Keep your SNIT to yourself...

My friend had this on her blog and i found it to be a very good read. Click the image to enlarge. If you haven't read my post under this one, please do. :)

{Your Experience}...Men you don't want to read this.

Okay, calling all ladies who have kids. This upcoming delivery of mine is a terrifying one for me, for a few reasons. I am terrified. I am having a Vbac. If you don't know what that is... I had a vaginal delivery with Gavin, but had a c-section with Tanner. This time i am attempting another vaginal. Vbac = vaginal birth after c-section. I am looking for stories, that will hopefully make me calm down and feel at ease. :) I would sooooooo appreciate it if some of you would take the time to email me your birthing stories. I would like to know if you had a Natural Birth, or had an epidural. If you had a Natural birth are you glad you did it that way? Why? If you have two kids could you tell me your experience with the first delivery versus the second one. Was it easier or harder? Faster or longer? Did you tear the first time and second time(and third or fourth)? Did you do anything to prevent tearing and did it work? Overall, i just want to know your overall experience with each delivery. What you did that helped you and what you wish you would have done and what you regretted doing. Also, did you ever go into labor early, and if so with which number child? Also, it would help to know if you are short like me OR tall....I say that only b/c it seems like taller girls go faster and have a slightly easier time(though it is still hard i know). Could you email me at ashspassion@hotmail.com with your stories! Thank you so much! This might help calm my fears a bit. Thank you ladies!!!!

{Shoveling and pregnant?}

Okay, first i must say, if you are pregnant don't try this. What i did i shouldn't have done, but i did it anyway. For some reason i take great pride in doing something i shouldn't be able to do and that most pregnant women wouldn't do. I like to prove that i CAN do something that most people think i couldn't do. For some reason i like being separated from the crowd, different, and unique. (Some might just call this stupidity rather than an attempt at being different) Now, having said that, i think that was partially what drove me to shovel our ENTIRE driveway yesterday. I think i was trying to prove something to myself really. There was AT LEAST a foot of snow. But the front of our driveway had to of been 2 feet at least b/c of the snowplow men. I intended to go out and shovel just the back patio area so that our rental car, and Shane, wouldn't be surrounded by snow. But after i did the back part i got to thinking "there is no way shane will even make it into our driveway if i don't shovel the front of the driveway." SO, i took on that task. It was actually quite difficult. Then i thought of the mailman. So, i shoveled where the mailman would be walking. Then i thought to myself, "aaahhhh, might as well do the entire thing. I want to surprise Shane." So, my back was aching, my muscles in my arms were aching, but i just ignored it and kept going. Towards the end i became numb to the pain in my back and arms. For some reason, i like a good challenge. :) And the times that i pick to take on a good challenge are really weird. So, i shoveled the entire driveway. We don't have a short driveway either. It is a longer one. I must say, after i finished i was so proud of myself for doing that. I knew the pain would be coming soon though. Shane came home shortly after and when he walked in he could see my red cheeks and messy hair and knew that it wasn't the neighbor who did it, it was me, his pregnant wife, that labored for a little over an hour shoveling the driveway. He was surprised and concerned and felt bad. It's okay though. It actually made me feel good to do it even though i could hardly walk all last night. Yeah, it hurt to walk. This morning my neck muscles and back muscles still hurt. I can't bend over. I am okay though....the pain will go away soon. :)
After i shoveled the snowplow men came by and plowed snow all back onto the front of our driveway....eeeewwww....that was frustrating. That snow up in the front is hard to shovel too. It is heavier. It is like a mixture of ice and snow. I went back to the front and shoveled again. Luckily it wasn't too bad though.

I thought about something while shoveling.... i like to watch PRIMETIME in the evenings. They have a series they call "What would you do?" When they do those series they have actors do things that just aren't right....For example:one scenario they have an actor slip some powder into into his dates drink when she was in the bathroom. AND he makes sure to do it when someone sitting next to him is watching this. They try to see what people would do if they encountered a situation like this and caught someone doing something totally wrong. Would they say something or just sit back and keep quiet? Good thing is, majority of people in this world are good people. Most people say something to the different situations that are presented before them. Anyway, i was shoveling that extremely deep snow at the front of my driveway. I am pregnant. Tons of Ford trucks with their hooked on snowplow drove by.... I thought, "What if it was more obvious that i was pregnant. Would one of these men offered to plow our driveway?"

{So Gavin}

A commercial came on t.v. If you haven't seen it it is an advertisement for the new 100 calorie pack oreo cakesters. It shows women screaming when they see the truck that carries these snacks. The truck is driving down a busy street and before you know it all these women are screaming and chasing this truck. It is funny. So i hear Gavin blurt out, "CRAZY LADIES!" It was funny. I have to agree. :)

Here we go again...

Yesterday i decided to attempt a run to the grocery store, without Shane, with both boys. Yes, i am lucky. Usually Shane goes with me to get groceries and it makes things easier. :) Well, i walk out to the car and start slipping and sliding on the icy snow. I didn't realize it was so icy! I almost fell a few times. I go inside and grab Tanner, carry him down the outside stairs and WHOOP i fell to the ground with Tanner in my arms. I was fine. It wasn't a hard hit and nothing hurt, it just scared me being that i am Pregnant! :) That was irritating and i was thinking, "why did i put on these dang shoes!"(I had on slip on shoes that aren't meant for winter). I ran back inside and put on my big heavy bulky winter boots. Get to the grocery store, load the boys in the CAR grocery cart. I am having a hard time the past week picking the boys up. I am still lifting weights and working out, but for some reason i am having a difficult time carrying my boys. So, putting them in the cart was tiring in itself...i know i must be a wimp. Whatever. Pushing them around the grocery store was hard because my boots were weighing me down and so was my belly. I was walking slower than i have in years. I was dragging myself. And the heavier the cart got the slower i got. hahaaha. I finally get to the cashier and she starts scanning our food. She says, "Do you have any weight restrictions?" At first i looked puzzled, like "what are you talking about?!" Then it clicked and i said, "Ohhh no, i am fine." She started laughing and said, "I just didn't want to induce you, unless you would like to be induced?!" I just laughed, trying to avoid what i KNEW was coming...something about my belly being big!! ha! She said, "Too soon still for that?!" I said, "Yeah, but when the time comes i would love to be induced!" Then, of course, she said, "What do you have, like a month or two left still?" HAHAHA! Here we go again. With Tanner when i was 6 months along a lady thought i was due any day. This time i am only almost 5 months along and the lady thinks i am 2-3 months further than i am. I said to her, "haha, ACTUALLY i still have until June." Now, if anyone can learn from this lady's mistake please do....pregnant women, at least myself and one's i know, are sensitive to the way they look when pregnant....don't make remarks that have anything to do with a pregnant woman's body other than, "oh you look great". Anyway, she said, "OH MY!" Yup. Thanks a lot. But then she replied, "Well, maybe its a boy", that reply somehow made it a little better, almost like i had an excuse for having such a big belly. I said, "actually it is a boy." Anyway, i honestly don't feel my stomach is that huge yet. If she thinks it's big now, i will have to go in there 3 months from now and get her response. She will probably not remember me and will ask me if i am having twins or triplets. :) That would be hilarious. I always get responses about my stomach, whether i am pregnant or not. When i am pregnant people think i get HUGE and comment about it( i don't mind the comments about my huge pregnant belly when i am not pregnant) :)....Then when i am NOT pregnant people ask me if i AM pregnant. 2 months after i had Tanner someone asked if i was pregnant. One year after i had Tanner someone asked if i was pregnant. So, i guess i will get comments about my stomach the rest of my life(well, up until i get my tummy tuck). It is okay though. My boys are definitely worth the tummy problems. :)

{Inauguration Day}

Yesterday was such a Historical day! I felt so inspired and hopeful by what ocurred. I loved Obama's speech right after he was sworn in. He spoke of hope, service, having faith, and unity. His speech had to of instilled hope in every American's heart who listened to it. I believe that he is what our Country needs right now. Our country has been going through a lot of hard times and he is bringing hope AND faith to us all at a time when we all need it the most. I am hopeful about changes he will make. This is an exciting time for our Country. I have questioned the fact that so many of us seem to think he is going to make this huge change. I have thought that so many of us will end up being disappointed b/c how could he make HUGE changes in such little time after so much damage has been done? Maybe we are expecting too much, OR maybe not. Maybe he can make the necessary changes we need. Either way, he is bringing hope and faith to America again, and that in itself will make us all a bit better. That hope and faith he is instilling in America will help to bring about necessary changes. I feel a spirit of unity in America right now. What an awesome time to be living in. And how awesome is it that we all were able to be witnesses to such a huge Historical moment! :)

Our three day weekend...

We went to Hocking Hills with some friends for the three day weekend. We rented this cabin for one night. It was awesome. There was a good sized hill next to the driveway that we went sledding down. The kids loved it. They got on Shane's back and went flying down the hill. After that we went inside for a nice cup of hot chocolate. :) The cabin was set back in the woods and we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. Thank goodness for our 4-wheel drive because we wouldn't have been able to make it up there without it. Shane and Tanner fell asleep on the couch together.

The kids loved playing downstairs. They watched The Land Before Time probably 5 times and ran around saying "Sharp tooth!"....i guess Sharp Tooth was trying to get them. It was funny. :)

We had a pool tournament. I love playing pool. We played cards, but i don't have pics of that. Cards are one of my favorites too.

Here we all are in the Hot Tub. Everyone got in twice. Once in the evening and once the next morning. The kids loved the Hot Tub. It was especially fun sitting in it when it is snowing on you and tons of snow is on the ground. It reminded me of growing up when my family lived in Oklahoma. We had a hot tub in our backyard and we would get in it in the winter time a lot. We would jump out and roll in the snow and jump back in the hot tub. I am not sure if any of these guys did that though! :) I didn't get in b/c i am pregnant. I missed out on that one. :)

Eating yummy taco soup for dinner.

We had a lot of fun and plan to go back again this summer so that we can explore Hocking Hills and do some hiking and go through the caves(after the baby comes, of course). The cabin was awesome. It was a true log cabin. I loved it. I could handle living in one. :)

I was thinking that i really hope our kids remember this stuff. I hope they remember the fun memories we are building with them. We try to do fun things together when we can. I feel lucky that we are able to do them and i know my kids are lucky to experience it. They just don't know it yet. :)

Being TOGETHER as a family and doing things TOGETHER as a family is what matters. I am reminded quite often of what really matters. And it is always that i am lucky to have a wonderful husband, wonderful adorable kids, and lucky that we are happy TOGETHER and love spending time together. If our kids weren't with us to experience new things it just wouldn't be the same. Most of the joy of doing new and fun things comes from watching their little faces and watching how much fun they have. Of course it is nice to get away on a vacation once a year just shane and i. :) But our kids are what matter. Family is what matters. Family is what life is about. If i had no one else in the world, as long as i had my family i would still be happy. They make my happiness. They make me who i am.

(Now, this doesn't mean that i don't get irritated with my kids or frustrated or need a break. Trust me. There are plenty of those times. But what i want my kids to know is that i have discovered for myself what really matters to ME. I haven't always felt it in this way. There is a difference in knowing it and actually feeling it. I know it and now i feel it.)

Baby # 3...

It's a BOY! Can you believe it? I can't. I am totally shocked. I seriously thought i was pregnant with a girl! For sure. I already had the names picked out to choose from, the bedding i wanted, the way i wanted the nursery to look. :) I should have known. We are so excited though. I noticed it was a boy before the nurse said it was. I thought i was noticing a little boy part and was like, "WAIT A SECOND!!! Is it a BOY?!?!?" in complete shock. Sure is. Oh my heavens, i thought. I am so outnumbered. :) But, i feel lucky b/c boys always love their momma's....with girls, you never know. :) Even thinking about it now i just can't believe it though. Three boys running around....hahaha...wow, this is a lot to take in. :) I am such a dork though. I already cleared out the room across from ours...moved everything out and vacuumed it and it is ready to be set up! :) A little excited, huh? :) I have a theory.....We aren't sure if we will have more after this baby, we have thought of stopping....BUT i want a GIRL before we stop. So, the Lord knows that. He knows how to work it. "Give her another boy b/c then they will have more kids." That is my theory. :) Really, deep down i want a big family. Truly. I think it is exciting and fun and rewarding. Family is life. How could i not want a big family? BUT i have feared not being able to handle too many pregnancies OR not being mentally tough enough to handle that many kids. I feel like i am getting better as a mom as time goes by though. And that is a good thing. I sure don't want to get worse. It is amazing how our children bring more JOY in our lives than anything we can experience...it can be the most rewarding job ever. Just the best. BUT it can be the hardest job on earth. Isn't it crazy how it can be the best job and yet the HARDEST job?! It is crazy to me. I LOVE the hardest job on earth.
Oh, and one more thing i want to blog.... When we couldn't decide whether we wanted a third one or not, i was stewing about it all the time. Basically, i was fighting it b/c i feared the pregnancy, the delivery, and the hard part of adding a third. I remember getting this overwhelming feeling to have FAITH that it will be fine. I got this feeling that the Lord knows my fears and that i need to have faith that he would help me through it. Shortly after, we prayed about whether to have a third one or not, and one week later we got pregnant. The feelings and experiences that have led to this moment have helped my faith grow in knowing that the Lord knows us and watches over us and helps us through tough times, which we don't always acknowledge until after we get through those times. :)

What's going on around here...

Lots of Baths...bathtime is their favorite. Here they are racing their cars.

And here they are making funny faces at mommy. :)

Brushing their teeth. They love brushing their teeth. Gavin got a new automatic toothbrush for his Birthday. It's a spiderman one. He loves using it.And here is Gavin working on someone's teeth just like daddy. He is drilling into the tooth and getting ready to fill it. He can make all the teeth, but he likes to make just a few and drill into them.
Shane brought home a similar set up and Gavin wanted to get his dental set out so that he could work along side Shane and be a dentist too. :)
And taking pictures....They actually want me to take pictures of them lately. I love it. They are old enough now to where they cooperate for the most part. So fun! :)
I need to take pictures of them dancing tomorrow. Every time i go down on the treadmill i blast the music while i am on there. The boys come down and dance all over the place. It is so cute.

As for me, i am feeling the baby kick more and more. I love it. I can't wait until Thursday to find out what we are having. Right away i am going to start getting the nursery ready. Nothing wrong with being ready early! :) It still feels great to workout. Shane and i love putting the kids to bed at 7:00 - 7:30 most nights and enjoying the evening together. And thankfully the boys like going to bed. They love sharing a room and get excited when it is time for bed. It is extremely nice. :)

Also, i would like to give away a free photoshoot. I have a feeling that this semester might be a bit dead, and i need to keep doing photoshoots, not just of my kids. So, let me know in my comments section why you deserve a free photoshoot. Whoever has the best reason why will get it. :) It might help if you haven't had a photoshoot recently. :) Even if you have had one recently you can still try for it b/c you could be the only one who leaves a comment for it! :) Yay, go for it. Try. I am excited to see who wants one.

Snowshoeing...

Snow dumped on Cleveland almost the entire day yesterday. Our friends called us yesterday morning to see if we wanted to go snowshoeing with them and we took them up on the offer. This was our first time snowshoeing and it was tons of fun. We had sleds with ropes hooked onto the front and we pulled the kids on the sleds while we walked. They loved it. And it was snowing the entire time so that made it a better experience too. I really wish i had some pictures to share. Whenever there was a little hill for us to go down Shane jumped on the sled with Gavin and went sledding down the hill with him. It was so funny to watch because Shane got a little wild trying to run to get a good start so that they could go fast down the hill, then when Shane jumped on Gavin's beanie hat came all the way down his face to his lips. He was laughing the whole way down even though he couldn't see a thing. It was so funny to watch. Tanner's little cheeks got so cold that they started turning purple. It wasn't too cold, BUT he kept trying to eat snow so i think that is why his cheeks were turning purple. Half way through we stopped at a bench on the path and we pulled out our snacks and our friends pulled out their hot chocolate for all of us to share. Then when we made it back to the hut where we had to return our snowshoes we sat down by the fireplace, poored oursevles some hot chocolate that the place provides and just chatted. It was so much fun and we can't wait to do it again. I think Shane and i will have to go on a date and do the cross country skiing there. They had lights all through the path and so it appeared that we could go when it is dark out, but the path would be lit. What a cool date that would be.

UPDATE...

I found the cinnamon Bears in Idaho. I was so excited. I put one in my mouth just anticipating the yummy-ness that would come - My mouth watering and enjoying every moment of every chew. Never happened. I was actually disappointed. They were chewy enough and soft enough...it was the taste. I remembered them tasting so much better. Well, it didn't satisfy my craving i thought i had for them, but the one thing that has been satisfying my mouth watering craving has been fresh pineapple, fresh strawberries, and fresh kiwi. When i eat those there is nothing on this earth that can beat the sweet juicy taste of that yummy fruit. Ohhhh so good. I couldn't ask for a better craving, really. :)
Also, i guess i never announced on here when our due date is....It is June 20th. I have a few friends who are due that same month, within just a few days of mine. How cool is that.

Catchin up...

Here i am 4 months pregnant. I feel like i look a lot bigger. When i see the picture i realize i don't look as big as i feel. Isn't that the way it always is though?! :) But most of the time i stand with bad posture, which makes my stomach stick out further and makes me look bigger. So, i need to work on my posture a bit. :) We find out next Thursday the gender of our baby. We are so excited. I cannot wait. As soon as we find out i will move my studio downstairs and start making plans for the baby room, which is just across from our room. I am glad about that b/c with Tanner, his room was upstairs so i always had to go up and down but now i don't! :) I know, i am lazy i guess. I am feeling pretty good. My morning and evening sickness have calmed down for the most part, but i am starting to feel more tired now. I am still able to workout, which definitely makes the rest of the day a good one for me. It makes me feel good. While Shane took this picture the boys really wanted a picture taken of them. So , i snapped a quick one and here is the result....Aren't they so cute? I always get a good picture when i don't try to get a good picture. :) I must brag on my boys. They are the cutest little things alive. I love them so much.And here is the Christmas card i put together. For it being my first, i am proud of myself. :) I actually just took a layout from another card and just changed the papers and colors. It was fun and easy. :) We really enjoyed Christmas this year. We were in Idaho with Shane's family and it was so much fun. It was definitely crazy because there are so many of us now. The next time we see them there will be two more bodies added to the family! Anyway, we enjoyed FOOD, games, talking, basketball(well, not me, but the rest of them did). We had tons of fun. We are going out to Idaho again in May. We bought the tickets BEFORE we knew that i was pregnant. When we go out i will be 8 months along. Yup. I don't know if i will be able to go though. I might let the boys and Shane go by themselves. It depends on how i feel. I definitely won't come if you guys truly plan on taking family pictures! :) No way! :) hehe. I will take the picture , but refuse to be IN it! :)

The boys had a good Christmas. Instead of naming everything they got i thought i would just mention their favorite. Gavin got the Nintendo DS lite...he LOVES it. He could sit and play that thing for HOURS. But we only let him play for about 30-45 minutes a day. Tanner, well, honestly i don't think he has a favorite. He plays with all of it and doesn't show much more interest in one toy over another. Well, i take that back. He loves his cars. By that i mean, CARS. We got him a lightning McQueen car, just a little one like matchbox size cars. He loves it. He loves playing with any kind of car or trucks or Transformers.

I took quite a few pictures for people before Christmas break that i still need to put up on my photography blog. I will post those soon. Oh the kids are so cute!!! I was also called to another calling....ward photographer. Exciting huh?! That means i go to all the activities and make sure i capture all the action! Then i have a whole bulletin board in the hallway of the church that i can use to post all the pictures on. I am excited about it. Somehow i am gonna have to KNOW when all these activities are. It seems like activities come and go and i never heard there was one in the first place. :)

Oh, and i am getting excited too. Gavin is starting to show signs that he is ready to stop using a pull-up in the night and ready to get up and go potty. He wakes up with an almost dry diaper. Makes sure to go potty before bed time and gets excited when he thinks he has a dry diaper in the morning. Soon he will be wearing underwear to bed. I am also excited b/c i am getting ready to potty train Tanner. He is ready. He can tell me he needs to go poo poo, he tries taking his diaper off, he doesn't like having a poopy diaper. So, he will be potty trained before the baby comes. That is exciting for me b/c that means all i have to change are little baby diapers. YES!