Our Grand Finale

ACT ONE

ACT TWO

ACT THREE

AND NOW INTRODUCING, THE GRAND FINALE...

Yes, that's right folks! A few months ago, we got a positive result on one of these...


Which means that six months from today (February 27th), I am due to have another one of these...


Yes, I'm pregnant with baby #4! And, yes, the ultrasound above really is my baby. I know it has someone else's name on the picture, but it's my little bebes! When I went in for my 12/13 week appointment about a week ago, they still couldn't find a heartbeat so they did an emergency ultrasound to make sure I hadn't miscarried. They didn't even take the time to change the name in the computer, so that's the reason there is some random name on the first picture of my baby! Okay, that was a totally random tangent...sorry.


We are so excited & happy to welcome our fourth and FINAL child into our family...hence the title, "The Grand Finale." Of course, we are thinking pink, because we would really love to have a daughter & get to have all those "girl experiences"...but I really truly think I will be okay if it is a boy. Hey, as we've proven before, Mike & I make some good lookin' little men...so if you're good at something, why not specialize in it, right?


This pregnancy has been VERY different from all my others. I know that doesn't mean anything, regarding whether it will be a boy or a girl, but this one has been the exact opposite of all my others. I have been sick, sick, SICK all summer long. I basically have felt nauseated all day, everyday since the end of June...and I have been worshipping the porcelain throne WAY too much for my liking. So, this summer hasn't been the greatest. My kids have watched a lot of TV & played a lot of Wii while I spent a lot of time in bed, feeling like I had the stomach flu.


My doctor tried multiple things to try to relieve the nausea/vomiting, but nothing was working until a few weeks ago. That's when he put me on an anti-nausea prescription called Phenergan. It has given me my life back! In the two weeks I've taken it, I've only been sick 3 days...which is much better than ALL DAY, EVERYDAY. I can actually function & feel like I have my life back! It is wonderful! I'm so grateful that my other pregnancies haven't been like this. In fact, I told Mike that if this had been my first pregnancy, chances are good that we would have only had one child. It has seriously been some of the worst months of my life! Hopefully, now that I'm almost 14 weeks along and getting out of the first trimester, the sickness will all go away & be a distant memory. If not, I've got my Phenergan to keep me company!

Anyway, so that's our exciting news as of late! I really don't know how we're going to take care of FOUR kids because some days I can't even keep up with the three that I already have, but it feels right & it really makes me finally feel like our family will be complete! We're so excited & can't wait for February! --Lindsay

New Year, New Schools

Well, today was the first day of school for my two oldest monster men. And, they both got to experience going to new schools!

Connor is in 2nd grade this year! Where has the time gone? It seems like I was just taking him to his first day of preschool! But, then I realize that day was over 4 years ago! WOW! I can't believe how time flies. He's growing up...


When I say Connor started at a new school, I really literally mean it...it's a brand new school! Construction was finished about a month ago & it is so nice! It is two levels...and is HUGE! I don't know if I've ever seen an elementary school this big before! I think it's as big, if not bigger, than my Jr. High School. It's crazy! And, it's not overcrowded (yet) either! They actually only have like half the classrooms full right now. The others are just sitting empty. I don't think I've ever seen a school in Utah with empty classrooms! It's incredible!


Here's Connor lined up outside of his classroom's door waiting to go in. He's the first in line (the one was the Star Wars backpack, of course) & that's his teacher, Mrs. Murdoch. She seems like she is going to be an incredible teacher & I'm really glad that Connor is in her class...

Connor said his first day was GREAT! He met lots of new friends & he loves his teacher! I think 2nd grade is going to be a great year for him!

Aiden started his second year of preschool this year (well, third actually, if you count the joyschool we did a few years back)...

The preschool that both Connor & Aiden have attended, Learning Dynamics, actually has a campus really close to our new house. I was so excited when I found that out! I love this school & it's curriculum. Their reading program is one of the best I've seen, and I'm so happy that my kids will still be able to go there. Here's Aiden outside the front doors...

Aiden's teacher this year is Mrs. York. Apparently, from what I've heard, she's the best teacher there. I registered Aiden back in January & when I was filling out the paperwork, I heard a mom ask if there was any room left in Mrs. York's class. The girl that was helping us said, "Yeah, but she only has a few spots left. Her class always fills up first. She IS Mrs. York after all!" I quickly wrote Mrs. York down as my "teacher request." Haha! We got to meet her at the Back to School Open House the other day & I can see why she is such a popular teacher. The second Aiden walked in the door, she treated him like a king. He walked out of there feeling like a million bucks! Here he is standing in front of his classroom...

When I picked Aiden up, he said school was AWESOME & that he even obeyed his teacher THE WHOLE TIME! Which, if it's true, is the biggest accomplishment in the history of the world!

So, it looks like the 2010-2011 school year is off to a good start! I love my little monster men! They are so awesome & I'm actually kind of sad when they start school each year! Don't get me wrong, I love the few hours of quiet time I get while they are away, but I start to miss them after awhile! Love you boys! Hope you have a great year! --Mom

Family Pictures 2010

All photos by Maria Wood Photography.

FAMILY PICS

MY THREE SONS

CONNOR

AIDEN

COHEN

MY LOVE AND ME

Okay, so now I need your help! I have a huge wall in the entry that is DYING for a family picture to be hung on it. This thing will be huge...probably 20x30, with a big frame around it. Which family picture do I choose? I've decided on either the first family picture or the last one. Which one do you think would best in 20x30...a candid or a normal posed picture? I'm kind of leaning towards the candid (the first one) just because that would be kind of fun to have something different and fun like that when you first walk in the door. But, I also really like the last one too. I'm very torn. What do you think? I need opinions here. --Lindsay

One Last Summertime Hoorah!

My station is having a "Family Lagoon Day" today (Saturday), but for those of us that work on Saturdays, they gave us vouchers to go another day. We decided that yesterday would be a good day since school starts next week...apparently, so did the rest of Utah! It was so crowded! In fact, I don't know if I've ever seen Lagoon that busy before. But, we still got to ride most the rides we wanted to go on, and it was free...so we really can't complain.

This was Cohen's first year that he was really able to go on some rides. I thought he would love it! In fact, when I put him on his first ride of the day & saw a big grin on his face, I was POSITIVE he was going to love it...


Boy was I wrong! As soon as that first ride began to move, he started screaming bloody murder! Well, it was his first ride of the day & he was in a seat all by himself. Maybe he'd do better, I thought, if he rode a few rides with Mike or I or one of his brothers sitting next to him. Nope, I was wrong again. Can you see him freaking out next to Mike?


And, here he is crying again on the next ride...

I didn't know what to do! I've never had a child like this before! My kiddos are little dare devils & love any sort of ride they can get their hands on! I kept thinking that if we had him go on just one more ride, he would get the hang of it & stop freaking out. Wrong yet again! So, he spent time on the sidelines with me, watching everyone else go on rides for awhile & he was happy as a clam...

The big boys did some of the water rides & crazy coasters for awhile while Cohen took a break from his kiddie ride phobia. Here are Mike, Connor & Aiden on Rattlesnake Rapids about to get soaked...

And then they took a spin on the bumper cars...

Eventually, while Connor & I were taking a ride on the "Turn of the Century," or the swings as we call them, Mike attempted to take Cohen on a few more rides. He eventually found a ride that didn't make Cohen cry, the cars...

For some reason, he loved this ride & went on it willingly multiple times...

We all went on the carousel together...

Cohen was doing good at first...

But, freaked out yet again as soon as the ride began to move...even with Mike standing right by his side. What a weirdo! Dude, this is the CAROUSEL! You are not going to survive in this family if you freak on out the CAROUSEL!

After that, the big boys went on some other crazy rides, like the Space Scrambler while Cohen & I sat and watched...

Later that night, we tried a few more kiddie rides with Cohen. He seemed to be doing a little better! He only cried for the first minute of the ride, which is better than the entire ride...

And, Aiden discovered that Cohen did a lot better on rides when he would put his arm around him. It was the cutest thing ever. This isn't a very good picture, but you can kind of see Aiden's arm around his little brother, trying to comfort him...

It was so cute! When Cohen would start to cry, Aiden would wrap his arm around him, pull him in a little bit to snuggle and tell him it would be okay. You can see his arm wrapped around him in this picture too...

We finally left the park at about 10:00 that night! The kids were awesome! I kept asking them if they wanted to go home & they kept begging for "just one more ride." I was lucky to be able to get them out of there at 10:00...

Oh, and the reason there aren't many pictures of Connor and/or Mike is because they were constantly off at one of the rollarcoasters. They did Wicked, The Spider, Wild Mouse, Colossus, etc. Aiden was just slightly too short to do all of those rides, so (much to his dismay) he had to hang around the little rides with Cohen & I most the day.

Once we were in the car, I thought everyone would fall asleep quickly. But, just the opposite happened. Everyone started saying they were hungry. I realized we hadn't eaten dinner yet. We had a big lunch at about 2:30 or 3:00 in the afternoon & all of us had stayed pretty full up until that point. But, now that it was past 10:00 & there weren't awesome rides in front of us anymore, the kids thoughts started turning to their stomachs.

We decided to stop at a McDonalds on the way home. I thought we would get some food, the kids would fall asleep eating it & then we would be on our way again. Nope, they got a second wind & were all over the play equipment...

Where do they get their energy? Can I have just 1/10th of it, please? We finally talked them into coming over to the table to fill up their tummies, after about 20 minutes of playtime...

And then we finally headed for home! Luckily, everyone except Mike fell asleep shortly after. We pulled in around midnight & all headed straight for bed.

It was a long & tiring, but awesome day! A nice way to send summer out with a bang! Now next week, starting Wednesday, it's back to the ol' grind of the school routine. I am NOT looking forward to it! --Lindsay