the PADS!!

Monday we went to the beach, and then later we got a babysitter and went to the Padre's game!  It was great, and Padres won!

7th inning stretch singing "take me out to the ballgame!"

fun little factoid: I sang "take me out to the ballgame" with a few other kids down on the Padre's field when I was about 14 years old!  Brings back MEMS!!

Easter in California

We were in California for Easter this year.  It was great!  On Saturday we started out at the Eggapalooza; it's an event a church puts on and they have all kind of fun stuff to do/eat and everything is FREE!!  The kids went on rides, got cotton candy and snowcones, had an egg hunt, and we had hamburgers for lunch!  Not bad...

  riding on the "train"

 The egg hunts were kind of a joke if you ask me, but I'm not sure how else they could have had an egg hunt for that many kids.  That is Astroturf behind the boys... they say "go!" and the kids go under the tape and pick up their eggs.  Not much hunting going on!!  Oh well, they liked it.

 craziness!

 Later Saturday we dyed Easter eggs.

Easter Sunday the kids woke up to their Easter baskets from the Easter bunny.  Just some little things.  Both had been asking me for a "toothless dragon" and "Barbie: a Fairy Secret" forever, so that was their highlight.

Church was SOOO good.  Just what I needed for Easter sunday.  The Relief Society put on an Easter program during R.S. and it was wonderful.  I am so thankful for my Savior and for His resurrection.  Easter has such a special spirit about it.  We tried to help the children understand that throughout the weekend so they didn't get too wrapped up in the Easter "stuff."  Of course, the other things are super fun too!  After church we had an Easter hunt with cousin Clark...

 Clark wouldn't let go of Makenna's hand when they started and she kept saying "Clark let go of my hand!"  It was hilarious!

 The girls wanted to step in for pictures... haha (Kara's friend Jessie, sister Kara, and sister Jaclyn)

After the hunt, we ATE!  Food is a big part of my family and our family get togethers.  We LOVE food.  Sunday dinner never disappoints at the Sheffield's house.  Thanks mom for feeding us so good!

Radisson

Last weekend we went to stay at the Radisson hotel and waterpark!  It was a blast to say the least.  I have to say I was expecting more, but it was great anyways!  The kids had a great time!!

 Here's my brave little girl "surfing!"  She was SO cute to watch cause she did all the tricks the instructor told her to do- riding on her knees, falling in from the top, riding backwards... she did it all!  It was adorable, and now she thinks she's a surfer girl...  I'll have to upload the video.

 I was making fun of Scott cause I told him Makenna did better than he did!  Here's one of his wipeouts...  Man if I wasn't pregnant I would have LOVED to show him up...  next time my friends... next time...

 We spent most of our time in the lazy river.  Makenna loved swimming fast.  She already has been swimming without holding her nose which we worked on all last summer!  It took one swim this year and she's got it- yes!!

 the little kid's water slide... she was a little short for the big ones!

The water slides were Jace's favorite!  

My swimming girl.  I'm pretty sure she could have swam all day.

No more waiting...

This post is mostly good news!  Hooray!!

The receptionist made a mistake and told me May 19th, when my appointment was actually April 19th!  So I went in today with Scott and we basically expected the worst.  I had googled everything I could to figure out if there was something else besides cancer that he could have found from the biopsy, and didn't find anything!  Well...

The doctor said that I have a Follicular tumor.  With this type of tumor, they won't be able to tell for sure what it is until it is removed.  So I will be having surgery (most likely after baby is born), and they will remove the tumor and will be able to tell for sure if it is cancer or not.  I still have a 90% chance that it is not cancer, so the odds are in my favor!  I feel a little like we are back at square one, but I also feel very relieved at the same time!  

I have to say that I have felt a lot of peace for the last few weeks.  I knew that everything would be ok.  A couple weeks ago when I was being set apart for my new calling (YW 1st counselor), the counselor said 3 different times in the blessing that I would be blessed with good health.  I thought that was unusual for him to talk so much about my health with a setting apart, but that blessing has given me a lot of comfort since then and Heavenly Father must have known I needed to hear that.  Although this experience has made me a bit emotional on top of the fact that I'm an emotional wreck already, I am grateful for trials like this one because they draw me closer to my Father in Heaven and my family as well.  It has meant so much to me to hear of family members praying and fasting for me when I wasn't sure I even needed that to begin with.  

Hopefully this is the last you will hear about this for a long time!  Can I get a hallelujah?

sewing

I've been sewing up a storm lately!  After looking everywhere for an Easter dress and being unsatisfied, I decided to just make her one.  Now I'm thinking it looks more like a summer play dress, but whatever!!  I still like it!  I just used scraps I had around from old projects= free dress!

I also have been working on Jace's quilt!  I just have to bind the edges now... so close!  In fact, I should really go do that right now and get 'er done... :)

Johansons!

This blog needs some extra happiness!  These pictures are from a couple weeks ago when the Johansons came to town.  The kids LOVE playing with their cousins!  We had a really fun time with them and are so glad we get to see them more often now that they live closer!

 At the aquarium

 girl cousins!

Uncle Jeff being the usual nerd 

This picture cracks me up...

Diary of a HPW: waiting...

I had a biopsy on my thyroid on Wednesday.  I was told that I would find out the results within 2-7 days.  Well, a couple days later I got a call from the doctor's office saying that they couldn't tell me my results because the doctor would like to meet with me in person...  so now I'm basically just thinking the worst.  He wanted me to come in early, but the earliest he could get me in was just a week before my scheduled appointment which is still a month away!  So he wants me to wait a month?!  I don't think I can do it...  I'm pretty sure I will be bugging the office again next week!  :)

Ok, so let me explain so that nobody feels sorry for me.  That is seriously the last thing I want.  Thyroid cancer is VERY treatable.  Basically, they will remove the nodule, and possibly connecting thyroid.  Then I will need to be on medication (I think forever.) I think there might be a couple other things I need to do, but they are minor.  The doc says they will most likely do the surgery after I deliver since if I do have thyroid cancer, it is probably Papillary Carcinoma which is very slow growing and not urgent.  I'm guessing that is what it is if my appointment is still a month away, and if I indeed do have cancer!  Of course I am just jumping the gun here, but my doctor said that if it is cancer he will move up my appointment date (which he did), plus they wouldn't tell me the results of my test (which they said they would!).  Anywho... here's to another month of waiting!

Since this IS about my pregnancy, haha, I'll talk about that now...

I'm still sick!  It's not too bad though, and I am functioning just fine!

I have felt the baby move for a couple weeks now.  I'm loving it!  It helps me know baby is doing well :)

biggest craving: ICE!  I have to chew it... yummm...

I've got a nice round tummy now!

I have no energy!  I still try to work out, but it's usually just at my weekly Zumba class...

Jace and Makenna are SO excited.  Jace has started kissing my tummy.  I love it!

Diary of a HPW: drama

4/5

Ok, so it has been a while since I wrote last, but it's basically because I was given a shocker right after my last appointment...

  My blood work came back abnormal for my thyroid (slightly hyperthyroid).  My doctor ordered another blood test, which was still not normal, so she decided to send me to an Endocrinologist.  So I went to this other doctor the next day, and everything seemed to be going fine.  He didn't seem too worried about my thyroid, and figured it was all pregnancy.  Well then he had me sit on the exam table to look at my thyroid, and he took one look at me and asked "Have you seen this?"  I immediately put my hand to my neck where I felt the growth.  It was about the size of a golf ball (we now lovingly call it my golf ball).  He then told me that there was a 1 in 10 chance that I have cancer.  If I don't have cancer I will basically have to live with this growth (nodule) unless it becomes big enough that it interferes with my breathing, swallowing, or talking.  So that is where we are right now.  I have had an ultrasound on it, as well as more blood-work, and will go in on Thursday to find out what is up.  The good thing is that if it is cancer, they usually just remove the nodule and it goes away.  After thinking and praying about it for the last 3 weeks, I feel good that whatever happens will be fine and I will be ok.

On a good note, my latest ultrasound showed that the baby is doing great, and the bleeding is gone!  That was better news than finding out if I have cancer or not, so I am very happy about that!

As far as my pregnancy goes...

I'm still sick and have been throwing up daily for the last while.  Every time I eat I feel so sick to my stomach... even with my medication.  My sickness with Jace lasted until about 22 weeks though, so we'll see what happens!

I feel like we are having a boy.  By this time I felt I knew with the other kids, so we will see if I'm right... in September!

Diary of a HPW: scared

3/5
So I mentioned before that the doctor saw a little bleeding on the ultrasound... so I went in yesterday for another ultrasound and the blood was still there.  My doctor said we need to be careful so I'm on pelvic rest till my next ultrasound next month.  Honestly, I don't even really know what it all means, but it is freaking my out!  I've wanted this baby for SOOOO long (long before we even started trying!), and to have it taken away from me would be heartbreaking to say the least.  The ultrasound was amazing this time.  I've never seen my babies at this age, so it was so fun to see the little baby moving all over the place.  Unlike 3 weeks ago, the baby now had a formed head, body, arms, and legs.  (um isn't that amazing??)  Anyways, sorry for the sad post, but I had to vent.

On a lighter note, I got me some Zofran!  Woot woot!  It works really well for me!  Can a get a hallelujah!  Hopefully the last few weeks of my sickness won't be too bad...

Back to depressing things... I already have a belly!  What the hay?!  It's more noticeable the end of the day when I'm full, but it's definitely there.  I'm so nervous I will be HUGE this time!  

Diary of a HPW: vegetarian

2/28

I never thought I would say that.... because I LOVE MEAT!  However, it makes me super sick, so I haven't had meat in about 3 weeks!  I'm glad I figured that out though, because ever since I cut it out I have felt decent!  We have had some interesting dinners lately thanks to my stomach and my cravings:

funeral potatoes (that was the meal)

Spanish rice with cheese

mashed potatoes

waffles

pancakes

toast with mozzarella cheese to dip in spaghetti sauce (that was a strange one)

noodles with cheese on top

Basically anything rice, potatoes, pasta, and cheese... pretty gross huh?  Luckily fruit is good too, so I try to eat lots of fruit.

I have had lots of headaches lately.  One day I had a migraine headache and I thought I was going to die.  The only thing I could take was Tylenol, which did nothing.  I basically laid in bed the whole day.  2 guys from my ward came and gave me a blessing, and thank goodness.  After the blessing I was able to breathe again!  (yes I could barely breathe for some reason!)  It lasted about 24 hours... yuck.

So I'm not even kidding... in the last week my stomach has gotten bigger!  Crazy!!  I'm thinking I'm going to be huge by the end!!  

I've had a couple people ask since I last wrote, and I couldn't lie anymore!  I spilled the beans...  Hopefully it will still be on the DL for the next few weeks!  

Having my second ultrasound on Friday!  Hopefully it goes well...