New Year's Eve

Almost 3 months ago Nathan and I flew to DC to see our sweet friends the Perry's. It's a DARN good thing we went to visit them when we did. Tom was offered a fantastic job back in Boise and so during Christmas Break they DROVE back to Idaho to stay!! On the way they stopped to stay with US! YIPPEE!!! If we hadn't gone when we did we never would have made the trip! So happy we decided to go and make those amazing memories. ☺

We had so much fun for the couple of days they were here. We took the kids to Leo's place to play and run wild and then we came home and threw a pretty fantastic last minute New Year's Party because ME (with my pregnancy BRAIN) didn't realize Saturday was New Year's Eve. I thought it was on Sunday. I'm an idiot.

We made TONS of food. Played lots of fun games (the candy bar game, Wits and Wagers, Game of Things) AND we made GOO with the kids.

James and Nate playing some sweet air guitar:

Candy bar game is ALWAYS a hit:

Lots of yummy food: Bacon wrapped shrimp, crescent covered smokies, cheese ball, veggies, cookies, cowboy salsa............ugh. I was so FULL I could hardly drink my sparkling cider at the end of the night!

We did a little pretend countdown for the kids at about 9:00. They had been awake since 5 am and we (the adults) were READY for them to go to SLEEP! After we got them to bed we cranked on the Pandora and played games and danced. It was hilarious.

Next morning they left. It's so funny how NOW it feels like we're pretty much just neighbors again becuase we'll get to see them SO much more. 4 hours is NOTHING compared to and entire DAYS trip on an airplane! Welcome back to the POTATO STATE Perry's!!

Christmas in Boise

Christmas was WONDERFUL in Boise this year. I had to fight the husband to get him to go for Christmas Eve. He is ready to stay home for Christmas Eve...I pleaded for one more year. After all, this was the last year with my little brother as he is preparing to go on a mission here in the next few months. We had such a great time......Nate agreed that we had made the right decision. ☺

I wish I had taken more pictures, alas I guess I was enjoying myself to much. Living in the minute is a good thing though.

When we got there we immediately headed over to this really FUN/ a tad bit on the CrAzY Santa's house. He made his 4 wheeler and a trailer into Santa's sleigh and takes people around the neighborhood. He takes it very seriously. It was really fun....and REALLY cold.

We had a fantastic Christmas Eve spent together....minus James and Sierra. We had a fantastic dinner and testimony meeting. It was fun hanging out all day together. We went to a movie (The Muppets) and went bowling. ☺

Everyone was spoiled rotten Christmas morning. We got up EARLY so we could attend church by 9. It was special being able to go to church on actual Christmas Day.

Later on during the week we had a great time seeing many of the friends that we miss so much. We went out for dinner, movies, and had a great game night. I'm so glad so many of them still take the time to see us. ☺

Somehow we were able to CRAM everything into the car and make it back home in one piece. It was a great Christmas. I'm so blessed to have such an amazing family and so many great friends. Gotta admit though, feels nice to be back home!

Old Fashioned Christmas

Last night for family night we met up with James and Sierra and headed downtown to the museum where they have a fantastic Christmas display for FREE. Creches are on display from all over the world, there are ginger bread houses, and there is even a huge Santa Clause exhibit. SO much fun.

First thing though, we had to drop off letters to the BIG Santa mail box!

You know you live in Idaho Falls when one of the largest gingerbread houses is of the TEMPLE!

After the museum, we stopped over at Maverick for some hot chocolate and then headed out to the town of Iona to see the CRAZY light displays! We had a great time watching the lights that go together with the music on the radio! Pretty amazing!

Such a great night spent together as a family. THESE are the things that I ADORE about the Christmas season. Never mind the fact that I am STILL not done shopping. I actually went shopping tonight for a little while. All was going great until a wave of nauseousness hit me. I got into the car, grabbed a grocery bag and proceeded to PUKE in it. Little did I know there was a FREAKING HOLE in the bottom of it. THROW UP......all over me in the car. Shopping trip over. Come on baby, lets just be friends already ok? I'm so over this.

In other non-vomit related news, THIS boy received the "Spirit of Christmas" award today at school. He has been caught being kind and doing service at this school. He hasn't taken the hat off ever since he got home and that was 4 hours ago. Hehe.

♥♥♥ this time of year!

Parker's party

One word would describe Parker's birthday party last week. SIMPLE. He wanted to go to FatCats and I wasn't feeling up to throwing a grand ol' party so the agreement was made. FatCat's is all the way up in Rexburg so we did have to some commuting to get up there but it was worth the drive!

He could invite 3 friends, we would play games, mini golf, shoot each other in the balladium, eat pizza, have cake, and go home!

YESSS! And, the best part......it was really REALLY fun!!!

His favorite gift would have to be the LAKERS jersey from Grandma LeeLee! He had to wear it the rest of the night and to school the next day. ☺ It's hard being the only Jazz fan in the family.

Happy Birthday Parks!

December 16, 2004

Dear Mr. Parker,

I'm not sure how we got here already but somehow, someway, my tiny little Christmas baby is turning 7 today. You are my sweet, adventurous, and handsome boy. You've ALWAYS had a little tender spot in your heart for your old mom. I can't even begin to tell you how much my heart just leaps for joy every single day I take you to school. You ALWAYS without fail, turn around to wave at me.....not once but usually TWO times. I cherish that little moment every single day as I know it won't last forever.
I love that when we went out of town to Washington DC and left you with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunts and Uncles that YOU of all my boys were the first to crack. You were the first to admit that you missed your mom and dad. You always put on such a strong face but I love that you have a tender heart.
You are SO stubborn. You know what you want and you do whatever is in your power to get it. You are very successful at whatever you put your mind to. I am the mom BEAMING on the sidelines at each of your basketball games. You score so many points that sometimes I get a little embarassed.  ☺ You are SO talented and it is very apparent when you step into your element. I love to cheer you on and I love how you will look over at me on the sidelines and we do the little fist pump to each other.
You are a protective brother. You don't like when people say mean things about either one of them. You do know how to push your brothers buttons though....I'm not going to lie!
It's been a hard week for you this week as you have been fighting off strep throat. Even though I know you are missing so much school I have secretly loved having you home. I'm so grateful that the night that you couln't even swallow at all anymore that you had the faith enough to ask Daddy for a blessing. You are such a good boy. I love that you are apart of this crazy family. You mean the absolute world to me.
 I love you with ALL of my heart.

-Mom

Christmas cookies

I have been kind of a crummy Christmas mom this year. I'm still not even close to being done with shopping and I'm having a hard time finding the motivation to do all of the fun things that we usually do. I think the sickness fog is finally lifting a little bit though. Yesterday I felt good enough to make some cookies and actually make dinner. Nate walked in from work and was like, "O my gosh, what are you doing?"
Haha.

We made our usual Christmas cookies and had fun decorating them.

 Landon took this lovely photo of me:

 And Landon and his little buddy Mason had their last soccer game! They have had so much fun playing together this year. Funny coincidence......Mason's mom is pregnant too and we are both due on the exact same day. What are the crazy odds of that? She is hoping for a boy. I told her if she had a girl and I had a boy we could do a little swap a roo at the hospital. ☺

Mom reaction and telling the boys

For some reason, I can't post my video directly to my blog so you'll have to click on the link to watch.

Mom reaction

 This one is when we told my side of the family. Ironically my mom and I had JUST been talking about the heartache of the past year or so. She gave me a huge hug and told me that things work out and that she thought I was a doing a great job with the boys. Love the mom pep talks. I almost spilled the beans right then!

I gave everyone a small gift wrapped in Thanksgiving paper. Inside was a frame with a picture of the positive pregnancy test and the words, "We're grateful for you and for your prayers......because miracles happen."

If you know my mom, her reaction won't surprise you one bit!!

Hold on to your hats!

After we told everyone we called the boys in and gave them a big puzzle to put together. They were more....confused then anything. Parker later asked, "Mom, are we adopting a baby?"

He remembered a day back in August where I was upset in my room. We sat the boys down and told them that we probably wouldn't have another brother or sister in our family.

Sorry, you'll have to watch it sideways as Nate switched over to recording it from the other angle in the beginning. Anyway, here is the link for it:

Telling the boys

Enjoy!

Oh Baby!

Thanks for all the sweet comments and kind words. We are so over the moon excited about our amazing and unexpected news. I've been in denial about it for some time. I just didn't think that this was going to be in the cards for us but I am so happy about this sweet blessing.

SO, lots to catch up on I guess! I thought I'd answer all of the questions that I have been getting.

When did you find out?
I found out in the beginning of November. I was having to pee ALL NIGHT LONG and I kept wondering if I had been drinking too much water before bed or something. After 3 nights of getting up at all hours I decided to take a pregnancy test. I had an old dollar store test and took it first thing in the morning. 2 lines showed up immediately and I dismissed those results right away. I figured that old test was defective and probably expired or something. I didn't say anything to Nate as he left for work. As soon as Landon and I dropped the kids off at school we booked it over to Walgreens and picked up 3 of the digital expensive tests (because we all know THOSE tests are much more accurate then the crappy dollar store ones....or at least I always tell myself that! ☺) Three digital positive tests later, I couldn't help but fall to my knees in tears. I felt like I was dreaming.

How did you tell Nate?
I figured I was going to be due sometime around the 4th of July. MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY! I went to the store in the afternoon and made our traditional family favorite for the 4th:

Nate was at work late and I had an Activity Day party so we ended up not seeing each other that night until late. I told Nate I had made him a special dessert. He had just indulged in a bowl of ice cream and wasn't too thrilled about another treat. I told him he didn't have a choice in the matter. ☺ When I showed him the cake he was TOTALLY confused. (Of course) He wondered why I would buy blueberries when they are so NOT in season right now. I told him we had a very special reason to look forward to the 4th this year. Once he figured out what I was saying we hugged and cried...cried and hugged.

When are you due?
After our ultrasound a few weeks ago it looks to be July 7th is the day! We saw and heard a strong heartbeat (164 bpm) and everything looked great!

How far along are you?
I am over 10 weeks. I usually don't like to say anything until 12 but I already sent out my Christmas cards and I decided to break the news to extended family and friends in the card. I'll wait until 12 weeks to tell the facebook world.

Have you been sick?
Y to the E to the S. I'm trying so hard not to complain too much though. I know there are so many people who would love to be sick and pregnant and would trade places with me in a heartbeat. It's hard to be a good mom when you feel like garbage but I know this will pass. The house has been a complete mess, it's all I can do to heat up some fish sticks or corn dogs for my kids but I know this phase doesn't last forever. At least when I feel sick I know things are working right. It gives me a lot of peace of mind. One thing that is different this time around is that I am totally sick in the late afternoon and night....not in the morning.

So, how did this happen?
Ok, ok, aside from the OBVIOUS. Our last attempt at fertility drugs started in October when we decided to go down one last and final road before re-evaluating what we were going to more forward with. (Be that adoption, in-virto, or just letting everything go.) I asked Nate to try one last drug that I had read and researched. I feel terrible making him such a guinea pig for this past year. We counted how many shots he received over the course of this experience.....I think it added up to around 50 or so.  He agreed to try this one last thing for at least 3 months and I agreed that I would just back off of all of it and talk again at the beginning of the new year. Honestly, I don't know if this medication worked. I don't know if we will ever really know. We both agree that whatever the case, we had some divine intervention in all of this.

How did you tell the boys?
I have a video clip I will post in a couple of days....along with the video where we told my family. Get ready for a great laugh.

Do you hope it's a girl?
A girl would be great. Another boy would be great. Either way, I will in no way be disappointed.
Although, I can't say the same for Nate. He is CONVINCED this one is a girl. ☺ We'll just have to wait and see I guess.

The absolute best Christmas present in the world.

I have been brainstorming for weeks all of the fun and creative ways to say what I am about to say today.

Then I just figured a picture would sum it up best:

For Christmas we got exactly what we've hoped and prayed for.

Out of difficulties grow miracles.

Baby Starnes #4 due this summer!

We are SO blessed.

It's gingerbread house time once more!

Remember last year's total and COMPLETE disaster????? Refresh your memory here: http://nsstarnesfam.blogspot.com/2010/12/twas-nightmare-of-gingerbread-house.html

I have indeed learned from my mistakes and went ahead and purchased the KIT this year. I was excited. This particular kit had 5 small gingerbread houses. One for each of us and it wasn't overwhelming. The houses were itsy bitsy teeny tiny though.

 Even Jack joined in on the fun.

No fighting, screaming, or crying. A great family night was had by all! Success!!!

Big teeth

My Dallin came home the other day in absolute tears. He got in the car, climbed in the very back and sobbed. "What on EARTH is going on Dal?" I asked.

Through the tears he told me that he didn't want to have BIG TEETH anymore. "Nobody else has teeth as big as me. They are crooked and sometimes kids make fun of me."

Ugh. I felt like I'd been stabbed in the stomach. When I was little I felt the exact same way. I remember kids teasing me and calling me "beaver teeth." I remember my dad telling me I was pretty even with big teeth....and I remember not believing a word of it. My heart hurt for my son. He usually cares less about what anyone thinks about what he does or what he says. It was the first time I had ever seen this self consciousness and it kind of scared me.

I tried to explain to him that all kids go through a time when their permanent teeth come in and they don't quite fit proportionally to their faces. I told him we would get braces when he gets a little bit older. I told him I would talk to dad about it. I sent him in the house and proceeded to call Nate at work.

I had no idea that as soon as Nate would answer I would start to sob. "Dallin needs braces. Kids are so mean. I remember feeling the EXACT same way........."

Nate's response: "Just call the orthodontist. Even if he is too young for braces I think it would probably calm ALL OF YOU down."

I love my straight shooting husband. I love my sensitive Dallin. And I am calling to make a stinking appointment. ☺