Rainbow Baby

PARKER JOY PERRY

Her Story

After my late term miscarriage my pregnancy was watched very closely. I had ultrasounds every visit. I saw a specialist in Spokane often. They were not taking any chances. There was only conspiracy what happened when I miscarried because I birthed 3 wonderful children to 39 weeks. Liam was my earliest at 38 weeks 6 days induction for low fluid. 

I was scared and anxious my entire pregnancy. Once Parker started to move i would daily make her move on purpose for my own benefit. It helped me. I continued counseling and doctor visits. Nothing was said concerning up until 34 ish weeks. I went into my routine appointment and they told me my blood pressure wasn't where it needs to be. They checked it a couple times and finally got a reading they didnt hate and that they'd keep an eye on it. 

at my 36 week apt they checked dilation (1cm) & my blood pressure again a couple times and it was extremely high. I was put on medication but when I went to take it... Its almost like I had an allergic reaction to it. It made me extremely cold and shaking, my lips swelled and my arms were itchy. My doctor told me to stop taking it and that we'd check my blood pressure again at my next appointment and come up with a game plan. If it didnt go down...I'd most likely have to be induced. Which i did not want. I already have tiny babies as it is at 39 weeks. Just thinking about all that at 36 weeks was hard. 

On February 19th.... the entire day i was having a hard time walking. It hurt every step from the pressure. almost like my crotch was bruised (tmi) and random contractions here and there. 

February 20th I was EXACTLY 37 weeks. I went into my apt leaving Liam right next to sleeping Joey with his tablet (i let joey know he was there) and went with just a granola bar. It was a 9am apt. 

(girls were at school)

I get to my apt. Do an ultrasound and check fluid levels. She said it was on the lower side but not low enough to be worried. 

Went back to the room. Checked my blood pressure (it was high) put me on the monitor for a stress test to check babies heart rate along with contractions. once I was on the monitor it was like the contractions decided to be closer together and more consistent. I had been feeling them before but not like that. Or maybe I just go on my daily stuff and get distracted by them. 

The doctor comes in and notices how often they are. And that my blood pressure was high.. He decided to check dilation (least favorite thing) I was 3 cm. (no wonder i was in pain the day before) 

He told me to go straight to the hospital. I kept telling him Im not ready. He was very strict on me not going home first. I can make my calls, but i go straight to the hospital.

I did as I was told.

Called Joey a couple times because I left him sleeping. Called my mom. called my friend stephanie. Told them all. I needed all hands on deck to help me get ready haha. I didnt even pack a hospital bag. I didnt even take Parkers carseat out of the box. 

I packed her a bag. I got her bed ready. Thank goodness. 

My friend stephanie went up stairs (she lives in the apartment under us) and she grabbed the carseat. Helped Joey grab things for my bag. 

My mom contacted my siblings to find a place for Liam. 

Everyone was wonderful. It was SO HARD for me to go to the hospital and sit there and not help. Im used to running the show. 

Joey took liam to get food and brought him to my sisters house. 

I was in the main room getting checked to pretty much see if i was in full labor. Which seemed like a waste. I got the dreaded IV. I was hooked onto the monitor. The contractions were painful. They checked my blood. they checked my urine and saw I did show protein in it.. which means my kidneys were angry as well as high blood pressure.

They put something in my IV for my blood pressure to make it semi-normal. As normal as it could get.

I got moved into the main delivery room. Got situated with my new nurse. She called the Epidural guy and my doctor for the game plan. 

My doctor came first. I really wanted an epidural before he decided to break my water. but well... he didnt listen. he did it anyway. checked. I was 4cm. 

Epidural guy came in and gave me the good stuff. It didnt want to work right away (red hair runs in my family haha)

The nurse kept shifting me to get the stuff to work everywhere. finally it worked enough. 

Joey decided to show up once the epidural guy was there. 

My mom showed up after. 

I was pretty hangry at this point. I only had a granola bar the entire time. 

My mom left to get the girls from school and handed them off with my dad. checked and I was 7cm. 

Joey left to get him and my mom a jimmy johns sandwich. (eyeroll) haha. (hangry labor person over here) 

By then I had been checked and it was a 9. Luckily Joey showed up just in time. 

He was eating his sandwich and i told the nurse I need to push. She called my doctor and the other nurses. Checked to see if we could do a trial push. ... nope. She was in fact right there. 

I wanted to push this entire time it was like everyone was coming in to slow. 

Finally, nurse on one leg. Joey on the other leg. My mom was by me. one contraction. 3 pushes.. she was out. 

Held her on my chest while they cleaned her up. Joey cut the cord. and I just held her for an hour. Nobody took her to weigh her. to do anything. Skin to skin for an hour. and she immediately latched on to nurse. It was a fast, wonderful birth. 

She was born at 5:22pm 5lbs 6oz. 18.5in. 3 weeks early. 2.20.2020

The birth was fairly easy. Not a ton of pain. it was after where things took a turn.

I was bleeding ALOT. they couldnt stop it. I couldnt go to the bathroom no matter how hard I tried. They were convinced my bladder was full and it not being emptied was making it so my uterus wasnt contracting normally and i was just loosing and loosing alot of blood. I went completely pale. 

i was nursing Parker and handed her over because i wasnt feeling well. 

They put another catheter in (because they took the other one out when my epidural was done) to force my bladder to empty. Getting that in wasnt pleasant without the epidural haha. 

They gave me a shot in the arm (which they told me they rarely do because of how strong it is) but it stops the bleeding. It worked to good. I was in the bathroom with an upset stomach out of both ends (sorry tmi again) I felt so weak. I was crying because I just felt so overwhelmed. Joey was holding my hand because he felt helpless and could tell I was in a ton of pain. & kept trying to comfort me. 

They gave me a drug to counteract the shot that upset my stomach. They gave me pain meds. And they monitored me. Those nurses are wonderful. They took care of me quick. and dealt with alot of blood mess. 

I was definitely blessed with some pretty great nurses. & a husband that stayed with me and by me thru the horrible icky stuff and bringing me fresh ice water. 

Parker was early but she was super healthy. They were worried about jaundice for a bit and almost needed to be admitted again once we left. But she is thriving. She is fully breast feeding and a champ. She is the sweetest little baby. Hardly cries. wakes up every 2-3 hours at night. 

The first night was ROUGH. but the 2nd & 3rd night was much better. 

I am still on medication for my high blood pressure and even bough myself a blood pressure checker thingy. 

Our kids absolutely adore her and want to hold her often. They are AMAZING helpers. Liam will get me practically anything and cry if his sister throws the diaper away and he didnt get to. He even helped me change a poopy diaper today. 

My Grandmas maiden name was Park. That is where Parker comes from. Plus we thought it was adorable for a girl name. 

and of course JOY is for how much happiness she brings us after a hard time with my miscarriage with nathaniel 

We sure do love her. 

Thanks for reading  

Our Rainbow baby

Baby Girl

April 10-12th was the worst days of our lives. Going into an appointment and hearing your babies heart stopped beating and having to induce labor to hold him. Nobody should have to go thru such a horrible pain. Loosing a child is never easy. I lost hope. I lost happiness. The only thing that kept me going were the 3 children I had living. Even I felt like my marriage was slipping away. Nothing tests a relationship more than loosing a child. We were both feeling so many emotions we didn't know how to help each other. At the beginning we were there for each other. But as the days past...we weren't. And honestly we were just barely holding on. My husband tried his absolute hardest to be there for me.. but even he had no idea how to handle his own emotions let alone mine as well. It questioned my faith. It made me question God. How could he give me a child and take it from me? Why am I going thru the pain I am going thru. I had so much anger. so much Sadness. So much confusion. We decided to pack up our house and get it ready to sell. We were wanting to do it for a year now and decided it was time. Time to get our minds occupied on something different. Time for something new. Time for a fresh start. So we did it. I packed boxes to "stage" the house and the first items that were thrown in a box were my maternity clothes, doppler and all the baby clothes. I didn't even look at the boy clothes. I just threw them in. I was angry and it felt good. 

My husband and I didn't want to try for another baby. I felt so much guilt. So much sadness. I wanted THAT baby. That baby I just lost. I didn't want another baby. 

Finally we decided we weren't going to "try" for a baby. We tried for Nathaniel for a year and got nothing but empty hope. And then joy... and then Everything taken from us. 

We decided we would let it in Gods hands. I believe things happen for a reason. Maybe I wasn't meant to have a baby yet. Maybe I was supposed to give that little baby a little body and let him return to heaven. I don't know. I may never know. but I hope there was a reason.  

BUT, we decided to "not try" but "not prevent" pregnancy. If it happens. It happens. 

I went to my OB with pain. and found out I was diagnosed with PID (pelvic inflammatory disease) (If not treated it can cause infertility) The only reason I caught it... because I of course had an ovarian cyst (Ive had a few and I knew I had one) Got on antibiotics for 10 days and got it taken care of. I once again felt like I lost hope. Here is one more thing to add to my plate right?! (miscarriage can cause PID sometimes) 

I decided to go to counseling for my grief. I was having a very hard time with it. My counselor told me NOT to get pregnant. to stop "not preventing it" 

She told me I would have a very hard time bonding with the baby. 

2 weeks later. It was July 3rd. July 6th was my birthday and I was supposed to start my period. Even though we weren't "trying" nobody wants bad news on their birthday. 

So I decided to take a test I had stashed away from when I was trying to get pregnant with Nathaniel. I took it... immediately two lines. I didn't believe it... it was almost expired... It had to be wrong. 

So I went to target and got some new ones. Took one when I got home. 

POSITIVE

I call Joey. Hes like.... no you're not. He didn't believe me. I didn't believe me. 

We didn't tell a single person for weeks. We had MANY emotions thru our head. And the main one at first was fear. We were so scared something would go wrong. I didn't believe I was pregnant still. I took 3 more tests... nope still didn't believe it. 

Finally got an ultrasound on July 24th (3 weeks after the tests) and sure enough... yup there was a baby!! I finally believed it. We told our families. 

I had a really hard time going into that ultrasound room. It was PTSD and a huge trigger for me. But my ultrasound tech knew exactly what I went thru and was there for me every step of the way. 

My OBGYN said he was very surprised to see me so soon but he was happy I was there. 

I decided to get the genetic blood test this time. My sister and brother in law put together a BBQ and we found out the gender that way. 

We are very excited we are having a girl. I just want a healthy baby. 

Ive already had 4 ultrasounds. I am 12 weeks! 

I go in for another ultrasound at 15 weeks and I know I am going to have a hard time with that one going into that appointment. 

My doctor is taking great care of me and watching me closely. He is also sending me to a specialist to get better scans and look at baby girl and my Bicornuate uterus. Get a 2nd opinion on this pregnancy. 

I know I can carry healthy children... I did it 3 times. 

But I would be lying if I said I wasn't so so scared. I cant go thru what happened again. 

I debated even announcing at 12 weeks. But we decided this baby deserves to be celebrated. She deserves people to celebrate her. 

Our kids are so excited for this baby. Raylee "bless her heart" told me she really hopes this baby doesn't die. That is soooooo hard to hear your 5 year old say that. 

My 7 year old calls this baby #5 because Nathaniel is still #4. 

Liam says he doesn't want a baby... but maybe hes not ready to give up the baby spot haha. 

Our family feels incredibility blessed. We've been thru so much. But we went thru it together. (with the help of our friends and family of course)

Our rainbow baby is definitely coming after a time of Rain. and we couldn't be more happier. 

Thanks for reading.  

When our happy news became our worst nightmare

The story of Nathaniel

Joey and I for the longest time thought we were done having kids after Liam. I always felt this "unfinished" feeling. I kept literally every baby item I own (well almost) Most of my baby clothes have been in boxes for years and years until we were for sure done....it was never set in stone.
Liam was about 1 1/2 years old when we decided to try for another baby. Joey was finally on board. I got pregnant super fast with my other 3 so we thought the same would be with this one.

It was December 2017 when we decided to start trying. The first few months were very discouraging, but I was on birth control and thought my body just needed to get back to normal.
it was month 5 when I decided to buy ovulation tests for the first time ever. I tracked it a ridiculous amount.
finally come October 2018 I threw all the ovulation tests away and decided to "give up"
I also bought myself my favorite chocolates when my period decided to show up.
Every pregnancy announcement... heart breaking. every newborn baby... brought me to tears.
I have my three wonderful children. But the disappointment was still so hard for me. And what got me the most was when woman would complain about pregnancy on social media. and you just want to write.... someone would literally give ANYTHING to have nausea. be uncomfortable. ect. I cant fully understand how it feels to never get that positive line on a test and it kill you each time. but I feel it has given me more appreciation for those woman who go thru infertility and hardships like that. the disappointment of wanting something so bad and it slipping away. or each month getting negative and your dreaded period showing up.

I gave up hope. I stopped trying. (well kind of) we weren't actively trying. but of course we sure weren't being careful.
October - December I didn't even take a single pregnancy test. I just let my dreaded period show up.
Come January... I had this weird urge to take one.
I hid in the bathroom and locked it... as my husband is.. he was bugging me at the door saying I was pooping and just being the jokester he is.
Finally... got the positive and I gave the loudest
JOEYYYYYYYYYYY! practically threw the test at him.
He was in disbelief. we were both jumping up and down.
we told our kids early on.
we told our family early on.

Continued my doctor appointments with my doctor who delivered Liam.
Ive always been high risk because I do have a rare uterus (bicornuate) practically shaped like a heart. and only carry on one side.
I cant remember the side my girls were on. but Liam and Nathaniel were both on my right.

I went to 3 ultrasounds. and all looked good.
announced after my 12 week ultrasound.

I went in to my regular appointment I was supposed to be almost 16 weeks along.
My doctor did the doppler. he couldn't find a heartbeat. which isn't uncommon.
so he sent me in for an ultrasound.
I sat in the waiting area messaging my family and friends about what had happened... literally just trying to stay calm.

went in for my ultrasound. immediately I knew. She didn't have to say a single thing.
Called Joey... he of course said something stupid so I hung up on him (he says stupid things when hes frustrated/upset) hes a guy hahaha
Called my mom... practically hyperventally. She couldn't understand me for the first little bit until I calmed down. She started crying on the phone.
Joey called me back (he was at home with the kiddos) and was on the phone with me the rest of the appointment. the ultrasound tech let me stay in that room and cry and calm down.
finally I moved into a normal room to talk to my doctor. He told me what we needed to do next. and asked if I wanted a day or two.
I told joey I wanted to keep the baby hostage in my body (clearly wasn't thinking straight)
he told me the baby was way to big to do D&C surgery .
We had to put my body into labor.
He gave me a couple hours and told me to go to the hospital at 4pm.

my mom was at work and was going to come to me straight from it. (5pm) but she called me and could tell I was having such a hard time. She came straight to my house. took care of Raylee and Liam. while joey and I laid in bed and cried. My husband isn't a crier.... but he cried.
My eyes hurt so bad. and looked so red with the amount I was crying.

I called my best friend and told her what was happening. Our girls go to the same school. So she gladly picked Alleah up and took her home.
When Alleah got home it was 3:30pm... almost time for me to go to the hospital.
we decided to sit Alleah down and told her what had happened. I broke her heart that day. She immediately started crying.

We went to the hospital. got all checked in.
my nurse was wonderful. Got an awful IV. and honestly... a lot of it was a blur.
I went into the hospital april 10th. Took a pill orally to put my body into labor. And all it did was upset my stomach. I did that every 6 hours or so. and then down to 4. and then down to 3 hours. Joey got work off and stayed at the hospital with me the entire time.
Desiree had my kids that Wednesday - Friday  I was in the hospital. which I am forever grateful. Joey left the hospital early to take Alleah to school... she really didnt want to miss a field trip. & My best friend helped with pickup on Friday. I called both my kiddos in "sick" on Thursday.

While we were at the hospital... only a few people knew the first two days.
my best friend brought me pizza. hung out with Joey and I for many many hours both nights. another one of my friends who lost her baby later term came and brought me blondies and good company. And another friend visited Friday before all the crazy happened.
my family visited regularly. called and texted regularly.
My dad gave me a blessing.

Friday morning... I decided to announce to social media what had happened. April 12th.
I did it mainly because I didn't want the uncomfortable question "hows the pregnancy going?" when obviously... not well.
Finally my doctor decided to put those pills up into my cervix. 3 hours later I was FINALLY dilated. the nurse put one more in. (and gave me good drugs thru my IV)
checked me 3 hours later... and I was at a 4.
(to give birth to a full term baby you have to be 10 cm. this baby was measuring exactly 16 weeks 2 days so I only had to be about half of 10)
So as soon as she felt 4. she got the epidural guy in (I didn't want one because I knew it wouldn't hurt. but they told me id want one because the placenta might not detach very well)
I sat up... and immediately felt went.
I told my nurse (who was holding my hands for the epidural) that Im wet. And she said your water must of just broke.
I immediately started crying. I was trying to hold still for the needle going in my back but I couldn't help but stop to cry hysterically.
As soon as I laid down... Nathaniel came out. The nurse did everything. cut the cord. get him out. wrap him up. She wrapped him up in a blanket and told me when im ready.
I of course ….hysterically crying.

the entire time being at the hospital... Joey and I decided our plans. what we wanted to do when the baby was born. Everything.

Joey didn't want to hold him. he told me many times he doesn't think he could do it.
I on the other hand wanted to hold him as much as I possibly could. I knew if I looked back on this I would kick myself for not doing everything in my power to get peace on such a tragic time.

I told the nurse I was ready. my mom had just gotten off work and came in right when everything happened. Both joey and I held him. My mom took pictures.
He looked like a perfect baby who fit perfectly in Joeys hands.
When he was born I had the nurse look and see what the gender was. & that's when we found out he was a he. I wanted another boy so bad!
We had our time with him. gave him back. signed the cremation papers. and honestly just tried to get home as fast as possible.
My parents kept our kids Friday - Sunday.

a week prior... Joey had bought mariner tickets... and I had asked my sister to take the kids for the weekend. We bought the hotel and tickets. (for Saturday April 13th) & everyone just told us to go.
So my parents kept them that weekend.
We spent the night at our house Friday night. I had a nice long sad shower. and just went to bed.

The next day we stopped by to see our kids before heading out to seattle.
We showed the girls the picture of Nathaniel.. we were sure they would be weirded out because even though he looked like a baby... he didn't fully look like one.
They immediately said he was so cute.

sidenote: Nathaniel wasn't even on our list for names. we came up with it as soon as we found out he was a boy because of the meaning. "gift from god"

So we went to Seattle. got checked into our hotel and went straight to the game.
I honestly did very well at the game because I was distracted with food, joey and the game. I had the hardest time when I sat and thought about everything.
We came back... got our kids. come Monday morning I got Alleah to school and got a phone call from my dad asking "did you get Alleah to school"
You honestly don't think about it... but simple tasks.. like getting Alleah to school was hard.
Getting out of bed... was hard.
I found my self Monday giving my kids a bath and just laying on the bathroom floor balling my eyes out. My kids were wonderful. They knew why I was upset. The girls helped with Liam. As hard as a mother to see my girls taking care of my son... I was in awe. They picked up my slack. Alleah fed liam snacks. my kids would just lay with me and let me cry.
Honestly if I didn't have my kids... Id probably not even get out of bed.
I got out of bed... I did get them the majority of what they needed. I fed them their meals. I got the girls to school.
The next day Raylees preschool teacher let me just cry on her shoulder.
So many people sent me flowers. My church people had dinner for me for an entire week. I had an amazing amount of support.
It helped tremendously.
I cried probably every day for about 3 weeks. and on and off still.

We got him cremated. and his ashes are put inside a teddy bear. I slept with that bear for the entire 3 weeks. Raylee sleeps with it too. She finds comfort in that bear.
My girls understand so much about it.
Alleah told me that I just need to pray and Nathaniel will always be apart of our family. I didn't tell her that. She helped me get thru a really hard time. I will always be grateful for such a wonderful first child. God gave me that girl for a reason. God gave me all my children for a reason.
Id love to know what the reason was for Nathaniel. but I know he will always be apart of this family. He will never be forgotten. I still have my moments of being so sad. September is right around the corner and that's when I was supposed to meet him and hold him.

I started to go to counseling for my grief. This trial has not been an easy one for me or my husband. I feel like thru all of this he got pushed to the side. because it happened to me... his feelings didn't matter as much. But in reality... he lost his son. He saw him being born. He wanted the future with that baby just as much as I did.

They weren't kidding when they say a lost of a child will make your marriage hard.
In the beginning it was bringing us so close. But after awhile It was pushing us farther and farther away because we both didn't know what to do with each others emotions.

We still have a hard time.
We still miss him.
I still cuddle that bear and cry.
I still tell Nathaniel he is loved and I miss him.
This wound will never fully be healed. but Im learning to be ok.

Thanks for reading.

Preschool cutie

Raylee Hazel

She is 3 1/2 and full of spunk. She started preschool and at first I thought she would have a hard time adjusting and wanting to leave me... She's kind of a mommas girl for sure. But she went right in and said she had the best time. She loves playing at the park there and she loves painting there and her favorite part is the snacks. Each kid brings a snack so its fun to get a new snack each time. She goes Monday and Wednesday in the afternoon. She is very short tempered and you have to be so careful not to set her off. The smallest thing will make her go in a crazy tantrum and not much can stop it. Distracting her seems to be the best bet. She is not picky and will eat anything and everything we are having it and not much she doesn't like. I even got her to like broccoli and she loves it. She loves enchiladas. She is obsessed with everything drinks. but her favorite is apple juice she will drink it all day if id let her. She loves watching youtube on my tablet and its the most obnoxious thing in the world. She really likes Spider-Man. She also can be the sweetest girl and loves to help me with Liam and be there for him when he is sad or sick.
Her favorite color is Blue.
She loves to talk and very observant with where things are. If we go a certain way she can point and say something is that way and be totally right.
She loves gymnastics. She had a hard time waiting her turn and listening at first but I think she really enjoys it and has helped with her listening skills... I'm sure school is doing that as well.
She loved Scooby doo. Transylvania. moana. and now Boss baby but mostly stupid youtube. She does love watching some train show called Tayo.

Life with the Perrys

Alleah Mae

She started Kindergarten August 31st, 2017 and was SOOOO ready. She was so excited for the whole summer to go to school. she loved everything to do with Pre-K. So I knew she was more than ready to attend Kindergarten and definitely no thought in my mind to hold her back. She is always eager to learn even when she is at home. I bought her a work book to work at home and she absolutely loves writing in it. Also, after school everyday she does what she calls "homework" (her teacher doesn't give homework) but she writes her letters and numbers all the time. She can write every single letter, and numbers. And she likes to copy books and write the sentences. She is the most picky eater out of my kids and it is a challenge to get her to even try a bite of something new. But she knows what she likes. She loves spaghetti, pizza, pb & j sandwiches, everything sweet. If I make something new she will immediately turn it away.
She loves to be bossy to me and her siblings. She is such an early riser but she's done for the day by 6pm easily. School tires her out. She loves to play with beads. playdoh.  she has 4 friends in her class. she loves to go to lunch and play with her other friends in the other classes. I was told she isn't afraid to talk and play with the big kids and easily makes friends.
She is quite sassy and opinionated. My little pony, her favorite movie was trolls for the longest time but right now I'm not to sure what it is to be honest. She loves everything to do with holidays... but what kid doesn't. She wants to be spooky. So for Halloween she will be a vampire.
Her favorite color is Purple. She loves playing soccer. I decided to not put her in any other sport after school... I didn't want to tire her out. So she plays soccer every Saturday morning and she made a few goals... wasn't exactly humble about it but she was pretty proud of herself. She is definitely a competitor like her dad and loves to win.
I am so proud of her and how much she is learning and how well she is with helping me. I can go have a shower and have her "watch" Liam easily. She is such a wonderful big sister. Sometimes I am surprised that she is only 5 with things she can do.

Raylee Hazel

She is 3 1/2 and full of spunk. She started preschool and at first I thought she would have a hard time adjusting and wanting to leave me... She's kind of a mommas girl for sure. But she went right in and said she had the best time. She loves playing at the park she loves painting and her favorite part there is the snacks. Each kid brings a snack so its fun to get a new snack each time. She goes Monday and Wednesday in the afternoon. She is very short tempered and you have to be so careful not to set her off. The smallest thing will make her go in a tantrum and not much can stop it. Distracting her seems to be the best bet. She is not picky and will eat anything and everything we are having it and not much she doesn't like. I even got her to like broccoli and she loves it. She loves enchiladas. She is obsessed with everything drinks. but her favorite is apple juice she will drink it all day if id let her. She loves watching youtube on my tablet and its the most obnoxious thing in the world. She really likes Spider-Man. She also can be the sweetest girl and loves to help me with Liam and be there for him when he is sad or sick.
Her favorite color is Blue.
She loves to talk and very observant with where things are. If we go a certain way driving she can point and say something is that way and be totally right. I got a new shark sweeper vacuum (which I love) you just have to charge it and its so light.. Raylee is obsessed with vacuuming.. my floors have never been so clean. haha
She loves gymnastics. She had a hard time waiting her turn and listening at first but I think she really enjoys it and has helped with her listening skills... I'm sure school is doing that as well.
She almost goes on spurts of being obsessed with things and shows and has to watch it and nothing else. It as been Scooby doo. Transylvania. moana. Boss baby but mostly stupid youtube. But her all time favorite show has to be some train show called Tayo.

Liam Thomas
17 Months!

He has been walking for a little over a month. He took a few steps a week before he turned 16 months and from there it just took off. He is super fast, everywhere and loves getting into things his sticky little fingers can get ahold of. His first word he learned was BALL at 14 months. He likes to say bubbles, hi and uh oh. Has such a good throwing arm. & loves to throw his play soccer and basketball. He likes saying "hi" and put the phone to his ear. Gives good kisses and his kisses are actually closed mouth and says MUAH. Also gives cute blowing kisses. He loves Apple juice. pizza. anything noodles. bananas but it can't be cut up... it has to be the whole banana. gram crackers. fruit snacks. goldfish. He loves all snacks but getting him to eat meals is a really hard thing to do. He likes to walk around while he's eating... if he is in a highchair.. he will throw his food.
He takes amazing naps. he's such a sweetheart and loves to hug and just has such a gentle touch to him. He is such a happy chill baby and always has been. But also is turning into a little punk and likes to hit his sisters. Probably just getting them back. He loves to dance. will dance every time music comes on.
Not a fan of the vacuum but always wants to steal my broom and my Swiffer.
So cute but he has started to push around cars and trying to sound like a car.
He seems to like me and dad the same, but probably dad a tad bit more. Loves to join in the fun with his sister's. Loves to bug them as well.  Lately has been throwing little fits. but they're cute... for now.

Joey & I

I have been doing soooo good with meal planning each week for the past 2 weeks.. thanks to Walmart grocery. I started off by planning for the next week and then making my orders and then picking it up that week. But lately I've been planning for the next 2 weeks and picking it up that week. It has been great. Joey is usually asleep by 6 so we've been having dinner around 5-5:30. I have been slacking a little at the gym but I plan on going back strong. I've just been loving when Alleah is at school I get a lot done and then when she's home we spend time together. I used to love the gym so I need to get back. It made me feel so much better than I've been sulking or feeling down lately about some things that I just don't need to. The gym used to help me feel confident and forget all the negativity in the world. I'm the kind of person to just like to be in my bubble and getting out there is hard for me.. but I've been trying harder. 

Joey, well... He works a lot. but he's home usually before 11 am and then goes to sleep around 6pm. so I see him a lot. That part is nice. He has been playing on a hockey league the past few I want to say leagues? haha. I want to say 4. They've ranged around 6 weeks in length...he started in August and this time around he paid for a 12 week one. He loves it. He plays at night. Last one I want to say was 8 weeks long his team got to the finals and won. I've seen him play a few times and he's actually getting really good. His last 2 games he told me he scored 3 goals in each game for his team. Its super good for him. I'm glad he found a hobby he loves doing that's active and doesn't involve video games hahaha. He also got injured pretty bad and had to take some sick days from work which I was not super happy about because he has to work. But he loves it. 

We... Have decided to start getting our house ready to sell. Which I am STOKED about.  New things going to happen for this family. Sadly we decided to sell our dog in the process tho. We are all bummed. But I hope to find her a good home and family. 

Nothing really else exciting and new is happening. But I feel super blessed Joey has been at his job for a year and a half and its been nothing but amazing. He is home so much more and its been great. Got to fix up our yard real nice and going to start fixing up little things to get this house on the market hopefully by March/April. :)

Hansome man

Liam Thomas
16 Months!

Finally walking. He took a few steps a week before he turned 16 months and from there it just took off. he still prefers to crawl but he's getting the hang of it. His first word he learned was BALL at 14 months. Has such a good throwing arm. & loves to throw his play soccer and basketball. He can say "hi" and put the phone to his ear. Gives such good open mouth slobbery kisses and cute blowing kisses. He loves Apple juice. pizza. anything noodles. bananas but it can't be cut up. it has to be the whole banana. gram crackers. fruit snacks. goldfish. He loves all snacks but getting him to eat meals is a really hard thing to do.
He takes amazing naps. he's such a sweetheart and loves to hug and just has such a gentle touch to him. He is such a happy chill baby and always has been. He loves to dance. will dance every time music comes on.
Not a fan of the vacuum but always wants to steal my broom.
So cute but he has started to push around cars and trying to sound like a car.
He seems to like me and dad the same. Loves his sister's. Loves to bug his sisters. and lately has been throwing little fits. but they're cute... for now.

MEXICO

6th Year Anniversary

The 15th (our actual anniversary) my mom followed Joey, me and the kids to Boise (where we were supposed to fly out early morning on the 17th) Because my mom was heading to Rexburg for my Youngest sister's graduation we left a little early and she ended up driving our 3 kiddos from Boise to Rexburg. Because she did that we booked a nice suite and hung out in Boise for 2 nights. Went to Wahooz and played a lazor game, 4D game, bowling, gocarts, ect. it was alot of fun!
We headed to the airport around 4:30am and flew to Phoenix at 6am. Then had to wait over an hour in Phoenix to fly to Cancun.
We made it to Cancun. Got in our shuttle and drove to the Resort. The driving there is CRAZY!!! As if there's absolutely no rules. Our driver was pretty funny. he kept trying to tell us to ask for ground up cockroaches in tequila haha. la cucarachas idk if I said that right haha. He kept cracking jokes. He spoke pretty good English.
Got the Resort. checked in. walked around and explored AFTER we found somewhere to eat. at that point we were starving from flying and The shuttle drive  The resort was HUGE!! We walked the beach.
The next day we went to breakfast and just relaxed at the pool. The all you can eat and drink was amazing. we had to many. I ate so many tacos by the last day I couldn't even look at a taco.
Most of the time we spent relaxing on the beach. at the pool. walking around. and eating food. It was definitely a vacation for us. My husband was getting a little bored, so if we go again we will try and do excursions. But at the same time we really enjoyed doing absolutely nothing.
We swam at an 18 yr and older pool which was connected to the ocean and fish were right at our feet. I was so scared I was going to kick one.
Some guy was feeding them something that looked white. I walked in... and a couple bit me.. Then I didn't care if I kicked one. I jumped out and ran haha
One morning Joey woke up so early and said he was leaving to go see the sun rise. I woke up in a daze and was so confused. I ended up locking our key in the room. and having to wait till the member louge was open to get a new one. at that point we saw a monkey walk right across the bridge in front of us. We saw a couple geckos, parrots and iguanas too. & what I thought was a giant rat... but we aren't still positive on that one.
We saw a Disney show one night after going to the fancy dinner place men actually have to wear pants at and not shorts. it was good. The show was really good. they sang in Spanish and English. and had them dress up like disney characters. Which was nice since we were at a family resort.
Our last night there my sister and her husband showed up on their honeymoon. we showed them around a bit. Went to dinner. Then went to another show. This show was called Latino night. Most of it was really good. except one part. very sudductive dancing that I hope parents covered their children's eyes haha.
It was so much fun. We don't plan on taking these trips very often but it was nice to be able to.
Raylee had the hardest time being away from me and cried a couple nights.
Alleah cried when she was going to drive with my mom to Rexburg and Joey and I were staying back. both times made me cry. Video chatting sad Raylee was hard. I sure missed my kids. But alone time With Joey... was needed.
traveling back home was EXHAUSTING. Our shuttle driver.. this one didn't talk to us, drove less insane and was listening to Bruno Mars in English. haha. He dropped us off 3 hours before our flight. We flew into Dallas... HUGE airport. Took a skythingy shuttle to our terminal  (4th biggest airport) anyway, had to go thru boarder patrol. We already had 2 hours in between our flight AND then it was delayed 2 hours. waited in the airport for 4 hours. Finally flew into Boise. Then drove to Rexburg that night. Got there at 1am.
Our kids were sooo excited. Joey wanted to get home. So at 11am we packed up and headed on a 9 hr drive to Richland.
Oh man, I was exhausted. but those days of relaxation made it all worth it.
Mexico was a dream.