My Marathon

I am not a runner. I never have been. I only like to run if I'm chasing a little yellow ball on the court.  But I'm on my 4th marathon right now. 

No, no, not that type of marathon, I'm talking about being pregnant.  It's something to be grateful for, for sure.  But it's hard for me. Really hard.  Never has been easy. 

It's not only the nausea, the leg pain, the complete exhaustion and other maladies that I experience, but I think with the change in hormones there is some depression, too. Maybe it's depression due to the nausea and the fact that for months I can hardly accomplish any little task around the house, let alone take care of my three children decently.  I'm incredibly grateful for the help I have received from dear friends.  It's not only the actual help they provide, but the feeling that someone cares. 

If you're a friend and we haven't talked in awhile, I'd love to hear from you.  There is more to talk about, but not in a public forum like this (even though my stats indicate that no one is reading this blog anymore anyway!). I got out of the habit of regular posting during the summer when we just relaxing, and then after that I got so sick that I've just been in survival mode.

On a happier note, some of my favorite words around here lately:

Theo: rah-ry (butterfly)
Joseph: cracknacker (nutcracker)

Rebecca is getting excited for her baptism next week. We're all excited about Grandma Julie's upcoming visit next week. It's giving me something to live for.

Until next time.
Ciao.

The Official-no way to miss it- announcement

I tried to announce our news with the video on facebook, but I guess facebook is hit or miss and I think a lot of people missed it this time.  So, here is the news, plain and simple.

Baby Williams due May 2nd, 2012.

Warren: excited but exhausted (from taking care of the household on top of everything else)
Dorothea: happy but nauseated as usual-in survival mode
Rebecca: hoping for a girl
Joseph: hoping for a boy
Theo: mostly oblivious to the whole thing
All kids: eating lots of cereal, waffles and anything else that doesn't require cooking

That's all folks!

Rebecca is 8: a Tangled Party

What a great day.  Rebecca turned 8! We celebrated in the morning with our family. Rebecca received her own scriptures and some "Tangled" toys to go with our party theme.  

 

In the afternoon 6 of her special friends came to celebrate a "Tangled" Rapunzel Party with us.  We played pictionary, sherades, and made candy necklaces. We also played "Pin the frying pan on Flynn," and Rebecca got him smack in the nose.

 We had fantastic decorations, if I may say so myself.  The theme was purple and yellow like the party theme in the town in the Rapunzel movie.  We had a purple tablecloth and yellow plates and my pride and joy, the sun banner.  We cut the banner out of felt, made a sun stencil and sponge painted the suns.  The kids all got in on the action, but it was a little harder than I thought it would be and I needed to do most of it myself. 

We made "Lanterns" in honor of the floating lanterns from the movie.  We modgepodged pieces of tissue paper onto glass vases and put tea lights inside to glow.

 
We did a conga line to cross the street to find a tree to use for our pinata. (We don't have any big enough trees in our yard, but our neighbor had a perfect one.)
We haven't done a pinata since Rebecca was 1, so it seemed like it was time to do it again.

Mad scramble for the candy

Rebecca actually broke the pinata on round 2 (after everyone had had a turn). It couldn't have been better.

Rebecca requested an unfrosted Angel Food cake, so that is what we did.  We served it sliced with fresh whipped cream and cut strawberries (coated in a little sugar).  We had trick candles that kept coming back on and got lots of squeals out of the girls.

Rebecca made the signs herself.  "Welcome to the Snuggly Duckling" (the tavern in the movie), a "Wanted dead or alive" sign and a Happy Birthday sign.  I believe it is important to let them be involved in the preparations as much as possible. 

What a fabulous party for a fabulous girl.  Thanks for coming to our family and making me a mommy! I love you, Rebecca! 8 is GREAT!!!

Announcing...

If you're friends with me on facebook, check out the video I just posted. Enjoy!