2 week fiasco

We had Jennifer's 2 week check-up. She is weighing in at 8 lb 3 oz and 21 inches long. She is in the 75% for her length and 50% for her weight. With both Eric and Aubrey I had their pictures taken when they were 2 weeks old. So I decided to carry on the tradition and have Jennifer's picture taken. Wow. It was quite the ordeal to get this pictures taken! We had to wait at Kiddie Kandids for 3 1/2 hours! I'm glad I did the pictures with the kids first since Jennifer was still asleep, but she was NOT having it for her picture! The picture that we got was literally in between crys! I could not get her to calm down. She refused to nurse, refused to take the binky, refused everything! During the pictures Aubrey goes, "Uh-oh, pee is starting to come out!" So I had to hurry and RUN her to the bathroom with Jennifer and Eric, but Aubrey wanted help to get ON the toilet (which was disgusting), but I couldn't help her because I had screaming Jennifer in my arms. She climbed on, went to the bathroom, got her hands VERY clean, then ran back to finish taking pictures. THEN Eric had to go to the bathroom! Are you kidding me? Apparently he didn't think about it when we were IN the bathroom with Aubrey. So we ran back to the bathroom, etc. Finally, I just told the lady taking Jennifer's picture that we were lucky we got the pic that we did, I just needed to get home. At one point in this, I had ALL three kids crying. Oh my. A little discouraging! Things would have been fine if we didn't have the long wait to even take the picture in the first place. I felt like everyone was staring at me as I was leaving the mall. I had Jennifer screaming in her car seat in one hand, Aubrey crying in the other hand while holding Eric's hand who was also crying. It may be awhile before I venture out on my own again. However, I did do a successful grocery shopping trip Monday night with all three kids by myself and it went smooth. Today they just weren't having it.

One week old

I can't believe she is already 1 1/2 weeks old! It has been a busy week! Jennifer has had jaundice, so I have had to go to the hospital every day for the past week to get her levels rechecked. Her points are now starting to go down, but luckily we never had to admit her in the hospital, although the doctor threatened it every day. I have been sick as well. I got a sinus infection right when I got out of the hospital, but didn't get the antibiotics until Wednesday. Then yesterday, I got mastitis. My fever was at 104.5 pretty much all day yesterday, with really bad chills. BUT, because I was already on antibiotics for my sinus infection, I already had a head start on getting better. Today I have a low grade fever, but I am feeling a lot better. It's hard to get better without any rest! :) The hard part about yesterday was that Zac had rented a drill for the cement from Home Depot, and my fever and chills didn't kick in until he was gone. So I called him because I was shaking so bad, I was afraid to hold Jennifer to change her diaper. He came back, but because we already paid for the rental, he had to get the holes drilled which took HOURS, so I was really sick and had to take care of the 3 kids. Miserable day. Days like this make me wish I had my mom to help me. It's hard to not have her here when pretty much everyone who has a new baby has their mom's to help them out. I know Steph can relate to this.

On Thursday Eric had his open house for kindergarten. We got to meet his new teacher, and find out where his locker is, coat hanger, bathrooms, etc. He is so excited. They already had homework for him too. We go take an assessment on Thursday to see where he stands education wise. We had to take some pictures for his homework so I have included some of those pics (the one of the family and himself).

I absolutely cannot STAND cat hair. So Zac and Barb got creative shaving Buster, with a mohawk and chops and all. Zac wanted me to post a picture of their creative work. AND Aubrey felt left out, so I have included a pic of her as well. She keeps on picking flowers everywhere she goes, and today, my Dad's yard was her pick. So she wanted her picture taken with the rose that she picked. She hasn't been pricked by a thorn yet, so hopefully it happens soon so she will stop picking flowers!

Day one and Smiling

Introducing...

Jennifer Kristine Nielson! She arrived last night at 9:01 p.m., and was 7 lbs 11 oz, 18 1/2 inches. I was suppose to start my induction at 8am yesterday, but they could not get me in until 10 am. They started the pitocin immediately, and I started to have contractions 2 minutes apart right away. The doctor couldn't come in to break my water until 12:45, and by this point, I was still only dialated to 2 cm. After he broke my water, the contractions started hitting really hard every 30 seconds. I lasted for 2 hours with the hard contractions, then finally called in the anethesiologist for my epidural. They checked me again at 6 pm, and I was only at 2 1/2 cm! How frustrating! I had a new nurse come in around 8:30 p.m. and she said I was finally at 4 1/2 cm. I guess the nurse that put my catheter in put it in the way of the babies head, so she couldn't come down. So this nurse moved it to the right spot, and I immediately felt major pressure. After 15 minutes I couldn't handle it and had Zac page the nurse and I was ready to go! The doctor ran over and I only had to push once and she came! This time around I didn't need any stitches or anything, and already recovery has been so much better! She is nursing beautifully, and so far doesn't even really cry. (I know that by this point she has only been here for 13 hours, but, I am VERY hopeful!) We are just excited to have our new little girl finally here! Aubrey and Eric were so cute when they saw her. Aubrey couldn't stop laughing she was so excited! A big thank you to Dad for letting the kids spend the night TWICE even though we had only planned on ONCE! The kids had a wonderful time!

Derby night

Zac and I got called as the ward activities chair people. So we had to get an activity together really quick. We ended up doing a potato derby on Friday (which was also my birthday). We had to have the activity quick since our new arrival is coming on Thursday. Zac has won the derby every year that he has participated. But not this year. He spent well over an hour on his potato car, and Aubrey kept on asking for one. He slapped one together in two minutes and handed it to her. Aubrey took FIRST PLACE! She was so excited! Zac had even made a trophy for the winner, so Aubrey got to take home the trophy. Eric wasn't so happy. He REALLY wanted to win bad! As we were getting in the car to go home, I told Aubrey to sit next to Eric. He goes, "Come on Aubrey, come sit next to the LOSER." I have no idea when he became so competitive!

During the potato derby, I started having contractions every couple of minutes the entire night. I was pretty excited. After we cleaned up the cultural hall, we went home, I took a shower, and laid on the bed waiting for Zac to finish his shower. Almost immediately the contractions stopped. DANG IT! At least we didn't actually make it to the hospital...that would have been a little embarrassing. I'm a little jealous that Brett and Rachel on their FIRST baby went early! I keep on telling myself that Thursday is not very far away...I am just SO UNCOMFORTABLE! I would think that by my 3rd I wouldn't have to be induced. But there is an upside to this, I am able to plan up to the day. My last day of work is Wednesday, and the kids are way excited to sleep at my Dad's house that night. Eric is able to bring in treats to daycare to tell his friends goodbye; we can get Eric's kindergarten registration finished; I'm able to get all my ducks in a row at work with timecards, etc; and we can still work on picking a name for this girl!

Zac is under the impression that his two-week "paternity leave" is to get projects done around the house. So he decided he is going to build the deck during this time. We will see. I'm not too enthusiastic about his plans. That's about it for me...just the waiting game.

Back to work I go....

So I have been back at work now since Monday, and will stay that way until August 6th. Then I will leave for maternity leave. My doctor has changed my induction date to August 7th instead of the 8th because he will be out of town. I just came back from my appt. with him and last week he wanted to check to see if my body was starting to do "anything" yet. Since with Aubrey and Eric, my body never really did cooperate in preparing for the baby, I didn't want to be disappointed, so I told him I could wait another week. Today, he checked me and.......I am 75% effaced and 1 1/2 cm dialated. So far, that has been better than my other pregnancies. Finally my body is deciding that a baby will be here soon! These summer days are SO HOT! I am definitely ready for this little one to be out! He also said that I have about 2-3 liters of just water weight from the heat in my legs and feet! I will never have a baby again in the dead of summer. I don't know how my Mom did it having 3 in the summer! My feet are seriously an ENTIRE size larger at night!

The other night Zac and I were sitting on the couch, and he had just turned on the a/c. I was sitting under the vent trying to get cool and he starts moving his hands around trying to find a warm draft. He went over to the window to see if that was where the draft was coming from. Finally he comes by me and goes, "IT'S YOU! The warm draft is coming from YOU!" My body is just radiating the heat off into the room apparently.

We still don't have a name for baby girl...I think we will be "discussing" it up to the hospital! This little girl is so hard to name for some reason! That's about it for me...I will try to update more often, now that I have an internet connection again!

Emergency surgery

So I had a scary week this past week. On Monday, I was hanging out at Dad's house with Justin and Lisa and started to feel like I had a side ache. I went home thinking that it was just some indigestion and took some tums and went to bed. I didn't sleep very well that night, and when I woke up, my side still hurt. I didn't eat any breakfast, thinking that if it was indigestion, I wouldn't want anything in my stomach. So I popped some more tums and headed to work. Around lunchtime, I started to feel nauseated because I hadn't eaten anything, so I went and grabbed some lunch with some co-workers. Around 1:30ish, my side was still hurting, so I called my obgyn. The nurse thought it sounded like a bladder infection, so she wanted me to come in and take a sample sometime before 5:00. I felt like I really needed to get there now, so I went and talked to my boss and he let me leave early. I grabbed the kids from daycare and headed down to the obgyn.

When I got there, I gave them my sample, and it came back normal. The obgyn saw me and started pushing on my side where it hurt and decided I needed to get an ultrasound at the hospital. He called over there, and they stated that they just had an opening. So I ran across the street to the hospital (with the kids) and got some lab work done and waited for my ultrasound. Turns out my whiteblood cell count was high, so I had an infection somewhere. It took them 1 1/2 hours to get me into the ultrasound. In the meantime, I have called Zac and told him the kids were getting restless, but they could probably wait it out. I also called Dad just to let him know what was going on, again, thinking that I would be home later.

I get into the ultrasound and it takes the techinician 45 minutes to find my appendix. The baby is right on top of it. Apparently, the appendix is one of only organs that doesn't move when you are pregnant. When she finally found it, she got really excited and started having people come in. I had radiologists, students and doctors in the room. They told me I was a "case study" for the hospital. They hadn't had anyone this far along in their pregnancy with appendicitis in American Fork Hospital. WHAT? My obgyn tells me that I am going to have surgery that night, and the surgeon is currently in the operating room. I also find out that my kidneys had 50% blockage because of the infection. I had no idea. Again, I thought the back pain I was feeling was pregnancy related. So I start heading down to the same day surgery, and call Zac to have him come get the kids. He is on his way, but had just barely left. As soon as I turned the corner, the surgeon WAS in the operating room, waiting for ME! OH NO! The anethesiologist was there already too, along with a team of nurses. They rushed me into a hospital gown, and the nurses were giving the kids stickers trying to keep them occupied while Zac was on his way. Zac made it just in time for them to wheel me on the bed into the O.R. They were in such a hurry to get me there, that after they put my IV in, I said, "Wait! I still have my contacts in!" So they brought me solution. Then, I realized, it had been several hours since I used the bathroom, so they hooked up my IV to a walking post and I used the bathroom.

Because the baby was on the appendix, they had to blow my stomach up full of air and cut me four times to get it out. The incisions are pretty much all around my belly, not just one centralized location. When I woke up in ICU, I was asking about Zac, but everything happened so quickly, he hadn't gotten back yet. They took me up to labor and delivery to monitor me overnight. Almost immediately this little girl decided to be mean. She started kicking me right where my incisions were, and HARD. I have never felt so much pain in my life. Then the contractions started. Contractions are bad enough, but when you have incisions on your stomach, and it gets tight with the contractions, it gets bad. They pretty much doped me up with morphine, but it didn't do much. That night my contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart, and were in the 70's. My obgyn checked to make sure my cervix wasn't doing anything, and it wasn't. He stated that my uterus just went into shock from being moved in the surgery and I'm just going to have to bear the contractions for now.

Thank goodness for my obgyn! I have really liked him from the beginning. When they first took me to the O.R., the surgeon wanted to start me on a certain kind of antibiotics, but my doctor, said, "She can't have that!" Then they wanted to do a CT scan to make sure of the location of the appendix, again "I will NOT let you CT scan her." Then the painkillers that the surgeon wanted to give me were wrong. But my ob was there the entire time and I wasn't given anything that I wasn't suppose to have.

The next morning, they were suppose to discharge me from the hospital, but the painkillers kept on making me throw-up (again, PAIN). Then they started to tell me I would have to stay another night. NOOOOO! Being in labor and delivery was nice because they could monitor the baby, however, hearing women SCREAM all night long is not very nice sleep. Women, PLEASE GET AN EPIDURAL! I promise, it doesn't hurt that bad! Everytime I would hear the newborn cry I would think, thank goodness! Now for some peace and quiet! Then I would hear another woman scream. I was able to force a bread roll down, and begged the nurse an hour later if we could go. They finally agreed to let me go home.

When my doctor came and talked to me, he told me they got my appendix just in time. It looked like it was about to burst! Seriously! It only felt like a side ache that just wasn't going away. If I weren't pregnant, I think I would have toughed it out! He told me if it would have burst, that I almost positively would have lost my baby girl, if not myself! I had no idea the toxins that come out of your appendix when it bursts were that bad! Scary!

Zac has been great taking care of me this past week. He took off work and has been at my side every minute I've needed him. I always wondered how he would be if something bad were ever to happen. I watched how tender my Dad was with my Mom the entire time she was sick, and Zac has been just as tender with me. He would get me anything and everything I wanted, and would just lay next to me and watch t.v. while holding my hand when the pain would get bad. The contractions have pretty much stopped. I have maybe 5-7 a day now. Mostly when I stand up to use the bathroom or something, they almost immediately start coming. It's scary to think that just in an instant, our lives could have changed drastically. Since I didn't have time before the operation, and I just didn't think about it right after, later that night Dad came in and saw me in the hospital and gave me a father's blessing. I am just so grateful for the priesthood, and that my family has it in our lives. The young men came and brought me the sacrament today after church since I wasn't able to make it. Eric and Aubrey started to sing "I am a child of God', and I have not felt the spirit so strong as I did in that moment.

I have had a lot of support from my neighbors and co-workers. Because I am newly "federal" I do not have any sick or vacation leave accrued yet. My boss came and visited me at our house after I got back from the hospital, and found out that pretty much everyone at work was donating their leave to me so that I could get the adequate rest that I need. What a blessing! I have received cards and/or flowers from FBI, DEA, USMS, and from my work. The agents in IRS Criminal Investigation in Las Vegas even sent me a cookie basket. My neighbors all came together and have been bringing us meals and taking turns watching the kids. I don't even know if the relief society president even knew something happened until today when I didn't show up to play the piano. The Bishop has even brought food over. Zac's sister Barb has also been a huge help with the kids. Unfortunately, when all of this went down, it was her first day of school, so she wasn't around. Isn't that how it works? She has had so much free time for the past month, and when we have absolutely needed her, she is at school! But when she has been home, she has been helping out a lot with the kids so Zac could take care of me.

Dad was funny when he first came and saw me in the hospital. Tuesday nights are the night he works in the temple, and I called him on his way to the temple to let him know that they were going to do the ultrasound. When he showed up late that night, he said "DEAR! I would have come straight to the hospital if I had known you were having surgery! I wouldn't have gone to the temple!" I told him I didn't know until the second before!

I have my post-op appointments later this week on Wednesday and Friday morning. I'm not positive I'm making it to Lagoon this year....if we do, I will probably spend the entire time in the pavillion. :)

Eric's Birthday

So a happy belated birthday to Eric. The reasons for the delay will be on the next post. :) Eric had his 5th Birthday! I can't believe how fast time flies! He had some neighbor kids, cousins and my Dad and Grandpa Powell over for his birthday party. We started at our house with some cake and ice cream, then headed over to Jump on It for the rest of his party. The kids had tons of fun! Luckily, it was right before bed time so after jumping around for an hour, they were definitely ready for bed! Eric won the lottery with some water guns, he is ready for summer!

So, I haven't posted these pics of Eric playing coach pitch yet. He absolutley loved playing this year. His last game was this past Saturday, and already he is asking when we will sign him up again! But this time he wants to play of the "dirt field" like the grown-ups.

And last but not least, Zac wanted me to post a picture of the retaining wall that he is currently working on. He still needs to build two more rows of cinder block before it's done (which hopefully will be tomorrow.) After the cinder block is finished, he is going to put matching stone on top of the cinder block to coordinate with our house.

I know, I know...

I haven't blogged in a long time. Sorry. I have been so incredibly busy that the thought of blogging hasn't even come to my mind. But after five different people called asking if I was okay...I probably should start blogging. I don't even know where to begin...

Eric started coach pitch (a month ago) and LOVES it! He does really well hitting the ball and running around the bases. Zac has taken pictures, but I don't have the camera with me to load them. Next time. :) He only has 2 more games left in his "season".

Zac's sister Barb moved in with us about a month ago. Zac hasn't quite finished the basement yet. We passed our second inspection, and he has been hanging drywall most nights trying to get it done. In the meantime, we had to put Eric in Aubrey's room, and Barb is sleeping in Eric's room. The kids are FINALLY starting to go to sleep alright. Bedtime usually took me about 5 minutes, but since they are in the same room, it has been 1-2 HOURS. On the weekends, Zac and I try to work outside as much as possible to try to get our backyard in. Zac is currently working on another retaining wall out back. He is actually pouring the cement today. We have transplanted a big tree in our yard, and my garden is looking wonderful! I even have the yellow flowers on my tomato plants. I'm pretty excited about that. My neighbors all had their "view" of how well my garden would do this year, so I'm glad that my tomato plants have almost grown out of their wall o' waters, while theirs are only 2-3 inches high.

I went to South Carolina for a week for a seminar. This was the first time I was gone that I didn't have to find babysitters for the kids every night while Zac was in school. (on a side note, Zac got straight A's this semester.) While I was in SC, I ended up going kayaking again. It was wonderful! We were out on the river for about 4 hours, and at the end it was getting dusk, and the fireflies came out and were flying around us while we were kayaking. I had never seen them before. Everytime I am in South Carolina, I want to try their BBQ. So we took off to the "Best BBQ in South Carolina". I ordered my plate, and the food came and the BBQ sauce was yellow. Hmmm...I knew there was a mustard base BBQ sauce, but I thought it was just colored yellow, and still tasted like BBQ. No. It was the nastiest thing I have ever tasted. (i am not a fan of mustard) It was like they just poured French's Mustard all over my pulled pork. GROSS. I will not try South Carolina BBQ again. When I came home from SC, Barb told me that she never realized how much I do with the kids. I guess one of the nights the kids rooms stunk so bad because Zac hadn't given either of them a bath. In the morning, he just took some baby wipes and wiped down both of the kids and sent them to school/daycare. Are you kidding?

So Barb went to her friends ranch this past weekend. His family has a "buffalo farm" where people pay them money to hunt their buffalo and elk. Barb came back with a cooler full of buffalo meat. Hmmm. Zac was really excited about it. I decided I should try it. We made buffalo burgers last night, they actually were pretty good. (Although I made Zac chopped up an onion and put tons of seasoning salt on it before he made the pattys.) We have 14 more pounds of ground buffalo left, some steaks, and roasts. I'm actually pretty proud of myself for eating the entire burger, it just grossed me out to think about what I was eating. Mind over matter.

I am still trying to run 4 miles every day at lunch. It is getting difficult. I am starting to getting a little big...it is now more walking than running. My problem is I get charlie horses in my calves at night, so when I go out at lunch, the first half is uphill, and my calves are already rock hard and aching from the charlie horses the night before. I have definitely popped out now. 2 maybe 3 weeks ago, people still didn't really know I was pregnant. Now, the whole world can tell. :) I almost have to retire the "rubber band trick" on my jeans and just suck it up and start wearing maternity jeans. This little girl is completely in my ribs all the time. I honestly think my ribs are bruised. It really hurts when she kicks. So that is a big recap of the last month. :)

Las Vegas Week

I spent all of last week in Las Vegas for work. I didn't really do much while I was there besides go to work and out to dinner with some co-workers. I'm not much of a Vegas fan. I hate the smell of cigarette smoke. Wednesday night, my co-worker drove some of us out to Lake Mead and we ran 6 miles. It was a wonderful run! We were able to run through the old railroad tunnels that ran along Lake Mead. We went up to the Hoover Dam after and did a little tour, etc. It was great running in tunnels...who knew? The kids had Dad or Barb babysit them during the night while Zac was in school. When I came home Friday, I had put my luggage in my bedroom and headed back downstairs to go through some things. Aubrey was very quiet upstairs for about 20 minutes. Then she came to the top of the stairs with some of my makeup and Aubrey was asking me if she could open it. I came unglued. I thought that she had been playing in my expensive makeup, and she knew better. So I ran upstairs and she starts bawling. I went into my room and she had COMPLETELY unpacked me! She put everything away in the right spot. AMAZING. Between sobs she said, "Mommy, I really missed you, and I don't want you to go again, so I unpacked you!" I felt SO bad for jumping to conclusions about the makeup, etc. What a doll.

Sunday we went up to Zac's Aunt's house for conference. They had a lot of little dogs running around, and Aubrey got nipped on the hand by one of them. They had a great time playing. Monday night, my Grandpa Powell at his assisted living community were holding a "celebration" of sorts in honor of him. He really wanted all the grand kids and great grands kids to be there. we showed up and saw Dad, and he took Aubrey around with him. Little did we know, but we all had a part in the program. Dad had to give a biography of sorts of Grandpa, my Uncle ended up playing the harmonica, a cousin did a dance, and all the great grandkids sang 4 songs, led by myself. I had a hilarious 90 something year old sitting next to me who was feeding me one-liners throughout the entire program. At the end, the director was telling everyone how many comments she receives about how nice Grandpa is. The lady next to me (and not quietly) says to me, "Your Grandpa is really pleasant. The rest of the men in here are mean." Aubrey has lately become REALLY attached to my Dad lately. Everytime we leave she goes nuts! Last night, she again started bawling that we were leaving my Dad, and as we were driving, in between sobs she is YELLING "I want Grandpa, I love him SO MUCH." over and over and over.

Speaking of Dad, he came up to my house on Saturday and we planted my peas, carrots, beets, and tomatoes. (I already planted some onions). Hopefully the tomatoes won't freeze...I have some extras in the house just in case.

Pink or blue?

We had our ultrasound today and we are having another.......GIRL. I guess it's the season for girls! :) I am still being induced on August 8th, everything is looking great, and the baby is completely healthy. Aubrey was really excited, Eric is really disappointed. I knew only one of them would be happy. He will get used to the idea.

Just before they announced what gender the baby was, Eric was sitting quietly in his chair, watching the t.v. with the ultrasound, Aubrey was running around screaming wanting to go home. They said it was a girl, and Zac and I just looked at Eric and Aubrey and said, GREAT. Granted, when Eric was three, I'm sure he would have been running around screaming too. We are excited to finally know. My neighbor told me that she had a couple dreams that I was having a boy, and Zac felt like I was having a boy this entire time, so we were a little surprised.

I took Aubrey to Great Clips and had them cut off 4 inches off her hair. She has never had a haircut, and the ends were looking straggly. They cut some layers into her hair and it turned out great! It is still goes to the middle of her back. I would post pictures, but work has banned that, so I will have to wait until the weekend at Dad's house. ;)

Aubrey turns three!

For about six months now, all Aubrey has talked about is how she is going to get a Cinderella cake for her birthday. Luckily, Bobby's Mom is very talented, and created this wonderful Cinderella cake for Aubrey. She was absolutley thrilled! She took princess cupcakes to daycare/school in the morning, and when I went to pick her up, her teacher said, "Aubrey has been really excited it's her birthday today, and I REALLY hope you have a Cinderella cake, because that is all she has talked about." We just had her best friend Katelyn come over for some cake and ice cream...nothing fancy. Maybe next year I will actually do a party for her, they are just a lot of work.

I have been really excited to have my garden this year. Dad has been helping me get the right seeds and roto-tiller for the garden, and we went shopping around for some good top-soil. We found a great garden blend soil for an amazing price, so I went ahead and ordered 15 cubic yards of it. Zac, being the frugal guy that he is, found out the delivery price to Eagle Mountain, and decided he wanted to pick it up himself. The problem with this is that our truck only will hold 1 1/2 cubic yards per load, and Zac is going to have to shovel it out by himself. He took off the entire day to do this, I called him in the morning asking him what load he was on, and he said, "Um...they are going to deliver at 2:00" Thank goodness! They delivered the load right where I wanted the garden, and Zac was able to smooth it out for me before I got home. Dad came over and we rototilled in 10 bags of compost and some fertilizer. I am just waiting a week or two to let the soil settle a little before I plant. The garden ended up being ~20 ft x 15 ft. This picture does not do it justice for how big it looks. Dad came back and measured his garden, and mine is bigger...I hope it won't be too big. :) Dad has started my tomatoes and onions in his greenhouse shed, so hopefully my crop will be great this year. I'm not sure what kind of border I want around it yet, but I have some very "helpful" neighbors who let me know their opinion of what would look best.

The building permit finally came in for our basement yesterday, so Zac is busy again in the basement. He has finished the framing and electrical, and today he is working on the plumbing for the bathroom. We have to have the 4-way inspection, then we can put the installation in, have another inspection, and finally get the drywall up. Zac has already installed the pocket door from the bedroom to the bathroom and it looks great! He was able to get a great deal for a steel door for our cold storage. And good ole Zac, he "found" a roll of carpet pad on the freeway. So what does he do? He pulls over and shoves it in my car. It is enough for the bedroom. Does this really surprise anyone? I swear, just when I think Zac couldn't get any more frugal, he finds things on the side of the freeway. The only thing we've had to buy for this basement so far is the doors and the plumbing. He had all the wood, electrical, and can lights for the basement already from his "finds". He found a great deal on dry wall also. They are normally $7-8 a sheet, and he has been going around Lowes and Home Depot for weeks now, and they sell the sheets that have a corner damaged, etc for $2 a sheet, so he had picked up enough now for our entire basement. Our neighbors tease him saying that we could build something today, but if we wait a week or two, Zac will figure out a way to get it for free.

New Endeavor

So along with my new federal job, I got a call from EOUSA (Headquarters in Washington D.C.) asking me if I would join a working group. They told me that they consider me an expert in the field of asset forfeiture, and would like me to train around the nation. I would also being writing manuals and attending meetings twice a year with the other 5 members of this group. After getting more info from them, I decided that I couldn't pass up this opportunity. It is great experience and huge networking for my career and Zac's future career. I will be going to D.C. a lot to train and get to be in some important meetings. I hated to ask this, but I needed to know what the bare minimum I was required to do, since I am having a baby in August. The bare minimum is attending two meetings and train at least once in the year. So they are letting me do the bare minimum for this year (and hopefully next) before I really get into this. It is a HUGE compliment to me to only be doing asset forfeiture for three years, and have them consider me an expert. I talked to my office about it, and they were thrilled, especially my asset forfeiture attorney. Hopefully it will work out for the best. :)

So Aubrey had a little bladder infection a couple weeks ago, so I got her on some antibiotics. She broke out into a terrible rash, fever, etc. It was on a Saturday, so I took her down to an Instacare by our house, and 5 hours later discovered that she is allergic to her antibiotic. She is better now, but she sure did not feel good.

We signed Eric up for T-Ball starting in April. He is really excited, he tells pretty much everyone he sees that he is playing T-Ball in the Spring. I am definitely ready for Spring. I went with Dad to the garden nursery and bought all my seeds for my garden and a roto-tiller. I will have some top soil delivered to my house as soon as this darn snow melts and my ground is dry. Every day when I get home I get a little excited to see that the snow has melted some more. I started grow some herbs indoors, and the kids wanted in on the fun, so I let them start some watermelon and sunflowers indoors.

Zac is getting closer on the basement. We went to Lowes to grab the rest of the wood and a pocket door kit, and they had 80 lb bags of cement on sale. We need 100 bags for our retaining wall. So we inquired a little more, and come to find out, the bags that were outside were only 50 cents!!!! They were originally ten dollar bags. What a steal! Zac was able to load up the truck, but we had to do a couple loads to get the cement. The bags did have little rips on the top, etc., but we were able to stack thems to that nothing leaked out.

Eric's Ski Race

On Tuesday Eric had his big ski race. Zac and I drove up to Park City Mtn Resort and watched him and the other kids at his daycare ski. He did amazing! I could not believe how fast and good he was! He went around all the flags going down, and even got a medal at the end. He was cracking us up, because he was wanting to go faster so he would bend all the way over to get more speed. It was great to spend the day up with him and Zac in the mountains. It was beautiful with the temperature in the 50s.

STRANDED

This was the worst commute I have ever experienced in my life. I couldn't even make it home. They closed EVERY road going into Eagle Mountain!! Nobody could go in or out of the city. Zac went home at 3:00 yesterday, and said it was horrendous, then he attempted to go to school an hour later, and couldn't! There were tons of accidents, and they completely shut everything down. My work let us out early also, however, I decided to stay to try to wait out the storm. I stayed till 5:00, but the news was saying there was another 2 good hours of this. It took me 3 hours to get to the point of the mountain, by which point they still hadn't opened up the roads to Eagle Mountain, so I called Dad and told him we were heading his way. He finally made it down to Dad's around 9 ish and the kids were SO READY to get out of that car. I had Eric complaining for the past hour about him needing to go potty, but there was absolutley no where to stop! So we spent the night at Dad's (thank goodness I HAD a place to go!), and we heard that they finally opened up the road at 1 am but only for a moment. I woke up at 4:30 this morning, and the news said that it was STILL closed! So I couldn't even run home this morning to change. It's going to be a great day! :)

Baby No. 3

It's true. You may have heard the rumors. We are having Baby No. 3 on August 8th. How do I know? The doctor has already scheduled me for induction on that date (unless it comes earlier, which I am not counting on, my babies are always LATE!) Back when I didn't know I was pregnant, Aubrey jumped on me while I was laying down and Eric screamed, "Aubrey! You're going to squish the baby!" I told him, "Eric, Mommy doesn't have a baby in her belly." He would comment to me several times after that, "Mommy, your baby grew a lot last night!" etc. I was starting to get a little upset. I didn't want him going around telling people that I'm pregnant when I'm not. But, sure enough, I finally took a test after being almost 2 weeks late, and it immediately came back that I'm pregnant. I just gasped and Eric said, "what mommy?" I said, "You're right Eric, I DO have a baby in my belly." Then he said, "No mommy, you have TWO babies in your belly." So I have been just a little concerned that I might have 2. It would be shocking considering that twins don't run in either of our families, I wasn't on fertility drugs, etc. But reading into it, there is about a 1 in 85 chance that you have twins without having those other factors. I finally heard the heartbeat, and THANK GOODNESS there is only ONE baby. :) Unfortunately the doctor's office only takes one ultrasound, so I don't get any early pics of the baby. I will have my ultrasound in March to find out the gender, etc.

I have been SO SICK. I think I forgot how sick I get. I throw up at least 2 times a day on a good day, on average about 8-9 times a day. Dad was able to find some of Mom's zofran, and I take that during work hours, but I try not to take anything at night or on the weekends. If you are one of the lucky ones that don't even feel quesy during pregnancy, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!!!!! I am trying my darnest to NOT throw up all over you while you are gloating about how amazing your pregnancies are.

Zac dropped a headstone on his hand on Friday and broke 2 of his fingers really bad. It completely smashed his ring finger, it looks nasty, so I will not post pictures for the squeamish. It is his right hand also, so he is learning how to do things differently. The doctor told him it would take about 5-6 months to heal. That seems like a LONG time for some fingers! He is doing alright, he even took a contract law test later that night and scored a 100% while taking percocet. That's about it for us this week!

I am federal!

So a handful of people know that behind the scenes story about me becoming a federal employee. Back in August, FBI pulled me out of court and told me that they wanted me to be their head paralegal for the chief counsel at FBI. A week earlier, ATF came and wanted me to join their team as well. I wasn't looking for a new job, but they were saying that they better get me before somebody else does. I am currently a CONTRACT paralegal, which means that I work at the USAO, but I do not get the same benefits, pay, etc. So my ultimate goal was to eventually become federal. So I went ahead with the application process with FBI and they gave me the job. I told my current work about it, and they "freaked" out. They immediately posted a federal paralegal spot the next Monday, and I applied. I told FBI that I couldn't accept the position quite yet, etc. This was all in November. I wanted to stay where I was, I hate change. So FBI kept on coming up with better offers, higher recruiting bonuses, a higher step, etc. I went and talked to my boss here at work, and asked him what they can guarantee me. I needed to know if I turned down the FBI if I pretty much had this position. They said they can only 98% guarantee me the position. So I official turned down FBI right after Christmas. I felt bad that I kept them stringing along for so long. I knew their background checks were extreme and long, so I wanted them to start on their other person.

In the meantime, I don't know if my work was mad at me for thinking about leaving or what, but they made me jump through HOOPS to get this position. I was used to FBI jumping through the hoops to get me on board, not the other way around. Up until yesterday, I really thought I shot myself in the foot, I was really depressed and frustrated, Zac was ready to sell our house and go to law school out of state, etc. They finally called me in and told me that I have the position. WHEW! Come to find out, the other candidate that was giving me a run for my money, ended up accepting the position at FBI that I turned down. What a small world. I am just grateful that I got it. Zac is quitting his job in a couple months, and we really need good benefits, so we will finally have it. :)

Idaho Weekend

I know it has been several weeks since my last posting. I completely got out of the habit of taking pictures too. I left the camera at home this weekend while we headed up to the cabin. We didn't get up to the cabin until 11:30 pm on Friday night. Luckily Nathan had rigged up the snowmobile with the sled so we could bring everything up quickly. The kids had a wonderful time playing in the snow and sledding. Since we didn't have much gas for the snowmobile, we made the kids walk up everytime they went sledding. They still did it. It snowed nonstop while we were up there. Zac, Nathan, and Devin were constantly shoveling. :) There was a pile about 8-12 feet high of snow, so they decided to make a snow fort out of it, complete with a window where Devin could have someone pass him mountain dew.

This past week I lost the diamond out of my wedding ring. It just slipped out. I noticed that it was gone while I was at work, and absolutley could not find it. We called the jewelers, and luckily they told me that they would replace it for free since it was guaranteed to never fall out. It only took them a couple days, but they got it in and it looks better than ever! Eric started skiing a couple weeks ago with the daycare/preschool. He goes up to Park City Mountain Resort every Tuesday and Thursday. He absolutely loves it! It counts how many times he falls, then gives me report when I pick him up after work. Aubrey can't go until she's three, so she will start next year. I feel like there has been so much that has gone on, but I just cannot remember any of it right now. I guess this is why I should post every week. :)

A brand new year

What a busy Christmas! We started it off by having Zac's Dad, brother, sister and her boyfriend stay with us to celebrate Christmas. Zac's brother Matt is being deployed to Qatar in a couple weeks. The kids were OUT OF CONTROL the entire time Zac's family was here! I think they could feel the excitement of Christmas in the air. They definitely got spoiled this year for Christmas. I think they got every toy they ever wanted (except for a flute and a toy bunny which they surprised us with that on Christmas Eve while sitting on Santa's lap). I think I over did it while everyone was out, because as soon as I got back to work, I immediately started to have the fever chills, etc. I was sick with a cold before they came out and it never went away. So I have laid around the house this entire holiday weekend. It was actually really nice to not HAVE to move. :) Zac kept the kids away from me for most of the time.

I just want to extend a special thank you to Zac's family. They all have finally made him see the light of how much of a PACK RAT Zac is! All weekend he was cleaning out the basement, and we have a good truckload to take to D.I. and several to the garbage. Then Barb called and let us know that she was hoping to move to our house in April. So now, Zac is REALLY pushing on getting this basement finished! HURRAY! I have told him so many times about his horrible pack rat habit, but until he heard it from his family, it didn't sink in.

Work has been pretty laid back. I was suppose to be doing a big trial this week, but I just found out that the defendant decided to plead! YES! Zac is wrapping up the loose strings on his law school applications. GET THOSE IN!!!!

On a side note...I am SO GLAD we didn't go to the cabin this year. Sorry for those who did. I heard that the sledding was great though. ;) Also - I saved pics from Barb's blog from Christmas, but for some reason the only one the will show up is Aubrey's picture....