Beach Day

Well our beach days have come to an end. Unfortunately, the beach that we go to is only open from Memorial Day to Labor Day and I am SAD about it. The beach days have been a life savior for me. Because of my smell problem (most smells make me throw up), I am happiest outside. However, it is hot outside. What better compromise than to head to the beach—no inside smells and I can head into the water to cool off (plus the kids are kept occupied playing)! : ) We had our last ward beach day and thought that was it. Then we found out Austin had the day off. In all the time we have lived here, Austin has never gone to the beach. Last Thursday was a gorgeous day so we hit the beach for one last visit before it closed and to introduce Daddy to our beach!

Our little Makenna is such a skinny mini that she quickly FREEZES in the water. She can only stay a little while before she has to come and get warm!

Water play with Dad. The water was pretty chilly, so we only stayed in the water for brief periods of time.

The majority of our time was spent playing in the sand.

They built sand castles:

Buried Max in the sand:

(Do you see Makenna in the background? We have been trying to break her from sucking her thumb. So what did she pick up? Biting her nails! Grr!)

Buried Makenna in the sand:

No matter how many times Austin buried them in the sand…

… those little toes would not stay buried!

Then we laughed and giggled as the kids “fought” with Daddy. Austin would build a little sandcastle and try to protect it, but the kids thought it was super funny to slip past Dad and smoosh his castle!

“You’d better not squash my castle!”

“Would a fruit snack make it better?”

“Oh, yea! It worked!”

Back to stepping on Dad’s castle!

After Austin finally tired of remaking his castle : D, the kids buried him in sand.

Ha ha, they weren’t very good at it. This was the final result:

These cute kids had so, so much fun playing with Dad at the beach!

I am SO happy that we were able to have such a fun, family day. Most of our days lately have been spent with Austin working long hours and me being sick. It was so fantastic to get to get out of the house and away from work and sick days and head to our favorite place for fun in the sun!

Touch a Truck

Once again this year, we went to the Warren Birthday Bash. The kids loved going last year, so we were excited to go again this year. The kids had a birthday party earlier that morning and were pretty tired (plus it was HOT outside), but I think they still had a blast again this year.

We started with Touch a Truck. They love the opportunity to climb in many different types of trucks.

City Bus (An organization was there that gave out bicycle helmets to the kids, so that’s why Max is wearing a helmet in most of the pictures. Makenna is wearing a crown from the birthday party that morning.)

Fire Truck:

SWAT Team Truck:

Mail Truck:

Ambulance:

18 Wheeler:

(“Push your glasses up, Max!” He broke his glasses again and this time they aren’t fixable. So we continually have to remind him to push his glasses up until he can get new glasses!)

Army jeep:

Preschool van/bus:

After the Touch a Truck, the kids and Austin visited the petting farm (sick Mom was not feeling very well in the heat, so I sat out on this one). Max is fearless when it came to the animals. Makenna is much more timid:

Like I said, it was hot and I didn’t feel well, but it was still a nice, family activity and I’m glad we went.

Where Have We Been???

Wow, it has been a long time since we have posted to our blog! I’m sure our blog readers (all two of you!) feel neglected! : ) So what’s going on? Where have we been (if you are Facebook friends with me, you KNOW where we have been because I am on there complaining at least a few times a week, ha ha)?

Well, first I went to Girl’s Camp. At camp I got this in my fortune cookie:

New clothes? Why would I need new clothes? Well, I also nonstop cried at camp and was super emotional… hmm…

The very next day after coming home from camp I got this:

Yup, I guess that would cause me to need new clothes! : )

I felt pretty good until I reached week 6. Then the morning sickness started and it was RELENTLESS. Oh man, I have been so, so sick. I had to go to the hospital for an IV in week 7 after throwing up 22 times that day and not being able to keep food or drink down for three days. I ended up being diagnosed with HG (hyperemesis gravidarum) after losing over ten pounds in just two weeks. HG is a severe form of morning sickness that comes in just a small percentage of women. It is NOT your normal morning sickness, friends! I throw up all day, every day. I can’t keep anything down. Smells drive me CRAZY. I can seriously smell EVERYTHING and it all makes me sick! Our windows have had to stay open to try to get all the “inside smells” out of the house. Austin has to do all of the kitchen work, grocery shopping, and a lot of the other cleaning (just this week I threw up just by vacuuming the living room floor. Crazy!). For the past two weeks, I have finally got a handle on my throwing up by getting the perfect range of meds in my system. I still feel pretty miserable and nauseous, but I now only throw up one or two times a day. Going into the kitchen with its high concentration of smells still makes me sick (and the times I throw up are usually because I went into the kitchen to make breakfast or lunch). Talking about food and a lot of strong odors still make me sick. I try to spend most of my time outside because there aren’t as many smells. I still can’t drink water (for some reason it makes me instantly sick) or eat meat. This week I had a salad. I gave the chicken in my salad to Austin. Well, as I was eating it, a tiny sliver of chicken was left and I accidently ate it… and could not stop gagging. Can’t do meat! I still get sick when people get too close to me (I don’t care how clean you are. Each and every person has their own distinct odor and it WILL make me sick when I smell it!). The kids have to kiss me goodnight on my hand because I gag when I try to kiss them. I get sick when I go into other people’s houses because of their unique smells. I can’t walk into the food side of Wal-Mart or even THINK about going to a grocery store (I am literally gagging just typing the word “grocery store”). I am still having to be SUPER picky about what I eat. It is extremely crazy and a big headache, but at least I am not dropping weight or throwing up 20+ times a day any more!

Anyway, so that’s where I have been! I can’t say it has been fun. It hasn’t. It has mostly been some of the worst weeks of my life. I have truly felt at times that I may not make it! But Austin has been a CHAMP and is doing a GREAT job of taking care of things, despite working at least 12 hours every day and being on call most nights. The kids have also been great. There were days I didn’t even get out of bed and one day they fed themselves whatever they could find in the pantry (Max was seriously eating uncooked rice before Makenna stopped him), yet they have been totally fine with it all and are just thrilled to be getting a baby. I have also had some great friends bring us dinner and help out. One day my parents even drove up from Alabama to help out. My dad and brothers played with the kids while my mom made some freezer meals and did some cleaning. It was super nice to have them come help, and we were so sad to see them go and wished they could stay longer than a day.

Max and his new BFF Grandad:

Anyway, enough with being sick! On to ultrasound pictures! : )

Because of being so sick, I have had to have appointments with my OB once a week. He has been concerned about the baby (I guess they worry the baby will not grow correctly if the mom can’t stop throwing up!), so I have had the opportunity to get several ultrasounds.

At first, our little baby looked just like a jelly bean:

Ha ha, in fact, when Max saw the picture he said, “Yummy! I want to EAT the baby!” Umm, gross, Max!!! : )

However, our last ultrasound showed something that is starting to look like a little baby!

Can you see the little face, hand, and body? So cute! Makenna LOVES looking at the ultrasound picture and carries it around to see HER baby!

At my last appointment we heard the heartbeat (Makenna and Max go with me to my appointments). Makenna was so thrilled to get to hear “her baby” make noises. My meds seem to be working and I didn’t lose weight that week, so now I’m moving to the usual once a month appointments.

Our next ultrasound will be to determine if we are having a boy or a girl. I’m not sure exactly when we will find out—I will be 16/17 weeks at my next appointment in September, so they COULD find out then (I found out at 16 weeks with Makenna and like 14 with Max), but they may wait until my October appointment when I am 20/21 weeks. I guess we shall see! I personally am SO sure that it is a girl! This pregnancy mirrors my pregnancy with Makenna (I wasn’t as sick with Max), so I think it is another girl! Of course we will be fine either way, but I think I am getting my heart set on a little girl now. : ) Austin has not stated a preference, but Makenna wants a girl and Max wants a boy.

Hmm, I think that is about it. I seem to be getting better (though I still definitely have bad days). I have been able to get out more lately, so hopefully soon I will really get to enjoy this pregnancy. Whatever the case, we are all super excited to just welcome a new little one into our family in February or March (my official due date is March 10. However, since Makenna was born a week early and Max was born 2 1/2 weeks early, we are thinking it will be the end of February when our little one joins us. My guess is February 27. I correctly guessed when Makenna was going to be born, so let’s see if I am right this time too!)!