Question...

WHEN WILL THE RAIN STOP?

I usually enjoy a good rain storm. I like how it smells just before or right as the first few drops fall. I like the sound of the rain as it hits things in it's path. I like playing in the rain with my kids. I like it when the thunder crashes so loudly it makes me jump and scares my girls into my lap. The flashes of lighting that not only light up the sky, but also our apartment are always exciting.

The last couple of weeks have been full of rain. Almost every day. The girls want to play at the park, but we can't because it's all wet and muddy. They want to play on the patio, but can't because of the lightning. And Wyoming rain isn't quite the same as Houston rain. It's cold. We can't go play in it because we would be frozen. The roof of our covered parking area is metal so when it rains it sounds more like a running river than a gentle rain fall. It's loud.

Glenn has been going to the different plants and off site locations lately and his truck is completely covered in mud. I'm just waiting to get the call from him saying he's stuck in the mud somewhere. Hopefully that day won't come. Maggie is still a little freaked out about our last adventure. We talk about going four wheeling up some trails and she very strongly protests. I think we ruined her adventurous spirit and desire to explore & discover. Sorry Maggie! Sometimes our best plans just go horribly wrong!!

So along with all the rain and not being able to play outside comes the delimma of what to do. How do I entertain two little monkeys all day in a small apartment? My solution for the last few days has been McDonald's. The girls get to play in an enclosed (somewhat) area where I can keep track of them and I get to be inside sort of by myself. It's worked out pretty well. I just wonder how many days it will take before the employee's know my name and have my order waiting for us when we get there. I guess we are going to give it another try today. The rain has stopped at the moment, but we still have no sun to dry things up.

Can we please have a little break in the gloomy weather for a day or two of sunshine?

Here We Go Again

Last night was one of the worst nights ever! We all went grocery shopping and before we got home I started having some stomach pain. After all the groceries were put away Glenn decided to take the girls to the park for a while. I got to stay home and lay on the couch. The pain was increasing in intensity and I decided to try taking something. What could I take? I called Kristie to ask her if it was alright to take Pepto. She had no idea. I called Mom. By this time the pain was unbearable and I was a total mess. I'm surprised Mom could understand what I was calling for. I asked her if she would call a nurse hotline for me to see if Maalox was acceptable to take while pregnant. That was all I could find in the house. She called me back and said they don't recommend it and to call the doctor. I could barely speak through my sobs and tears so I knew that wasn't going to be possible. During the time it took Mom to call the nurse and return my call I was hanging over a bucket and crying with each disgusting hurl of my body. I was finally able to get myself off the couch and into the bathroom to try and clean up a bit and then Glenn and the girls came in during my second round while hanging over the tub. Unfortunately I was not able to get to the door quick enough and both girls came into the bathroom. Zoe was so sweet and concerned. She said "fo up Mom?" I answered yes and told her my tummy really hurt. She then asked me if I needed a "ban aid". It was the cutest thing ever, but I just couldn't do anything but cry.

Glenn called the doctor's office and they told him that Pepto was the only thing they recommend so he packed Zoe up and took her to get some. He got home and got the girls to bed and dosed me up with Pepto. After a few shots of the pink filth I decided I had better just go to bed and see if I could sleep. Again, I almost had him take me to the ER, but decided not to. I don't know anyone here well enough that I would feel comfortable calling at 11:00pm to come sit our girls. Even if I did find someone that would be willing Zoe would blow a gasket if she woke up to someone strange in the house. So once again I pushed through a horrible night of intense pain and nastiness. I plan on calling my OB on Monday to see if she will talk with me about it and see what she thinks I should do. Of course these two times this has happened it has been a weekend and the only option for help is the ER. I hate hospitals and I have no idea what this hospital and staff are like. I've only visited one person there and that was after she had her baby. Not an emergency situation.

Needless to say I'm terrified! I don't know what this is and I don't know if it could be affecting the baby. So if anyone out there knows of an insurance company that will accept pregnant women OR if you know someone that has loads of cash they would like to share let me know!

That Aint No Etch-A-Scetch!

This is one doodle that can't be undid!

I realize this is a terrible picture, but believe me...it's a baby!
Due January 5, 2010

The Story...

Mother's Day pretty much stunk. For me anyway. I've already posted what happened then so here is the rest of the story.

I have been dealing with some kind of stomach yuck for almost a year. During Glenn's first business trip, while we were still in Houston, I got pretty sick and every few days my stomach hurts terribly and I can barely function. Not cool with two kids to take care of. So I figured Mother's Day was one of those days. It was worse than normal and I was very close to having Glenn take me to the ER. However, with no money in our bank account and no insurance to cover costs I decided to suffer through one more day. I had Glenn and my Dad give me a blessing and then we headed for home.

Monday was not quite as bad but still very nauseous and just too tired to do much. Glenn had to go to one of the plants that day and since he was going to be driving past the house he picked Maggie up and took her to school. YEAH! I didn't have to get dressed and leave the house. Tuesday morning I was almost normal and decided I was well enough to make a run to Park City to take care of some banking and pay a few bills. My last stop was the Home Depot and before I left the parking lot the vomit monster was back with a vengeance. I got Zoe and I some lunch in hopes that would help. Not so much. I made it home without leaving any trails along the way and spent the rest of the afternoon curled up on the couch.

I still felt very nauseous Wednesday morning, but tried to do things anyway. That just made it worse. Maggie had a half day so I picked her up and we went to lunch with Glenn. I had decided by this point that I had to buck up and face the fact that I needed help. I was going to find a doctor and deal with the bills as they came. Very scary, but I was done. On our way home from lunch I stopped at Wal Mart to get a pregnancy test. I wanted to be able to tell the doctor without question or hesitation that no, I was not pregnant. Just imagine my surprise when I saw this...

I quickly packed the girls back up in the car and we took a drive to visit Glenn at work. I called him when we got there and asked if he could come down to the car. He came right down and I told him that I had made a discovery that he just had to see for himself. I showed him the test and with total shock and disbelief in his eyes he said "seriously?". Well I'm not sure how I could have faked it so yeah, seriously!

Now I know there are plenty of people out there that would ask how we could be surprised by this. If you know how it happens how could it be surprise? Well, considering everything we had to go through to get both Maggie and Zoe neither one of us thought we could accomplish this simple task without the help of a team of highly trained professionals.

So I am still in the first trimester and pretty much hating life. This has been the worst so far. I was pretty bad with Zoe, but this one for sure takes the cake. Today was my second ultrasound and it confirmed that the due date is January 5th and there is only one baby. Although I do look like I could be carrying a litter there is only one!

Almost Better

I am feeling better. Thanks to all for the concern. However, we still don't have internet access so I can't blog! Very Sad. I do have lots to talk about and share, but I don't have the time at this moment. And I have three rolls of film to develop. It pains me to blog without pictures! Hopefully more to come soon.

I am alive and well!

A Kind of Frustrating Mother's Day

It all started a couple of week ago. I got an email from an online card company offering free Mother's Day cards. All you had to pay was shipping. I figured I wouldn't be able to do better than that especially for personalized cards with our pictures on them. I went ahead and ordered two. A few days later one card showed up. Then I saw the charge on our account and it was more than double what they said it would cost. I emailed the company to see if the other card was on it's way and what was going to be done about the cost. I received a reply saying there was a problem with the card and they were taking care of it and I would get the card that had the problem. That did not answer my question so I again emailed the company asking them to clarify. The reply was even more unclear than before. In short I only got one card, but they did fix the charges. So then my dilemma became do I take the one card I have to my Mom since I was going down to be with her OR do I send it to Glenn's Mom and hope the other one gets here before we leave. I couldn't decide what to do so in my frustration I set it on the table and decided to make my decision closer to the time for us to leave. My decision was finally made that I would take the card to my Mom and send Sharon hers as soon as it arrived. In all the rush to get things together and on our way I left the card on the table. Neither Mother got a card from the slackers! Sorry!!

Mother's Day itself was a bit unhappy for me. I spent the day either curled up on the couch or in bed. I wasn't able to help with the dinner prep or even enjoy all the yummy food. Sorry to all the sisters, Mom and Lindy who did all the work without any help from me. As the day progressed I got worse, but we had to head home so off we went. As we made our entrance into Heber I needed Glenn to make an emergency stop. He was in the far left turn lane and the cross traffic had the green light. I couldn't wait for our light to change so I ended up leaving a deposit along the road as we waited to be able to move. After he was able to turn off the road and hide me from the many vehicles that got to watch the spectacle, a Sheriff pulled up along side him and said that he just wanted to make sure that we didn't get hit. It was such a thrill!

So I truly hope that every Mother out there had a much better Mother's Day than I did. Every Mother I know deserves to be pampered and taken care of every day, but most assuredly on this one special day of the year.

Since I was totally unable to do anything I didn't get any pictures of the Mother's in my life or of the girls playing outside. I guess that's a good thing though since JUSTIN ended up spraying them with the hose and he had to bring a wet sobbing Zoe into me for comfort. So as his punishment he will be babysitting my kids again! It doesn't pay to be mean!

Why?

Why do kids always latch onto the most annoying toy in the toy box? And where do these obnoxious things come from?

Oh, that's right. From me! Duh. Why don't I learn?

I know you all wish that you could be at our house right now. We are getting a run down of all of Maggie's promises she will make if we let her get out of bed to do all the things she refused to do before going to bed.

"I promise that I won't pick up Zoe anymore"
"Please Mom this is my only chance to do it"
"Please, please, please, Mom"
"I'll stop crying if you let me"
"I promise, I promise, I promise, and I won't break the promise"
"I need a drink"
"I need to use the bathroom"
"Can I please use the bathroom?"

Yeah, it sounds all sad and pathetic now, but the fit leading up to the punishment was something you would see on Super Nanny. A show that she has watched with me a million times and has commented on the kids bad behavior and how they shouldn't act like that. Apparently it's alright for her to act this way. Rules don't apply to my girls. Their super special!

Zoe just came up and kicked my chair. I love the two year old attitude. She's well on her way to following in her big sisters footsteps. How excited am I?

And yes, to all those out there wondering, I am the meanest Mom...EVER!! You can all thank Super Nanny for my new found meanest and parenting skills. If you have issue with how I parent take it up with her!

Drive-In

Saturday was the primary activity day at Mom and Dad's ward. Since Camille was going Maggie decided that she wanted to go too. They were having a "drive-in" movie so they all made cardboard box cars. They were all so cute. Here is Maggie in her creation. "the Magster".

Everyone got settled in their parking spots and were served popcorn and drinks.

ENJOYING THE FLICK

Random

Do you notice anything different? Besides the massive bows taking over her head?

I was invited to attend the baby shower for my friend Lindsey. Her Mom made this adorable cake. I will have to be stealing this idea. We are excited to meet the newest Bowen soon.

Every Thursday morning the Library has story time for kids. I have taken Zoe a couple of times and she has so much fun. After the first story the kids get some sticks to bang together while they dance with the story lady. She is so fun. The kids love her. Zoe got a few more sticks than her allotted two.

Such concentration and skill

Tapping her tummy to the music

Pure talent!