A Christmas Miracle

OK so technically it's not really a Christmas miracle but a miracle for me none-the-less. If you read my blog you may remember a post back in March where I spilled all my feelings and emotions and yearnings about having another baby.
The road has been long and hard and I had finally accepted that 3 kids was enough and that I was completely satisfied with that. Max will be starting kindergarten in the fall and miss Alexa will be driving shortly after...starting over would be hard...but starting over is exactly what we are doing...
because I AM PREGNANT!!! After the kids opened up all the presents Rich brought out a Build-a Bear box and set it on the ground. Alex asked who it was for and I told him to go ahead and open it. It took him a minute and Alexa caught on before he did. Alex was very excited and Alexa wasn't as mad as I thought she would be (she has been telling me no more babies for a long time). Rich had to explain it to Max (who by the way maybe already knew because he has been talking alot about a baby brother out of the blue).

Here is the story, I have been on and off birth control (you ask "why would you be on birth control if you have been wanting to get pregnant??" I have PCOS and don't ovulate regularly on my own so the idea is that the birth control helps you cycle normally then you go off it the next month...I won't go into that, too confusing and not really relevant to this story) but ran out and never got anymore. My periods are always late so I never really think anything of it (actually I used to always get my hopes up that I was really pregnant but I never was...very hard roller coaster to be on). So it's the first part of December and I realize that it has been almost a month and a half with no period yet. I was feeling different and had a few other things going on that made me a little suspicious. I bought a pregnancy test and did it one morning and there were definitely 2 lines but one was so faint that I didn't trust it. As we were laying in bed going to sleep I said to Rich "I think I am having a baby." He was confused as to why I said "think" so I told him about the test and he told me to go get another one. The next day I did another one with pretty much the same result but it was enough to convince Rich. I knew deep down that it was true but it was hard to admit since I had already decided 3 was great!!
I had to be absolutely sure so I called up Dr. Andrew and asked if he would take a quick peek and confirm it for me (he did an ultrasound and sure enough there it was). Seeing is believing!!! As of today (I am typing this post on 1-5-11) I will be 12 weeks tomorrow and the due date it July 21st 2011!!!

Christmas Morning

Rich put the sheet up last night so when the kids wake up they can't peek in. We all got up about 8am and that is when the fun began.
Santa was extra nice to the kids this year. They all got a "singamajig" I think I am the only one that thinks they are cute.
They took turns opening the presents from Santa.

 

Max got some Transformers and Bakugons and a hot wheels ramp with new cars...he was really excited about all his gifts!!

 

Alex got some Wii games, a rat hat, a hot wheels ramp and Sims 3 for the DS. I think he was happy with everything he got!

 

Alexa got CD's and DVD's, new boots, a Jazz sweatshirt, and Dance Dance Revolution for the Wii.

Max and Alex both got a new scooter.

Rich and I thought it would be a good idea to get each child 1 big present instead of a lot of little stuff that they don't want or need.
Max got a new bike!!!
Alex got a new red camera!!!
Alexa got a new stereo!!!

Rich and I also put a limit on the gifts we get each other. I wanted to do a homemade gift but Rich wasn't having it. We decided to go with a $30 limit (not sure where that number came from, but it is as good as any).
I got Rich this awesome shirt and a new football. Rich picked out some really cute red boots (all by himself) and a new ring for me. I guess I should have given someone the camera but I forgot!!

Here is the aftermath of all the gift opening...looks like a tornado came in but that's the way we love it on Christmas morning!!

We had a wonderful Christmas morning and there was one more surprise...

Christmas Eve in Nephi

This morning me, dad, Alex and Max went on a donut run!! Usually it is just me and dad but the kids really wanted to come so we let them. We ate our donuts and had hot chocolate and then we had to get going.

We got home around 2pm and I made a jell-o for tonight then I took a little nap. Rich was visiting his Grandma. We all showered and got ready and then headed out to Nephi to the Pauole's to eat and party it up!!

We had a delicious meal of ham and roast beef, baked potatoes, yummy rolls, jello, salad and corn. Everyone was there and we all had a really good time. The kids were anxious to open presents.

Cynthia had the kids think about ways they could serve people and they each put an ornament on the tree after they gave their answers. Grandma Cope told the story of Jesus's birth and the kids were pretty patient and listened pretty well for the most part. Then it was time for the exchange. It starts youngest to oldest and there are 27 grand kids so it takes a while. Max got a remote control spider that climbs up the walls from one of the Rogers girls. Alex got a bunch of Halloween stuff to use in his haunted house from one of the Swenson kids. Alexa got a very cute sweater and tank top from one of the Duvall kids. McKell and Joseph had Rich and I, he got a gift card to Chili's and I got one to Target (my favorite store)!! Rich's parents gave everyone a big roaster, See's candy, sparkling cider and a box of Franken Berry cereal (a funny tradition they have). We had a great night and everyone was excited to get home so Santa could come!!

We got home about 10pm and we all got into our new jammies (except Rich because he never wears them so I didn't waste money on them this year) and the kids went downstairs to watch "A Christmas Story." I made 7 layer dip for tomorrow and then Rich and I went to my work to get all the gifts. That is where I did all my wrapping this year, it was nice to not have to try and find hiding places at home.

We got everything all set up but Max couldn't fall asleep so I went down with him to watch the movie and I fell asleep too, Rich came and got me around 1am to go to bed.

Little Yule Often

The kids and I headed up to Logan this afternoon for Little Yule Often. We got there around 3pm and mom wasn't home so we headed to the mall for some last minute shopping. We walked around for a while and then decided we were done.
We ordered Wok on Wheels for dinner and it was delicious!!

We started right in on frosting the sugar cookies. I am not sure why Alex wasn't participating. It seems like we didn't have very many cookie frosters this year!!! Monica made us some wierd colors of frosting but they still taste great!!

Then it was time to get the fry cakes going. My mom makes the dough then my dad rolls them out and cuts them and then I (sometimes I get some help) flip them and then mom frys them up.

Jake joined in the fun with me (it was his first time helping) and Amy and Melissa helped too. Amy got her Elvis Christmas CD going and it was all good from there!!
Monica always put on a stocking hat and runs downstairs because she dosen't like to smell like fry cakes!! She is crazy. We had a great time making christmas goodies and being together!!

SNOW DAY!!! School is Cancelled!!

Today was the last day of school before Christmas break but we woke up to SO MUCH snow that they cancelled school!! I have lived in Spanish Fork for 7 winters and I have NEVER seen this much snow!! It was lightly snowing when we went to bed but it wasn't supposed to be much of a storm, I told Rich that it would be my dream come true if I opened the front door in the morning and all I could see was snow...we didn't quite get that much but way more than I ever expected!
I LOVE SNOW!!
Alex and Max couldn't wait to get out there and play so they got all bundled up and I got ready for work.
I am not sure exactly how much we got but I heard anywhere from 14 to 18 inches!! My back is a little sore from shoveling but you won't hear me complain!!! What a fun surprise!!

More Swimming and Stuff at "The Grand"

Just as promised as soon as the kids were awake they hit the pool with my dad and had some fun!!!
Alex doing flips!!
Alexa and Kenzie didn't really want to swim but who knows if they will ever get the chance to use the pool at the Grand America again!!!
Brooklyn trying out some tricks!
Brin, Alex, Max and Jake warming up, I guess the pool was pretty cold! They had a good time!!
Alex and Jake showered in the men's locker room with my dad and got an eyeful of some naked old man!! Why do men think it's OK to be naked??

Amy had some late night adventures with Nixon, he couldn't sleep and was screaming his head off just shortly after we all went to bed. The only thing that would calm him down was riding the elevator. When they got down to the lobby she heard a lady singing and decided to go see what was going on. It was some lady and David Archuleta and his 2 brothers. She was in her pj's with a grumpy baby at 3am in the lobby and happens to run into David Archuleta!! She said it was awkward not to say something to him so she just started telling him that some of her family went to the concert and loved it. He asked her what the heck she was doing and they talked for a minute and then she went back up to her room!

I got the tub ready for Max...I think I went a little overboard on the bubbles but he had a blast!!!
It was hard trying to wash him in all those bubbles so I made him jump in the shower after to get all the bubbles off so he could actually wash!!

This is the view from our room, we overlooked the courtyard and it was pretty!
Jake was pretty nervous about being out on the balcony.
He thought Alex was crazy for sitting here in this pose, he kept telling him he was going to die!!

After everyone got all showered and ready for the day we all went down to the lobby to decide what to do next. Check out was at noon so that made it nice.



They had a Holiday ABC's window stroll where you go around the hotel and find the letters of the alphabet in the windows and then you turn in your paper for a treat. We had fun finding what all the letters stood for, but we got side tracked alot and it ended up taking a long time to finish!!

Kenzie played us some Christmas Carols on the grand piano, it was beautiful!
We had fun looking at all the houses in the Enchanted Gingerbread Forest. They were amazing!!!
There were so many cute trees we couldn't pass up on all the photo op's.
Mom and Dad
The Summer's family
This desk was a hit...not really sure what these crazy kids are doing but they were having some fun that is for sure!!!
Here is one of the greatest things about the hotel...all over they had these huge jars filled with gumballs and jawbreakers and sixlets. We all had tired jaws from all the gumballs but how do you resist???
After we got our treat and were heading out of the lobby we ran right into Mr. and Mrs. Claus, they were in a hurry but stopped to take a quick photo with some of the kids!! No one really wanted to leave the wonderful hotel but it was lunchtime and the men were getting hungry and grumpy!!!

We hopped on TRAX and headed to Crown Burger (the only thing the majority could agree on). It is hard having a group of 23 people trying to make decisions. Lunch was good and then we went to The Gateway to walk around and do a little shopping. It seems I spent most my time sitting on the exercise bike at Dick's waiting for people to build bears and such!!! We had a great time and it was a perfect way to spend the weekend before Christmas!!

We all said good-bye and went our separate ways, we stopped at Fazzoli's for dinner on our and made it home around 10pm.