Baby Steps

I am 23 weeks pregnant this week!  It seems like the more kids I have the faster time goes and that is scary!  There have been a few things different this pregnancy than normal.  I'll share my favorite first.  I lost 14 pounds within the first 18 weeks and Dustin gained about that many.  There was never a craving - only food I could tolerate.  Dustin however would come home from work with a particular craving.  It made me laugh. 

My less favorite symptoms are that the placenta is in the front of my stomach so I am only barely starting to feel the baby move and it's pretty much all tiny movements.  I have also experienced some anxiety this pregnancy which lead me to believe something was wrong with me.  I would experience shortness of breath, rapid heart rate and dizziness and it happened often!  After having my blood sugar, blood pressure and iron checked they confirmed it was only anxiety.  I suppose it has something to do with the fact that I already have 3 kids and a husband..and a home to take care of.. and 2 callings.. and do hair one or more days a week.. or have 5 visiting teaching sisters to visit each month.. and teach Joy School.. and whatever other million things come up - like Christmas presents to buy?  I had some serious melt downs which led to a giant melt down and even a loss of temper and had to face reality that something had to change.  I received council from my Bishop during tithing settlement and had a blessing from my dad and Dustin and finally made a few choices.

I am preparedness coordinator for my ward and recently an assistant was called to help me so I asked to take the back burner for a while and let her run with things.  I also sent this email out to all 146 people I had on my client list from this year:

Friends,
After much thought, stress and tears I have decided to be done doing hair starting the first of January.  I anticipated taking a "maternity break" starting April however for whatever reason this pregnancy is throwing me for a loop and I can't handle the same workload I normally could.  Maybe it's due to the fact that I have 3 kids to take care of too - or just Molly.  Either way, it's pretty stressful.  :)  I have thought much about the Good, Better, Best talk by Elder Oaks and realize there are better and best things that are being neglected in my family's lives at this time due to the day/days each week I dedicate to doing hair.

I hope by the time school starts next year I can slowly get back into the swing of things, but no promises.  In the meantime, my younger sister has moved from Rexburg to Idaho Falls and has access to a small salon station in my parents basement (some of you have visited it).  She has a little higher prices but does a good job and can try to work something out with you if you'd like to start having her do your hair.  You can text or call her 208-881-6815 her name is Heidi Stanfield.  I would be happy to give you any color information to share with whoever you decide to take care of you for the it me being. 

Sorry for the inconvenience.  I know you will all understand as you are all my friends.  :) 

Thanks,

Jessica

PS  For those of you already scheduled with me - your appointment still stands. 

I just wanted to document this HUGE decision.  I have been so grateful for Dustin for helping give me kind reminders of the many good things I am doing that are only good things.  He encouraged me to be done doing hair sooner that I wanted but it really feels like the right decision.  It makes my heart so happy to think of the time opening up for me to be a better mom and still take care of myself during this baby growing mode. :)  He stayed home from work with me on Monday this week to help me catch up on so many neglected things around our house and that helped me so much!  So grateful for him and his support.  He is a good man.

Now.. we will see what adventures come our way in the next 17 weeks before baby boy joins our family.  Hopefully they are happy ones.

Power Outage!

Wednesday morning about 5:15 as Dustin was getting ready for work he commented that the power just went out.  Within about 2 minutes of his comment all of our fire alarms went off.   Because it was so dark in the house and we couldn't locate even 1 of about 10 flashlights in our drawer with working batteries Ella started screaming and yelling for Dustin and I, trying to convince us that she was downstairs.  It was quite hilarious and I wish I had a video of it.  Alissa just quietly walked around with her arms out until she found us and Molly didn't so much as turn over on her pillow. :)

 

Dustin quickly got the fire alarms turned off but within a couple more minutes they were all going off again.  It made us quite nervous that we had some gas detector or something and Dustin and the girls and I all dressed and heading out to my parents house while he called the Fire Department.  Luckily they had other calls with the same situation so they were able to confirm it was due to the power outage.  We quickly found our stash of batteries and changed out the flashlights and convinced Dustin he needed to stay home with us for a while because it was creepy dark outside.  :)  Wimp, I know.

 

We bundled everybody up in our room, lit a candle and fell back asleep for about an hour until we got up to find out that Ella's school had been closed because power had still not been restored.  The temperature was dropping in our house because of the below zero temperatures outside and a lack of electricity.  We bundled up in socks, sweatshirts and pajamas and tried to find nonelectric things to do like write letters to Santa and color.  Ella commented, "This is really hard without the TV."  Makes me realize how pathetically much we rely on electronics to entertain us.  Also makes me want to quickly get my blog books printed so I don't have to access the internet to get all these entries and pictures.

 

We made some good memories and were thankful it was just a "drill". 

Power was restored around 11:45am.  Love these kids and glad they make life such an adventure.

IT'S A BOY!

After 5 months of anticipation in finding out the gender of our baby, we found out Tuesday that IT'S A BOY!  Poor Dustin cried and laughed and cried and laughed.  He had a whole bunch of bundled emotions. :)  I am pretty sure he was excited to say the least though.

 

They didn't waist time or keep us waiting she determined the gender within the first 1 minute of ultra sound.  Here is his bum & little boy part.

 

 

His cute face!  He kept sticking his hand up to his nose like he was picking it.  We determined that was a pretty "boy" thing to be doing. :)

 

 

And I just love the spine picture.  It's incredible how these babies can grow and develop so perfectly.  I felt so relieved and so blessed to have such a precious baby who is growing healthy and whole.  No doubt about it - it is a pure miracle from God.

 

 

My mom was watching the kids for us during the ultra sound so we stopped at Target really quick and bought a pack of blue onesies, blue binkis and a nurf gun with 3 bullets (just enough to defend himself to his 3 sisters).   The girls were excited - mostly Ella to hear it was a boy.  Molly still has no clue what is going on and still says we are having a sister if she gets asked.  :)

 

I kept teasing Dustin that it must be a boy because he has gained about the same amount of weight that I have lost since I got pregnant and he has had all the cravings around here.  I haven't had a single craving - mostly just felt sick.  Enough to be on medication sick until about 18 weeks and thankfully the last few weeks have been hit or miss but mostly feeling better.   Every time it's sweet Alissa's turn to say prayer without fail she says, "bless the baby to be healthy and that mom can feel good."  Such a blessing to hear her say that.  She has done it all on her own.  Makes my heart soft every time.

 

I have only been able to feel the baby move a very few number of times because the placenta is right in the front of my stomach which is cushioning all the movements.  I am pretty anxious to start feeling it though, it's my favorite. 

 

I got a $15 Doppler from a girl on facebook and have been using it on a daily basis to hear the little man's heart beat.  So soothing to me to find that heart beat and sit and listen to it quickly beating away. 

We have much to be thankful for!

 

 

Snowman

We woke up Saturday morning to about 3" of snow on the ground.  The kids were so excited and by 8am were in their snow clothes playing outside.  Later in the afternoon Ella got ambitious and made a snowman all by herself. 

 

She did have lots of moral support from her little sister though.  SO FUN!  Love these girls.

 

Swimming Lessons

 

For the past 4 weeks these two have been in swimming lessons twice a week at the aquatic center.  It was a new thing for all of us as we normally do it at Ammon Pool during the summer and it's every day for 2 weeks.  However, we learned this is the way we will do it for now on.   The girls learned so much and more than anything, had TONS of fun!

 

Ella even got recruited into a local swim team.  They really wanted her to join them but I think mom is going to have to say no to $70 a month and 3 days a week.  Not sure I am up for that right now.  We decided we know she loves swimming and has talent in it so we will continue it again next fall and go for some basketball in the winter with another friend.

 

It's been another fun experience.

Alissa learns to read!

For the past 2 years we have been doing Joy School at our house with a variety of different kids.  This year we have just 3 little girls who are all at totally different levels so it gives me a bit of a challenge as well as pushed me to help Alissa learn some more challenging things.

 

Recently we learned the songs to spell the word purple and yellow.  They sing the days of the week, months of the year, say the Pledge of Allegiance and just learned to count by 10s to 100.  She is getting close to counting to 100 by 1s.

 

I was a little worried about her (probably like I worry about Molly at this point) because she had a hard time sitting still and didn't show much interest in coloring or any kind of learning.  While teaching her the animal noises when she was two she said, "This is too hard, I don't want to do this anymore."  However, over the past few months something clicked and she has shown great desire to learn more so I have been trying to act on it.

 

We pulled out the little yellow books grandma gave us that have beginning words and she has been reading them to me, Ella and dad every day.  She reminds me in the morning that she needs to get a new book out. :)  She is doing excellent and it's super exciting to have another reader in our house! 

 

Good Job Alissa!  We LOVE YOU!! 

Turkey Bowl

We are starting November off with a bang as we headed over to Stinger Stadium to watch Dustin play in the City of Idaho Falls Turkey Bowl.  I should have had a picture of his 3 little pink cheerleaders.  They were so happy to spot their daddy out on the field.

 

They played 3 games, won 1 and lost 2 but they had a terrific time!  They even had matching Bee shirts that some good friends sponsored. 

 

Ella's Piano Recital

Ella had her fall piano recital on Friday night.  She did a terrific job and I am quick to admit I am so glad to be done with this song she has been "practicing" for the past 6 months.  She hasn't really enjoyed it so it has been a bit of a fight.

 

We love Aunt Cindy!  She does an amazing job teaching all her students and has a special way of convincing Ella (and everyone else) that she is AMAZING!

 

Ella stood with such confidence as she introduced herself and her song and played her song so great and then did her cute little curtsey that Cindy teaches her to do to thank all those who are applauding.