This and that

We are recovering from our illnesses. Jacob has managed to remain completely healthy - knock on wood. Alison is doing much better and just needs to get over her cough. I'm happiest about Michael though because the poor baby was so sick was such an awful fever. But it's nice to be on the way back to good health.
While we were sick, Garr and I asked the boys to pitch in and help out when they see something that needs to be done - even when we don't ask. Yesterday Jacob started dusting the blinds, another day he sorted the laundry and did dishes. This morning, while I was still in bed, Peter unloaded then loaded the dishwasher. They both also made dinner by themselves one night. So I am proud of my boys for being so helpful.

I am cleaning my desk today. It's something that needs to be kept up every few days because it is a catch-all area in the house, but I have neglected it. I found a newspaper insert about health and started going through it. One of the articles was about chocolate and of course I stopped to read it! I already knew this, but it said that if you are going to eat chocolate, eat dark. Sorry, but I have better things to do with my time than to eat dark chocolate!!!

I am 27 weeks into my pregnancy now and things are going well. The baby is doing great. I am so glad that she doesn't get sick when I am sick. I went to my OB while I was sick and feeling horrible with my cold, but the baby's heartbeat is strong and she is a good little kicker, so I am pleased. It seems like I wear the same clothes every other day, but I don't really care at this point. With other pregnancies I got so sick of wearing the same clothes over and over again. But this time I want to save my money to buy new clothes when I get back into shape. I am looking forward to my hard core workouts again. At least I didn't gain any weight this last month.

Moms Don't Get Sick Days

It doesn't happen to me very often, but I am sick! I usually only get sick when I am pregnant and so there you go! When I am not pregnant I am a die hard exerciser and I eat pretty healthy. I love salads, fruit, poultry and fish. I never eat red meat. I've never liked it and the thought of eating it makes me sick, so I go for Boca or veggie burgers, ground turkey, and I don't even like steak so that's not a big deal.

The hard thing about being sick is that I am the mom and I am not supposed to get sick. Dads can get sick because they get sick days at work or in Garr's case, he just works around it with his business, but moms don't get sick days. There are still dirty dishes to wash, laundry to clean, fold and put away, shopping and of course the kids don't go away so they still need to be cared for. Then when Mom, Dad and 2 kids are sick, the fun just never ends! Garr and Mike are getting better. Mike is on antibiotics for an ear infection and he is feeling much better but it has taken a week.

Now Alison is sick. She has a fever and I took her to the doctor today. I wouldn't have jumped the gun and taken her in so soon (she started feeling sick yesterday) but she told me her ear was hurting so to me that's an automatic ear infection - might as well get the antibiotics going on her, too. But the doctor said her ears were just fine. He asked her where her ear hurt (good idea, Mom) and she touched her earlobe. She has sensitive ears and doesn't wear earrings very often but of course I didn't think to ask her where her ear hurt. Oh well, so I'll probably end up taking her back to the doctor on Monday if her fever keeps up and then he will tell me that she now has an ear infection. Or maybe she just has what Garr and I have and in a couple of weeks she'll be over it. I'm hoping she feels better sooner than that, though because her baptism is planned for next Saturday and you can't baptize a kid with a fever of 103º!

Even though I am feeling a little better, I still need my rest so I'm off to bed to dream about breathing freely and sleeping through the night without coughing!

Daylight Saving Time

I have come up with a solution to Daylight Saving Time that I think everyone would be happy with! Some people like it, they can enjoy more daylight in the evening and they are probably the kind of people who like to sleep in anyway! Others hate it (like me!) because all it does is throw off their schedule for a few days twice a year and it is especially annoying to help kids adjust to the time change. Arizona and Hawaii don't even observe DST, but maybe we could get them to agree to this solution.
So here is what I propose: set the clocks ahead in the Spring 30 minutes and then just leave it alone! That way, you add just a little bit more daylight in the evening and then in the Fall, the time change from the Spring before will not seem like such a big deal.

So we changed our clocks yesterday and when I got up this morning it was dark. It was really hard to get up since I was used to it being a little bit light when I woke up. The kids drug themselves out of bed and Alison's eyes are bloodshot. It's not that they went to bed really late, it was basically their regular bedtime, but something about the time change just messes with your body and it takes time to feel back to normal. I'm putting more information about DST on my JoBloom blog, if you are interested!

Ultrasound day

Today I went in for my 20 week ultrasound and we confirmed that this baby is a girl! Yippee!! We love boys, but we were really hoping this last kid would be a girl so we are happy. Alison, of course, is completely thrilled to know that she for sure is getting a little sister.

Needless to say, I am going to have to come up with something different for the name of my blog.

It's a girl...?

Why the question mark? Because I am only 17 weeks pregnant but I still had a quick ultrasound in my doctors office and because the baby is still a little small (but normal size for the gestational age) and was breech, we had a hard time getting a good look at the gender. HOWEVER, we got a quick look and didn't see any "boy parts" so we are hopeful that it is a girl. I will have my big 20 week ultrasound on February 19 so we will be able to confirm the results!

Alison is very excited and I am, too. I have already started buying girl clothes and making pink and purple blankets!

So now I guess I will have to change my blog name, I'll have to think about what to call it now!

January 10

Things are going well. I am now in week 15 of my pregnancy and still taking drugs for nausea. (That should end soon.) My energy is definitely returning and it's great to feel much more normal again!

Peter's birthday is this month and we have typically been doing friend parties only every other year. He had friends over last year so we will more than likely skip this year. But we always take the kids out to dinner for their birthday and the entire family tags along. Tonight Peter informed me that he wants Garr to take him to The Olive Garden for his birthday so they can eat some calamari! Who knew a 9 year old would eat fried squid? This is a monumental year for Peter as he will be a decade old (10 years!) and no longer be in the single digits!

Alison will be 8 years old soon and we are preparing for her baptism in March. She is looking forward to it and so are we!

We had a nice break for Christmas but the kids wanted more time off school. Who can blame them? I enjoy having them around and we are looking forward to being off-track at the end of this month. We'll probably be doing some Valentine's Day crafts and things like that to keep ourselves occupied for 3 weeks and 3 days of no school.

Michael has been so cute lately - but he is also a 2 year old terror! He is into everything! But he is talking more and copying what Garr and the kids and I say. It's really cute.

I guess I should say something about Jacob. He is so fun to be around. He and I are reading a lot of the same books right now and it's fun to have someone to talk to about the stories.

Poor Garr has been working so much and ran himself into the ground. He got sick right after Christmas. The thing is that it takes a lot for Garr to get sick, but when he is, it lingers in his body for about 2 weeks until he finally feels better. Thank goodness that is rare.

Well, it is a new year, so maybe in my next blog I will share a few of my resolutions with you.
Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

This year our Christmas card will be online. I already mentioned in the previous post that I am not sending out cards this year. But I wanted to get this up anyway.

Garr and I are busy parents and we love our kids. We can't believe how fast they grow.

Jacob is 12 and was ordained a Deacon this past October. He loves being in Young Men's. He is so fun to be around and is always making us laugh.

Peter is 9. He has been in the school choir this year and enjoys that. We attended his Christmas concert last week and had a blast. He is always positive and helpful - a great kid!

Alison is 7 going on 13. She is a beautiful girl and a joy to be around. Alison is a great artist (she takes after her dad) and very organized. She gets great grades in school and loves helping the other kids.

Michael is 2. Need I say more? He is actually very sweet and funny! He does typical two year-old things which makes me both crazy and happy. He loves cars and trains and his older siblings. He is spoiled with love and we are all happy.

We are looking forward to the birth of our 5th child sometime in June 2009 and know that he/she will bring us as much joy as the rest of our troop.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you. May you find much joy and happiness this Christmas Season as well as in the New Year.

Love, Garr and Jennie Ovard and kids

• Here is a link to a photo of us that was taken in October. http://garrcreative.com/family/ovards-2008-sep.php