Some things worth mentioning...

So you all know that I've been really bad at blogging lately, but that doesn't mean that we haven't had anything worth while happen over the last couple of months! So here some things that stand out and are worth making note of...

- Katelyn had her 1st birthday Aug. 3rd. She's walking around the edges of everything now and she'll venture one step away before she dramatically goes down to a crawl with a little squeal. As of this weekend she is also bringing herself up to a standing position without holding on to anything. She finally has two bottom teeth and the top two are coming in along with a side molar (according to her Dr.)and she's been pretty cranky about it so I'm sure the doc is right!

- My brother David's farewell was last Sunday and he reported to the MTC on Weds (the 13th). When he was leaving their house to be set apart and we were leaving to drive back to Prescott- Katelyn said bye and waved to him. This was the first time I'd ever seen/heard her do this and it was priceless timing!

- I've been feeling much better since my week at the hospital. I still haven't lost my cookies a single time! I'm still having issues with insane fatigue (which I do know is just part of being pregnant (and having two kids) but I'm also not really gaining much weight still- despite eating big meals and snacking constantly. I have to write down every single thing I eat and I've been counting calories to make sure that I am eating enough and then turn those into the Dr. until I make some good progress that she's comfortable with. (I'm still not up to my pre-pregnancy weight and at this point in my pregnancy I should have already gained at least 5 pounds minumum.)

-The calorie counting has been very eye opening, I've always been vaguely aware of how many calories are in some prepackaged foods (I like to read lables out of boredom while I'm eating), but writing it all down as shown me just how bad a lot of what we eat is- and not just for me but for Ryan. So once I'm not supposed to be getting all of the calories I can, our eating habits will definitely be changing!

-Having been sick, I've gotten to have a nice break from work. Before I went to the hospital, I had been put on a 4hr/day work schedule by my Dr. but then I went to the hosital 3 days later. Then I was off work the week I was in the hospital and got the next two weeks off as well (last week and this upcoming week). I go into the Dr. again Thursday to check things out (and weigh in) and we'll go from there. Luckily, I have great benefits at my job and all this time off is being paid 100% in addition to really low co-pays for the hospital visits. This has also allowed me to still take the kids to their babysitter so that I can rest without it being a financial strain. We're definitely blessed.

- I also get my ultrasound Thursday to determine our baby's sex. We're pretty sure we know what it is based on the ultrasounds I had while in the hospital, but they wouldn't tell us officially since I was only 16 weeks and they don't normally like that determination until later. I'm sure if it were my Dr. she would have just told me...but it was just the ultrasound techs and they were silly about it.

- I chopped my hair off to chin length in the middle of July and love it. I have been sick of my long hair for a good year now, but like most guys- Ryan liked it long, so I kept it long until I just couldnt take it anymore. No regrets about chopping it at all. P.S. My husband still loves me.

- Ryan got his new work schedule- which goes into effect toward the beginning of Sept. Just as we were dreading, he's working Sundays. He'll have Friday and Saturday off though and be off by 2:30 everyday. If it weren't for the Sundays, it would be a pretty good schedule. Luckily, the shifts will be shuffled in January and we'll pray for Sundays off then.

-We've had a great monsoon season this year. In fact, it's probablly going to rain within the hour. I love rainy Sundays! As wonderful as this has been, it has been one more thing keeping Ryan from being able to work on the backyard since it's always a big muddy mess. The sloping of our yard is off and we end up with a big lake in the yard instead of it draining out. It stays muddy for days after a good rain. This in turn means that the dogs are always a mess and I don't really like them coming into the house.

-The dogs are huge and really good looking labs. But, they drive me nuts. I have too many other concerns with life right now than to have to deal with them as well. Not to mention the barking at 6:30 every morning until I go feed them and refill the water (which no matter what kind of container we put it in, they dump it over within a very short while!) Ryan loves his dogs and him and Hailey take them to the dog park or Watson Lake in Prescott as often as possible- which isn't near as often as Ryan or Hailey would like!

That's all I've got for now. Sorry about the lack of pictures again! We're having massive issues with our desktop PC (which I prefer to use) and Ryan is researching food storage and emergency preparedness on his laptop- so I can't upload the hundreds of pictures on my camera from the last few months. So maybe this week I'll get some uploaded and posted.