Pictures of Baby #4

Here are some of the 100 pictures we got from the ultrasound but I really didn't think posting brain size, blood flow and other measurements would be beneficial cause I know i just like looking at the cool ones! So here is the foot!! The next ones are pretty self-explanatory and 4D which are really cool!

I wish I would have had this for all my babies in Idaho...

At first I thought the cord was wrapped around the neck but it is just floating around that area!

I thought this picture was so cute of the little frown!!

(sorry for the measurement on there)

So we have just about 8 1/2 weeks left and if we don't have this little one by July 25th we will be induced on the 26th! I did pass my 3 hour gestational diabetes test so I do NOT have it, just my iron is a little low but I tend to not like meat when I am pregnant except for steak like once a month! So I am on extra iron and the usual prenatal which I have been good about taking since I take it with the kids when they take their vitamins in the morning!!

I really can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone and we are excited to see this bundle of kicks and pushes!! I have NO motherly intuition on what it is...I think it could be either a boy or girl! For the boy we are naming him Ryker Benjamin ...Ryker we found online and Benjamin is from Ryan's family history...If it's a girl her name will be Capri Isabella...Those names are just pulled from what we like, actually Ryan picked Capri and I have always loved Isabella...We also like Jasmine for a middle name so that might change but we will see when this baby comes out!

One thing everyone tells me with the doctor I have chosen is he likes for women after the head and shoulders come out to reach down and pull the rest of the baby out while pushing and place the baby on them...I like this idea but that is where Ryan has always helped...So I think we will still continue our tradition of Ryan helping deliver but I will be FOCUSED on what's between the legs!! We will probably post on facebook first then the blog!!

Last 2 months in a nutshell...

Where do I begin! We made it to Arizona if anyone was wondering if we fell off the face of the earth! All of April was packing and I thought I was doing a great job until I wasn't done the day we got our rental truck! It is so hard to pack up an entire house and then still live there for a week! Every day I was donating stuff or packing boxes or would sleep so I didn't get sick! We have been so blessed to not have anyone sick this entire time! I don't have a pediatrician for the kids yet so I don't have someone to take them too!

We are so grateful for all the help we received especially loading our truck and people taking our stuff that we needed to get rid of! And people watching our kids and bringing us meals...There are so many details when you aren't moving to another town and can run back and forth!

We left on April 27th at 7am and Ryan's dad drove our Penske truck so he got a head start on us that morning and it took us until Idaho Falls to catch him! From there we drove to Orem, Utah where we didn't arrive until 9pm. We arrived in Salt Lake City at 8pm and traffic was ugly! We were fortunate enough to stay with friends that night and due to sleeping off and on that day Reese didn't sleep that well but we stayed up and watched a movie!

Wednesday morning we left at 7am and hit the road around 8 after finally finding some diesel for the moving truck! The kids did great this whole time! We had bought DVD players for the kids and movies that they got each day to make it exciting! We had drinks and snacks so we didn't have to stop that much which made it easy! The worst part about this day was the sand storm we drove through! It lasted for miles and we heard rumors that the winds were up to 100 mph but I am not sure about that! I do know they had snowplows out to plow the sand off the road so we could see the lines in some parts...I passed one and it was a little scary! Ryan was driving the moving truck and I had all the kids and of course Chloe tells me she has to pee during this time and there is NO WHERE to go! So I try and do it on the side of the van but I think the sand hurt her butt cause it was hurting my legs while out with her!! So after the third time of pulling over she finally went poor girl!

We arrived in Scottsdale about 7:30pm and had about 6 guys waiting here to help us unload our truck! They had pizza and drinks and were ready to move stuff as it was kind of last minute when we were going to be here but they are from our ward down here and are just so nice! We have met so many nice people here and are loving that the weather is not 100 degrees every day yet! I think Mother Nature is giving me a break!

We were fortunate enough to have Ryan's dad stay with us until Saturday when he actually flew on a plane to Boise! We weren't sure how long it had been since he had been an airplane and he was really nervous but he had a great experience and Ryan's sister, Alycia, said he had made some new friends on the plane ride! Which doesn't surprise me at all he is REALLY friendly wherever he goes :) The kids really loved having Grandpa here that whole time and didn't understand at the time that he lives in Idaho and we were now in Arizona! That took about a week for them to understand and for me to explain that all that time in the car makes us far from cousins and all the grandparents!

We are still unpacking a little...mostly our room but we are fortunate enough to have a lot of outside storage here which makes it nice not to cram the closets full of boxes and rubbermaids! We sold a lot of our furniture so it was fun going to IKEA and getting new stuff for this house even though it's a rental! We live in a great neighborhood with very friendly people and all day long we see people walking their dogs and biking and my kids are always saying HI and petting the dogs! At first people used to ask about the elderly woman who lived here (for 40 years) and we told them she moved closer to her daughter but I thought that was so touching that even the ones that didn't know her name were asking how she was doing!!

We have been here for almost 4 weeks and have had our good days and our bad days...Cooper says he still hates it here but almost every day we go to a park and tomorrow we are registering him for kindergarten, swimming lessons and soccer. Chloe loves it here and EVERY morning she wakes up and says, "Mom, the sun is out!" I think it is so cute and she will also be in swimming lessons and a tumbling class! Reese is stuck with me and LOVES to chase the bunnies and birds here in our yard!

Ryan's new hobby is picking oranges from the tree in our backyard and making fresh squeezed orange juice...It really is tasty! We have a lemon tree, orange trees, and grapefruit trees...Every day we have to go out and pick them up off the ground or the birds and animals get them and then the fruit flies surround them and YUCK! The backyard is sort of grass...They call it grass but there are a lot of weeds in it! This home was built on a citrus orchard 40 years ago and so our water for the yard comes every 2 weeks and it is a big flood! So for almost 2 days the kids can't play in the backyard...In the winter time it is only once a month thank heavens!

I finally picked an obgyn who we actually go to church with but I have just heard so much good about him and he actually reminds me of my doctor back in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho! And he will deliver at either hospital we want! Around here you have like 5 hospitals within 20 minutes and not all doctors go to all the hospitals so you really pick your hospital first then your doctor so we decided on two and this doctor is the only one in his practice that will deliver at one of them! I am thankful this is my 4th and not my 1st after so many changes! I am 31 weeks now and last week I had an ultrasound at a separate place, The Fetal and Womens Center, and it was amazing! I got like 10 pictures printed, a CD with all the pictures and a video of what the girl did! Usually you just get pictures but these are amazing! I stayed strong and did not find out what the sex of the baby is and the girl was really good about it! Our baby is healthy and about 3.5 pounds right now...The ultrasound was to check my low lying placenta which is no longer low lying so good news all around!!

Ryan has switched positions at his new work and just started last week...It wasn't a promotion just an across the board switch with different responsibilities! He gets to come home for lunch every day which the kids LOVE to eat with daddy!! We are still praying for a promotion but know that our Father in Heaven is watching out for us and has a plan we may not understand right now but we feel so blessed!

I am sorry for no pictures on this post but I will have another post with all the pictures especially the baby ones they are amazing!! I have been trying to convince Ryan to buy me a new camera but no such luck yet! And we have been busy with figuring out where things are and going to new parks all the time which makes it fun! The parks here are covered and sandy and my kids are still getting used to all of that!! Arizona is definitely not Idaho but some parts of it remind me of my home town, Connell...the desert parts and hot the heat we get all summer although here will be hotter for longer which I am not looking forward too but the rest of the year will be amazing everyone says! Pictures to come....

ER, Moving, Sick again, Packing...

Emergency Room visit for Carrie...2 weeks ago I woke up and wasn't feeling well which isn't any different since I am always tired and hungry when I wake up! So my friend called and invited Cooper to their preschool since one kid was gone so I took him the one whole block and he was so excited! The girls and I came home and all of a sudden I couldn't hold down whatever wanted to come up! I am sorry if this makes you puke but oh boy did I ever...5 minutes later I felt so much better! I was thinking okay that wasn't so bad...

Picked up Cooper 2 hours later then grabbed lunch for them and of course started to feel yucky AGAIN! Came home and tried to snack on some bread and water and called Ryan home cause I could hardly stand up! He walked in the door and I ran to the bathroom...I was only able to keep down 1 cup of Gatorade! About 8pm I told Ryan I just need and IV so lets go to the ER! Our AMAZING friend Elaine came over and put our kids to bed and when we got home at 1am we had to do my paper route as my last minute subs were out of town! So after 3 bags of IV fluid and 2 different kind of nausea medications that knocked me out between driving up and down streets I felt a lot better...Ryan hasn't been on the route in 18 months but still remembered a lot although he was shocked as we would pass customers I used to have but have quit and my paper route has gone down 20 papers since then...Doesn't sound like a lot but it is in the paper business!! We got home around 2:30 and passed out!

At 6am Cooper wakes up and had puked all over his bed and floor and of course he had drank red Gatorade at dinner!! Cooper takes after me and does not like to puke in a toilet and finished up in the bathtub! I can now puke in a toilet but for a really long time, like up until 3 years ago I had to puke in a bathtub...I know weird but whatever...So I put him our bed with Ryan and then started to clean up his room! After 30 minutes I couldn't take it I was exhausted so luckily my sister-in-law Natalie had her parents Rug Doctor and we borrowed that later that day and Ryan shampooed the carpets and it all came out! Yeah! Cooper and I recovered after a few days but it's hard getting back to eating regular food but we were the only ones to get sick!

So Ryan went back to work 2 days later only to get called into a conference and was told that all Account Managers (his position) were to relocate to Scottsdale, Arizona by May 1st or they would no longer have a job...WOW!! He called me and we had been praying for his job that he would get a promotion or something would happen! BAM! Move to Arizona are you kidding me? I would have loved to have spent the winter down there but pregnant, stress of moving, finding a house, renting ours out and staying sane are just all too much to ask! BUT everything is working out! We have found a few houses that we like to rent that have met our criteria...Sorry we are not getting one with a pool! I am paranoid of my kids sneaking out and me finding them ... you know...Mother's WORST nightmare!! Okay so we are selling a lot of our stuff and were blessed with a big tax return to be able to make this move as we are paying for it!

So as of May 1st or sometime around there we will be living either in Mesa, Tempe, Gilbert, Chandler or somewhere around there! I was EXCITED to see how many people live down there or around there that I knew from either high school or college when I posted on Facebook!!

So then a week after that Cooper wakes up with a really high fever so we drug him and put him in our bed...Two days later Reese starts freaking out screaming, which if you know our daughter is NOT like her at all! Unless you have candy! Seriously! So after about 30 minutes of her crying and pulling on her right ear and saying OUCH I took her to Urgent Care which I was not excited about because our new insurance requires a $75 copay...I said OUCH my bank account! Luckily we are going to get most of that back but still that is a lot! So after 45 minutes in the drive thru of the pharmacy we had our Amoxicillin and headed home! Cooper still wasn't back to normal and he was getting pretty congested so I had 2 out of 3 sick kids...Sunday comes along and BAM I wake up with a head cold....YUCK! I was just getting rid of the headaches and now this...So 3 of us stayed home from church, no need to spread the love since Reese, Chloe, Ryan and I are all in nursery! My head cold got worse and worse so finally on Tuesday I took some Benadryl and let's just say that whole morning is a blur and I took another one that night but it makes me so nervous to take things besides Tylenol when I am pregnant so I was constantly feeling for the baby to move! Wednesday I didn't sleep good due to all the things about moving running through my mind and so Thursday was crappy! Today I am feeling better and hoping to not over do it!

We have lots of painting and selling to do so that is what we do in our spare time! And if you know of anyone who wants to rent a house up here in Hayden, Idaho let me know! We have done a lot to it that should have been done 2 years ago but we are making it nice for whoever moves in! Also if you have any suggestions on where to live in Arizona let me know!! Ryan will be working out of Scottsdale and doesn't want to drive 2 hours a day getting to/ from work!

Ultrasound

We had our ultrasound yesterday and I am not sure how to scan pictures yet so sorry...We did get an awesome picture of the baby shaking its fist! I told Ryan during the ultrasound that the baby was shaking its fist at him for not letting me find out what we are having!!

So we did NOT find out what we are having which is kind of a bummer to me because I like to be prepared! No one else in the family wanted to find out or they don't understand! The kids are excited to have a surprise but I think Cooper might be a little sad if we have another girl but Chloe wants a little sister so we are just going to make it a big deal either way! I think Chloe would like a baby brother because she LOVES babies!!

The baby is healthy and measuring right on which I am usually small so that would be the reason why I am showing earlier than my other pregnancies! The baby was very active during the ultrasound so I am sure if we had wanted to find out we could have but if this our last kid then it will be nice to have had one surprise! Not sure if I would do this again!

We are busy organizing the house and getting everything done before the baby comes which I know is still 5 months away but I like I said I like to be prepared so that means digging out boys and girls clothes, washing them, and picking out outfits to bring him or her home in!

And we got our OFFICIAL due date ..... July 25th, 2010 .... So I should be having this baby around then since I go right up to my due date!

Happy 3rd Birthday Chloe!!!!!

Chloe turned 3 on February 9th! I am sorry being late on this we have been busy! Since her birthday was in the middle of the week we went to Jump-A-Lot and it was nice and slow so the kids got to go anywhere! We then hit McDonald's for lunch and then came home to nap!

We waited for Daddy to come home to do presents and cake! She is too funny when it came to either a cake or cupcakes. I kept asking her which one she wanted and she would only say "candles" :) She was so worried about having candles on there she didn't care about what they were going on just that she could blow them out!

I love having birthdays at the beginning of the year because I did NO shopping for her after Christmas (even though I was tempted!) She is a girl and is easier to shop for than Cooper if you ask me because she is such a girly girl princess! I just stocked up at Christmas and divided up the gifts but I kept forgetting that when we would go downstairs and the doll house box was pretty hard to hide! She opened one gift early that she found but was still excited for the others!

Chloe very excited to blow out the candles!!!

Girls not sure what to do with dollhouse.

This doll house was much bigger than I thought and the kids were kind of in shock when Ryan brought it out! Cooper wanted to take it apart, Reese wanted to climb through it and Chloe didn't know what toys to use!

Cooper and Reese helping open presents!

I think this was her favorite present - sparkle colored nail polish!

She was so busy at Jump-A-Lot!!

Cooper and Reese playing!!

All three kids love this slide!

Chloe is so much fun! I know that 3 is harder than 2 but she is a busy yet helpful little girl! She is a huge mommies girl except when she gets in trouble then she wants daddy! Even though I think she looks exactly like Ryan!

She loves anything princess, to dance in her Thumbelina skirt or just dance at all! Chloe loves Tinkerbell, Anastasia, Mary Poppins, getting her hair and nails done and most of all to play! She LOVES to be outside and is sad that there is no snow this year to play in! She helps me out a ton with Reese, cleaning up, dishes, laundry, and she understands why she gets in trouble and doesn't do it again....well, for the most part :) Chloe is just a special girl to us and we can't imagine our lives without her! Chloe was born on her due date and ever since we brought her home from the hospital she has been such an easy going, beautiful little girl!

We love you Chloe!

New belly *Warning* not a 6 pack!

This post was going to be a FUN way to announce we are expecting our 4th child but I didn't get around to it! I got a new haircut and was going to put up a picture of that but it didn't get taken before Ryan went to work today so it is just a picture of my little belly showing so soon! Kind of not used to that! Normally it is around 20 weeks...

(I am happy in this picture but it was after 2 hours in nursery on Sunday!)

We are 15 weeks pregnant and are due around the end of July! Ryan doesn't want to find out if it's a boy or girl and I am okay either way but of course REALLY want to know what we are having so I can plan for it! I like to be ready for the little one since I will come home to 3 anxious siblings and a ton of laundry while being sleep deprived! It will be worth it...I know... but the stress of it might get to me!

We do have some names that we like but aren't 100%...Okay Ryan is but I am not 100%!! We do get to have our ultrasound the end of February at 18 weeks and we are not bringing the kids as we want to enjoy it! I took them to a doctor's appointment last week and I think the doctor was ready to pull his hair out, they were shutting the lights off, jumping off the exam table, touching the chemicals they have on the counter...You name it they were doing it so it was a quick visit and we will show them the pictures when we get home! Last night we told them, "Mommy has a baby in her tummy but the baby is really small still and will come during the summer when it is hot!" Chloe kept trying to look in the stomach by pulling my shirt up and Cooper said the baby wasn't ready to come down from Heaven yet! I love their reasoning! Also Cooper keeps telling us that if we have another girl then we will have to have 3 boys to take care of the girls!

So we are excited to tell everyone now as we have held it as a secret for so long! We have known since mid-November and thought about announcing so many times but finally just decided since I am starting to show and getting too small for my clothes we better start! And I think my sister-in-law's have known for awhile and just stopped asking!! I am bummed I dont get to do any half-marathons or even 10k's this summer but I can start training for next summer after this bundle of joy comes :)

My kids I think are missing McDonald's a couple times a week as I had a HUGE craving for Taco Bell almost every day! So we would swing by McDonald's for chicken nuggets and then go 2 blocks to Taco Bell and get me 2 cheesy crunchy gordita or a 7 layer burrito! Some days I would eat 3 - 7 layer burritos...Don't count the calories it is sad! But I have been able to work out off and on with this pregnancy just depends on the day! One yoga class a week is my goal but as the belly gets bigger it will be more challenging! My kids love going to the daycare at the Kroc Center where I work out so it works both ways!

Happy 5th Birthday Super Duper Cooper!!!

Chloe excited to help blow out Cooper's candles!

Loving the slide with his friends!!

Nothing like a little boxing with some friends!!

Friday the 15th was Cooper's 5th birthday! This little boy was born at 11:38pm after many hours of pushing and with a huge cone head he decided to finally enter this world! He was such an easy baby and over the years we had our fun times and hard times but I think he has grown up to be so much fun, intelligent, loving, and a great big brother to his younger sisters!!

Friday night we hung out at our house with our friends the Forman's for a Wii Party and treats ... It went great with the girls hanging out and all the boys playing Wii and the kids on sugar highs!!

Saturday we got up and headed to Jump-a-lot which is a warehouse place with lots of blow-up jumping things for the kids! We had a private party with 12 other kids, Chloe and Reese...It was a lot of fun! After 30 minutes the kids were sweating! The kids were able to play for 90 minutes jumping, sliding and running around and then we headed up to a party room! We got Pizza Hut and fed the kids and then the cake! Cooper picked out a dinosaur cake from Costco and it was a pretty big hit! Opening presents was crazy so I didn't get any pictures of that as we were just trying to figure out what came from who because they were all so excited for Cooper to open the present they brought!!

There was such a great group of kids and some of them had never been there before so I hope the parents don't shoot for me getting their kids addicted to Jump-a-lot!

Cooper your Mom and Dad love you very much and I hope that after years have passed you read this and think of how much you are loved and have many friends and family that love you! You are a very smart boy who loves to help others, play Wii and Leapster 2, learn how to solve problems, help with your sisters, play and wrestle!

The toddler play area is loved by all ages!

Chloe trying to show this handsome boy how strong she is :)

Reese LOVED the slide and with help from Daddy she went on her butt!!

Yummy chocolate cake!

Cooper, Chloe and their cousin Preston enjoying the slide...not waiting in line today!!

Thanks to everyone for coming and for the gifts...I am not into buying Cooper light sabers or guns and he made out like a bandit today with those toys and much more! I guess I need to get over how much of a boy he really is :) Love you Cooper!

New Years Eve

I guess we usually don't do anything for New Year's Eve but we have some friends we go to church with and we just click! So we got together at their house since it is bigger .. until he helps us finish our basement :) Then we can have parties down there all the time!! We just bought a bunch of snack food and since Keith likes to cook he made some hot wings and littles smokies and we just ate and played games...Well really we just played Sequence...Ryan and I don't play games much but are getting better at trying to do it more and we ended up playing that since someone kept losing :( We had to leave a little early since my papers come early on holidays and I like to go early (11pm) and get home and sleep straight through the night!

Our kids played really well and since they have an older daughter who is great with babies and little ones she watches ours so we can play or just hang out! I think we ate too much but it was yummy and when do we really do that!

As for New Year's Resolutions we really don't have any....Okay I, Carrie, have one to not make resolutions...I take one day at a time and try to plan and be organized but with 3 kids that is hard! I would like to be more organized but you never know what life is going to throw at you or your bank account! On New Year's Eve Ryan had to buy a new hot water heater for our duplex and spent hours with our friend Keith installing it...

As for the being grateful during Christmas Ryan and I are thankful for our many blessings each day...We have a house to live in, cars to drive, healthy kids, jobs, family and friends, and most importantly Jesus Christ in our lives and can teach that to our children...We love our life and couldn't ask for anything more...Well maybe a million dollars ...Just kidding :) We are so blessed!!!!!

Christmas...No pictures :(

Christmas just snuck right up on me this year! Usually we go to my parents house for Christmas Eve and this year the weather was even good for traveling but my dad had his 2nd back surgery for the year (2009) on the 23rd so he was still in the hospital...I didn't dare take 3 kids, ages 4 and under to the hospital to see him...So we are still waiting to Christmas with them but I think it is fun to do it a month later!

Christmas Eve Ryan braved taking our two oldest to the Alvin and The Chipmunks movie and they were SUPER excited! We had no idea that movies were so popular around Christmas time! The first time was sold out but 20 minutes later they got into the movie and LOVED it! I must say I am thankful the kids did really good for Ryan! He even bought them treats which is big for him to do since we all know they are way over priced! The kids still talk about the "girl chipmunks" and want to go see it again! I want to see it now and we will be renting it for sure!

During this time I wrapped presents for 3 hours...I wasn't even done when Ryan called and said the movie was over so he took the kids to the Kroc center to play for the last hour they were open! They loved it and love every time we go there...It is free and like a McDonald's playland but better and cleaner! We do have a membership and take the kids swimming but have just been too busy lately...Need to get back to that!

Christmas day was awesome because our kids slept in til 7:45...Ryan had to wake them up! We surprised Chloe with a new Tinkerbell comforter on her when she woke up...I put it on her before I went on my paper route that night and we told her Santa put it on her :) Hopefully that didn't freak her out that Santa was in her room! They loved all their presents and I didn't take pictures but they got a lot of necessities this year and each got one big present...I didn't want to get Reese a toy since we have too many so she got Play-doh for her to share with her brother and sister :) Since the oldest have birthdays right after Christmas we divided up their presents between birthday and Christmas! Our kids are soo good and would have been fine with 2 presents!

We headed to Pinehurst to Ryan's parents house with the whole Frank family for presents and dinner! It was a lot of fun and as hectic as usual! There are now 12 grandchildren and 12 adults but keeping the kids' presents straight as they wandered with them or tried to steal their cousins present was fun too! We always eat and hang out for a couple hours which is nice after all the craziness of the whole day! We then headed home and just hung out snacking!

Ryan went out snowmobiling the day after Christmas so I didn't go shopping but really I didn't think there were any deals I had to have! The day after Thanksgiving was much better and I am sure I will be shopping that day from here on out for good deals! I saved a lot of money and got everything I had on my list....plus more :)

Kids Bowling

The day after Thanksgiving 2009 we were going to take the kids roller skating but decided that might be a bit much with two falling all the time and one chasing Reese! So we checked out bowling and it is expensive! I remember when it was $5 for an hour for the lane and shoes!! Now it is $30 for 2 kids for one lane for one hour! We decided on Triple Play since it is down the street a half mile and non-smoking...We went around 6pm and it was busy but the kids had a lot of fun!

Ryan was completely stressed because we did the lane with the metal bumpers and the 3 lbs. balls and our kids were definitely not throwing them hard enough to hit the pins and trigger the ball to come back so sometimes we had 3 balls down by the pins half the time! Ryan and I would take turns asking a worker to push them through and they just laughed...I am sure we aren't the first or the last that this happened too!

The kids had a ton of fun and keep asking to go back but we need to wait for some kind of deal because that was an expensive activity for the kids! Maybe we could do an annual date for bowling but not monthly! Here are just some pictures from our adventure!

Chloe waiting for her ball to hit the pins!!

I think Cooper was exciting but worried maybe...Reese just wanted to help!

Reese trying to take a turn bowling...

Chloe was very well behaved and have lots of fun!!

Cooper pushing his ball and mom and dad praying it makes it all the way down!