12 days of Christmas

Christmas always brings mixed feelings for me. I love the season. Love the spirit of Christmas. I even love the giving part of Christmas. What I don't love about Christmas is all the presents. Let me be clear. I love giving presents. I give presents to my kids all year long. I don't understand why there is a special day set aside just for opening presents. Who came up with that? And now that most of my children do not believe in Santa Claus (tear drop), I don't see the point. Let me give a gift to someone when I feel like it. Anyways, because I am a softie I usually cave and spoil my kids once again. This year was no exception and I think I nailed it with each one. Booyah! :)
Every year I try to make Christmas memorable and more about Christ. This year we did the 12 days of Christmas Service. Each day we focused on serving others, usually centered around the family. I think the kids enjoyed it and were excited about the new challenge each day. Some of the highlights were...
babysitting for neighbor
saying hi to someone at school (or better sitting next to them at lunch)
giving thank you notes to teacher
give candy canes to friends at school
call family members and tell them you love them
do something extra nice/kind to another family member

Some that we didn't get around to (next year)...
Give hot chocolate to those Walmart bell ringers
Pay for strangers dinner at restaurant
Pay for someone's else gas at gas station

Pre-Christmas trip

Because of all the craziness and busyness during Christmas, I like to get away from it all and take a trip. This year we went to San Diego. This trip was so much fun because we were able to fit in a lot of activities in only a few days. Brad and Paul went to the BYU bowl game and ended up sitting by Chad Lewis. And we actually WON the bowl game! So worth it when you go to an away game and win.

The boys went to the San Diego temple early the next morning to do baptisms for the dead.

 

 One of the coolest thing was the Fort Rosecrans national cementary. This was a HUGE cementary for all veterans. The feeling there was amazing. There were rows and rows of headstones all aligned perfectly. I am so glad there is a place for these men and women to be honored and remembered.

We ended the trip with a visit to the Mormon Battalion before we caught our flight. What a neat place. It was interactive and very family-friendly (not boring at all). I loved it.

 

 We happened to find a Talbot Street in San Diego...who knew we had a street named after us!

We also did a lot of swimming in the hotel pool and visit with a dear family friend, Mamie and her daughter Jenna. I love them dearly and was definitely the highlight of my trip.

Yellowstone-Fall Break

Paul was going to take the scouts camping (actually canyoneering) but because of flash floods it was cancelled so the family went to Yellowstone instead! This has been a dream of mine. That is right, I have never been to Yellowstone. It's such a crazy thought since Paul's parents live an hour away. Every time we visit I suggest we go to Yellowstone but we can never fit it in. My expectations are high because I  have waited so long and within minutes of entering the park we see a HUGE bison. It was so close we could see it breathing and its massive size. That was all I needed to see. My dream was fulfilled. I thought it was so cool but of course, Yellowstone did not disappoint. Not only was it a beautiful day but it wasn't even crowded (of what people told us) and we saw animals! Bison, Deer, Buffalo, Coyotes, Gysers, Waterfalls. The bison was so close to us that I got nervous and made Paul roll up the window. It was so AWESOME!! We drove around and came to this cute little town within the park. It had a sign of deer crossing which Paul and I laughed at but sure enough there were tons of deer. The only thing I would say was a dissappointment was Old Faithful. It wasn't as big or amazing as I thought it would be but still cool. We also meet up with some good friends...Ellis and Christensens. After a long full day at the park we drove home getting in around 2am (we had to get back for a BYU game, of course). I can now cross off Yellowstone from my bucket list. Totally worth it! Totally recommend it!

Love this little town. Would love to stay here overnight sometime

Aliza's birth

8 months pregnant

She's here! Born 8/10/12. We think it's a pretty cool birthday. She is actually born on grandma clara's birthday (we will get to naming her later). Let's back up a little. At 35 weeks I am checked and already dilated. I should know by now that I dilate early but it takes a long time for me to go into labor (4 weeks to be exact).  I am so uncomfortable...big belly, can't sleep at night, Braxton hicks all the time!! I even would have panic attacks (new with this pregnancy) because it was hard to breathe. They usually occurred at night and I had to sit up and catch my breathe and take some deep breaths. Nothing scares you more than not being able to breathe. I didnt like them at all. Week 36, I am dilated to 2, week 37 diluted to 2 1/2, week 38 I am dilated to 4. I know I am getting close. I have had so much false labor I thought maybe my body doesn't remember how to go into real labor. The doctor was going to strip my membranes at my appt but the lab messed up my strep b and I had to do it again which takes 2 days to get the results so on thursday, after I am cleared by the doctor, I get my membranes stripped. Owwwie! Yep it hurts but I knew it would get things started. Within half hour my contractions were 5 minutes apart. Not very painful but consistent. My mom comes over and we head over to the hospital around 9:30. Im still at a 4 and nothing changes even after walking the hospital halls for an hour so they send me home. Bummer. You would think by now I would know what is true and false labor. My mucous plug comes out that night.
I wake up at 7:30 with an intense pain. Is it real? Is it going to happen today? They are 15 minutes apart but intense, enough I have to stop and breathe. Around noon, Paul leaves to go do some appraisals and take the 2 youngest which was so nice. He called me periodically to see how I was doing. Still 15 minutes apart. Around 1:30 I am laying on the couch trying to take a nap and suddenly I hear a pop and my water breaks. This was my fear to have my water break at home but luckily it wasnt alot. I start to panic. #1, Paul is not here #2 The pain is intense and very close. I can barely walk. I call Paul and tell him I have to go to the hospital. He wants to take me but he is in salt lake and I can't wait. I need an epidermal and fast! I call my sister who is working at the hospital and she says she is coming to pick me up. At the hospital, I am checked and dilated to 6. They are about 2 minutes apart. This is happening way too fast. Paul arrives shortly after me after going 90 on the freeway. I'm sure the officer would have understood that his wife was in labor! I beg for the epidural...so much pain, so much pressure, so close together (almost 1 minute now). They have to hook me up and get the IV in. Of course the sweet nurse is going as fast as she could but not fast enough for someone in labor. They have me sit indian style and hunch my back to get the epidural in. I am literally sweating. I have huge drops of sweat running down my head. I don't know why because I am not hot. The room was actually chilly. The nurse keeps rubbing my arm and says "oh your body is working overtime, you poor dear" So much pain. Just breathe I would tell myself. They check me again and I am at an anterior lip which I guess is pretty close to being complete. Epidural is kicking in but doctor is not here yet. We wait about 15 minutes and after 2 pushes (the doctor told me to stop pushing and she fell right out) Aliza is born at 3:13 pm about an hour after I arrived at the hospital.
I start to cry. She's here and I'm not pregnant anymore! I feel instant relief. Relief from back pain, pressure, and tightness. My belly is so soft and squishy. The coolest thing the doctor did was show us the placenta. Usually it's just in a blop in the corner but he took the time to show us how neat the placenta is. He called it the "selfless organ " because it does it works and then when the baby is born it detaches and is not needed anymore. He showed us the veins and think layer that attaches to me and the sac that the baby was in. I was surprised to see how thin and see through it was. Her ambilicial cord was also very short. Such a miraculous organ. They layed her on my chest skin to skin for about 2 hours while they got my room ready downstairs. I was in heaven.

Now to the naming of our baby girl. We had the hardest time trying to think of a name for her. The kids wanted to participate so they cast their votes. Of course, mom and dad was going to decide which they were greatly disappointed they couldn't name their sister. We finally thought of Lizabeth which Paul and I both loved and then one day (actually 2 weeks before her birth) I was just looking through baby names and Eliza jumped out and I texted Paul and wondered if he liked. He did! Yeah we have a name. When she was born Paul threw a curve ball at me and wondered if we wanted to name her Clara since she was born on her birthday. I love the name but I kept looking at her and not seeing a Clara. Next day Paul throws another curve ball at me and wonders if we should name her Eliza with an A. I had to sleep on it but the next morning I texted him a picture of her and said Aliza says Good morning. I have loved it every since, the spelling and all. She is completely perfect...perfect features, perfect cry, and she is perfect for us. She looks alittle like Preston and Kailene. Chubby checks but still skinny body (skinny legs). Definetely ours.

First smile

We were taking newborn pictures of Aliza and she decided to smile for us! It was her first smile. So adorable. I love her so much!

Meet Aliza

Born August 10, 2012. 3:13pm. 7 lbs 4 oz. 19 1/2 inches long. 

26 weeks (6 1/2 months) pregnant

Look I'm growing! :)

Spring break 2012

The plan was to go California for spring break with the Dayton's but the week of I noticed that the weather was not going to be so good (even better in Utah). We figured it wouldn't be so fun on the beach if it was raining and cold. So plan B came about and we decided to go Texas to visit the Allen's. I checked flights and it looked like it was a go and warned my sister we were coming to visit. What a great sister to let us come with such short notice. Wednesday we flew out and arrived in Texas for a home cooked meal prepared by my sister. Yummy after a long day of traveling. All the cousins hooked up and found their rooms. Thursday was a beautiful day. In the morning, we went on a bike ride and went to the turtle lake. Their next door neighbor had a swimming pool so we spend most of the time at the pool. Dinner was at my favorite mexican place. They have the best fajitas ever! Friday Paul spent the day with mark at work for a crawfish boil. The rest of us went to the park and then to the pool. The cousins played all day together and we went to a place like Texas roadhouse. Saturday the kids went swimming in the morning and then went to swim a thon. Each one of the Allen's had to swim 200 laps. Pretty amazing swimmers. We had to leave late afternoon to catch the flight home. It was the perfect vacation and we are always sad when we have to say goodbye. Thanks for letting us stay come visit you on such short notice. We love the Allens!

Turtle pond

Primadonna's

 

Playing at the park

Swimming at neighbors. We did this every day for hours and hours.

My favorite "adopted" family

When I was in high school I got a job in Atlanta, GA as a nanny. My brother, who lives in GA, had a friend who needed a nanny. Little did I know what it would do to my life including meeting my future husband, training me to be a mother and assoiating with a wonderful family who I admire to this day. I did it for 3 summers. They truly are my most favorite memories.
Their 5th child got married in April so we flew to California for the wedding. I can't believe that the are growing up. The youngest is graduating from high school. She was born the 2nd year I was there. It should make me feel old but I still feel young. :) It was a wonderful wedding. We couldn't stay for the whole reception because we had to catch the last flight but I loved being with the Platt family. The reception was so cute decorated like a carnival with popcorn, and cotton candy. It was adorable. Annie was the one getting married and I remember she would sing "You got me wrapped around your finger" by the Cranberries all day long when she was young.

My adopted children. I take credit for all of their beauty and successes. I practically raised them! :) They really are great kids to no credit of mine.

It's a....

GIRL!! That is right, we are having another girl...to even out the teams. I didn't care what we were having and figured we would team them up (boys,girls,boys) or even it out (3boys,3girls). Everyone guessed right except Paul. He guessed a boy. He's keeping track of all the weddings he is gong to have to pay for.
It makes sense that it's a girl since I was so sick, probably too much estrogen. I am feeling much better, food is tasting better, and my tummy is growing. Little squirt is moving around, usually at night when I'm tuckered and ready to go to bed, just to remind me that she is there.
I swear they make the ultrasounds look better now. I remember looking at my other kids thinking I don't see it? I even warned my kids that it might look like a skeleton or alien but we actually could see it very well. She was quite entertaing at the ultrasound. Doing sommersaults (at least lifting her legs to her head), waving hi, and sucking her thumb. Everything looks healthy and good.

 This is my favorite. Her legs are behind her head

 Sucking her thumb

 Saying HI

 Feet crossed together

It's a Girl

Broadway Bound

I blame it all on my sister, DeLayne, for all the crazy things I do (waking up early to be on TV for a cupcake segment, being an extra in a movie...watch for me in the 12 Dogs of Christmas, okay so I probably won't be in it but it doesn't hurt to try). She always has these wacky ideas that we think are fun and we end up doing them and then ask ourselves why we do them? She can always count on me. I'm always willing to challenge myself, or make a fool of myself. I'm creating memories for my kids, right? So when my sister asked if I wanted to be in a show at the Scera, I jumped at the opportunity. At first she wanted me to sing but I don't have the confidence my sisters do to hold a mic 2 inches away from my face. No way! But I can dance so I tried out for the dancing numbers.

Every year the Scera has a Broadway show where they have musical numbers from Broadway musicals. It's always a good show. This year they were putting on 2 dancing numbers, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from Mary Poppins and Seize the Day from Newsies. I love both those shows!! My 2 sisters tried outwith me and we all made it! What fun this will be, except I am sick and pregnant (only 10 weeks along). At first I thought we were only going to dance in 1 number but the choreographer wanted us to dance in both numbers. After learning the first dance (in one night!), I was exhausted and brain dead. Most of the other dancers were in their 20s. They picked it up so fast. My sisters and I had to practice every day to learn it and remember it. It was hard stuff. But come performance day it was all worth it and something to look forward to. It ran for 1 week. My best night was when all the family came. Such energy and fun. So what's my next adventure...Broadway? New York? You'll just have to see...

6 times?!? What are we thinking?

Are you all ready for this....we are expecting our 6th child in August. Hooray! Okay, really I'm not excited yet. Every time we decide to get pregnant again, I think maybe just maybe I will be blessed and not be sick. Okay that has happened twice and both times it ended up in a miscarriage. Or if I do get sick maybe just maybe I can handle it better. I can be tougher and fight the sickeness. But it gets worse with each pregnancy and this one is no different.

Let's start at 5 weeks...my sister announces to all that she is pregnant. She is due a month before me. I'm only 5 weeks along, I don't intend to tell others but due to circumstances it comes out. I'm not sick and so I'm worried (I recently had a miscarriage). My sister tells me that she is on this medication and it will help me so I don't have a miscarriage. I go to my doctor. They don't see a baby yet and only see a sac so I am prescibed this medication which is a progestrone. It helps with the lining of the placenta. This is meds is from the devil. I thought I was going to die! I had major headaches, probably borderline migranes. As soon as I felt it coming on I would have to lie down or I would start throwing up. Have you ever had a headache and throwing up. Not fun, not fun at all. I guess since I couldn't get sick on my own, they were going to make me be sick. I could only last a week on the medication (suppose to be taken until I was 12 weeks along). It debiliatated me. I thought Why am I bringing another child into this world when I can't even take care of my other 5 children.

6 weeks...went to the doctor and saw the heartbeat. Yippie. Not out of the woods yet but I didn't have to take the medication anymore. Not sure if it helped. But I was sure that I was pregnant because here came the morning sickness.

Let me explain to all you wonderful women who do not have morning sickness. First of all, I hope you have a lot of children. You are truly blessed. Second, it should be renamed as ALL DAY LONG sickness. The best way to explain it is being car sick, all day, and you are throwing up which helps for a little while, but then it returns. Now throwing up being pregnant is not the same as when you have the stomach flu or a bug. It's not a churning in the stomach. It's "I don't feel good, run to the bathroom, and then resume your previous activity (which was probably laying on the couch anyway) for the whole day." The hardest part of throwing up is deciding what to throw up. I should write a book because after 6 pregnancies, I am an expert. For example, mashed potatoes are not bad to throw up (or water for that fact) but orange juice or chili is a bear to throw up. It burns! The other problem with throwing up is I don't want to have that food again so I have to have a variety of food. And sometimes even the thought might trigger a gag reflex.

Week 7-12...Still sick, sick, sick. Will this ever end? Why do I have to suffer so? I go into the doctor weekly to check my progress. The heart beat looks and sounds good but I started spotting a little so I have to take it easy. Take it easy?!?...do they know I am a mom? No exercise, lifting, etc. So now they want me to be miserable and get fat. (Side note...word got out in my ward that I was on bed rest and meals were going to come in. I should have milked it but I couldn't and turned them down). I am also put on the "cancer pill" (Zofran). It is suppose to help with the nausea. Maybe it helped because I would have good days but they were few and far between. Lost 3 pounds!! That is probably the only good news. I know it's not normal for a pregnant lady to lose weight but it is for me. I am throwing up everything so all the baby has is my own weight to nibble at. Nibble away.

Week 10-11...My sister convinced me to try out for a dance number at Scera (for another post). During her cancer treatment (which I have heard is similar to morning sickness), she said that being distracted was the best thing. It is true. The more I thought about it, the more miserable I was.

Week 12-13...thought I was on the tail end. For most people, morning sickness only lasts until 12 weeks. Of course, not for me. I have to suffer much longer.

Week 14...probably the worst week so far. Part of it was I was mentally prepared to be done with my morning sickness and frustrated that I was not . On top of it, I got a cold. Pregnant + cold=disaster. And I never threw up so much in one week. I couldn't keep anything down. I couldn't even finish eating my food before I would run into the bathroom. So it wasn't like digested food, it was full on chunks. I asked for a priesthood blessing. Part of me wanted it to be all over but I knew deep down inside it was not going to happen so I was needing the blessing so I could handle it better. I needed more strength from Him.

I'm sure you are wondering how I got everything done while I have been so sick. Well I didn't. My husband did everything. Cooked, cleaned, took care of the kids, chauffeur, everything, and worked at his full time job. He has been amazing. So grateful for a husband who works at home!! I couldn't have done it without him. Also it helps to have older kids who understand why you can't cook or clean. They tend to help out a little bit more.

Week 15-16...I am getting better. Still sick but usually just at night. I end up just going to bed. Lost 1 more pound. It makes throwing up worth it. :)

So that has been my life for the last 4 months. Even though it may not sound like it but I am grateful to be pregnant and really happy to have another child. I know that this too will pass.

My little baby bump. 4 months pregnant

Brittany's wedding

The first grandchild got married in December. The first of many (right now my parents have 46 grandchildren, you can say it's pretty chaotic when we get together but so much fun!!). Hopefully, we can make it to all or most of them. This one was in Georgia. Yeah! I haven't been to Georgia in 6 years. I was excited to see Georgia and see old friends again (Paul and I met in Georgia and lived there after we graduated from BYU for 3 years).

The plan was for Paul and I to fly on Delta on standby. We didn't have any other backup plans (big mistake). When we got to the airport we realized that flying on a different airline we are put at the bottom of the barrel unlike JetBlue which priority seating is when you check in (I love JetBlue). We couldn't get on the first flight so we waited for the next flight which was a few hours later and couldn't get on that one either. We decided to try to fly through Dallas and then go to Atlanta. We almost made it on that flight but didn't. We gave up and came home. I was frustrated. Paul's mom drove down from Idaho to help out with the kids. Big surprise when we came home! We exhausted all our options ways to get out that night or the next day. At this point all my sisters (yep, everyone was going to the wedding) were texting me and wondering when I was coming. I told them I probably wasn't. Of course, they wouldn't hear of it and my sister, Audralyn, called me and told me that she is flying me out on frequent flier miles. I was so emotional wreck. I thought I would be okay to not go but I knew I would be missing out on memories and times with my family. It was one of the nicest things. What would I do without my sisters! Unfortunately Paul couldn't come but it worked out for the best because Grandma could go back home and Paul took care of the kids (big relief, Sterling got strep and glad Grandma didn't have to deal with that). I felt bad for my kids because they were looking forward to spending time with Grandma and felt guilty that she had to turn around and drive back the next day. I wished she could have stayed and helped Paul out but she had to get back home.

I flew out the next day and met my family with open arms and tearing eyes. Let the party begin!

When I arrived, we put together the center pieces, went to a dinner hosted by the grooms family and stayed up late talking. The place we stayed was Cindy's (my sister in law) brothers house right on the lake. It was AMAZING and so much fun. It fit all of us, 6 sisters, 2 brother in laws, 1 brother and his wife and kids, and 2 babies. So fun for all of us to be together (my parents stayed at Greg's, my brother, house).

The next day was the wedding. My dad was the sealer which was made it personal. It got pretty emotional when he spoke about Grandpa Cronquist's (Cindy's dad) who passed away many years ago. He was a great man. Then pictures and some down time before the reception. We all decided to go to Slopes which is a famous BBQ restaurant. Delicious. We then headed to the reception center to help with the set up. Lots to do but with many helping hands we got it all done. Great reception and it was fun to see people I haven't seen in years. By the end of the day, I was exhausted! No late night just nighty night.

(Sidenote, we saw Santa Claus driving by in his red (sleigh) car, it was so much fun. He looked perfect. We had to all take a picture and sent it to our kids saying we saw Santa in Atlanta!)

The next day was Sunday which was my favorite day. Of course, it was only the right thing to do as a Bluth is sing in their ward (roll of the eyes). I love singing not just all the attention I get. We sang Mary's Lullaby in 4 part harmony and it sounded beautiful. We headed back to cabin and ate (leftovers from the reception) and sat around and talked. It was so enjoyable. We talked and laughed for hours. Then Greg made us sing again because his mother in law didn't hear the song. We sang acapella. Again, it was beautiful. Love making these memories.

Monday we went to downtown Atlanta. We walked around Martin Luthur King Jr Museum,

drove by Centennial Park where the Olympics were held and ate at Chicken and Pancakes owned by Gladys Knight.

That night DeLayne, Audralyn and I went shopping at the outlets. We were the 3 musketeers. None of us had our husbands and we had so much fun together. Good times.

Tuesday was travel day. I actually flew with Audralyn to Houston and then home to Salt Lake.

LASIK!

Because of all my eye problems, we (I) decided to push up the urgency of getting LASIK. As soon as my doctor cleared me, I set the appt. for December 7th. I thought I would be nervous but I was so excited. It took about 10 minutes for both eyes and I have a video of it. It's pretty cool and disgusting at the same time. I have an astigmatism so I actually got PRK which is more painful and a longer healing process than LASIK but I said Bring it On! And guess what? It was not painful at all. That's what I was most nervous about was the pain. I was waiting for it and wondering when it was going to hit. I got all the meds just in case it happened in the middle of the night. Nothing, not even discomfort. I was pleasantly surprised. I even went to dinner that night with friends, which the docs said I wouldn't feel up to it. I couldn't read the menu and everyone was blurry but other than that, it was fun. The next night we went up to Salt Lake, our annual trip with the Daytons at the Kimball. I still felt great but my vision got worse. Nothing like a lot of little Christmas lights blurry. Sunday we went to the broadcast of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I have lived in Utah my whole life and never been to it. It was so amazing to be there in person. So beautiful. The spirit is so strong as they sing their testimonies to everyone. My eyes are blurry so I pretty much just sat there with my eyes closed and listened.

The blurryness lasted about a week. I couldn't read or watch anything. Even when it was close up. It was pretty frustrating. Now I can see well and am thrilled about it. No more glasses or contacts. I can't wait to go swimming and not have to worry if my contact fell out. And no more worrying about taking out and putting in contacts when I go camping. My lucky husband got to have LASIK done a month after me. Now we both can really see each other's flaws, before they were covered with (rose-colored) glasses. :)