Myrtle Beach

WARNING: You will be sick of looking at us by the end of this post.  Well, if you even make it that far.... dun, dun, dun!  Oh, and I talk about poop in this post, too.

Since we haven't done too many fun things as a family (and since I'm in the ever so lovely 2nd trimester) we took a two day trip down to Myrtle Beach (a tourist trap at the northern tip of the South Carolina shoreline).  One of the best parts about living in Raleigh is living halfway between the mountains and the beach.  It's the best of both worlds. 



The kiddos were pretty excited.  As they get older they get better and better at car trips.  We didn't even pop in a DVD for them on the way down.  They were awesome.  Don't mind Skyler wearing Lil's sunglasses.  That kid is so sensitive to light (like his mommy) and I managed to lose his aviators about a day after I bought them a few months back.  It's a good thing Lily's good at sharing...



The next few pictures were taken at my favorite spot at Myrtle Beach: the aquarium.  So don't mind the bad quality pictures.  Cheapo camera + being in an underwater tubey walkway = really bad lighting for pictures.

 We were tickling the sting rays and sharks.

 My favorite part about the aquarium is getting to pet the sharks and sting rays.  Unfortunately, the pool is about 3 feet deep and Lily's toddler arms weren't quite long enough to reach them, though she did try for a good 20 minutes.  Ben and I were lucky, though.

First of all, you should know that back in the day I had no problems with horseshoe crabs.  I'd pick them up even thinking they were cool.  But years have passed and when I watch someone pick one up and their little crab legs try to get ya from under the shell, oh man, those things are CREEPY.  I would get the willies anytime I was around one.  Now, I'm an animal person, I really am.  But there are some animals (tarantulas, snakes, komodo dragons...) that fall under the "Don't Come Near Me" category.  Horseshoe crabs have been under that category for the past few years, so I finally decided to conquer my fear and pick one up.  And I made Ben document it, too.  And I may or may not have dropped that thing as soon as I saw the flash.

 Skyler and I giving each other kisses through the giant fish eyeball.  Now there's a sentence I'll never say again.

 Sometimes I've got to make Ben jealous.  Keeps the romance alive, right?

 Since Lily was unsuccessful at petting a stingray inside the aquarium, we took a pic of her petting a statue of one just outside it.

 As we walked around the boardwalk, we stopped at the coolest candy shop in the world.  You could get a huge box of NERDS that had 52 servings.  I mean, that's awesome.  Unless you're me and you know my embarrassing NERD story.  That story.... not so awesome.  Another day, perhaps.  These "lollipops" are actually spun marshmallow.

 The beauty of Myrtle Beach is that hotels are dirt cheap during the off season (although it was in the 70's while we were there.  Happy February, y'all).  So this was the view from our hotel room.

 Another one of the beauties?  Most hotels have heated indoor and outdoor pools/mini water parks to keep you happy all year long.  This is Lily in our hotel's lazy river.  Just hop on a float and glide with the current forever.

 Just minutes after taking this picture I had an official "Mommy Moment."  Skyler walked up to me and looked uncomfortable.  It took about a half second to realize that he had some brown liquid dripping down his legs.  Ben got out of the lazy river and watched Lily so I could run Skyler up to our 8th story hotel room.  Ah, the joys of running a toddler with diarrhea through a busy hotel lobby and having to wait an eternity for an elevator.  Nothing can quite compare to when someone says, "Oh, isn't your son so cute!  Look at his.... OH MY GOSH!" as they point at the poop running down his legs.  Oh, motherhood.  You never cease to amaze me.

 Then we spent the morning on the beach.  And here is my sad confession: we live a mere 2 1/2 hours from the beach and this was my children's first experience seeing the ocean.  Someone slap me.

 My version of taking a picture with a dead sea urchin.

 Ben's version of taking a picture with a dead sea urchin.  We weren't 100% percent sure if it even was a sea urchin, and we weren't sure if they could hurt you when they are dead, either.  So we played it safe and held it in a shell.

 Then a few minutes later Ben found this beauty. 

 And he picked it up and made the kids touch it when I wouldn't.  Gag.

 Then some horses came by and one of the riders asked if the kids wanted a ride.  Since Lily has some serious guts, she hopped right on up.

We ended the trip by doing what everyone does at Myrtle Beach: going shopping at the outlet malls.  We got some pretty sweet deals getting clothes for the kids, though they didn't think it was that fun.  It's a good thing they have these little rides placed 50 feet apart all the way down the mall. 

When "Mommy Moment Episode II" happened in The Children's Place, I knew we were done.  I ran Skyler out to the car and many wipes later he was a happier boy. 

So now we're home.  And we're much better rested.  And we're eating homemade food again.  And Skyler hasn't pooped all day.  Life is good.



The Prophet Said to Plant a Garden, So That's What We'll Do

Skyler is a Mama's boy and Lily is a Daddy's girl.  It will be interesting to see how #3 turns out. 

Last year we tried our hand at gardening.  We wanted to see what the quality of our soil was on its own, so we just added a little extra topsoil and nutrients.  We had success growing the plants, but very little success with getting the fruit from the plants, although we did get a lot of cantaloupe and green onions.  Our soil is pretty horrible.  So this year, things are changing.  On Saturday we built a raised garden wall (and when I say "we" it should be obvious that Ben did all the work, including fixing Lily's "help").  Next we'll get a bunch of topsoil delivered, and then it'll be time to mix in all the compost we've been working on for the past year.  Then, finally, it'll be time to seed.  Phew.  Wish us luck this time around.  And we're going to need it.  We've almost doubled the size of our garden this year so that it stretches across most of our backyard.  It'll be 48 feet by 6 or 7 feet.  That's a lot of food for this little family. 

On the list of things we're excited about are: getting new blueberry bushes from the farmers market, harvesting a bunch more cantaloupe, growing way too many tomato plants so that I can can approximately a bazillion jars of marinara and salsa, and finally having a chest freezer (a Black Friday find) in the laundry room to freeze veggies for the rest of the year. 

As weird as it sounds I think that gardening is one of the biggest perks (to me) about owning your own house.  I'm looking forward to learning things all over again this year.  Although I'm pretty sure that my enthusiasm will fade slightly when I'm 9 months pregnant and weeding in the middle of humid July...

Good Friends

It was a couple of Mondays ago when I was on the phone with a good friend (and neighbor, and Relief Society President, and giver of the adult valentine in the previous blog post, I should add), and mentioned that the kids and I were spending the day at my parents' house 25 minutes away.  This happens a lot.  All four of us pile into our one car at 7:30 in the morning, drop Ben off at work, and then the kids and I head over to Nanni and Papa's house to play. 

That particular night was our scheduled Daddy Daughter Date Night at Chick-Fil-A so we went there as soon as we had picked up Ben from work (and they even gave Skyler free ice cream so he wouldn't feel left out!)  And then we finally got home around 7, the kids' bedtime.

I opened the door and WABAM!  I was hit with the smell of cleanser and the first thing I noticed were the piles of laundry stacked on my kitchen island -- towels, the kids clothes, Ben's clothes, etc. all washed, dried, and folded.  The floor was swept and mopped.  The dishes done.  The living room that had been left in a post-hurricane-like state that morning was picked up and vacuumed.  Surfaces sanitized.  Bathroom cleaned.  Laundry room organized.  Countless junk piles vanished.  (Okay, I realize I'm not giving myself such a great reputation, but let's get real, this was exactly how our house was).  Even the kids' toy room downstairs was reorganized in a much more sensible way than I had it arranged before.  Goodness gracious.  Sometimes I just need someone else to show me these things...

If anything could sum up the drastic change in our house, it would be what Lily said the moment we walked in: "This is our house?"  Apparently so... I was in a state of complete shock for about 20 minutes before I could actually talk. 

Now, no one will admit that they were the ones who did this for us.  BUT, we have a fairly good idea of who, especially since the only way inside was from the keypad on our garage. Nevertheless, our gratitude is the same.  Sure I was on bed rest.  Sure I was collapsing from pinched nerves and severe dizziness multiple times a day.  But that doesn't necessarily mean that someone had to come and clean my house for hours. 

Then this week I also got a care package from another friend filled treats and activities for the kids to do while I'm resting.  Seriously!  What's going on here?

I can't imagine life without good friends.  Ben and I have always been so grateful to be friends with such wonderful people who go above and beyond the norm.  It's true when they say that "friends are family that you choose." 

A Recipe (or 2) for a Rocking V-Day

 You know it's going to be a good day when some friends stop by to bring your kids valentines and then you realize that your own friend left an "adult" valentine for you.  *ahem*  Yep.  That's my valentine y'all.  Luckily Ben doesn't feel too threatened by a piece of paper.

I really really really love Valentines Day.  Every single year that we've been married we've done a 2 course fondue dinner (thanks April for the fondue set you gave us for our wedding!)

 Step 1: Make weird looking French bread.

Step 2:  Chop up veggies and bread.  This may not look like a lot, but this casserole dish is the equivalent of a 9x13 pan.  I think I got a bit overzealous.  Onions, peppers, broccoli, bread, and mushrooms were on the menu.

 Since we have kids with toddler length arms, they each got a custard cup of cheese to dip their veggies in.

Then it was time for dessert.  Jumbo marshmallows, bananas, and strawberries all dipped in chocolate.

By the end of the night Skyler was trying to eat the rest of the chocolate in his custard cup with his fondue fork.  Knowing that he wouldn't give up until it was gone, I handed him a spoon so that he wouldn't be sitting there for eternity.  Dinner was scrumptious.

In case you're ever interested in doing your own fondue, here are my 2 (super easy) recipes:

Cheese Fondue

1/2 C. Butter

1/2 C. Milk

16 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

seasonings

In a pan on the stove, melt butter and milk together.  Add shredded cheese while stirring with a whisk.  Add seasonings (I added dill, parsley, garlic powder, salt, and pepper). 

Chocolate Fondue

12 oz. chocolate chips (use your favorite brand.  The quality of the fondue reflects the quality of the chips)

2 Tbsp. shortening

Microwave in a glass bowl for a minute.  Stir.  Keep microwaving and stirring in 30 second increments until melted.  Should only take 2-2.5 minutes.

*This is the same recipe I use for making chocolate covered strawberries.  Simply wash and dry the strawberries.  Dip them in chocolate and lay them on a wax paper covered pan.  Refrigerate for an hour or until hardened.  Never pay lots of $$$$ for chocolate covered strawberries again.  I've made this for a few receptions.  It's fail proof.



A Pretty Lengthy Update and Medical Background

16 Weeks 0 Days (although pregnancy pictures never do my big belly justice)

I figured an update might be appreciated.  I went to my "qualifying exam" on Friday.  Baby is healthy.  Pregnancy is healthy.  But are they going to take me on as a patient?  They don't know yet.  I'm pretty sure they're just watching me like a bomb right now and if anything risky pops up they'll get rid of me ASAP by referring me to a high risk clinic.  They're going to have me come back but they're also making me do some other appointments at the hospital.  Don't ask.  I don't get it either.  The one plus is that we'll be finding out the gender on March 5th.

Here's my weird dilemma.  Dilemma #1: my insurance is horrible.  Doctors don't want to take on patients with it (oh little did I know.....)  Dilemma #2: This pregnancy is perfectly healthy, so high risk clinics tell me I'm not high risk.  Dilemma #3:  My last pregnancy was high risk so regular OB/GYNs don't want someone with my history.  I'm sitting in a perfectly horrible middle situation.  I'm basically the hot potato that people don't want to be touching for too long.

Meh.  It'll work out.  I have a strong feeling that if my current doctor won't keep me, I'll at least be seen by somebody for the rest of my pregnancy, even if it means that I have to keep switching doctors. 

I know I only ever wrote one post about the details about the complications with Skyler's pregnancy.  The details in that post weren't even enough to make sense, so I want to rewrite what happened so that when I'm 70 I can remember how everything worked.  Feel free to skip if you are very familiar with my story.

Just after finding out I was pregnant with Skyler, I thought I was having a miscarriage.  I was sicker than I had ever been in my life, and had a few other symptoms of losing a baby.  I went in to my old OB/GYN's office and he informed me that I was still pregnant and he did some blood work.  Skyler's blood (O+) had mixed into my bloodstream (O-).  I got a Rhogam shot immediately and started to feel the sickness alleviate the same day. 

From then on, I saw two OB/GYN's because my original said he had never dealt with someone like me in his whole career (he was middle aged) and so he referred me to another who had seen it 2 or 3 times, therefore making him the specialist in the area.  I saw both regularly (the second I saw weekly), and my arms were constantly covered in bruises because I had to undergo multiple blood tests every week. 

The problem with Skyler's bloodstream mixing with mine was that my body created a bunch of antibodies to protect itself.  The antibodies would supposedly stay in my bloodstream for the rest of my life and make it nearly impossible for another future baby to ever survive a whole pregnancy.  I would have miscarriages or stillbirths, but the odds of having a baby make it to the end were slim, and each pregnancy would be worst than the last.  Their goal was to maintain the antibodies and make sure that they could not multiply.  They told me that it's not possible to just get rid of antibodies.

When I was somewhere in the 25 week range a perinatologist who specialized in my problem was flying out from England to visit a few of the Northwestern states.  He was going to spend a couple of days at the hospital in Idaho Falls so my doctor made an appointment with him. 

Luckily, my antibodies were being maintained so well that I didn't have to get amniocentesis and give Skyler a blood transfusion in the womb.  The idea of needles that big were a nightmare for me, so I was thrilled when I learned that I barely got out of that situation. 

When I was about 30 weeks my OB/GYN walked into the room with a stunned look on his face after looking at my blood results.  He told me that ALL of my antibodies had disappeared (when that's not scientifically possible, according to him) and that I would have no problem having children in the future (hence why I've made it to 16 weeks already). 

I strongly believe that my antibodies disappearing was nothing short of a miracle.  I bawled like a baby on my drive home that day and acknowledged that Heavenly Father's hand was what made this happen. 

BUT, seeing how I've lived the impossible, doctors still view me as the person who will eventually and repeatedly have problems with antibodies attacking my babies.  Thus my struggle with doctors at the moment.

Let me just say for the record that this pregnancy has been quite the experience for me.  A spiritual one.  Maybe I'll write more about that down the road, maybe I won't.  But this much I do know:  I feel like I already know this child to a degree, and I know that everything will be fine.  This one isn't going anywhere. 

Thank you for your love, support, and prayers.  I was really touched by how much people really do care.

We Need Your Prayers

I normally feel like a blog is a place to keep a journal that can be shared with those who care about us.  But at the moment we are in desperate need of prayers, and so since there are so many of you who read this blog I figure that I'm going to use that as a tool as well.  Here's the story:

In the beginning of my pregnancy we were having insurance problems that put me off from going to see a doctor.  After those insurance problems were resolved I finally got in touch with a doctor who was willing to accept me as a patient.  However, he has a massive amount of patients so I had to set up my first appointment for a few weeks down the road (my first appointment was actually supposed to be today).  But yesterday afternoon they let me know that he and his office partner are splitting up and so he has to get rid of a bunch of his patients, including me. 

So I have spent my time since looking for a new OB/GYN.  When receptionists tell me enthusiastically that they ARE accepting new patients they survey me on my past pregnancies.  When they hear all about my pregnancy with Skyler (a really badly complicated pregnancy) they quickly inform me that they "are full and that they can't take on any more patients."  I translate this as: "You're high risk.  We don't want you."

I finally found one doctor who is willing to give me a "qualifying appointment" where they would run tests on me and get more details about my pregnancy history.  Depending on how high risk they think I am, they will either accept or decline me as a patient. 

I am at 15 weeks and I still don't have an OB/GYN.  Last week I had to go to the ER because of some minor complications and they put me on bed rest and medication.  I'm starting to get a little nervous, but I know Heavenly Father wouldn't let me get pregnant just so I couldn't take care of my baby when I am desperately trying to. 

So any prayers in our direction would rock.  I only ask this because I have great faith in prayer and I think that this is very prayer-worthy.  The Lord has blessed us in so many ways that it almost seems selfish to ask for more blessings, but then I remind myself that this is for my child, not me.  And he/she is worth it.

Randoms

Enjoy this pic I took on our trip to the mountains back in October.  [Insert excuse for not snapping photos for the last while here]



• Lily has finally given up on her 6+ months plea to play in the snow.  I think it's fairly safe to say that we won't be getting any this winter.  I mean, it's only been in the 60's (and one day this week, the 70's) for a better part of this "winter."  Ugh.  I am desperate for snow.  And yes, I do love snow.  Now Lily's asking to go to the pool and the beach. 
• I lost 8 pounds in the first month and a half of my pregnancy and I've gained about 7 of them back at last.  Fortunately, my cravings have been somewhat healthy.  Not the chili cheese dogs and nectarine smoothies that I craved with Lily, or the spicy anything that I craved with Skyler.  For now it's just lots of fruit and lots of cheese with crackers. 
• I got to see the baby for the first time this week.  Very wiggly.  Very Macbeth.  Very healthy. 
• Ben got a promotion that included a nice-sized raise.  We're pretty ecstatic about it.  What an awesome hubby.
• Skyler has finally figured out how to use a pillow as a pillow instead of a stuffed animal as a pillow.
• Although Ben adores having fish, I hate it.  I find it very emotionally draining.  I'm constantly looking to see if one is dead, and if they're not dead, they're having other health problems.  I feel like having a dog was easier than fish.  Gosh.  Oh, and we have a pregnant guppy.  I make sure she gets extra food because she looks unhappy when she doesn't.  I've been there.  We pregnant girls have got to stick together.
• Our friends rock.