Sweethearts

Wow, it is a miracle. I am actually posting on the blog again! These past three-plus months have been...well...really bad. I am so happy to say that it is getting better! I have more energy now, and am only throwing up once or twice a week instead of once or twice a day. I have tried to go off the Zofran a couple of times, but I immediately start throwing up and feeling dizzyingly nauseated, so I am still taking it and feeling very grateful for it! Also, it is getting easier to eat. For the past three months every bite was an obstacle and it took loads of energy and patience to get through a piece of bread. I am now able to eat at a normal pace and it all goes down pretty well (with the exception of dinner sometimes).

I am going to be slowly catching up on the past few months. I have some pictures, but much less than usual, so it shouldn't take me too long. The pictures in the next several posts are from OCTOBER!!! My dear, sweet, talented friend Shelley took these for me and I LOVE them! The main purpose of the photoshoot was to get a family photo for the Christmas card (which she did and it was wonderful!). I also asked her to take a few shots of me with each child. I am usually behind the camera so I don't have many pictures of me with my kids. Jackson tries, but when he grabs the camera I am usually resistant because I don't feel like I am presentable (vain, I know). Anyway, Shelley did an amazing job and I will treasure these pictures forever! I bought a frame for each child that had openings for two pictures. I put one of me and the child and one of Jackson and the child in each frame and put them on their nightstands. They LOVE them!

Finally, let me record how wonderful Jackson is. This week is spring break for my kids and we all wanted to go somewhere fun. We decided to go to Denver because my sister and her little family live there and also because there was a short work thing that Jackson needed to attend. In my previous two pregnancies traveling has resulted in contractions and spotting. There have been no problems or warning signs so far in this pregnancy, so we decided that we would plan stops along the way and see how things went. As the day to leave drew closer, I felt increasingly uneasy about going. Finally, a day and a half before our planned departure, I told Jackson that I didn't think I should go. We talked about different options and Jackson said that he would just take the kids himself and ask my sister to watch our kids while he went to his work thing. So...I am here in my house all by myself. They left Wed. morning and will be back today (Friday) late afternoon. I haven't been this relaxed in a long time. I have slept in, cleaned the house, gone out to eat with a friend, walked to the nursery and leisurely browsed everything I wanted to, gone to the library and sat at a table with a huge pile of cookbooks and stayed as long as I felt like it, sat outside on the swing and read a book, worked on pictures, organized the desk and various shelves and cupboards, listened to two sessions of general conference and heard every word, gone shopping and didn't buy much but enjoyed looking in peace, made bread, yogurt, granola, and garbanzo beans, researched different products for our new deck,.......

I am sure the car ride was stressful for Jackson, but he didn't mention that. When they arrived in Denver he took the kids to the Art Museum. They are going to the zoo today. I can't imagine he is anything less than exhausted, but he hasn't complained or commented on that at all. He just keeps telling me to not do too much, to enjoy myself, and to not get too comfortable without them. :) All through these past difficult months he has made breakfast every morning, made Thomas' lunch and gotten him to school, put the kids to bed almost every night by himself, and done anything he can think of to make things easier on me. I am very lucky. He is wonderful. I want my kids to read this in the future and know what a good man their dad is.