2 different antibiotics later and lots of medicine I shouldn't be taking while pregnant, and I still have an ear infection and can't hear out of my left ear.  This is getting annoying.  Mentally I'm ready to go, but my pain is making it difficult to get on with things.  My morning sickness is almost gone except for after dinnertime (yea!), but I can't kick this dumb ear infection and ear clogging.

Cameron played his String UIL concert yesterday and they got a Sweepstakes trophy for doing so well.  I was starting to feel better from my morning sickness and committed to play the violin at 2 weddings that are coming up and at the next Symphony concert... but that was before my ear infection, so hopefully I can hear by the wedding this Saturday and my Symphony rehearsal next week.

Logan starts baseball on Saturday and Errolyn will have another season of volleyball.  I won't be coaching volleyball this time, but after observing the other teams we played against last season, I requested Errolyn's new coach.  Her coach is really good and an actual volleyball player (not just a random parent) so I think Errolyn will learn a lot.  Now I just need to teach Emma to swim before the middle of May so she can join Swim Team.  She just has to be able to swim half way across the pool and they'll take her on the team... we'll see.  My other kids all joined at 4 yrs. old too, but they didn't have to know how to swim; the coaches taught them.  But, now the rules are different for joining.  Now that Emma already has to know how to swim a little... we'll see.  I think Emma would go crazy watching ALL of her siblings swimming everyday for 2 months while she sat on the sidelines, so hopefully she'll let me teach her so she can join the team.  The cold water won't help the situation, so hopefully it'll heat up a little.

We find out if the baby is a boy or a girl on April 24th... exciting! 

I can't remember having an ear infection in many, many years, but if this is what my kids feel like... I feel SO badly for them!  I try really hard to only take medicines that are Class A or B drugs, so no Sudaphed, nose sprays, or Advil while I'm pregnant... and consequently I feel like I'm dying.  I miss my medicine!  The good news is, I think my morning sickness is starting to subside- yea!  The bad news is, I have a horrible sinus infection and ear infection and the pain in my head could not be any worse... waiting for my afternoon doctor's appointment is taking all of my patience and prayers right now.

I got a blessing last night which said I would be able to sleep and that I needed to go to the doctor.  My ear either stopped hurting or I wasn't able to feel it enough to get some sleep (thank goodness)... but now it's back with a vengeance.  Glad I was at least able to get some sleep

Mike just got promoted... yea!  He is an IT Security Technical Director now and it came with a nice raise.  Proud of his hard work!  The next level up from him is an Executive... so he's doing well. 

So, our Spring Break routine was working hard in the mornings and then playing in the afternoons.  I was still feeling badly, but wanted the kids to go out and have fun.  Monday, I just took the kids up to the church gym and they played volleyball, tennis, Ghosts in the Graveyard, etc. while I laid on the church couch.  Tuesday, a friend of ours owns some undeveloped wooded property and they invited a bunch of families out.  They had a large tree house, camp fire, and lots of snacks and the kids had a blast running through the trees playing games with so many friends.  Wednesday was a bad day for me so I sent the kids on a nature scavenger hunt through the subdivision and park since I couldn't go out.  Thursday, I had a better day so Carol and I took the kids roller skating.  The kids had a blast skating, as usual, and Emma went skating for the first time and loved it!  Carol was a great Aunt and skated with Emma for over an hour to help her.  It all went good until Emma crashed, then Carol crashed and hit her head on the floor and may have a concussion.  I feel so badly for her! 

Friday, Janet's family came into town.  Carol bought crafts for the kids at Michaels and we hung out with Janet and David's family at Carol's for a while.  The kids had a fun time playing with their cousins.  On Saturday, we met Janet's family at Heidi's for a little bit and a ton of people were there: Grandma, Kathy, Carol, George, and David and Janet's family.  I hadn't had much opportunity to talk to Janet so I when she was pumping I went and talked for her for about 30 minutes which was nice.

Also, since I've been sick a lot, I've had a lot more downtime where I'm not doing anything productive.  So, we decided to get Netflix.  I've become addicted to the TV series "Once Upon a Time."  It's a little weird at times but I love how they incorporate the storybook characters and their past lives into modern times.

Errolyn created an "Amazing Race" for the family.  The first challenge: build a 1 foot tower with 50 popsicle sticks without tape, glue, or leaning it up against anything.  The boys are having fun with this one... it'll be fun to see what the next challenges are.

Errolyn just told me...

Searching for weird pre-written words in random folders on the computers that Errolyn has created and writing down the definition she's written

Wagon races with socks on the tile and using no hands (10 times back and forth)

Finding a hidden clue behind one of our 60 wall pictures in the house

And finding a coin from the year you were born

Emma and Mike are partners, Logan and Cameron are partners, I'm the judge, and Errolyn created it all.  Everyone seems to be enjoying it!

I wish the little pregnancy ticker would have a better count down.  I see 200 days to go and I think, "I can't do it."  But, when I convert the weeks to days, I feel a little better.  It should say, "80 days down, 200 to go."  Then I feel like, "Hey, I've already endured a lot.  Maybe I can do this."

I usually sleep so much better when Mike is out of town.  I think I'm such a light sleeper that I wake up to every little turn or noise he makes in the bed.  Also, I like to stretch out and take the whole bed... which I can't normally do.  But, I would rather have him home than gone.  Soon!  :)

Anyway, I haven't slept that much better this time around.  The first night, Errolyn's alarm clock accidentally went off at 5am and she started taking a shower for school and fully woke me up.  Then, one night I had a major United Voices for Christ meeting and I drank a LOT to keep from being sick during the meeting, so I was up all night using the bathroom.  Last night I finally took an adult Zyrtec.  It was wonderful.  My mouth dried out a little, I was sleeping wonderfully... and then at 5am the smoke detector in MY room started chirping every 15 seconds.  SO annoying!  Especially since I had Mike change all of the alarm batteries just before he went on his trip.  I went downstairs to sleep, but I could still hear the chirping loudly through the closed door.  I couldn't find the batteries at first.  Finally, I found one and climbed up on some wobbly furniture because I'm not aloud to carry the heavy ladder right now and it was 5am and I was still half asleep.  I changed the battery, got in bed, and then a minute later it started chirping again.  Not funny.  So, I found another battery, changed it again, waited a minute, smiled, and then went to bed.  A minute later it started chirping again.  I finally took the original brand new battery, took the tape off (Mike marked the date on it to see how often we were changing them), I pressed the button on the alarm things several times, and then I went to bed.  7 minutes later, the alarm chirps 2 times... freaking me out, and then it is quiet for the rest of the night... well the little sliver that was left of it.  If it happens tonight I'm just disconnecting the whole thing.  I think I'd rather risk the slim odds of burning to death than losing more sleep (yes, I'm exaggerating, but not too much).  I called Mike and he put a new battery in it a month ago, and then again at my request before his trip this last weekend.  So, I think we have a bum detector and need to get it replaced.  If I have to be positive about this experience, I guess I would be grateful that my kids are not light sleepers and slept right through the incessant beeping.  :)  There, now I ended on a happy note... rolling my eyes.

Saturday:
My best friends right now...

http://www.canadadry.com/  (Thank you Carol!)

http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/nature-plus-prenatal-multi-30-fl-oz/nt-7185#.Uv-8UU2YbIU

http://www.orbitgum.com/

I woke up to a beautiful flower bouquet on Valentine's Day and Mike woke up to a decorated car inside and out.  The kids enjoyed giving and receiving their Valentine's cards.

I coached another volleyball game today... Gingerale being the only reason I was able to be there.  The girls are really coming along, but I've realized a team is only as good as the weakest player on the team.  The girls are progressing and won the last of the 3 games today.  We've been playing some tough teams that have been together for several years.  I'm hoping we'll have a good chance against the next two teams since they are newer teams like us.

Cameron also had his first tennis match today.  Cameron played way better than last year, but because he's his school's #1 player, he's playing against all of the other schools' #1 players who are all awesome.  So, he played great, but still lost every match today.  I hope they'll ease up his playing rotation a little so he has a chance to win once in a while.

I have Stake Conference this weekend and the rodeo on Monday, so I've stocked up on my Gingerale.  Hopefully I can sit behind the organ at Stake Conference and hide the fact that I have to drink it every few minutes.

Other than that, the kids have been busy with school.  Cameron had to memorize the entire poem, "The Raven" for school... ugh... 18 stanzas!  Errolyn did an Ecosytem powerpoint project and Logan did a 100th day of school project and built a giant card tower out of Uno cards and glued them together.  Emma turned 4 and had a good family party.  She got a new bike (Errolyn's old bike) and is enjoying riding it.  I also filed our taxes.  We're still getting a lot back but are having some deductions not count as we get paid more... such is life.
 
I also never wrote about my pregnancy scare.  I started hemorrhaging really badly and thought I was miscarrying.  I ended up not, but I have a huge subchrionic hemorrhage pocket near my uterus and I'm not aloud to lift, push, or pull, anything heavy.  I'm a lot better, but still spotting on a daily basis.

My kids have been super helpful and Emma is full of smiles and fun sayings to cheer me up every day.  I'm grateful for my supportive family.  :)

Tuesday:
Ok, I wrote this a few days ago and it didn't publish... glad it saved my draft.  The only other update is the Rodeo and Stake Conference.  Stake Choir went well, but I had a difficult time conducting on Saturday... I should have delegated but I thought it was early enough I could handle it.  Hindsight is 20/20.  The youth choir sang "Plant a Seed," a piece Janet, Mom, and I used to sing around the piano... fond memories.  The Stake Choir did great on their two pieces as well, especially "The Spirit of God."

The Rodeo with Carol, David's family, and Kathy was great, but we were rushed at the Carnival and Stockshow and didn't get to see as much.  It was also crowded.  The kids didn't really enjoy the Rascal Flatts concert although I loved it... as much as I was able to.  Emma enjoyed seeing the "pony races" and she didn't like the "big angry cows," the bulls, lol.  Carter was dancing to all of the songs and was way cute to watch.  It was a late night, one we probably won't repeat with the kids for a while.

One story the Stake President told I especially enjoyed.  He told how his son had watched an epic battle take place on the side of the house between and scorpion and a house spider.  Every time the scorpion would lunge at the spider, the spider would run between it's legs and then over it's back.  This happened many times, until his son could see that the spider wasn't just running between the legs, but had carefully been leaving a thin silky line everywhere it ran.  After numerous times, the web had become so strong that the scorpion couldn't lunge anymore and the spider bit it's neck and killed it.  He read the scripture in 2 Nephi 26:22 where the devil "he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever."  He looked up flax and it is soft.  He compared it to the spider, how the devil is so cunning and subtle that sometimes we don't even see the trap he is laying for us at first.  If the cord was thick and rough and sharp, of course we'd see the trap and get out.  But, because he slowly works at us with soft cords, sometimes we don't see the danger until we're already trapped and we are stuck.  And then he of course talked about what we could do to ensure we weren't being trapped by the devil.  It was a great analogy I thought.