don't ask why, he'll keep saying it until I do, at which point he'll say "I'm so happy about the baby" He already "kisses the baby." He gets new toys and the first thing he says is "I'm going to share this with the baby." Other things he throws out at random: "Our baby is a good baby;" "Our baby is cute;" he also says it's a boy. I really and truly don't care what this baby is, as long as it's healthy; but I am a little worried about what will happen if it's not a boy for him. Of course, everyone else wants a girl; so I'll be consoling someone no matter what! The cutest thing happened at church the other day. During sacrament, a little 1-year-old boy (The Perry's, for those of you GWV ward members) toddled over to us and hovered at my knees. After a minute I gave him one of C's cars to play with. C was not happy about this, so I said "How are you going to share with our baby if you can't share with this baby?" I unknowingly completely confused him, because he looked from me to the baby and back again, and then said "Did our baby get out? Is this our baby??" Joel and I had to laugh. Not sure how that looked to everyone in the middle of sacrament meeting, but it was just SO funny! I assured him it will be quite a while before our baby comes out, and that my tummy will get really big first. He seemed relieved that he doesn't have to share everything quite yet!