Announcement of sorts

I have been wondering whether or not to share this for some time; waffling back and forth. However it turns out, I guess it's time to spill the beans! We are expecting our third! We are thrilled but filled with some trepidation. My other two pregnancies were a breeze. While I absolutely HATE being pregnant, I realize now I should never have complained. I was never sick and I was able to do whatever I wanted with both boys. I even played softball up to two days before Evan was born!

Like I said, I should never have complained. This time, things are a bit... rough. I had a new revelation - morning sickness sucks! I had no idea how BLESSED I was to have missed out on it not once, but twice! It is not fun and it just keeps continuing. I'm supposed to be past that point but still nauseous most days. Also, I have a subchorionic hemmorage that showed up at 10 weeks. That fun condition causes all sorts of fun problems and it's day to day on how whether or not the baby will survive. The best we can do is pray is resolves on its own without too much damage to the placenta. I am seriously counting down the days until February (24 weeks). At that point, the doctor will intervene if necessary. Right now, they just tell me there's nothing they can do.

So we wait. I sit around a lot. I take lots of naps and envision the weight that I'm packing on by doing NOTHING each day. But we have hope and trust in the Lord that everything will work out. And we're sure it's a girl! Only girls come with this much drama, right?!

Plentiful blessings!

Summer is gone, fall is fading, but I am going to share about our garden anyways! I just unloaded the pictures off the camera and was so happy to see these! Yes, I am a slacker in all aspects; blogging, pictures, cleaning, everything.

We enjoyed so much food this year! The pumpkins are now carved and snow is on the ground. I love a little snow but winter is soooo long so here are some pics to remember warmer days.


Evan, who only eats food attached to plants, was in heaven. Seriously. He forages. I sent the kid out to the garden each day for lunch.

The plums were huge and sooooo good! Very sweet. We ended up eating them so no jam this year.

Peaches, zucchinni, sqaush, watermelons, strawberries, grapes, corn, plums, tomatoes, all types of peppers, onions, beets, raspberries, honeydew, eggplants, and artichokes. Did I forget anything??

The boys harvesting - I love my garden fence. It's like the proverbial white picket fence!

And now that winter really is upon us, I will have to face reality. We'll make some snowmen!

Fun! Come rain, hail, or mud!

Everyone's been experiencing it but this has been the weirdest, wettest summer ever. Out of the last 3 weeks, I've played 2 softball games (should have played 9!). Strange... but the summer fun must go on! Today, for Father's Day, we loaded up the wheelers and decided to go ride up above Hardware Ranch - Monte Cristo area. I was a little wary of this - anyone remember what happened last time Rich and I went up to that area? Right... That was the fun time when we went for a Sunday drive on Mother's Day in 2004, got stuck, spent the night in the Xterra with Issac and the dog and then hiked the 8+ miles back out the next morning. We were more successful this time and actually made it out without having the spend the night in the woods. Although, should we ever need to again, we found a creepy abandoned Forest Service station. Hey, it would be somewhere to stay...

There wasn't much inside - old mattresses, an old stove, lots of bat poop, some squatter's stuff. Like I said, creepy. But it did have a cool ancient outhouse!

The ride started out beautiful - it was sunny and there were a ton of wildflowers thanks to the all the rain. We took a trail that was virtually straight up and the view was amazing!

However, by the end, we were racing the weather trying to get back without getting soaked! We succeeded mostly but did go through a little rain and some hail. Thank goodness for the helmets! It was a great day and I hope Rich enjoyed it as much as I did. Happy Father's day sweetie -- I love you!

'What's that called?'

I have heard that phrase hundreds of times over the last few days. My little Evan is suddenly the most curious child around and needs to know what everything is and what it does. I'm sure the 'Why?' questions will follow soon. It has hit me recently with this that my sweet baby is not so much a baby anymore. He's curious, a sports pro (yes, pro at 2), thoughtful and caring, and the happiest, silliest little boy you've ever met. He's talking so much - and we actually understand it now! So here's my favorite 'Evanisms' that have emerged lately.

"Don't worry Mama, I got you, I got you"

"No bath, no potty, just play. Later"

"Mama! Look at the buggies! Look! I catch you one"

"Scary"

"Play outside. Now. No, not later, now"

"Mama, hi Mama, hi" (said whenever he feels I'm not paying attention to him)

He's so smart, so fun and sooooo stubborn. I thought I was stubborn and independent. He's at least 10 times more stubborn than I am. For example, He still wants me to carry him. I try to walk away (as most kids will eventually follow) but he outlasts me and I eventually have to go back and pick him up. He's got me played. He is a perfect joy to be around and I love to watch him learn, grow and emerge into his own little personality! He never ceases to amaze me and we love him so!

One of the few times I've won the stubborn war with him and actually made him sit still long enough for a photo in front of the magnolia tree!

Happy Spring?

So I know it's totally cliche to complain about the weather. So I'll keep my complaint short - enough snow already!

As most of you know, I'm somewhat of a gardening crazy. I planted vegetable seeds in flat packs in January - unfortunately they succumbed while I was on vacation due to lack of watering (ahem... Rich). Every year I have to fight the urge to go out and play in the mud as soon as the snow starts to melt. This year, I have successfully fought the urge and not planted any flowers yet. I did, however, have to go out and buy/plant trees (7 of them). I do not have a greenhouse so my house is covered in little flat packs of growing seeds - round 2. It is time for them to go outside. Maybe in May...

For any of you who are into gardening, I found a very cool website about growing vegetables, specific to Utah, from the USU extension office. Check it out: http://www.vegenag.com/vegetable-fact-sheets-for-utah/

Very helpful information! And hopefully it will help take my attention off the 2" of snow outside!

REALLY? A new post??

First and foremost - apologies all around for NEVER updating my blog. After much urging from my sister, I have decided to give it another try. Also, now that I'm back to only working about 45 hours a week (instead of 60), I might just have some spare time to do so. However, today is not that day - but check back soon! I promise to think of something witty, cute, and entertaining to write about.