Nathan's Surprise

The other day Nathan came rushing up the stairs, excited about something Grammie had brought home from the grocery store. "MOMMY!" he yelled as he ran into the room, "GUESS WHAT GRAMMIE GOT ME AT THE STORE!!!" What had made this little guy so excited? Ice cream? Candy? Cookies? Nope. In his hands he had a big bowl of BROCCOLI and CAULIFLOWER. This kid loves broccoli. It's like a treat, which is funny because he is a pretty picky eater, and loves his sweets. I'm not sure if this love will last (it seems too good to be true), but we'll enjoy it while it does!

"Sick" Day

So, Aimee came in this morning complaining about a tummy ache and claiming that she was "too exhausted to get ready for school." I spent the next 1/2-hour trying to convince her that she would feel better if she got dressed and got her mind off of it....to no avail. I wasn't up for a battle, and she has been having quite a few "tummy aches" lately. I didn't want to send her off to school if something was really wrong.

Well, I think she is going to be okay as she has had quite the morning with Nathan. I warned that there would be no TV, Wii, or computer games, but she has kept plenty busy. They are, at this very moment, playing 'Whack-a-Mole.' No more tummy ache! Aimee has gone through her flash cards, started reading 'Little House in the Big Woods,' eaten a peanut butter sandwich, and managed to get on iTunes and listen to some 'Mamma Mia' (I think I even saw a couple of cartwheels when she didn't know I was watching.)

Tomorrow she will be going to school.

Easter

We had a nice, quiet Easter weekend....and super cute Easter outfits, thanks to Grammie and Poppa! I actually made it to church on Sunday. I loved it! It's the first place I've been (outside of the house) in 3-1/2 months besides the doctor's office. I was totally wiped out, and spent the rest of the day on the couch, but it was great. I am coming out of this slowly, but surely!

The girls gave us a fabulous Easter lesson (they're getting really good at lessons since they've been in charge of them for Family Home Evening since I got sick), and we had a nice dinner of fruit salad...yes, fruit salad....simple, but delicious! :) Definitely more low-key than our usual Easter celebration, but we all enjoyed it.

I absolutely love Easter. It has always been my favorite holiday. The more I come to know my Savior, and the more I realize what the Atonement and Resurrection mean for me and my family...and for all of us...the more sacred and beautiful Easter becomes. The past three months have changed my relationship with Him and my understanding of what he has really done for us. I am so grateful for this. It is hard (sometimes impossible) to be grateful for our trials when we are in the middle of them, but when we can see how we have grown spiritually, and are being refined, they are truly a blessing. And He is there for us every step of the way. I thought Elder Eyring's talk from conference a couple of weeks ago was amazing....just what I needed to hear:

"My purpose today is to assure you that our Heavenly Father and the Savior live and that They love all humanity. The very opportunity for us to face adversity and affliction is part of the evidence of Their infinite love. God gave us the gift of living in mortality so that we could be prepared to receive the greatest of all the gifts of God, which is eternal life. Then our spirits will be changed. We will become able to want what God wants, to think as He thinks, and thus be prepared for the trust of an endless posterity to teach and to lead through tests to be raised up to qualify to live forever in eternal life.
It is clear that for us to have that gift and to be given that trust, we must be transformed through making righteous choices where that is hard to do. We are prepared for so great a trust by passing through trying and testing experiences in mortality. That education can come only as we are subject to trials while serving God and others for Him.
In this education we experience misery and happiness, sickness and health, the sadness from sin and the joy of forgiveness. That forgiveness can come only through the infinite Atonement of the Savior, which He worked out through pain we could not bear and which we can only faintly comprehend.
It will comfort us when we must wait in distress for the Savior’s promised relief that He knows, from experience, how to heal and help us. The Book of Mormon gives us the certain assurance of His power to comfort. And faith in that power will give us patience as we pray and work and wait for help. He could have known how to succor us simply by revelation, but He chose to learn by His own personal experience."

Yes, we were sent here to be tried, to learn, even to suffer, but we are never alone. In our darkest hours come our greatest opportunities to know our Savior. I am grateful for the difficult times that help me to depend completely on the One who knows exactly how to comfort me. I know that He is the true source of peace and joy, not just on Easter, but every day of our lives.

IT'S A........

BOY!!

We had our ultrasound today, and the score is all evened up. I was shocked....I've been thinking "girl" pretty much the whole time. But, now that it's settled in, I am so excited. I'm happy that Nathan will have a little brother to share a room with.....and all of that other fun stuff. My sister is due in June with a boy, so he will have a little cousin to be buddies with. Yay!

I was a little bummed that my due date didn't change. It's officially September 2. Hopefully this baby will follow his brother and sisters and come at least a week early. We are so excited, and five more months just seems like too long to wait. I guess we will have to be patient!

Things are Looking Up...

Here is the link for that hair blog.....it has some really cute ideas:

http://cutegirlshairstyles.blogspot.com/

So, I had a little turning point this weekend, and things seem to be getting a little better-yay! I can see a light at the end of the tunnel! I'm still super weak from it all, but my stomach seems to be accepting food a little easier now, so that's nice. I try so hard to focus on the positive, but then a really bad day will hit, and it gets pretty discouraging.

I am scheduled for my ultrasound on April 7, so we'll get to find out if we'll be getting a brother or a sister soon! I'll be thrilled either way. The hard part will be the name....Scott and I have a hard enough time agreeing as it is, and I'm sure the girls will be more opinionated this time. We'll see! Annalyn was a full week old before she had a name....weird, huh? But they wouldn't let us leave the hospital with the other two until they had names, so that was a good incentive. Oh well, we still have a while before we have to worry about that!

St. Patrick's Day

Anna's Shamrock

Aimee's Shamrock

We thought we'd be a little festive for St. Patrick's Day and try a new hairstyle. I ran across a really cute blog with some fun ways to do hair, so the girls were my guinea pigs. We put "shamrocks" in their hair with a green ribbon. It was our first time trying it, and I think it turned out pretty cute....I'm sure we'll get better the more we practice. That is the extent of our celebration so far.

Oh, I forgot to mention the sneaky Leprechaun who comes every year and messes with our milk. Grammie did a double-take when she opened the fridge this morning! (I forgot to warn her. :)) Now we have a full gallon of GREEN milk to use for our cereal the next few days.....those darn Leprechauns!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Catching Up

I didn't have a chance to blog about New Year's or Nathan's birthday before I got sick, but I ran across the pictures on my camera, and I had to post them.

We had such a fun New Year's with our friends down the street. They have girls Anna's and Aimee's ages, and we love them!!! We played games and ate snacks for hours. We called it "good" at about 10:30 p.m. (hey, New Year's had already come in two U.S. time zones.) After they left we turned on the T.V. and tried to stay awake to see the ball drop. I fell asleep by the fire (I was exhausted...little did I know the reason...) and woke up just before midnight to see this:

Nathan outlasted everyone, and still had energy to spare for the Wii Fit. He put us to shame!

Just a few days later, we got to celebrate his 4th birthday. He also had his first day of Sunbeams...a big day in any kid's life! We sure love this little guy. He couldn't be any more fun!