San Diego 2010

For our summer vacation we went to San Diego this year and had a blast!! There was so much to do. We:
Went to the beach
Spent a day at Sea World
Hit up Old Town
Played at the Mormon Battalion (a MUST!!)
Hung out at the beach again
CAN'T WAIT TO DO IT AGAIN!!

Here are some of the pics we took while there

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Cravings...

So everyone has been asking about any special cravings I've had lately and it makes me laugh. It seems that I've craved almost everything I could at one point or another. When I was pregnant with Brayden I really craved Jack-in-the-Box tacos - weird right? With this baby it changes about every 5 minutes but I can't always satisfy them due to the overwhelming and constant nausea.

Funny story - for about the first 2 weeks after finding out the fantabulous news all I wanted to eat were Hebrew National hot dogs (specifically) and cheddar & sour cream potato chips. I never actually got to eat either of these things though. Toward the end of this craving the nausea was becoming unbearable so I called my doctor and asked for a prescription of Zofran - I specifically asked for Zofran because it has fewer side effects and is totally safe. When they called back they wanted me to first try eating potato chips and drinking lemonade. WHAT?!?! I explained that I hadn't been able to eat anything for about 2 days because I was so sick and they wanted me to eat this? The thought only added to the nausea. Well, I never did try this but I had to laugh at the suggestion. I finally did get the Zofran after 2 additional phone calls and an entire weekend. Luckily it helps a little but they also gave me Phenargan, which helps but knocks me out. Oh well. I'm happy to be nauseaous - it means that I really am pregnant still. YIPPEEEE!!

If anyone has any nausea helps I will happily take them - as long as they don't involve potato chips and lemonade.

Really??

For 5+ years now we have been seeing doctors, tried unsuccessful treatments, been heartbroken, felt hopeless, went another direction...but never stopped trying. I guess relentless determination pays off....

I'm pregnant!!!

We were shocked at first but I think we have moved past all that to just beyond ecstatic now. I don't even have words to explain how I feel. This is truly a miracle that we had been told would most likely never happen for us again, for unexplained reasons. AMAZING!!

So, on July 4th, after feeling really icky for a week or so I decided to take a test - who knows why, just a random thought. To my incredible surprise it said positive! I couldn't believe it. I yelled for Mark, who came running while wondering what was wrong. I was shaking so hard that he couldn't even see what I was holding so I had to explain it to him. He was in shock also. Then he went to the store, upon request, to buy 3 additional tests but different brands, to make sure it wasn't a false positive. After those 3 were positive also we went to my doctor for a blood test - I still didn't believe this. As we were driving I kept thinking of all the other possibilities...I could be in renal failure with excessive protein in my urine causing a positive pregnancy test, I could have a uterine or ovarian tumor causing the HCG hormone...it was too much to actually think we could be having a baby.

The next day I got the positive blood result from the doctor - we really are going to have a baby!! Since then we have had 2 ultrasounds - the first was too early to show much more than a blob, but the second (just yesterday) showed the beautiful heartbeat and gave a due date of March 7th.

The boys are also pretty excited and can't wait to start shopping for a new sibling. This is such a miracle!

So long kindergarten!

The end of May brought Brayden's kindergarten celebration, also considered a graduation of sorts. It was the cutest thing ever and he was so excited! I can't believe that he is now a 1st grader! I'm so proud of Brayden and everything that he accomplished this year. He can now read at a 2nd grade level and is doing 1st grade math - awesome!! It was fun to see how proud he was of himself too.

On the last day of school there was a birthday party for one of his classmates that turned 7 and Brayden was so amazed that he can do everything his friend can do and is even ahead of the friend in math. He said "Mommy, I'm only 5 but Ryan is 7 and we can do the same stuff, except I beat him at math!! And we are in the same class!" Brayden told me that I was right, that he really is smart like I tell him all the time. I'm so glad he now realizes that he is smart.

Father's & Son's

May always includes the Father's and Son's camping trip and I think I look forward to it more than the boys do. I LOVE that I get a night to myself - even though that night usually just includes me hanging out in my PJ's watching a chick flick...FABULOUS!!

The boys all had a great time. They went up a little past Payson by the fish hatchery. The wind was blowing and it was freezing but they had a blast. The highlight of the trip seemed to be the campfire, which I'm told was the biggest campfire of them all. Good job guys! On the way home they made a stop at the hatchery too - what a great weekend - and they even made it back in one piece, that's always a plus!.

Help!!

A few weeks ago we were at the park and the boys were playing while Mark and I were talking. Since we were discussing something (it must have been important at the time) we were just letting the boys play on their own and weren't really paying attention. After a few minutes we heard this little, tiny voice say "Ummm, can I get some help here?" We looked around and saw this....

Somehow Landon had gotten off the platform while grabbing onto this ring-thing and was just dangling in the air. Mark rushed over to "save" him while I quickly snapped a picture. Luckily for everyone, Landon is quite the adventurer and wasn't too scared to keep playing - he actually thought it was pretty funny when he was finally down. This kid makes me laugh!

Spring

The past few months have been very busy for us...work, school, extra activities, etc. Life is fabulously busy all the time. Here are a few of our activities - loaded with pictures of course.

Mark's family came to visit and we had a blast with them! We took more pictures than you will see here but I can't find them. But we have great memories! We spent a day at the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium and I definitely recommend it. It is quite a drive but so great! Mark took the boys on a great log ride and they all got soaking wet! We also saw some weird creatures and the boys pet a stingray - good times!

Easter weekend was a lot of fun too. We colored eggs at my parents and the next day we had an egg hunt. The boys loved it!

Spring in AZ is beautiful so we have spent a lot of time playing outside.

Brayden has had a wonderful year in kindergarten so far. His reading skills are amazing and he loves math! He can add and subtract double digit numbers and is reading Tarell's books now - amazing! They have also learned about cowboys and got to dress up and had a field trip to see dinosaur bones at the Natural History museum, just to name a few of his favorite topics. Brayden also just started soccer and is quite the player!

Landon just started a new preschool/daycare and is loving it! He has made some new friends and continues to develop such a fun little personality. We have been a little worried that his vocab skills are a little behind but the past few weeks his language has just exploded! He loves to ask questions and learn and it is so fun to see!

Tarell is the best big brother ever!! He is such a great helper all the time and is growing up so fast. Although he loves school he is really looking forward to summer. He keeps asking what we are going to do over the summer - I guess I should start planning since it is coming up so fast!