IT'S A.....

and we are so excited! Now for the hard part....buying stuff and thinking of names!

Boy or girl???

So of course I want a boy this time around and I honestly feel more like it's a boy this time. The question I have is whether I feel that way because I want one so much or because it's really "mothers intuition"??? My only reasons for feeling this way (silly as they may be) are these:
1- I have been so much sicker this time around than with the girls.
2- Now that my appetite is back I feel like I can't get enough to eat. I am starving all the time and it is an actual proven fact that women carrying boys need more calories during pregnancy than with girls.
3- I have never once had a dream about a baby boy until this pregnancy. (although it was somewhat disturbing) it was still definately a boy dream
4- The baby's heart rate is so much slower than it was with the girls.
5- I gained weight slowly with the girls but always hit the recommended amount and no more at the recommended rate of gain. This time....I am now just starting to STOP losing weight. I haven't gained anything! Which is baffling considering how hungry I am all the time.
So...I get the verdict on Thursday provided the baby cooperates and lets us take a good peek. I am getting so nervous about it. Now I actually have to start shopping and thinking of names and calling the baby something other than "the baby".
ALSO...
I see things like like today when a little boy was peeing on some random persons back patio and his mother running frantically across the grass to stop him and I get scared...very scared...because I know that will be me someday.
Of course I get to have people stare at me in shock because my 3 year old is walking around the grocery store with her baby doll shoved up her shirt. At least she knows now that the only thing dispensed up there is milk. She used to believe her belly button could be pushed to change the drink of the day. It varied from pepsi, chocolate milk, orange juice, and sprite. See...I am teaching her something! ha ha

But perhaps the best bonus of all that comes with having a boy is this: the girls can now take themselves to the bathroom in most public places. This way Terrence can have his 4 year long turn while I get a break....ha ha...SUCKER!!!

So...I will post the verdict on Thursday. Wish us luck!

Birthday girl!

Terrence and I had to go to Ogden for a Dr. appointment on Kylie's birthday, so Aunt Lysee picked her up from school and they went shopping shopping shopping! Then Elyse took both Kylie and Madison to the salon to get acrylic glitter toes! Talk about spoiled!

We took Kylie out to lunch to Olive Garden (her choice) and then sent Terrence off to work:(
When Terrence got home on dinner break, Kylie got to open the new roller blades and pad gear she has been begging for. She's slowly getting the hang of it but still walks more than skates. I was way too exhausted to make a birthday cake at that point, and we still had leftovers from Sunday's celebration so we went to the new specialty cupcake place in town. It was heavenly!

On Saturday, we had Kylie's birthday party at a park in town. Pretty much everyone that was invited came which is pretty shocking in Utah! We had a bug/flower party. The kids went on a nature scavenger hunt and played pin the bug on the flower. Then they paired up and wrapped one another up in toilet paper to make a cocoon. The first person to use their entire roll won! I think that was the kids favorite part.

After that, we ate pizza and hit the pinata. This was my first time making a pinata from scratch and I was impressed with the turnout. It was very time consuming and took a lot of patience to wait for all the layers of paper mache to dry, but it was actually pretty fun to make!

Then it was cake and present time.
The party was 2 hours long and we didn't have a minute of downtime. I was so worried that I didn't plan enough games, but it was a pleasant surprise! We are so grateful for everyone who was able to come to make her day special.
Madison didn't care to join in the game fun. She was doing this....
and this most of the time. Thanks Traci and Brian for letting my "little mommy" babysit the twins the whole time. ;) I have a feeling she is going to be so much fun when our little one comes this March. She is OBSESSED with babies!

We ended the day by going to the demolition Derby with some other good friends. Madison has never been this much fun at the derby before!

She was screaming and cheering the whole time! This facial expression isn't even a good example of her excitement. It was hilarious!

Kylie has had a pretty amazing birthday. It has lasted an entire week long, and she couldn't be more excited about that. Happy birthday princess. I can't believe you're 6 already!!!

ATTENTION!!! ATTENTION!!!

This is the special day...for those of you not on facebook, who haven't heard yet....

We will be having another one of these!

We are so excited. I think March is a perfect time for a baby. We're hoping for a boy this time of course, but we really will be happy either way. Now I just have to wait for this all day nausea to STOP! I've never been this sick for this long. Positive vibes anyone? ha ha

Labor Day

We went camping with the entire Mills clan (minus a couple people). Terrence's parents were even able to make it all the way from Kansas!

Madison did this most of the time. She's such a good dog sitter.
Kylie sat in the ATV's most of the time waiting for someone to take her on a ride. She got just about everyone there to take her at some point!

The trails were beautiful and weren't too rough so I justified going on a few rides myself.

The boys all went down to Cleveland Reservoir and fished pretty much all day every day. They caught some of those most delicious cut-throat I've ever tasted.

And of course there was lots of good cooking and yummy food to break up all of the playing;)

Uncle Bob and Aunt Lorraine were nice enough to let us sleep in their motor home since it was supposed to get down to 32 degrees Sunday night. I guess they felt bad for the pregnant lady and the little girlies. We slept great!


The girls each have their own pink helmets (another one of those things Terrence insisted on buying in pink as insurance to get a boy this time around) ha ha.
I was able to sneak a picture of Sharon. We were so lucky to have her and Clark there. We miss them and camping just isn't the same without them there. I wish I would have gotten a picture of Clark on the 4-wheelers. He looked like a little boy. So Giddy! Thanks for the fun everyone!

The Story You've All Been Waiting For...

Avaree Mae must have really wanted out because at 33 weeks, Andrea was put on strict bedrest because she was already dialated and effaced quite a bit. She was able to get some drugs to stop labor and got two steriod shots to help little Avaree's lungs develop a little faster just in case. She was planning on moving to Logan two weeks later anyway, so she decided to come up a little bit early so she'd have someone to take care of her. The bonus for her was getting massages and pampering from me;) We even got to go out a few times. I made her ride in one of those dorky scooter carts at walmart and even made her use the back up function so she could beep. It was unforgettable. (hopefully she'll never have the opportunity to get me back ha ha)

At 36 weeks, Andrea woke me up at about 7:00am and told me that she was pretty sure her water had broke. So, we loaded up the car and were on the road within 20 minutes. We had to drive from Logan to Murray (about a 90 minute drive) By the time we hit Ogden, the contractions were getting pretty painful but were still about 4 minutes apart. I couldn't speed much due to morning traffic so I stayed in the left lane and went as fast as I could (only about 3 mph over). Then I feel a bang bang bang and see a ton of tread fly up in the air behind us. OH CRAP! There was no way to get to the left side of the road due to traffic, so I had to pull up tight against a cement barrier on the left side. I got out to assess the damage and check out her donut tire. All she had was a crappy little jack. I had only changed a tire once on my own and I know that due to the added stress of the situation there was no way I could do it as fast as we needed it done. We quickly called the SLC dispatcher and asked for assistance. She said she'd just send a UDOT truck to help with the tire and an officer to escort us to the hospital. GREAT! We were going to be fine!

That's not exactly what happened though.....within 4 minutes, we saw the fire chief truck pull up...then the UDOT truck... then an ambulance... then a fire truck... and then 6 state troopers. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? They shut down all 4 lanes of the freeway (in morning traffic keep in mind) and escorted us to the right side of the road. At this point I am half way between peeing my pants, laughing so hard I pee my pants, and bawling my eyes out. Andrea is saying over and over "I'm not riding in that ambulance!" Of course they make her. They strapped her onto a stretcher with a blanket and straps and the whole shebang. All the traffic had slowed to watch the spectacle of a show we were putting on. They had the tire fixed in about 60 seconds and we were on our way once again. I followed the ambulance at an under the speed limit speed of 60 mph all the way to the hospital!

We made it!
Once we got into the delivery room we quickly learned that Andrea was at a 5 and 100%. GOOD JOB! So she asked for the epidural straight away. Too bad the anesthesiologist was busy at a c-section and we had to wait. They gave her a little demerol to help with the pain while we waited. When we first arrived, the contractions seemed to still be somewhat bearable (in a way that only someone who has actually already gone through it could describe. It would be much more like death if a man was describing "bearable") But things quickly turned around. With just a couple contractions Andrea knew that something had definately changed. And sure enough...Avaree was ready to come. No epidural and all! So, after being at the hospital only about and hour and 15 minutes and Andrea's midwife sprinting through the hospital to make it in time, Little Avaree was born at 11:38am. She only pushed through about 3 contractions. This woman is amazing! This was my first time on the other side of the bed and I was completely amazed. Andrea was incredible. I was so proud of her!

The "PLAN" was to do her makeup and hair after the epidural was in and unfortunately the events of the day didn't allow for that, so we had to wait till Andrea was wheeled to recovery. She had the rest of the day ahead of her and she deserved to feel pretty for it, (even though she already looked pretty amazing) So the following picture was taken about 1 1/2 hours after birth. She's gorgeous!
I left for the night because our Mom had arrived and slept at the hospital with Andrea. When I came back in the morning, Avaree looked completely different. Her newborn swelling had gone down and she was looking just like her mom as a newborn. She's so adorable and of course so so tiny!
And after a sleepless night, her momma looked pretty amazing too! Avaree had to be on the bili lights for about an entire week, but is now doing fantastic and looking at Andrea, you'd never guess that she had given birth two weeks ago. She's such a great mom. CONGRATULATIONS!

NOW: TELL ME IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO COULD BEAT HER STORY! HA HA!

"The Beginning of Forever...."

Our little Kylie started Kindgergarten today! She will pretty much be the oldest one there and is one of the tallest since she only missed the deadline by 16 days, but she was way past excited to be there. We layed out her clothes and made blueberry muffins the night before to prepare for the crazy morning ahead. Terrence works the swing shift, so we had to wait till this morning for the traditional school year blessing. We are just so excited. I'm looking forward to volunteering in her classroom a lot!

She was so good to pose for me to take her picture.
You can tell this is the first week of school from her glowing tan. Lucky girl!

I didn't cry or come home depressed (after all, kindergarten is only 2 1/2 hours long here) but it is a little surreal to know that this is the beginning of forever...she'll always be in school from here on out. It's kind of weird. Plus...it makes me feel so so old.