Basketball

We finally were "good parents" this year and signed the bigger kids up for basketball (we usually forget until after sign ups are done because we are cool like that)
Both of them are SO, SO, SO excited. They both got a pair of basketball shoes and water bottles for Christmas, and they both have their own ball now.
We are done with the second week and I do have to say that trying to figure out how to get kids to basketball twice a week (not always on the same nights, never at the same time, and sometimes not at the same school) and getting Kyle to scouts in there and me on the "no drive" list for part of a week has been..... fun. lol
The first game for the both of them is next week. We are excited that they get to have this experience and we hope that we can be on the ball enough to make sign ups next year too. ;)

Pictures

Pictures are up through the new year!  HERE

Family Pictures

For those who missed it on Facebook, my amazing sister Lori at Elby Photography took some amazing Family pictures for us over thanksgiving. I am ever so very happy about how they turned out.
These are a few of my favorites.
The rest of them are   >>>HERE<<<

For family members who are interested in having specific ones, you can order them straight from that site for a reasonable price.

Texas!

My sister Jen needed me to come watch her kids so she could go on a retreat for her work with her husband (because every couple needs some alone time)  She offered to fly out Tyler and I in exchange of keeping her kids and dogs alive four four days. As seems to be my current trend, I didn't take enough pictures, but we had a good time. Tyler was a super star on the plane. I didn't get as much napping as I wanted, but he didn't bug anyone else on the plane so we call it a win.
Mostly we just hung out and I play lots and lots of skyrim after the kids went down for the night. I got to see Daniels christmas presentation for preschool, we had pizza night with my brother and his family, then the bouncy house one night, and back to the Ball's house for lunch after church with my other brother Chris and his family (so Kevin's family and Chris' family. It was a mini reunion) I had a great time, it was a nice little mini vacation for me. I really enjoyed seeing my siblings who I don't get to see very often.

Houston LDS Temple

You can really see the similarities in their faces in this one. Little twiner cousins. 

November

Whew! What a month that was. I tried in the beginning to keep life normal, but eventually life overwhelmed me. Hence the ending of my every day posts. I didn't stop being thankful, because I think I had more to be thankful for this year than most others, but I just couldn't keep any more balls juggling in the air. This post may be a little more information than you wanted, but it has been my life and noteworthy. 
*Consider yourself warned*
We were/are DONE having kids. We have ended the "new baby" chapter of the Bake book and have gotten rid of all our baby stuff. We are enjoying that we fit perfectly at our table, in our car, and in our house and we know that we're the family we were meant to be. In addition to the fact that we're very happy with our family size, my own personal struggles with Rheumatoid Arthritis pretty much sealed the deal that more kids would not be in my family's future. Because of my Rheumatoid Arthritis, I take a medicine called methotrexate. If you are not familiar with the medicine, it is VERY non compatible with pregnancy (in that it usually ends them). Because of all of those things, I have been using an IUD since May. There have been some issues with the IUD, but I was assured that it was doing its job just fine. Come to the last week of October and the day after my big super saturday at church I found out I was pregnant. (this is where the sound of my jaw hitting the floor echoed throughout the North American Continent.) 
During the course of November I was told...

• My IUD had completely disappeared (they still have no idea where it is) but that the pregnancy was looking normal.
• I had an ectopic pregnancy and we would have to cause a miscarriage (ironically with the same methotrexate that I take for my RA)
• They were kidding, it wasn't ectopic and that it was probably ok, but the US just looked "funny"
• I was normal pregnant and things were just developing a little slower
• It was a molar pregnancy
• It was just a Blighted Ovum but that I possibly had gotten pregnant again.

To add to the fun I also had

• 7 blood draws
• 4 Ultra Sounds
• 2 sets of doctors
• I was just getting off of being in charge of super saturday (huge craft day at church)
• Halloween with 4 kids
• I assisted in a book drive and book referb for the local children's bank
• I got volunteered to be in charge of a booth at the kids Harvest carnival at school (which ended up with 7 hours at the school since they needed more help)
• I was in charge of all of the kid games at our church's harvest carnival
• I was in charge of a semi formal christmas dinner to feed almost 100 ladies at church
• Family pictures to find outfits for and everything else that goes with making a family of 6 presentable

At first, I was really thrown off guard that I could have possibly gotten pregnant. I was NOT ready for a #5. But within a week, when it set in that I indeed was pregnant, I couldnt help but fall in love with #5. The following month of "yes you are, no you aren't" was really very difficult to wrap my head around. It was really hard to keep hopes up against all odds. Emotionally draining does not even begin to describe what those 5 weeks were like. When I actually miscarried during the week of Thanksgiving I was almost thankful because it finally meant a concrete answer after a five week roller coaster of emotions. So by the time the pregnancy ended I had mourned the loss of the baby twice by then and was emotionally empty- so mostly I only had the physical aspect of it to deal with at the time. (which Im trying to think of as a blessing. Silver linings right?) 


So there we go. Im trying to take a deep breath and get prepared for the crazy that is the Christmas season. Thankfully I have nothing big on my plate for the next month (other than buying presents since I haven't gotten a single one yet)

I want to give a massively huge THANK YOU to everyone that dealt with my crazy, gave me a shoulder to vent/cry on, brought dinners, watched my kids, and in general gave me support. I also want to apologize to anyone who felt left out for not knowing. I never had a solid answer to give people so we didn't really share, and once we had a solid answer I just want to wash my hair of it and put it behind me. 




So we don't end on a totally depressing note
Here is a random picture from November- Kate Marching in the Macy' Thanksgiving Day parade in Downtown Portland with the local high school's Color Guard. 

Thankful Day 13

I am thankful for my church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)  I can't imagine my life without it. The guidance I have received, the friends and relationships I have built, and my own personal relationship with God is all hugely based on what I have learned at church or through other church members.

photo credits to http://ivonyoung.blogspot.com

Thankful Day 12

I know I should have done it yesterday, but I had gaming on the brain.
I am hugely thankful for my country's Armed Forces. Those who have fought and died to keep us free and to aid others. Their sacrifice is huge almost beyond measure. I really truly appreciate those women and men with my whole heart.

Thankful Day 11

SKYRIM  Need I say more?

Thankful Day 10

Today I am thankful for modern medicine. It can still be pretty clueless, but so much better than the bleeding and such that they did in the middle ages. I casually like to think how I would have been fine back in the middle ages, and then I think about it more and I realize that Andrew probably wouldn't be around (tried to come at 31 weeks) Even then he would have been fairly badly scrambled with the billiruben that he and ALL his siblings would have had. Dylan wouldn't have done well, his first APGAR was 4 and had sky high billi levels and that is just a surface scratch.

So I am very grateful for modern medicine and even something as simple as a blood draw. 

Because blogs aren't fun without pictures, here is Day Glow Dylan

Thankful Day 9

I am thankful for BOOKS! What good friends they have been to me over the years. Im currently trying to convince myself to wait a few months to get this bad boy because I don't want to pay that much.