Out With The Old, In With The New

As we celebrated the completion of 2012 and welcomed 2013, we decided to do it with style. 

Say hello to the newest member of our family.  We are now the proud owners of a 2007 Ford Freestyle.  We are so glad to have it.  Buying a new car is always a complicated process, but being in a wheelchair seems to make it even harder.  Not only did we need to find a car that would be big enough to fit our growing family, but we had to make sure it wasn't too high for me to get in and out of comfortably.  This car is the perfect solution.  It's called a crossover vehicle, so it's about as low as a station wagon but it seats 6, which means that it will still work for our family if we have another child after this one.

Of course, it wouldn't be fitting if we didn't mention this wonderful car.

Our trusty Chevy Tracker.  Bill and I bought this about a month after our marriage, and it's been with us ever since.  It's seen us through 2 children, 3 pregnancies, a cross-country move, several trips back West, temple trips, and many other wonderful memories.  We were all very sad to have to say goodbye, but we hope that its new owner will be as happy as we were, and we are looking forward to making new memories with our new car.
 

Christmas 2012 highlights

As you can see, we had a lot of fun this year with Christmas.  We made TONS of treats including candy cane brittle, cookies, cake balls, and more; opened presents (Will's favorites were a set of Legos and a magic set); had what is now our tradition of candy cane coffee cake and hot chocolate for breakfast Christmas morning; and spent some fun time with Bobby and Susan's family.  It seemed, as it always does, that the time before Christmas went way too slow, then in a snap everything was done.  We are sad to see 2012 go, but looking forward to all the amazing experiences that 2013 will bring: a new baby, Will being baptized, Bill passing his prelim, and many other fun and exciting adventures.   

First Piano Recital

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that Will started piano lessons at the beginning of the school year.  A friend of mine gives lessons out of her home for a very reasonable price, so I jumped on the chance to get Will started.  A couple of weeks ago was Will's very first piano recital.  He played two Christmas songs and did a great job for his first time playing in public.  One really cute thing that I feel I ought to record happened a little before it was his turn.  I was sitting next to him, and I could tell that he was getting increasingly nervous.  He took out his music and pretended that his lap was the piano so he could "practice" his songs.  It made me smile to see that small bit of dedication at doing something well.

"Up On The Housetop"

"Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" (Side note: There was an error with the original video, so this is an audio clip with still pictures from the recital.  The other people in the video are Will's piano teacher, his best friend, and his friend's sister)

The budding musician

Random pregnancy thoughts

I'm not the type of person to share my innermost thoughts on this blog.  Usually it's just a place for us to share the happenings of our lives and post cute pictures of the kids.  However, today I've been thinking about a few things related to my pregnancy and I felt like sharing them, if not just to have them on record. 

1.  This pregnancy seems 10x harder than the last two.  I'm sure I've got selective memory or something and I'm not letting myself remember the bad parts of the last two pregnancies, but this one seems to be so much harder.  First of all, I've been sick pretty much nonstop for the last month.  Bronchitis, sinus infection, stomach bug, etc.  And as I'm sure other moms can attest, being sick AND pregnant is worse than just being sick or just being pregnant.  It seems like it takes FOREVER to get over an illness.  It's caused me to be lazy, unmotivated, and grouchy, which is no fun for my poor family to deal with.  Bill, of course, has been endlessly patient with my mood swings, and has picked up the slack a number of times with either the housework or taking care of the kids.  Luckily I haven't had things like morning sickness or other pregnancy-related problems to deal with on top of all the illness, so I guess I should be grateful because it could be worse.  Still, I'm looking forward to being healthy again.

2.  I'm more fearful and nervous about this pregnancy.  With Will I was super excited and ready to tackle motherhood head-on, mostly because I didn't know what to expect or what I was getting myself into.  When we had Kayla I thought to myself "Ok, I can do this.  2 can't be that much harder than 1, right?"  There were obviously things we had to change when transitioning from 1 to 2, like figuring out rooming situations and buying more things, but it seemed manageable (again, I probably have selective memory, but that's how I remember feeling).  However, with this pregnancy I'm a lot more nervous, stressed, and overwhelmed.  For example, after the fiasco with Kayla's birth (24 hours of labor with no epidural, followed by an emergency c-section), I'm more worried about what this delivery is going to be like.  We're doing our best to prepare ahead of time and talk to the right people, but I'm still super worried.  Second of all, for some reason I've been thinking about where I will be (and where Bill will be) when I go into labor.  I don't know why this is making me nervous but it is.  I keep thinking "Ok, what if I go into labor during the middle of church and everyone sees me freak out" or "what if Bill is teaching his class, or is in the middle of a meeting and can't get home in time and I have to deliver at home or go to the hospital in an ambulance."  And of course there are the fears of how the kids will adjust to having a baby in the house.  Both Will and Kayla can be super hyper and crazy at times, and I worry about how the baby (and I) will handle that, especially on the days when I am sleep-deprived, or the baby is sick or something.

3.  I'm worried about me.  Like I said before, I've been really grouchy and moody during this pregnancy, and it doesn't always have to do with being sick.  I'm pretty sure I've got some sort of depression, plus being overwhelmed with housework and taking care of my family.  I know that some of my problems are probably my fault, because I'm not always the best at making sure I get enough sleep or that I get the right nutrition, but it just feels like life is spinning out of control at times and I don't know how to stop it or slow it down.  I've asked Bill for priesthood blessings a few times, and I try to pray and stay close to the Spirit, but there are days when all I want to do is sleep or veg and let my family take care of themselves.

Now in writing all this, I don't necessarily want people to feel sorry for me or write an epistle in the comments on how to deal with these problems.  I am excited about having this baby and seeing how she fits into our family.  Mostly I'm just venting and writing things down for posterity, especially if Bill and I decide to have more kids in the future.  Getting these things off my chest makes me feel a little better, so I think this post was mostly for me.  You are welcome to comment, call, email or visit if you feel the need.  I do appreciate it when people try and make me feel better.  Thanks for listening.   

Happy Halloween!

If you can't understand the words of the song, here's what it says

Old MacDonald had a ghost who lived behind a post.
On Halloween he came to play.  He scared the kids away.
With a boo, boo here
And a boo, boo there
Here a boo, there a boo, everywhere a boo, boo
Sun came up, the ghost ran fast for Halloween had passed.

Will's 7th Birthday

Amazingly, even with having a child whose birthday falls less than a week before Halloween, we've never thrown Will a Halloween-themed birthday party.  Until this year.  It was chaotic, noisy, and exhausting (at least for me and Bill), but I think Will and his friends had fun.

GAMES
There are so many Halloween games you can play that it took me a while to find ones that were age-appropriate and wouldn't take a lot of time planning or executing.  We started off with a little dance party to Halloween music.  This allowed the kids to jump around and get wiggles out, as well as let Bill set up for another game.  Unfortunately all the pictures I took of them dancing were too dark or too blurry.

Then we had a game I guess you could call "Build the Skeleton."  We divided the kids up into teams, gave them a bunch of paper bones, and had them put the skeletons back together in the right order.  It ended up being boys vs. girls, and the boys were super fast.  That may have to do with the fact that Alice, Kayla and Esther weren't really into the game, but who knows.

  

The next game was the classic "Doughnut on a String."  Whether accidentally or not, Bill made the strings a little too high for most of the kids, so it was really funny watching them try to eat the doughnuts. 

After all the doughnuts had either fallen off or been eaten, we resurrected an idea from last year and had the kids make spiders out of Oreo's and licorice.  This was by far the most popular activity of the party. 

Then it was time for presents.  Will received a number of nice gifts, the most popular being related to Transformers and Star Wars.

And finally we had cake and ice cream.  Will requested a pumpkin cake.  I've always struggled with making and decorating cakes, so I was pretty proud of how this one turned out. 

Here's a picture of Will and his friends.  Among the bunch we had a princess, a dog, two Transformers, a skeleton, a giraffe, and a Power Ranger.

And here is a picture of Kayla enjoying the remainder of her cake and ice cream amidst the aftermath of the chaos.

Happy Birthday Will!

Looks like the boys are about to be outnumbered

Introducing Baby GIRL Evans!

We got the ultrasound this morning and everything looks great.  Brain, heart, kidneys, spine, everything is as it should be.  The tech called her an active little turkey because she was moving around so much, but she eventually made it into the right positions for us to see what we needed.  When I picked up Kayla from the babysitter and told her she was going to have a little sister I saw her smile, which made me even more excited to have a girl than I already was (I was secretly hoping for a girl, Bill of course didn't care either way).  We can't wait to meet her in a few months.  Next step: Finding a minivan!

Family Update

It's been a while since I've done a family update.  There's been lots of exciting stuff happening lately.

Kayla:
-Potty training - She is about 90% there!  She is doing awesome with most of it, we just need to work on a couple of things.  So proud of her.
-Preschool - Kayla will be going to the same preschool that Will went to starting in a couple of weeks.  It's called Little Maroons and it's run by Child Development classes at a local high school.  Kayla is excited that a couple of her friends will be in the same class.
-Mommy's helper - One of her favorite things to do is sit beside me (and Bill when he's around to help) and help us make dinner.  She especially loves helping to cut things like vegetables and fruit.  She also loves helping with laundry, picking up toys, and making her bed.

Will
-School - Hard to believe we have a child in 1st grade.  One of his best friends is in his class again this year.  The biggest excitement of the new school year is that he gets to ride the bus.  He goes to the bus stop with Bill every morning, which is great for all involved :)  He's a fabulous reader and loves to learn.
-Piano - Will started piano lessons a couple of weeks ago.  His teacher is a friend of mine from the stake.  He doesn't put up too much of a fight with practicing each day, and he's learning things very quickly.
-Swimming - During the summer Will took swimming lessons.  We got lucky and found someone who lives near us who was teaching at the pool in our complex.  So nice not to have to drive him to lessons every week.  He caught on to everything so quickly that even his teacher was a bit surprised at how good he was.

Bill
-Research/Teaching - Bill's research continues to progress, albeit a bit slowly.  He still really enjoys his group and his adviser.  I finally got to meet his adviser and the group a few weeks ago and was really impressed.  He definitely lucked out.  He's teaching a class 3 times a week this semester, which is going to be an adjustment for all of us since 2 days a week he has to catch a bus before 7 am.  
-Calling - A few weeks ago he was called as the 11-year-old Scout leader.  So far there is only 1 boy in the troop, but by the beginning of next year he should have 3 or 4 boys.  It's a big responsibility, but I think he's excited to be involved with Scouting again.  And he's gotten Will excited about Scouts too, because Will wants to be just like Daddy.

Kristin
-Pregnancy - I am almost halfway done with my pregnancy.  We find out next week what the gender of the baby will be, so we're really excited about that.  This pregnancy is a little odd, because I'm not really having any symptoms except extreme exhaustion.  I finally started feeling the baby move this past week, which is always fun.
-Calling - At the moment I have two callings.  I am the Relief Society secretary and also the Relief Society pianist.  They are trying to find someone to replace me with the piano so I can focus on being the secretary.  I love being part of a presidency because I've never been in one before.  The calling itself is a bit more stressful than I was anticipating, because there is lots that I am in charge of, but I enjoy it and I love getting to know the sisters I work with.               

Obviously that's not everything that we've been doing lately, just some of the highlights.  Our life is kind of crazy and stressful at times, but everyone is healthy and happy and enjoying life. 

Special Annoucement

If you've been on my Facebook page in the last 24 hours you've already seen this announcement, but for everyone else, Bill and I would like to announce that we are having a baby in early February.  I am almost 13 weeks along, feeling pretty good, and we are all very excited.  We told the kids last night, and immediately Kayla came up to me and gave the baby a hug.  And Will has already decided that, if it's a boy it should be named Ryan and if it's a girl it should be named Megan.  We are looking forward to this new adventure in our family.   

8 is great!

Today Bill and I are celebrating 8 years of marriage.  I've been trying to think for the past few days of what I could say that would convey how I feel about him, about marriage, and about our life together so far.  I've had a hard time coming up with the right words, but I found a couple of songs that I thought might do the job.







Happy Anniversary honey!  We've had our ups and downs, we've been through a lot, we've had some amazing experiences, and I wouldn't want to go through any of it without you.  I love you so much!