TOAD'S

Well...we are still here and not in Florida! :( The space shuttle launch that we were supposed to go and see was cancelled due to "technical difficulties." Those of you whose husbands or Dad's work at ATK know how often this happens. They move space shuttle launches if someone sneezes too loud-I'm kidding, but it is almost that bad! Anyway, our trip got moved into November and even though I'm bummed, it will end up working out better at that time anyway.
I have actually been feeling pretty good lately, and I am SO thankful that I may be past the worst of it. With Allie I was sick until about 20 weeks and with Easton it lasted until about 16-17 weeks, so it's ending early this time-WAHOO! I actually felt good enough that we decided to take the kids to Toad's this last weekend and do some miniature golfing and drive the go-karts. It was so much fun and it felt wonderful to be out amongst the living! :) If you haven't ever been there-I recommend it. My kids loved it!
*Disclaimer: We all look kind of "haggard" in these pictures. I didn't do Allie's hair and I let Paul dress Easton(yikes) and my kids are covered in food from Chili's- but look, we were just lucky to be out of the house! :)

Easton took this pretty serious. He is a good little "putter" and he was all business about getting that ball in the hole! (I'll have you know that I won though! Ha! Don't get any idea's Paul-I don't golf.)

Notice that Easton's golf club handle is pink and Allie's was yellow. They didn't give us an option and I thought we were going to have a major melt down. Easton doesn't DO pink. He kept asking me why he had to use a girl golf club. Oh brother.... :)
Allie's favorite-of course. Poor Easton...I wonder how many princess, girly-type pictures he will endure in his lifetime?I look like I am wearing a maternity shirt in this picture and I'M NOT! People are always asking me if I am "showing" yet, and I always say, "only in my bra!" It's pretty much ridiculous what "the girls" do while I am pregnant-I have resorted to binding the suckers down to keep them from needing their own zip codes. Ridiculous......Never doing this again,never doing this again.. Look at these two gloating...it's because they kicked our trash out there! I think they were a full lap ahead of us the whole time. Not really fair though..considering who I had in my cart. I couldn't go very fast for fear of her having a heart-attack!

"Like.....I soooo already knew that!"

I got this from Amie's blog....hilarious. And not shocking at all. I love the 80's and everything about it! What year do you belong in????

You Belong in 1986

Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.

http://www.blogthings.com/whatyeardoyoubelonginquiz/

Happy Birthday...

to Paul! His birthday was this last weekend. "One year older and wiser too..." We didn't do much because we leave for Florida in about a week-so we will party down there! We are so excited to get away just the two of us! The last time we took a big trip by ourselves was probably when we went to Cancun four years ago, so we are in NEED. Here is the best part though-our trip is completely paid for by Paul's work! He won a big award(because he is brilliant:) a few weeks ago and part of that award is that you and your spouse get to go to Florida to see a space-shuttle launch, tour NASA, meet the astronauts,etc.. I am so excited to see a space shuttle launch. My friend saw one a few years ago and she said it was so neat that she sat there and bawled as it went up. I can't wait to see it and hopefully I can get some cool pictures of it. We also have a few days to ourselves-so we are definitely going to Walt Disney World,Epcott Center and the beach. I get excited just writing about it! We are kind of counting this trip as our "early" 10 year anniversary trip, since when our anniversary rolls around we will have a 4 week old baby! I'm actually starting to feel a little better too. We were worried that my sickness would ruin our trip-but I think it will be okay. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow and they told me that I could find out what it is then...but I'm not going to. For a few weeks I was starting to think maybe I should find out because it would give me something else to think about besides being sick, but I'm going to hold out. My gut tells me it is a little boy, which would be awesome for Easton. He is still soooo bored with his sister gone all day, and I'm not much fun for him either. I think Paul felt so bad for Easton just sitting in this house with "sick mom" that one day he took Easton to Wal-Mart and they came home with this....

So now I sit in the garage all day watching him go in circle after circle. He has gotten pretty good at it and we are hoping that he will get his sister to like riding her bike more.

I'm also so excited that it is Fall! I put out all my fall/Halloween stuff yesterday and I love how it makes my house look. We are still trying to decide what we are going to be for Halloween. Only Allie knows what she is going to be and I'm not going to tell but here's a hint...none of you will be shocked at her choice! =)

Best Friends,Loose Teeth & Nachos...

I had a conversation with a wise and wonderful friend today, that just totally lifted me right up to where I need to be! Don't you love those friends? I shall keep her in my life-boat forever! She called to see how I was feeling(crappy!) and to see how school has been for my kiddos. I told her that I was feeling a little sad for my Allie because she hasn't found that "best friend" at school and that I get the feeling she just kind of drifts between people. Actually, I think Allie will play with anyone that is willing to have fun and don't get me wrong-she isn't sitting at school eating lunch by herself, she just doesn't have that one buddy to always play with. Anyway, I was telling my friend this and she said, "Is Allie sad about it?" I told her that she could care less-she would rather play with her little brother any day of the week. She then went on to tell me that I should cherish this time. She told me, "One day your house will be inundated with teenage girls like mine is, and then Allie will have little time or use for Easton. Right now is the time that will cement your children together for later in life when they realize that nobody else matters but family. The best friends will come soon enough and then you'll be homesick for the day when it was just them playing together."

It helped me feel better and even as I type this I can hear my kids outside playing and laughing on the trampoline. And I'm going to treasure it!

SO-here is a update on me being "knocked-up." ha! I'm MISERABLE. I started barfing over Peach Days-horrible! The Zofran didn't work after all. It turns out I'm one of the 2% that can't handle that drug. So I'm back on my own as far as the nausea goes. I am not very productive right now(this is an understatement) and I set small goals for myself throughout the day. Something like this: Do 1 load of laundry. Help Allie with spelling. Brush your teeth. I'm not kidding! My gag reflex is so bad that brushing my teeth is like the dreaded activity of the day. It's weird though because when you are barfing with the flu, absolutely no food sounds good, but when I am pregnant I can barf and as I'm rinsing my mouth out be yelling at Paul to go get me tiny-spicy chicken with ham-fried rice. (This was a real request the other night) I also crave gas station nachos! I have craved these every time I am pregnant. Yep. I'm like knocked-up white trash with a cherry-coke on the side. People often say to me, "oh you probably lose weight in the first trimester if your so sick!" HA! Never! I have NEVER lost weight while I am pregnant. I don't gain a lot total-but from the minute I am pregnant its on the up-and-up! I remember telling my doctor when I was pregnant with Allie that I was afraid I had Anthrax poisoning and that the baby was starving. He calmly looked at me and said, "You have gained 3 pounds-it's far from starving." He might as well have called me "porky" =) I'm also an emotional wreck. The stupidest things will make me cry. At the peach days parade I choked up when the flag came by. Tonight I saw that Dove commercial where the little girl promises to think of herself as beautiful-I lost it! I cried and cried over that little girl. And then there is my sense of smell-I could work for the drug force task and sniff out anything for them right now! I can smell everything and everything smells HORRIBLE! I about threw something at Paul the other night for smelling like Polar Ice gum. bleh! And church is the worst...especially on fast Sunday. All I could smell was bad breath and dirty hair. ewww. Other than that.....I'm good. =) A little pissy-but good.

Oh and look......all my daughter wants for Christmas is her 4 front teeth!!

She looks like the quintessential first grader. I love her. And it's hilarious to watch her try and eat anything! She told me that she has decided to smile with her mouth closed until her teeth come in! Here is an example:

I've got to go lay down now-if Paul sees me blogging he might think I'm well enough to unload the dishwasher! hee-hee.

Can you see that???!!!

That is sweet baby #3. I'M PREGNANT! I actually wanted to wait a few more weeks to tell-but the earth-ending nausea and radiating heartburn has made it too hard for me to hide it anymore! If you have seen me in the last few weeks and I have looked "a little" under the weather...now you know why. I have had days that I have barely left the couch-I feel so bad for Paul and my kids because I have been more than neglectful! Paul is good to just try and keep the house going-he steps in and starts the laundry,unloads the dishwasher, and gets the kids ready for bed for me. I don't know what I would do without him! I went to my first appointment on Wednesday and my doctor agreed I needed to go on Zofran(anti-nausea medication). THANK THE STARS ABOVE! It has helped so much! I still feel carsick all day long-but I can at least resume my mommy/wife duties! More importantly, we saw our little blob bouncing around and it had a strong heartbeat-which I am so thankful for! I'm about 10 weeks along and I'm due on April 3, (which is my mother's birthday!) and if I go to the 7th it will be born on my birthday! Perfect time to have a baby in my opinion! :) My kids are freaking out with excitement! They have wanted a baby at our house for a long time now and of course Allie wants a baby sister and Easton wants a "baby brudder" but they and everyone else will have to wait until April to see what we have because we are NOT finding out the sex! HAHAHA!! This is going to kill Aubrie and Krystal and I kind of love it! My mom has always talked about how amazing it used to be when they would yell out, "It's a Girl!" or "It's a Boy!" in the delivery room and I decided I want that experience. And why not? I have one of each, this is my last, and we really, really don't care what the next is, so we are going for the surprise!

I feel so blessed right now-even if I am carsick 24/7! I don't know if it's my age or my own experiences, but I know what a blessing this is. Pregnancy really is an "ordinary miracle" for everyone and I'm so thankful! I'm in love with my fabulous-four: Paul, Allie,Easton & baby#3! (Now you understand my blog name!)

First Day of School!....(sniff-sniff)

Well-they are gone! Both of them. I'm so sad right now. For starters-whoever said that sending your child to Kindergarten is the hardest is a big fat liar! The hardest is sending her to first grade! I liked Kindergarten. It's basically glorified pre-school and she still could eat lunch with me. What I don't like is first grade! WAAAA! Allie is going to be gone from me for sooooo long. I don't like this at all. I have ate lunch with that little girl for almost every day of her six years. Me and Easton are going to be so lonely around here. Easton is at his first day of pre-school right now. He was so excited to wear his backpack into that building. So many of the kids were crying for their mom's...not Easton! He just ran right in and waved good-bye. Where does time go? I'm so sad-I wish I could freeze time and keep them little forever.

Our first-grader! Check out her hill-billy teeth...we lost two in one night!

Look at her little lunchbox....waaa!! Makes me sad all over again!

Pre-schooler...

Paul always stays home the morning of the first day of school and walks with us to the school bus and then he drove Easton to school. Such a good Dad....

Ballerina Girl

So Allie started her 4th year of dance last Tuesday ....WOW! She really enjoys dancing so I have kept her in it every year since she was 3. A new ballet studio opened in town called "Classical Youth Ballet" and the owner is Michelle Jackman. I decided to enroll Allie for one year of solid ballet to help improve on her basics-ya know...point your toes, first position, bar work, etc. Anyway, she went last Tuesday and is in LOVE! The teacher is amazing! She is so sweet with the kids, but she is serious about them learning ballet. They have to wear black leotards, pink tights and pink ballets and hair MUST be in a bun. I loved it! After one day she was showing me first,second, third position and doing(or trying is more like it) leaps (grande jeté's). I'm beyond impressed! If you ask Allie she will tell you that she is going to be Odette in Swan Lake...(she says this very dramatically as she leaps around the family room!). Michelle said that if Allie works hard enough she can try out for Ballet West's Nutcracker when she is 8. We will have to see! My mother, who did ballet and even got on pointe, is OVER THE MOON. Sometimes I think Allie was supposed to be my Mom's.... I was never that lady like! :)

I love what they wear....and I LOVE the bun. Classic.

When Allie came out of class she told me that her teacher can dance like Barbie in The Nutcracker! haha! She also said that she likes this kind of dance because it's how a princess would dance. Well....if the crown fits!