How I really feel

On Wednesday at 5am, my water broke. Wade rushed me to the hospital, both of us praying hard that this baby girl would be okay and hopefully stay put for a little while longer since she's not supposed to make her debut for 7 more weeks! I'm not going to lie. I was scared, really scared. I have too many friends and family who know the NICU all too well, and I was aching inside wondering if our daughter would have to spend months there as well.

The amniotic fluid test came back negative, but my doctor said he's seen this before, and it still sounded like my water broke. So they gave me a steroid shot to strengthen the baby's lungs and took other precautions just in case she does arrive early. My contractions slowed down thankfully and after being monitored for 6 hours, he sent me home on bed rest. The next morning, I returned to the hospital for another steroid shot, and after much discussion, they thought it could have just been a tear in the upper part of the membranes rather than a full rupture. And if it sealed itself back up, then our baby girl could be safe for another few weeks. Only time will tell.

I feel deep gratitude to my Heavenly Father for protecting our daughter. I don't know when she'll arrive. I just know she'll have a greater chance if I stay down and rest. Since I was 28 weeks along, I've been on semi-bed-rest because of pre-labor contractions. I've tried to have a good attitude about it and just take it easy. But it's very difficult to rest when my kids and I want to go out and play with friends and family. I feel so helpless at home sometimes that I just want to scream. I play a ping pong game in my head and heart of self-pity vs gratitude. It's all about perspective. I could say "I HAVE to stay home and rest all day" or "I GET to stay home and rest so that my baby remains safe and growing strong."

I feel lonely and want to get out. But I'm tremendously grateful that this baby is safe thus far. And if I need to stay on bed rest for another 7 weeks, then I will. I'll read, watch my favorite movies (like Anne of Green Gables), listen to music, sleep, cuddle with my kids, and try to accept help from others when offered. My mom is in town for one more day, and after that, a sweet friend is coming over twice a week to help with laundry, dishes, and cleaning. And of course, I have my Wade. He's been an amazing support. How lucky I am!

Summer Camp 2010

Last year's Summer Camp at Shining Stars Preschool was such a success that I decided to do it again this year. It's great because it keeps my kids happy and engaged with something to look forward to. Plus I love teaching and am grateful for the extra income. Since I was pregnant, I kept it simple with just 1 class 2 days a week throughout June and July rather than 2 classes. I had 2 helpers, a 12 year-old and a 9 year-old to assist me with my students, which ranged between 5 kids and 10 kids depending on the week. Here are some of my favorite pics from Camp.
For Bug Week, after learning about a variety of insects and searching for some in the backyard, we made butterfly masks.
Jonny insisted I tape his butterfly mask on his back as if they were HIS wings. That kid cracks me up!

For Food Week, we made whole wheat pasta with chicken and mozzarella, peanut butter cookies, and fruit smoothies.

Of course everyone took turns stirring or adding ingredients.

Car Week is always their favorite because I have them bring their own bike or scooter, and we hold races. :) It's fun to see the competitive side come out of even the quietest, calmest kids during the races.

For Music Week, I bring in my keyboard for everyone to experiment with. It's cool because you can press a button to make any key sound like a particular instrument or voice tone. My favorite is the button for "choir." You hit a C chord, and it's like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is in the room. My helpers took a lot more cute pictures from Summer Camp, but I'm going to press PUBLISH POST right now so I can actually get caught up on the blog! ;)

4th of July

Daddy and Jonny at our annual Neighborhood 4th of July Breakfast

Jonny and Emily fishing for some prizes
Wahoo! A pink necklace...just what she hoped for!
and a red whistle for Jonny a.k.a "the toy that keeps on giving (you a headache)"
watching the fireworks at Sugarhouse Park
Something tells me Jonny didn't like the fact that fireworks can be loud. haha Melanie and Tara were so sweet and snuggled with him to help him be happy.

Cousin Sleepover

My sister, Margaret, and I trade babysitting from time to time so the cousins can get together.

Alex, Emily, Hailey, Taylor, and Jonny setting up their sleeping bags under my preschool table
Boy, can they be crazy!

What sleepover would be complete without whole wheat waffles with homemade syrup, scrambled eggs with cheese, and strawberries? Just save some for Uncle Wade and me, you guys!

Gone Camping

Since I was on partial bed rest during my last trimester of my pregnancy, we didn't go on several camping trips like usual. And we LOVE camping so we set up the tent in our own backyard, and made a memory for all of us. Good times!

It's a....

GIRL!!!

So Emily and I along with her new baby sister will outnumber the boys in just 3 months. We're excited! We delayed having the ultrasound so we could get our health insurance figured out, but now that I'm 26 weeks along, we finally know the baby is healthy, developing well, and is a little girl. Yea!

We didn't find out the gender at Jon's ultrasound, and it was fun to have it be a surprise. But since he's more energetic and ALL-BOY (ie: jumps off the couch everytime I turn around), I told Wade if it's another boy, I think I need to have these extra months to prepare myself! haha

Emily's Spring Dance Recital and our mission

I could not be more proud of this girl. Her confidence has grown leaps and bounds as she has taken dance class from Miss Julie this year. She has always been quite shy, so it's neat to see her light up on stage. Something else that has helped Emily build confidence this year is that Wade and I ask her every day, "Who are you"? She replies, "I'm a beautiful, creative, dancing girl...daughter of God...born to be a Queen." When we ask Jonny the same question, he tells us, "I'm a handsome, courageous, energetic boy...son of God...born to be a King." And they don't just mumble it. They say it loud and clear, with the biggest smiles on their faces because they BELIEVE it! It's awesome.

Wade and I have a vision to help children discover and develop their personal gifts. We are going to travel around the country, educating and encouraging parents with tools they can use to empower their children and help them see how special they truly are. So many problems in our world today are because children grow to be teenagers and later adults with depression and insecurity. They just don't believe in themselves or know who they really are. This needs to change, and it starts in the home. It starts small. It starts with parents being teachers and examples. I know you know this already. We're excited to share this message with parents who don't know, who aren't sure how to empower their children. It will be an amazing experience for sure.