Saturday

A busy Saturday to be sure. We woke up this morning and took our food in the car. We took a trip out to Chris' parent's house to pick up a few things. After that, we stopped at the bank and Goodwill. Next we went to the grocery store, a LONG trip because the kids were getting cranky. When we were finally finished with our errrands, we headed home. We ate lunch and watched a movie. All in all it has been an alright day, just long because I was not feeling well and the kids wanted to argue all day. I may not like every little thing that they do, but I wouldn't change having them around for the world.

I am still attempting to let my phone dry out to see if it may work in a day or two. Chris is still working hard on trying to quit smoking. He is having a hard time with it, especially when the kids are having an off day like today. I'm sure that he can do it though. I go back to the doctor on Monday to check on the clot that I had. It should be gone, or at least that is how things seem to me because my condition has cleared up dramatically since I had the medication the other day. I think I might go in to the other doctor too to see if they can figure out why my sinus is so irritated. I think I may have developed some allergies to some of the plants in this area. I have been miserable with cold-like symptoms for close to three weels now.

Hannah is going to have an interesting week at school this coming week. She has a "Spirit Week" where they do different things each day of the week. Monday she gets to dress up from a different decade. Tuesday she gets to wear pajamas. Wednesday is a wacky mismatched clothes and crazy hair/hats day. Thursday is a "twin" day. Finally, Friday she wraps up the week with her school colors. She is very excited, especially about Wednesday, because I am letting her do her own hair. She is almost done with the school year, her last day is June 16th.

The other two kids are playing very nicely together almost all the time. They are both becoming very independant. Jade doesn't like having help with almost anything. There are a few days where she likes to say "I want to be a baby" and insists that she "can't" do anything, but most of the time it's the other way around. Zennek is having a hard time lately with being alone. He keeps crying nearly every night because he doesn't have anyone to share his room with. He was very upset when he heard about the baby passing because he realized he would still be alone. He's doing better, but still gets frantic when he is extra tired. They are all adjusting to being back home very well. I am so happy that they are home. I missed them more than I ever thought was possible.

Off to sleep I go. I still have this headache and I am very congested right now. Goodnight all.

Update

ok, I can honestly say that I am getting tired of being sick. I have had this bad sinus problem coming and almost going away since around the 13th. I think it is time to find out what is wrong. My head is really hurting today. The laboring meds did their job and didn't hurt me too badly. I am going back to check on it at the doctor on Monday. Anyway, aside from the headache, I am feeling good. I wish that my phone was working right now, but alas, it will still be a while, if at all that it is returned to normal. Wish me luck with that, I can't afford a new phone right now. That's about all for now. -Bridget

Life is Never Boring Around Here

Yesterday seemed to be a long day to me. Chris had staff duty the night before so he got home at 10 am yesterday morning. After he got home, he rested for a little while. I put the kids down for a nap and went on some errands. First I had to go check if we could get dental coverage from the state because the military only covers a small part of dental for family members. Of course I was there going over tons of paperwork for nearly 3 hours to find out we don't qualify.

Then I stopped in at the doctor because I have been cramping for a few days. I should be done with the cramping by now, so I decided to check on it. Anyway, long story short: the doc did an ultrasound to see what was the problem and said because the baby was further along than my last one, it is fairly common to have a blood clot that has difficulty exspelling itself. This is the explanation forthe cramping, it's trying to get rid of it, but it is having problems getting it out naturally. So, the doctor is using modern medicine to help it along. He gave me medication that is basically putting me into labor to get the clot out. He also gave me something to prevent nausea and something wlse for the pain. Chris will be home for today and possibly tomorrow to help me out. It should be all taken care of by the time I go to bed tomorrow. I go back into the doctor for another ultrasound on Monday to make sure that everything has run it's course and is out.

I know that this doesn't exactly sound fun, but I assure everyone that I am doing fine. I am healing well according to the doctor, and this blood clot is a common occurance. Aside from all that, I am doing okay. My sinus problem is cleared up and I almost completely have my voice back now. My phone is still messed up, so I have it off for a day or so, so I can leave it opened up to completely dry out. As you know, if you have talked to me in the last couple of days, my phone is currently possesed. I am hoping that getting it all the way dry will fix it so I don't have to buy a new one. I won't have a phone for a couple of days, so if you try to call and don't get an answer, you know why.

Life is never boring around here, but it is at least going alright. I'm going to go and try to sleep for a little while. If, for some reason, you need to get ahold of me and can't through my phone, you can always call Chris' phone or email me. I plan to stay close to my comuter to keep busy while I am stuck on the couch for today and possibly tomorrow. That's about all for now. Have a pleasant day. -Bridget

Is it just me...?

Is it just me or does everyday house "mess" just multiply all on it's own? I swear I cleaned up the house yesterday, but for some reason, I have a sink full of dishes to wash, a couple of loads of laundry to fold and put away, and a whole house to vacuum. At least the weather is nice and I can have the windows open to let in some nice fresh air. It's a bit overcast, so I think we may get some rain, but that is okay, it makes everything outside so pretty when the rain stops.

It's funny to me the way that parenthood transitions a person. When you have one child, especially when you are young, you think that it is so difficult and your life is just upside down. Then, when the second baby arrives you quickly realize that the one child was close to a cake walk. After a while, you adjust and can manage feets that seem almost superhuman. Next comes number three and you are in a pickle because now there are more kids than hands. It takes a little longer to solve problems like grocery shopping with just yourself and the kids because now, you can't have one child in the seat of the cart and another in the back with the food. No, you have to have one child walk next to you and rotate who does this each trip. Then if there is by some miricle one of those so-called handy carts that is in the shape of a car is available, you have to hear arguing because these cars only sit two. A few years go by, and you manage to figure out this whole juggling act. I have a few friends that ask me how I get through each day with all the daily struggles and things that come up. Honestly, I'm not exactly sure how it is done, but I do know that it is some kind of constantly changing ballet of events that somehow work. I love my life; well most parts of it.

My phone seems to work; well, kind of work anyway. I can now at least accept phone calls, but I can't call out because it likes to dial a few extra numbers all on it's own. Also, it dials numbers occassionally while I'm on it so that gets very annoying.

Jade and Zennek are busy playing. Zennek is being Spiderman and Jade is the girl he is rescuing. Hannah is at school. She had the class "puppy" (stuffed animal) at home all last week. She had to write what she did with the puppy all week and take in her favorite story to class today. I am so proud of her, she is able to read the book all by herself. The best part of it is that her favorite story is for girls about nine years old; it's a Barbie book. She is doing really well in school. Zennek is practicing everyday for kindergarden. He counts to twenty, tells me his colors and shapes without hesitation, and is working hard on following the rules. He is very hyper and has difficult time sitting still and gets cranky in the late afternoon if he doesn't get a nap. I am slowly trying to transistion him out of naps because he has a full day of kindergarden starting in the fall and they don't nap there. Jade is going to have a hard time once he is gone all day. She plays with him all the time. I'm going to have to get creative to keep her occupied all day long while the older two are away.

Yes, I am a little bit crazy. I do want to have one more baby. I do plan to wait at least a little while. I love the three I already have and I love my stepson, but I would love to share a common child with my husband. We both want to have a child together and then stop. I have to go back to the doctor on the 12th to follow-up on the surgery. They are planning to do some blood work and see if they can figure out the reason(s) for my recurring miscarriges. I hope they can figure things out.

That's about all for now. I have to get back to cleaning up the house or it will get away from me again and I don't need that; mess grows fast enough.

A Long Day

Today has been a long day, yet at the same time I can't believe the daylight is almost gone. I have had a bad headache since I woke up this morning. I got to work on the house almost as soon as I got up. I worked on laundry in between the dishes and other random picking up and wiping down. Whilst throwing a load into the washing machine, my phone fell out of my front sweater pocket and into the wash without my knowing it. A whole cycle later, I was looking for my phone to make a call and searched the house high and low. After about fifteen minutes of searching and tracing my steps, I finally came to the part where I put the laundry in the machine and low and behold there was my phone in the middle of the load ready for the dryer. UGH! Anyway, it is drying out for now. I hope it works later on. If not, i'm going to have to get a new one. Aside from that, the house is almost done. I still have the headache, but I plan on taking a nice warm bath, and going to bed a little bit early. Dinner is almost ready, and there is a yummy lime cheesecake in the oven foor later. MMMMMM! Cheesecake can make a lot of things better. That's about all happening around here today. Pretty boring, but I can take boring over lots of other things. Now, to go enjoy some dinner, then, CHEESECAKE!

Jade's Birthday Pictures

Here are a few pictures of Jade's birthday party. There was lots of purple, lots of Tinkerbell, lots of fun and lots of food. We all had fun.Here is the Birthday Girl!

Blowing out the candles on the requested "muffins"JJ enjoying her birthday "muffin"

Zenny liked the cupcakes!

Opening presents

Jade likes the blanket I made for her.

TINKERBELL!

JJ

The kids playing in the sprinkler after the party

Pictures!

Here are a few pictures of the kids. I have been meaning to post them, but things just keep coming up. Anyway, here are a couple, I will post more soon.

Here are the kids. They had this picture taken @ their dad's house earlier this month.

Zennek asleep in the car. I have to say, it's adorable!

Hannah and Jade asleep in the car. Aren't they cute?!

This is Zennek playing at the park.



Here are the girls at the park. Jade Loves the slide.



Zennek loves to be a tough cowboy. He also loves his temporary tattoos.


I was going to post some pics of Jade's birthday party, but then I realized that they are still on my mom's camera and I have to wait to get them via email. She says she will do it later today, so hopefully I can post them soon.

Happy Anniversary To Me!

Wow! It's been a year already! I can't believe that time flies by so fast! Chris and I have been married for a whole year officially now. I am still just as happy about being his wife as I was when we got married. He is such a sweetheart. We aren't doing much for the day, but we are together. We are doing the everyday kind of stuff today, like cleaning house and laundry. It isn't the most glamorous, but it needs to be done. I have a pep in my step and love in my heart. Also, today is my cousin's 21st birthday. Happy Birthday Mandy! That's about all for now. I'll post again soon.

Things Around Yelm

Well, here we are another day. I am still feeling yucky. I just wish I could feel better already. I got a sinus headache around Wednesday the 13th; It hurt really badly and my head felt like the size of a planet. Anyway, the haedache gave way to a scratchy throat that ended up taking my voice away by the end of Jade's birthday party on Saturday. Then, over the weekend I got a small fever and still had no voice by the time I went to have my surgery on Monday. The surgery went well and I am healing fine from that. I went into the doctor on Friday to see if they could help me out. After sitting there for six hours, they told me to go home and take something over the counter and that it would get better on it's own. I was none to happy with that answer. I am coughing a lot and still have this headache, but there isn't much else to do. So, here I wait. I still don't have my voice back and my face is now starting to hurt on one side. I plan to give the doctor another visit either on Tuesday or sooner if it gets worse.

As for the rest of the family, they are doing well. Chris is having a hard time this weekend because he is atempting to quit smoking again. I am so proud of him. I know it isn't easy, but he is doing really well with it. Tomorrow is our anniversary. We can't really do much for it, but we do get to spend the day together and share a glass of wine and piece of cake from our wedding. He still makes me smile everyday and I am so happy to have him to share all of life's up and downs with. He makes the tough times easier and the good times even better. I love you sweetheart!

The kids are good. They had lots of fun last night when we had a campout in our backyard. We had roasted hotdogs and smores for dinner and bacon and eggs over the fire for breakfast. We are having movie night tonight. I'm not sure yet what movie we will be watching, but it will be fun.

Hannah is loving school. They are occasionally letting her do second grade work, and she is only in K! Zennek is very excited to start K in the fall. He is practicing his writing and other Kindergarten stuff. He almost knows the K completetion stuff, so he is definately ready to go. Jade is very imaginative. She still loves to be a "mommy". She makes food and takes care of her baby all the time. She got a new baby and a bunch of Tinkerbell stuff for her birthday. (Pictures soon, I swear!) We are all pretty much in good health, witht the exception of this darn cold. Aside from that, nothing is going on around here. I'll post again soon. Bye for now!

Home from the hospital

All is well on this end. I am a bit groggy, but feeling much better. Thank you again Mom for watching the kids, it made things a lot easier. I am home and laying down. The kids are playing nice and quietly in their rooms. Chris is getting ready to make dinner. The surgery went smoothly and they are going to try to find out what the sex of the baby was, but it is a long shot this far out. At least they are nice enough to try for me. I had a very nice team of doctor's and a very funny anestesiologist. When he was talking about giving IVs, he said he could do it well because he "stayed in a Holiday Inn last night". I had to laugh at that, it's been a while since I heard that one. All in all it was a pleasant experience considering the circumstances.

I have to schedule a follow-up appointment where they are going to do some blood tests and questionaire to see if they can find the cause of the miscarriages. Hopefully they will figure it out. I am still hoping to have one more baby in the future, but I'm going to heal and get into better shape before that happens. That's about all for now. I am probably going to go rest for a little while. Post again soon.

Off to the hospital

We are about to leave for the hospital for my surgery. I am hurting so I am definately ready for it. I am really hoping they don't delay it because I am a bit sick. I think I have a sinus infection and my voice is next to gone, but I am surviving. My mom was able to come up and keep an eye on the kids so Chris didn't have to take them to the hosital and take Hannah out of school for the day. I am glad it has worked out this way, the kids need as little change as possible. Although, I have to say they are doing great with all the transitions lately. I am hoping all goes well today and gets one and over with so I can start to heal. Wish me luck. Thank you Mom. I am also hoping that my Grama is doing better. I haven't talked to her in a couple of days, but she seemed to be in good spirits last time we chatted. I'll post again later when I get home and am feeling up to it. Wish me luck.

Life is a funny thing. You never know what it will throw your way, but you are only given what you can handle. Things right now don't seem that great, but I am looking for a silver lining. I am obviously a bit distraught about loosing the baby, but we'll get passed it in time. I am having the surgery for this on Monday. Unfortuneatly this is Jade's birthday, but we'll be doing her party on Saturday. As for my silver lining, I am very greatful to have my three other children home with me. They are my whole world, along with Chris of course. Hannah starts back to school tomorrow, and she is very excited. My mom will be up on Friday so she can help look after the kids while I have my operation. As I said before, Jade's birthday party is on Saturday. We are having a purple party for her with some Tinkerbell in the mix. Then there is Monday's operation. A busy week for sure.

My grama has been transfered to a nursing home to receive physical therapy until she is able to move around on her own. They have decided not to replace her knee after all due to the instability of her leg right now. Who knows what the future holds. I hope eeveryone is well. I'll be posting again soon. Here are a few pictures of our trip home from North Carolina and our Mother's Day Christmas.

The kids had lots of fun decorating the tree.

This is Hannah. She is still smiling at this point because she didn't know what a long day was ahead. We were all very tired by the end of it, but happy we made it without any complications.

Here is Zennek. He couldn't sit still and loved every chance he had to run around.

Jade was singing me lots of songs to pass the time.

A Sad Day Today

Today has been a difficult day. My husband, children and I went into my OB appointment and learned that the baby has died. This is the second miscarriage we have to go through within the last year and is hard to handle, but we are handling it. The kids are understandably upset, but are being very sweet and trying their best to be good for me. They are also giving me lots of hugs and kisses. I know that they are helping me so much just by being here. I am a very lucky woman to have such wonderful children. According to the doctor, the baby passed about two weeks ago. I am due for surgery on either Friday or Monday. I am really hoping that they can do it on Friday, because Jade's birthday is Monday, but if that is when it can be done then that is what we will do. Also, they are planning on scheduling an appointment so we can go talk to a specialist to see if they can pinpoint what went wrong. I'll post again once I know more.

Aside from my own personal situation, my grandmother is not in that good of shape. She was working on something on her front porch yesterday and ended up falling into some rocks. She got a bad knot with a cut on her head and a fractured tibia. She will have to have her knee replaced in a few weeks after she heals a little bit. As far as I know, that is the extent of her injuries, but that is enough. We are all wishing her well and hoping it happenes sooner than later.

As far as everything else, we are doing well. The kids are home and very happy. I had a wonderful Mother's Day. My husband cooked a big breakfast for me, my mom, his step-mother and dad, the kids and himself. It was delicious; and so nice to have so many people to share the day with. I hope everyone is well. Bye for now, I'll post again soon.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day all! I know it will be a great one for me. I got the best Mother's Day gift ever, I got my babies back home! Today we went to visit "Papa Paul" while he was at a truck stop in Tacoma, and the kids had lots of fun getting to see his truck.


Earlier this week, Uncle Rick was nice enough to paint some murals on the walls for the kids rooms. Thank you Rick, the kids absolutely loved them.








We also decorated our Christmas tree today. I know that this sounds weird, but since the kids didn't have Christmas with us this year, we decided to have it when they returned home. I'll post pictures from this when I get them up on the computer. I am so excited that the kids are home and so is Chris; so are the kids for a matter of fact. It was a very LONG day coming home, but we made all three of our flights on time and fell asleep soon after we got home. We had a 21 hour day that day, but we are starting to get adjusted. The kids still seem to be on east coast time and are getting up around 5:30 am, but that is also starting to change. Well, I've gotta go put the kids to bed. Again, Happy Mother's Day to all!