Random thoughts for Friday...

• I've already lost 21 pounds! Amazing! I'm even wearing some pre-pregnancy pants! So exciting! As long as they can go below the belly (belly is still pretty swollen), all is well! He, He, He!


• Grandma Paula and Uncle Billy are coming tomorrow! It's their first time here and we are very excited to see them! Hopefully Grandma Paula can make some sense out of all the bulbs that are growing all over our yard!


• We LOVE baby Reed! He is just so cute and so sweet! We are so happy to have his sweet spirit in our family! And the kids are loving him! Macy has turned into the best babysitter ever - and she's only 6. Not like we leave them alone or anything. But I can be in other parts of the house and leave him in her care and she is just all over him.


• Derrick is finishing painting the entryway - something I started when we first moved in. Our entryway is two stories high, so I painted as high as I could go and now he is finishing it. It's really nice to get some of the projects done around here. Now all we have left to paint are the kids' bedrooms, our bathroom, and the dining room - but we're really not too sure what room that is - it might become my scrapbook room/office. Then there's always finishing off the basement. I hope that will be our summer project.

Easter Surprise

Well, we're done! (Sorry we didn't post earlier - for some reason we couldn't get onto our blog space the whole time we were in the hospital.) We got an early Easter delivery of baby Reed (Derrick Reed Huckvale), who decided to beat the Easter Bunny for arrival. He showed up Easter morning at 8:28 am (still by C-Section, just unplanned), weighing in at a whopping 9 pounds, 8 ounces. Really don't know where I was hiding him! He's very sweet and has a head full of red hair - also don't know where that came from. All of our other kids have been bald! And his is like a dark reddish-auburn! Auburn? Don't they know we have blonde kids? We are loving him, trying to adjust to having a baby in the house again, and the kids are all over him!

Almost done...

3 more days to go... not like I'm counting or anything! The car seat is in the car, D has almost figured out the new camera, the Easter Bunny is kind of ready to come on Sunday, and Chad and Luke have taught Grandma how to bowl on the Wii (there is a championship going on right now!). Life is good at our house (especially once my feet are back to their normal size!). Now, if only we could pick out a name.

Happy Easter everyone!!!

Other people do care...

So D went out yesterday and bought me a new camera - some high-falutin' Nikon that I now have to figure out how to use. I'm excited about it! I love cameras! But it's big, and has lots of buttons and knobs and stuff, and you have to actually look thru the view thingy to see what you're taking a picture of. It's an SLR camera (still not too sure what that means... even though D told me), so more to figure out, but I'm excited!

And yes, Ira, I did paint the bathroom (well, most of it!) blue yesterday - 9+ months pregnant! And it went ok. I've done a lot of painting while pregnant... if you consider that we moved into this very white house while I was already pregnant.... and I'm not such a fan of very white houses. Consider it my form of nesting! Doctor said it was ok as long as I was in well-ventilated areas. Thanks for the love Ira! Appreciate it!!! :O)

Some people just don't care...

So, as mentioned in a previous post, Haley broke my camera back in the beginning of March. I sent it to Canon, to get fixed, thinking that I was doing the right thing. It said it would take 7-10 business days and they would send it back all better. So, it's now been about a month, and they still have my camera. I just called them, and they were like, "oh, we had to order a part from overseas and we don't know when it will come in...". I'm like, "I'm having a baby next week, and now don't have a camera. Anything you can do for me?" They tell me that they can refund the money that I've already paid ($137.03) for my "fixed" camera, and then pay to get the next camera, an upgrade ($175) which really isn't a bad idea, except that they won't even mail it out to me for 3-5 business days. Do they not care that I'm having a baby in 5 days? Apparently not! I asked them if they could email me a voucher or something so that I could just go out and buy the upgraded camera, and they're like, "no, we don't have that capability". So now, I'm camera-less. I will have a camera... just not too sure where it's going to come from. Just wanted to vent a bit! Have to go and paint a bathroom now before my energy completely wears out! Grandma Helen is coming tomorrow and we are excited to see her!

Showered with love...

So, last night my sister-in-law, Susie, and a friend from church had a baby shower for me. I was really nervous about it for some reason. We've lived here for about 7 months, and my sister-in-law invited all these people I don't know really well. It was making me feel weird - like they were only invited so they would bring me presents. She kept saying they were all nice people and I should get to know them, and only those that wanted to come would come anyway so not to worry about it. Well, there turned out to be about 10 people there (including a college friend, Lori, who I haven't seen in about 10 years - Hi Lori!) - and I was perfect with that. They were all people that I knew and liked! Much more comfortable for me!

So anyways, I got lots of cute outfits and other stuff, which was really nice. I'm having a hard time with boy clothes too, because they're not pink, ruffly or have bows. After only having baby girls for the last nine years, baby boy clothes are an adjustment for me. My friends proved to me that there are cute baby boy clothes out there... I just have to keep an open mind about it!

The car seat went into the car the other day. Crazy! Trying to get Haley to adjust to sitting on the other side of the car. She doesn't seem to care, but it makes me a little sad.

One final note, wanted to say hi to my mom! Found out she reads my blog, so "hi, mom! Looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks!"

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

So, today is my birthday - 36! Gosh, I'm getting old... and having baby #5 in a week and a half! Crazy! I woke up this morning to the house decorated with streamers and balloons, and breakfast being made by wonderful D! Now, I just have to ignore the mess left from the whole thing because I refuse to clean on my birthday! Then, on to the doctor's office, and the hospital for some testing, then a scrapbook store, and now I'm just hanging with the kids. Tonight we are going to P.F. Changs - a FAV! - and I told the doctor that I was eating whatever I wanted to!!! Gotta enjoy it sometime! Have a super my birthday!

Ok, so I so wish that my camera was back from the camera doctor, because the more I look at Chad, the more I am sure that he is part Leprechaun! Between his crazy hair, the freckles going across his nose, and his strange sense of humor with all his funny accents (including a really good Irish one), he could totally be a Leprechaun! Just gotta get him to wear a whole lotta more green!

Happy St. Patty's Day! everyone

Top o' the morning to you all! We just finished eating our green eggs, green pancakes, grapes and bacon for breakfast. Everyone was a bit turned off by the eggs, but they tasted pretty darn good. This is what happens when you have a giant leprechaun living in your house. We also set our "leprechaun trap" last night and were very happy to find a huge pot of gold - reese's peanut butter cups, rolos and almond kisses - turned upside down in our trap this morning with a note stating that we would never catch the leprechaun but he would share some of his gold with us. It's always fun to have some magic in your house... and a WalMart that's open 24 hours a day nearby so that you can go out and buy some gold when you don't have any already at home! Have a super St. Patrick's Day! Remember some of the magic!

Scrapped to death!

So on Saturday, and part of Friday morning, I went to a huge Scrapbook show in Portland - CKC-Portland. It was a lot of fun! But, when I originally signed up, back in November, I think, I didn't realize that I would be in my 9th month of pregnancy and not such a happy camper. After being cooped up, sick, in the house all week, I was so excited to go and spend some "me" time taking some scrapbook classes and making fun projects. I lasted til about 3:00 on Saturday, with still 2 more classes to go. I pretty much crashed in one of their hallways, then waited for the remaining two classes to start, went in, got my kits, and then left. Got home about an hour early, and was so wiped out and grumpy, I just wanted to be left alone! And then on Sunday, we went to church and I spent the rest of the day pretty much in bed sooooo, soooo tired! Just wanted to vent a bit (again)! Back to normalcy today - cleaning, doing laundry, chasing after Haley and Cooper. Have a super day!

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Ok, so kill me now!

So, being in my 9th month of pregnancy, I'm already achy, uncomfortable and grouchy, but now add bronchitis to it, and I am one really unhappy camper! Sorry... just wanted to vent a bit. I hurt all over my back and hips, and now I am constantly holding my belly because I am coughing so much that I'm going to pop my overwhelming belly button and this baby is just going to come flying out! Somebody better be ready to catch him!

And poor little Haley isn't feeling so hot either, and Macy's been running a fever off and on. All the poor girls in our household are just having a rough time right now. If you're a girl, I'd stay away!

Oh, and random side note, Haley broke my camera last week so I had to send it to the Canon factory to get it fixed. Yikes! Lukie had a fun birthday dinner on Sunday with some family, and no pics to speak of! That's ok, we'll get some when we have his birthday party!

Scouting for fun?

First off, Happy March everyone! March is good. The year is already into swing a bit, hopefully the rain will be ending, or at least slowing down a bit, the flowers are starting to bloom - which I LOVE, Luke will be 9 on Sunday!!!, and I only have 5 weeks to go!!!

So, I spent my early afternoon at QFC which is an upperscale grocery store up here, sitting at a table selling girl scout cookies. Never done that before. I was there all by myself, because those silly Girl Scout people scheduled us to be there from 1-8pm, and the girls don't even get out of school until 3:30. So, now there are lots of girls there, hopefully, and they will sell more cookies - I sold about 30 boxes in 2 hours. Not too bad, but not great.

So then tonight we have the Blue & Gold Dinner for the Boy Scouts. It has a Hawaiian theme and they want us to dress up in Hawaiian gear, flip flops, the whole deal. A little hard when it's like 40 degrees outside and raining. Luke will be advancing to Bears, so that's exciting, and Chad will be getting a bunch of awards.

As far as Hawaii goes, we decided not to go. Darnit! Too pregnant! Funny thing is though, I had a scheduled C-Section on April 6th, the last day of our Spring Break, and then the Drs. office called the other day to say that the dr. decided to go out of town that week, so they are moving my C-Section to April 9th. How inconvenient for me! And I really don't like that date! Oh well! I tried to talk them out of it, but they were determined.

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To Hawaii or not...

Ok, so totally random. First, sorry I haven't blogged in a while, just been busy, crazy, tired, achy, very pregnant. Those are all of my excuses! Only about 6 weeks to go! Yee Haw! Not sure I want him out, but really want my body back!

Anyways, back to the point of this blog. D came home last night and said that he found a deal on the internet - Portland to Maui, only $150 each way per person!!! Only problem is, you have to travel before March 22, about 2 weeks before our C-Section. Well, I asked the doctor if I could go, and he said it would be ok, so we might be heading to Hawaii in the next few weeks. Probably not, but the thought is nice!

Hair today... gone tomorrow!

The side she didn't get.
After

So, while she was supposed to be taking a nap, Haley was really playing "beauty shop" with her own hair. She found some scissors and managed to cut off half of it (and leave it all over our bedroom floor!), before she was done. Needless to say, I was very upset when I saw her (she's never had her hair cut before - other than her bangs by grandma) and I cried. She told me that she would put the hair back on later. Yeah, if only it was that easy. So much for having her pictures taken next week.

How many names does one dog need?

So, after a week of pretty much being nameless, while actually, having a different name every day (Joshua - that was the name the pound gave him; Barley, Murphy, Copper, Colby, Riley... ) we finally settled on (DRUMROLL PLEASE...) Cooper!!! Much to Luke's annoyance (he really didn't like it!), D went to WalMart and had a name tag made, so now the dog is officially named Coooper. YeeHaw! Hopefully the baby won't have to wait a whole week to have a name!

Only 8 more weeks to go! Planned C-Section on Friday, April 6th!!!

Now, back to the dog, if only I could potty-train him. Haley was a lot easier. The dog loves to be outside, will take long walks, smell everything, but hardly ever goes potty outside. Then, once we get back inside, he pees on the floor. It's driving me crazy! So, if anyone has any great suggestions (besides getting rid of him - he really is cute!), please let me know!

OK, so call me crazy...

(I'm sure you already do...), but meet the newest member of our family! Yet to be named, we can't decide, but he is a 2 1/2 month-old Yellow Lab, who already weighs 30 pounds (he's bigger than Haley whose almost 3!) and is going to be huge. Other than that whole potty training thing (finally got Haley potty-trained! WhoHoo!!! Now just gotta figure out how to do it to a dog), he's great! He's sweet and clumsy and totally puppy and the kids love him. He came as a surprise to D, not necessarily one that he was happy about (he wanted a medium-sized dog, not a GIANT!), but we are all loving him and are happy to have him in our home.

Our dog Baloo, is happily living in LA with Uncle Billy and his dog, Kiki. Baloo is getting older, and was starting to have a rough time with the kids, so even though it broke our hearts, we knew that it was for the best, and Kiki loves her new friend, so it's worked out for all.

Almost made it...

Well, with only about 2 1/2 months of pregnancy left, it happened again. I am once again diabetic (gestational). Could be the fault of all the potato chips, coffee ice cream, and m&ms that I've been living on... g, ya think? Oh well. The benefit (if there is one) to being diabetic during pregnancy is that they put me on a diet which really controls what I eat. I will have to eat TONS of protein - and that's about it! - but at least in Haley's case, she was much smaller (7'7" compared to 9'3", 9'4" and 8'8")than the other kids when they were babies, and I only gained about half the weight (20 pounds compared to 40)... so gotta love that part! Hate the needle poking 3 times a day (and no SUGAR!!!), but as long as the baby and I stay healthy, that's all that matters!

YeeHaw!!!

They're finally going back to school!!! After having Monday off, then Tuesday, Wednesday AND Thursday were Snow Days... they go back TODAY!!! They're driving me crazy (only Macy really - she gets bored so easily and needs to be entertained. And for some reason, my suggestions to clean her room just don't cut it!)!!! Even then though, they have late start, which means school doesn't even begin until 11! So after a week of no school, the only day they'll go will only be for 4.5 hours! Crazy! I never had a snow day as a kid. Rumor has it though, that they will have to make up the days in the summer. Then we'll see who's laughing!