37 Years Young

My birthday this year was quite the event. I got up to get dressed for a special Relief Society meeting where Ardeth Kapp Perry, the General Young Women's President when I a teen, was going to be the guest speaker. The theme was "Better than you think you are." That was something I wasn't going to miss. (Plus they fed us afterwards;)

She was amazing, and her stories were wonderful, and often hilarious. She made us all feel better about what we were trying to do in our lives and reminded us of why we were doing it. She encouraged us to get our priorities straight and then let the rest go. She also reminded us that the Lord needs righteous women. That doesn't mean good-looking, super-smart, or the ones with most canned apricots in their basement. I appreciate that.

I think we can all appreciate that!

Then I came home to flowers from my Grandpa:

And an an awfully large present from Peter waiting for me:

I was almost afraid to open it.

Here is me opening my new 27-inch LED iMac.

(Note Nathaniel in the background already thinking about what he wants to do with it.)

Have I mentioned that Peter buys me really big, expensive things sometimes?

I had two emotions at the same time. One being, holy crap, this is awesome.

And the other, as you see in my face below, is what the heck???

Stunned is a good word.

The boys immediately get busy on setting things up. I'm still in shock.

Note my 16 wk. baby bump-- I bust out so fast when I'm pregnant it's rediculous.

Unfortunately that was the last of my birthday fun for the next several hours as I battled nausea and headache in bed for most of the day. We had all planned on going out for dinner as a family and had even picked out an Italian restaurant we had never been to. Just as I thought I wouldn't be able to do it Peter helped me pull myself together with a hot bath and some mint tea.

We had a fabulous dinner-- thumbs up to Carrabba's in Orem. I was very thankful to be able to enjoy the delicious food and then the headache decided to throb all the way on the drive back home. I got back into the tub and got in bed. (Headaches are something I really battle in pregnancy because there just isn't that much I can take besides Tylenol, and I'm afraid to take too much of it.)

So I haven't been posting much on my blog recently because I've had this new computer we had to move everything onto and maybe I've just been a little lazy too.

Wow-- thirty-seven and expecting a new person. That's the best present of all for us this year:)

(Sarah took all the photos in this post. She is becoming quite the photographer.)

Snow finally

This winter has been unusually dry here in Utah but we finally got our first decent snow last Saturday. Nathaniel got a snowboard for Christmas and hasn't been able to use it yet. I prodded Peter into taking the kids sledding and we got John and Rebecca all suited up only to get there and find that the place was closed. Peter was not pleased.

However John did get some good snow play in and built a snowman with some friends in the front yard. Our neighbors across the street built three and we have been amusing ourselves over here with watching them lean a little farther every day as they melt.

Took this picture of them on Wednesday. Gotta love the little one in the middle.

Then this one here was Friday. Today that one on the left is leaning so far down the scarf is touching the ground. We have joked about setting up chairs in their front yard to catch the moment one finally goes. (We're hard up for amusement around here.)

And lastly here is a picture Sarah took of the sunset the other night.

Mitchell baby Number Five

Guess this is as good a time as any to officially announce that we are expecting a baby in July. Very major news I know! This one was a long time in the preparation phase. All the kids are very excited. Sarah was the first to know way back at the beginning of November. Then Nathaniel, who is constantly messing with my computer, found a search history of something I had looked at online and then pregnancy test instructions in my purse, so when I told him he already suspected.

We did a game of hangman for John and Rebecca and it wasn't until the very last letter that they finally got it. The clue was "baby on the way." It took John all of 24 hours to announce it to everyone he knew.

We heard the heartbeat for the first time on December 23rd, when I was almost 12 weeks. The whole family went with me and unexpectedly the doctor did a little ultrasound and we got to see our little person in there! Baby was moving around some and Peter said he/she was already doing P90X situps:)
We had planned to tell family that night but I was beyond ill and we put it off until Christmas Day. Everyone was pretty shocked to say the least.

Ultrasound image from my video camera.

As for myself, I've been sick, sick, sick. I had it in my mind for the last three or four years that we were waiting for a girl but this pregnancy has had boy written all over it. I was only sick for about three weeks with both my girls. The boys dragged on and on forever. I've been feeling like death for two months now.

Just as I felt I was turning a corner the last couple of days I found myself throwing up again this morning. Weird. Still, I've been able to make dinner without shaking and terrible nausea for over a week now. This is improvement.

I have no craving for sweets-- only salt. Not to be stereotypical, but pickles and I are on very good terms right now, which Sarah finds endlessly entertaining. Though ice cream and I are not, and definitely not together. (Who came up with that one?)

Now that I'm feeling myself moving slowly on into the land of the living, the whole thing is becoming much more exciting:) We are going to have a baby!