Another Job?

I think so! I am probably crazy for thinking this was a good idea, though. I am actually really excited to see where this new opportunity will take me. So, here's the story:

One day when driving in the car, I was stressing about all of the bills that we need to pay off and I mentioned to Thayne that it would be really sweet if he could get a basement to do on the side (they usually pay really well, but take up a lot of his free time.) He responded by saying, "Or, you could get a second job." At first, I was in total shock that he would say something like that to me. I feel like I work really hard at raising my girls and working for my dad at the plumbing company. But, after thinking about it for just a few seconds, I said, "I guess I could do that if you wanted me to." That was the end of our conversation. And, he never said anything else about it.

I spent many sleepless nights stressing over money issues and trying to figure out how we were going to pay for everything. I came to the conclusion that maybe it would be a good idea for me to get a second job. I had a few reasons that just made sense to me: 1. I have never worked anywhere except the plumbing company. Another job would give me some experience, just in case the plumbing company doesn't work out. 2. A lot of companies are hiring right now for the holiday season. 3. I would get a much needed break from my kids and make some extra money. 4. It might be good for Thayne to see how difficult it is to work and keep up with the girls and all of the housework. I have never felt under-appreciated by him, but there have been times that he acts like I don't do my share of the work. I don't think he realizes how difficult it is on somedays to get things done while caring for the girls. They can definitely be a lot of work.

So, I decided to start filling out some applications at different places. Initially, I didn't want to go far from home, so I applied at Wal-mart and Smiths. I never heard anything from either of them. I decided that I might need to start stepping out of the box a little bit and move out even further. I started thinking about places in Lehi and the Draper/Sandy area that I might enjoy. I applied at Cabela's and Target. I got an interview at Cabela's. That's when I got really nervous! I had never had a job interview in my entire life. I had to go and buy some nice pants because I didn't own anything other than jeans (I know, that's crazy!) I went to my interview and felt like I did okay. I wasn't real impressed with myself. But, I got a call back about a week later and was offered a job as a cashier at Cabela's.

I hope that this opportunity works out as perfectly as I am hoping that it will. I am really excited to get a break from my girls. I love them so much and wouldn't change anything about them, but they do overwhelm me at times. I am really excited to start having some adult conversations with people. I feel like all I do is talk to children, other than my mom. I am really excited for Thayne to get to see how hard it is to watch the girls all day long. And, I'm really excited to be able to be making some extra money, in hopes that we can get some bills paid off quicker and get out of debt. So, I start on Tuesday and I can't wait! I'm so excited!

Motherhood is Tough...

...some days. Let me start off by saying that I seriously love my girls. I could not have asked for better kids and they bring so much joy to me that I can't even begin to express it. And, I honestly cannot imagine my life without them.

But, there are days that I think to myself, "What were you thinking?!?!" I do not understand why it is such a fight to take a nap some days. I can see that you are beyond exhausted and can barely keep your eyes open. But, the second you climb into your bed, you're wide awake and throwing a huge fit. This still does not make sense to me-I love going to bed and taking naps.

Lexi has her days where she is the cutest thing that I have ever seen. She tells me funny stories and she imitates something that I did and just flat out makes me laugh. Today began as one of those days. But, naptime came along and it just ruined the rest of the day. I gave her warnings of 5 more minutes and we're going to go take a nap (I think I even said it twice). But, as soon as it was really time to go lay down, she went into "fit" mode. She screamed for a good 20 minutes or so because she thought she was still hungry for her lunch. GRRRRR!!!! I get so frustrated with that.

But, she is now sleeping and my life is peaceful for a few hours. I hope it's a long nap today! I am definitely so lucky to have these two beautiful girls and I wouldn't change it for anything. They definitely teach me things, especially patience, that I wouldn't learn anywhere else. I am really trying to be more patient with Lexi and not be so quick to get angry, especially over dumb things. She's a kid. And, I sure love both Lexi and Averie more than I ever thought possible. Today has just been a very rough day. Tomorrow will be better.

FotoFly Pictures

I wanted to get some pictures taken of my girls and I heard about a place in Draper that was decently priced and you got all the rights to the photos. I really liked the idea of being able to print my own photos whenever I wanted (because it's way cheaper that way!) So, I decided to get their pictures taken for Mother's Day (I sure made that easy on my husband!) Here's a few of their pictures:










Thanks to Tracie for telling me about how great FotoFly is. I plan to get more pictures taken of my girls in the near future!

Mother's Day Weekend

This was not the greatest Mother's Day at the Fuelling household. We had a semi-impromptu trip to St. George and ended up helping move all weekend. Here's the short version of the story: After some family drama with the business, my parents made the tough decision to put their St. George house up for sale. No one was really happy about it, but they felt it was financially necessary. They fully expected to sell the house, but figured that they would have a few months to enjoy it. That was not the case. After just 6 days on the market, they received a full price cash offer that they just couldn't refuse. We had to rush to get all of their furniture out of the house because they needed to close in just 2 weeks!

Although moving furniture all weekend was not fun (ok, let's be serious, I just kept the kids out of the way of everyone else moving furniture all weekend). We did find some time to enjoy the weather. We took Lexi to a park in St. George that has a wading pool and stream running through it. She absolutely loved it! She didn't mind that it was the central point of the Ironman race that was going on down there and it was so crowded. But, she was loving every minute of it! (I will have to post pictures later because I forgot my camera. The only pictures I have are on my mom and Markell's camera).

But, I'm definitely going to miss this view:

P.S. I did cry as we were driving away.

Averie is finally here...

...as of nearly 3 weeks ago. Sorry it has taken so long to finally get around to posting this. Oh well, better late than never, I guess. At my 38 week appointment, the doctor said that anytime after 39 weeks, I could be induced, if I wanted. Of course, I wanted! So, we scheduled the induction for the next Monday. I would be 39 weeks and 2 days, at that point.

So, we arrived at the hospital around 7 am. They finally started me on the pitocin around 9 am...and then, the waiting began. I got the epidural around noon, when I was dilated to about a 4. (Yes, I am a wuss and don't like to be in pain!) We expected the baby to be here in about 3 hours or so. That definitely was not the case. The baby was kind of high in my uterus and not pushing on the pelvic bone to help with the dilating. So, I stayed at a 5 for about 3 hours and they just kept uping the medication.

The doctor finally came in to visit around 6 pm and I was only at about a 7. This labor was taking way longer than anyone expected it to. The doctor and nurses all left and said that they'd be back to check me in a bit. By this time, the family was all starting to get worried because my labor was taking way too long. The nurses came back in around 7 pm to check me. I was only at an 8 and not progressing as quickly as they had hoped I would be. So, they made me sit up as high as I could hoping that gravity would help push the baby down in my uterus and get the labor to progress faster. Well, it worked (kind of). The nurse left and my family members all left to go get a drink, thinking that they were still a couple hours left of labor. But, I started to get nauseous just as they all left. And, when I threw up, my water broke. Thayne hurried and called the nurses back in (they were worried about the cord coming down before the baby because she was up so high). All of a sudden, I was at a 10 and the baby was ready to be born. I pushed through 2 contractions (a total of about 2 minutes) and she was here!

Averie was born at 7:48 pm on March 21, 2011. She weighed 7 lbs 12 oz and was 18-1/2 in long. I can't believe how much she has already grown in these 3 weeks that she's been here. She is such a joy to have in our family and Lexi just loves her to pieces. I couldn't have gotten a better baby. Here's some pictures of our new addition:

Yesterday was a BIG day...

I went to the doctor on Tuesday. My blood pressure was good, but I was still measuring big. I must have been big because the doctor didn't even tell me what the measurements were. She just said that we better schedule an ultrasound. And, the baby had turned (AGAIN!) and was laying sideways in my belly. The doctor did a quick ultrasound to double check the position of the baby, and sure enough she was transverse.

They scheduled an ultrasound for the next day to measure the size of the baby and check her position. She has moved (once again) and was now laying head down. They estimate that the baby weighs about 6 lbs. 10 oz. right now. That is about the 70th percentile. They said that she isn't huge, but she is on the big side. I am excited to go back to the doctor on Tuesday and see how she feels about the size of the baby and how long we should let this pregnancy go. It's coming faster and faster...and before we know it, little Averie will make her debut into this world.

Plus, seeing this little face has made me so anxious for her to just get here already:

It's Getting Closer...

I have to tell myself almost every day, that every day that goes by is just one day closer to having this baby be here. I had a doctor appointment this week. I was 33 weeks and 3 days along, but measuring in at 37. The baby did turn and she is now head down. She did have her head up under my ribs for a few months, and we were starting to wonder if she would turn or if she was going to need some extra encouragement to turn down.

The doctor said that when I go back in 2 weeks (I'll be 35 weeks and 3 days along), she will do all the necessary tests and measurements that accompany being in the last month of pregnancy. If I still measure really big (which I don't think will change), then she will order an ultrasound to try to get a good estimate on the baby's size. That will be exciting to get to see this little girl again before she officially makes her arrival. I only got to have an ultrasound with Lexi at 10 weeks and 20 weeks.

I am beginning to nest a little bit, as well. I finally washed all the baby clothes and got them hanging up in the closet. I'm just trying to finish up a few decorations for the room that I am doing myself. I'm trying to be more crafty, these days. There are so many things that I want to do, but my body wears out before my mind thinks it should. But, it's getting closer! We're only 6 weeks away. We have decided on her name: Averie Lynn Fuelling. Now, she just needs to decide on a birthday!

I...

...feel like a balloon! I am now 29 weeks and 1 day pregnant. It's getting so close, but yet it's still so far away. At my last two doctor appointments, I measure 4 cm bigger than I am weeks (ex: at 21 weeks, I measured at 25 cm; and at 25 weeks, I measured at 29 cm). So, I expect that my appoint this week will be the same. I am guessing that I will measure about 33 cm. But, I still feel huge!

I think that the reason that I feel so big is because I go all out front with both my pregnancies. From behind, you can barely tell that I'm pregnant. I was walking back to my house the other night and looking at my shadow, I couldn't even see the slightest baby bump, and then I turned to the side, and thought, "HOLY CRAP! I'M HUGE!" It was not a good sight (for me, anyway).

Thayne is so great, though. He continues to tell me that I'm beautiful and it will only be this way for a few more months. I'm sure that he gets sick of hearing me complain, though. The worst part is, I still have like 8 more weeks of baby growing to do. I am only going to get bigger!

Other than feeling huge, I am doing really good. My feet have not begun to swell, just yet. My hands start to feel fat towards the end of the night. There are some nights that I need to take my ring off while I still can. I have one pair of "normal" jeans that I continued to button until this week. I still refuse to buy maternity jeans, though. I am slowly sleeping less and less at night these days. But, overall, I feel great! I have very few complaints about being pregnant and am so anxious to welcome this little girl into our lives

Goofy Goof-Ball

Lexi's cute little personality is really coming out lately. She is so funny! I just can't get enough of her. She has really started talking and she is hilarious. Here are just a few (more) examples of her funny personality coming out:

*When we drive in the car, if we're going down a hill or the road is bumpy, she says: "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa...Crazy!"

*She carries her baby dolls everywhere and they are either crying, laughing, or sick. She fake cries, and says: "Baby's crying...She's sad." If the baby is happy, she fake laughs. And she will even fake cough, and say: "Baby's sick..."

*She knows the names of her 2 favorite shows: Yo Gabba Gabba and Olivia. She always asks to watch, "Ya Ya". She even knows all of the characters by name. If we tell her no, she instantly asks to watch "Olivia."

*There's an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba with Jack Black. She knows when Jack is coming on and she yells, "Jack! It's Jack!" She even does the "Disco Roll" dance with Jack and the Yo Gabba Gabba people.

*Here's my favorite:

She poses for pictures and says "Cheese!" every time you get the camera out. She is obsessed with her snow boots lately. She will take her shoes off and put her boots on and wear them all over the house all night long.

I can't wait to watch her grow up more and watch this little personality of hers to come out even more. I hope that she continues to be a little bit of a goof-ball as she gets older. It sure makes for some good entertainment for Thayne and me.