Sunday, April 1, 2012

Fifth and final.

February 9, 2012

I am pregnant….again. At least I think, and kind of hope I am. It has been a strange beginning. I had a miscarriage in December and though I wasn’t super excited to find out that I was pregnant that month, I was still pretty sad when I miscarried. Then in January, I had my period right on time, but it was really, really light. Not to be graphic, but not even a tampon a day light. Towards the end of my period I noticed that I had been ridiculously tired, even though I was getting plenty of sleep and eating well and working out regularly. Jefferson asked if I needed to take a pregnancy test, and I reminded him that I was on my period. But then I remembered I had bled through my first month when I was pregnant with Carter. Finally, a couple of days after my period had stopped I decided to take a pregnancy test, it was Tuesday, January 24th. It came back positive. The first words out of my mouth: “Oh boy.” I was hesitantly excited. Hesitantly because it wasn’t exactly the timing I was thinking of, I just had a miscarriage a month before, and I just had a period; wasn't sure if that bode well. I am kind of a planner, and have always thought that baby #5 would be our last, so I had an idea of how I wanted my last pregnancy to go so that I could savor it and enjoy everything about it. It hasn’t quite started that way, for the reasons listed above and because I have spotted a few times since then. My first OB appointment is next week and I can’t wait to go and make sure everything is okay and breathe a little easier and start to enjoy this baby who will probably be our last. So far I have not been feeling great in the morning. No throwing up (yet), knock on wood, but so nauseous I can’t eat until about 10 or so. I don’t really know if I believe in cravings, but certain things just sound better than others at certain times. We went to A&W and everything sounded vomitrocious except cheese curds, really? Also, I have had three Mcdoubles in the last week. Kind of gross, I know, but they are about the only thing that sounds good around lunchtime. Dinner usually sounds good until I am about half way through and then I am usually done with it. If I have to chew anything too long (including my gummy prenatal vitamin) I just can’t do it, it will come back out of my mouth. We went out to eat with my family in Utah at Chili’s and I was eating a delicious burger and about half way through I had to spit out a couple of bites into my napkin and that was the end of it. I hope nobody noticed. Even though this is not exactly the timing of when I thought I would be pregnant, I feel so incredibly blessed to be pregnant again. I am reminded that we don’t get to pick and choose the timing of our babies and I appreciate when our babies are surprises, because it assures me that Heavenly Father sent them when they are supposed to come. And as I see family members and friends struggle with infertility, I can't feel anything but blessed that I have not had that struggle to deal with. We do feel so lucky that we get to have another little Harmon baby enter our home!

Thursday, February 16th

I had my first doctor's appointment today. I told my midwife all about my weird periods and miscarriage and all that. And lucky me, it earned me an ultrasound! Up until the moment of the ultrasound I was so hesitant about everything, thinking that there was a possibility that there was no baby, or that something was wrong. Right away a little baby popped up on that screen and I could see his/her little heart beat. That was the moment that I fell in love with this baby. That was the first moment I let myself be excited about this baby. I jokingly told the ultrasound tech that I would pay her if she could tell me it was a boy (obviously joking since it is so early). She said she would see what she could do. Right after she started the ultrasound she said, "Well, there's only one baby." And I then told her that was even better news than a boy. Everything looks good so far. My due date is September 22nd. On the drive home I was just so happy and teary, feeling so blessed and like I said, for the first time, excited. This is really happening. :)

As for me, I have been feeling about the same. Not really nauseous anymore, but so tired still! I think I get more exhausted with each pregnancy. Maybe it's the other little ones running around... Soda really never sounds good. I know, no Diet Coke? Crazy! Unsweetened cereal always sounds good. I usually have at least one bowl of Cheerios a day, and frequently a bowl of Corn Chex too. I can tell my belly is starting to pooch out a little, but hopefully not noticeably so yet.

March 20th

A few things... I am 13.5 weeks along and we are mailing out pictures to all of our family to let them know we are expecting. I am excited to let the cat out of the bag. We finally told our kids last night. They were really excited. Carter immediately said he wanted a brother. I would be fine with that. :)

I am so glad to be out of those first 10 weeks. I found myself thinking to myself a lot, "I am so glad this is my last pregnancy," and "Why did I think I liked being pregnant again?" And I wasn't even sick, just really, really, really, debilitatingly tired. (like my word?) I feel like myself again.

I can now drink Diet Coke again, though I haven't been drinking a whole ton of it. I have had a lot of Cesar salads. It always sounds good. I buy one of those kits at the store at least a couple of times a week. Also, anything gummy, but particularly sour gummy straws. Yum. I can eat anything now, but even up until a couple of weeks ago I would have to stop eating in the middle of dinner if it took too long to chew something or if the chicken was even a little dry. I'm glad I'm over all that.

I'm looking a little more pregnant every day. Perhaps not noticeably so to anybody else, but when I lay down flat I can feel a tiny bump, and if I lay on my stomach I can feel the pooch. I think I just wore my dark skinny jeans last night for the last time in a long time. :)

March 25, 2012

We finally announced to the world that we are pregnant. It was fun to tell everyone and hear everyone's reactions. I was talking to my Mom almost two weeks ago and she flat out asked if I was pregnant. I lied of course, and she said she's just been having these little feelings that I am, so that if I wasn't pregnant, she informed me, that I would be soon. How did she know?

Of course everyone says congratulations, but I am wondering what they are secretly thinking. I don't care, mind you, but with some people I would love to hear their inner dialogue. "They are so crazy." "She can't even handle the four she's got." etc, etc.

I know that we were meant to have one more baby. I feel about 99.9% confident that this is our last. I also know, that had we not had our kids so close together (not necessarily by design), that we may not have had all of them. The older they and I get, the more my logical, rational brain yells at me. "How are you going to afford these kids?" The answer is, I don't know. "Are you really going to do the baby stage again?" The answer is, yes, one more time. If I ever got too far out of that baby stage and diapers and naps and diaper bags and baby food, there would be no going back. Hence, five kids in 6 1/2 years (+ 2 miscarriages = 7 pregnancies in 6 years)

I am sure so many people, even maybe some of you who read our blog, think that we are absolutely nuts, and I agree, but I know it's going to be awesome having five kids. My kids are so amazing and truly well behaved. They have kind spirits and are so excited for another sibling. I have a husband who loves having children with me. He is so good at being aware of each of our kids and allotting time to each of them. And, if Heavenly Father sent them to us, and we're doing all we can on our part, He will provide. I know it.


Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Buried.

Last night Andi tells me and Jefferson, "Abby is buried from her trampoline because she walked outside the net." Me, "You mean grounded from her trampoline?" Andi, "Yeah, grounded!" She knew it had something to do with the ground! Haha!

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Friday, March 16, 2012

Stuff,

We had the Corrigan/Birk family over for dinner on Sunday. The kids had a blast playing together. The dress ups were a hit. As always.
Andi and her cousin Jordyn.
Taytum was super emotional all afternoon and super sad her cousin Kaleeya wasn't there (she was home sick). Finally she just conked out in Grandma Karla's arms.
Taytum disappeared the other day and was being super quiet. I finally went to investigate and this is where we found her: reading her scriptures in her room. How sweet.
I looked at this picture of Taytum and wondered where my 2 1/2 year old went... She is getting way too grown up on me.
I hope everyone knows how much I have always loved this little Bentley . I have been somewhat open about what a challenge she has been her whole first year of life, but I have always loved her to death. Well, the last 2-3 weeks she has been such a doll and I am completely smitten with her. She is happy and smiley and giggly and just makes me laugh.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

(great picture from my phone, I know)
We had a fun FHE on Monday. Jefferson came home from work just a few minutes early, which would have been treat enough, but then we decided to take the kids to see "The Lorax." It was not my favorite movie, but cute enough and the kids enjoyed it. We were the only ones in the theater which helped when Bentley got chatty. We packed some treats for the kids and munched on popcorn and "special drinks." We have so much fun together!

Monday, March 12, 2012

Hair.

Andi asked me to do her hair curly yesterday. While we were curling she said, "Aunt Ashlee's hair is always curly." And we got into a discussion about types of hair. We talked about how her hair is straight, but that some of her cousins have curly hair. Then she said, "And I know, Jordyn's (this is her little black cousin that's her age) hair is a poof." It made me laugh. She's absolutely right.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Just a quick update on the babes:

Bentley:
*Bentley weighed in at 15 lbs. 2 oz last week. What the heck?! I thought for sure she was gaining. Though she did start crawling, which is normal for kids to kind of plateau when that happens, but she can't afford to plateau. Our doctor isn't really concerned because she is developmentally on track and social and interactive. But we would like to see some more weight on this petite little lady! (Her head is in the 50% so at least her brains are growing)
*She is getting really fast at her army crawl and has her arms and legs coordinated. She'll do a few real crawls here and there, and will also crawl on her knees and forearms. She is so much happier now that she can move.
*Her second tooth on bottom popped through today.
*Her personality is really coming out. She's kind of funny and she knows it.

Taytum:
*Doing great with potty training. #2 is not so great, but she has gone a few times on the potty, so I'm hopeful.
*Her speaking is improving so much every day!
*Her favorite descriptive word right now is "freaky." She is constantly pretending her hands are "freaky spiders" crawling on you. Today at the pet store she saw "freaky lizards." The cat's eyes in the movie were "freaky." It's hilarious.
*Her facial expressions have us laughing multiple times every day.

Andi:
*is Andi. All things girly all the time. She is permanently attached to her make-up bag.
*She is learning to read at school and doing a pretty good job. I know most of it is just memorization, but it's a start and fun to watch her try.
*She is really good at helping take care of everybody in the family.
*She adores Bentley and loves talking to her, playing with her, feeding her, getting things for me for her, bringing her toys. She's such a little mom.

Carter:
*Is a smarty pants. It's fun to read with him and watch him do his homework.
*He is the most helpful child anybody could ever ask for. He is always the first one to jump in to clean up and always does the most.
*He is so honest, and it makes me proud. Just today I found our bathroom hand towel sopping wet in the sink. I went out and demanded to know who did it and Carter timidly said he did. He was just trying to get it a little wet to wash off some marker on his arm. I was proud that even though he knew I was mad, he was honest right off.
*He gave a talk on Sunday and we were only called the night before as a last minute fill in. He did such a great job! He stood up there and recited/read it all by himself.

On an unrelated note, it was in the 60's today and so divine! We spent all day outside. We went to the park, had a picnic, came home and jumped on the trampoline, rode bikes, played with sidewalk chalk and bubbles.... the sunshine made my heart happy!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

108

Happy 108th Birthday Dr. Seuss!!
March 2nd is Dr Seuss' birthday, and since we love us some Dr Seuss we decided to make an afternoon of celebrating.
We pulled out our collection of Seuss and did some fun activities to correlate with them.
For One Fish, Two Fish we did fish pattern papers and Goldfish in the bowl. Carter's had math problems that he had to solve to find out how many fish to glue in.
For the Cat in the Hat we made Cat in the Hat hats! The kids seriously love these! It's really ridiculous.
Ten Apples Up On Top: We drew ourselves and stamped our 10 apples on our head. Carter chose strawberries because those are his favorite. :) I also love Carter's picture (the yellow one) because he drew Andi chasing him with a mop, just like the bear in the book.
The Foot Book: We made a picture of the sweet little feet I meet every day!
Green Eggs and Ham: Green eggs and ham, of course! (and an english muffin). I was going to do pink lemonade for the pink ink drink, but my kids wanted chocolate milk. They thought I was pretty magical when I made green eggs. These weren't my best, but my best were eaten first.
We also made and decorated cupcakes. They were red (pink) with white stripes to match our Cat in the Hat hats.

Dad contributed by renting a Cat in the Hat DVD and all the kids crashed and watched it to end our evening.
I had about three other projects with three other books that we didn't get to. I guess I'll just save them for next year. It was a really Seusstastic birthday party and an added bonus that we snuck in so much reading! Thank you Dr Seuss for your mad rhymes that makes my kids love reading time!

Today is your birthday! Today you are you!
If we didn't have birthdays, you wouldn't be you.
If you'd never been born, well then what would you do?"

Friday, March 2, 2012

It's Potty Time!

This is what we've been doing the last few days...And Taytum is doing awesome!! The few times Tay has had an accident in her underwear she's stopped herself and finished on the potty! Every time she goes everybody gets a treat: a starburst, M&M, or swedish fish. It's been motivation enough. So thrilled with her progress!!