Kickin'

The baby kicked my hand today. That is the first time I have felt her kick from the outside! It is a pretty exciting thing!!! I know I mostly just complain about being pregnant, but it is a time like this that makes it worth it...

Harley

These are pictures with Grandpa and the kids on the Harley. This was only a week ago in St George. It was so warm, the kids wore short sleeves. Hilton cannot wait to go back to Grandma and Grandpa Shuck's to ride on the motorcycle again! They love it!

Caroline's Opera

These are pictures from Caroline's opera last Thursday. She was a princess. The name of the opera was Peter Pan, princesses and pirates. It was very cute and the kids all had a blast! In this pictures

Sick Again

I am feeling sick again. So this will be short and sweet. I have tons of pictures to post from our trip to beautiful 70 degree StGeorge, but I can't post them now. Caroline's opera is today and I have pictures to post from that too... so I will get on it as soon as I can stay on the computer for longer than 10 minutes. Hilton is really sick with a cold and the mysterious rash has returned today. When he coughs, I swear he is going to hack up a lung. I called to make an appt at the doc tomorrow, but they are closed, of course. That guy is never there. Anyway, it is going to be a busy weekend and I cannot wait until Monday when I have nothing to do... so I have to go lay down now before my uterous falls out.

We have a baby!

We are having a girl! We are very excited. I have to have another ultrasound next month because we couldn't get all of the measurements and the ultrasound lady wasn't 100% sure about the gender, but I am positive. She was pretty confident and we will know for sure next time. I also have to have the dreaded glucose test next month... earlier than normal because I already have diabetes. So I will be praying I don't have to go on insulin! This weekend the kids and me are going to St George, and I am going to do some pink shopping! Yea!!!

Blizzard

It is snowing today. All of our snow had melted and it was glorious and warm about 50 on Sat. Then the blizzard hit this morning. It was supposed to be over by 9am but it is still snowing hard out there. THese pictures don't show how hard it is snowing, but it is dreadful! I thought we were in for an early spring! THe groundhog didn't see his shadow,afterall. Anyway, I have Hilton with strep throat and the only reason I know is because he had a horrible crazy rash this weekend. I promised in-laws and my parents I would take him in to the doctor. THe rash is nothing. Just a virus which is fading as we speak, but he does have strep so it is a good thing I went in. Even though I was slip sliding all over the road!!!

Rainy day ramblings

It is a rainy day today. Not snowy, rainy. It is still cold, but not cold enough for snow. It has been above freezing the past 3 days! Maybe the rain will melt all of the snow. Meanwhile the kids are happy because they get to use their umbrellas. LOST! That show is so good and so crazy! I didn't follow a thing that was going on, and yet I cannot wait until next week! Caroline is allergic to dogs. There is no way around it. Justin's parents came up this weekend and brought their puppy, Maggie. Caroline just loves the little fur ball. Unfortunately the little fur ball gave her a terrible rash all over her body. So I broke down and took her to the doctor and sure enough... it is allergic dermititis. The only time she gets this rash is around dogs... so... We got a couple of prescriptions and the main thing is to keep her away from dogs. So much for getting a basset hound when we buy a house. If we buy a house... I have been feeling ok lately. Not bad considering I have a parasite growing larger by the minute in my belly. But soon we will know what this baby is and I can stop calling it "it." We have a girl name picked out and a boy name picked out, so I am ready to start calling it by it's proper name. I purchased a stroller yesterday. I got it on Strollers.com. They beat any price you can find on the internet, and they acutally did! Only by $2, but hey! It is the one I wanted and very deluxe, so I am excited. My baby will not know how to act in such a fancy stroller! That is my first baby purchase and next week, the minute I find out what I am having, I a, going to the mall to buy the first outfit. I cannot wait!!!

Vaccine Tirade

I would like to address an issue that is in our country right now. Texas would like to make the so-called "cervical cancer vaccine" a requirement for all sixth grade girls in the state. I find this appalling. This vaccine is less than 3 years old and has not been through extensive testing. We have no idea the effects this vaccine may have on these girls a few years down the road. This is not my only issue with this. I also have concerns because this vaccine is to prevent HpV. This is a sexually transmitted disease and is only one way a person can get cervical cancer. The government wants to vaccinate my 11 year old against a sexually transmitted disease and take me out of the equation! They want to make this decision for me! I am not delussional. I know that there are preteens that have sex. I would hope my daughter will not be among them, but regardless if she is, this is a decision that should be made IN MY HOME! Not by the government. Also, I read yesterday, that the former cheif of staff for the governor of Texas is now a lobbyist for Merck. The pharmaceutical company that is producing this vaccine. If this law is passed Merck will make billions of dollars! Does that sound right, to you? It infuriates me. What also infuriates me are the commercials for this vaccine that do not talk a bit about this being for a sexually transmitted disease! There are people out there who are well-educated and who may not know this important fact who are blindly taking their 11 year-old into the family doctor to get the vaccine because they think it will prevent against cervical cancer. The fact of the matter is, if you are not sexually active, there is no chance of you getting HpV! NONE!!! The only way you can get this, genital warts, is through sexual contact. I wish these people would fully disclose all of this information before people start running out there giving their innocent 6th graders a vaccine that is too young to be completely fool-proof.

Hilton is Four

Hilotn is 4! What a big boy! We had his birthday yesterday. His Grandma and Grandpa Bates came up and we had cake and he opened presents. It was very fun! He got a Darth Vader mask that changes his voice and he thinks it is pretty awesome. Hilton's favorite things are Light Sabers, anything that has to do with Toy Story, and Diego. He loves to play dress-up. He doesn't care if it is a princess costume or a Buzz Lightyear costume, he enjoys playing pretend. He loves to play with his race cars and his leapster video game. Hiltonlikes cinnamon toast for breakfast and a sippy cup of chocolate milk. That is like coffee is to a lot of people in the morning. He likes to dress himself now. And likes to many things by himself. Hilton helped me stir dinner last week and now considers himself quite the chef. He would like to know when he can "make" dinner again. He loves to help me cook and clean. He likes dusting and doing the dishes. He loves when we vacuum so he can run and scream from it. Hilton enjoys Sunbeams. He sits reverantly and is very good in his new class. Hilton loves to be read to. His favorite book is red hat green hat. He knows it by heart and can "read" it without us! He loves the summer and cannot wait to go back to the lake and the park. It has been a difficult winter being cooped up inside. His asthma is still bad and he can't run around too much, especially in the cold weather, but it doesn't slow him down. Hilton told me that someday he wants to be a fireman when he grows up. He is a typical boy. We love his sweet spirit in our home. We can't wait until he will sit down and be quiet when we have Family Home Evening and Scripture Reading. When we have family prayer he has recently started to fold his arms for a little bit of the prayer. He is a good kid and we think he is pretty special. Hilton, You are awesome, and I love you! I am proud of you and know you are going to be a very good young man.

Meltdown

So I did go grocery shopping. The family now has food. I am feeling better. The Relief Society Pres called to see if I need meals brought in and I don't so I said no, but the thought was very nice. Hilton had about 17 meltdowns yesterday. He is off of his schedule and taking naps late in the day from which there is no waking him! That means he won't go to bed at night. No matter how much I threaten him. I think he knows that I am very slow and I hate to stand up unless absolutely necessary. He takes advantage of this. We were at Walmart yesterday and he was screaming because he wanted a toy and I would not buy him one! Absolutely NOT!!! I got several sympathetic glances and no dirty looks. It was really great. People really feel bad for you when you are pregnant. And I am ordered not to pick up anything heavier than a large book so I couldn't throw him into the cart. So I just walked around walmart with him screaming. Luckily it is a VERY small Walmart.