1 week down!

After I pushed publish on the last post, I almost deleted it right away.  It was so personal and real, which I usually don’t publish on the blog.  Luckily Joseph convinced me to keep it up.  It has helped in so many ways!

I am amazed at the support that has poured out from all of you.  Little did I know I had dozens of friends suffering from the same problem!  I received lots of encouragement and help from a lot of you.  Thank you!

This week actually went really well.  There were several times I almost caved, but then I thought of all of you guys and how I couldn’t bear to tell you all that I failed, so it helped me get through.  Yay!  1.5 weeks down, just 50.5 more to go, haha. 

Many people suggested finding something to replace my sugar foods with.  I’d like to give a shout out to trident gum for getting me through most of the hard times.  I also used the 85% Lindt dark chocolate.  Turns out it only has a few grams of sugar, and it’s fourth on the ingredient list, so it fits the criteria!  It’s super rich, so I only can eat a piece of two before I don’t want anymore, so it’s great!

Throughout this week I’ve been thinking about why some times in my life are so much harder than others when it comes to eating well.  I’ve found a pattern.  Each time I’ve had a difficult time with eating, especially sugar, has been a time when I have been unable to exercise due to, pregnancy, injury, or some other circumstance.  I usually use exercise as a means to cope with stress and difficult emotions.  When I’m upset or need to think or am down, I use exercise to stabilize again.  When I am unable to exercise, I have to find other means to cope, and unfortunately I have turned to bad eating habits.  It’s a downward spiral of not exercising, eating badly, then feeling bad about eating badly, and not having another way to cope with everything.  That’s exactly what happened this last pregnancy.  I’ll be honest; I was in a real rut.  I did badly at coping with everything thrown at me.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but I do now that those feelings have all disappeared.  I was an emotional and physical mess!  Thank goodness I can start exercising again at the end of this week.  It won’t be an easy task, though.  It turns out three months of bed rest and a C-section can really make a person out of shape, haha.  I am just excited to get back out there again!

If you’re wondering haven’t noticed much of a physical difference yet, but I know from experience that it will take about a month to see much of a noticeable difference.  I have noticed an emotional difference, however.  When I’m more disciplined in my eating, I’m more disciplined in every aspect of my life: I have more patience as a mother, I am better at remembering those things I should be doing each day, I’m a better wife, I get more done, etc..  It’s a great pattern!  I’m glad to make this permanent difference in my life. 

Thanks for all your support everyone! And thanks for not judging or making me feel inferior for my weaknesses. You all rock!

Extreme Problems Require Extreme Solutions

I have a problem, and I’m finally getting around to admitting it.  I’m addicted to sugar.  I’ve always had a sweet tooth, but lately (meaning the last few years), I haven’t had the ability to control what sugar I’m eating.  I vacillate between times of trying to moderate my sugar and binge eating on whatever is in the house.

I finally realized I needed to do something more extreme this past week at Halloween.  I was giving out candy at my mom’s house and thought I was just “snacking” on what was in the bowl and my sibling’s candy bags.  Before I knew it I had eaten about 50 pieces of candy!  50!.  I felt so sick physically, not to mention the emotional toll of feeling bad that I ate the candy and feeling ugly because of the effect sugar has on my body (I’ll explain later).  The next day it happened again, and then the next.  I couldn’t say no! 

I’ve tried every form of moderation in the book: having candy only once a week, once a day, having a cheat day, only a few servings a week, etc…  I’ll do great up until I allow myself to eat the candy, and then my body just can’t say no to more of it, and I end up getting off track just like that. 

Now the normal person would just get sick and de-energized from candy, but I have psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis, both of which are autoimmune diseases that in my case are triggered my sugar.  I get scaly scabs on my arms, face, and legs, and I get joint pain that really affects what I’m doing.  You think that would be enough to avoid it!  Then in this last terrible pregnancy, sugar made everything worse.  It made my protein levels go up, my blood pressure go up, and I felt so much more sick and tired, but I still couldn’t stop eating it even though it was killing me and my baby!  Am I sick or what?! 

From the research I’ve been doing, I’ve finally had to admit that I have an addiction to sugar.  Apparently sugar stimulates the same part of the brain as addictive drugs, and I need to treat my addiction the same.  So I’m here to announce that I am cutting sugar cold turkey.  Basically my guideline is I’m not eating anything in which sugar is in the first three ingredients (except fresh fruit).  I’ve realized I am physically unable to have sugar in moderation, so I need to cut it out completely.  I’m setting a goal right now to last a year with no refined sugars.  Honestly, it’s going to be one of the hardest, if not the hardest, thing I have ever done.  This is why I’m telling the whole world, so I have someone to be accountable to.  So please, ask me how I’m doing!  Text me, call me, facebook message, whatever.  I need to be accountable to as many people as possible!

I know in my mind that this will be amazing for my body: the psoriasis, the arthritis, the preeclampsia (not even a chance of having another baby if I don’t change my diet drastically), losing the baby weight, my energy, my skin, etc…  I just have to physically make the choice every day to do what’s best for my family and me.  I’ll be doing updates each month on how I did.  In the meantime, feel free to ask me.  Thank you all for your support!

p.s. Joseph is doing it with me, which will help a lot, thank goodness!

Hyrum Joseph Neary

 I was admitted to the hospital for the 6th and final time on September 27, at exactly 35 weeks.  The pattern was always the same.  I’d go to my appointment, have 4+ protein and really high blood pressures, they’d send me to the hospital, I’d be fine after 24 hours, then they’d send me home.  This time, however, my protein count had gone up to 6.5 grams (7 grams is complete kidney failure), and we were fast approaching the time when my body went to severe preeclampsia with Lydia.  Knowing my condition could change within hours, they decided to have me on full time monitoring at the hospital.  

Most of my day consisted of blood work, 24 hour urine labs, monitoring the baby constantly, getting steroids for his lungs, and trying to not die of boredom.  I felt like I was in a constant state of emergency.  Every morning it would be “well you’re getting worse, maybe we’ll deliver you tonight”. And every night it would be “well you’re getting worse, but we can push you off a day.  Maybe we’ll deliver you in the morning”.  It drove me crazy, but I was extremely grateful for every extra day that Hyrum was able to cook in there.

 Finally the morning of October 4th they decided to deliver me.  I had been on several blood pressure medications, which had been working great until the night before when my blood pressure was dangerously high despite the medication.  Also, my platelets were dropping.  They knew I’d go to severe preeclampsia within 24 hours, so we decided to deliver Hyrum that night at 36 weeks.  

Because of my last C-section experience, I was pretty fearful for what lay ahead, but a blessing and some calming techniques helped me get through all the needles and pain.  I walked into the OR, they numbed me up with a spinal block (which felt amazing my the way--100 million times better than an epidural).  Then they went to work getting little Hyrum out.  It actually took about 30 minutes to get him out because his head got stuck on my innards (that’s how the doctor described it).  They pushed and prodded for about 10 minutes before they finally got the vacuum and suctioned him out.  I didn’t even know a baby could get stuck in a c-section.  Hyrum Joseph Neary was born 5:32 pm on Friday, October 4th weighing 6 lbs 11 oz and measuring 19.5 inches.  I can’t imagine how big he would have been had he been full term.

 My recovering was nothing short of miraculous.  My blood pressure remained elevated for just a few hours after the delivery.  Last time it took about a week in the hospital for that to happen.  Hyrum suffered from low blood sugar and jaundice, and just barely managed to stay out of the NICU, but he pulled through as well!  The c-section experience was night and day compared to my last one.  I was up and walking within 12 hours, I’ve felt fabulous physically and emotionally, and now just a week later I am able to do things that took me about a month to do before.  The lord sure has blessed us!  

Hyrum is a very low-maintenance baby.  Because he is a preemie, he sleeps most of the day, and only wakes up to eat.  I’ve been able to get great sleep, only waking up every three hours to feed him for 30 minutes, and it’s allowed me to give Lydia lots of attention as well so she doesn’t feel quite to jealous.  Actually, she loves Hyrum.  She smiles and laughs whenever she holds him, and most of the time she doesn’t try to poke his eyes out.  He looks 100% like his father, and almost nothing like his sister.  You can barely even tell they are siblings.

 Overall life is really good right now.  The after baby hormones never really came.  I’ve been really happy and emotionally sane.  I hope it lasts!  I want to thank everyone who has helped us these last few weeks whether it be through babysitting, meals, gifts for Hyrum, visiting, or anything else.  Know that it has been appreciated!  I love being a mom of two and have felt more love this last week than I though possible in my little heart.  

Week 34 Update

Thursday afternoon brought another doctors appointment (like I’ve been having 2-3 times a week).  It was a routine non-stress test and check up.  Truthfully it was the first doctor’s appointment in a while that I was going to not feeling completely icky and sick, so I was positive everything was fine.  I go in, they take my blood pressure, 140/90.  I wasn’t worried because it had been that high many times before.  

During the non-stress test they come to inform me that my protein level was at 4+.  For those who don’t know what that means, it’s bad.  I had been at 2+ for most of this pregnancy, which is already well into the danger zone.  To have that double meant my body was not doing well.  I was sent over to the perinatologist next door to run a few tests, and my blood pressure was at 150/100, high enough to be concerned.  After checking out some things, they decided to send me to the hospital on a blood pressure medication and to do a 24 hour urine sample all while they were watching me to make sure I didn’t go into full pre-eclampsia mode.  If I had been past 36 weeks they would have delivered me then and there, but since the baby still has a lot of growing to do, they were hoping to keep me at bay for a few more weeks.  

Well miracle of miracles, everything worked exactly as it should, and I had low blood pressures for 24 hours straight along with okay labs (okay enough that I didn’t need to be monitored at the hospital anymore.)  The blood work continues to get steadily worse, so they still are doing labs every 1-2 days.  My protein levels have gone way up, but my kidneys haven’t failed completely and protein level alone is not enough to hospitalize me.  For now I’m on super strict bed rest at home (I literally can only leave the bed to go to the bathroom and the occasional short shower).  And I have to go in to the hospital again tomorrow to get yet more blood work done and some blood pressure monitoring.  Hopefully it is just short term.  

 I am way more than ready for this pregnancy to be over.  If it weren’t for the fact that I love my son much more than lots of needles, hospitals, and three months of bedrest, I would have begged them to deliver me yesterday.  I am incredibly grateful that we have made it this far, and I know each day I make it is days less in the NICU for Hyrum.  On the plus side, I have almost complete conquered my phobia of needles.  Only 2-3 more weeks to go!  Though honestly I’m extremely skeptical that I will make it another week the way things are going.  Any bets on when he’ll make his debut?  It’s between now and October 11th at the latest.

What would it be like to have a normal pregnancy?

Well we’re at 33 weeks, another milestone I didn’t think I’d make it to.  On Monday things started going bad again where my blood pressure shot up and I was having all the preeclampsia symptoms (headaches, nausea, swelling, etc…)  I had gained over a pound a day in between then and my last appointment—all fluid.  I went into the doctor and they ran a lot of labs again, but they all came back normal which doesn’t make any sense, but who can argue with blood?  My protein level in my urine has gone up to 1.2 grams, but they won’t deliver me on high protein alone until I’m above 5 grams, which is complete kidney failure.  

I was sent home on very strict bed rest and some more labs to do at home.  The next day I went in and I had lost 5 lbs overnight and my blood pressure had returned to normal for me.  Basically the prognosis was that modified bed rest was not working, but apparently strict bed rest was.  The doctor gave me an ultimatum.  I could go home on strict bed rest (only allowed to get up to go to the bathroom), or she would check me in to the hospital right then and force me to.  I obviously chose staying at home.  I hate hospitals.  

The problem is that I have a one year old at home who needs a lot more attention than a mom on strict bed rest can give, and my son needs the attention of a mom who doesn’t put his life in danger by getting out of bed.  We made the difficult decision to send Lydia to my mom’s house in Utah for a few weeks.  My mom is the other person in the world she is most familiar with, I want her to have a normal schedule and not be at a different stranger’s house every day, and I trust my mom more than just about anyone to make good decisions for my daughter if something should come up.  Lydia would be able to have the attention she needs and the love of my siblings.  It was just best for her.   She and my mom left this morning and I’m trying to stay positive (*sniff*).  In other news it’s national positive thinking day.  How appropriate.

 Right now the goal is 36 weeks, so I’m looking at another three weeks at least in bed.  The headaches and nausea are still very much present, so I feel very sick a lot of the time.  Luckily I can just sleep it off most of the day.  Besides that I’m just lonely.  Joseph’s been working 12 hour days, so I’m alone all day.  So far I’m through six of the nine books in the Work in the Glory series (highly recommend!), and on level 215 of candy crush (I’m actually ashamed to admit that one).  If absolutely anyone wants to come and visit, please do not hesitate.  A thirty minute conversation lifts my spirits so much.  The same invitation goes for skype dates.  I have a lot of time on my hands.

 I’m afraid I’m still a bit in the “woe is me” stage of this, but give it a day or two and I’ll be in the “come what may in love it” stage.   Only 21 days to go!  I keep remembering that his is all for my son who I love more than anything!  And truthfully the bed rest is working.  I went to my appointment yesterday and my blood pressure was at 120/80!  I haven’t been that low in months!  And I had lost another couple of pounds of fluid, haha.  If only I could do that after the pregnancy, right?  

Lydia's birthday and a pregnancy update

I’m blogging from my phone again, so all the pictures are at the bottom of the post.  Sorry!   

Lydia’s first birthday was pretty laid back.  With me on bed rest and Joseph in intense training, we didn’t have a huge party.  We mostly made the day all about Lydia: we opened presents (all clothes), went out to lunch at McDonalds, and then had a few friends over while Lydia dug into her birthday cake.  It was just a simple family day.  

Now for a pregnancy update:  We’ve made it to 32 weeks!  A month ago when I was first put on bed rest, I never thought I would make it this far, but here we are!  Every time I go to my doctor, she’s amazed I’ve made it this far too.  She thinks I’m just lucky, but we all know better.  It’s all the prayers and fasting on Hyrum and my’s behalf.  The doctor’s decided that the latest they will let me carry Hyrum is 37 weeks.  At that point she feels it is safer and healthier to have him out of me rather than in me because of the strain I’m putting on his development.  October 11th is our scheduled C-section.  

 I really wanted to go VBAC, but the nearest hospital with the required capabilities is over an hour away and it would put a lot of unnecessary health risks on Hyrum right now, so we opted for a repeat C-section.  I love the fact that I can plan and prepare for his arrival, but I really am not looking forward to all the pain.  My OB assures me that a scheduled C-section is a different experience entirely than the emergency C-section after 24 hours of labor I had with Lydia.  Is anyone else able to vouch for her claims?  I’ll just have to see for myself.  
I’m still on bed rest for now, because apparently it’s working.  My doctor still thinks I won’t make it until October, but that’s our goal for now.  That does mean another five weeks on bed rest (no fun!), but it means no NICU for Hyrum!  I’ll take that over being lonely and bored at home any day.  

If anyone in California is ever wanting to, feel free to come and visit us!  We don’t get out often and I would love to have some adult interaction (as much as I love talking to Lydia all day).  Thanks again to everyone’s faith, prayers, and service on our behalf.  We know that is why Hyrum and doing so well, and we couldn’t be more appreciative!

Lydia is turning one!

I can’t believe our little girl turns one tomorrow!  (I’m writing this today since tomorrow Joseph is off work and we will be partying!).  It was exactly a year ago today that I got a call from my doctor that the labs they had run at my 36 week appointment came back looking dangerous.  An hour later I was in labor and delivery getting induced.  24 hours and a c-section later we had a beautiful daughter!  My life has forever been changed.

A year ago I never thought I would make it today because making it a year means I somehow made it through two semesters of school (which seemed impossible at the time), graduated, and we were officially in the Air Force!  Little did we know we would be just weeks away from having our second child.  It certainly hasn’t been an easy year, but it has been so fulfilling!

Lydia brings us more joy than anything I could try describing with mere words.  She is the light in our lives.  Seeing her grow, learn, and develop has been so incredible.  

A little bit about Lydia:  She weighs about 18 pounds (I’ll know precisely at our appointment next week, then I’ll update with her measurements).  Her favorite thing in the world is her daddy.  She will wait at the door for him to come home, give him the biggest smile in the world, and then not let him put her down until it’s time for bed.  It’s so cute!  

Her favorite foods are goldfishies and cheese sticks.  She’s walking a bit (just a few steps at a time).  Her record right now is seven steps in a row, so it can’t be long until she gets it down.  She normally has a very relaxed and sweet disposition.  She will sit calmly in my lap for the entire duration of a movie together.  

Her favorite thing to sleep with is her stuffed broccoli (Thanks Laura!)  It’s actually pretty funny because the thing is bigger than she is.  She loves to talk, and she’s very good at mimicking the sounds we make.  Many people will think she’s actually talking because she’s so good at copying, but we’re pretty sure she has no idea what she’s saying.  Today we are officially moving her into her “big girl” bed in preparation for Hyrum’s arrival.  We’ll see how it goes…

We love you Lydia and can’t wait for the year ahead!

Update On Our Life

 We made it to 29 weeks!  Every week that passes by I count as a solid victory.  Luckily this week was uneventful.  Besides the routine OB visits, I just stayed at home on bed rest.  There were no blood pressure scares and my protein levels haven’t gone up.  All the prayers and fasting must be working.  I’m trying really hard to be a good little bed rest mama so I don’t cause something to go wrong.  I couldn’t live with myself knowing I did something deliberate to hurt my child.    

I feel like Lydia is handling things well.  She mostly plays with her toys all day, and we watch veggietales together.  I’m hoping these few months of little outside interaction won’t permanently harm her development.  My mom has assured me I’m just being paranoid.  

Random story (Please don’t judge!).  I’m not sure whether I should laugh or be mortified.  Right now it’s towards the latter.  I’m sure I’ll laugh at it one day.  We were at an Air Force function.  Joseph and I were talking with some couples and letting Lydia crawl around with the other babies.  Before we know it, she’s climbed up to the table, and is reaching for someone’s cup.  Before we can stop her she takes a drink, spilling some on her.  It turns out the cup was full of beer!  I felt AWFUL and TERRIBLE and like the WORST mother ever.  Truthfully it will take me a while to get over the fact that I let my daughter have beer.  Everyone else just laughed.  I will too…someday.  

Thanks everyone for all your prayers on our behalf. We have felt their power and know that the Lord is helping us so much right now.  Here is a big thank you to our ward too for bringing us meals every day this week!  You guys are amazing!

Complicated Complicated

     I finally went to the OB here in California after not seeing one for 9 or 10 weeks with our lapse in insurance and the move and everything.  At my first appointment the protein level in my urine sample came back too high (a 2+ if anyone cares to know).  So they sent me in for some labs and tests to see what was up.  Now with Lydia I measured at a 2+, then did the labs, then I delivered the next day with severe preeclampsia.  So obviously I was freaking out since I was only 27 weeks at the time.  After a 24 hour urine lab, my protein count came back at 900mg.  Anything above a 300 is the preeclampsia zone, so I’m very much at risk, but it’s still nowhere near the 5000mg I was at with Lydia when I delivered.  Basically at this point we are just waiting for the rest of the preeclampsia symptoms to show up before they deliver me (mostly waiting for my blood pressure to rise dramatically).  It’s a bit scary knowing that my baby could be delivered any day (I’m at 28 weeks now), and I don’t have any control over it.  There is a small chance that it could never show up, and I make it full term.  It would take a miracle, but miracles happen!  For now my OB would be thrilled if I made it to 34 weeks (I would be too!).
      Right now I’m on bed rest to try to keep the rest of the symptoms from coming up.  It’s a modified bed rest thankfully so I can still take care of Lydia meaning I can feed her, change her, and bathe her, but that’s pretty much all I’m allowed to do. We did have one scare last Friday where my blood pressure went up too high and I got sent to the hospital for some tests and such, but luckily during the hours I was there it went back down and the tests came back looking awesome (no kidney failure yet!), so I am in the clear for now.  It’s really unnerving to have to be prepared and packed to have little Hyrum delivered anytime from tomorrow to 12 weeks from now.
     We have been incredibly blessed to have such help.  Our families are praying for us, which we can feel the blessings of already.  Ward members have babysat and brought over meals.  Best of all the Air Force has given Joseph permission to go on extended medical leave if something very serious comes up.  That’s a huge relief right there.   
     Probably the hardest part for me is that if the preeclampsia does show up, this will most likely be our last biological child.  The chance of preeclampsia in a third pregnancy after these two is nearly 100% and the chance of it showing up much early and more severe, resulting in fetal or my death, is about 50%.  Those statistics are way too high to even mess with.  For a couple who wanted 6-8 kids, this news had been devastating, but I’m always hopeful that something will happen that could allow to us to bring more children into our family somehow.  
       The person who has been most amazing is my dear Joseph.  He’s balancing training, being young men’s president, and now doing everything I used to do like cooking and cleaning.  The poor guy is always moving, getting things done, and doesn’t have a moment to himself.  But he’s taken it really well, and is willing to do anything to keep this baby healthy.  I could not have done any of this without him.
     In other news Lydia turns one in less than three weeks!  Wow time has flown!  She probably will just get a cake for her birthday since neither Joseph nor I are in any condition to plan a party, but luckily she’s one and couldn’t care less. She took her first steps last week and is very close to walking. She brings us so much joy and we love her to pieces!
     Overall we have been really blessed, and ask you all to keep Hyrum in your prayers.  We want him to last at least a few more weeks!

Time for an Update

 It’s about time I updated the blog.  It’s going to be long; I apologize.  You don’t have to read all of it.  I won’t be offended, really. Also I am doing this from my phone so that explains the bad pictures.  Sorry!
     We are currently here in Lompoc, California doing missile training at Vandenberg, AFB.  For those of you who don’t know where that is, look at a map, find Santa Barbra, go up half an inch in the middle of nowhere and that’s us.  Luckily we have Santa Maria 30 minutes to the north so I can still get my Target and Costco fix in.    

     I have a confession to make; I was really nervous about going into the “actual” Air Force as compared to ROTC.  I liked ROTC a lot, but was unsure about what real life would be like. (I had a lot of prejudices against the military)  Turns out I love the Air Force. (If only the me from two years ago could hear that.  I’d probably faint).  It turns out I’m just a worrier, and then none of my worries actually play out. I have already met so many incredible people, I really like the military culture, the pay is great (for officers at least), and so far the training and hours have been quite manageable.  Before, Joseph was doing work and school, so now that it is just work I get to see him a lot more often.  We are seriously considering making this a career, but we’ll see what the next 5 years brings.
     The ward here is FANTASTIC.  I have never felt so welcome to a ward in my life.  The people are great, but most of all we love our callings.  Joseph is a Sunday School teacher (a religious teacher of the 12 to 14 year olds), and Young Men’s President!  I have never seen him take to a calling quite like he has recently.  It’s all he talks about: the activities he wants to do and he tells me all about the young men and how he wants to help them.  Seriously, this man was born to raise teenagers (which is great news for our kids in about 12 years.  Watch out).   I am primary chorister, which I also have really taken to.  I’ve never been that great at teaching, but teaching music is an entirely different story.  The kids are so much fun to work with.  I have never been more grateful to live in a day and age of Pinterest.
     Lydia is growing up so cute.  She turns one next month!  She is normal height (40th percentile), but coming in small on the weight size at a whole 16.5 pounds (7th percentile).  We have a tall skinny baby here.  It’s actually been a bit of a problem when it comes to pants because they’re all either too wide or too short, so we stick to dresses and shorts.  She’s had an issue with solids, meaning when we moved she stopped eating them all together, but after a rough few weeks I think we’re finally back where she should be.  Oh parenting problems.          Hyrum is growing nice and strong too.  He is set to arrive is just over 3 months!  I really can’t wait to meet him, and I am just as excited for this baby as I was with Lydia.  Because they’re so close together, I don’t actually have to get much anything ready.  The crib is up, the nursery is already done, and we have all the baby essentials.  The only things we need are clothes (as in he doesn’t have any yet). So if there’s anyone in CA or UT (I’ll be there in August) who has any extra baby boy clothes, we will gladly take them off your hands.
    This pregnancy has been almost night and day different from Lydia.  I haven’t been sick, I haven’t gained as much weight, I hold the weight differently, my skin hasn’t gone off the deep end, and things just are better overall.  Plus the weather here in California is perfect for anyone who is pregnant.  It is between 55-75 degrees literally all of the time.  If I could have every pregnancy here I would.
    That pretty much sums up our lives right now.  The overall theme is we are extremely blessed and happy to be where we are right now.  The days haven’t been without their hard times and new trials, but really things are going well.  We can’t wait to see what the future brings!  

Neary Baby #2

Yes we've already announced this to everyone, but I want it in the history books blog since facebook does not have a print option.

We are having another baby!

Doesn't Lydia look so excited about it?

Nah, she's just excited about eating the chalkboard

I know some of you are wondering; they will be 14 months apart.  They will be each other's best friends!  We find out the gender in two weeks.  Yay!

This pregnancy has gone a lot better than the last one.  It might just be because I know what to expect and am able to better deal with being sick/tired.  Maybe it's because I have taken 1-2 naps a day since we graduated. (That's when I'm especially grateful that Lydia takes three solid one-hour naps. Then I can sleep too.)  We're thrilled to be parents again, and can't wait to meet this little one in November!

Our Little Lydibug

So while we were doing that whole "school" thing, our beautiful Lydia continued growing up!  And while I was terrible at blogging (it was a really busy semester), my mom was still faithful at taking her monthly pictures.  Thank you mom!

She turned 4 months 

...and 5 months

And continued growing...

and rolling and eating solids and doing all that fun stuff that babies do.

And now we have an amazing, healthy, beautiful 8 month old who has brought nothing but absolute joy into our lives.  We are so grateful for this opportunity to be parents, and have certainly learned a lot from the experience thus far.

Right now Lydia is so, so, so, so close to crawling!  She moves her legs up and down and can do a bear crawl, but her little arms keep on getting in the way.  We predict she'll have it down in the next 1-2 weeks. She is starting to be able to say Mama and Dada as well as use a few signs to alert us to her hunger.   Her favorite foods are bananas, pickles, and blueberry puffs.  She rarely cries and loves to laugh and smile.  We couldn't have asked for a better baby!  We know she will be an amazing big sister.

We love you Lydia!

We Finally Did it!

So after four years and a lot of sweat and tears...We have graduated!

Yay class of 2013!

These past four years have been challenging and very fulfilling. I feel that we have grown so much! The last three semesters were especially difficult with Joseph working two jobs and my two pregnancies, which incudes the birth of our beautiful little Lydia.  There were a few times I wasn't quite sure we would make it, but it turns out we can do hard things!  I'm actually really, really proud of what we have accomplished and I consider it one of the highlights of our lives thus far.  It was immensely difficult, and took a lot of courage and sacrifice.  I knew I would forever regret not getting it done now, so now was the only option.

 (Yay victory bell!)

Obviously we couldn't have done this on our own.  Here is a big thank you to our families, especially my mom and Kathryn who were our go-to babysitters for Lydia when we desperately needed a break.  

WE DID IT!

The same day as graduation was Joseph's commissioning into the Air Force as a 2nd Lieutenant.  I am so proud of all the hard work he did in ROTC these last four years, and we are excited for our adventure to come!  Great job honey!

Colonel Kucharek (below) with Joseph's official commissioning certificate.

Joseph's mission president, Ron Godfrey, gave Joseph his first salute.  Jim Moss, also from Joseph's mission, administered the oath of office.  We are so grateful for these wonderful people traveling very far (Moss's from Tennessee and the Godfrey's from North Logan) to support Joseph.

And of course there were our families:

We are so excited to close this chapter of our life, and continue into a new one (and excited to be making four times as much as we have been living on the last two years.  Wahoo!)

You may notice a lack of Lydia pictures.  She was asleep during every picture taking moment, but you can take it from me that she was there.