My Nephews are Total Studs

Well, the kids and I are in Idaho right now for a little family reunion. We'll be back late Tuesday night. But I made this post before I left and scheduled it to post today just to kind of entertain you while I'm gone.
On Saturday we got to see my nephews beat the crud out of some other boys. I'm so proud of them! I'll let Anna brag about the results on her blog if she wants.
I only saw 5 matches. In the first 3, which are photoed here, these boys all pinned their competition in seconds.
These photos also emphasize how awful my camera is. Oh well. You can still see Briggs muscle definition.
Hayden.

Hayden is the one on top, totally creaming the other kid.

Tucker. Everyone has got to ask Anna to post video of this kid right before his matches. It's so funny watching him get all psyched up.

Celeste's/Guest Room

Well, Celeste's room is done! I finished it a couple of days ago and I was so excited to finally be done. Plus I got the curtains up in Eden and Becca's room finally too.
This is the before shot...kind of. I forgot to take the picture until I started to paint one wall. From all angles.

This shelf was a mess to paint and put up! I had to reposition those crazy brackets a few times each. I made so many holes in the wall that I had to fill and repaint.

It says "Don't lose sight of the truth that you're a daughter of God."

So if anyone wants to come visit us, we'd love to have you. This is the room you'll stay in.

I just finished Jonah's room today. Yipee! I'll have to take photos of it and post another day.

Pregnancy Update

I just have to tell you all how grateful I am for how good I feel!
After all the pregnancies I've had and all the difficulties with each of them, I finally feel like I'm experiencing a normal go of it. Ok, the first trimester was ugly. Yeah, I threw up tons. But it wasn't as terrible as it has been in other pregnancies. But this trimester is AWESOME! I feel tired and need naps and rest. I'm also getting a lot bigger than I think I did before at this stage. BUT I am not sick! I haven't puked or dry heaved in a long time. I don't even suffer from nausea which is something I never dreamed of. Well, I do get nauseated sometimes, but that's only if I wait too long to eat. It's a quick and easy fix. I am so so so thankful! If all of my pregnancies were like this, I would probably have 8 kids by now. I'm so glad we gave it another go this time around.
My favorite part of being pregnant now is feeling this darling little girl squirm and kick each day. Brings a grin to my face.

Final Spring Break Vacation Post

On Wednesday we went to the beach. It was sunny and beautiful and miserably windy. Celeste was the only one who got out and played while the rest of us took cover from the wind. We lasted only about 30/45 minutes--then left. That night we arrived in Bakersfield. Thursday we spent most of the day hanging out at my parents house. We took Mom's dog Sophie for a walk.

That night Shed and Memzy were nice enough to host all the fam for dinner. Thanks guys!

Even Shaggy showed up. It was good to see him.

Friday morning the kids and I left Bakersfield bright and early.

The drive went off with no major problems and I was welcomed by Steve standing in the driveway with open arms and flowers on the kitchen table.

That's all folks.

Spring Break Part 2

On Monday we all headed over to the San Diego Zoo. It didn't disappoint. It was better than I remembered it. My favorite part was the "Zoofari" ride. It was a gondola ride over the zoo. Here are Eden and Becca on there.

On Tuesday morning, my in-laws and I got up before dawn to hit a session at the San Diego Temple. Janice was nice enough to stay with the kids. It was a great experience.

Then we all went over to Sea World. We loved their shows.

This is the only photo I got of myself on the trip. The kids were thrilled by the sting rays. The kids actually got to touch them! (Their stings had been removed.)

You can kind of see them in the water. There seemed to be a hundred of them swimming around and some came right up to us.

They have a few little rides at Sea World. Here's Jonah on one of them.

Celeste with the seals.

Janice with the kids on a ride. I passed on this teacup-type ride. I wasn't in the mood to puke.

Celeste and Allie.

Janice and Caedy.

Only one more installment to go and we'll move on to other things.

Our Spring Break- Part 1

We got back last night and it was a successful trip!

Here are a bucket-load of photos for you to see.

We arrived in San Diego on Saturday and met up with Steve's sister Janice, her hubby Jay, her two kids, and her grand daughter, as well as Steve's parents. That night we colored eggs with the kids. Allie is on the left, Eden center and Caedy right. I like this photo with Ghost Allie in the background.
On Easter morning the kids discovered the Easter bunny left them new Sunday outfits and a few goodies. Here are my girls in their new dresses.

And Jonah being silly. He loves to show people how he can make his eyes look huge by pulling his glasses off a bit. It's a great ice breaker.

Being normal :)

After church we took the kids over to Balboa Park and walked around their gardens.

Allie, Caedy, Eden, Celeste, Becca, Jonah and Connor.

The girls.

Becca on the play equipment. (I see London, I see France.)

Celeste getting buried.

I'll post more later. I'll also try to get caught up on all your blogs over the weekend. Hope you all had a great Easter!

phat photo

This is my first belly photo for this pregnancy. (19 weeks.) I typically am not keen on documenting ugly phases in my life, but I see other pregnant friends and fam doing this and I thought I guess I should too. As you can see here, my butt is protruding more than my belly. Nice.
I've gained 22 lbs now! Mostly since I've stopped puking. So with the lack of puking and the uncanny gift I have for gaining weight, I imagine this pregnancy is gonna be record breaking in the weight gaining department.
Today I am leaving town. The kids and I will be going to San Diego for Spring Break. Steve wont be with us and we will miss him! He hasn't accrued enough vacation time since recently being hired on as a company employee. But his parents will be with us and so will his sister and her family. It should be a great time.
See you all later.

Pictures

Granted these are all pictures of just one room. I decided that I would post photos of rooms as I get them done. This room isn't 100% done, but I decided today it's about as done as it's gonna get for a while. I think later I'll put curtains in and a few more hangings or something. New furniture would be nice too, but we aren't that rich :)
This is Eden and Becca's room.

The BEFORE shot: The AFTER shots from all angles: (I know it's overdoing it a bit.)

I have to say I hated doing this stuff on the walls. After about literally 16 hours (that's not including all the breaks I had to take from it), I was saying bad words in my head. I wont tell you which ones. Steve doesn't like when I want to decorate and I think he'd tell me I couldn't spend any money or time on it if I asked for his help, so I couldn't. But Anna had come over one day and helped me paint the pink walls. Thanks Anna!

It's all over and I think it turned out nice. The girls really like their new room. One room down, many more to go...

Question and Answer

So you haven't heard from me in a while. Here are a few questions and answers for your info:

Q- Why haven't you blogged?
A- See last post.

Q- Why haven't you commented on other blogs?
A- See last post.

Q- How are you feeling?
A- See last post...overwhelmed.

Q- Anything new with you?
A- I have NEVER had a pregnancy like this. My nausea is totally manageable now. I only get the normal minimal nausea when I haven't eaten in a while. Which will only result in a little dry heaving until I eat something. I haven't puked up food in a couple weeks!!!! It's unbelievable. Pinch me.
The only problem is, now that I can keep everything down and I feel like eating a lot more, I am getting phat. BIG time.
My only pregnancy obstacles now are fatigue and pretty frequent contractions. But as long as I don't go into labor too early, no biggie.