hawaii

after spending a day in the freezing snow & a night out last saturday, i came home & at midnight got online just surfing the internet. i was in need of WARM weather. the only place that had warm weather & we did not need passports was HAWAII. so i look at options to see if we could squeeze in a trip before the kids went back to school. by this time it was 2am & steve was snoozing - i asked him if we should take the kids to hawaii. he mumbled, that's fine. i explained that we would have to leave in 3 days & we could stay for a week. he said, sounds good. so i booked it. then, i scurred around for the next couple days to get things ready here so we could leave for a week then was busy getting new swimsuits & summer clothes & haircuts, etc. the kids were super about helping get everything done so we could go on such short notice.

we were all excited & started our journey. it was a different hawaii vacation - not the relaxing vacation you would expect but we had a BLAST! there was not to much relaxing with 3 kids in tow but we did alot of activites with the kids. the kids loved everything about hawaii. they did not want to come home: jake asked if we could miss our flight so we could stay longer & keegan asked me why i didn't buy a one-way ticket (i was kinda thinking the same thing). brock this morning asked if we could go to the beach when i said NO he asked about the pool when i said NO he then asked about the ocean... he LOVED the beach (the other kids did too but he was cuter about it). he had his sand shovels & bucket & in the pic below you will notice that he is ANAL - he would line up his shovels then using his hand fill the shovels up with sand then take the shovels one by one & dump them into the bucket. this is how he filled the bucket to make a sandcastle. he had a ball!

we would go to dinner downtown waikki & then walk the strip. the kids LOVED all the people on the streets (painters, breakdancers, mimes, magicans, hula girls, even elmo) . keegan  asked every night if we could go to the "activites" on the streets & wondered why we didn't have activites like that in utah. needless to say, we spent many dollars on these "activites" that fully entertained the kids. 

i must admit that i did not take very many pics AT ALL. to be quite honest, i just did not want to hassle with it. i was just more into enjoying the moment rather than trying to capture everything on camera. now that i am home, i do regret it BUT there will always be a next time.

i knew there were lots of things that i'd like to do with the kids in hawaii that we would not be able to do on this trip because of my current condition (surf the big waves on north shore, hike sacred falls, diamond head, etc.) but i was OK with that - i just really wanted some SUN & thought with the kids out of school WHY NOT. It isn't like you can only go on a family vacation to hawaii one time - so i am sure in the future (when the kids are older & i am not prego) we will go again & can do the things we did not do this trip.

i did not feel so pregnant until this trip. it wasn't until i held brock on the plane to get him to sleep & it was then that it hit me how hard it was holding him in my lap with my big belly in such a small space for such a long time. then, when i put on a swimsuit i realized that i am HUGE. then when i was snorkling with jake- we were far out & had to come in, i had to pull him back to the shore, i then realized that i was 7+ months prego & that was a little more than what i bargained for. several times on the trip, i thought ... am i crazy for doing this in my current condition? sometimes i just forget that my body is not the same when i am pregnant.

schedule change

the kids have been out of school for 3 weeks & will be out until the end of january (YEAH!). with that, we decided it would be best to adjust sleeping schedules to staying up later & sleeping in. it was an easy adjustment for the older kids & brock after a couple days followed suite. BUT zoe (our spoiled rotten dog) still has not adjusted. it is not right that SHE is the one waking us up in the mornings because she wants to eat. it is ridiculous that i have to get out of my warm bed & care for her when my other 3 kids are sound asleep. good thing i love her as much as i do or she would starve.

insulin baby

i was hoping to avoid this ordeal with this pregnancy but no such luck. went to the DR & was already spilling glucose. i guess once you have gestational diabetes once you are likely to have it again & it tends to come on sooner & worse. after 3 days of trying to baseline my glucose levels - i think we have it under control. i am on insulin shots & testing my levels 5-7 times a day. all i can think about is how awful this is & how lucky i am to ONLY have to deal with it while pregnant. i feel for those who have diabetes & have to deal with it ALL the time. it is horrible. so, just something i am going to have to monitor carefully until this baby is born. anyways, baby looks great so that is al that matters. brock was an insulin baby & look how perfect he turned out!

the other thing that makes this bad is that it effects my due date. for some, that is no big deal but for me - this baby in on MY schedule for a specific DATE & that will be changed. i won't know until it gets closer (DR says anywhere between 1-6 weeks early). i have commitments & travel plans that can NOT be changed. i sure hope that steve is in town when i have this baby. not sure i can wait on him again (i went into labor with keegan 3 weeks early & steve was in new zealand. he got on a flight & made it to the hospital & within 5 minutes keegan was born. i insisted on waiting for him but it was VERY stressful for me, him & baby keegan).

buSy!

kids still out of school + trying to get things done = bUsY!

i can't believe it is friday - i had so many things to get done this week that today i started the day in panic-mode because i hadn't gotten much done all week. then, some friends called & we decided to bundle the kids up & go over to their "farm" to go sledding (behind 4wheelers- the best way to sled :). we had a super fun day. jake & keegan LOVED being pulled really fast. sam got the tractor out & made snow jumps. brock did not love the sledding after a few minutes but liked riding in the tractor & as long as he had hot chocolate in his cup & a cookie in his hand he was very happy! (note the pic below when he fell & was so upset he dropped his cookie in the snow)

so... another day that things won't get done but sure was a FUN. here's a quote i like:

"god put me on earth to accomplish a certain amount of things- right now the list is so long that there is no way i could possibly die!"

5

just finished a book & recommend it to EVERYONE! it is by compendium & titled 5. you can see it here



it is not just a book of quotes/inspriational thoughts but a thought provoking book - not a here's HOW & WHAT to do book but a WHY NOT book. basically it is: what do you want to do with the next 5 years of your life? here is a little exert from the intro: “…This is your life, your one-and-only-life, and you don’t want to miss any part of it. So, what is it going to be? you decide. Starting today, you can make the next five years the most exciting, satisfying, productive and amazing year of your life so far- or just another five years”. one could read it in about a hour or two BUT i have read & reread over it several times & pondering it these last couple of weeks. it is in workbook style so you write in it (but i haven't dared write in it yet ... step 2) HA!

hello 2009

christmas has come & gone & so has another year! i am having a hard time closing out 2008 - it was such a great year! as i reflect back on 2008, i just am happy with where i am & all those positive memories. when i contemplated my "goals" i had set for 2008- it was humbling to me that there were many things i had planned & set out to accomplish that i did no get around to doing. i had high expectations & hefty improvements i wanted to make in some areas. YES, i wish those things were done BUT i can't say i am disappointed as i had a great year & today is a new day. there is so much we desire in life & only so much time we have in a day that i think it is easy to become a slave to ourselves & not enjoy the process. i will try harder to turn some of my desires into reality in 2009 but more than anything i want to truly enjoy the process. let's all make 2009 the BEST!