We Haven't Fallen Off The Earth...

...we just had a very rough week and posting cute pictures of the girls got pushed aside. In fact, I don't know if any were even taken. But, hopefully, life will quickly resume to normal and the girls will once again, become the stars of our family blog.

Here's the story...

I went in for a routine prenatal appointment last Tuesday (13 1/2 weeks). My midwife searched for a heartbeat for a long time and couldn't find one. So, she finally decided to send me for an ultrasound.

At this point, I've got an over-tired baby and a very bored toddler, so I wasn't paying much attention to the ultrasound. To spare you all the details and frustrations, the final conclusion I came to was there was no baby (not a miscarriage because the baby died--no baby). The tech simply told me my doctor would call me. I'm not sure what to say to Morgan as she asks for pictures of her "brother", nor do I call Brian on my drive home. I just drive home, in shock, not sure what to think. After I call Brian, he came straight home.

Enter flowers (thanks, sweetie, they still look beautiful!):

Before I explain anymore, I have to brag about how helpful and supportive he has been over the past week and a half. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband! I love you, Brian!

Long story short, my midwife called later that day and let me know everything. There was never a baby and it is likely a molar or partial molar pregnancy. (For more information on this, click here) The doctor scheduled a D & C and told me I couldn't leave on my vacation the next morning, my trip would need to be rescheduled (or, in this case, cancelled). I went in on Thursday to have the procedure and wait a week for results.

Here we are, a week later and the doctor called with results. I had a partial molar pregnancy and have the wonderful opportunity (sarcasm) of getting weekly blood draws for the next several months to make sure everything is okay. Yippee! (sarcasm again)

If you'd like to contact us, please call or email. I'm not quite up to reading comments on our blog about this, so please don't leave any in response to this post. Thanks.

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Oh, and on a side note, the spring snowstorms we've been having have destroyed my tulips, so my mom and dad sent me these. It looks like that's all the tulips I have to enjoy this spring! Thank you, mom and dad!

Are You Sure It's Spring?

So, this is the second blizzard we've gotten this Spring, yet none the entire winter. After raining all night Thursday, all day Friday, and turning to snow Friday afternoon, here's what it looked like outside our house Saturday morning.
Morgan's sandbox (empty, thank heavens! That would be a muddy mess!) was quickly becoming an ice skating rink. Look at how much snow we got in a matter of about 3 hours Friday afternoon!

The snow stopped midday Saturday and turned back into rain. By Sunday afternoon, this is what was left. Brian told Morgan they could have a snowball fight after her nap. Only, there wasn't much to make snowballs with.

She's not crawling yet, just rolling everywhere! However, this isn't the first time we've found Sadie like this in her crib. I guess if it's comfortable...

And, finally, being stuck inside for 3 days straight leads to lots of lego creativity. Morgan wanted to build "Madison the doggy in Sandy Eggo" and then realized that Madison comes with Grandma and Papa. So, here you go. The lego version by Morgan and Brian

Three Is The Magic Number, Right???

So, I'm beginning to come to grips that we will be parents of 3 children by Halloween. Yes, we're expecting #3.

We're 13 weeks along now, and so far, this pregnancy has treated me very well. I haven't thrown up, and only dealt with mild nausea for a few days. However, this also means something else I've never experienced--weight gain in pregnancy. What's that?

Here's everyone's take on the news--

Brian: Super excited for another one. Despite the baby being due the week before his (hopefully) last actuarial exam EVER, he's super stoked! He's hoping it's his boy.

Morgan: She tells everyone that her baby brother is coming for Halloween (Brian told her it's a boy...). Not her sister. She already has a sister. It's her brother. More excited than anyone.

Sadie: Doesn't know, doesn't care. However, her 22+ lbs is hurting poor mom's aching back! Besides, she won't be quite 15 months, so as long as she's walking by October...

Mackenzie: Mixed feelings. I've got the hang of two down pretty well. I'm afraid a third might do me in! However, I'm glad our kids will be close in age and get to grow up together (I just now realized we will have 3 in high school at the same time!!). Also on the bright side, I'm getting a few home remodels done to accomodate this new addition, so I'm excited about that right now.

So, there you have it. Our big news. Although, I'm too busy and too tired to really do anything about it... However, we're accepting applications for visitors (i.e. help) when the baby arrives. Like I mentioned, it's a week before Brian's exam, so we're contemplating how to "disappear" so he can study. Any suggestions?

Easter Festivities!!

Each year, Brian's office has an Easter egg hunt. It's a HUGE deal. I mean, big enough deal that last year, he brought Morgan's Easter basket to collect his eggs and almost got disqualified. Yes, it's a big deal. His co-workers felt he had an unfair advantage. Oh, and the stakes are pretty big. This year, his team got gift cards for Chipotle, but in the past, he's come home with movie tickets, gift cards, money....

Here's Brian digging through the cupboards looking for eggs last week.

The ward playgroup hosted an Easter egg hunt this week for the kids. Here's Morgan, out on the hunt at the park.

Then, we dyed eggs. I'm so glad I put a shirt over Morgan to protect her clothes! Actually, she didn't get messy, it was Brian who needed the shirt!

Our egg decorating kit came with stickers, so Morgan personalized each and every egg. They were so beautiful!

This picture is to show her poor obsessive-compulsive future (well, I guess she's already showing signs). Notice she pulled off the stickers in rows? I guess it's inevitable with both parents that way...

And, our Easter breakfast. Morgan requested waffles. So, we had waffles, complete with blueberries, bananas, and strawberries. Yummy!

Oh, and in case you wanted to see how yummy they were, here's what our delicious breakfast looked like!

We're not done yet.

The girls had Easter baskets to open.

And baskets to play with.

And stories to read.

And Morgan had eggs to hunt for in the yard. She loved it!

Remember, we had hard-boiled eggs for Morgan to hunt. Listen to how they landed in the bucket. Not one came back unharmed!

We thought today would be a good day to update the family picture. We were hoping for a nice shot on the lawn at church, but the rain sent us into the foyer for a lovely "mugshot" as Brian calls it. Oh well.

Seeing as we have church at 1:00 this year, the rest of the day went as follows: Came home. Ate dinner (enchiladas). Put a crying 2-year old to bed around 6:15 (she was asleep by 6:16). And, that wraps up the day!

Chunk E Cheese's

Yes you read the title correctly. Morgan calls this place, Chunk E Cheese's. Oh well. It's still "where a kid can be a kid!"

We went to Chuck E Cheese's last night for family night. We all had a great time!

Morgan loved the carousel ride. In fact, when the ride ends, it says, "Let's give it another try!" And, each time, after it said that, Morgan would turn to Brian (the keeper of the money/coins) and say, "Another try, please!" Then, she would hold out her hand for another coin.

Sadie was a happy camper the entire hour and a half we were there. She just rode along in the front pack and watched us all have fun!

Of course, we forgot the camera, so this is our scrapbook picture of the memory.

Eating and Sleeping

I decided that our daily activities are pretty monotonous. We eat. We sleep. We play. I clean. Then, the day starts over again. I highlight the fun things we do to play a lot, so I thought I'd post eating breakfast and naptime, too!

Breakfast
Sadie has mastered the art of eating finger foods. We finally don't have to vacuum under her highchair after every meal, just once a day now. So, here's how she does it.

1. Smile for the camera.
2. Pick up the biggest piece of pancake you can find on the tray.

3. Shove the whole thing in your mouth. Yummm!!

And, as usual, Morgan wanted her picture taken. Here's how you reach for a sippy cup of orange juice (strangely enough, the only juice we can get her to drink).

Back to Sadie. Here's what a full belly looks like after pancakes for breakfast! Very satisfying! And, those are 18 mos. pants on her! She is a very well fed baby!

Naptime

For those of you that have a flannel blanket from me, you know they're not small. Well, neither is Sadie. But, she doesn't seem to mind sleeping with her feet sticking out.of her blanket.

Or out of the crib, for that matter. This is how I found Sadie during naptime today. Sound asleep.

And, this is how I found Morgan. It's a good thing we've had a cold spell because she insists on being "tucked in" with about a million blankets.

Snow Day

If you didn't hear, we finally got some snow in Denver. We've somehow escaped it all winter, and, now that it's Spring, we got hit with a blizzard Thursday. I'm over my bitterness of our flight being cancelled, but spent all day Thursday pouting. (Brian and I were going to go away for the weekend. But, we're rescheduling). Some 8 inches of snow later (all in about 10 hours), Brian decided to take a snow day Friday.

Here's our driveway:

And, the snow drifts in the backyard:Here's Sadie, cuddled in our bed for a nap. With it being so cold outside, we all just wanted to stay bundled like this!Morgan decided to pick out her own outfit over her pajamas before going out to shovel snow with Daddy:

Here's the snow removal crew, ready to brave the snow:

Morgan helped shovel the driveway. Wasn't too much help, but she loved helping!

The end result. A nice, clean driveway and sunshine. Thanks, Brian (and Morgan)!

A snow day wouldn't be complete without a visit to Morgan's Hair Salon. She always seems to get Sadie's (non-existent) hair just perfect!

Now, if only Sadie would sit still for her to comb it all!

And, we'd like to introduce you to Frosty, Morgan's Boy Snowman. Today, she came inside and said, "His name Frosty. He's not a 'dirl'. He's not magic. He's melting, so we took his hat and his nose inside. But, we lost his teeth. We can't find them."

Criminal Instincts...

Here's where we went for dinner tonight:

And here's how Morgan left:

I checked, there's no sign that reads, "All food must be consumed on premises." And it's a good thing, because, as we were winding down, Morgan grabbed a couple of napkins and, as she rolled up her goods, said, "I'm going to save these ones for later."

We looked at the half-eaten chocolate and apple muffins, the peaunt butter cookie, and the last bite of the ice cream cone (no ice cream), and thought, "They'll throw it away anyway, and if she's full..."

Then, we both laughed, out loud, wondering where our child came up with such an idea.

All we can figure is Morgan must think that because we usually leave other restaurants with to-go boxes, you're supposed to bring food home everytime you eat out.

So, Morgan proudly walked out of Sweet Tomatoes tonight, excited to save her food for a snack tomorrow. We just so happened to have the camera in the car. And it's a good thing. That's a pretty excited little girl breaking the rules!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'...

Sadie has officially mastered this skill. I'll leave her in a room and 30 seconds later, hear, thud! I'll go check on her and she'll be all the way across the room, next to the file cabinet, or the wall, or whatever else she happened to hit and then, consequently, stop at.

This is the latest way she sleeps in bed. I guess she's finally too old to swaddle.

And, I guess she's afraid she might roll out of bed, so she hangs on for dear life!

She's still a doll and, we've almost successfully eliminated the binky. I had a few hours of weakness this afternoon, but it didn't matter. She decided not to nap, with our without the binky. So, in a few more days, this sucker's gone! Yay! (Oh, excuse the pun, I didn't even realize it until after I wrote that)

The Park and Kaden's Visit

My friend, Chrissy, would put her two boys in the swing together and they loved it. So, I tried it out with the girls. It's a lot of work swinging 45 lbs, but they had a blast! This is definitely the way to get a work out at the park! And, it sure beats actually swinging myself. How could I have ever thought it was enjoyable as a kid?? As an adult, I lasted about 10 seconds and felt so sick!

Apparently all that swinging just wore Sadie out!

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This past week, my best friend, Lauren, was in town for a business trip, and she brought her 4 month old, Kaden, along. I babysat him everyday! Lauren and Travis are spoiled to have such a good baby! Disclaimer: Kaden's cheeks are very deceptive! He seemed like a featherweight compared to Sadie! After his cheeks, he's actually very long and kind of thin (not skinny, but not chunky, like his cheeks would suggset). Judging by the picture, I think Sadie approves of him. Well, either that, or she likes to smile for the camera.

Morgan was in heaven watching her "Baby Tayden". She always made sure he had a toy to play with and a hand to hold. She is turning into quite the responsible big sister.