Changes...

Life has been kind of a whirlwind this last month- with things happening that will change our lives drastically.  

The funny thing is, both things really started on the same day....

I had a doctor's appointment to follow up on some "female problems" I'd been having- bleeding for a long time, then no bleeding for a long time....  I won't go into details, but right before my appointment I decided I'd better take a pregnancy test, just because I knew my doctor was going to ask about that (based on previous visits).  Five minutes before I needed to walk out the door, I took the test... 

and it was positive.

Shock.

Seriously?

No way.

So, without saying anything to anyone, I got in the car and drove to the doctor.  One of the reasons for the major shock was that I have had an IUD for the last 6 years.  I was concerned, of course, because of the increased risk of miscarriage if pregnant with an IUD.  

That day, the doctor confirmed the pregnancy with a blood test, and scheduled an ultrasound for two days later.

I came home, still not having told anyone except for the doctor and the nurse, and immediately went with my realtor (Kim) and Mom to look at houses.

While out house hunting that day, we went through a house that I hadn't seriously considered from looking on the internet- but I really liked it.

The next day (having told Tim the news), we prepared for the ultrasound and IUD removal by having Tim and Dad give me a blessing.  This required telling Mom and Dad, too- and they were shocked and very happy.  The blessing that Tim gave me was wonderful- very comforting (and even a little informative).  I felt so much better afterwards.

The ultrasound was completely normal- no IUD anywhere in my body (and believe me, they looked everywhere possible), and a healthy baby- about 8 weeks old.  Amazing.

I am now 12 weeks pregnant, and feeling great (although I may not be singing the same song in a few months, when I am very pregnant and also 40.  We definitely didn't plan for this rather large gap in children- Annie will be almost 7 when this baby is born!  But now that we know what is in store for us, we are so excited.  I am even excited to be able to experience pregnancy, childbirth, nursing, and all that having a baby entails one more time.  And I am so excited to meet this little one who Heavenly Father knew was so important to our family.  Telling the kids about the new baby was really fun, by the way- they are so excited.  And I am excited to give the kids this experience. 

Not that you'll be able to see much, but here's a cute little ultrasound from my second doctor's appointment (the first one with my OB):

(head to the left, then body, you can see arms with little hands on the sides, and legs curled up to the right.)

The other change I alluded to earlier has to do with the house I visited that first day: we took Tim back the next day, thought it over for quite a while, and then made an offer.  It has been accepted, and we're waiting to hear about bank stuff now.  We are super excited to have found this house, which feels perfect for us.  It's not fancy, but neither are we.  It has tons of room, a huge yard, and it backs onto the mountains- lots of places to explore.  It also has fruit trees, a garden spot, and raspberry canes!  We have until May 20th to move, but we're hoping it can be a bit sooner.  The kids' schools will stay the same, and we're even in the same stake, although we'll have to change wards.  That's the only hard thing about all of this- leaving this ward where we've been for nearly 3 years.  There are so many wonderful people here!

We took a walk today from the base of Grovecreek Canyon to the backyard of our new house and back- here are a few pictures.  More will come later!

Out for a Sunday walk...

Our new house! (well, not officially yet)

A view of the backyard from the trail (the blue shed is on the property- the trampoline is not).  You can see the fruit trees and garden spot- and the berry canes are between the two evergreens against the white fence!

We're pretty excited about these changes in our life- new house and new baby are definitely blessings that we are grateful for!  I am kinda hoping for a little time before the next major change, however....

Emma Turns 8!

I can hardly believe that Emma is 8 already- how did that happen?

Emma had very specific food requests for her birthday:  crepes for breakfast, corn dogs and fries for dinner, and chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and Neapolitan ice cream for dessert.  

 We complied and then opened presents:

New outfit, purse and jewelry from Grandma and Grandpa Steele,

puzzle and candy from Ethan,

playdough from Price,

cat in a treadmill from Josh,

Pop Tarts from Rebekah,

and twin puppies from Tim and I and from Peter and Mary (That was not planned- it's just that she told both of us that's what she wanted.  On second thought, I guess it was planned... by Emma!).

She also received a hula hoop from Annie, but I managed to not get a photo of it.

Our birthday deal for kids right now is that they can either choose a friend party or to go out to dinner with Mom and Dad.  Emma chose the dinner option, so we ventured out Friday to have dinner at Costa Vida.  Our plans were derailed when we arrived there and saw the line stretching almost completely around the restaurant.  I have never seen it so full.  When we asked Emma what she wanted to do, she said, "Let's go to Arby's instead."  Sigh.  I'm not sure where the Arby's idea came from, but she was happy and we had a great time with just her.

Emma is awesome!  She knows what she wants and where she's going, and no one can tell her otherwise.  She is beautiful and talented, and her teachers love her.  We are truly blessed to have her in our family!

Josh Goes Wireless!

Josh was scheduled to get his braces off the end of March, but last week the orthodontist's office called and asked if he could come in early!  For some reason, Josh was not at all sad about that- in fact, he was somewhat ecstatic.

So here, for your viewing pleasure, are before and after pictures:

Before:

and After.

Isn't he cute?  Here's a picture of the t-shirt he got from the orthodontist:

He is quite happy to be sans braces- and his retainers are way easier than mine were: he only has to wear his at night!  No searching through the cafeteria trash for us!

Back to the 80's?

Rebekah went to a stake dance a couple of weeks ago.  It was 80's themed.  She found a pretty good outfit by herself, and I was the hair expert.  She said, "Wow, Mom, you're good at this!"  Well, when you do that to your bangs every day for your whole jr. high/high school career, you can't help but develop some skill. 

I thought she was pretty cute...