Silly Miriam

I came down stairs to see this. Miriam takes all of these out of the fridge and then comes up to me and says thank you. Yep, thanks baby girl. We have put the fridge lock back on.


Posted by carrie

Oh christmas tree

This year we got a real tree and I love it. It smells nice and I don't have to store it all year. I don't have to fluff it either. Its great. The kids decorated it. They did a good job too. Miriam even helped. She was so cute.


Posted by carrie

Diet Change Up

I decided to alter my diet. I've been doing low carb off and on for more than a year. I would get to a certain weight and just stop. It's like my body got comfortable and said I'm done. I know I'm not done with my weight loss so I started researching different diets as the one I've always used had me stalled. I didn't seem to be stalled long as of 3 weeks ago but I could see the signs. So I came across the Johnson up day down day diet. You count calories which I've always hated, but it's different. One day you have around 2400 calories and then the next day you have 500, and repeat. 500 is a small amount but those are the days you lose weight. On the high calorie days you make those 500 calorie days easier. It makes it so it keeps your body guessing. Your body doesn't think ohhhh I'm down in calories so I'm going to slow down my metabolism to match what I'm taking in. Since your taking in different amounts each day it doesn't allow your body to get comfortable. I'm loving it. I don't have to "diet" everyday and I feel really good doing it. I'm losing at a slower pace but that's ok and healthy. It's something I can see myself doing long term. If I'm not explaining this in enough detail you can google it.

This is what happens when.......

Peter gets ahold of my phone.

Posted by carrie

Peterism

Grandma: look at that man cleaning the bathroom. Peter would you like to do that when you grow up.

Peter: no!!! I'm going to be buzz lightyear. He uses lazors and flys.


Posted by carrie

Cutie

Here are some short videos of my Mimi. She is so sweet.

Posted by carrie

Losing Weight........I'll get this right.

Well I started my weight loss journey a little over a year ago. I started out at the same spot I always do after having a baby. No matter how much I weigh I end up at the same spot every time. Anyway. I lost 55 lbs from June to December. I moved states and just lost and gained the same 5 lbs. No matter what I did I couldn't get past it. Then I got pregnant and in that short pregnancy I gained like 15 lbs. What was that?? My body was gearing up to get back to where I always end up. Then after my miscarriage I got a tad depressed (can you blame me) and gained another 5 lbs. Ugh I wasn't going to have it. Cause I got rid of my bigger clothes and I wasn't going to re buy them. So I lost another 13-15 lbs. Then I got rid of the clothes I shrunk out of. No going back right? Now I'm on my way to get past my 55 lb road block. I've incorporated exercise in my weight loss program. I NEVER do that. I have all the intentions of doing so, but it's not some thing I've really enjoyed. Until now........ I really enjoy it. I get a break from the kids and have me time. It's more than me time in front of the computer or whatever else. It's really time that I'm focusing on the important part of me. My health is what I need to nurture. I need to for my kids and family. Mostly I need to for me. So if you hate to get out and move your body just try it. I bet you'll come to like it if you give it a chance.

My spot!!!

He's claimed this part of the couch and if you try to sit there you will feel his wrath. Next it's the remote.

Ohhhh something funny. We listen to Bryan Regan in the car sometimes. My kids love the part about the kids "calling" the hump in the back seat of the car "he's calling the hump Walt." Now they are doing the same. Oh boy.

Preschool

Benji started his first day today. He was so excited and wasn't willing to wait. As I took the girls to school this morning he was disappointed that he wasn't going as well. So when I got back we had to wait a whole half hour and it was his turn. When I dropped him off I was forgotten. I love that all my kids are so excited to learn.


Getting ready to go in his class. Way to go benji you are getting so big. One more to go. I can't believe Mimi will be in preschool next year. Ahhhhhhh I can't think about that.

Benjis Facial Hair

We made chocolate cupcakes for miriams bday. Guess who licked the bowl. Benjamin doesn't just stick his fingers in the bowl and enjoy. He goes face first with all his gusto. If you know my boy........ he has lots.

Happy Birthday Baby

I can't believe you are 2.

I didn't think I would be this emotional about you getting older, but I am.

There are so many things about you that I LOVE.

1. You have to have your morning snuggles, or the day just isn't right

2. I love your sweet laugh.

3. You are always sooooo happy.

4. Your calm demeanor is refreshing.

5. You love me so very much (thank you)

6. You love to have your finger nails painted.

7. You love sparkly shoes.

8. You sit still so I can do your hair.

9. You pat my back when you hug me.

10. You complete this family beautifully.

Happy Happy Birthday my sweet MIMI MIM.

It's August

Boy time is flying by. I have 3 kids in school and 2 at home with me for part of the day. I love to have these sweet children all around me and see them grow. Lily is in 4th grade and that's making me feel old!! It's hard for me too see her as that old. She's still a good 2-3 inches shorter than Emma. She wishes that she was taller but at least her feet are finally growing. Peter is in kindergarten again and he's so glad. I talked to his teacher and told her where he was education wise so that she would challenge him more. I really don't want him to get bored. Emma is in 3rd grade and finally gets to join choir. She's been waiting so patiently. She loves to sing and I'm excited to see her improve.
Benjamin is the sweetest little big guy. He always says please and thank you. He says sorry even when it's not his fault. He loves his hugs, and Peter. Oh how he loves his older brother. He's missing him while peters at school. Those two boys get along so incredibly well. It makes this mommy super happy. Miriam is a super happy sweet baby. She's almost 2!!! Why does she have to get older?!?!?! Sigh, this is the first time that I've had a 2 year old without having an infant or ready to pop. It's so different for me. One thing is, I have energy to keep up with her and just maybe I'll get her potty trained faster. Before it was just too much to do that with a new baby. I just might have an advantage it haven't in the past. Whoo hoo! Just imagine no diapers. Ohhh but I'll miss all that is baby. Life is great and we are so happy.



Posted by carrie

Bad Parenting?

If you've ever seen Toy Story 3? Part of the theme is that the toys are in danger of going to the dump. At the end of the movie there is a very dramatic part when the toys are about to be burned up in the incinerator. This part has been VERY helpful to me in my quest to teach my kids. We have been struggling with keeping the house clean. So in attempt to "teach" my kids to value their stuff enough to put it away I've resorted to carrying a bag around. Why a bag????? Cause if they don't put their stuff away I'm "might" throw it away and all their little toys will take that dramatic trip to the incinerator. Is that bad??? HEY! It's getting the job done right. In all reality I LOVE it. It shows me that 1. my kids can clean in a hurry. 2. They really do like what we get them. Also if they take forever to clean I can remind them how fast they clean when I have a bag in hand. So if you are ok with some tough love just have them watch Toy Story 3 and make a big point of the dump part. Carry around a black garbage bag and watch magic happen.

I wouldn't really throw the toys away. I think they know that too. So I don't know why it works but it does.

Miriams reaction to Barney

Oh tooooooo funny.

Posted by carrie

Miriams favorite video

Played on a loop of course

Posted by carrie

Wait a Second!!!

Miriam just decided that she no longer needs milk or bottles. The bottle thing is great but no milk what so ever. We went to az a couple of weeks ago and while we were there she just rejected them. We try to put it in her sippy and she throws it across the room. She wants it for comfort but them she doesn't take it. So she's been kinda cranky. It's nice to not go through so much milk (1 1/2 to 2 gallons a day) but she needs the calcium. Ohhhh dear I have a stubborn one (or maybe 5) on my hands. We just got rid of the crib, highchair, and a bunch of clothes. It's just another thing we are letting go of. I just can't wait to get rid of the diapers. I've been changing those things for 9 1/2 years. Awe babies growing up is so bitter sweet.

My garden is growing

Check it out. Yeah there are lots of weeds but we had lots of rain. I've been working everyday to get a hold of the weeds. But I'm so excited to see all that I'll get from it. See that tree? It's a peach tree and there are tons of tiny peaches growing. I'm starting to get strawberries as well. I love having a garden.


Posted by carrie

Callanetics

I've known about this form of exercise for quite some time. I've done it consistently only total of 8 times in a row. I saw amazing results. So why did I stop??? I don't really like to exercise but I liked this better. Oh and the VHS yes I said VHS was tooooo outdated for me. Some like it, but they updated it and I like it much better. It's so much easier to follow (for me). Anyway, I started doing it again last thursday. I've gotten 4 hours in. They count it as hours cause it takes an hour. So I feel sooooo much better and I can't wait to do my next hour. It's amazing what just 10 hours of this workout will do to your body. You work deep in your muscles and it just pulls everything in. You won't get all bulky and it's a great slimming exercise. Just google the results and you'll be amazed by the pictures. I'm just really excited that I'm excited about exercise (which is so NOT me).

Jonathan

I like him!

He's nice!

He works super hard!

Easy on the eyes!

Great Daddy!

Really SMART!

Loves ME!

I'm a lucky girl.

Gymnastics video

Emma flipping around the bar.

Posted by carrie

Gymnastics

The girls started gymnastics today. They had lots of fun and is really excited to learn. Jonathan did gymnastics for a short time as a kid and this was fun for him to see his girls do it too. They are both doing great. I can't wait to see them progress.

So cute

Posted by carrie

Superdog

By Peter

Posted by carrie

Peter just informed me.

That his chin is happy! Haha



Posted by carrie

Who got into the Chocolet

Caught red handed!!

Um quick cover the camera lens. She'll never know.

Sorry toooo much evidence on this one.

Why Do I Bother Cleaning

See these 3??? Yeah they are my demolition team. I clean constantly and they are great at undoing it. Good thing they are cute

This is just very MILD. Their Masterpieces are just tooooo much to show on-line. I think it would majorly scare some.

Glasses break!!

Lilys glasses have broken 3 times. Wire glasses and kids don't mix. So we went and changed them out for some plastic ones. Hopefully these last a lot longer. We will have to get a backup pair as well. Doesn't she look sooooo old. Sigh!!


Posted by carrie

Being a Mother

As mothers day is tomorrow I think about the precious gift I have. I love being a mother to my beautiful children. I wouldn't want anything else. I dont want some glamourous career, or free time to do whatever I want. I love that my days are full of messes, sticky hands, tantrums, laundry, cleaning the same things over and over. I'll take the sleepless nights and crazy days over being without my kids. I've been entrusted with these little angels and it's expected of me to do my very best. I try so very hard to be the best mom I can. There are days where I'm so close to checking my self into the funny farm. Then I get sweet hugs from my babies. My older kids come up with the silliest stuff. I laugh I cry I wonder and I'm in awe in my experiences as a mother. I wouldnt have it another way. I love being a mother.

Posted by carrie

Twins and D&C

I went into the dr and got a follow up ultrasound just to make sure everything stayed the same or by a miracle things got better. As we looked around and saw 2 little yolk sacks which is the start of a baby. I couldn't believe it. I thought for sure I would NEVER get pregnant with twins. Jonathan saw the 2 "babies" and got really disappointed he really wanted twins. He had a goal of 7 kids. Poor guy. But I got my answer as to why I lost them. First of all my progesterone wasn't nearly high enough to support two pregnancies. If you remember my last pregnancy..... That was hard, and can you imagine doubling it. I really don't think my body could of handled it and I would be in serious trouble. Heavenly Father really spared me. I needed to be able to take care of my 5 blessings I have now. So after the ultrasound Jonathan and I went to check in for surgery. We waited a bit and went back. After a while they starred the process and put some sleepy drugs into my IV. I'm really sensitive to any type of drugs so I was out fast. It was so weird cause it was like I blinked and I was awake. I asked if it was over and they told me I was all done. I was so groggy and my throat hurt because I had to have a breathing tube in. I was in a ton of pain due to a lot of gas build up. I had to get the max amount of pain relievers and it still didn't help. I have a low pain tolerance and to think I had natural child birth. Well anyway Jonathan waited through the whole thing and was so helpful to me. I really have the best husband ever. He is so strong through all of this. He really did lose a lot. He really really wanted twins. Not like I didn't but he's dreamed of them for along time. After I got home I got to recover a little more as margaret and Jonathan took care of the kids. But I couldn't resist and I had Jonathan bring Miriam in to me so I could hold her and slowly get her to sleep. I'm so grateful for my babies. Just to think I could have lost anyone of them. Heavenly Father knew my desires to be a mother and truly blessed me with 5 miracles. I was reminded of that from the nurse at the hospital. She was amazed I had what I have. PCOS makes it hard to even have 1. My testimony has grown leaps and bounds after this experience. Im grateful for trials as I have a chance to count my many blessing and realize the many mercies of God. We are not going to try again. After losing 8 babies we see that as too much. I'm happy and I'm at peace. I truly have so much to be grateful for.






See the two circles those are the yolk sacks. When we looked closer we could se the fetal poles. I know one had shrunk but I don't know how much the other did as we didn't even know it was there. One was measuring 7 weeks the other was measuring 6 weeks.

Waiting

Here I am still waiting on my miscarriage. I wish I just had some sort of closure. Everyday I wonder if today is the day it will start. My body doesn't seem to want to let go. I don't blame it cause in a way I don't want this to be over. I want it to be a huge ultrasound error and I'll get unexpected news that my baby is still alive. I got some blood work done yesterday and hopefully I'll find out more about this whole mess. Through this whole thing I've learned a lot and I'm grateful for those lessons. I just wish learning wasn't so hard sometimes.


Posted by carrie

Dr. Appt NOT so good.

Wow what a day. I woke up this morning feeling leery and just not right. I got the girls to school and off I went to the dr. We talked about my history and made some plans as to prevent pre term labor and what tests we would do and such. We went to do the ultrasound and it didn't look right. 2 weeks ago I got one done at a private ultrasound place and the baby looked great and we heard the heartbeat. But this time I could barely see a thing and there was no little flicker. All was still and my heart sank. I knew what this was. My body still thinks I'm pregnant but the baby stopped growing. If I don't pass the baby naturally I'll have to get a D&C. Ugh. I don't want to do either. This really does stink majorly. So as of now we are testing the hormones in my blood to see if they are rising or falling. But I don't see any hope. There was a heartbeat and now there isn't. It's just over or almost over. I'm becoming more at peace with all of this. I have 5 beautiful children that love me so much. I've been blessed in so many ways. This just happens and with my problems it's more likely. I have a fertility disease called PCOS and with that I have a miscarriage rate of 64%. Well 5 children 7 miscarriages it sounds about right. I really think the baby making factory is officially closed. I'm alright really. I've gotten tons of support and I really appreciate that. I'm just so glad I have the babies I have now. I just could use some prayers that this is resolved quickly.

9 weeks

This pregnancy is still pretty boring. Which is OK by me. I'm not too sick either which I'm loving. Just exhausted which I'm hoping will subside soon. I have my first appointment with my new OB tomorrow. I'll get another Ultrasound and discuss what they are going to do with me. I'm just glad that this has been bit more mild than my last pregnancy. So I'll post the Ultrasound pic tomorrow and any thing else I find out.

I think I shrunk from last week.

Yay go away bloat.

Look whats in my garden

It wasn't there yesterday. It just shot up. I didn't plant it either. My kids call it jrs dad.


Posted by carrie

Look at my MiMi

I caught Miriam playing with the mirror today. She is just too cute.

Posted by carrie

8 weeks

I hope I don't jinx myself, but........ I'm still not THAT sick. I'm sick some days but other than that it's not that bad. I'm just really tired all the time. I'm still really bloated, but at least it's not getting worse. I have moments when I start to panic at the thought of 6 kids. Then I get excited. We have to get creative to figure out the room situation. If it's a girl then we'll have 2 in each room. If it's a boy I'm not sure. Nothing has been going on really. I like that it's been boring so far. I think I need a boring pregnancy. Hopefully it stays this way. The kids are super excited. Peter always asks when the baby is going to get here. I say Nov - Dec and he says is that tomorrow. Funny kid. He's also convinced it's a boy and the girls think it's a girl. One of them is going to be disappointed. I think they'll get used to the idea no matter what it is. They love having lots of brothers and sisters.

I don't see much of a difference from last week. It's ok I don't wanna grow too fast.

8 weeks

7 weeks

Ohhh dear

Hehe

Posted by carrie

Ultrasound

There it is. We have a little squish hanging out in my belly. Everything looks good.



Posted by carrie

7 weeks

This week has been really good. I haven't really been sick that much. I'm used to starting feeling really icky by now but I have fleeting moments of it and that's it. Maybe I deserve a easy pregnancy this time around. Really my only complaint is I'm soooooo tired and I get a stuffy nose in the mornings. Not much huh!! I'm growing at record speeds (for me). Has anyone else pregnant with their 6th start growing so fast. It's amazing. I'm sure it's going to slow down, but boy does my body KNOW what to do now. I'm running out of clothes. Fun stuff.

5 weeks

6 weeks

7 weeks :0

My Cutie

When did she get sooooo big. She's so sweet and makes cute little noises. Boy am I just toooo lucky.

This is a face she always makes.

I love her

Best Friends

Now that Benjamin is older Peter loves to play with him. Today they were playing blanket ghosts. These are the moments that make mommyhood so great.

Cinnamon Rolls

Miriam has been chowing down on cinnamon rolls like crazy.

Happiness

See this boy......... The way he was rejecting the potty I thought for sure I was going to have 3 in diapers come Nov-Dec. I stuck with it and now drum roll please. He's in underwear. He's not 100% potty trained but he's almost there. He knows how to do it, it's just I get side tracked or he does but I've potty trained or in the process of potty training 4 kids. I know it's only a couple weeks away. YAY!!!! Plus we are saving 30 plus dollars a month so that's good. I wonder what the odds are that I could get Miriam potty trained by Nov. She'll only be 2 and a couple of months. I've never got them trained until almost 3 (in benjis case after 3) You know what miracles do happen, and I'm ready for one. We'll see.

6 weeks

Here I am 6 weeks pregnant for the 6th time. Not counting my miscarriages though. I pretty much know the routine. Start off being tired, and I seem to have trouble stopping my eyes from leaking. Everything sets it off. But I have pretty good control when it comes to revealing the water works. Sickness has been at bay until this morning. Yeah it seems as if I hit 6 weeks to the day and BAM. I know it lasts just a little bit but oh it makes the months drag. Jonathan and I are getting some boy feelings this time around. It would make it even but it goes off our little pattern. 2 girls 2 boys 1 girl and ?. We could be completely wrong. I am determined that this is the LAST one. Huh this all sounds familiar. I read back to all my blog posts about my last pregnancy and I read all my feelings about being done, and I laugh. It just shows who is in charge here right.

I have an appointment in 3 weeks. I don't know if these dr.'s are good or not. I'll be rotated through 3 or 4 women Dr.'s. They may put me on progesterone injections once a week to make sure I don't have preterm labor starting at 16 weeks. At least it's not daily. So here we go with another pregnancy adventure.

BEFORE

6 weeks and a ton of bloat!

This better not be a indication that I'm going to be growing super fast.

I think my stomach muscles are shot. Nothing to hold all my insides from being pushed out.

It's not baby. The baby is the size of a sweet pea right now.