Long Time, No Post

I've pretty much fallen off of the face of the earth for the past seven weeks. At the beginning of January we were shocked (to put it mildly) to find out that we are expecting a baby. So exciting, yet incredibly stressful all at the same time. I am sick beyond belief. The past couple of months have been spent in bed....I have only left the house for doctor's appointments. I've managed to lose 15 lbs. so far. I'm nauseous 24/7--I basically have a bad stomach flu for months on end. Every day is a challenge, but we're getting through it.

Scott's mom and my mom have been down taking care of us. They are so wonderful. We truly couldn't do this without them. I am grateful for everyone's thoughts and prayers. We are blessed to have such amazing family and friends.

The kids are doing pretty well with everything. Anna has been such a great helper....she is like a second mommy to Nathan. Aimee is having a harder time with it. She often asks why I have to be so sick, instead of normal like other pregnant women we know. I wonder that too! She comments on how skinny I am, and that I just don't look the same (it's not pretty...) The girls have both been good about taking on more responsibility around the house, with homework, etc. Nathan's just sweet....he gives me lots of hugs and likes to talk to the baby in my tummy. The kids have loved having their grandmas here for a little while. Scott's been great...I know this is all very stressful for him. He surprised me with a laptop a couple of weeks ago, so I can blog from the comfort of my bed. :)

Some days are better than others. I can't wait for more good than bad. I really can't wait for this to be over, and to have a cute little baby to hold. I want so much to be a "mom" again, to get back to my church calling, to eat food and have it feel good in my stomach, to do all the normal things that are so easy to take for granted. Until then, we'll just take it one day at a time.

More Snow...

Grandpa broke out the skid and made this awesome sledding hill in his front yard. The kids were having so much fun, we had to drag them into the house from below-zero temperatures. Crazy!

Christmas #2 with Grandma Beth and Grandpa

Cookies for Santa....

Christmas morning....

Christmas #1 with Grammie and Poppa

Snow in St. George

The kids were just a little thrilled to see snow...even though it wasn't much!

Christmas "Photoshoot"

Missing Chocolate....

Our neighbors brought us this chocolate-filled advent calendar on December 1 to count down the 24 days before Christmas. I figured we'd divide 24 by 3, so that each child would get a chocolate every three days. Well, this is how I found it today, December 3, after Nathan snuck upstairs with it. Fifteen chocolates missing. I guess I will be buying two more so everyone can have his/her own calendar and count down the days at his/her own pace!