Pregnancy ain't pretty!!!

One would think that since I have spent the last five out of seven years pregnant, that it would be something that I enjoy! WRONG!!!!!
To me, the final result is beautiful, but getting there is so not beautiful. Horrible body changes, one step from being declared psychotic, body cramps, fattness, weird stares, belly buttons bigger than one's own boobs, no tummy sleeping, nasty smelling armpits, losing hair, gaining hair in stange places, oh I could go on for hours!!! My sis in law had asked me last weekend about doing "belly pics". Now, don't get me wrong, they are really neat for some people. But really, I don't care to remember being 40 lbs overweight with the world's largest outie. I will always remember laying eyes on each baby for the first time, and that will be the one and only lovely thing I will remember about each pregnancy. Oh, and don't get me started on the childbirth process- even nastier than pregnancy!!!

Balancing Act

(Before the shower- I know, no smiles, but one of the only pics we have together!!!)

Sunday was an interesting day for us!!! My sweet niece, Carrissa asked me a few months ago if she could have a shower for us. Although this is baby #5, she really wanted to do something since we didn't have anything because of the fire. So, we headed into town for the day. The kids were having a blast opening presents and eating cake. The hostess had a pool at her house, so all week the kids had been planning their big swimming day. As they all ventured out to the pool, Aiden of course started running around the sides, making me a nervous wreck. All of the sudden, I began to feel horrible pains in my tummy. The pains just got worse and then there was pressure. I was kind of off by myself, so I wasn't quite sure what to do- yell for help, cry, scream? Within a few minutes, although it felt like hours, Marc noticed my face and came over to see what was going on. He immediately freaked out, and got me inside and someone to take the kids. After about 20 minutes of the ongoing pain, we decided to go to the hospital. When we finally got hooked up to the machines, the contractions had stopped a little, but they were still 1-2 minutes apart. They immediately gave me some nasty drugs to stop them, which totally elevated my heart, so then we had to try and get that down. So, to sum it all up, this little guy wanted out early, but they want him to cook a little longer!!
So, now I am faced with what to do. I still have to live my crazy life but try to be cautious. I am nervous to go anywhere alone with the kids, but don't want to take away their summer from them. I had planned a fun day for us tomorrow going to the splash pad and the library, and I think we are still going to go. If I was any earlier in my pregnancy, I think I would lay up and not do too much, but since I am 35 weeks and know that the baby is healthy, I don't want to take everything away from the other 4. There is a good chance that I don't have anymore contractions, so I don't want to spend the next few weeks living in fear!!! Marc really doesn't want me to go, but the kids are so excited that I don't want to let them down. We will see how it goes....

Kasie's graduation

Marc's daughter, Kasie graduated from high school tonight!!! She has done so well this year- she has a 3.9!! We aren't quite sure of her college plans, probably community college, but we will see. The graduation was not too fun for us. We only brought Aiden as she had limited tickets and we didn't think the kids would have too much fun, so they stayed home with their cousins. We got there an hour early and could not find a seat. Every place we went to sit all we heard was"seats taken!!" So, reason #457 I hate California- rude people!!! About an hour after standing, a sweet friend of Kasie's offered to let me sit with them, but aside from my body aching from standing that long in heels, I didn't also want to suffer the humiliation of trying to fit my huge hiney into a tiny spot that not even Aiden could have fit in!!! If we were in the south, I know many people would have offered to make room for an 8 month prego!! So, not long after seeing her walk, we got out of there. We figured she didn't want to endure the humiliation of her step-mom birthing a baby at her graduation. And since her mom's family were all there, we knew she wanted to spend time with them afterwards, so we didn't want to intrude.

I don't know quite what to do with this picture. My camera was acting up when we got to take pics with her, so we had to take pics with the phone, so they are horrible. I wish I could figure out how to fix them!!! All the other ones turned out good, even though they are really far away!! I better head off to bed and put my feet up before they fall off!!!

The Bryce-man

Because when you work like this:

You just can't quite make it through dinner!

And yes, he does have his panties on backwords and inside out. It is in true Bryce fashion that atleast one article of clothing each day is on this way. And he refuses to change!! At least I don't let him go to town that way!!!

And I had no motivation to plan dinner tonight, so it was improvised taco salad and since I did not have tomatoes, he refused to eat a taco salad, so he was supposed to be eating chips with cheese when he crashed. Not too much nutrition tonight, but I get to slack off every once in awhile, right!!???

Not quite what I had planned...

My dream as a teenager was to marry someone REALLY rich, teach elementary school in an inner city, and live in a high rise apartment. The owner of the Houston Rockets was my main sugardaddy choice!!! So, if you would have ever told the teenager me that THIS would be my life, I would have never believed it! It is sometimes hard for the 30 year old me to believe.
I would have never though t that I would be married with almost five kids.
I would have never thought that I would be living on a ranch, 30 minutes to civilization, with no friends in sight!
I would have never thought that I would be homeschooling my kids.
I would have never thought that I would be looking forward to going thrift store shopping.
I would have never thought that we would be building a new home "off the grid". I definitely would not have even known what that phrase even meant. (I actually didn't know what it meant until recently- I'm not too smart!!)
I would have never thought that I would spend my days tending to a garden, hiking with the kids, feeding pigs and horses, fishing, cooking alot, cleaning even more, and Bryce's favorite sport- frog hunting. (Although I still get the shakes and am on the verge of tears at the sight of a frog or if a fish even gets near me, it sure makes the kids happy, so I try to contain myself)

Yep, this life is not even remotely close to anything that I would have expected, but it is sooooo much better!!!!!!


Oh, and because I thought it was soo great and I am always writing down recipes and not remembering where they are, here is a recipe for Zucchini bread, which we made as muffins because we only have one loaf pan right now:

4 egg whites
3/4 c applesauce
1 2/3 c brown sugar
2 c grated zuch
2 teaspoon vanilla
3 c flour
3 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 c walnuts

Beat eggs. Add oil, brown sugar, zuch, and vanilla. Blend in flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add walnuts. Bake at 325 in 2 greased loaf pans for 1 hour.
We made these as muffins, and because while they were cooking, I was bathing 4 smelly, dirty bodies, I just kept checking on them and took them out what they were a little brown. Not too helpful, I know, but it is easy to tell when they are done- maybe about 15 minutes????
They turned out YUMMY!!! Now I just need to try to refrain from eating all of them in one sitting!!

Amateur Photography

I have seen so many pic ideas lately while blog stalking that I really wanted to try out. I have the camera, just need the the skills!! Here is some of what I got:

Our future GQ model!!

This pic definitely shows our life- dirty toenails, bumps, bruises, and I think there is a little grease stain in there!!!

I told him to look serious, but instead he came up with this "mean" face!!!

The princess is 4

Sunday was Madeline's fourth birthday, and what a day it was!!! Since they can't talk about their bdays until the one before them is over, she has been counting down since April 3, and has talked about her bday about 47 times a day!! She woke up Sunday morning sooo excited that she was now four!! She told me that she really felt different and thinks she grew "14 inches". Here are a few pics from the day:

Don't you just love those hands on her hips?

Madeline with her cousin Carrissa- one of her most favorite people!!!

I will post more when my brain starts functioning. Marc woke up at 4 am to go to town for an upcoming project, and of course could not find his credit card, so had to wake me up so I could point out to him that it was sitting on the counter by the door. I think all men, including my dear boys, lack a gene in their body that can "look" for things!! Good thing they have an oh-so-forgetful mama to rely on!!!