11 down . . . 29 to go!

Ok, I think I'm pretty much past the miscarriage point now, so I figure we can tell everyone now. I'M PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are SO VERY excited. We've been trying for over 2 years, and had a miscarriage just over a year ago, so this is really so special for us! We were worried about miscarriage since I've had 2 of them, which is why we decided to wait until we were past that point before we told everyone. With my first miscarriage we told everyone pretty much the day we found out, and I miscarried a week later. You'd be surprised how fast some news travels, and how long it takes to get other news out! It was really hard the next few weeks telling people that I wasn't pregnant anymore.

I have been SO sick. I mean, I was sick with my other two pregnancies, but I didn't throw up much. I can hardly keep anything down now. I've lost 10 pounds in the last 3 weeks alone. It's crazy! My abs have been getting a serious workout from all the dry-heaving! It's so worth it though! I mean, being sick like this is so much easier to deal with because I know its for a good reason! I was actually pregnant when I went in for surgery in March. We didn't know it at the time of course, but I was about 3 weeks then. When I think back about that it makes me realize just how very blessed we are. A lot can go wrong in any pregnancy, but surgery, especially in the abdominal area is not recommended when you're pregnant. The fact that I didn't miscarry this one just amazes me!

Things have changed alot. I'm not working at the hospital anymore, my leave of absence ended before my dr cleared me to go back to work, and my supervisor couldn't hold the position. I was supremely bummed. I really loved my job. But maybe it was a blessing in disguise. I have been so sick that I wouldn't have been able to work anyway. (Patients don't really like it when you throw up on them. It tends to get negative feedback!) I was approved for unemployment benefits, so that has helped. I'm looking for another job, but I'd really like to go back to a hospital. I really feel like I'm in my element there.

Steve's job is the same. He doesn't really like it, but he's a trooper! He's (hopefully) enrolling at the University of Phoenix soon. We really need to get his degree. We can't live in this apartment forever! We talked to a counselor who walked us through the requirements and stuff, and it looks like all of Steve's credits from UVU will transfer over, and he already has 48 credits there. Also, he'll be going for his bachelors instead of his associates like he was at UVU. It feels right, but a lot of things have to happen before its final. (Like the counselor calling us back for one! we've left 2 messages and she hasn't replied.)

Jenni and Joe-joe are great, as usual! Jenni likes her new school, but really misses her old one. She asked me the other day why we couldn't just move back in with grandma and grandpa again. She liked that. Try explaining self-sufficiency to a 7 year old. Kinda difficult. But she's still doing really well in school. She is an AMAZING reader! And she likes to read, which really helps! Joe-joe is so excited to be a big brother. Every time its his turn to pray, he always blesses mommy and the baby in her tummy. (He also always prays that no one will "get in a crash and die". We're not really sure where that came from! He just started saying it.)

Anyway, I'll end my novel now. I'll try to post a little more frequently! I know it's been a while! :)

ok thats all.

later~

chelle

Happy Happy Birthday!!!!

Dear Jan, Jenn, Ry-ry and Ethan-

Happy happy birthday from all of us to you, we hope you had a great day, and all your dreams come true!!

Jan, Jenn, Ry-ry, and Ethan all share today (the 25th) as their birthday. April is SUCH a busy birthday month for us!! Not only are the four above April birthdays, but we also have Joe-joe, Alisha (Ry-ry's wife), and Melissa (Dave's wife). (I'm pretty sure there is at least one more, but I can't remember who right now. If it's you, and I forgot, SORRY!!)

Anyway, it's late and I'm uber tired, so I'm going to be now!

Later all!

Chelle

What to write about . . . .

Just so you're all aware, I don't like april fools day either. I didn't really want to do anything, but Steve really did, and he thought all y'all's responses were so funny!! He says the only reason you guys don't like April Fools is cause you all fell for it! I have to admit, I didn't think people would actually believe it. Go me!

As of this week, I have officially lost 37 pounds! Woo Hoo!!

Really, I can't think of anything to write about. Things are going well for us. I had my surgery, which went well. They found some endometriosis, which they removed, but I was still having a lot of pain. After talking to my Primary care dr. and my psychiatrist we (finally) decided to go back on Subutex. I have taken it before, with great success, but my Dr's were hesitant to put me back on it unless it was totally necessary (long story). Subutex is generally used to treat heroine addiction, but they've found recently that it very effective when treating chronic pain. Granted, most people who use it for heroine addiction treatment are on 3-4 times the amount I'm on. But I've found that a really small dose works really well for me. It's nice to not have to stress about being on narcotics, and the roller coaster ride they put you on. When I would miss a dose of the Lortab, I noticed it almost immediately. With the Subutex, I've missed one or even two days in a row before, and didn't even hardly notice. And I only have to take this once a day. What a blessing!! It's so nice to feel good again! Really, what a blessing!!

Speaking of blessings, my niece Emma said the cutest thing the other day! (Ems, I hope you aren't mad that I'm blogging about this, but I was just so impressed by it! It's totally stuck with me!) We went over to return Daniel's truck that we borrowed, and Daniel, Emma and Matthew were outside doing some yard work. I noticed Emma had a scratch on her face. It started on her cheek and went diagonally up past her eye and up in between her eyebrows. It really went RIGHT next to her eye. Almost scratching her tear duct. I asked her what happened, and she told me she fell into a bar. Daniel explained that they were doing some concrete work (I think) and they had rebar sticking out of the ground in a few places. Emma was running to the house, and tripped, falling straight into the rebar. If she had fallen even a centimeter to the side, she very well could have lost her eye. After Daniel told what happened, Emma turns to ma and says "It was such a blessing because it didn't hit my eye. I was so blessed." It was SO cute! It's just amazing how she recognized it! Even if she was told by someone, the fact that she knows and remembers that is just . . . just great. I told her that she was blessed like that because she was such a good girl. What a cutie!

ok, it's time for me to go to bed now. Again, sorry Ems if I stole your story! I was just very impressed with Emma!

ok, I can sleep easier tonight, cause I finally did a post! Yay me!!!

k, thats all. Later!

chelle

Don't be mad

Steve and I have some somewhat exciting news, although I'm sure some of you won't like it!

As some of you know, Steve and I have talked about Steve joining the military for some time, although it never felt quite right. We've talked to various people about it, and had many people give us their opinions, but ALAS! We finally had to make the decision ourselves. After much deliberation, we decided on the Air Force. We found that they have the shortest Basic Training, it being only 6 weeks, instead of 12 or 14. The position Steve has signed up for is Aircraft Electrical and Environmental System Apprentice. Steve has a good background for it since he's worked with electrical. The recruiter gave us a few options of bases that would be available to us for this specific training, they are Goodfellow AFB in Texas, Patrick AFB in Florida, or Andrews AFB in Camp Springs Maryland. Steve and I decided to sign with Andrews AFB, because Steve is familiar with Maryland, and it won't be quite so foreign as Texas or Florida. He's talked to a few of the members there that he knows from this mission, and Sister Rogers, one of Steve's favorite members there, offered to let us stay with her when Basic is done, until we find a place of our own.

Obviously, this is kind of a surprise to some of you. Really, this is a good option for us. It will give Steve the chance to finish college, and will get him started on the path to a new career. It also worked out nicely because our contract at the apartment we just moved into is up in July, and thats when Steve has to report to boot camp. Steve doesn't actually have to be there until Monday, August 9, and our contract is up on July 31, so we'll probably end up at Steve's parents house for a few weeks. I'm not sure where I'll go once he leaves for boot camp. Maybe I'll see if I can move back in with my parents or something. Or maybe the kids and I will get a little studio apartment or something. Those details haven't all been finalized.

I had my doubts about this, but it wasn't until we were actually signing that I really felt this was the proper course for us. Don't be too mad girls, it's only a 4 year tour, and the likelihood of Steve going to Iraq is slim. I would have told you this in person, but I felt you may need some time to digest it before you talked about it!

Here we go again . . .

Ok, so once again, I have to fire myself! I can't believe I'm SO very bad at posting! Steve has had to start posting just to keep people informed! ACK! I love that Steve started posting though! He came to me on Jenni's birthday and told me to do a post, but I was busy, so I told him to! He is so cute!

**sigh** so. update. Things are going well! We finally found an apartment that we LOVE and thats in our price range. It's just of 8th north in Orem. (I didn't want to live that close to a busy street, but ALAS! The apartment was worth it!) We're moving this coming Friday. I HATE moving! Really. Really I do. I wish it were just all done! I need Flee here to make me unpack everything! See, I'm the worlds biggest procrastinator! It drives Steve NUTS! So, I'll say I'm going to get all unpacked and have everything put in its place, but somehow, it just doesn't seem to get done. Definitely something I need to work on!

I'm having some random, unexplainable health issues again, so I'm scheduled for surgery on the 30th of this month. Hopefully they'll be able to get some answers! Seriously, my body doesn't respond the way it's supposed to to anything! It's broken. Eh. I'll get over it eventually! I read a lot when I'm in pain, it provides a nice distraction. I've recently started reading the Fablehaven series, and I LOVE it. The first one wasn't that great, but they just got better from there. The fourth one- I just about DIED at the twist at the end! I SO did not see it coming. The 5th on comes out on Tuesday. I'm excited. I also read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. The first one is The Lightning Thief which they tried to make a movie of. I say tried because they failed- miserably. Seriously, they didn't even have the same story line. I mean- NOT AT ALL! I've never seen a movie based on a book be SO FAR OFF. It was horrid. I mean, the movie by itself was pretty good. If I hadn't read the book I'm sure I would've enjoyed it a lot. But seriously, it's like they didn't even try. And it really wouldn't have been hard either! The book wasn't even that long! ok, I'm over it. I love the books though! I would definitely recommend both the Fablehaven and the Percy Jackson series'.

Steve and I also bought my dad's MiniMac that he had recently bought. (He needed a bigger one) Ever since Daniel introduced me to mac's a couple of years ago I LOVE them! I've always been into writing my own music, and Mac's have a program called GarageBand. It is SO fun! I've finished 5 songs already (lyrics, music, everything) but I was using Daniels old laptop, which now is REALLY old. It's starting to have issues, and runs REALLY slow, so I hadn't worked on my music for a long time. I'm SUPER excited to start writing again! I have a blog that has the lyrics to some of my songs if you want to check it out. It's www.themelodyinme.blogspot.com if you're interested! Hopefully I'll figure out how to get the actual songs on there soon . . .

Steve is going to get his CDL (hopefully) so that means once he gets a job he'll be on the road for days at a time. I'm really not looking forward to that. Really not at all. If it didn't feel so right I would never have agreed to it. Again, I need Flee here. She always makes things like that easier! (have I dropped enough hints flee??) We're hoping to be able to get a house in the next year or two. This would definitely help!

Jenni is not happy about having to change schools. We had talked about staying here until school finished, but it didn't feel right. She loves her teacher! She'll be sad to leave, but I think she'll be ok. She's probably going to be at Sharon Elem. I'm not for sure yet, because if Sharon is year round I will have her go to a different school. I HATE year round school. I like a nice long summer break! If Sharon is year round, I'm going to enroll her at Foothill Elem over by Steve's 'rents house. It's not too far away.

Joe joe is the same! He's such a riot! He says the most random things. Today he was eating milk duds- well trying to. He was having trouble with the caramel, so he turned to Steve and said "Dad, these are really . . . . yo-yoey." Yesterday he was playing and he had to go potty. He didn't want to stop playing so he turned to me and said "Momma, I wish we didn't have pee-pee's. Or bathrooms. If we didn't have those we wouldn't ever have to go potty!" He said it like he was so sure it was true! I didn't go into the technical details about why that wouldn't work, I just cracked up. He's so funny sometimes!

So yeah. Things are great! Really we are so blessed. Even though things are tough, we always manage to get through it! Someone is definitely watching over us!

So yeah. Thats pretty much it. And since I know some of you will ask- the health issues I'm having are of a feminine nature, so thats why I didn't go into a whole lot of detail. I have no problem telling people about them, but I didn't really want to go into detail here! If you want to know more- call, text, or email!

Sorry this post was so long! Maybe I made up a little for not posting for so long!!

Later cyber-sisters!

'chelle