My View From Above

My Kids in the Water

Just a few pics of the kids on (or around) the slip ‘n slide. Turns out Mad isn’t too keen on getting wet, just like her mom. Nate, on the other hand, hasn’t even had a chance to dry out so far this summer. 

 

Water. So refreshing at arms-length.   Ahhhh. Summer.

It’s 3:33 AM

The last few days I’ve been sick with a cold. Not just any cold, but a knock-you-out-cold cold. I haven’t been able to do anything at all. Rob’s been so, so great. He’s been with the kids nonstop, cooked, cleaned, and taken care of me. He’s my superhero. Before I got sick I was starting to feel sorry for myself because it seemed everything was harder than it should be. But now, I’m just grateful to be able to see straight, let alone grateful for all of my other blessings. There’s nothing like illness to put things into perspective.

This morning my cough was worse and my belly was sore from all of the jerking so I finally gave in to strong cough syrup. My body doesn’t accept medication lightly AT ALL and this time was no exception. I took 3/4 of a dose and sure enough, a 1/2 hour later I was gone. I slept for two hours and then my head still felt like a hundred pounds. Everything around me swayed. I was like that for the rest of the afternoon. So now I’m awake.

My mind is functioning for the first time since Wednesday and is too active for sleep. It’s going to make for a long day tomorrow. But like I said, I’m just grateful to be able to see straight (and for my ever-precious husband*).

*Side Note: Rob’s always been exceptional at taking care of me when I’ve been sick. Right after we got engaged I had my wisdom teeth pulled and I was a M.E.S.S. Like I said, I don’t take medicine lightly so we’re talking delusion, drooling, down-right depths of neediness and he stayed by my side for days. He fed me, changed my bloody gauze, and hid my pills so I wouldn’t have an accidental overdose. After I was back to my normal self my mom said, “Yep, Julie, you can marry him. I know he will always take care of you.” And he has. Awwwwwwwwwww.

Fun Videos

Here is a video of Nate and Madeleine working together to get Madeleine out of trouble.  It is soooo funny.  If you can’t see the video or would like to see it in HD, click here.

This is a video of me and the kids playing transformers.  If you can’t see the video or would like to see it in HD, click here.

I hope you enjoy these.  They are pretty funny.

A Few Blips to Remember

• When Madeleine doesn’t want to do something, she says, “My too sick.”
• With 4 months to go, I feel like my hips are crumbling.
• I got such a lovely feeling watching Rob put together the kids’ bikes last night. Best. Dad. Ever.
• Rob’s at Youth Conference tonight so I think I’ll take advantage of the situation and take up the entire bed diagonally.
• I have all these projects swimming around in my head but don’t have the means or energy to do any of them.
• Last night I sat on the couch with a pillow behind my back. I was aching. I lifted my shirt to check out my belly and found something strange. It was bulging in a hard, bumpy way. Right at the surface under my paper-thin skin. It morphed. The weirdest thing is that it WASN’T the baby!! Internal organs are my only guess since I’m almost positive I have a hernia. Since my skin and muscles are already so stretched, I’m mortified that my baby is going to explode out the front of me before my 9 months is over. Pleasant thought…

On second thought, I don’t think I want to remember most of these blips.

May Play

Rob does a good job getting “playing” pictures. These make me smile because it’s how the kids really are: laughing, goofing off, exploring, and unkempt. In other words, kids. When I’m old and ripe, these are the kind of pictures I’ll treasure most.

 

Snow Baby 3 Ultrasound

Here is the video from the ultrasound Julie had last week. How exciting! The tech was very careful not to get any views of the sex of the baby on the video; however, if you are particularly knowledgeable in the interpretation of ultrasound images, please don’t comment about the sex.  Thanks and enjoy!

Feelin’ the Love

It’s apparent that I’ve been a big bag of Complain-a-Lot. It’s been stressful around here with not only the pregnancy but trying to sell our house, familial concerns, and sickness. But I’m so blessed.

My blogosphere tirade resulted in so much support, sympathy, suggestions, and even…CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES delivered to my door. I’m feelin’ the love, people. Feelin’ the love.

And I’m humbled. I have no reason to complain about petty, petty issues. They’re non-issues, really.

I love my Heavenly Father. I love my family. I love all of you. I’m so blessed and will try much harder to bless others any way I can and not be so selfish.

So It Begins…

At just over 5 months along, it has begun. The comments. “Boy! You’re sure filling out, aren’t you?”

AAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

I could stop there and every woman who has been pregnant understands. But I’m in a poor enough mood today to rant. Do people not think I own or ever walk by a mirror? Do they think I haven’t forked out good money for ugly clothes that I’d never wear otherwise? Do they seriously think I don’t feel every muscular fiber in my midsection shredding? My joints popping out of place? My skin stretching so thin you can see right through it?

“It’s a girl. It’s a girl.”

I know I’m going to get this ALL the time since I’m not finding out the sex of our baby beforehand. But why do old ladies think they know so much? Just because you have grandkids doesn’t make you able to see right through my uterus and determine if my baby is a boy or a girl. It doesn’t matter if I’m carrying high, low, to the left side, or backwards. There’s a 50% chance either way, ladies!

And why do people think that my pregnancy is the ONLY thing I ever want to talk about? Political preferences? Personal finances? Deep, dark family secrets? Bring it on. This is my third time around and my expectancy isn’t nearly as exciting for me to talk about as you might think (although I guess I’m talking about it right now…).

I know I’m small. I know I carry straight out. I know I’m going to be humungous beyond belief. I can’t even walk halfway down the mall without cramping up and getting so sore I can’t go on. I’m stinkin’ hot all the time and what makes it worse is that there are no maternity clothes that fit me. Apparently, no one who is XS has EVER been pregnant in the history of mankind. I have to wear a camisole underneath everything just to keep covered up. So that’s 4, count them, FOUR layers I have to wear throughout this wicked summer.

And just think, it’s going to get soooooooo much worse before it’s over. Good luck to you all.

2010 Portraits

Being photographers, we take A LOT of pictures of our children. One thing we don’t take too often are portraits. It was time to get them done and I had been musing “the look” in my mind for months. I knew what I wanted them to wear and where we would take them. Of course, we were running late so I had to do Madeleine’s hair in the car and I couldn’t find her dress shoe that morning. Flip flops worked fine, though.

  They are such perfect kids!!! Although, Madeleine is currently uninterested in looking at the camera and smiling. Every time we try, she puts her head down and frowns. Oh, well. We got some really cute ones anyway.      

Nate is just a stud!! He loves posing for us and loves it even more if we let him goof off so he gets funny pictures of himself. He is just so handsome.

 

Together, they make the perfect brother/sister pair. We love you both!!! And thanks for putting up with us always snapping away at you. We just love capturing your personalities and you’ll thank us when you’re older :)

   

 

Now for some fun, playful, unplanned shots.

If these bazillion pictures aren’t enough, family can see even more here.