Our little Sea Otter :)

Nola started her first swimming lessons this summer!!

She started in a class called 'Sea Otter'. It's pretty basic - blowing bubbles, front floats, back floats, putting their head under water, ect. How did Nola do? Well, I can tell you she was excited to go everyday! She talked about swimming lessons alot and seemed to have a positive experience. The first class was awesome, however in the second class, the teacher dunked her head underwater. From that point on, everytime the teacher went to touch her, Nola flipped. She only cried hard a couple of times, but when the teacher came toward her, she panicked and tried to get out of the pool. Poor little dear - she was terrified! I tried to ensure her that we would not make her put her hed underwater again, but she was still so nervous.

Fast-forward to the next week, we come walking in and see that she has a new teacher. My first thought, 'Great! Now she'll be scared of the new teacher and things will be even worse!' Well, I couldn't have been more wrong. Nola's new teacher, Kurtis, was PERFECT! He and Nola had a little connection - I am pretty sure Nola has now experienced her first crush! I think Kurtis was pretty smitten with Nola too :) She took to him instantly and she was no longer nervous! When Kurtis came to her, she went to him with open arms! It was so awesome to see. She still didn't put her head under water, but she improved 10-fold! She will have to do 'Sea Otter' again (maybe a couple times) but I am SO proud of her!!

My big swimming girl!

The Sprinkler Park :)

This last week, my Mom and I took the kids to the Spray Park, or as Nola calls it, the Sprinkler Park :) Nola didn't dare run though the water, but she ran around the edge through the mist and played in the flower bed with her stuffed tiger. Robbie was a little more adventurous - there were some other boys playing there and he played right along. We had a nice little pic-nic afterwards. I sure love my kids!

27 weeks

WEEK: 27
CRAVINGS: Pepsi slurpees and 7-11 Hot dogs. Oh, and 7-11 Pizza Subs...it's dangerous for me to go there!
WEIGHT GAIN: are you ready for this? +15!! I have gained 14 lbs in the past 6 weeks! Dr says I'm still on a good track, thank goodness. I nearly died when I stepped on the scale.
MOVEMENT: I have been getting some crazy hard jabs and ALOT of rolling around. I couldn't fall asleep because he/she was moving so much!
BABY'S HEART BEAT: 160
UNPLEASANTRIES: Gas... Oh. My. Gosh. It's so bad. I was a little nervous that I was going to kill Doug in his sleep with all the fumes. Back pain has also been a killer.
BABY SIZE: a head of cauliflower (Holy crap, that's big!)
MOOD: I seem to be leveling out a little bit, but I am still pretty emotional
WEDDING RINGS ON/OFF: on
TRIMESTER: I start my 3rd trimester next week. What?!?! Time is flying by!
CLOTHING: I have had the priviledge of 'graduating' out of my small maternity clothes, and now am enjoying the comfort of medium and even some large :)
THINKING ABOUT: I find myself spending alot of time just thinking about baby. I really cannot wait to meet him or her :) I am SO excited for baby stage again!!

I choose light

Where to start...

With all of my pregnancies, I have struggled emotionally. With Robbie it was worse than with Nola, with this baby it is worse than with Robbie. The hyperemisis does not help, but even now that I am feeling better physically, I still feel a dark, empty void inside. To be honest, it really freakin' sucks. My life is beautiful - I couldn't ask for anything more. So why on earth am I SO sad? So angry? So empty?

The answer: hormones.

I have prenatal depression. There, I said it. It's real. It's hard. But I'm going to be OK. Why? Because I choose the light.

In April 2013, our church held its semi-annual General Conference. It is a live broadcast from Salt Lake City, Utah, where the Prophet, apostles and other church leaders address all the members of the church. They share thoughts and lessons on what they feel we need to hear. The Second Counselor of the First Presidency of the Church, Elder Dieter F. Uchdorf, gave the most beautiful talk. His talk is entitled 'The Hope of God's Light,' and it has taught me such a beautiful and basic truth.

There is darkness. There always was, there always is and there always will be. It's a reality. But everything has its opposite, which means there is light. There always was, there always is and there always will be.

WE get to choose where we dwell.

So, I choose light.

There may be much darkness around me...heck, much darkness in me, but I will continue to choose to find the light and dwell there. I love my children, they make me smile everyday. I love Robbie's quirky sense of humor, the way he scrunches up his nose, the fact that he always has time for a Mommy snuggle. I love Nola's capacity to love. Her family and friends means the world to her. She often tells stories about Eva and Eleanor, how they are her best friends and that she loves them. Before bed, she makes special spots for all her babies to sleep in and makes sure we read them all their favourite books. Even though she can challenge me, I know without a shadow of a doubt that she loves me...a lot. I love my husband. Doug is my strength, my companion, my team mate, my best friend. He knows me and loves me - even the parts I wouldn't dare show the rest of the world. He reminds me how to be a kid, how to laugh and roll with the punches. He completes me.

My testimony burns within me. I know God is real. I know He loves me and is mindful of me. I never need to feel alone or lost, even though somedays I choose to. I believe in the Atonement of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I am trying to learn, each and everyday how to apply the Atonement to my heart, to change me and help me grow. I am grateful for my testimony.

Remember, always remember, we choose where we dwell.

Robbie - 21 months!

Weight: 22 lbs. He's in the 4%! Such a peanut!
Diaper: 5
Clothes: 12-18 months
Loves:
Toy: recorder, play phone
Song: Blue's Clue theme song!
Food: Yogurt
Game: Chasing and tickles
To do with Mommy: Kisses and snuggles
To do with Daddy: Wrestle
To do with Nola: Wrestle. He climbs all over her!

Love you big buy!

Canada Day long weekend!!

We had the BEST Canada Day long weekend. I worked on Saturday, but when I was done we headed down to Fernie to do some camping. My brother has a huge lot next to his house and last weekend, my folks brought their trailer down and parked it there. So, that where we were! Once we got there, we unpacked and cooked up some hot dogs for dinner. After we ate, we went 'exploring'. The kids brought along their buckets and we went for a walk along the river. The kids would stop and collect their 'treasures'. Nola picked ALOT of flowers and found some crow feathers. Robbie picked up rocks. It was really cute - Auntie Sarh picked both Nola and Robbie a flower and each of them popped it into their bucket. After Robbie put his in bucket, he took about three sets, stopped dead in his tracks, walked back to where Auntie picked it, pulled it out of his bucket and threw it on the ground. Haha, no flowers for him!!

We figured we wouldn't get the kids down until is started to get dark out, so around 10:30ish we got the kids ready for bed. Nola went straight to sleep, but Robbie?? The kid was up until 2:30!! He was happy as a clam - ready to party! We finally let him cry himself to sleep - Nola handled it great :) Guess what time the little turkey boy woke up the next day? 7:00am!

The next morning we just took it easy. We went on a couple walks, ate some breakfats and played outside. Rob was ready for a rest around 11 - thank goodness he napped! While we was napping, my Mom showed up. Doug stayed back at the trailer with Robbie and Mom, AJ, Sarah, Nola and I went to BP's for lunch. After we got back, Rob was up and we headed over to the lake. Our original plan was to go to Tie Lake, but we didn't feel like driving, so we went over to the man-made lake in town. Due to the flooding, the sandy beach was all mud and rocks, but the kids didn't care! They played in the mud and water until Doug brought out the water guns. Nola was in HEAVEN! She had a blast spraying everyone, especailly Grandma!

After the lake, we went for a drive up to Coal Creek and Doug did some dirtbiking. The kids and I went exploring and then stayed in the air-conditioned van and watched Dora :)

That night, GG, Dave, Margaret, Steve and Laura came for dinner down at AJ's. It was super delicious - porkchops, potatoe salad, tossed salad, corn on the cob and chips. We had a great visit and the kids went down great! Yahoo!

The next morning was wonderful - we all got to sleep in! Nola slept until after 9am! I got everything packed up in the morning, just in case we had to leave in a hurry. After getting packed up, we headed over to GG's to have breakfast. All of the Canada Day celebrations were being held in the park right next to GG's house, so we decided just tot walk over there. Once we got there, we found a little piece of shade and ate some cake. Next we went to the sandbox, where the kids played for 20 minutes or so. When I informed Nola it was time to walk around, she flipped....like, totally flipped. She had a HUGE fit, which resulted in us heading home. Really, it was for the best. It was a zillion degrees outside and everyone was exhausted and started to feel sick. I sure was glad I got all packined in the morning!

*You can tell from the photos how flush we all were - and we had only been outside 10 minutes when these pics were taken!*

We were kind of bummed that we didn't get to do much celebrating for Canada Day, but as we drove through the Pass, we noticed their celebrations still going on at the spray park. Nola was now happy, so we pulled over to play. It was th BEST afternoon of my life! Honest...it was perfect. All four of us ran through the spray park together, danced to the live music, played in the sandbox and the kids got to play in the bouncy house. We were all happy, just enjoying one another company. It was one of those afternoons that makes it all worth while!