christmas and new years eve!

madyn was pretty excited to wake up Christmas morning to see what 

Santa had brought for her.

she got a doll house, a kitty cat, and a few stocking stuffers.

we had a nice morning at church.

when we were getting ready to leave we were standing in the foyer

and it was snowing and blowing pretty hard outside.

someone came out and said wow it's a blizzard out there!

madyn turned and looked at me all confused "there is a lizard out there?!?"

later instead of blizzard- she referred to it as a blister.

that afternoon eric had to work from 4-10.

tuesday i had a doctors appointment and right after we took off to 

head to lyman.

it was nice to be home and with all the family.

friday i had an OB appointment at the U in salt lake

so me and eric took off to do that...

it took us 3 hours!!

it was seriously the longest appointment of my life.

they did another ultrasound so we were able to see that it is for sure

a little boy in there.

he is measuring right on time with my due date and looks great.

although i do have to say he is already stressing me out...

he is so stinking active and wiggley.

when the doctor first came in to check his heart beat with the doppler,

she would get it and then he would flip so she couldnt get his rate.

and then when we were doing the ultrasound he was all over the place.

that boy is going to keep me on my toes!

after my appointment we rushed home to have our gillies family christmas party.

carilyn made a yummy prime rib.

the kids did the nativity and then opened presents. 

i think it was pretty fun for them all to extend christmas out.

saturday morning we trekked off to dead horse to go sledding.

even though i really couldnt do much i still had a lot of fun.

it was the first time i had been in dad's razor...

i enjoyed that a lot more then the fourwheeler....

i swear i could feel that little boy with every bump!

mom and dad made delicious chili and scones.

and it was just a fun day all in all.

when we got home we had our erickson family christmas/ new years eve party.

we had yummy food and the kids had fun with their presents.

after all that fun we played some games...

then everyone went home and we were in bed by 11.

i swear... new years eve is way overrated!

i would much rather get some sleep.

and it's a....

sunday morning i woke up feeling awful.

i was cramping soooo bad... and it wasnt crohns cramping.

so i just figured it must just be braxton hicks or something but 

i am still pretty early so i didnt really know what to think.

but as the day went on i started feeling better, just really tired...

monday morning i woke up to the same cramping.

so just to be on the safe side i called the doctor and they decided to have us come in.

so that afternoon we went in and got everything checked out.

luckily everything looked great it was just a little infection.

while she was doing our ultrasound we got a sneak peak to see we are

having a little boy!

it was so fun seeing him... but oh my goodness i swear he is a wild little child!

he's a wiggly little bugger and wouldnt stay still at all and he was

all flapping his sweet little hands everywhere. 

so since he wouldnt sit still they couldnt get a picture or another clear shot 

that he is a boy so she told us she was very confident but dont go out buying everything blue.

madyn's drawing of her and Ty :)

after our appointment dad was about to town so we went out

and had lunch with him and the guys while they were passing through.

that evening we went to watch the cowboys play basketball.

about 5 minutes to half time the power went out.

so we sat around for a bit and after seeing on facebook that all of laramie

was out of power we decided to stick around to see if it would kick back on.

it didnt really make sense to go home and sit in the cold and dark.

at least at the double a we had heat and some light from their generators.

so i guess after 2 hours the rule is they dont count the game as a win or a lose.

so about 4 minutes before they were going to call the game the power came back on.

since a lot of people had already left they let everyone that stayed pick where they want to sit.

so we got to sick courtside.

it was honestly probably the funnest game that we have been to in a long time.

it was a fairly close score. the fans we were sitting around were fun.

it was honestly so fun.

and poor little miss was completely out!

she was such a little trooper.

the next day we were out doing some grocery shopping

and oh my goodness i couldnt help myself!

look at this cute little outfit that we can bring him home in!

i know she told us not to go out and buy anything.... but i figured it

was just one outfit and i could always return it :)

wednesday eric had to work in the evening and with school being out

we decided to have a little christmas party for the young women in the ward at our house.

we bumped it up to earlier so we could watch the bowl game that was later that evening.

it was a pretty good game between Wyoming and BYU...

we got a bit behind but near the end we had started to come back.

we were getting pretty close to the end and winning or going to overtime and we threw 

an interception.

we were pretty bummed to loose... especially to BYU...

but at least it was a good game to watch.

the rest of the week we took it pretty easy.

i know it's pretty silly but i honestly really just wanted to do a puzzle....

so we went and bought a couple and i spent most of my time doing them.

friday night we went out to look at Christmas lights.

Madyn loved doing that.

Saturday we cooked our nice Christmas dinner since eric had to work on Christmas day.

we had prime rib and it was pretty delicious.

i told madyn that all i wanted for christmas was for her to draw a picture

of our family

i thought she did pretty good.

then she drew a picture for santa to show him what she wants.

she wanted a toy kitty cat.

and she made it quite clear that she wanted it to be a toy and not a real cat

to everyone she talked to.

boy that girl makes me happy :)

even though saturday night (christmas eve) it was a nightmare trying

to get her to bed...

she kept saying how she hoped santa would get his treat.

(we set him out goldfish crackers and water... i totally dropped the ball on that one)

it's a good thing we love that little stink!

even when it takes her FOREVER to get to sleep!

getting in the Christmas spirit!

sunday we had a busy day!

we had church. then tithing settlement. then a christmas carnival

that head start put on for the kids. 

it was a pretty busy afternoon.

then that evening we had young women in excellence for our girls in our ward.

it was short and sweet.... and after we have had to reschedule many times

it was just good to get it all over with.

this week i ended up watching colter quite a bit...

my little sweet boy is moving away, so i got to love on him

while his parents packed.

tuesday madyn had a field trip over at the junior high.

they put on a lunch, concert and Santa even came to visit.

madyn was TERRIFIED of santa.

it was actually pretty funny.

she was like crawling up eric she was so nervous.

then on thursday madyn had pj day at school and they 

had a little holiday party for their last day of school before the break.

saturday we went out and watched the cowboys play some basketball.

then we waited around for dad to get into town.

he and the guys were going to go to the broncos game on sunday

so he was staying with us the night before.

we had a nice time visiting before we headed off to bed.

oh christmas tree.

it was a bit of a busy week at the gillies house this week.

we hit up basketball games, babysat colter and lots of errands in between.

thursday night madyn had another literacy night over at head start.

she loves going and seeing her teachers and friends.

madyn had a half day on friday and they took a field trip over to walmart.

so i stayed and had breakfast with her and her class 

then went on the field trip with them all.

it was quite the experience...

the i took off to cheyenne to get some christmas shopping done.

and if i do say so myself, i would say it was a pretty successful trip.

and it always makes me happy just to walk around Target....

especially without a husband rushing me along... and my tiny terror being impatient.

lol.

when i got back into town me and mads went over to karens house for a party.

and ended up spending most of the night over there...

madyn has finally warmed up to karen,

despite her having a cat at her house.

saturday we got up and headed to the mountains to pick us out a christmas tree.

it didnt seem too bad out.... but the further we got from laramie the worse the weather got.

it was kinda nasty with the wind blowing.

and of course little miss was not in the mood to do any of this.

we brought the sled figuring she would be happy with that.... nope...

she just wanted to be carried.

so it was a bit of a miserable trip.

but we found a tree so we were happy.

that afternoon when we got home my head was killing me and i was exhausted.

so i rested for a bit... but madyn was pretty anxious to start decorating.

so we got the tree up and all decorated.

i kind of love this time of year!

it makes my heart happy :)

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 :)