And the Gender is......

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!

This pregnancy has been rough, but I have tried my best to not let it stop us from enjoying every ounce of our summer! I took Zofran throughout the entire first trimester and it helped a lot, but I've still struggled with nausea, dizziness, fatigue, and serious acid reflux that even into the second trimester has had me vomiting in the afternoons and struggling to get off the couch. With my other babies, I was right as rain by 16 weeks, so this has been very frustrating!! But I am so grateful to be pregnant with another angel and I feel her sweet spirit constantly. I can already tell that she is a good girl just like her sister. I have been doing prenatal yoga and meditations that have helped me connect with the child in my womb and it feels like we are best friends already. I worry about how this will affect Evie once the baby is born, because to this day, she is extremely territorial when it comes to her Mama. But when the ultrasound technician announced that it is a girl, Evie started jumping up and down and excitedly chattering on about how she's going to give the baby all her clothes and dresses and do her hair and share all her Barbies! :). It was the sweetest moment in the world! We almost didn't get to do the ultrasound as a family because my doctor's office changed the date on me and Josh had already taken the day off! I was so frustrated until a friend of mine told me that there are Groupons online for $30 to just go get your own ultrasound done and THESE are in 4D!!! So I made the appointment and we picked Austin up early from school. The kids did extremely well as we sat there waiting forever in the waiting room and they did even better once we were in the exam room in front of the giant screen looking at our sweet baby! She was all curled up in a ball with her face pressed into the placenta and she had both hands up to her ears covering up the sides of her face. Oh and her umbilical cord ran right up the middle so we literally couldn't see anything but her sweet hands and spine. The technician had me drinking water and wiggling around, trying to change her position until we finally got some semi-decent shots of her. She still refused to show much of her face but the technician was patient and did her best! 

I was in cloud nine during that time, watching in 3D as she slowly moved her hand up and down her face, resting gently on her ears. She was in the most uncomfortable looking ball  with her toes up to her nose and she kept kicking her nose with her knees :). It was incredible to watch! And apparently she is very limber! Oh and the best part of buying this on our own was they made a DVD for us to take home of the whole ultrasound along with tons of pictures!!

Hello sweet little gymnast! We love you so much already!!!

We had all made bets on whether it would be a boy or girl and Evie was the only one who guessed correctly! She was super excited about that because that meant that she got to choose where we ate dinner afterwards :). I had thought from the beginning that she was a girl, mostly because of my extreme emotional mood swings. That, and I didn't get the horrible acne like I got with Austin. But then my thoughts changed as I entered the second trimester and still felt super nauseous and terrible. I felt like I was going to die when I was pregnant with Austin so it made me question if this baby was actually a boy! But I should have stuck with my first guess because she is a sweet little girl after all :). Josh was so happy, it was adorable :). Neither of us had preferences and just wanted a healthy baby, and he thought for sure, 100% that it was a boy. But he was wrong! And he was happier than ever :). I love my dear little family so much and am so happy we get to share these special moments together. It literally makes my heart want to explode and I cry all the time, pregnant or not :).

Happy 6th Birthday Austin!!

Austin had an incredible birthday this year that was full of friends, family, and fun! He begged for a Chuck E Cheese birthday party and since I wasn't feeling well, paying for someone else to host the party sounded like music to my ears! He invited his close friends from school and church and we all had a blast!

The morning started with him waking us up bright and early begging for his presents! He got the new red scooter he has been asking for all year and the Pokemon watch he has had his heart set on :). It was the perfect start to the day! Then we had a nice birthday breakfast and by noon we were at his birthday party playing arcade games, dancing on the dance floor, singing happy birthday, eating pizza, and opening awesome presents! He was in 6 year old heaven and it made my heart so happy to see him running around in childhood bliss :).

Bright and early!

Now that's one cool looking kid! :)

Austin wanted a Pokemon cake and it was expensive to have Chuck E Cheese provide it, so I made it the morning before the party! It turned out so great! This pic doesn't do it justice!

The gangs all here!

This is Austin's best friend, Ben. They met in Kindergarten and had the same teacher. He moved away to California a week after this picture was taken and Austin was devastated. Why do all of his best friends move away?!! :(

Sadie is talking to Ben's Mom (Steffi) who is from Germany. I have had so much fun getting to know her and we even share the same hair dresser now! Austin and I were both so sad when they moved away.

Happiest Birthday sweet boy. I love you so much!

The moment he had been waiting for! Opening presents!

The awe inspiring nerf gun..... it was little boy heaven over there!

Make a wish!

Evie taking Gracelynn for a ride! :) There were kids running around everywhere and I gave up on taking pictures. But we all had a great time!

His actual birthday was on the following Monday, so we celebrated with Krispy Kreme Donuts for breakfast and doing whatever Austin wanted to do for the entire day. We played games and enjoyed our time with the Birthday boy and then when Daddy got home from work, we had a nice dinner for him! He had such a great day to go along with his incredible weekend!

Oh my sweet little boy.... why do you keep growing up?! It literally hurts my heart to see you get older, but it has also been so fun establishing a more grown up relationship with you! You are developing this hilarious sense of humor that keeps us laughing constantly. When you blew out those 6 candles, I wished you a life time of happiness and joy. You deserve that and more. Your Mama loves you baby.

 

Happy 4th of July 2019!!

We had a wonderful Independence Day this year (despite the fact that I was super duper sick from this pregnancy). It was a full day packed full of fun and although it took me a whole day afterward of laying on the couch to recover from it, I don't regret it one bit!

We started the day off with our Ward's Pancake Breakfast in the park! There was good food, good company, and water balloons!! You can't go wrong there!

Our fun Primary!

Water Balloon attack!

Evie throwing a balloon at Dad! Nobody's safe around these guys!

Then we took the party over to Grandma Helm's house and had our traditional BBQ in her back yard while the kids played in the sprinklers! The missionaries came over this year (Grandma is having a change of heart after 60 years of rebelling against her upbringing hehe) and we had a great time hanging out with them! We did sparklers and fireworks and pop-its! By this time, I was starting to feel terrible due to the heat and I wasn't sure if I would make it the rest of the day. So Briana was a genius and challenged my kids to see who could give me the best foot massage while I rested indoors out of the heat! :) It was so fun to have Briana and her cute family with us this year!

I can see the family resemblance here! We love Grandma Helm so much and are so grateful to spend such fun moments with her!

Good food, and even better company!

Hanging out on the porch talking and eating!

Let there be sprinklers!!!

ATTACK!!!

Evie stepped on a hot ash and burned a hole in her foot! I swear she gets burned every single year! Poor girl :(.

Baby Gracelynn was in awe of the sparklers!

The best part of the whole day! The foot massage!! :)

Once the sun began to set, we headed over to the golf course with Grandma Helm (Sadie, Josh, and Briana's crew all left early to avoid traffic like lameos) for fireworks! Our dear friends Jura and Adrien were there waiting for us in the grass with their whole family and we had such a beautiful night watching the kids run around the golf course with glow sticks and listening to the live band playing. It really was the perfect day and the kids fell asleep in the car instantly :).

Our firework crew is expanding each year as my best friend and I keep having more babies! Next year there will be one more sweet little one to love on while we lay in the grass and catch up on life! :)

Blessed is an understatement. May God Bless America Always.

Happy Father's Day 2019!

Josh is an amazing father and the kids adore him! We spent the day celebrating him with a fancy breakfast in bed, lots of homemade presents ;), and cuddles!! It's no secret that Dad is the fan favorite in this family and he is always so fun! Thank you Josh for all you do for us, and Happy Happy Father's Day!

Opening presents in bed! The kids have been dying to give these to him all week!

Cuddles and a movie party :)

Happy 9 Year Anniversary My Love!!!

Due to the fact that we just barely got home from an extensive vacation and our anniversary falls on a Wednesday, AND I've been feeling terrible lately with our third baby, this anniversary is more of a stay in and order carry out from the restaurant up the street than some big affair at an awesome hotel. But that's okay. In fact, that's what I would prefer this year. Going a week without Josh was enough to make me never want to leave him again so staying in bed all binging on movies sounds perfect to me! 

I still can't believe it was 9 years ago that we were sealed for time and all eternity and I look back on all of our blessings and adventures in awe.  And I thought I loved you then! And to add a new baby to our latest list is enough to make my heart explode! 

Josh, you are the love of my life and there will never be another. You are my best friend and my closest confidant. You drive me crazy with your anal ways and your insistence on being a total tight ass in the financial department. But I know my constant need for excitement and adventure drives you insane as well. So we will call it even :). 

Not every day has been easy, and I would be lying if I said I didn't think about running away on more than one occasion. However, if I could do the past nine years over again, I would do it in a heartbeat because I know that each hard year only brought us closer together. Cheers to many many more  days spent laughing and making memories with each other and our beautiful babies! I love you more than anything Joshua! Always and Forever.....

-Ash

 

Briana's Wedding Day

We drove straight from Utah to Logandale because my littlest sister is getting married!!! We spent three days and nights setting up for the big event and despite how stressful and crazy it was, the actual wedding was a beautiful event! Evie was the Flower Girl and Austin was the Ring Bearer. We also were able to incorporate Thomas's strange family into our own and the only glitch we had was when Nathan showed up in jeans and a T-shirt! Yes, that was annoying and Briana almost had a heart attack. But I was so proud of her for not letting his idiocy ruin her big day. My Dad didn't even bother to show up for my wedding day so I kept reminding her that it could always be worse. This was the first day I had seen Josh in over a week and my heart skipped for joy when he showed up! This might just be the pregnancy hormones talking, but I truly love this man!

Daddy and his little twin :). The kids missed him just as much as I did!

Briana wanted an outdoor wedding at my Mom's house which was easier said than done since my Mom has been a total wreck since the divorce in September (insert huge eye roll here). Luckily, Sadie came down two weeks early to get a head start on everything! Because I was constantly sick, I couldn't help as much as Sadie did so I was so grateful she was there! We all wanted it to be a special night for our little sister and nothing was going to ruin it! Not even my Mom who found it too difficult to get out of bed every morning. Again, the woman has totally fallen apart and it is so frustrating!

We got plenty of Baby Gracelynn time while we were there which was just what we all wanted! We are all obsessed with those chubby cheeks and it was so fun to see our kids interact with a baby. Perfect practice for when their own little sibling is born!

Watching their soon to be Uncle Thomas prepping the yard for the big day! They love Thomas and follow him around everywhere asking him all sorts of adorable questions and he is so good with them!

More baby loves!

None of us were wearing makeup and were exhausted from days of hard work, but we were all so happy to be there for each other! Our parents might be insane, but luckily we will always have each other!

Walking down the aisle!

Sadie and I were both the Maids of Honor

I am still shocked at how well the whole event came together!

Welcome to the family Thomas!

Siblings make the best of friends

And the three of us are just different enough to make it all work ;)

My kids adore their "Aunt Nana" and were so excited to have such an important role in her wedding!

Although my Mom drives us all insane, we were glad she was there and able to be present during the wedding! I can only hope that someday all the mental illness that plagues my parents will disappear forever....