Lots..

Lots of thoughts...Lots of emotions...Lots of activities....Lots going on as usual... and yet I find myself BORED! I'm so weird.

I'm 37 weeks pregnant. Baby and mommy are both measuring perfect and doing quite well. Heart beats, blood pressure, weight, size... all good. He could come today or he could come in 3 weeks. This is one of my least favorite parts of pregnancy...all of the unknowns at the end. When exactly will it all happen, How exactly it will all go, Where will we be, How will we feel, What will it be like to have two kids? I've have had a couple evenings with fairly intense contractions, cramping, back pain etc that have eventually let up. The doc says that's my body gearing up and doing what it should do. BUT it doesn't mean we're hours or days away...it could mean that... but it could just mean weeks still. Awesome. I feel really prepared as far as my house, and projects and having baby things goes. I'll likely need to make a run to walmart for diapers and a few last odds n ends... but that's no big deal. I would like him to wait till October so that we can enjoy s.i.l. Audrey's wedding in a week (WE'RE SO EXCITED FOR YOU GUYS!) I guess I need to just relax and quit worrying. Ultimately I really will just be happy to make it to October AND ecstatic to be holding a sweet healthy little boy in my arms AND almost as overjoyed to not be gigantic anymore :)

In the meantime we're soaking up the last few softball games (and bike rides and bbqs) of the season, potty training Miss Abigail, and trying to keep busy and keep my mind off the waiting game...

3D Ultrsound pic of baby boy Welker

33 weeks

At Tautphaus Park

Daddy and Abby watering flowers

At the annual Melaleuca summer picnic

Playing in the dirt at Daddy's softball game

IF Chukars game with the family

 

HOT day at a sweet park in UT

Summer Fun 2012

We've had a crazy busy fun filled summer. Besides Rob's job, our church callings, baby appointments and regular life stuff we've managed to squeeze in tons of other fun activities. Some of these activities have included:

Rob's softball games- He's been playing for an IF mens city league on a team sponsored by Dan's Auto and Collision Repair. They played every monday/wednesday evening and did a great job. He also participated in a special 3 day tournament up in montana. We're now getting started on the fall season of softball and it promises to be a fun time!

Bike rides- We had a yard sale, did some odd jobs, did some research, and saved up our money, so we could buy the perfect bike trailer. We (especially Abby) love it! Thankfully Grandma Sue and Grandpa Dean were gracious enough to long term lend us their adult bicycles so that saved us a bit of money and allowed us a whole summer of exercise, outings, and adventures. Rob, Abby and I have rode all around Ammon.

Zoo-We snagged a free zoo day (courtesy of rob's job) and had a really good time. It was a really sunny and super hot day. Abby is just old enough that she thought all of the animals were SO cool (and luckily she's young enough that her attention span is short enough that we'd get a nice couple minute glimpse at each exhibit then we were moving right along to the next.) Some of her favorites were getting to see the zoo workers feed the penguins, watching the monkeys swing around, and seeing the tigers and bears walk close by their fences. She got brave enough to go in the petting zoo fence with daddy to get up close and personal with the goats...as soon as they were in there she decided that was a rookie mistake and immediately reached for me to take her out. Fun day :)

Icecream/snowcones- What would summer be without plenty of ice cream and snow cones? lame. Therefore we've taken many opportunities to snatch these up (after the swimming pool, on our bike rides, at picnics, during ball games....) and savor the goodness all summer long.

Grandma's/ raspberries- While rob was in montana for the softball tournament, Abby and I stayed over at the Welker house for a couple nights. It was nice to have company and not worry about every little noise we'd hear in our house. We had fun being there and are so thankful to have such awesome family close by. We've also taken the opportunity to pick raspberries there a few times. This year we enjoyed them fresh (instead of picking tons and freezing them for the winter) and it was so good :)

Grammy's bon fires- Another activity that makes summer a little more complete are Titus family bonfires. We go visit, get the fire pit in the backyard going, and bring out little smokies/hot dogs/smores. This is a tradition in our family now and will always hold a special place in our hearts. Rob and I met in person for the first time 5 years ago at one of these famed bonfires. Now abby really enjoys them with us. By the way- smores are 1000 times better if you use chewy chips ahoy cookies instead of grahm crakers :)

Melaleuca picnic- Every year we look forward to the big Melaleuca summer picnic. All you can eat cotton candy, ice cream and drinks. Unlimited horse rides, games, and inflatable bounce toys. Delicious catered lunch. Company giveaways/prizes. This year we were able to have abby ride the horses with rob several times and she loved feeling like Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye from the Toy Story.

Parks and pool- Abby has really enjoyed visiting and exploring different playgrounds this year. We've gone to community park, tautphaus park, eagle point park, porter park, and mccowin park. We have also gotten to go to ammon pool and the idaho falls aquatic center. She loves this stuff!

Boating- Ah boating...life is good when ya get to have a morning or day on the lake :) This year I've been too pregnant to do any tubing or boarding BUT i have thoroughly enjoyed our time out there anyway. I like the exercise I get from swimming and Abby loves swimming too. She also learned to love tubing this year. It was so fun to see her cute expressions... she would smile, giggle, say "woo hoo!", blow kisses and wave her hands. luckily (thanks to good aunties) there was always someone there to hold on to her and make sure she didn't fall off. Rob has totally rocked the wakeboard and ski as usual. He and his dad picked out a new wakeboard at the begining of the summer and he's loved how nicely it handles compared to the old one.

Home- When we are home we try to get creative and find more fun things to do. We planted flowers and abby loves helping daddy water them in the evenings. We pulled out a large box of sidewalk chalk that we won at a family reunion a long time ago- keeps us busy and messy for a long time! I've also had some craft projects going on and try to let abby feel included. Her favorite was when I let her paint...she likes to color with crayons but she LOVES to paint. Its a lot of fun.


There have been a couple new babies added to the family- Hyrum Marvin Welker (Jake's new boy) and Liam Liberty Hodge (Lindsay's new boy). Recently we also had a couple church activities (pioneer day chicken dinner and the summer primary activity), Kurt and Deena Welker Family mini reunion, a day trip to rexburg/parker idaho, a birthday party for Tiana, and some IF Chukars games. All these things and more have kept us busy busy busy :) with a few relaxing bum around days in between...its been a good summer! 

Prego thoughts of the day

So I feel like I need to document some things for my own sake (and for posterity's sake) BUT this post may not be as interesting to outside readers AND may even be embarrasing to share... That being said...here goes

This pregnancy up to the 20 week mark was a lot similar to my first pregnancy (with Abby). Felt totally great, didn't puke, didn't gain weight much... a real beauty of a thing. After that 20 week point this pregnancy has been SO MUCH HARDER than my first. My hips (and general mid-lower region) are super sore and out of place... mostly noticeable when I am laying down...NOT FUN. Although I still don't really puke I get quite nauseas with strong smells or even taking vitamins on an empty stomach. Ginger snaps usually help me bounce back though. I also feel a tad more emotional I think... at least about my weight...My mr.wonderful has lived up to that title and is so good at making sure I know he still thinks I'm beautiful and that I have his full support and that he is grateful for me going thorough all this pregnancy junk for the sake of our little family. I started out this pregnancy 20 lbs heavier than where I was when I started my last pregnancy so I have been self conscious and unhappy about my weight to begin with BUT that is only added to the fact that this time i'm having a boy and I feel like he is huge and making me even more huge! I stay fairly active and try to eat healthy so why do I feel like a mama whale?!? While pregnant with Abby the doctors always said "she's perfect and petite"... this time its more of "he's measuring 2cm bigger" but he's very healthy as well. I guess we'll see how big he is when he makes his debut... in the meantime... here I sit hoping and praying that starting in October, along with a healthy happy baby, I'll be able to get my old body back...or at least close. I've got my work cut out for me. I'm keeping my eyes and ears open for any help, motivation, or suggestions in that area.

Wanna be a millionaire so stinkin bad

As I sit and think about what is on my mind right now, I’m a little overwhelmed at all of the crazy things going on in the world right around me. There is so much good to be done and, although most days I’m really happy with my life exactly as it is, today I wish I were a millionaire. Not so I can go shopping. Not so I can travel the world. Not even so I can live off the interest on it and keep my hubs home with me every dayJ. Today I wish I were a millionaire so I could donate to the many many many causes that keep popping up in my face. I wanna help other people.

Almost all at once, three cases in particular have presented themselves…

One, a friend had the unfortunate experience of a sibling-in-law passing away in a tragic car accident. He was simply on his way home from work. Now His pregnant wife and 3 kids are without a husband, a daddy, and a bread winner. Life is so fragile. The unexpected can REALLY take you off guard sometimes. They were in the middle of building themselves a modest home to raise their children in and now since there is no income they may lose that home and that dream. Pennies are being scrapped together…they need donations. (https://www.facebook.com/DevinStimpsonMemorialFund)

Another, a friend was giving the incredible opportunity to go to Ecuador to volunteer in orphanages. These places are just overflowing with wonderful little children who didn’t really have a say in what life would hand them at such a young age. The orphanages do their best for the kids but, working with little money and turning no child away, there is much help needed. They need simple things that we take for granted… pillows to sleep on, lice shampoo, a roof that doesn’t leak, a home without mold, and food… they need donations. (www.dandoamor.org )

Finally, another friend made me aware of a heart wrenching circumstance for a young couple who are facing the finances and emotional journey of a hopeful double lung transplant. I knew this couple and had NO idea that the husband was in poor health. He was always so energetic, happy and full of life. He still is all those things BUT his lungs are not cooperating. He has cystic fibrosis and in just a few short years he went from 80% lung capacity to 23% lung capacity. His only chance of survival is the double transplant. They found out that the cost of the procedures (in the first year) would be over a million dollars. Yikes. They also found out that the medications he would need to take would make it impossible for them to have children…so currently they await their chance for 2 new lungs and are working on IVF to make those babies possible before it is too late. (www.goteamjason.com )

My heart breaks over and over again for all these and many more people. I live a modest life and LOVE it. This also means I don’t have much money to give. We do what we can, I just wish I were a millionaire and could make all these struggles go away. In the meantime, I pray. I pray long and hard from every inch of my heart. These sweet people deserve the BEST blessings from heaven. Maybe with my prayers and monetary help from those who can give it they will receive some of those blessings really soon.

(If you feel willing and able to donate please go to the websites mentioned above and do what you can. Thank you so much!)

It's a boy!

I can't believe I haven't gotten on here sooner to post about our ultrasound. We've been super excited and have had a blast telling all our family and friends about our hapy news. Now it's time to document it a bit :)

Wednesday May 23rd 2012 marked a special day in the lives of our little Welker family. I was officially 20 weeks along with our 2nd baby AND we were finally able to have an ultrasound to meet our new growing little one and to find out if baby is a boy or a girl. We woke up, took Abigail to Grammy's house to play, and (with much excitement and anticipation) went to our appt. Baby Welker looked great- super healthy and right on track with everything and (according to the ultrasound tech and doctor...) definitely a boy. His daddy was so proud. I was so relieved to see a healthy baby, watch his little heart beat, and feel him kick n squirm as my tummy was squashed around. SO FUN! I love those moments.

I couldn't quite believe it but knowing little Benjamin Robert Welker (thats what we'd like to name him as of now) would be joining our family suddenly made my pregnancy feel more real. I've been cleaning house and preparing projects in every spare moment since we found out. I've got a quilt to make, a set of canvases to paint, and a bedroom to reorganize into a half boy/ half girl room. Luckily we have baby things from when Abby was new born as well as a few baby boy clothes handed down from friends and family so we won't need to start from scratch... but we've got our work cut out for us for sure :) Already boys seem so different from girls I feel like I barely know what to do. Teach him baseball, teach him to enjoy the beach, teach him to love his family, and most importantly teach him to love the gospel and his Savior. Everything else will hopefully fall into place :)

No pictures YET

I've heard a lot of people say "I wanna see pictures or else it didn't happen!" AND i don't have pictures right now but I promise i will do my very best to get them and include them soon. In the meantime, i wanted to document all our crazy adventures in the last few weeks.

April is a big month for our little family. We've got General Conference, Easter, Rob and My Anniversary, Abby's Birthday, other family birthdays, and all the semi normal activities and appointments as well. Some of these include (but are not limited to) getting Abby a new big girl bed and decorating her room a little more, re-organizing paperwork files, going through clothes (and can we all just say together now YARD SALE hopefully coming soon), baby appointments, family dinners and outings, signing rob up for a competitive softball league, bbq's, bonfires, craft projects, and church callings.

So far we had a nice quiet Conference weekend the messages were lovely as usual :) i'll have to do a separate post sometime for a few of my favorite lessons and reminders that came from the speakers. Both of our families were out of town for most of it so we bummed around their empty houses to watch it since we dont have cable. Thanks family!

Rob took a couple days off work last week. We were able to get a lot of things done AND have a nice anniversary getaway. Thursday we took abby to the aquatic center- LOVED IT. It was a lot of fun! and shared some free subway sandwiches. Friday we left miss Abigail with auntie Lindsay and we went to see a movie, got dinner, and checked into a hotel. It was so weird not having Abby around but it was a good break too. By the way, we saw the movie "We Bought A Zoo" and really enjoyed it...i did cry a bunch but i also laughed.

Easter was great! we had a fun family easter egg hunt with the titus grandkids and Abby loved all the chocolate. Grammy and Papa also surprised Abby that night with a mini birthday celebration. Abs got to share the moment with her Uncle Davey since his birthday is one week before hers.

Abby's new big girl bed is working out wonderfully. She sleeps so well in it and there's space enough for us to do family prayers and scriptures together AND space enough for me or rob to lay next to her if she's a little too hyper to sit still alone or not feeling well enough to be left completely alone (she got a little cold from a cousin but we're all good now). Some craft projects, organizing, and decorating has also been happening for abby's room.

This entry is getting a little long and abby is getting into things so i'll conclude by saying that we have been thoroughly enjoying the slightly warmer weather. We go on walks, have bbq's, do fun bonfires at grammy and papa's house, and are just getting super excited for baseball games, picnics, boating, gardening, and all things summer time!

Who doesn't like a good math equation?

just evening out the playing feild...kids 2 vs parents 2

The crazy but proud big sister

That's right we're nuts enough to have another :) We will be happy to welcome the new addition sometime around October 10th.

First Post of the Year

It's true...I've been a blog slacker...for quite a while now actually.
That being said...I thought I'd give a quick update for now (with a promise to update again soon).
We've all been keeping really busy and enjoying life in general.

Rob has been working and playing church ball and doing a great job with his callings and helping me remain sane (who are we kidding...here we should just be saying mostly sane..haha). We got to share a New Years kiss and he got me some BEAUTIFUL flowers on Valentines. Everyday in between those two events and everyday since we super love spending every spare moment together. We were told by many that the whole "newlywed thing" would fade quickly but we're coming up on our 4 year anniversary and we enjoy each new day together as much as those firsts.

Abby is growing up fast and keeps me SO busy. I've been asked a LOT recently "Mackenzie, what do you do all day? Do you just stay home with your kid?" AND may I reply to that- Just because I'm a "stay at home mom" does NOT mean that I (a) only stay at home and (b) do nothing and sit around bored staring at a kid all day. I love taking Abby out for walks, to the library, to the park, to visit family members, to explore, to exercise with me... She's a champ and we have a lot of fun together. She's super smart, super active and super funny...how could I be bored all day everyday. Any time music plays (especially when it is in the end credits of a movie) Abby LOVEs to dance. She immediately gets up and bounces around, spins in circles, shakes her fingers, and moves her cute self to the music. Then she motions to Rob and I while saying "c'mon" and  "dan!(dance)"We sure do love our family dancing time. I hope those moments will stay clear in our minds forever. We also currently are working on potty training and doing fairly well (we're taking the casual-'you tell me when you have to go and we'll go sit together in the bathroom for a half hour together till we can be sure you are done' approach since her doc said not to force it till she's a little older. May I also just say- I LOVE not changing poopy diapers. She'll be 2 in april! Can you believe it where has the time gone??? and at the same time newborn Abby seems like a lifetime ago. We look forward to our upcoming adventures together.

I love being a mama and I love being a wife AND I have a pretty good team for those. My jobs as mama and wife at Welker Fam Inc keep me busy and keep me happy. It's also nice being close to our families as well...we're always visiting or helping eachother with one thing or another. Church callings have been a blessing too. I've also been a part of an exercise group 3 days a week so thats fun. Never a dull moment for us really. Sometimes a dull moment would be nice and we make sure to take some down time once in a while but mostly we're all just going going going. I think if I can manage to create some more down time in our lives I might do some new crafty projects. (Last year I painted some pictures for abby's room and sewed my first quilt...things like that...i'm sure i can come up with some more stuff to do).

Untill then...