Eyes

I always get a lot of comments about Eden looking a lot like me and Kael looking like Derek. I'm not sure how old I am in the picture, but I think it does a good job showing how much Eden and I look alike. And Derek is quite a bit older in his picture than Kael, but it really shows their similiarities. I have realized Eden has my shape of eyes, and Kael has Derek's shape, and Eden has Derek's color of blue and Kael has my color of blue. It's kind of fun to see the tiny similarities, but I love how they are both their own little person at the same time. :)

More Easter Pictures

We had the Easter Bunny come after nap time on Sunday and after church. It made 9 am church a lot less stressful and we are glad the Easter Bunny didn't forget us.

Some days...

Some days they can be so sweet.

A Kael and Eden Update

Last night Kael had to go to the bathroom around midnight. He must have been really tired because when he was sitting in the bathroom he asked for Mom's warm slippers. I had no idea where they were at. I told him I didn't know and he just needed to go potty and go to bed. He then broke down in hysterical crying. I then told him he needed to stop crying or he'd wake up Dad and Eden. He looked at me with those sad eyes and said, "Mom, I can't stop crying. I sooo saaaad!". Ya. It was just so sad. Mostly I was just tired and grumpy. Every time he has to pee at night he insists I carry him back to bed. Then, I found my bean bag that I use to keep my feet warm and warmed it up for him and that seemed to be ok. He is too funny. He is getting so big and independent. It is so fun and heartbreaking at the same time to see him learning about emotions. He really does get sad if someone says something mean to him or hits him. He also tells us how happy is with some things. When I gave him an otter pop the other day he said, "Oh thank you much Mom! I sooooo happy!" And the kid had the biggest grin on his face. He then usually insists on kissing my cheek saying, "Need to kiss your cheek Mom". He is too funny.

As for Eden, she is becoming quite the little girl. We have started potty training. Well, she has insisted on it. We are struggling together. For some reason my heart just hasn't been in it. Maybe it is harder than Kael I don't know. After about a week of trying we have about 7 stickers on the board. She is getting really good at going first thing in the morning and right before bed. We are working on day time though... It seems like I always just miss getting her on the potty. She is stubborn too and unless it is her idea she won't just sit there. So, I was feeding her lunch and was almost done and I had about 5 more minutes until I was going to put her on the potty and all of a sudden I hear the, "Mom oh noooo pee Mom!!!" Then, I walk in to find pee all over the chair and her just standing there. There was also the incident where she was in Kael's room and ran in yelling, "Go pee MOM!" and was running to her potty. When I got there she of course had already gone somewhere so I asked her where she went potty and she took me to Kael's room where I found a trail almost all the way to her potty. So, she started going and realized she needed to get on the potty but couldn't stop going. It was pretty funny. So, I think she is learning. And I know she wants to learn. She is really excited and I feel like it would be more detrimental to stop trying than to keep going. She loves her princess underwear and when she has peed through them all instead of putting on a diaper she refused and I had to get some of Kael's underwear to appease her... It has been a learning experience for me for sure, but I think we are getting there together. Just a little slower than I'd like.

These two little rascals keep me on my toes and I am loving every minute with them. They make me excited for #3. They are the sweetest little stinkers you've ever met. I'm so proud of their daily accomplishments and love being with them all day long. 

My 2nd Doctor's Appointment and The Funniness of Kael

Is funniness a word? Oh well.
I wish I could put all the funny things Kael and Eden say on the side of my blog, but there are too many of my favorite pictures over there, so I'll just write them here.

I had my second doctors appointment today and since it was a "complete" exam I decided to bring the kids this time. It was so much fun having them with me! When I was pregnant with Eden, Kael was still so little that it didn't make any sense. My first appointment with Eden Kael was only 13 months old. My last, he was 19 months old. He mostly ran around like a crazy person in the room, or played with his cars.

This time, both kids were SUPER excited to see the fish! The pediatricians office is just a step from the OB doctor in the University of Utah hospital. The pediatrician's office has a fish tank and so does the OB. We pass both when going to the kids doctor. They talked about the fish the whole car ride. My kids love love love going to the doctor. It is too funny. I think Derek has prepared them well to love doctors by all the mini practice exams he lets them do. Kael loves the stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, otoscope, and opthalmoscope! Anything doctor. He loves holding still while Dad looks at his ears. Eden too.

Kael thought this visit was for him so when we got there he took his shoes off to be weighed. I had to tell him, it's mom's turn this time bud. Then, I had to get a urine sample, and of course he had to pee as well. Don't worry I didn't let him pee in a cup. Then, they took my blood pressure, and he said, "My turn!" And he held out his arm for a hug. The nurse was really nice and let him and Eden both get their blood pressure taken. Then, when the doctor came in he said, "My ears hurt, will you look at them?!" The doctor was super nice, and yes, she looked at Kael's ears. Then, the doctor was going to measure my stomach and Kael said, "My tummy hurts too. Mine next." Yes, Kael got his tummy measured. All the way around it was 33 centimeters. :)

He held up his shirt and everything. At this point I convinced Eden to play on the kindle and not have to copy everything like me too. Then, the doctor got the doppler and was going to listen to the baby's heart beat. I was pretty excited because we haven't been able to do that yet. I am 13 weeks 1 day today, so it for sure should be possible. With Kael we heard it at 12 weeks and he had an anterior placenta, and with Eden who had a posterior placenta we heard it at just 10 weeks! So, I figured for sure today was the day. The doctor kept saying, we are going to listen to the baby in Mommy's tummy.

"Our plan for the kids"
Derek and I have decided to not try to explain ANYTHING to the kids yet. 1. It is so early you can't tell there is a baby in my stomach. 2. We haven't had the 20 week ultrasound to make sure baby is 100% ok. 3. Remember Disneyland and the countdown with the chain 2 months in advance? Well try explaining you get a baby, but not for 6 months... Ya, I'm not doing a chain for 6 months. We are going to try to wait until the last possible day to tell them. I'm hoping August!
4. I really don't think they'd understand all that well yet anyway...

So, here I am thinking, please stop saying this, I really don't want my kids to think there is a baby in there yet, and then have to explain things they aren't going to get yet, and I have a plan... Thankfully Kael was in his own world and didn't pay too much attention to her. He just thought my belly hurt or something.

So, the doppler picked up my heart beat and the doctor couldn't find the baby's. In my opinion she didn't try very hard. She tried for about a minute and kept it in the same place. When we were looking for Eden's heart beat the doctor did it all over my stomach, went quick low because I was still early, and ended up finding it way up high because she was higher than we thought. The doctor got the worried face and I thought she was going to find someone else to try and find it, but she was looking for the ultrasound machine.

I still wasn't worried, but I was excited because that meant I got to see the baby again! It also just proves how stubborn this baby is and determined to do everything different! The doctor then kept saying, "We get to see a picture of the baby in Mommy's tummy!" Kael didn't really get that either. He was just excited for TV!
So, she brought in the ultrasound machine and immediately pulled up the baby. Kael was sitting at my feet. The doctor kept saying, "Can you see the baby?". Kael couldn't see well, but he sat up and pointed and said, "Look, a MONSTER on the TV!"
Yup, and that is why we have not explained that there is a baby in Mommy's tummy.

The baby's heart beat was awesome and the peanut was super wiggly!
All in all, I was so glad I brought the kids. It was nice having the company, and they are too cute! I am now switching from my OB to a midwife. I'm super excited and my OB was so nice about it. I had my appointment with her today to make sure my ultrasound from all my pain was ok. It was really good, I did have a cyst on my left ovary that was small and not important, but the rest was fine. I have the best hematocrit I've had since before I got pregnant with Kael (37). When I was pregnant with Kael I was anemic and only at 28. Big difference this time. So, now that I know everything is ok with baby, I feel ok moving to a midwife. I want to try and have a natural labor, and with Derek being in med school I decided that having a midwife at my side during my labor will be super helpful!
I'm getting more and more excited each day for this baby! I know this is going to be a great addition to our family and am feeling so blessed to be a Mom again!

POST EDIT:
After picking up Derek from school in the car Kael told Derek that we went to the doctor and there is a monster. Then, during dinner Kael was telling Dad there is a dinosaur or dragon in Mom's belly.
And last, at bed time Kael told me that there was a baby in his tummy and a monster in Mommy's... We then had a LONG talk that there is NO baby in Kael's tummy, just food. And that YES there is a baby in Mommy's tummy. Then Kael curled up into the fetal position and said "this is the baby!" Where we then had to re go over no monsters, dragons, or dinosaurs in Mom's belly, just a baby and we won't see it for a VERY long time... I'm not sure any of it made any sense to the kid, and I'm certain we are in for a LONG 6 months. Hopefully he forgets SOON.
I'm excited that he is so excited though. He even told me his sister is in Mom's belly. We shall see... ;)
Thank you doctor for this eventful day and future 6 months.

Our Easter

This year we did a low key Easter and it was wonderful! The kids had a great time too I think. It started with the courtyard Easter egg hunt. The kids had a blast and found 20 eggs each, all full of candy! It was great! Then, the next Saturday we dyed these lovely Easter eggs. Derek's family never dyed eggs, but my family did, and the kids love it, so it is sticking! Besides, you can't have egg wars with plastic eggs. I have decided that we will do both plastic eggs and dyed eggs in our house! We also decided we are going to try to cut back on candy for the kids. They did get a TON the week before. So, I had saved buckets and eggs from the year before and went to Walmart's Easter section and bought tiny bubbles, stamps, and bouncy balls and stuffed the eggs with those. Then got Kael a puzzle and coloring book for his bucket. Eden got jewelry and a coloring book. It was perfect! The kids absolutely loved the toys the Easter bunny brought! We ended up waiting until after nap time to do our hunt and have the Easter Bunny come because Derek was still super sick and needed to stay home from church for a little extra rest before a big test the next day. So, Sunday I got the kids dressed and we went to church to learn about Jesus! It was fun getting to explain Easter to Kael just a little. I of course was late, and totally spaced out getting Easter morning pictures. They were super cute of course, but nothing special. Kael learned about Jesus in primary and pointed out the many pictures of Jesus. I love that the kids love pointing out who Jesus is in every picture the see. I have big plans for next year to teach a little about the resurrection. Oooh I LOVE Easter. It is one of my favorite holidays and I love sharing it with my kids and cute hubby now!

 I also included some pictures of our craft projects over the last week. We've been having fun with glue and glitter. And my friend Jill brought over these super cute animals that you can put together and the kids loved helping me glue them together and are still playing with them. They really love animals!

The last 12 weeks.

13 weeks!

Why is it that Heavenly Father lets us women get baby hungry about the time we forget what being pregnant and having a newborn is like? He puts this thought in our hearts and minds that "Yes, I could do this again, yes I am certain it is time for the next one." However, as soon as the morning sickness, aka all day sickness, kicks in I start thinking, "What in the world was I thinking!?!" I can't handle being sick with 2 kids, so I won't be able to handle a 3rd child. Sleep?! I loved my sleep. And then there are the small moments when Heavenly Father has to remind you again, "It's ok. This too shall pass, and it will all be worth it because you get another precious baby in 9 months, and that baby will be worth it, I promise".

To say these last 12 weeks have been hard is probably an understatement in my opinion. I felt like I was preparing my mind and body so well for this pregnancy. I started cutting out sugar and eating healthy foods since September, taking my prenatal vitamins in September as well. I was working out and getting my body in shape to handle pregnancy better. I felt prepared this time around before I actually got pregnant!

Then, when I found out I was pregnant the kids got sick and I stopped sleeping. The whole month of February was a long month. I was sick, the kids were sick and board study began to be in depth for Derek. Our Disneyland vacation was much needed by the time it came!

However, I think Derek and I over did it at Disneyland because as soon as we got back we got sick and this month has been the month for Derek and I to be sick. Poor Derek has regular school, board study, clinic, research, and whatever else med school can pile on, all on top of being super super sick. The poor guy just hasn't had a break. The story of this month is, "It's viral, good luck with that". No antibiotic will help and nothing is helping the sickness to just go away, especially since Derek has no time to catch up on sleep!

As for my pregnancy around week 6 I started having really sharp pains on my left side for about 2 weeks and then it switched to my right side as well. After talking to Derek's medical school friend's dad who is an OB/GYN (because my doctor wouldn't see me) we determined it was probably round ligament pain.
So, needless to say this has been my hardest first trimester. I was in pain, nauseous, and sick. Then, to top it all off after being sick and coughing for so long I got pleurisy which made one more horrible pain to deal with. I was lucky my round ligament pain was starting to go away by this time.

However, I am finally feeling somewhat like a human being again. Poor Derek isn't quite yet there yet, but it is getting better every day. There is a light at the end of the tunnel! I'm feeling so much better and getting a little more energy! I have finally cleaned my apartment and it is so nice to have it clean and feel human. The daily tasks seem manageable again, and maybe just maybe when October gets here I will be able to take care of 3 little human beings. And surprisingly, I'm getting excited again for this chance to bring another baby into this world. The thought of holding #3 is getting more and more exciting! Yay for the second trimester and yay for feeling human. The only good part to having pains in my first trimester was that I got to see our little peanut at just 9 weeks! I have never gotten to have an early ultrasound before and it was so reassuring to see a heart beat and this baby waving at me! Now I'm just super excited for the 20 week ultrasound so we can see if it is a boy or a girl and then tell everyone the cute names we have picked out! And yes, that picture is our little peanut, not some random photo off the internet.

Follow the Prophet, Follow the Prophet, Follow the Prophet, He Knows the Way!

After about 2 years of researching, saving money, and just plain out putting it off we finally got our family a food storage supply! To say this makes me super happy is an understatement! We started almost a year ago with buying water containers that would fit in our apartment. Have I yet to fill them with water?! NO!

Anyway, we went with this company "Wise" for our food storage. When we were living in St. George we had a salesman come and let us cook some of the food to taste it and see if we even liked it. It was actually really good tasting! Next was the price. It was not super cheap, but it was a really great price for what you got. Next, was shelf life. This stuff can last for 25 years and we don't have to rotate it out. Next in our decision process is the fact that we know we will be moving a lot in the next coming years and we don't want to ship tons of cans and other food storage stuff. It can get expensive... Our little over a month worth of food storage for our family of 4 came in 2 tubs like the one in the picture. They stack super easily and can go just about anywhere. Not just stack easily, but don't weigh that much! In an emergency situation you can grab the 2 tubs and still be able to run with them if need be. All this food requires is water. It doesn't even have to be heated water although I'm for certain the food will taste better with hot water. I'm so glad we were able to taste test the stuff because I was so worried I wouldn't even want to eat something that comes in a bag that you just add water and it can last 25 years... It just sounds gross, but I know it isn't because I tasted it!

We also were able to buy a 72 hour kit! I feel like we are following what the prophet wants our family to be doing! It took some time, but the desire has always been there. We pray that we will NEVER have to use this stuff in an emergency and that we just get blessed for following the prophet, but hey, we are now prepared! It is a huge relief off my shoulders that if something should happen, we are taken care of.