Behind, once again...

Ok, as usual I have lagged behind on keeping things up to date on my blog. I think about it often, but finding the time to sit down at our ever-slowing computer, uploading pictures and writing a synopsis of the happenings in our lives sometimes is just too time consuming, and/or messy. I say messy because, well, at our house, when mommy is occupied with one project the kids manage to destroy the rest of our little home and each other. What about nap time you may ask?? Well, IF I am lucky enough for both kids to nap at the same time, I use the time to either nap myself (ha ha ha) or catch up on much needed chores or work. In fact, I get so excited to have a free minute, I don't even consider to sit down at the computer. Anyway, now that I have given way too much detail as to why I haven't blogged recently, here's what's happened in the last six weeks since I last blogged:

The beginning of February my sister and I took a much needed girls weekend to SLC, UT. No, in case you are wondering, my husband and children stayed home. No, I do not feel bad about this, yes, I enjoyed the entire queen-sized bed to myself and I even enjoyed never feeding someone else, wiping food off my elbow (Amiah sits to my right at our house and ALWAYS slimes me during meal time), watching whatever we adults wanted to on TV and staying up way passed my bedtime. The husband and offspring survived well enough without me and we all enjoyed a happy homecoming on Superbowl Sunday. While in UT, my sister and I spent some time at the new downtown shopping district the "Gateway" and ate some seriously delicious food and played at the Planetarium.

This would be my beautiful sister, Beth, sporting some very fancy alien-like sunglasses in the gift shop...after this pictures, she promptly put them back. (unfortunately we didn't get many pictures of our get away sorry...)

We also spent quite a bit of time visiting our grandparents who have recently moved into an assisted living facility in Bountiful, UT. It is a fantastic place and has really made life easier on them (despite what they will tell you sometimes). This was a big focus of our trip as my grandfather has recently been placed on hospice care. While there, we got to enjoy the many perks of their facility including the daily meat loaf, bingo and:Harry. The "town clown" as my grandfather calls him. Harry was making his daily lunch rounds when this shot was stolen. He goes from table to table telling his joke of the day, which was not particularly that funny. What was hilarious however was the fact that he was carrying two water classes with him (as you can see). One glass contained his vegetables, the other a chicken drumstick. It was quite amusing. He also lifted the spirits of the other residents, and that, is more priceless than funny.

Two days before we left my mom embarked on her own journey, though not an unfamiliar one and had her 3rd knee surgery in 13 months. This one, however, was a total knee replacement (the two prior "HemiCap" procedures did not work for her). If you, (like so many others) are thinking we are terrible daughters for leaving town two days after this major surgery, let me explain. She had 3-5 days of recovery IN the hospital following the procedure. Seeing as we would need to care for her when she got home, we let the well-trained nurses, aids and docs care for her on our little get away (where it was her parents we were seeing) and we were back the day after she came home from the hospital.Coming home was nice, but crazy because after that, it was time to jump back into work, taking care of kids and home, and now my mom. Thank heavens for big families, we were all able to pitch in and rotate taking care of her. She is doing well (thanks for asking) and will return to work next week :o)

Since the get away, we have been crazy busy as usual. I have recently added hours to my job as I can't keep up with the demand on the few I was working so that has meant more time away from the kids and home. This requires more balance of time and being more organized. Neither of which I have been able to come even close to becoming the norm. In between the craziness of Dr and therapy appts, work and school, we do manage to find time to be silly and have some fun (even if it's in an increasingly more messy home than usual):

Mickey's doing great as usual at work. While we have had cut backs and the company will be facing more lay offs at the end of the month, the Lord has assured us we are ok so we continue to have faith that this job is for the best right now. He continues to impress me with his stamina and positive attitude as this is not always an easy thing for me.

And me...well, here is a rare glimpse:

As of tomorrow we have exactly 9 weeks til due date. And I must admit, I'm faring rather well. It's interesting how each pregnancy not only feels different but looks different also. With PJ I swelled all over and found stretch marks in the strangest of places. Amiah just stayed this ball in front of me high in my ribs and this one (no we haven't officially picked a name yet) just keeps going further OUT. He stays low and very active but seems to just be poking out further every day. Luckily I haven't swollen much anywhere else too noticeably although I know it's coming. He does love to linger on my right side and poke a knee or elbow or something in my ribs while tickling my hip bones with another appendage. I am increasingly more grateful every day that while I have my own opinions about my body, the Lord has blessed me with one strong enough and capable to carry a child to term with little to no issues and give me strong and healthy babies. This I am finding is sometimes more rare than we realize and I am grateful for this (even if I do complain more than I express gratitude).