soon to be gilliespartyofFOUR!

soooo we have some super exciting news!

we are expecting BABY #2!!!

and can i just say this has been a long little crazy ride for us...

this little journey started about a few years ago...
when the baby hungriness started to set in...
but due to the fact that i am on some immune suppressants...
 and have been on them for over 10 years....
i needed some vaccine updates
(one being a series that had to be done over a 6 month period)
... which i couldn't get if i was pregnant...
so we were told to wait...
along with all that my crohn's was pretty much all out of wack anyways...
so fast forward a bit to july 2015... undergoing colonoscopy #5 to see what all
was going on and why i wasnt in remission.
so we get that accomplished and wait for my follow up about a month
later to discuss my results.
now let me tell you... i was actually super excited to head to this appointment...
i pretty much had this visit all figured out in my mind to go as follows...
we would go in, discuss my results, be offered some new medications, look over
their risks, be sent on our way to go make a baby.
so when the doct came in... very very serious... and pretty much told us that
surgery was looking like our only option...
my hope for another baby at that time just dwindled away.
my heart broke that day.
and maybe that sounds dramatic... but if there is one thing i know,
when your heart is aching because you feel like something is missing from your family
there is nothing more discouraging then hearing that you cant have that.
and then it all just keeps piling on...
every time you see someones birth announcement,
or someone has a baby,
 or you get asked when are you gonna have another?
or the unwelcomed advice about how far apart you should space your children,
or someone saying- oh but you can snuggle my kids whenever you want...
like holding their baby is going to make me feel
any better about not being able to have one of my own.
so after 6 months of recovery.... and not a whole lot of improvement on the health....
it was time for another colonoscopy.
this time we left we some happy news!!!
since everything was healing great then it was
was as good as time as ever to be able to start trying again.
after we stopped the birth control... things just werent right.
and i guess i just chalked it up to be that i have been on the pill so long that
my body was just trying to get back in the swing of things.
and when we got pregnant with madyn, we really werent on the pill that long...
so i just needed to be patient.
but something didnt feel quite right in my gut.
and i kept having a feeling like i needed to go to my obgyn.
so i went... and we talked... and scheduled blood tests... and ultrasounds...
and the first problem- my thyroid is out of wack...
and second concern- i was diagnosed with PCOS.
so we discussed our chances of having a baby being significantly lower
then a normal healthy couple.
 medications to help us get there.
and all these other options that just made my heart hurt.
so we were sent on our way and told to come back in two weeks
to discuss more blood tests, hormone tests, and some testing on eric.
so to say that i was depressed and struggling was kind of an understatement.
the week of my appointment came and sunday i was SOOOO sick.
and monday came and i was sooooo sick....
and then it hit me, about a few weeks earlier.
the reason we went to the obgyn in the first place was (ready for tmi?)
that i kept bleeding... like everyday bleeding.
and a few weeks prior i had just suddenly stopped.
so maybe why i stopped was because i was pregnant....
so i took a test and there was a double line :)
i laughed. i cried. i honestly felt like what in the heck is heavenly father doing to me?!?
it had definitely been a roller coaster of emotions during that month... or even
past couple of years for that matter.
this pregnancy has been a bit different compared to madyn.
the whole first trimester i was sick the whole 24 hours a day...
luckily just not nauseous- im not a puker.
i was also super tired the first trimester. making it to bed by 8 was
killing me... i couldnt get to bed fast enough.
i have acne like CRAZY!
my hair is pretty nasty... it's falling out like crazy... and greasy... and brittle...
and just plain weird.
i feel super moody... poor eric.... im pretty cranky.
i want absolutely NOTHING to do with my diet dr pepper and coke.
i wouldnt say that i have really had any cravings
although i have been eating quite a bit of cheese cake and grilled cheese & tomato soup.
probably sprite or 7up if anything would be what i want most.
i am also super cold... all the time! i cannot get warm...
probably part of the thyroid issue...
but either way I AM FREEZING!
madyn is super excited to be a big sister.
she is set on having a girl.
her name for a girl is sofia... and for a boy it's clifford the big red dog.
and eric is set on having a little boy and a future hunting partner.
and to be honest im just super excited and dont really care what gender it is.
right now we are sitting a little bit past 15 weeks so we
get to find out what it is january 13.
which seems like FOREVER away!
but we are super excited for our little baby bean to get here on/ around may 30 :)
and feel pretty blessed that we get to be parents again
and have our family grow a little bit bigger!

december!

sunday we were back home!

it was pretty nice to get back to the house and our own beds.

but it was a pretty busy week ahead of us.

mads was thrilled to get back to preschool and see her friends.

monday was spent running around getting visiting teaching done for the month.

tuesday i had to do a certification for home health and watch colter.

wednesday after i picked up mads from school we had to go get some

grocery shopping done...

well apparently school has been wearing little miss out...

she was out cold for our whole shopping trip.

that night little miss had dance class then she went with

me over to young womens for the night.

she loves tagging along and being with all the girls.

that evening i found out that we were having all these complications

with billing and the companies that i go through for my remicade

and the company that comes to administer it.

i had been so sick the last couple of days so looking to have to prolong it

was seriously killing me inside.

and to be quite honest i was super frustrated that we were dealing with this at 

literally the 11th hour since i was supposed to get it the next morning.

but i had the biggest tender mercy of my life!

my sweet, sweet, wonderful gary from rs iv worked everything out for me

so that i could still get it.

so thursday morning i was able to get my infusion.

but by the afternoon i was completely beat!

so luckily when madyn got home she was beat too so we were able

to have a nice nap together. 

friday me and mads went over to a ward friends house

and did music makers with them and a bunch of other people from our ward.

we sang songs, read books, the kids played and we made a snowman craft gift.

and of course madyn had to go completely decked out as a princess.

after we got home we got out our christmas decorations.

madyn loves her nativity that she can play with and pretty much hasnt 

let it out of her sight.

saturday was a big day for the cowboys!

that afternoon we went and watched the cowboys play a basketball game

and we got free chick-fil-a!

after the game we came home and got ready for the mountain west championship.

it was freezing outside!

soooo. 3 pairs of bottoms +snowpants, a long john top, t shirt, 2 sweaters,

2 winter coats, a scarf and 2 beanies later (and that was just on me...)

we were set to go!

we were bundled and warm, and had lots of blankets 

to keep us nice and cozy.

it was soooo packed and was crazy busy!

and before the game even started little miss was out!

she was asleep through the first quarter.

then we tried to move her to get her a little more comfortable

she woke up and was up for the rest of the game.

but she did awesome.

unfortunately the game didnt turn out in our favor....

but we still had a blast and it was well worth sitting out in the 

FREEZING cold to watch :)