Misc. pictures from March

I'm finally pulling all these pictures off my phone...

 

 Hailey loved these paper glasses from preschool and even had them on while taking a nap :)

 

 In February - Emily studied for and took the driver's permit test - and PASSED!

How can I be old enough to have a daughter anxiously wanting to learn to drive??

 

 I was picking up kids at the jr. high one day and found the bulletin board with Lindsey's picture from being nominated as a Hillcrest Hero.  She's on the bottom row - third in from the left.

 

 She's also a 7th grade class officer this year - her photo is the bottom right

 

 Kate was so cute and offered to give me a foot massage - it was heavenly!

 

 Hailey at her dental appointment - she looked so little in that huge chair and was really brave!

 

 Hailey absolutely loves swinging and would spend hours doing it!

 

 Kate & Hannah got some clothes from Zoey & Alyssa and were super excited to wear them!

 Dr. Hailey - give dad a check up

 

 

 

Hannah playing in the sand



Lindsey's Jr. High Musical - "Into the Woods"

One of the aspects of Jr. High that Lindsey was excited about was being in the school musical.  She tried out for it right after Thanksgiving and rehearsals began after Christmas break.   They chose the musical "Into the Woods Jr" which I'm told was the first half of the actual movie/script.    Lindsey was cast as part of the Ensemble and she did a fantastic job.  They practiced almost every day after school, which was exhausting at times and she had to miss quite a bit of soccer, but she absolutely loved it and had a great time performing it!

We had such great family support!  They performed the show 3 nights in a row.  Mike, Mandy, Zoey & Alyssa went with Jack & Jon on the first night, I took the girls and my parents came on the second night and then all the girls wanted to see it again on the third night (I forgot to have Jon get pictures of Mike's family on the first night).

Great job Lindsey!

Museum of Natural Curiosity with the Johnston's

At the beginning of March, Jon's beautiful niece, Emily Fairchild, got married to James Cutler.  We have been so excited for Emily & James and looked forward to this weekend!

 

Jon's sweet mom, Diane, came into town the weekend before and we loved having her with us for the week.  On Tuesday night, Jon's sister Beth & her 3 boys flew in and stayed with us and then on Friday night, Jon's sister Rebecca drove from Oregon and also stayed with us for a couple nights.

 

Our kids had school on the Wednesday & Thursday that the Johnston's were here, but on Friday, our elementary school kids had the day off.  So, we went to Thanksgiving Point and went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity.  The kids had a great time exploring.  It's a great museum - the only problem is that it's always SOOO crowded and during the morning, there were jr. high kids there on a field trip.  They were generally pretty good about being careful of the littler kids, but I did see one kid try to spit on a kid below him in the ropes. 

 

Jon, Jack, Kyle & Kate all did the ropes course and I think really liked it.

 

 Hailey

 Hannah

 Tyler, Hannah, Kate & Jared

 

 Beth's boys - Tyler & Jared with Kyle in the background

 

 Jack, Kate & Jon on the platform above

 

Cute Kyle on the ropes

 

 

I don't know what is wrong with me, but I just didn't take my camera around with me to any of the wedding stuff.  Duh!  On Friday night, they had their reception at a ward in Lehi - it was gorgeous and their theme was Popcorn! How fun is that??!!   Emily was gorgeous and it was fun to visit with family and the Fairchild's friends.

 

Saturday afternoon was the sealing in the Salt Lake Temple and then a family dinner at the Lion House.  My mom let us drop our kids off to her during the sealing, so we just went and picked them up afterwards.  Everything was absolutely lovely.  Jon's sister Anne (Emily's mom) and her husband Dave were able to fly home from their mission in Africa to be there, so it was fun to see them again too.

 

Unfortunately, Beth & Tyler got sick on Friday/Saturday and ended up missing all the activities on Saturday.  I know Beth was so, so disappointed so we wish that hadn't have happened. 

 

It was a beautiful weekend and we're so happy for Emily & James!

Pregnancy Update - 31 1/2 weeks

Our pregnancy has gone really well this time - for which we are extremely grateful!  With my pregnancies, I always get proteinuria (protein in my urine) which is one symptom of pre-eclampsia, but it's not typical to just have the one symptom.   During this pregnancy, I have always shown traces of protein in urine dips.  I had this same thing with Kate's pregnancy and we were able to deliver her at 37 weeks.

At my appointment about a week and half ago though (so at 30 weeks), the dip showed my protein was a +3 and my blood pressure was then slightly raised.  My blood pressure has never been an issue, so that threw us for a loop.  It was an awful feeling to know that there was a possibility that our baby would need to be delivered (Jack was our earliest at 31 weeks & 6 days and that was hard enough).

We immediately had the doctor's office give me a steroid shot to help develop his little lungs (which takes 24 to 48 hours for full effect), they drew labs to test my liver and kidney function and we scheduled a time to go to Labor & Delivery the following morning for a nonstress test and I was to start at 24 hour urine collection.

I had a Priesthood blessing that night from Jon and our neighbor, Cal and Jon blessed the baby that he would be able to develop quickly and that he'd have the necessary time he needed to grow.  On Saturday, we went to L&D and the baby did great on the test.  They did an ultrasound to check my fluid levels and those all appeared to be normal.  They drew more labs to compare to the day before, they gave me a second steroid injection and then sent me home.  I was so relieved to be sent home.  The doctor on-call called later in the afternoon and reported that the liver function numbers were slightly abnormal, but nothing to worry about and my platelet count was fantastic so they could rule our HELLP syndrome.

I took the urine in to the lab on Sunday morning and then had a follow up appointment on Tuesday. Jon takes my blood pressure every day and I've been watching my urine drips - which seems to usually be between +1 and +2.    I've been drinking more water (and miraculously, haven't had a Diet Coke in 10 days!) and I've been trying to take it easy and rest a little bit more.

We are so, so grateful for each day that we have to grow this baby longer.  I am extra conscious of his movements and make sure that I feel him moving enough each day and we're just taking a day at a time.  I'll have an extensive appointment with ultrasound, non-stress test, labs and check up on Wednesday and we'll go from there.  Our first goal was to get to 32 weeks (which will be Wednesday) and then after that, we'd love to get to 34, 35 or 36 weeks. 

We have been immensely blessed by friends and family praying for us and fasting for us.  Words cannot describe the amount of gratitude I feel for everyone!  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!   We know we are being watched over and blessed by our Heavenly Father and appreciate all that you do!

Here's hoping to lots  more days & weeks of being pregnant.....

President's Day Weekend - Soccer tournament

I always look forward to President's Day weekend and the chance to go to St. George for soccer tournaments.  This was our 3rd year going and I had reserved the same condo that we stayed in last year back in the summer so that we would be sure to have it.  We invited my mom and Rich & Misty to come with us and they were able to come.  My sister Becky drove over from Phoenix with her 3 kids and we had a great time!

 

We left on Friday around noon and got to St. George in time to check into the condo, send Jon to register Emily's team and meet Becky, her kids and her in-laws at Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Delicious!

 

Both Lindsey & Emily's teams played in the tournament and both had 2 games on Saturday.  They both played well and their teams did pretty well.  It was gorgeous weather this year - no rain and not too hot.   After the games, we went to Pizza Factory for dinner - which was the perfect time because it was about 4:45.  St. George is understandably really crowded this weekend, but we were able to time our meals really well :)

 

On Sunday, my mom, Becky, Becky's kids and I headed over to Las Vegas to go to our cousin Emily's baby's blessing.  The kids were so good on the drive and were such good sport for being in the car that long.  The blessing was wonderful and it was great to be with the Adam's family at their house for a little bit after.   It was fun to see their house and visit with them for a little bit.  While we were gone, Jon took our kids to some fun sand dunes.  Rich & Misty headed home that afternoon.

 

Monday we had 3 games - Lindsey's team made it to the semi-finals, but lost.  Emily's team made it to the final game - but ended up with the heartbreaking loss.   They ended with penalty kicks and the ref gave them a point on a goal that probably didn't actually cross the line.   The girls were so disappointed.  We left St. George around 6:30 that night, grabbed some Arby's in Cedar City and headed home.  My mom drove with us both ways and was the best sport.  We loved having her with us.

 

The kids did great on the way home.  Hailey threw up once during the day and then again in the garage when we got home and Hannah peed her pants after falling asleep.  After some quick baths, we all fell into our beds - happy to home safe and sound.

 

 Lindsey's on the left in the white

 

 Now she's in orange #27

 

 Coach Gilmore and his team

 

 Emily's in orange

 Great defense Em!

 

 The condo has a fishing pond and Jon took the kids one evening.   Kate caught this fish (which Jon gutted and cooked on the grill) and Hannah caught one on her first attempt, but it was too little and they threw it back.

 

 Sweet baby Remmy - 8 1/2 months old

 

 Our cheering section - Grandma, Emily, Remmy & Kate Spackman

 

 At one of Lindsey's game, the kids were playing soccer behind us and apparently Hannah made Brooklyn mad.  I couldn't resist and had to snap a picture.  Cute girl!

 

They quickly made up and sat like this watching Jack play soccer for several minutes.