And now you know (if you didn't already)

So I had another hilarious and completely unrealistic celebrity dream last night (no, not the Jonas Brothers). This time it was a "Miss" Janet Jackson on the phone asking me to be in one of her new music videos--to be filmed at a beach location, specifically.
I was very flattered by the call, and really wanted to be in the video, but felt that I needed to confess to Miss Jackson, "I don't think I'd feel comfortable wearing a swimsuit on camera...I'm pregnant you see, and I swear that I'm already showing!" She was very understanding and assured me that I wouldn't be asked to wear anything that I wasn't comfortable with.

Morning dawns. I am laughing about my dream (and again the self-flattery). Then the wave of nausea hits as well as the truth: I will never be in a music video, and I am indeed pregnant.

So the cat's out of the bag. Baby Pete (#4) will join our family this spring.

There are several feelings associated with this pregnancy. First, of course we are happy and obviously I'm thinking pink. Admittedly, there is a little guilt over the fact that so many of my friends (and many of my favorite people in general) are struggling to conceive and it breaks my heart. There are also the normal emotions of feeling overwhelmed, overjoyed, and...plain old sick and tired (literally).

My pregnancies have all gone very much the same: Nausea, lots of vomiting, IVs at the ER to get hydrated, weeks spent in bed or on the couch at the mercy of my poor husband and friends and family that have been so kind as to bring me meals, clean my floors, take my kids for a few hours, etc. etc. Midway through each pregnancy, I've started feeling a bit more "normal" although I continue taking nausea medication during the entire duration of the pregnancy and have continued to vomit even days AFTER each baby is born. Now, I write by way of history. I know that many women have it WAY worse, and I truly do feel blessed to be able to have healthy babies.

Because my current sense of smell is magnetized by about 100% , it makes tasks such as changing diapers, sorting and changing laundry, opening the refrigerator, cooking, and doing dirty dishes very challenging. Well, yesterday as I lounged on my couch looking at my messy, stinky kitchen, I had an epiphany! I went upstairs and found the nose plug that has been sitting in a jewelry box for the past eight years (I bought this to do a spoof on synchronized swimming for a work thing during the Sydney Olympics).
(Sorry, no photo of me actually wearing the nose plug. Rest assured, it's a lovely image.)

So, I kept the little nose plug in my pocket all day, and pulled it out to use during all of the difficult and stinky moments of my day. I am happy to report that things went much better than usual! Yes, I think I've just found my new best friend.

As is

Another blog post idea brought to you by my favorite kind of anchovy (janeannechovy): Take a picture of yourself right now. Don’t change your clothes. Don’t fix your hair. Just take a picture. Post that picture with no editing. (Except maybe to get the image size down to something reasonable. Don’t go posting an eight megapixel image.) Include these instructions.

So here I am. Wet hair, no makeup (or even lotion yet for that matter), wearing a hand-me-down sweatshirt, a semi-forced smile, and eating vanilla ice cream before noon...

Another day, another urgent care visit

My parents were kind enough to watch my younger boys today so I could go to the doctor. I was gone for about an hour and a half (lots of waiting - always a party). When I returned to their home, I was quickly informed that while my Dad and Hewitt were out for a walk, Hewitt tripped on the sidewalk and split his chin open. Umm, deja vu? (For those of who may not read my blog regularly, Tosh fell and split his chin open in July).

I asked my mom if any of her neighbors were nurses, and we quickly found a kind grandmotherly RN who gave us a second opinion: "Yes. Needs stitches."

I should mention that my brother Mark was also at my parents' house when I arrived. He is in town on business and was stopping by for a short visit so we all could have lunch together. So, with Rob 30 min. away, I dragged my poor brother along for the thrilling adventure to Urgent Care. Hewitt was absolutely fine (no crying) until we walked in the door. He screamed the entire time we were there (walking down the hall, waiting for the nurse, waiting for the doctor, etc.). The doctor tried to explain the entire procedure to Hewitt and kept reiterating that "holding completely still will make things go a lot easier." My brother and I were finally able to convince the doctor that reasoning may not be very effective with this particular child, and that we were probably better off just holding him down and getting it over with as soon as possible. Besides my almost fainting (had to get on my knees a couple of times), Hewitt wetting his pants (to his defense, he did warn us that he had to go), and one stitch that had to be re-stitched, everything went as good as can be expected. I'm never prepared to hear a child scream such things as , "Mom, help me, I'm scared!" These moments are dreadful and sad. I would always rather be sick or hurt than one of my kids. About halfway through the procedure, I had the thought to start counting and that seemed to calm Hewitt down and distract him some. We counted to 100 and he said, "I want to count again, and count faster!"

I was glad that I dragged my brother along for the support. While there I had a flashback of falling off of our swing set when I was three; Mark carried me up our back stairs and inside to my mom and I ended up with eight stitches of my own. I also remember screaming and crying at the hospital and wishing my mom could make all the nurses and doctors go away.

It took Hewitt about an hour to be his happy self again (as is consistent with his personality; it usually takes him about an hour to cool off after getting really upset). Grandma provided his favorite ice cream (and my brother's and my favorite fried chicken for lunch) and sure enough, Hewitt's cute and devilish smile has returned...

Inquiring minds want to know...

Janeannechovy (sis-in-law) and Stephanie (next door neighbor) tagged me with a similar meme. One was to list six unspectacular things about me and the other is six unspectacular quirks... so take your pick if you want to play along.

Six unspectacular things (or quirks) about me:

1. I seem to lose things a lot: keys, credit card, my WEDDING RING (been missing for a while now, sniff, sniff).
2. I am not much of an organizer, although I'm good at cleaning. I don't even own a label maker! (My parents are both extremely organized...does this skip a generation or something?).
3. I get motion sickness, especially when driving in the mountains (and get very sick when I'm pregnant- I swear that these things must be linked).
4. I have a Human Development degree (Family Sci. from BYU...I would totally do something different now).
5. I rarely try a new recipe yet have plenty of recipe books and magazines.
6. I am a "homebody" and would rather play games, watch a movie, or curl up with a good book than go shopping (I'm not a shopper) or out to a party, etc.

Meme terms & conditions:
Link the person who tagged you.
Mention the rules on your blog.
List 6 unspectacular things about you.
Tag 6 other bloggers by linking them.

I tag Amy, Tara, Chelsea, Sheralyn, Jenni, and Angie

I heart the '80s

If you still happen to have one of these...

it makes a great library bag.

If I could text this I would

Was it 12 or 13 years ago when I was first introduced to the on-line world? My first memories of using e-mail were actually to keep in touch with a guy I had gone out with a couple of times who went to Utah State. Our long-distance "relationship" (if I could even call it that) was short-lived and ended soon after I got an e-mail on a Friday afternoon telling me that he was "too tired" and just didn't feel like driving from Logan to Provo to visit me that night.

Rob and I relied on e-mail as a way to communicate before my mission. Obviously, I would've much preferred a phone call, but back then (that sounds like I'm ancient) long distant calls were expensive and people were still wearing pagers around campus instead of cell phones. Pagers - seriously, that makes me laugh to remember!

How things have changed, huh? E-mail is probably the way I communicate most - I'm still not "cool" enough to have converted to the world of texting, but I certainly enjoy my share of on-line chats and written messages (hi, who doesn't like a blog comment?).

Anyone reading this has obviously met up with the blogging world. Prior to my joining blogger, I was introduced to (and rejected) MySpace. No offense to MySpace, or any of you that use it, but it was just so not me, and made me feel really uncomfortable...(do I want to make friends with these scantily clothed strangers?)

Just this summer I joined Facebook and was almost stunned at the people I could track down (and the people who could find me) in a matter of minutes... I don't mean this in a bad way (really), but it was sort of like turning over a rock and being a little shocked at what you found under there. I also must mention how entertained I was at several of the "friend requests" that I received from people that I clearly did not know. A lot of these people had 500, 600 something friends, so I'm thinking they just wanted the "most popular" award, and weren't really so concerned with making my acquaintance...

Facebook--a little odd, but I'm getting used to you. Still, a good way to keep track of people from high school, college, girls from my old Brownie troop (4 real), and that person that you think looks a little familiar, but you just can't seem to place...

Now, just yesterday I discovered Goodreads. I really am interested in what people are reading and could really use some good book recommendations from friends.Yet, it's another profile to fill out, photo to post, more comments to make and another on-line something else to spend my "free time" doing...which reminds me,

Is anyone else running out of free time?

I laugh at how little I really pick up a phone these days. I actually set up a dinner appointment with a friend yesterday through facebook--they now have an instant messenger thing... I was on-line there for about one minute when a little message appeared out of nowhere and a live little "hello" popped up to greet me. This is all very convenient, don't get me wrong. We now have a good friend coming to dinner tomorrow which probably wouldn't have happened otherwise.

It is also interesting that much of our "big news" these days such as weddings, births, deaths and other announcements are discovered and read about on-line. Not to mention that probably 80% of our family business is conducted on here as well. Come to think of it, while I'm at it, I'll save myself a few e-mails, calls and messages to relay the following:

Patti, I still don't know if they sell boxes of peaches at the Farmers Market (at Thanksgiving Point)--I think it may take a phone call (reason for the delay). Anyone?

Todd, I still don't know where you should visit in Norway. I was going to ask a Norwegian woman in my ward, but again, that will require a phone call since I don't know her e-mail address. BTW, are you guys coming for Christmas, or what?

Does anyone around here know what the hot lunch choices are at school tomorrow? Burke would like to know. Thanks.

Summer nights

Rob got home from work earlier than usual on Friday so we took the kids to the Gardens at Thanksgiving Point. I forgot to grab a map and so we just wandered around and Rob and I dreamed of what it would be like to have a big yard with mature trees, tons of flowers and other interesting plants...maybe someday (our little yard has been enough work as it is!). Burke was "hot and tired" and so to keep him entertained we told him to keep a lookout for the "Secret Garden" which I have heard about, but we never saw any signs for. Later, after leaving and getting a description from Rob's sister, we realized that we never found the "Secret Garden." I thought Burke would be disappointed, but he said, "Good. That way it's still a secret!"

Tosh and Burke, "cool" in the shade

I love this little face

The men in my life

Wiggly boys (enough with the pictures, mom!)

We ended our lovely evening with pizza, root beer floats and lots of books before bed. A near-perfect conclusion to any summer day.

Note to self

Things I always want to remember:

1. How expressive Burke is when talking or telling a story. He uses his hands when he talks more than anyone I know. He is very sensitive and gets teary when he sees someone else getting teary...he is very compassionate.

2. That Hewitt hums when he is happy (classical music, the Indiana Jones theme song, etc.) and the way he hugs and loves his "Hippo" (and little brother)...

3. The way Tosh swings his right arm like crazy when he is running and that infectious laugh of his. Does this little guy really have to grow up?

I was just thinking this afternoon about how my happiness seems to be so connected to how my boys are feeling. I'll never forget something my mother once told me - it was when Burke was just a week or two old and he was crying and crying and I couldn't figure out what was wrong or how to console him. I was crying as well and told my mom that I was so miserable and hurting because he was so sad. She told me "you're only as happy as your saddest child," and that would continue to be true even when they are grown. I've thought a lot about this comment recently and took the time to be thankful today that my children are generally happy...and healthy. I recognize that life will only get busier and more complex as it goes on, and I just want to soak up this simple (but never easy or boring) time as a mother of young boys.