It’s been a while…

I guess there’s not a ton new to say. Last week we tagged along with Jonathan to Cody, where he was working for the week. The first part of the week we were in a hotel with no pool, so on Wednesday we switched hotels and that made everything easier and nicer for the girls and I. Also nice was that the hotel was virtually empty, so the employees let the girls run up and down the hallway and we spent some time hanging out in the lobby when the room got too boring. And of course we did a lot of swimming.

While we were in Cody, Liberty lost her first tooth. On Thursday night it was barely hanging in her gums. She wanted us to help her get it out, but would barely let us touch the tooth. She was so afraid it would hurt that her face was pale. Poor thing.

excited her tooth is almost out

can you see the fear?

look at that pale, scared face…poor baby…

Later that night after the girls were asleep, I looked over at their bed and found this:

they really do love each other.  this pic makes me tear up…they are so precious and I just love them so much.

The next morning they all wanted pig tails in their hair…aren’t they cute?

And then Liberty wanted to work on her tooth again, so I gave her a tissue and told her to wiggle the tooth all around. She did that in front of the mirror while watching cartoons. At one point she took her hand out of her mouth to check on the tooth, and it was gone. She found it in the tissue. She was so surprised that she didn’t feel it come out…and so proud.

Back at home, Nadia got a birthday present in the mail from Poppy and Gree…she loves dresses and leggings, so this was perfect… She also got a Minnie Mouse card from them with a Minnie crown…

The girls did a little crafting yesterday and decorated some little canvas purses…

I did a little crafting as well…a gift for our little friend Noah who turns 2 on Thursday. Super easy to make, and since I found the hoodie on clearance, it was also super cheap! It’s a dinosaur, because that’s what Noah loves… Found the tutorial here.

And these little cuties just love to dance…all day long…(Leila and Nadia):

Let’s see…what else? Libbs is doing good with school. She’s working on reading, writing and math mostly. Leila and Nadia like to do school work, too…working on letters and numbers with them. Also working on memorizing scripture with all 3 of them.

I’m working on my first fair isle type knitting project. I’ve been wanting to try one for a long time, but have been afraid to. Now that I have finished the design part of my current project (a gift for our niece due in April), I’m wondering why I was so afraid…it’s been much easier than I thought. Although I don’t think I left enough give in the yarn on the inside as there is some puckering. I’ll post pics when the project is finished.

Oh, and this is me at 28 weeks (I’m 29 now…)

I got a couple of early birthday gifts this last week as well. A Kindle touch, a pair of western boots, and a dress coat. Thanks to my hubby and my inlaws for the gifts.

And I have to share this passage of scripture that I read today during my quiet time…

“For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble.”

-2 Peter 1:4-10

The whole chapter is really good, but this part stuck out to me today, so I’ve been pondering it… There are some pretty amazing promises in the Bible that God has made to us…don’t you think?

Who knew?!

So we had ourselves a little ER adventure on Sunday night (in the middle of the Super Bowl, of course!). Here’s what happened:

During the 2nd half of the Super Bowl I was reading a book and there was this light in my eye like a camera flash that wouldn't go away. I told Jonathan about it and thought maybe I hadn't had enough water or food or something. Then I started to feel very weird, but couldn't describe what i was feeling. Then my hands went numb, and then the right side of my face went numb and I couldn't talk right. Nothing came out the way it was supposed to. It was very scary. I tried to give Jonathan the number of our doula (who is also an ob nurse here in town), but while I read the numbers in my head right, they did not come out of my mouth right. Very very strange and scary. Anyway...thankful for good friends who took the kids and we went to the ER. A few hours later and they weren't sure what it was, but the ER doc kept warning me that it could be pre-eclampsia and that I could be delivering baby in Denver this very week (yikes). Could have also been caused by other scary things. Blood work came back ok. Got to go home when symptoms went away since we live right behind the hospital. Talked to my midwife and she was positive I was experiencing a hormonal induced migraine. I had never heard of migraines that didn't have pain but caused numbness and confusion and the inability to speak. They’re called Aura’s. (Growing up, my mom had lots of migraines, but the kind that are just horrid headaches). Sure enough, the worst headache I have ever experienced hit me (The pain part of the migraine comes 1-2 hours after the Auras). Thankfully I got to sleep (with some tylenol) and woke up feeling better...just after affects of bad headache. So, I'm thankful for that headache b/c it meant nothing worse was going on.

That’s my ER story. My midwife thinks it may happen again, but we have a plan for it this time. And she thinks they will go away once the baby comes. She experienced the same thing, and she’s had patients who have experienced it as well. Learn something new every day, I guess!  Click here if you’d like to read a little more about what I experienced.

Now, here are some pictures just for fun…

26 weeks (will be 27 wks on Saturday)

Jethro’s finished blanket

My Liberty showing off her beadwork

My Leila and her beadwork

My Nadia and her beadwork

Leila, Liberty and Nadia painting their own nails

That’s all for now. Blessings!

Sick Days

The girls and I don’t get sick very often…even from colds. I’m not sure why, but I’m thankful. On Friday afternoon Nadia started to have a cough. By Friday night she had a mild fever and was very sleepy. She slept about 14 hours that night. Saturday she was up feeling mostly better, but still had the cough and a clear runny nose. Sunday morning I decided to leave her home from church because I wasn’t sure how everyone in the nursery felt about kids coming with colds. She slept from 9am when I left, and was still asleep at noon when I got home. Sunday was spent watching football and getting Jonathan ready to leave for his new job training the next morning.

Early Monday morning we left for Cheyenne to drop Jonathan off at the airport. Nadia still had a cough and her runny nose was now green. Liberty started to get a cough, too. After we dropped Jonathan off we stopped in Laramie to go to a Walmart and then headed home. We were wiped out and spent the rest of the day lounging. Leila started to get a deep cough that afternoon/evening. The next morning, Tuesday, all 3 girls had fevers and I was out of Ibuprofen. Leila’s cough sounded like a seal bark and I was concerned about her having croup. Nadia and Liberty seemed pretty good by the afternoon…just normal cold stuff. Leila just kept getting worse. She was lethargic, tired, and miserable looking. Her fever kept getting higher and I tried all the home remedies I could think of, but they were not bringing down her fever. She was burning up. I had no ibuprofen and I had also run out of toilet paper. A friend bought us chicken noodle soup for dinner. Super thankful for that.

Not long after that, another sweet friend came over with children’s advil, toilet paper, sprite and cookies. When she found out we don’t have a humidifier she left to get one of those for us and some puffs. I cannot tell you how blessed I felt in that moment. I was exhausted and worried about Leila. I couldn’t get her to drink anything and couldn’t get her fever to go down. It just felt good to know I had some support while my husband is away. So so thankful.

I had Leila sleep with me because of her high fever and labored breathing. We spent some time in the steamy bathroom, I gave her some advil, and loved on her. We fought that darn fever all night…this morning it had finally come down to 99.7, the lowest it had been in about 20 hours (most of the evening/night it was in the 103’s). This afternoon, it is slowly rising again…so we are fighting that some more. Her breathing is better so I’m thankful for that. I just feel so bad for my baby girl…I want to take away her pain and sickness.

So…we’re exhausted here. Thankful for dear friends who were the hands and feet of Jesus to us…and praying for health to return. Hope you’re all doing well!

I miss him…

I am really missing my Dad right now. Well, I miss him every day, but I’m missing him even more right now. Probably because the holidays just passed, a friend of mine just lost her dad, and my dad’s birthday is this month. I’m also feeling kind of sad that I’m having this new baby and he isn’t around for me to share it with.

He used to call me just about every day…even when we lived in the same town. He used to stay on the phone for a very long time…sometimes talking, sometimes watching TV or dozing off. He loved when I told him stories about the girls…everything they did just tickled him. It was always hard for me to end the phone call, so I usually waited for him to do it (unless I absolutely had to). He used to off-key, made up songs to his grandchildren. His legs/knees gave him a lot of pain, but he would give rides to my girls and my nephews on his legs over and over and over. I have no idea how he could stand it, but almost never told them no when they wanted a leg ride.

When my sister and I were little, he would play all kinds of things with us. He would build snowmen in the winter. He took us on bike rides. He let us play with his hair when it was a little longer…we would put all kinds of pony tails and barrettes in it…I have a picture that I will share below. He wasn’t perfect, he wasn’t always easy to be around, I didn’t always like him…but I sure loved him. He was a great Dad. I will always love him.

I will always miss him.

this is a pic of my sister and my dad from Mackinac Island…I think in 1997…they are both goofy :)

Ashlee, Dad, Me (also Mackinac Island in 97)

After Ashlee and I fixed Dad’s hair…hahaha! From some time in the late 80’s.

The front view. We had a lot of fun.

My Dad, Mom and I…

I’ve shared this one before…it’s the last picture I took of my Dad with all 3 of my girls…November 2009.

Another one I’ve shared. The last pic I have of my Dad and I. This was on my birthday in 2010…right before we moved and 2 months before my dad died. I’m so thankful I tend to take a lot of pictures…

Finished and Unfinished…

Well…I finished make the dolls for the girls (from the Michael Miller panel). However, I haven’t even started the dresses and I don’t intend to this week. They will get the dolls for Christmas and I will make the dresses a little later. I’m sure they will be ok with that. I’m just too tired to sew up 9 little doll dresses before Sunday. Ha!

Liberty’s, Leila’s, Nadia’s… (and please ignore my not so great seamstress abilities…)

this is the blanket I made for my sister-in-law’s baby…she doesn’t know it yet, though, and I’m pretty certain she doesn’t read this blog, haha. The blanket is in the mail, so she’ll soon know.

this is the yarn I’m using to make our baby (a BOY!), Jethro. I’m never good at photographing my yarn and showing the color just right…it’s Knit Pick’s Swish Worsted yarn in “Dublin.”

And I’ll add a few pics of the girls just for fun. I love them so much!

all dressed up for the Christmas play (Leila, Nadia, Liberty)

Libbs & Leila doing some schoolwork

snuggling on the couch to watch a movie before bed (Nadia, Liberty, Leila)

Hope you all of a Merry Christmas! Blessings!

It’s a BOY!

 

Our baby boy!!

Can you tell it’s a boy?

here’s another look…

I am still in shock that this baby is a boy. What an exciting change for our family.

Our son’s name is Jethro Allen. The name has a lot of meaning for us. Jethro means “abundant” and is also a character on our favorite show that my dad got us hooked on (NCIS), and Allen means “little rock” or “precious,” and was my dad’s middle name. Lots of great meaning for us.

A little crafting…

I am making my girls’ Christmas gifts this year. Liberty has been begging me to make her a purple cape with a pink L for at least a year…so, I made one for Christmas. Of course I couldn’t leave out Leila & Nadia, so they are getting pink capes with a purple L and N, respectively.

Next on the list are fabric dolls from a Michael Miller panel. The panel has 3 dolls, perfect for my girls. And I plan to make each doll 3 dresses (oh I hope that goes well…no pattern for the dresses, gotta’ figure it out myself!).

I’m also working on a baby gift for my sister-in-law…she’s just a few weeks ahead of me in pregnancy.

And a few pics of my girlies just for fun…

my precious girlies playing in cowboy boots

snuggles with my Nada (nope not mis-typed…it’s a nickname :)

Libbs giving Daddy a massage…such a sweetie

Nadia & Libbs playing in the snow

Daddy dancing with Leila & Nadia

Oh yeah…ultrasound date is December 20th…any guesses???