Am I done yet?

That is how I feel now that I am 35 weeks pregnant!  The doctors are estimating that the baby is already 5 pounds and will gain between 1/2 and and 1 pound a week from now on!  Monster baby!  No thank you!  The weekly stress tests and fluid checks have now begun to make sure everything is still good with me and the baby.  The first one was today and everything was fine.  However, I did gain 4 pounds over the weekend!  I really hope that is water!  My face and filangies look fairly normal as do my ankles.  Uh oh!  The heartburn is constant and my belly feels like it has stretched as far as it will go!  I am so glad this is our last one!  Can I get an amen anyone?

Grinchy Christmas

I'm not gonna lie, I feel like a Grinch this Christmas.  I am totally having a pity party, so if you decide not to read this post, I understand. 

It has not felt like Christmas at all to me this year.  I have been working so much I have not had time or energy for anything Christmas.  I haven't been involved in ANY music this season and that is really what makes it feel like Christmas to me.  I love singing the Messiah, going to Holiday Dinner, conducting the ward Christmas program, preparing a piece to sing for a recital that is Christmas related.  It makes me so sad that I have not sung really at all this season.

All my kids, and husband, have talked about have been gifts.  What we are going to give and what they want to get.  To be honest, I don't even really want anything.  I take that back, what I want this year is to be able to rest and relax, be with my family, make Christmas goodies for our friends, go caroling and revel in the goodness of my Savior.  I feel like our Christmas has become too commercial.  It has not been Christ-centered.  Maybe that is my fault.  I just want to feel the joy of the season.  I hope that happens when I go down to San Diego to spend Christmas with my family.

Okay, I'm done now. 

A grateful heart!

I am writing this post in the hopes that I will stop focusing on all that is wrong in my life and realize that I am so blessed.  It takes a consious effort!  So here goes!

#1 We went through a tornado that damaged one of the windows in our home that needed to be replaced and because of the broken glass our carpet had to be ripped out.  Blessing:  We have hated our carpet and have been wanting to replace it and now we can do it for free.  We were able to replace the carpet in our dining area with beautiful ceramic tile thanks to Jake and his brothers.  They did the install and it turned out awesome!

#2 My growing baby has a single umbilical artery.  It can cause developmental problems.  Blessing:  Lord has blessed this baby to be growing the way he should so far.  I am grateful he is healthy so far.

#3 We needed a bigger car and refuse to have a payment(thank you Dave Ramsey).  Blessing:  We found a minivan with 88,000 miles on it that might work.  So we tried to sell our Sorento.  We placed an ad and it sold in 24 hours for $5500.  Exactly what we had been hoping for.  We went to the dealership with the minivan we were considering and offered $5000 total all taxes/fees for the van.  They countered with $5610, I countered with $5500 and they accepted!  New car with tons of room, no car payment!

#4  As of Monday the 22nd we will have spent over $2000 repairing our vehicles.  Blessing: Because we have been doing the Dave Ramsey Total Money Make Over, we have had the cash to pay for those repairs.

#5  Three days after we bought our van the check engine light went on!  Blessing:  It is under warranty still so we can take it in to find out what is wrong and, hopefully, get it fixed for free.

Additional blessings in my life are many, but I will name a few.  I have a good job that allows me to be very flexible with my schedule.  My MS is under control right now.  I have 2 beautiful boys that I adore and that give me so much love in return.  I have a husband who gives so much to me and who loves me despite all my faults.  He is always looking for ways to serve me and make me feel loved and valued.  He is the perfect eternal companion for me.  I have the best brothers, sisters, in-laws, parents(step and natural), step-siblings(although I think of them as my real siblings), nephews, nieces, cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents and friends!  I am so blessed with so many wonderful people in my life!  Great, now I'm crying!  Well what do you expect from a hormonal pregnant woman?! 

I think my grateful heart grew a few sizes today!  What are you grateful for?

And you thought your week was bad.

Wednesday morning I awoke to the sound of high winds and heavy rain and hail.  It was about 5:15am.  Jake was at work, Sean was asleep in bed with me and Kurtis was asleep in his room.  The wind was becoming more intense and the house groaned in protest.  Then the whole house started shaking.  Being a California native, I thought "earthquake", but I knew that was not what it was.  I sat up in bed and pulled Sean close to me, ready to run for it.  It sounded like a roaring train and I thought our roof was about to be ripped off.  The power went out and, being in Bellemont, it became pitch black.  The shaking stopped, but the wind, rain and hail continued.  Kurtis burst into my room crying, shaking and saying that his window had broken.  I hugged my boys and reassured them we were safe.  The first thing Kurtis asked was if we could say a prayer.  Of course.  We had a prayer. 

After the prayer, I said, "I think that was a tornado." I couldn't see anything outside it was so dark.  I took the boys night light downstairs to get another flashlight.  I heard voices that sounded closer and clearer than they should have been coming from our dining room window.  As I moved closer I saw all the glass.  I put shoes on and went into our backyard.  Both fences were severely bowed and one almost completely torn down.  I then saw the roof of our shed on the ground in front of our window.  The tornado had ripped the roof off the shed and thrown it against the window.  I went around the house with the flashlight to make sure everything else was still intact.  Other than the window and fences our house was okay.  Many of our neighbors; however, were not as fortunate.  I will post pictures of where we were soon, but this is the destruction from the tornado in another part of the development.

Both houses in this photo had almost all their windows blown out by the tornado and part of the roof ripped off.

This is our friend's boat that was catapulted into another friend's house above her son's bedroom.  They got out in time before the ceiling collapsed over all three bedrooms.

This is another friend's home.  They must have been in the eye of the storm at one point.  From what their daughter relayed to me.  Everyone in that home was lucky to be alive.

I know without a doubt God was watching over the families of Bellemont.  There were no major injuries, not even the woman who was picked up and thrown 5 houses down by the tornado!  There were a few broken bones and some needed stitches, but that was it.  I will post more photos soon.  We just praise the Lord that we were held in the hallow of His hand that fateful morning.

Halloween, an excuse to dress slutty. UGH!

Why is it that whenever Halloween comes around all the costumes for women are slutty?  Or at least the ones you find in the store.  You have to make it if you want a modest costume.  It's cheaper anyway.  I just took a peek at the costumes on the walmart website and so many have titles with the word "sassy" in it.  I'm sorry, but call it what it is, SLUTTY!  It makes me really grateful that I am having all boys.  I won't ever have to tell my daughter no when she wants to wear a "sassy" costume because all her friends are and because it's "really cute".

As for me, I am going to be Minnie Mouse, a pregnant Minnie.  Oh no Mickey!  I have a black maternity skirt that I am going to attach a tail and poka dots to and then where a red shirt and my Minnie ears.  Cost, $10 for the red shirt.  And I can wear the red shirt again.  So, no thank you walmart, you can keep your "sassy"(SLUTTY) Minnie costume.

This year we will have one Indiana Jones, one Woody, one pregnant Minnie, and if I can get Jake to cooperate, one Mickey.  It's a Disney Halloween for us this year.  How about you?  What are you going to be?

I Feel 8 Again!

We are going to Disneyland in 5 days!  I haven't been there in over 4 years!  It has always been a favorite place for me.  I remember my parents never told us when we were going because that was all we would talk about until we went.  We would wake up in the morning and our parents would tell us we were going somewhere special.  Then once we were in the car the mystery would be revealed!  Oh my gosh we are going to the Happiest Place On Earth!

I have literally been visiting the Disneyland website every day this week looking at all the rides, shows and places we will eat and I just become more excited by the moment!  We will be there for 5 days!  My kids are so excited!  I think I might be more excited than them though!  I am the kind of excited when you feel like you can't contain it and you start to giggle because the excitement has to come out some way or another! 

I have to buy a memory card for my camera so I can bombard everyone with pictures when we get back!  Just in case you weren't sure, I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it!

 

Music Lessons

I finally think I found a way to make money doing music.  I know amazing!  I want you to tell everyone you know about this program and join if you can.  It's called, "Let's Play Music".  My sister in law Allison does it and loves it!  I am really looking forward to getting started.  Click on this link to watch a video about the program.  http://letsplaymusicsite.com/video/ If you live in the Flagstaff, Bellemont, Parks or Williams area and have children ages 4-6 and would like to take a FREE sample class please e-mail me at: jbarnum921@msn.com to secure you spot in one of my FREE sample classes.