Update

Since Hannah's birthday, two months ago, things have been a blur. It was on Hannah's birthday that I suspected I was pregnant with our fourth baby. I was kind of in shock and in a panic because I wasn't expecting it, and I didn't know how I was going to tell Stephen. It took me the better end of a week to fess up to him, and I'll be honest, I was so nervous! I tried to several time before I'd chicken out. When I did tell him I prepared for the worst, haha because I knew he didn't want any more kids. But he surprised me and wasn't mad at all. What a relief! So since the week I told Stephen the morning sickness settled in and I have been a hermit barely leaving the house except to drop off and pick up Zander from school.

Morning sickness progressively gets worse as the day goes on and is at its worst at night, so I have either been falling asleep on the couch after tucking the kids in bed or going to bed early. I feel so exhausted all the time. I've been trying to force myself to get in a little bit of exercise by walking with the kids after taking Zander to school. I've also been trying to eat healthier as to not gain any extra weight this time, and I think I've been doing a good job with that since I've had a huge food aversion to sweets. I have no desire at all to eat anything with sugar on it or in it which has made taking my vitamins difficult since the gummies are coated in sugar. Even looking at pictures of desserts makes me want to throw up. But I'm now in my second trimester so I'm hoping the aversions and nausea will let up soon, and I get some energy back. I have to do all my work in the morning while I feel my best because by lunch time I'm exhausted and feeling nauseous, and I'm good for nothing for the rest of the day.

from the time I found out I was pregnant until we told the kids last week Zander has mentioned twice how he wished I could have another baby, so I was glad to make his wish come true. Both boys are over the moon excited and tell everyone they see that there is a baby in mom's tummy. They both really want to have another sister because Hannah is so cute and they're going to call her Anna. I'm not sure I want to find out the gender this time. I haven't really talked about any of that with Stephen yet. I've just been trying to get through the morning sickness first.

With all that being said, Zander Started kindergarten, and has loved every minute of it. He's been earning erasers for being quiet and a good student. His reading and writing skills have improved a lot already, and he's making new friends everyday. He came home last week with an award for staying on task and being focused. He has grown up overnight and I am excited to see how much he blooms this year.

  Lucas has started tumbling and is really enjoying it. There are only four other kids in his class and I'm pretty sure he is the oldest. Hannah is really good and sits and watches for most of the time before she gets antsy and runs back and forth to the drinking fountain.

We also painted all three bedrooms downstairs and moved the kids into their own rooms. I painted the boys' rooms myself and I had to have Stephen do Hannah's because I was too sick and nauseous to finish it. Hannah has done a really good job being in a bed; she hasn't skipped beat. She lays down when she's supposed to and doesn't hardly get out of bed to play as long as she gets a book and a song sung to her she's good.

That's about all that's happened around here the last two months. We've stayed busy, but I make sure I get my naps in. I've also been cooking a lot more so I don't tire or stress Stephen out too much since he's been working a lot waiting for the trial to start this month. It'll be SO nice once it's done! It'll be like taking a breath of fresh air. Then we can concentrate on birthdays and holidays for the rest of the year.

 

I love it when the kids get daddy time.

Hannah Turns Two!

Happy Birthday to our dear sweet Hannah! Your cute bubbly personality is just what our family needed. We love you!

Independence Lakes

We Hiked up to Independence Lakes this year for part of the Pettingill Reunion. Stephen showed up this year and I am so glad he was able to be with us even though he hated it, lol. We were only planning on having Zander go with us on the hike, but as I was saying goodbye to Lucas he threw a fit and begged to go with us, so we took him....on a 6.5 mile round trip hike....with a 4 and 5 year old....almost all uphill.

of course we were the last ones in our group along with Brad and Heather. I'm so glad Brad stayed behind to bring up the rear so I wasn't left alone with Lucas. But I have to say that Lucas was a rock star the whole way up. He walked a little slow, but with his four-year-old little legs he did better than me! And to be honest, I'm glad Lucas came so I had an excuse of why I was the last one to get there. Heather had a bag of gummy bears that she used as "bait" to get Lucas to walk. she'd put a few in her hand and hold her hand back as she walked ahead of Lucas to make him walk faster. He had to catch up to her to get the treats. Genius! There was only one time a little passed half way up that Lucas whined because he was tired. He walked a mile and half before Brad carried him on his shoulders for about half a mile, then he walked the rest of the way. The rest of the group had been at the lake 30 minutes before we arrived, so I'd say we did a pretty good job.

We ate lunch then played a while before heading back down the mountain. At this point the boys were dead tired especially Lucas. He kept trying to fall asleep and both boys complained almost the whole way down. Stephen took turns carrying both the boys at least half of the hike. We were done by the time we got back to camp. I do have to say how proud I am of the boys for hiking the lake; that's a huge accomplishment for them!

Summer at Grandma and Grandpa Pettingill's

We stayed two weeks in Twin this year while Becky was in town. We had a good time as always. We tried to find a few different things to do with the kids this time so they wouldn't get bored. Some of them were major disasters while others were successful. We even had a day of shopping with the girls and a sibling dinner. We also enjoyed the Pettingill Reunion in Elba.

We got to Twin sometime in the afternoon, but didn't see anyone until late that night. It must've been a really busy day for everyone. Within an hour of being there Hannah managed to trip over a rocking chair and literally face-plant it on the cement and wound up with a scratched eye.

 One night I put the kids to bed, but of course they wouldn't stay in bed. When grandma and grandpa got home Zander had to come out to see them and say hello. As he was sitting on Grandma's lap she noticed something weird in his mouth and found out that Zander had a really loose tooth! He nor I had noticed it before but when I checked it out it was really loose. He ended up losing it the next day while eating lunch. He was so excited to lose his first tooth and have a visit from the tooth fairy.

 We visited all the new houses of Joseph, Tim, And Sally. Here's Joseph's five acre farm. The kids had fun exploring and looking at the pigs and horses.

Hannah in her pretty new dress she got for her birthday from Aunt Becky

 Ok. So we drove all the kids out to Shoshone for an afternoon to see the Ice Caves because it was supposed to be one of the hottest days while we were in town--it got over 100 degrees. So I thought going to the Ice Cave would be a good idea to get the kids out of the house and into a cool place literally and figuratively. We got there late afternoon. two miniutes after 4:00 only to be told that we just missed the tour and we'd have to wait one hour to get into the next group. So we had to wrangle six kids in a tiny gift shop for an hour or sweat our brains out in the heat outside. The ice cave was disappointing to say the least. First off it was cool, but cold inside. There was very little ice and it wasn't a very long tour. The kids were hot, whiny, and grumpy and we couldn't wait to get out of there. We decided to stop at the Snack Bar on our way home to get dinner and we ate it at a table outside the city hall building. All was going well until Lucas had to go potty. There were bathrooms anywhere so I told him to just go behind a tree. Well he failed to mention that he needed to go #2! I turn around and see him pooping behind the tree and watch it fall onto his shorts and underwear. I clean him up, we leave, and then have all the kids in car melting down for who knows why. Becky and I were up in the front seat laughing because it was all we could do. It had gotten to the point that is was so bad and there wasn't anything we could do but sit and laugh. It was one of the most awful trips I have ever been on with the kids, but it will surely be a memorable one.

One successful activity we did was the ice containers. I froze a few toys in containers then had all the kids get different tools to break and chisel out their toys. They loved it! I wish it had lasted longer, but everyone loved what they got and enjoyed smashing the ice to bits.

 I went to check on the kids one night before I went to bed, and found Lucas laying half off the couch and Hannah in a little ball in her crib.

Wyoming

Mom, Dad, and I took a drive up to Thermopolis, Wyoming a few weeks ago to attend the funeral of baby Stryder Jenks. I was so grateful that I was able to go on such short notice so I could be there for Alissa. I drove up to Pocatello and hopped into mom and dad's car for the rest of the trip. We definitely took the scenic route! It took forever to get to our destination, but boy was it beautiful! We ended up seeing a huge herd of Buffalo and a young grizzly cub on our way along with some breathtaking mountain scenery. I started to notice some dark clouds rolling in because we weren't expecting rain, but it did spit rain for while. I told mom that seeing a rainbow would make this the perfect day....two hours later we spotted one!

We ate all our meals out and I even got my own hotel room. I had a great weekend with mom and dad driving in a car for two days; we had some good conversations and discussions. We stopped and watched the Soda Springs geyser on our way home.