Guadalupe River State Park

One of the benefits of living in San Antonio is Fiesta. Fiesta is a 2 week long celebration of the heroes of the Alamo and San Jacinto. It is such a big deal that on one of the last days of Fiesta the schools get a holiday. Finally Tom and Shelby both had the same day off, so we decided that we should finally take the girls camping as they've been wanting to go for some time. Plus with the weather already heating up to the 80's and 90's, we knew that it was probably the last time we'd be able to go (we don't do camping in Texas heat . . . it is WAY WAY WAY too miserable).

I spent Thursday shopping and packing and getting everything ready. By the Tom came home (of course he had an extra late day at clinic instead of getting off early), we were ready to go. Off we headed with our friends Cari, Dallin, and Lexi to Guadalupe River State Park. It was close and a fairly popular park, but with it being a Thursday night we were able to get in and pick our campsite easily (the park ranger told us the weekends from here on out and through the summer were booked solid, so it really was perfect timing).

We had hot dogs and s'mores and popcorn and a yummy breakfast and played in the river and really had a good time; the only exception was getting the kids to sleep. Shelby of course will sleep anywhere and go to sleep when she needs to. Payden and Taylor on the other hand . . . well . . . it took about 2-3 hours of trying to get them to go to sleep and of course they woke up bright and early the next morning; they probably had about 6-7 hours of sleep instead of their normal 11-12 hours. The next few days were pretty miserable with them being so behind on sleep (Taylor wasn't even allowed to go to church on Sunday because she was still in a rotten, horrible, out-of-control mood). Next time, if there is a next time, I think we just need to make sure we start putting them to bed as soon as it gets dark then maybe it won't be such a miserable ordeal. Anyways outside of the sleeping problems, we really did have a good time and it was a fun family activity.

Anyways, here are some pictures of the fun.

More Payden Goofiness

Everyone was sitting down to eat, but Payden. We called for her to come. She yelled, "Just a secan." Finally she runs out of the playroom with these glasses on. Apparently she just had to have them on in order for her to eat dinner. She is just crazy. They look like they're pinching her head because they're so small, and it's gotta be hard to see with them in the way, but she keeps on wearing them like she needs them on.







After dinner I went to get her out of her high chair and she was sitting with her leg on the tray. It sure doesn't look comfortable.



Here's another shot of her wearing Mr. Potato Head's glasses.



What to do with a dirty wipe that was used to clean up dirty feet . . . of course, wrap it around your foot.



She definitely keeps us laughing.

What I Won't Miss about Texas

I used to be able to handle these nasty things somewhat. At least I would kill them by stepping on them with my shoe. After 4 years in Utah though, I became a wimp about dealing with them. Now Raid is my best friend. I'll be glad when I don't have to deal with these big nasty things any more. I know it would be almost impossible to live a life without coming in contact with roaches, but as long they're not so big that you could put a collar and leash on them and take them for a walk . . . then I'll be happy.

Back Rubs

Our girls love back rubs. The other day Tom was rubbing Payden's back. Shelby noticed and hopped up to join in. They sat there FOREVER!! I think the only reason it ended was because Tom finally stopped. They love getting back rubs, and we know that if we ever want them to cuddle with us for a long time . . . all we have to do is rub their backs.

The Baby is a . . .

BOY!!!!! We'll be getting a more indepth ultrasound hopefully within the next week, so we'll be able to give a definite answer, but the evidence looks pretty convincing. (For those who've never seen an ultrasound before, look for 2 legs and the identifying part in between. The 2nd picture shows it the best. Just look in the empty dark space near the top of the ultrasound . . . that's the space between the legs.)

We're excited. Yeah!!!!!!!

(Oh, and the official due date is August 4.)

Life of an Insomniac

Back in January when I had REALLY bad allergies and my medicines stopped working, my life got flipped upside down. My nights were absolutely awful. At about 9 or 10 my nose would clog up, completely up. Not one bit of air could make it through. Because of the severe congestion, I wasn't able to fall asleep until about 11 or 12 when one nostril would finally unclog. I would get 2 hours of sleep and then I'd wake up again to my nose being completely clogged. If I was able to sleep with my nose clogged, it was miserable because I would wake up after about 45 minutes with my mouth completely dry. I would have to drink lots of water, which, being pregnant, led to more wakings after only a little sleep because of my FULL bladder. It was a horrible cycle. Most nights though I couldn't fall back asleep until my nose unclogged, which generally wasn't until at least 2 hours had passed. I would get a few more hours of sleep and then my nose would clog up again at about 6. With having to wake Shelby up at 7, I usually was still awake with a clogged nose by that time. By morning, I would have only gotten about 4-5 hours of sleep or else if I had more sleep it was very restless sleep.

The first trimester is exhausting enough without adding horrible sleep to the mix. I would get Shelby ready, take her to school, come back and eat breakfast with Taylor and Payden, and by that time I was soooooo exhausted I would have to nap; of course that only occurred if my nose was unclogged. Basically my days were shot. I was exhausted, trying to nap, but usually unable. In the months of January and February, I was not able to function . . . at all. Each night I had to check to see that we had enough laundry for the next day's needs. I tried to keep the kitchen cleaned and the front rooms picked up, but even that was impossible. Anything beyond that was DEFINITELY impossible. I have never been more unable to function in my life. It was awful . . . REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY awful.

In March, my nose FINALLY stopped clogging up and I could breathe through the night. I was so excited. Finally, I started to be able to function a little bit, but it really was a little bit. Unfortunately, damage had been done. Although my nose was rarely a problem now, I had developed insomnia. I would try to go to sleep and be unable to fall asleep for a few hours. I would wake up in the early morning hours and be unable to fall asleep. Many times by the time I was able to get to sleep it was time to wake up to get Shelby and Tom off to school. Unfortunately, this is where I'm at today. I have many bad nights, and so I still have many days like those days in January and February. At least I do usually have a few days a week where I can function, but they are spent cleaning up after the bad days and even still I don't have tons of energy.

Along with the physical side-effects, insomnia also results in a little emotional problems. I often feel sad, have a hard time being patient, have a hard time controlling my emotions, snap at my family, have a hard time motivating myself, and there's probably more, but I just can't think right now. This has definitely been my hardest pregnancy and the hardest time physically in my life.

So there it is. Life is hard, but things are improving. I've definitely learned to take things a day at a time and accept what is realistically possible and be happy with it. I do feel bad for all the things I can't do and I don't do because I just can't, but I've learned to not let those things bring me down because I'm doing the best I can. At least I know my trials will only be for a time, and that at some point, they will end. I definitely look forward to that day.

FINALLY . . . It's Out

Shelby's other front tooth has been loose for quite some time. Even her kindergarten teacher tells me how much she wishes it would finally come out.

Well, Shelby has hated me going near her 2 front teeth when I brush her teeth each day. Of course I ignore her. After the first tooth fell out, she put up even more of a fight about me brushing her gap and the loose tooth next to it. I caught her off guard and lightly brushed over her front tooth. It immediately twisted in her mouth and started bleeding. Of course, Shelby immediately started crying and whining.

It took another 20 minutes before we finally got it out of her mouth. She wouldn't let us touch it. She was howling and crying. Tom got out an apple to have her bite into, but she wouldn't really bite into it. Since that wasn't working, Tom told her he was going to try to get it out with a string. He said it wasn't going to hurt. Of course she didn't believe him. As he tried to get the string around her tooth, she kept fighting him. She ended up just letting out a huge, open-mouthed wail, so Tom quickly put his finger behind her tooth and jerked it forward. Out it came and of course she almost immediately stopped crying. We hope she'll learn some day that sometimes it's just easier to get it over with then to draw it out.

We love her new smile. It's crazy to think we have a daughter losing teeth. She's getting so big.

Mine

Payden and Taylor had made a huge mess while I was napping, so I sat down with them to pick up. I was helping Payden pick up the things for the Mr. Potato Head. I pointed out his glasses to her and asked her to bring them to me. She scoops them up and yells at me, "No. Mine." and then proceeds to put them on her face. She absolutely refused to take them off and put them away. What a character!! Taylor and I were laughing so hard. I couldn't decide which picture to choose, so here they all are:

Another Drama Queen Moment

Shelby fell down outside, so I looked up to check up on her. I see her hunched over grabbing her knees and walking slowly . . . I really mean slowly . . . towards the house. I think she maybe moved each foot an inch each time.

She hobbled in the house, of course whining along the way about how she couldn't walk because she'd scratched her knees and it hurts to walk. Tom and I are just thinking . . . Shelby, Shelby, Shelby - stop being a drama queen. Tom snaps the picture and then has her hobble over to him. The next thing I know he is bustin' up laughing. She had BARELY scraped her knees. There wasn't even any blood. That's our Shelby.

The Peanut Spider

The other day Taylor found this spider in our window between the screen and the window. I guess it's found a good home there because it's been there for a few days now. The girls are very intrigued by it and love to find it each day. Taylor tells me it's a peanut spider, which I think is too cute. She always makes me laugh with what she comes up with. Anyways, I snapped a few shots of them checking out the spider.

Payden's After-Bath Routine

After Payden gets bathed and dressed each day, she likes to go wreak havoc on Shelby's nicely set up bed. Every stuffed animal has it's place, and Payden LOVES to mess it all up. Frist, she climbs up the ladder, which makes me soooo nervous, but this is the girl who thinks she's a big girl, so I pick my battles. Then she starts throwing Shelby's stuffed animals down. She steals the drink Shelby has up there for night time. When Shelby's around, Shelby almost breaks down crying because Payden's messing up her bed. Oh . . . Payden, Payden, Payden.

Our Car

First let me give you some background. Tom loves to draw and drew our last name in Old English on his computer one day. Our friends, knowing Tom would love it, gave Tom this gift for his birthday, and he only recently put it up.



Between our custom rims and the Old English on the back window, I'm sure people got quite the surprise when they saw who was driving. One day a girl even stopped to ask me what we had done to our car. I wanted to laugh. Fortunately, Tom finally got tired of it and took it off. I must say I've learned over the years to go with the flow because Tom will do (and say) just about anything. He did get quite the laugh out of it. Thanks again Cari and Joel.

The Zoo

Unfortunately, the Dental School likes to do its own thing when it comes to Spring Break, so Shelby's break started March 17 while Tom's started March 31 . . . so much for doing anything big during Spring Break. We did decide to go to the zoo, so we picked Shelby up after school and headed straight for the zoo. Amen to clouds because any more sun and it would have been pretty miserable (our family and the sun don't go well together . . . it's a red-head, pale skin thing).

Anyways, we had lots of fun. Here's a few pictures of our day.





The girls were tired, but we only had one stroller, so this was Tom's solution.



Of course, if Shelby and Taylor are doing it, Payden has to do it too. (Note: This is a sure fire way to destroy a stroller . . . or at least bend the frame REALLY badly.)









There was even a man on exhibit.



Just kidding. He was just getting the okapi.



This rhino is just a few months younger than Taylor. I'm glad she's not that huge.



This ostrich was SOOOO tall that it seemed like he could stretch his neck just a bit and actually reach us. Fortunately he stopped before he got too close to us.



I thought this was funny. This elephant is in the "Africa Live" exhibit, yet it's an Asian elephant.