KIERA IS GOING TO HAVE A LITTLE SISTER!!!!!
That's right. We're having a girl. We had our ultrasound today; it was a 3D ultrasound which was pretty cool. The image on the screen was really clear but the one's they printed out were poor quality. I guess I'll have to spend the $10 to buy the CD with the images on it and then I can post some pictures.
Wow another girl-- Kiera has 14 male cousins and only 1 female cousin so I guess it's a good thing she'll have a sister. And I won't have to buy any baby clothes or anything so there's another positive.

Our Nauvoo Trip

We just returned from our trip to Nauvoo Illinois for Steve's younger brother's wedding. Visiting church history sights was a lot different this time with a 1 year old along. The above pictures are of the stairs at Carthage Jail. Kiera climbed up and down those stairs about 20 times (those were the stairs that the mob ran up to). Whenever we tried to get Kiera to rejoin the tour she through a tantrum so needless to say, we stayed on the stairs.


Kiera's favorite part of our trip was the swimming part. Swimming with daddy and cousins brought several squeals of delight. Oh, she also discovered her love for Ketchup on the trip. She loved dipping the fries in it and sucking the ketchup off. And when the fries were gone, she'd just dip her fingers in.

Traveling with Kiera was a big worry, but she actually did pretty well as long as she had her blankie, her DVD player, and a few exciting toys such as a baby food jar with a screw-on lid and a spoon that fit nicely in a little box. It was a fun trip, but as always, it's good to be home again (especially since us Californians are not used to snow and cold temperatures!).

Given the following three options, which would YOU choose?
1. Being nauseated. I could take out my feeding tube right now and I would be nauseated constantly.
2. Being overweight. If I continue having my feeding tube AND eating, I'll soon be very overweight (I've now gained 25 lbs in about a month).
3. Not eating anything. I could choose not to eat and just let my tube feed me. Not very fun psychologically.

FOR SALE ON BLACK MARKET:

THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF MEDICAL SUPPLIES. Supplies for IV's, wound care. Also about 20 different medications in many different forms: pills, IV,......and others. Some medications are thousands of dollars and never worked a bit for me.

The girl I once was

We have a 8x10 of this bridal picture on our wall in our bedroom. It was actually taken 5 years ago this week. I’ve been looking at it a lot lately thinking about the girl I was in that picture. Like every engaged girl ,I was excited to be married and live happily ever after. I told everyone how wonderful and perfect Steve was and how lucky I was to be marrying him. They told me “just give it a few months and you won’t think he’s so perfect anymore”. I imagined us and our 6 children and how wonderful everything would be. I knew we would have trials, but I had no idea just how difficult they would be. In a way, I look at that picture and think “naïve”. I had no idea what I was really getting myself into and what kind of trials I would have. I thought that Steve was wonderful and perfect, but I had no idea just how wonderful and perfect he really was. Oh, and all those people who said thatI would find out otherwise after a few months or a year were WRONG! I had no idea that he would be there for me and risk flunking out of dental school because he is such a great husband and father. I had no idea that he would hold my hair out of my face as I vomited and love me even when I have been too weak to shower for 6 days and had not done my hair, makeup, and had the worst case of vomit-breath ever.

Having been married to Steve for nearly 5 years now, I have no doubt in my mind that I did marry the best man out there and that we will be happy together no matter what comes our way. The girl in the bridal picture was very naive, but also very lucky.

OUR REDNECK LIFE......

We already had a very red-neck swing hanging in our tree in our backyard, but now we have a hammock to go with it. Steve put it up and we enjoyed laying/playing in it. Kiera thinks it is another swing so she's a fan. The pictures look even more redneck when you notice our garbage can in the background and the rope strung throughout the tree. Oh well, I guess our backyard isn't as neat looking as the Jones'.

There's more of me to love......

it's official: I'm a clunky chunky monkey. I saw my doctor today and found out I've gained 15 pounds in two weeks. Yes, that was the goal, but no-- I don't want it to continue. I guess that is what happens when I can eat just fine and am also getting fed by a feeding tube. Anyway, I'm hoping my dietitian sees fit to slow down my feedings a bit or Steve might be married to an elephant by the end of this pregnancy!

What's the dill?

For the past 2 nights getting Kiera to eat dinner has been a struggle. We eat as a family and I try to give her options of things to eat that I think she will like. She is a strange little lady though and won't eat things that a person would think she would love (fries, fruits, waffles, PB&J sandwiches), 2 nights ago she refused to everything but was flipping out trying to get to something on the table. Finally we figured out what she wanted: carrots. The problem: she only has 5 teeth. But then we figured out that it wasn't the carrots she wanted, but the dill dip that we were dipping them in. So, that is basically what she had for dinner: the dill dip she sucked of the carrots. Then, last night we had bbq hamburgers and fries along with fruit. She wanted nothing to do with any of them. Steve put a dill pickle in her mouth to see what she would do. She LOVED it at proceeded to eat pickles for dinner. Hmmm.... dill dip and then dill pickles. Maybe I'll sprinkle dill on all of her food.

Steve's spring break is ending.....no!!!!!

We have been enjoying having Steve around since he has been on spring break (between semesters) all week. Most of our friends are off traveling or doing something cool, but we stayed home and caught up on life. Poor Steve has spent his break doing yard work, taxes, and helping me with my aquiring of food storage. We have managed to have a bit of fun though. Steve and I enjoyed trying to show Kiera how to be excited about putting Easter eggs in a basket, we also took her to Victoria Gardens twice and let her play in the water fountains which she LOVED. And I have been enjoying my recreational-eating. We've gone out to eat a few times. I've enjoyed eating things that I normally wouldn't--- but hey, if they want me to gain weight I can help out right?.......ice cream, Cheetos, chocolate, sour straws.....yes I'm rubbing it in for all of you who are on diets. I'll think of you as I put a little extra butter on my homemade rolls today.

EATING AND LOVIN' IT

I CAN EAT!!!! YES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, CAMBRIE IS NOW CAPABLE OF EATING FOOD.
I'm starting of small, and I still definately need my feeding tube for now, but I've joined the eating-people-of-the-world club and it's great to be a member again. I must say that nobody enjoyed their lunch today as much as I did-- I went to Soup Plantation (a favorite resturant) and they charged me the child price since I showed them my feeding tube and promised I didn't eat much. It was wonderful. Food tasted a little bland at first, but my sense of taste is returning. I'm just counting my blessings right now.

Blankie Quest: Success!!!

Kiera has a favorite pink silky blanket that we got as a gift when she was born. She has developed quite an attachment to it and can't sleep without it. This of course is a problem when she vomits on it and it takes 45 minutes to get it washed and dried. So, I've been looking for a back up blankie to buy but have had a really hard time finding the same exact one. I took Kiera to Babies R Us yesterday and found one that was similar (but definitely different) and decided to gamble and buy it. When we got out to the car I unwrapped it from it's tags and ribbons and gave it to her. Success!!!! She loves it! Now I'm just worried that one of these days she'll discover that there are 2 and will need BOTH to make her happy.

Tummy trouble

On Friday I was scheduled to have my feeding tube changed. Prior to the procedure the nurse was questioning me about my demographics and health history (which she was writing down in the chart). Twice I casually mentioned the fact that I'm pregnant and she didn't seem to pay attention or care so I mentioned it a 3rd time. "You're pregnant?!! Oh my gosh-- good thing you told me!" and she wrote it in all caps on the front of the chart. I had 4 1/2 hours to wait for my procedure (since they were running a "little" behind. In that time I decided to write the fact that I have a baby in my abdomen. Hey, they make people who are having their knees operated on write "yes" on the correct knee to remind the doctor, so why not? Better safe than sorry-- especially knowing that that nurse was going to be the one overseeing me while I was unconscious.

Husband of the year award: Steven Nelson

Steve has finals next week. He told me on friday "It's important that I study a lot this weekend". Well, not only did he spend his entire day with me at the hospital friday for my little operation, but he took be back to the hospital at 3am on saturday, picked me up at 5:30 am, took me back and stayed with me from 10-11am and then back again from 12pm to 5pm. He spent the entire day attending to my medical needs and arranging care for Kiera (or caring for her himself). He got very little studying done. I'm praying that the Lord will see fit to bless him for being such a wonderful husband and father.

Kiera update

Tired of hearing about my latest health status? Well, you're in luck. In this blog entry I will spare you. I'm beginning to feel like one of those geriatric people who can't talk about anything but their health.

I've been worried about Kiera getting behind in her language development lately. Especially while being passed from sitter to sitter while I was in the hospital, and then me not being able to talk to her much when I did get home due to my saliva issues. But she is finally popping out a few small words (maybe 10 or so). Her favorite word is still da-da as her daddy is her favorite person. She get's so excited when daddy comes home and immediately asks "ball?" because she wants to go outside and play basketball with him. We are both excited for finals to be over in a week and a half so we can have more time to play with daddy.

My list of things I'm grateful for.

1. The fact that I have health insurance (I did NOT have it when we got pregnant, we signed up for it the day we found out we were pregnant which was 2 days before the deadline).
2. The wonderful doctors at Loma Linda who were willing to try something that they'd never done before on a pregnant woman (a feeding tube).
3. My feeding tube! It is literally my life-saver!
4. My supportive husband who is SOOOOO sweet to me despite the fact that I smell like puke, don't cook, and am not very attractive lately.
5. My cute little Kiera who is a constant reminder of what I'm working towards.
6. The wonderful support that I have from family and friends. I'm AMAZED at what people are willing to do for me. People keep giving and giving and I keep on taking and taking. Thank you so much everyone. Give me a few months and I'll be able to start on making it up to everyone

Venting........

A while ago I signed up to get emails from "pregnancy weekly" just as a way of keeping track of my baby's develpment. (it's fun to know when the baby has fingernails and eyelashes and when they can suck their thumb). Well I got the most obnoxious email from them yesterday.

Hi cambrie,welcome to your second trimester! This is a time to celebrate! the next 11 weeks should be easier than these last few months. Your body has adjusted to full baby-growing mode so many of the unpleasant symptoms will subside and, while you are beginning to look pregnant, you are not too big to be uncomfortable yet. cambrie, hopefully your morning sickness and fatigue have passed and you are feeling healthy and energetic. People may begin telling you that you look great and have that "pregnancy glow." ....

Pregnancy glow????!!!!!!! I could vent for 2 or 3 paragraphs, but I'm sure you all can guess what I'd say so I'll refrain. These emails better cease being obnoxious or I"m going to unsubscribe pronto. I hope all those fluffy pregnant women out there enjoy their glow......forgive me while I go puke.