August's Surgery

It never fails. There is always something to keep you busy.

August had surgery yesterday...Wednesday. He had his ACL reconstructed and his meniscus repaired. Once the sugeon got in they were surprised at the amount of damage to the ACL, meniscus and also the cartilage. Guess that means he will never be a NBA star! Sorry honey!

I hope he has a quick recovery...for all of our sakes. I hate to see anyone...especially family in such pain.

He has been a tough cookie. Love you ! Hope you get better soon.

Great Women

We had a FHE this week and discussed the things that we are thankful for. It started thinking about all of the things I am thankful for. One of the things I feel very blessed to have is great women as examples all around me. Here are a few:

My Mom: Debbie Christensen

If ever there is a woman that I look up to it is my mother. She has worked tirelessly over the years raising her children and has faced many hardships and challenges along the way. Yet, when I look at her now, I see a vibrant person that seeks out adventure and loves finding fun. She is the ultimate example that hard work pays off. It is funny that as you become a mother yourself, how much you realize all that it takes. It gives a whole new respect for your own mother and the pain you put her through. But, it also makes me realize that mother's never stop caring or worrying. I watch my mother still worry about all of her kids, their spouses and now all of the grandkids. I don't think you ever stop being a mom, I just think the job gets bigger. Love you MOM!

My Mother-in-law: Karen Spangler

Not everyone is blessed with a mother-in-law they get along with. I not only get along with mine, but enjoy spending time with her and love her dearly. She is another woman that inspires me. She has raised her children to be strong people with stronger convictions. She lives the gospel to it's fullest and sees every challenge as a hiccup along the road to the Celestial Kingdom. I love seeing her most with my kids. She teaches me how to deal with life's problems by just being an example. She never directly teaches. She is subtle and quiet. But the message is always received. Thanks for being a great woman and giving me a great man!

My Sister: Nicole Small

Everyone should have a sister! Mine is definitely my best friend. She is always available to listen and is the most thoughtful person I know. (Reminds me of another great women that has passed on, Grandma Ann). She never misses an opportunity to highlight a special moment and is extremely selfless and caring. She is an excellent mother and everything she does is for her family.

I am so grateful to have these and other great women around me!

Ultrasound #3

Well, third time was a charm....IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOORAY! We are very excited...we yelled, we screamed and we cried.

Let's hope it was right....

August says he is going to hide my credit card. I will try and control myself.

Caleb is very excited for "baby Bella"

Ultrasound Results #2

We went to Gender Ultrasound today (Thursday) to again try and determine if we are having a boy or a girl.

What we got was strike #2. The baby was happily sucking it's thumb and tucking its legs as tightly against itself as it could.

They give us two more attempts to come in and take a look. We will try again tomorrow!

We will let you know!

Ultrasound Results

Well, the baby is healthy...that is the good news. HOORAY!

Bad news is that it was breach, posterior and hiding behind my tail bone, thus making it impossible to see "the goods".

Very anti-climactic.

Fetal Photos here we come!

Happiness

Our RS Website (http://tm3reliefsociety.blogspot.com/) had a great talk that discussed the guilt women feel over everything in life. It was very uplifting and a motivator towards change. Here is a poem that was included that is a good reminder:

Happiness ­is:

Courageously doing what you want to do, even if you are ­scared.
Experiencing your life as an exciting ­journey.
Stimulating your mind and caring for your ­body.
Realizing that you already have everything you need to make yourself happy.
Knowing that you are the only one who can decide what is right or wrong for ­you.
Accepting that you are okay even when you blunder and learn from your ­mistakes.
Knowing that what people say or do is a reflection of them not ­you.
Listening to your inner ­wisdom.
Giving and receiving love ­unconditionally.

--­Anonymous

Ultrasound Soon

We have under a week to go until our ultrasound! We are very excited to make sure the baby is healthy, but also to know if it is a girl or boy. I am not a person who likes surprises, so I like to find out all of the details.

The most commonly asked question I get this pregnancy is, "Do you care what the sex is?" You see, with two boys already and this pregnancy possibly being our last, the pressure is on. BIG TIME! I am very girly and love little girls. I can't imagine not having a daughter. But I also think that a third boy would be fabulous. I know this sounds like the PC answer...but it is the best one.

If I am going to have a girl, it better be this pregnancy or I will have to live happily with three boys, and a million trucks, balls, guns and airplanes. Pregnancies are rough on my entire family. I think it is going to take 10 years just for August to recover from the 12 weeks he waited on me hand and foot. But, I guess until I get that "I am done" feeling...whatever that is...I will have to just wait and see.

So, just for fun, here are some interesting facts about this pregnancy to help see if it is leaning closer to a boy or a girl.

Probably a Boy:
Very bad morning sickness: Just like last two boy pregnancies.
August's brother's all have 2-3 boys and only 1 girl each. Limited odds.
Craving ketchup: Just like last two pregnancies.
Sweet aversion: Just like with the boys.
Planned baby: Some say that planned babies are boys.
Lunar Calendar says it is a boy.
Easy to use Chinese Calendar says it is a boy.

Probably a Girl:
No 1st trimester weight gain: Unlike last two pregnancies where I gained 10 pounds in the first 12 weeks. Have no fear...I ate pizza twice in a row last week and I gained 5 lbs overnight...no kidding.
Haven't thrown up AS much...but it could be the medication.
Conception timing...friends I went to nursing school had a theory.
Calculation Chinese Calendar says it is a girl.
Plenty of zits: Never got a single one with the boys.

(15-16 weeks)

We will have to see! We will post next week when we get the results!

Fingerpainting Fun

Josh is growing up so fast! He had his first attempt at finger painting the other day and loved it. He loved it on his hands, face and even in his mouth. Surprisingly, he was cleaner then I imagined. Although, I did leave the paint tray out and a few hours later I found him trying to paint the countertop.

Halloween Fun

We had a great Halloween day and evening. It started off with Caleb's school party.

They all dressed up and had "spooky" fun he said.

After we picked up Caleb, we headed to August's work for a party. I have never seen a company do so much for halloween. They did a huge spook alley that you trick-or-treated through. The boys were VERY scared. I even screamed a couple of times. Thus, no pictures because they were hiding the whole time.

That evening we had a pizza party with our family and Tyson and Weslie (Caleb and Josh's cousins). They played football and baseball. I was the official photographer. They all had tons of fun.

We waited as long as we could to start trick-or-treating. We lasted until 6 o'clock! They boys were excited and so were we.



Caleb was a fighter pilot.



Joshua was a Knight.






August and I were male and female models...ha, ha!


It was a great time. It wasn't cold at all and only sprinkled on us a bit. Nothing to ruin the fun.