I'm bad at blogging. Did you know that? I'm sure you did. It's quite obvious considering the last time I updated this family blog was in October of 2009. Yes, 2009. Sigh. A lot has happened in the meantime.
Jake turned 14 in 2010. He had his appendix burst, and after a very rough surgery, got blood clots in his leg that then traveled to his lung. Scary stuff. He had to give himself lovenox (blood thinner) shots in his stomach twice a day for over a year. Jake also joined band and marching band playing the saxophone (sax-a-ma-phone, sax-a-ma-phone! Ok, I'm a nerd. Picture that in a Homer Simpson voice.) Lehi's marching band did very well - and maybe I should have Jake write a little blurb to post later about his band adventures. :) Jake turned 15 this year and is excited to start driving and is applying for summer jobs. We are so proud of the young man he has become!
Jenica turned 11 in 2010 and sadly, Jake's appendix situation took over her birthday that year. She took it remarkably well and proved what a wonderful girl she is! She is feisty and funny and we absolutely love her that way. Jenica is now 12 and has happily moved to the Young Women's program and out of Primary. She is our fashionista expert and loves art. One day I can see her making millions as a fashion designer and being embarrassed by her dad's lack of fashion sense.
Abby turned 8 in 2010 and was baptized! It was a wonderful experience to share with her and it was a great reason to get the whole family together. Abby is certainly a chatterbox. She keeps us entertained and has an awesome sense of humor. Abby had a hard time with getting lots of strep this past year, so in March, she got her tonsils out. She was a trooper at the hospital and was so brave the whole time. We could tell when she started to feel better because she started talking more and more. We are so happy everything went well and she seems to be doing much better overall. I'm very glad that Abby rejected her dad's suggestion to save her "meatball" tonsils and turn them into earrings. LOL Gross.
Dan and I reached our 2 year anniversary this last December. We are incredibly happy together and often comment on how wonderful it is that we still feel like newlyweds. Dan had his priesthood restored this year and we are working towards going to the temple and being sealed. Hopefully we can do that soon! I can't tell you how awesome it is to be able to ask for blessings from him.
We got pregnant and found out in the beginning of August. It took us a long time and there was lots of sadness and frustration. My doctor put me on Clomid and I never really regulated the way that I was supposed to, so when my prescription ran out, I went back to the doctor and he doubled my dosage. Because of the timing, I was off of it for a month and that was the month that finally worked! I never even bothered with the next dose! I was so very sick with morning sickness, I lost a lot of weight. (YAY!) We started calling the baby Darth because of his force powers in making me sick. All of our future babies who make me sick will get that fun moniker until we find out if they are a boy or girl. :) Just after Thanksgiving, we found out that we were having a little boy and after lots of thought and discussions, we decided to name him Gabriel.
I had a couple of months of relief from sickness, but it has come back full force for this last month of pregnancy. About a month ago, I was up and walking around one Sunday morning, and came back to bed for a while sitting cross legged. When I moved to get up again to get showered for church, I found that my ankle wouldn't move and I couldn't put any pressure on it. I was on crutches for a month before I had surgery. It was quite an ordeal to get insurance approval and I want to thank all of the wonderful doctors and surgeons who put in a ton of extra work and phone calls to get me into surgery. I was attended by so many nurses and doctors during the surgery to make sure all went well with me and Gabriel. They said he had a very strong and happy heartbeat during the whole thing. He never showed any signs of stress which is great.
Anyway... I think we are somewhat caught up on our lives now. I am due in exactly 2 weeks and I'm really hoping Gabe decides to come early! I'm ready to be done being pregnant and I am excited for the kids to meet their new brother!