Bleh!!!!

I was really sick on Christmas. Like the kind of sick where you know the only thing that is going to make you feel better, is throwing up. My parents came to our house in the morning and we opened gifts and ate breakfast. Well I pushed mine around on the plate.

We then proceeded over to the in laws house where they had their annual feast. It was gorgeous. Prime rib, salad, baked potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, garlic bread, etc. I wanted to eat so badly but everything in my body was against that notion. I sat and smelled and watched as everyone devoured their food. It was torture. I moved over onto the couch and eventually fell asleep. When I woke up I smelled onions. Awful, strong, pungent onions. I moved into the kitchen to get away from the smell. Low and behold their was a huge bowl of them right in front of me and I had to run to the bathroom where I finally threw up.

Phew. I finally felt a little bit better. I made my way outside for some cooler air and sat and visited for about 30 min. Went back inside to warm up again and then we finally went home. That was without a doubt the longest Christmas I have ever had. I am really glad that it's over.

The next day I felt so much better. Only a touch of nausea and I was able to go to work at night and get everything done! I am so grateful for answered prayers.  The whole time I was walking around my job last night I was saying a silent prayer that I would be able to do my job well and that everyone would be happy with my work. This job has been such a blessing financially and now that we expecting another baby, that money is going to become even more important.

I'm excited for what the New Year holds for our family. We have been so blessed and I know that blessing always come after the trials of our faith.  My mom gave me a new sign to hang on my wall. (I have a serious thing for signs) It says, " If you have faith in God, then you need to have faith in His timing. Elder Neal A. Maxwell". That statement could not be more poignant. Happy New Year!!!

Suprise!!!! Are you Excited?

I was really looking forward to Christmas this year. I love this holiday. Unfortunately we have all been really sick. Stomach flu, colds, and sore throats abound in our house right now. And to make things a little more exciting, I found out that I'm pregnant. Surprise!!!

I'm still in shock actually. After three years of not preventing a pregnancy and not becoming pregnant I thought my body was caput and couldn't have anymore. I sold every baby thing I had and was mentally and emotionally ready to move on.

Apparently Heavenly Father had other plans. He truly must have a sense of humor. He's probably up there saying," They've built their house and are settled, the kids are older, she got a good job......Let's give them a baby and see what they do now!"

When I called my husband to tell him the good news I cried. He asked me if I was excited and all I could say is,"I want to be." I am excited about this baby potentially being a girl since we have 3 boys. Of course we'll be just as thrilled if it's a boy but a sweet little girl would be lovely too. Right now I'm choosing to be cautiously optimistic. I don't want to get my hopes up again just to lose another one. After 15 weeks I'll be "excited" about the whole thing. At least that way I'll know that the baby isn't going anywhere and we will be able to start preparing for it.

Another thing that I'm super excited about is the age gap between my youngest and the new baby. Their is going to be almost 7 years between them! If it's a girl that's ok because then she'll have 3 older brothers to protect her. If it's a boy that will make me a little sad because then he won't really have anyone to play with close to his own age. Oh well. A lot of play groups I guess.

So here we go. I'm so grateful and excited. What a great Christmas present. Heavenly Father is very aware of us and the desires of our hearts. Blessings always come after trials.  Merry Christmas!!!

That is just Gross!

Yesterday as I was waiting my allotted 30 minutes in line to pick my  children up from school, I got a call. It was the school nurse. She informed me that my youngest had just thrown up outside while waiting for me to pick him up. She wanted me to park my monster of a car and come inside and get him myself. I politely informed her that there were no parking spots ANYWHERE on school property and that she would have to wait at least 45 minutes before I could even get out of the line.

She was thoroughly irritated and huffed a "fine" before hanging up. I finally got all of the kids picked up and my youngest informs me through his vomit bag that he threw up on one of the teacher's feet. All I thought was ," That is just gross." That poor teacher. I guess it's part of the job, but dang! That's pretty intense stuff to have to deal with when you go to work. Teacher's definitely don't get paid enough.

After a long bubble bath and some Gatorade he proceeded to throw up 2 more times and fall asleep while we ate dinner as a family. He woke up to watch a movie with the family but then fell asleep again on the couch for the rest if the night. When I got home from work I checked on him and moved his puke bowl closer to his face. He woke up and said, " Why are you scaring me, mom?" :)

Poor kid. I'm hoping that we all dodged this illness and we can stay healthy until after the holidays. Fingers crossed!

Just Not Feeling It

I'm not complaining. I'm just not feeling the holiday's like I used to. I'm not sure if it's because I'm working a night job now and I'm exhausted during my entire day, or if it's because I feel over scheduled and over pressured all of the time.

I feel like as soon as something is done, there is something else waiting. The hubby and I decided not to attend any parties this year because we are both burned out. I thought we were going to be able to relax until Christmas. Then I find out that I have a party to go to for work. Sigh. I love my boss though so I don't mind that much. :)

Then I find out that my youngest got invited to a birthday party on the same night as my work party. Sigh. Then I find out my kids classes need volunteers to help with their parties. Since I have 3 kids and only one of me I had to choose which class to help with and send stuff with the others.

I made 20 pies for friends and family. Sigh. Just found out the there are 3 more people that we need to give something to. More pies.

I'm feeling like I need a little vacation from Christmas. Too much pressure and not enough relaxing. I'm hoping as it get's closer that I will get a little more excited about it. But I'm just not feeling it yet.

Music...... The song of the Heart

Exciting News!!!! I got a piano!!!! I am so grateful and excited right now I can hardly stand it!!!My sweet Aunt Ann gave me her Yamaha studio piano because she isn't really using it anymore. I still can't believe it. When we built this house I left a specific spot in my house for my "future piano". That's how desperate I was. We hung pictures on that wall and when we placed the piano on it, we didn't have to move anything. It fit perfectly!

I played it for 2 hours yesterday and my boys have had fun plinking around on the keys. They want me to listen to every song that they create and critique it. It's really cute. I've always had this secret hope that I would be able to put them into piano lesson and have them be able to play beautifully. Now I'm down to hoping that they have enough piano lessons to learn how to play the hymns. We'll see. My oldest right now is an aspiring recorder player. :)

I started playing the piano when I was 6. It's been 25 years since then. I've had a piano in my home for 9 of my 13 years of marriage. I've really missed it. I'm not a great piano player by any means but I can play some pretty hard pieces which is oddly gratifying. It feels good to know that you conquered something difficult.

Music had always been important to me. I'm not the best communicator but I could always find a song that expressed exactly how I was feeling at the moment. I think Heavenly Father understood that music is a way for a lot of people to communicate. Amazing. I am so overwhelmed and grateful for sweet and generous family and friends.

A Holiday Survival Guide

As the holidays draw near, I begin to feel a certain dread and anxiety start to infest my thoughts and I'm irritable and frustrated. The holidays used to be my favorite time of year and I always looked forward to doing all of the "traditional" fare that came along with it. Nowadays I want to get it over with as soon as possible and get on with life as I know it.

So how can we survive "The most wonderful time of the year"?

1.Get most of your Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving. I know it sounds a little Type A but you miss the crowds and grouches. There isn't the rush and anxiety to get the last one of anything. They have plenty of everything.

2. Find a wonderful go to recipe for friend neighbor gifts and make it ahead of time. Mine is a unique pie that can be frozen. I wrap it up beautifully and everyone loves it.

3. Wrap everything as soon as you can. It's one less thing on your list and your snoopy kids won't be able to look in bags and peek.

4.Don't go crazy on decorating your house. This one frustrates me the most. Unless you are having a fabulous party at your house, there really is no point. I stick to decorating one room and making that one count.
 5. Don't let your families stress you out. If they want Christmas to play out like a soap opera, then participate as little as possible. Maybe go out of town for a white Christmas?

6. If you absolutely have to do Black Friday, take a friend who doesn't want to buy anything. They can help you maximize your shopping. Plus they can push people out of the way so you can get what you want.:)

7. Play only your favorite Christmas music when you want to. The all of the time Christmas music playing radio stations are not for me. I can't do peppy and excited all of the time. Sometimes you need to decompress with a little Enya, Pearl Jam, or even R.E.M. Don't force having Christmas cheer.

8.Have a sense of humor. On my front door along my wreath is a sign that says, "When you stop believing in Santa, you get UNDERWEAR. I love it.

9. Buy something for yourself. I used to get so mad that I was giving all of these great presents to everyone else and I never got anything I wanted. That's just stupid. You are important too and deserve to have a little holiday fun!

10. Keep it simple. A few Christmas' ago things got really out of hand. The kids got way too many presents, I had 20 pies to make, and we had a huge Christmas party at our house. Never again. The kids are down to 3 presents each, I only make pies for people that have talked to me in the last 6 months, and we are not having parties anymore.

I am actually looking forward to Christmas this year. No stress, everything is done, and I can sit back and watch my kids be excited about all of the fun that is going to happen.

Merry Christmas Everyone! And good luck!