3 Boys And A Girl...

It has taken me forever to get these pictures and details from our trip up, but I just have not been in the mood to blog. Not that I'm complaining, but I have been extremely sick with this pregnancy. But... things are good. More updates to come.

We started out by picking the kids up from school. MY old elementary school. I was so excited to go see my old stomping grounds. Brennon was more then happy to show me around. He marched up and down the hallway like he owned it. (Kristin, it looks the same, but it has carpet in the hallway now. I felt like a giant !! I kept saying "everything is so small, but I think I just got bigger. The hooks on the walls for coat hanging were so adorable and tiny. Plus they tore down the old South Jr High. It's rubble now, but they built a new one right next to it. The kids have to wear uniforms now. Trying to express equality with all the students). Bren was so excited to show me his classroom. His teacher was still in there so when he saw her he said "oh hi... I'm just showing my aunt around". I was like a little kid. I looked at her all bright eyed and said " This used to be MY old school"... (like she cared) I can still remember where my old classrooms were. Bren's class was across the hall from the office. He pointed out " that's the office and you do NOT have fun when you go in there"... It brought back a lot of memories and I can't believe I started school there over 30 years ago. HELLO !!!! I said to Brennon " isn't it cool that we both went to Monroe" His response was " Yes, but you've told me that before Deb " ... Good point Bren...

This trip to Bruneau Dunes was so much fun. Josh and I had a blast with out little nephews. They were such good boys the whole time and really helped uncle Josh around camp :) They were obsessed with putting sticks in the fire (yikes) so we had to watch them closely. Of course dinner was delicious. Cooking over a fire is always so good when you are camping. They both stuffed their faces and at one point, Brennon leaned back in his chair and said "This is the best hot dog evuhhhhhh " (Ever; Has a hard time saying his R's). TOO CUTE !! When it got dark we took them over to the observatory to listen to man speak about the stars and planets and look through gigantic telescopes to see Jupiter. Bren fell asleep, but Ryan stayed awake and probably retained more information then Aunt Deb. He is sooo smart. He said "hearing about all this Science makes me want to be a Scientist"... and I have no doubt he could do it. After a long day we got ready for bed. Our big tent wasn't big enough for all four of us, so lucky aunt Deb got to snuggle with the kids while Uncle Josh layed in his one man tent all lonely right next to us. I brought a fairy tale book that my grandma gave me back in 1978 to read to them. That was honestly probably my favorite part of the whole trip. Being all cuddled up together in our tent with a little reading lamp reading some good stories. Ryan and I took turns reading and Bren just laid his head on my big tummy and got comfy. There are no words to express how much I love these little boys. When morning came, Uncle Josh made us all a very good breakfast with scrambled eggs, apple and cinnamon bars and roasted pork loin. I didn't think the boys would like the pork but they both wanted second helpings. Good thinking Josh !! Then, after much anticipation, we headed off to the sand dunes. The kids couldn't believe how huge these sand hills were. Since I can't do anything too strenuous, I just sat at the bottom of the hills and took pictures of my boys having fun. They were pretty tame on the first hill, but once we moved to the second one ( and much bigger one I might add) they really took off and went crazy running down the hill. I was cracking up at their "totally out of control" looks on their faces, and their arms and legs flayling all over. It also made me laugh that when they got too tired to climb, they used Josh like a work horse. Several times Brennon said "I'm too tired uncle Josh, I need another ride "... so he would climb on his back. After awhile Ryan caught on and they both wore Josh OUT !! The pictures are priceless and will be lovingly added to my collection of Brennon and Ryan photos. Josh and I both wish we had longer then just one day, but we promised them that we would do something special with them again next year and it would be for more then one day. We would really love to do another family reunion in McCall next year. Then we could have Bren and Ryan with us for a whole week. Can you tell we kind of love these guys ? Awesome trip... thanks for letting us have them Lisa :)

So... some other updates... things are going well with this pregnancy. I had a check up and ultrasound today to make sure everything was okay before my surgery tomorrow. I go in at 8am to have my cerclage. The Dr. is very optimist and says my cervix is the perfect length. (hearing that was HEAVEN) He wasn't going to do an ultrasound, but when I told him I needed to see my baby, he understood my emotional state. So... today for the first time with this baby, we saw him/her kicking around like crazy in mama's belly. I was so relieved. Cerclages, when done this early, usually have a pretty high success rate. I hope we are in that percentile. I'm still just taking things one day at a time, but will feel so much relief once this procedure is done. We will automatically have a better chance of carrying the baby longer. Nothing is a guarantee, but our chances are much better. The ultrasound technician said the baby is progressing beautifully and is right on track for my 14 weeks. I still don't think I'll go full term but every day in another day this little one is growing and developing INSIDE me. My procedure will be an outpatient thing. I'll be out the same day, provided everything goes well. And I'm off work until next week. I should be done working by the middle of October, but even with that, I am going to play it by ear. This baby comes first and I need to listen to my body. Once I'm done working, I'm done until (maybe) sometime after the baby comes. My hope is that Josh finds another job with the forest service and we move... some place I can just stay home and raise my kids. A girl can dram can't she ? One thing at a time... get this baby here safe and sound. So.. keep us in your thoughts for tomorrow and over the next several months. I'm praying I just get to 32 weeks (at least). Technology is amazing and the NICU at our hospital is one of the best, so there is so much they can do these days. I'm still scared to think too far into the future. I just take things one day at a time, but there is definitely more hope with this one. I only wish we had known with Gracie and Oliver. But there was no way. How blessed I am to be their mother even now.

Wish us luck. It amazes me what women go through to be mothers. But when it's your destiny, there's no question. You simply do what you have to do. And that's exactly what I'm doing for my children.