Home At Last

We got home this afternoon about 11:15.  Emily was so excited to see all of her things.  Mordecai could care less because he still isn't feeling well.  He seemed fine this morning when we got up and had breakfast at the hotel, but about an hour before we got home he started to feel feverish again.  I think we will be taking him in tomorrow since he has had a fever for almost 6 days now and went to bed at 4:30 this evening.  This reminds me of when Emily got strep when I was pregnant with him.  She would have fevers in the afternoon and evening and seems fine in the morning.  That is what he has been like, and not eating anything.  Hopefully I am not coming down with it since I woke up with a yucky throat this morning.

After lunch we decorated our Christmas Tree, and both kids were way excited and in to it.  Tomorrow for FHE we are going to start the 'Elf on the Shelf'.  Tonight after dinner we watched "Mr. Krugers Christmas" and then sang Happy Birthday to Mike since he turned 38 today.  I know, what a boring way to celebrate your birthday driving and a sick kiddo that only wanted him.  I am tired and this is probably all jumbled but oh well. 

Thanksgiving & Reunion Day 7

We had a cereal bar this morning before we left and the reunion ended.  Then we had a family reunion meeting to plan the next reunion.  We, the sibs, initially planned to do it every 5 years, but Daddy played his trump card and we are now planning on doing it every 3 years.

We got on the road about 8:00 Colorado time and did the 10 hours we were planning.  We made it to North Platte, Nebraska and the kids are exhausted as are Mike and I.  We only have 4 more hours to go tomorrow and I can't wait.  It is always nice to be home and back into routine, even though it is nice to have a vacation.

Thanksgiving & Reunion Day 6

Mordecai didn't sleep well last night, so I am convinced he isn't feeling all that well, even though he has periods of acting normal.  Today he came up me and asked if he could feed the 'piggy cat'.  Wanda and Robert's kids have a Guinea pig and Wanda let him feed it bell peppers yesterday.  He just loves that thing.

This morning Mike, Mom, the kids and I took our car into Madison to get the window replaced.  Then we hit Target for Mom to buy dad a shirt for our Family Pictures this afternoon.  I don't think I will ever be a black Friday shopper! Even if there is the best deal ever.  We got back to the Husted's just in time to eat some lunch and then headed back to Madison for pictures.  Mom has a CD, so when she is here I will upload some of them.  There was 34 people and I think the studio workers were a bit overwhelmed, and the customers were in awe over how many there were of us.  At one point one of the photographers looked at me and said, "And there are 4 of you having another?" HA HA.  After pictures daddy treated everyone to pizza at Rocky Rococo's.  It is like a Chuck-E-Cheese, but with better pizza and not as good of games.  The kids loved it though because we had a huge theater room reserved for us so they got to watch t.v. while they ate and I think the adults liked it because it meant that we didn't have to help our kids as often cause they were enthralled with the movie. 

It didn't dawn on Mike and I until tonight to give Mordecai some meds, so now we feel like bad parents because he has probably been uncomfortable since Wednesday.  We head home tomorrow, so hopefully Emily, Mike, or I don't get what he has...and hopefully it doesn't turn into a vomit type.

Thanksgiving & Reunion Day 5

This morning started off a little shaky.  Mordecai tried to throw up this morning and I didn't think he was feeling all that well, but after his bath he seemed fine.  The pictures above is what our lovely car looks like until tomorrow.  It is covered in pink duct tape because when Joey and Mom went out to Wal Mart last night they picked up some heavier plastic and pink tape, in honor of me.  Robert and I covered it last night, but we didn't do the greatest job because it was frigid cold and raining on us.

About 11:30 we all packed into cars and headed to the Church for Thanksgiving dinner prep.  While all the adults prepped the food Mom and Dad and Mike played games with the grand kids.  We finally ate Thanksgiving dinner around 2:00 and then quickly had a family talent show. It was nice to see and hear Daddy serenade Mom.  It truly shows how much in love they were/are. We had to be out by 5:00 for wedding set-up so we headed back to Robert and Wanda's for pie, games, and black Friday strategies.

Mordecai seems to be sick still.  He doesn't have a fever on his head, but his body is really warm and maybe that explains all the sleep and clingyness he has been doing.

Thanksgiving & Reunion Day 4

Mordecai must be growing or something, because he didn't wake up at all last night. He slept from 6-7pm and then this morning after checking out of our cabins he fell asleep at the Wild West water park from 11:30 to about 12:45.  Emily had a blast with Mike and the kids even though I didn't do any swimming because I had a sleeping child on my lap.  There were these 2 slides that she loved, Robert has pictures so I hope to upload those, and then a tube slide she did with Mike.

After we left the Dells Grandpa treated us to McDonalds for lunch.  As we pulled up and Mordecai saw that it had a play place he said, "This is going to be so fun."  As the last 3 days weren't, weirdo kid.  As we drove the hour back to Wanda and Roberts Emily and Mordecai were singing Christmas songs and looking at all the cows and I just thought, "This is what really makes me happy!"  It was one of those moments where everything felt right.  Well I thought too soon, we stopped at a local grocery store to pick up the last of our contribution for Thanksgiving dinner and as I lifted the back hatch to put the groceries in our back window just shattered.  I burst out into tears because I am pregnant hormonal, and I just kept thinking it was all my fault.  I called a local dealer because we needed to get it fixed as soon as possible, but also knew that it was closing time and that we probably weren't going to get any help.  We got to Wanda and Roberts where Mike, with the help of Robert and Wanda, found a place that could fix it on Friday.  We also weren't expecting our insurance to cover it so that was stressing me out a bit, but lucky for us we have glass coverage on our insurance policy that we added 3 years ago that we were just talking about getting rid of last week.  Good thing we didn't cause with insurance we just have to pay a $100 deductible as opposed to $1100 out of pocket.  Man we were blessed.

Thanksgiving & Reunion Day 3

The kids slept so well last night!  Again I don't know if it was exhaustion from the car ride or swimming, but honestly I don't care.  After breakfast we hit the parks about 10:00 which only gave us about 2 hours there before we headed back the the cabins for lunch.  After lunch the kids and I cleaned up and chatted with everyone while Mike, Mom, Joey, and Robert played Dr. Mario.  Can't have a reunion without that game in there somewhere.  8-)  During dinner Mordecai was standing between Mike's legs when Mike looked down and fond out that Mordecai was falling asleep.  We decided that we would put him down for the night even though it was only 6:00, and we are fully expecting him to wake up and be ready for the day at 3am.  We did this because we were all going back to the water park and wanted to be able to stay a while, and knew we couldn't do that if he went with us because he doesn't seem to like all the chaos. 

All on a 12 passenger shuttle.

 Daddy and Mom stayed with him while we were gone.  After Emily went to bed the adults played a game of Apples to Apples.  My family just always seems to make any game fun...it could be the most boring game in the world and there would still be laughs.  This is what I miss the most about living so close to them.  Time for bed before Mordecai wakes up.

Thanksgiving & Reunion Day 2

The kids had a blast staying at the hotel last night, which so happened to be the same one the kids and I stayed at with my Mom when we traveled out this past Easter.  We got to use the indoor pool, which Emily was so excited about, and had their complimentary breakfast of waffles that Mordecai loved.  We hit the road about 8:00 and I drove since Mike drove the bulk of it yesterday.  We stopped for lunch in Dubuque, Iowa, and then only had 2 more hours until the Dells.  On the road for the past 2 days we have seen so many dead deer.  The funniest thing was seeing 2 dead deer strapped to the top of a mini van.  Later on down the road Mike and I spotted one in the back of someones SUV.  It is so odd to us "city folk".

We finally made it to the Dells about 2:00.  We quickly changed into our suits and called for a shuttle to take us down to one of the 3 water parks.  Emily loved the water, as usual, but Mordecai not so much.  He was clingy and kept complaining about wanting to go home.  I don't know if it is because there is so many new people or if he is just tired from being in the car for the last two days.  After about two hours of swimming we headed back the the cabins for a dinner of beef enchiladas.  When the kids and I visited at Easter time Grandpa had a "Cookie Fest" which is basically him doping the kids up on sugar and then letting the parents take care of the mess and hyperness.  You know, Grandpa rights.  So with tradition he wanted to do it again, except this time it was about double the amount at Easter time, which was about 20 different typed of cookies/goodies.  The kids sure loved it though.

After the kids were finally in bed the guys hit the water park for some guy time.  They did this one ride that was called the "Hurricane" and had a limit of 650 lbs.  Mike said it was pretty scary because it was basically a half pipe on a raft and that it felt like they were going to fall out.

I am so glad to be done in the car for the next 3 days, and I bet the kids and Mike are too.

Thanksgiving & Reunion Day 1

We left bright and early this morning... well it was bright until we hit fog about 2 hours outside of Colorado.  Anyway, we got on the road about 8:00. The kids did really well, mostly because we have the DVD player in the car.  We have stopped for the night in Des Moines, Iowa after driving 9 hours and being totally exhausted.  We only have 5 more hours to drive to get to the Dells, so tomorrow we are hoping to be on the road by 8:00.

Girls' Room Reveal

We finally finished Emily and Ruby's new bedroom last night.  After taking a whole week Mike and I and even Emily are super excited.  We swapped her room for the guest room, that way they have a bigger room for the two of them.  Last weekend we ripped out the old door, closet doors, baseboards, and door casings.  Then we replaced them all with white, like we like.



Before



Before

Before

The wall color and stickers on the wall coordinate with the bedding collection the girls have.  Eventually we will buy them these quilts that are in the same collection.  The pink on the wall looks like it has more of a purple hue to it, but in person it definitely doesn't.  All we have left to do is hang the closet doors and the blind and put the stickers above the closet.  Also the bumper pad is made by yours truly. I have done this with the the other 2 kids so I figured I didn't want to stop now.  We are very pleased with how the room turned out. 

Pregnant Crazy

So I have been inspired to confess, thanks to a friend who confessed on her blog.  I was thinking the other day that I am pretty lucky to not have depression or much of the "baby blues" after having a baby.  Don't get me wrong I get moody and cry after having a baby, but for no more than a day.  I now know the reason why...it's because I have the "blues" during pregnancy.  With Emily, Mordecai, and now with this one I hit this point where I feel "down" or "picked on".  I don't remember how far along with the other two I was when I hit it, but with this one I hit it on Wednesday night.  It probably was a long time coming with this one with all the hormones and taking care of kids, a husband, and a home, and wanting everything to be perfect and my kids to understand everything I say and mean, but it roared its ugly head Wednesday night.  I was tired from Monday night with Emily being sick and all and taking her to the Doctors Tuesday.  Come to think of it it also has to be a combination of Mordecai being in the "Terrible Two" stage for a WAY long time too, but none the less I snapped on Wednesday night. 

Mike has this guy he home teaches, and for whatever reason it isn't conducive to visit him at his place so he comes here for his visits.  Well, the kids and been difficult all day with, "Mom! Mordecai's going to hit me", and "EMILY, give it back", and me trying so hard to not yell at them for fighting, and getting into stuff an making messes and the stuff they are supposed to do because they are 2 and 4. So about 5:00 I get this message from this guy, for Mike, that he is going to be busy all the rest of this week and next so tonight (Wednesday) is his only free day to meet. Mike gets home and I tell him about the message and am really hoping Mike will say something like, "I am too tired to visit with him tonight", or "I am not going to call him back, cause I just want to spend the evening with you guys".  Wishful thinking I know.  So Mike checks with me if it is okay for him to come over, and me, being a good wife and member say, "Of course honey as long as it is only for 30-45 minutes because I want to do some work on the girls room tonight."  Did I mention our upstairs is torn apart trying to update/redo a room for Emily and this baby to share? Anyway, Mike calls him back to tell him he can come by, all the while our kids are screaming and acting crazy and running around like wild orphans and I am cleaning up after dinner.  This guy tells Mike he is in the middle of a tile job and will call him back after he eats dinner and is on his way, which was only supposed to take him 20 minutes at the most.  So he should have been here by 6:30 at the latest, which would have meant he should have been out of here by 7:00/7:15 or so.  It would give us plenty of time to put the kids to bed by their bedtime (7:30) and then we could do some work on the room and then watch some t.v. we DVR'd.  Perfect I think, I will go take a nice hot peaceful bath since I was having painful Braxton Hicks and then when I am done this guy will be gone.  WRONG!!!  The kids decided to come in and spoil my bath...I had to get out because Mordecai kept taking off his clothes trying to get in with me and that wasn't going to happen.  7:30 rolls around and the guy is still here.  I put the kids to bed thinking Mike would be done soon and we could go on with my plan. WRONG AGAIN!!!  The guy was here until 10:00 at night talking to Mike about his life and how things are so messed up right now and blah blah blah.  I get ready for bed and by this time I am so steaming angry that Mike just didn't tell him to go home.  Mike comes upstairs and says, "I'm sorry, I know your mad..."  Darn right I am mad, you let this guy stay that long even after I told you for no more than 30-45 minutes!  I yelled, then cried, then yelled and cried again.  I'm pretty sure by the time we actually went to bed Mike was thinking, "We are NEVER getting pregnant again." 

Well, by the time we got up in the morning I was pretty sure I had cooled off and was fine. WRONG AGAIN!!!  The day was fine, but when Mike got home from work (Thursday) we were supposed to start on the girls' room right after dinner.  Mike told me he needed to call this guy and check on some things to make sure he has everything set for this weekend (he is moving and needs help) and it should only take 5 minutes.  Well guess what he talked to Mike for about an hour!  After he got off the phone I morphed into a 2 year old, and threw a big tantrum that Mike wasn't putting his family first, let alone me, and that we were a dysfunctional family because all I did was yell and get angry at the kids for making messes, and how could he help this guy over helping me who was drowning and not feeling adequate...and on and on and on.  Mike being the great husband he is recognized I was pregnant crazy, and just listened to me.  Then he apologized, for doing nothing I might add, and stayed up until midnight last night finishing the work on the girls' room we had scheduled to do.  Then this morning when we woke up he just cuddled with me to let me know that everything was alright and that he still loved me.  Then this afternoon I got an e-mail from him telling me basically that he loves me and thinks I am wonderful.

So there you have it.  I am so NOT perfect! Most the time I am pretty laid back and stress/worry free, but when things like this happen it is nice to know I have a partner that will stand by me no matter what and love me unconditionally.  It is also nice to know that the Lord puts people in our lives that will help you, in this case my friend who wrote on her blog which in turn helped me notice that something wasn't right and that I just need to mellow out a bit and enjoy life as it is...even if it is crazy one.

P.S. I am better now, really, and Mike isn't going to have me committed. 8-)