summer happenings and 10 week apt.

We have had a great start to the week, Monday we went to the park with Whitty Kitty, and had an great afternoon, I had a fun visit with Kami and the kids had fun playing and Eli took a nap in a 5 point harness swing. He had the most peaceful look on his face.

Tuesday we headed up to Sandy for my Dr. appt and my sister was very nice to watch the kids for me while I was gone. She was also watching my neice and nephew so she was watching 7 children. When I got back she said " I am so happy to see you I could kiss you." If you know my sister that is the last thing on the planet she would want to do, so I knew she was glad to have me back. :)

My appt went great, after I got through the mountain of paperwork. I love Dr. L's office, they remember who I am and things about me and I like that. I got to see baby via ultrasound and saw the heartbeat. I am measuring a 5 days ahead but we will keep my due date of January 4th. I am really hoping to deliver before the end of the year. We shall see. I am scheduled appt wise up to my 20 week ultra sound in August.

Then it was off to the lab to have the maternity panel done. I told the girls that I would have to have blood drawn because they wanted to know what would happen at the appt. When Ruby heard they were going to have to put a needle in my arm and take my blood. she said "I am glad I found this out, before I started thinking about having babies."

The rest of the day was really fun. The girls had a great time being with their cousins, and I had a fun visit with Lady Erin and Sir Dallen.

Sometimes I feel crazy

In order to keep myself on  more even keel we set up a little schedule to help summer go more smoothly. It goes like this:

1. Breakfast
2. get dressed/shower
3. go for morning walk (the exersize really helps my mood swings) I like endorphins
4. Read scriptures together and have family prayer
5. Work time (the girls can earn 10 cents for each job they do) 
6. Each child reads to me for 20 minutes 
7. Fun activity ( get swimming pool out, make jam together, paint fingernails, ect)

We have been on schedule for 2 days, I am so proud. Sometimes it is tricky to say no when some of our cute little neighbor friends come to see if the kids can play or my children want neighbor friends to come on walks with us. I think the trick is, just being consistent and reminding the kids that it is family time. 

I find it very interesting that very seldom would Eli do something that completely frosts my cookies. I tend to think I am quite patient with him, but the combination of some of his quirks and my pregnancy hormones have made for some unpleasant moments. I get sad just thinking about some of my bad behavior. So I am trying to do better. Gratefully my children are patient and forgiving and Jed always tells me that there is nothing to feel bad about, that "it's not you, it's the pregnancy" He is nice and has been so super helpful. When we were contemplating another baby I told him straight out that I was going to need his help. I don't think he realized what he was getting himself into. :) But I am grateful that with all he has going on he makes time to help when he is here.

Jed has a 2 week break from school. Which I am most excited about, this last 3 1/2 months has been hard for me. I will also get to go to Young Womens activities, for the next few weeks and will also be getting away for a few days for Youth Conference. It will be the longest I have been away.

My kids love being outside, Ruby and Emma can mostly manage themselves and I don't have to worry about them too much, they know the rules and they are pretty good at following them .Mr. Eli however needs constant supervision. He has crossed the street a few times even when I have been out watching him, he also loves to put rocks down our neighbor's window well grates. He calls it the "net", his other joys include having the hose turned on just a little bit and being in charge of it, and jumping on our neighbors trampoline. I am secretly hoping that a trampoline will be in the cards for Christmas.

When I am outside watching Eli I have taken up reading books and indexing. Our youth have a summer challenge for indexing and there is a BBQ with the stake presidency and prizes involved. At the begining of the year I set a goal to index 5000 names and have set a goal to do 3000 in the contest period which will equal 50 names a day. I find so much joy and fascination in just seeing the names and how many children they had, if they had lodgers living with them and other things you can find out. It has been a great source of service for me and I feel happy when I do it. I love indexing. I would like to jump on the family history wagon.

I was 6 weeks on Sunday and blissfully thinking that I would escape "pregnancy revenge" It was wonderful thinking. I was at the park with some of my lady friends on Monday and started to feel the effects of it. I felt pretty nauseated the rest of the afternoon. the girls were out playing with friends and Eli wanted to go for a walk, so I figured moving would be good. Got back from our walk and I paid my dues to the porcelain throne. I texted Jed and said "I forgot how good it feels to throw up." :(

I made it through dinner and lounged on the couch for the rest of the evening, while Ruby was doing her eye therapy. Eli would come and pet my hair and get into my face and then turn and run, and then come back for more.

We made our announcement to our parents on Sunday, Mother's day. It was too hard to keep the secret from them because Jed sees his parents a few times a week in between work and school and I see my mom at least once a week. It was fun to tell them. My mom was confused, and my dad didn't say anything. (He had a long weekend and insisted it was because he was half asleep when I blurted it out there.)

When I told my parents I said

"So you are going to have another grandbaby."
-"Who is?"
"You are."
-"You are???"
"No you are,"
It was pretty funny.

Jed's told his parents by saying.

"What does winner, winner, chicken dinner, black jack and 21 meant to you?"

His mom immedately jumped out of her chair and started shouting "You are???? Are you serious? Are you really?" Her reactions never fail to make me smile and feel good

I think I am so sneaky (pregnancy posts)

Last Monday April 20th or something like that, I was in a crazy mood. My emotions were ridiculous, everything made me want to cry or get really angry. I hate feeling that way, I sent Jed a text and asked him if when he got home he could give me a Priesthood blessing. He asked what was up and I explained how I was feeling. He said absolutely he would. When he came home we chatted for a bit and then he gave me a blessing I felt much better and knew that the words came from the Lord.

The rest of the week passed fairly normal and come Friday evening I was feeling very down and depressed for no real reason. Things that were bugging me that normally wouldn't.I went to the neighbors to take a family picture of them after their race and when I got home I came and laid my head in Jed's lap and said  "I feel crazy do you think I could be?" He said it is possible but probably not. I do get a little flighty pre-lady time.  Things didn't seem quite right, so I crept to the bathroom and took out my favorite dollar store pregnancy tests, did my business and watched at the test worked it's routine function. I saw a very strong line and then a faint but still there line. I meandered downstairs to show Jed and asked is this what I think it is? He took a look and said "yes, yes it is." With a very large grin on his face.

I am terrible at keeping secrets about myself, however when I found out I was pregnant on my 26th birthday and then I miscarried a few days later, I couldn't bear the thought of telling people and then having to retell them the sad news. So I am keeping my secret for as long as I can, I really as so excited. Gentle reminders from Heavenly Father have come on many occasions that it was time for us to welcome a new baby into our family but I would always talk myself out of it saying that "The timing isn't right, or we have too much on our plate as it is." At the beginning of the year though these thoughts have come again and again and remembrances of previous reminders He has given us. We have fasted, prayed, visited the Temple time and again it has been made clear what it is we need to do. So I have put aside my fear and have replaced it with the faith that Heavenly Father wants us to be happy and knows best how to do that. I am grateful for His help in helping me get out of my own way because I like to think that I know what is best.

I really am so excited and it is fun having a secret.

I feel like I am kind of avoiding getting together with people because I am just bursting to tell someone, but I promised that I would wait until I am 10 weeks. I got together with a friend yesterday and I wanted to tell her but didn't.

I am feeling really good, like I did with Eli. Boy maybe? My mom came on Monday and I was being super careful to make sure there was no evidence lying around. I hung onto my prego test and I had to put that and my prenatals under the counter so she wouldn't see. While she was here the Dr. office called and I took the call in the bathroom, gratefully she didn't ask who it was. :)

I am trying really hard to eat well this time around because gaining 50 lbs a pregnancy isn't a good idea on a short frame like mine. And I can eat like no body's business. Like the time I ate a dozen cookies at night when I couldn't sleep when I was pregnant with Eli.

I never watch t.v. during the day, but I am finding I like to laze about in the afternoon and Eli will just lay by me and look at his book. It is a nice little arrangement. 

Work and play

We decided that instead of doing absolutely nothing this summer we would indulge ourselves with a 12 dollar a person Pass of all Passes. We put it to good use this weekend and went to the Lehi fun center. We have a goal of using it at least every other week, there are so many fun things you can do with it  and it allows us to do so on a smallie fun budget.

The kids loved it! Jed took some pictures on his phone(I need to figure out how to transfer them) We did go carts, spraying bumper boats, which was my favorite, I thrill in soaking people when they can only move their boat away at about 1 mile an hour. I can't remember laughing so hard in a while. Plus the shock on their face and the stupor it puts them in as they get blasted in the face is almost to much for me. The girls rock climbed, Ruby made it to the top after insisting repeatedly that she is afraid of heights, Emma made it three to the top. We put the kids on a mini, mini version of the rocket, even Eli. He was all smiles on the way up and then when the drops started he was screaming and crying. It was funny and sad at the same time.

We played miniature golf, we are rusty. And the kids also got to go in the airplane ride, Eli went repeatedly while the girls and Jed played laser tag. We had a lot of fun and look forward to going again.

When we got home we did yard work, dandelions spread in a ridiculous fashion, the girls put their clothes away and tidied their rooms, I growled at the dishes "I hate you!!!" and Jed cooked dinner while I took Ruby and Eli for a walk. We then proceeded to lounge for the evening and enjoyed buttered popcorn and "Jessie" from netflix.

Sunday was nice and quiet other than Ruby and Emma's love for playing karate and hi-ya-ing each other. I snuck in a little nap while Ruby read stories to us and before she started she said to me "Your not going to fall asleep are you?"

We borrowed Rise of the Guardians from our friends and their son came over on Saturday to pick it up. I told him I would go get it and he followed me down stairs anyway and took a look around and said "Don't your girls ever clean down here?"

So here we are Monday, my room is spotless, laundry is 75% done, and I have a few more chores to tackle. I didn't take that comment personally did I? It lit a fire under me and I guess I needed one. :) I am beaming with pride and glance around my room and I feel like patting myself on the back. 

Thursday's

I love Thursdays, part of it is because it is the armpit of my week, because Jed is basically only home to sleep Monday through Thursday evening. He works 4 10's, has an hour drive to work one way and then as soon as he is done with work he races to get to school. It is the quarter before he gets his associates and it is keeping him excessively busy. Please don't take this as complaining, I do get lonely at times but how grateful I am that he is willing and determined to do his best. I like him a lot. :)

So come Thursday I am at the end of my emotional rope so to speak with being a single parent. I honestly don't know how people do it day in and day out. But Thursday is also a great day because it means we have Jed home for the whole rest of the weekend. It makes me giddy with glee.

We had some fun happenings today, Eli managed to climb very carefully down the very large stairs on the bus, he normally just wants to jump to me, but between the bus driver and I we decided it would be worth the extra time it would take to help him grow the confidence to go down them. He did great and I kept reminding him to hang on to the rail and come down slowly. I also got an email from his teacher telling me he has already made great progress.

 

Ruby called me from school telling me she wasn't feeling well, so I came to pick her up and she did look pail, so she came home. It was amazing how her strength was restored after getting home. :)

We borrowed Rise of the Guardians from the neighbors and as we were getting ready to watch it Ruby said she had a tooth that was wiggly and tried to pull it out, she needed a little help so I was able to work my magic and Ruby will now be visit by the tooth fairy this evening. She is thrilled.

I tucked the girls in and came upstairs to run my bath so I could watch Larkrise to Candleford and I could hear Emma's voice, I came out to check on her and she came up to tell me that she wrote a note for Jack Frost and that it was under her pillow and that she hoped that the Tooth Fairy would take it to Jack Frost. And she just wanted me to know that. She said that she would show it to me tomorrow if the Tooth Fairy didn't pick it up. I love that girl, I think she has a thing for Jack. It was made known to me tonight at dinner that she broke it off with her boyfriend E. It was difficult to keep a straight face and to be casual.


I am feeling a little responsible as well for my neighbors misfortune, their son is waiting for his mission call to come and so when I saw the mail truck I knocked on their door to let them know it was here. I know I am a stinker. So Eli and I watched from the window while eating popcorn, as he was coming out to get the mail his dad was walking backwards recording and his mom and sister recording from the back. Long story short, Sir neighbor took a stumble and is now left with a broken foot, I feel some guilt for it. Perhaps had I not been a Mrs. Cravitz none of that would have happened. Alack and alas, I did make amends by lending them a favorite musical of mine that I was sure would lift their spirits.

Time

Isn't time a funny thing? It passes in an unreal sort of way. The days are long and the weeks are short. When I decided to take a break from the blog, I enjoyed just enjoying the moment without having to find some sort of witty thing to say about our happenings. The sad part is that I have forgotten all of the small things that are so precious.

When I took a break from the blog last January I became a big participant on a health group on facebook and would make many a comment there and I think that filled the blog void for me, but I never made any posts on my wall during that time either. In the last couple months I have again found it fun again to write about mine and my families life, it was so well received that I decided that it was time to get back in the saddle, like Roy Rogers suggests. I remembered that my small experiences are significant. While I writing this the girls are getting ready for bed, Emma keeps telling me that she can't find her toothbrush and as I look at her I see that she is using mine... bless her beautiful heart.

As I a fore mentioned I am back in the saddle of blogging, time to dust off my camera and maybe invest in a pair of blogging boots.