February: the shortest and longest month

Is it just me or is February just DRAAAAAAAAAGGING on and on? I'm so tired of grey skies, sickness sharing and crazy WIND. We just try to stay busy to keep the days passing by. I am ready for some warm and sunny spring and summer days. I'm starting to feel the travel itch as well. I wish I could just drive down to UT, pick up EE and hit the road for some new adventures. ☺

3 boys started swim lessons Saturday. There were 30 mph wind gusts, 30 degree temps and snow on the ground! A PERFECT day to start swimming, wouldn't you say? Yes, the lessons are indoors again but running out to the car with wet hair is NOT fun.

Nate caught my sickness bug and spent Friday night in our room puking his guts out. Poor guy. The boys and I decided to have a lights out pizza party and movie night since dad was MIA all night.

Even though I have no pictures, Parker had a GREAT game on Saturday. He played the DEFENSIVE game of his life as he had to guard a HUGE boy who was a good foot taller than him. He stuffed the kid, made shots OVER the kid and made this kid pick up his dribble every time he got the ball. The big kid was getting SO mad. He turned bright red and eventually started crying because he was so frustrated. Parks had no idea he was making the kid so angry...he was just playing the game. It has been so much fun watching our boys really  learning the game of basketball. Nate and Coach Kenny have put in a lot of hours teaching our boys the fundamentals. Most teams still double dribble, travel and have no concept of passing or screening. Our team gets called on all the double dribbles and travels because we're held to a higher standard. I love that. We're all signed up for another season. That's 3 in a row and Parker still loves it. ♥

We woke up this morning with Parker and his 2 nasty, pink, goopy eyes. GREAT. Just what we need.

We're 21 weeks and this girl is a kicking machine. Nate can feel her now which is so much fun.

I'm not sure who is MORE excited about having a daughter....my dear husband or myself. He continually tells me how excited he is to hold his baby girl. He'd kill me for saying it but he has been rocking the pink tie lately in honor of her. I find myself more and more in love with him because of it. ☺

Looking forward to another ultrasound this week. I have GOT to take a second look again because I STILL just can't believe it.

And for fun, here is a pic of my man and brothers all rocking the same shirt while we were in Boise. These guys crack me up.

Oh yes, and I am pretty sure I have the absolute CUTEST little Zebra around here in Eastern Idaho:

 

My blogs are so random.

The best game ever.

Last weekend was great (other than the sickness from you know where). We had a great time in Boise seeing so many friends and hanging out with the fam. I sure love my friends in Boise, between parties, lunches and dinners I got a nice friend fix to last me a little while. ☺

We had so much fun I failed to pull out the camera except for one very hilarious and memorable morning. We went over to my sister's new house for a delicious breakfast brunch and decided to play a little "Rock Family Ipod Idol."

How do you play Ipod Idol? Well, let me remind you. One ipod with earbuds, and one blindfold...that's all you need. Choose an awesome song for someone else (not yourself) and crank the music. Let the person rock out and see how many of the words they ACTUALLY know. Prepare to LAUGH your head off.

Here are some shots:

 Jason with his voice cracking version of Pumped Up Kicks.

 James singing Numa Numa

 Even EE was in on the action!

 We've got a crazy family. And it's pretty much awesome.

Ensign

Last October an artist in our ward (Brian Call) called and asked if Nate, Landon and I could come over for a quick photo shoot. He contributes lots of his paintings to the Ensign and needed a few models for a story coming up.

I freaked out.

Ummmm, the ENSIGN! It only goes throughout the entire WORLD! 1.3 million magazines per MONTH to be exact! He called on a Saturday morning and we were all in our grubbies. We grabbed a quick shower and went over for the quick photo session. Landon did NOT want to participate. He kept saying over and over that it made him WAY too NERVOUS! Dallin and Parker on the other hand were very upset that they weren't asked to be in it.

Nate had to wear a 1940's fighter pilot suit...which was WAY too small might I add. We put some blue and red lights up by his face and snapped away while he gave us some very "serious" looks. I tried hard not to laugh.

Landon and I had to kneel together in prayer. I was so proud of Landon for being so serious about the task. Not only was he serious but he looked very sincere. Such a sweet boy.

March seemed like forever away and amazingly enough, the time has flown by and we're already here! What a special experience to be in a magazine opposite a photo of the Prophet of our church. A treasured experience to say the least.

The article is about the blessings that come from magnifying callings. A great story.....To read the article you can click on this link:
http://www.lds.org/ensign/2012/03/the-blessings-of-magnifying-our-callings?lang=eng

Sick

A little recipe for some hell on earth:

Having horrible heartburn and being pregnant. Throw in a NASTY stomach virus. Throw up 21 times over the course of the next 12 hours....4 of those hours are spent on the snow/ice covered roads headed back to Idaho Falls from Boise. Collecting bags of puke in grocery bags the entire way home. Burning up and having uncontrollable chills. Add some major stomach cramps. Puke so much that your abs are KILLING and you become so exhausted and faint you can hardly walk.

Hello death's door.

I'm going back to bed now and I'm PRAYING my family does not get this.

20 weeks

HALFWAY: betwixt and between, center, centermost, central, equidistant, intermediate, medial, median, mid, middlemost, midway, moderate, part, part-way, partial, smack dab, smack in the middle

Valentine's Dinner gone wrong.

We don't go out on Valentine's Day. It's never worth it. Years ago we waited almost 2 hours to be seated at Outback...sat inches from couples on both sides of us and one of the men leaned over and asked Nate if he could have his roll. It was so LOUD we couldn't even have a conversation. ABSOLUTE STRIKE OUT.

We vowed that we wouldn't go out again...we'd stay in or go out the night or weekend before. It has worked well for years.

Well last night we were invited to celebrate my good friend Sharla (who just so happens to be due on the same day as me). It was her 30th birthday on Valentines day and her husband had planned a surprise dinner party for her over at the White Water Grill. (A very NICE/EXPENSIVE place for dinner.) We decided to support her and go against what we KNOW.

Here is the CLIFF NOTES version of our night:

5:00: Left the boys with a babysitter. Told the babysitter we'd be back in a couple of hours.
Seated at 5:15.
Surprised Sharla at 5:35.
Ordered our food 6:00.
Waited.
Introduced ourselves to all of the fellow party attendees.
Waited.
Waited.
7:30: Got our salad! Devoured it in 1.7 seconds because we were all STARVING. I was honestly ready to eat my own hand off I was so dang hungry.
Waited some more.
Waited.
Became WELL acquainted with Sharla's family as we had HOURS to get to know them.
Waited.
Waited.
Waited.
Everyone started laughing in a delirious state because we were all going stir crazy/nuts....inhaling the helium from the balloons, showing each other ridiculous dance moves, telling Sharla she would proably be spending her 31st birhtday at the Whitewater Grill since the service was so SLOW.
FINALLY got our freaking dinner at about 8:15pm. That is a 3 HOUR WAIT.
INHALED our dinner.
Asked for the bill.
Asked for the bill again.
DEMANDED the bill.
Server finally took our debit card.
He lost our debit card.
Found our card.
We paid the bill.
Left him a $2.00 tip on a $45.00 ticket.
Most of the people didn't even give a tip of any kind.
Everyone was seriously SO mad.
Got home at 9:00pm...2 hours later then we thought we would be.

NEVER going out for Valentines Dinner again. Never going to White Water Grill again.

Will also NEVER forget such a memorable and hilarious night. It's hard to believe that it was really as bad as it was. No apologies from the management, the waiter, absolutely NOTHING.

O well, more time spent with my favorite Valentine. ♥ I figured I'd better enjoy my LAST Valentine's with my man all to myself since next year he'll have another tiny little lady Valentine to share the day with. :)

Busy busy!

It was a busy weekend around here and this week is going to be very crazy as well.

Friday night we went to Hillcrest High School to support the ballroom dance team youth in our ward. It was a Valentines/Dance Instruction night. Nate was less than thrilled about going. Luckily right before we left to go, James and Sierra stopped by so we dragged them along for some dancing fun! We actually had a blast. There were chocolate fountains with lots of yummy food and the team performed for us a few times. We then learned how to cha cha and foxtrot. Best part of the night.....Nate and James were wearing almost the EXACT same shirt. We laughed all night about it. SO random. We kept saying that they were going to Sadie Hawkins together!!

Saturday Parker played the basketball game of his life. He scored 30 points and his team dominated the other team. They've been practicing hard two times a week and all of the hard work is paying off. He has decided to keep playing into the spring...that would be 3 basketball seasons in a row but he loves it!

 During the game, I took Dallin with his boy scout troop to earn their ice skating belt loop. Dallin has never been ice skating. As you can probably figure out from the picture......it was a complete and utter disaster:

Notice the red puffy eyes?

 I had a bad feeling about this activity from the moment I heard about it. I wish I would have followed my gut and just avoided the whole thing. I know my son, I know how frustrated he gets when he can't master something right away, and how sensitive he can be about it. Absolute nightmare. I became upset as well after an incident with a leader and cried my eyes out to Nate as soon as we got home. My sweet husband took us out for dinner and then decided that we all needed to go and buy a couple of new outfits for our new baby...that HE would pick out since he hadn't gotten anything for her since we found out it was a HER. It was sweet. And it made the whole night SO much better. He picked a DARLING little dress with a ruffle bum. Too precious.

I ended up playing the piano in Relief Society on Sunday. It went much better then I thought. I pretty much practiced the piano more then Dallin this week but it's probably good for me. I messed up a few times but no one should expect perfection when it has been this long!

Our Valentines are ready for the big day tomorrow! We did the same thing we did last year! It's just too cute and easy to not do!

I am teaching preschool this week and we had so much fun at our Valentines Party today! One little girl couldn't make it so it was just the boys.

We sorted Valentine color buttons, made heart hand prints for our moms, decorated cookies and made love bug hats again!

We have all sorts of events this week: more basketball, school luau, scouts, Valentines Day, more preschool, Activity Days and Friday we are headed to Boise! I can't WAIT to see my Boise friends. Oh, how I am need of a friend and family re-charge.

Oh yes, and here is the weekly photo (for you Jami): 19.5 weeks....woo hoo! JUST about halfway! Goodbye morning sickness hello HOT LAVA HEARTBURN! Bleh.

Quote of the day

After getting my hair cut and highlighted I went to pick the boys up from school.

Me: "Hey guys! How was your day? Do you notice anything different about me?"

Parker: "Yeah, you are looking fatter!"

Dallin: "Fatter in a really good way mom!"


Well, thanks guys. Love my honest boys.

Jumbled thoughts for the day.....

So I got a new calling in church last week. No, I have NOT been released from the Activity Day girls.....but when the 1st counselor asked me if I would play the piano in Relief Society I seriously thought I had been PUNKED! I asked if this was some sort of joke. I haven't played the piano since 10th grade! I was seriously SO upset about it for days, and Nate thought it was the most humorous thing in the world. I am going to have an anxiety attack EVERY stinking Sunday! It was the first time in my life I wanted to DECLINE a calling. After a lot of anguish I've decided to suck it up and try though. Wish me some major luck....and maybe some sort of miraculous hidden piano playing skill blessings! Yikes.

A man and a woman in my mom's ward went off on her this past Sunday for something that is completely ridiculous. It's a long story but my mom's feelings were REALLY hurt and she ended up leaving church crying for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Anyone ever wanted to go track a stranger down and seriously punch them in the face? Blame the raging hormones but seriously....don't mess with my mama. I have no patience for mean and inconsiderate people.

Landon has a little friend.....well kind of a friend. He has a love/hate relationship with this boy. Sometimes they get a long great and sometimes they feud non stop. The thing is, I have seen these two in action and Landon is rarely the boy who starts the fights with this boy. The boy will hit or kick Landon and Landon won't stand there and take it. He defends himself......hey, he has 2 older brothers. (Not that I am saying it's ok) Problem is, the little boy's mom thinks that Landon just comes out of nowhere and hits her kid all the time since her kid will come crying to her as soon as Landon retaliates. Part of me just doesn't want the 2 of them to play together at all anymore. It's a strange and awkward situation since the mom and I are friends. We frequent the same places all of the time. Sometimes being a mom is so hard.

Baby Girl has been kicking a lot more lately. Nate still can't feel it but they are getting stronger. 18.5 weeks:  Almost halfway there!

I am so thankful to my sweet friends who sent me little PINK things over the past few days. My pink pile is growing! My favorite thing has been watching the BOYS excitement as I open a gift. All of the "Oh, how CUTE!" and "Look how SMALL" comments from them just make me melt. It is hard for me to even IMAGINE what they will be like with a tiny sister around. And yes, I cry everytime I open something up. I just can't help myself.

A day we won't forget

Two weeks ago we went to Nate's cousins wedding. While we sat in the back corner watching the father of the bride dance with his daughter for their "last dance" I got all teary eyed. I wondered if my husband would ever get the chance to experience that in this life. I wondered if he would ever have the chance to go to a daddy daughter party or be invited to be the prince at a princess tea party. I thought about my boys and wondered if they would ever know what it was like to have a girl in the house. I knew I would love this baby no matter what we found out yesterday. I was all ready and geared up for another sweet boy. It's all I know and it's all I have loved up until this point.

For years I have identified myself as a "boy mom." I have embraced all things boy as I realize that I have no choice when it comes to what sex of baby comes to our family. Boys are fantastic and I absolutely adore being a mom to my sons. People have asked me for years if I wanted a girl. The answer was always of course but I honestly feel like you just "get what you get and you don't throw a fit." Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us and if that includes 4 children or no children, all boys or all girls, we have to trust that he knows what we need....even if it isn't what we had in mind or our ideal. After the painful experience of infertility this past year I have been feeling so blessed and SO ready to accept any miracle baby that comes.

 As I got ready for the ultrasound yesterday I turned PANDORA on to the Michael Buble station and let the tunes flow. I decided NOT to wear pink as I have done for at least 2 of my gender ultrasounds. I thought Dallin was a girl....wrong. I KNEW Parks was a girl......wrong. We found out Landon was a boy at 12 weeks due to a CVS test and were THIRLLED to find out he was a HEALTHY baby boy. The doctor had us scared out of our minds thinking he had trisomy, or downs, or even worse. I decided on a flowy beige flowered shirt. I was ready to hear that is was another boy! At least I thought I was ready...then the song "My Girl" came up on Pandora.....I started to cry. I washed my face and had to start over with the make up. I was almost done when the song "Daughters" came on by John Mayer. Lost it again. I just kept thinking over and over again that IF we are to ever have a little girl in our family....this is IT. This is our LAST chance. I finished getting dressed and ran over to the gas station to get a Coke (my first caffeinated drink in over 4 months) I wanted this baby to be active so we could get a good view.

With my blood pressure off the charts (thanks to Coke and nerves) we first me with my Dr. He told me he was getting a good vibe today and thought this baby was a girl. He wanted to come in and see the ultrasound and wondered if that was ok. It was fine by me...I wanted the second witness there anyway! The tech started looking around and immediately I saw SOMETHING. I just knew it was going to be a boy. Then the tech said, "The darn cord is right in between the legs." She poked and prodded until she said, "O my....I see 3 little lines!"

Then the Dr. walked in and took one look a the ultrasound and said, "Well, THAT is a girl FOR SURE!" He was SO happy for us! "Waaaahhhhhh!!!!" I was a blubbering mess...I looked over at Nate and saw that tears were coming down his cheeks. I was pretty much in disbelief. We watched our little one move and squirm. She put her little arms up by her head and I'm pretty sure she waved at us. ("She".......sounds so different!")

As Nate and I left the office I started to sob. I kept saying over and over..."I'm dreaming right now.....this just can't be true!" We were both over the moon. Calling our loved ones was so amazing too. It's pretty fun to think that after 5 grandsons on my side of the family we will FINALLY have some pink!

I wanted a really fun and cute way to share the news with the boys. My friend Nikki told me about an idea she had heard of so I threw it all together before the boys got home from school. Here it is!

http://youtu.be/pKhJ6VholeQ

Later on, I had to go to the mall to get my Landon some new pants. He has holes in pretty much all of them. While I was there I stopped at Gymboree and bought my very fist little girl outfit! It is for next Christmas. I started looking around at all of the girl things and I couldn't even handle it! I was SO overwhelmed. I grabbed the little clearance Christmas outfit and got out of there ASAP. I felt SO out of place! We absolutely have NOTHING for this girl!

Dinner out as a family was the way we ended our day of celebration. It was a great day we won't ever forget. Thanks for all of the phone calls, texts, messages and everything. I have such a great support system and I am thankful for each and every one of you. I've said it a million times but we really are so blessed.

We're having a.......

Today was a WONDERFUL day! I feel like I am dreaming! My boys get a little SISTER, my husband gets his baby GIRL.....and I will have a  DAUGHTER! That sounds SO strange!

I'm thrilled.....and terrified at the same time.....if that makes any sense at all.

I'll write more about today's big events a little later. We are off to celebrate tonight!

Predictions: Boy or Girl?

2 days until the big reveal! (That is....if baby cooperates!) I thought it might be fun to record what everyone THINKS we're having!

My Intuition...another BOY
Nate's Prediction.....GIRL

 Family Matters:

Landon says its a GIRL
Parker says its a BOY but he wishes it was a GIRL
Dallin doesn't care as long as the baby is NOT sharing a room with him

The Chinese Birth Chart says it is a GIRL. (Although the birth chart said Parker was a girl too..hmmmm)

Old wives tales:
BOY: carrying more like a basketball then a watermelon, Starnes family=BOYS.

GIRL: fast heart beat (160), morning sickness galore, crave oranges and orange juice, craving sweets not salts, facial acne

SO, the question is......what do YOU think we're having??? I'd love to see!