Happy Halloween!

Some good things about this October

Jack-o-latern Smile!

Brynn lost her two top teeth.

Crazy Hair Day!

Gavin and Brynn had a "crazy hair day" at their school. They really enjoyed it.

The Haunted Mill!

My sister-in-law's family owns a haunted house. It is really an old creepy mill. We usually go up to it every year and Brett helps work at it by scaring people. Gavin was old enough this year to scare for a couple of hours. They had a good time. Thanks to Holly's parents for letting us come and crash thier place for a couple of days.

Carving Pumpkins!
We carved pumpkins that we actually got out of our garden this year!

Preschool Dress up Halloween Parade!
Alec was able to dress up in his costume for preschool. They had a little parade to show off their costumes. Cute little kids. Gavin and Brynn had parent teacher conferences on Halloween so they didn't get to wear their costumes to school.

Gavin played Basketball!
Gavin played basketball this year. He has wanted to play for a couple of years now. He just finished and had a great time learning some awesome basketball skills.

Enjoying the fall leaves!

Thanks and Thoughts

This past week has been one of the harder weeks of my life. It has been a physical and emotional roller coaster ride. One I never want to go through again.

This may be a boring post for some, but I feel like I wouldn't have made it through this tough time without some great people supporting me. So this is my thanks to them:

I first want to thank my amazing husband. You are the most supportive, wonderful person on this planet. You let me cry, ask questions, and get angry without question. You always let me know what I am feeling is okay. I have always felt comfortable and protected by you. Even though you are going through a sad time too, you have been there 100% for me. Thank you for all you do for me and our little family. You also do the housework, and cooking when I am not feeling good. I appreciate not having to worry about anything when you are around.

To my mother and father-in-law, Don and Peggy: That first day when we found out and our family was so sad, you showed up without us knowing you were coming. You brought flowers and hugs. This meant so much to me! It means so much to have good family to count on. Also thank you for always helping with my kids, even at 6 in the morning! I can always count on you and that means a lot to me. Thank you for all you do!

To my sister-in-law Angie: Thank you for always being there for me to support me in any way I need. I can always count on you in a pinch. I appreaciate your friendship and your love and concern for our family. This time I thank you for helping me with pictures and for the yummy dinner and for always being willing to help with my kids.

To my sister-in-law Kim: Thank you for your knowledge of what I was going through. Sometimes we wonder why we go through the things we do. I think it is to help other people. You helped ease my mind and my heart. Thank you for your love and concern.

To my sister Anna (and her family): Thank you for the flowers you sent! They came right after I got home from my D&C and really helped make the day better. Thank you for being so thoughtful! The flowers are beautiful by the way!

To my sister-in-law Holly (and her family): Thank you for the beautiful flowers. You always know how to make me feel better. I appreciate your care and concern!

To my neighbor Josie: Thank you and your mom for the wonderful gift! I most especially want to thank you for your love and support. Thank you for checking on my every day and driving the kids to school and just being willing to help me in any way. Your friendship means a lot to me.

To my old friend Yolanda: Thank you for your care and concern for my family. Thank you for the wonderful blog entry and for all your wonderful thoughts and love. I appreciate your friendship.

To my brother Matt: Thank you for always caring about me no matter what! I am so glad that you are a part of my life.

To my friends Summer and Jen for the yummy treats and your thoughtful words of support.

To my new friend Melissa: Thanks for bringing my family that yummy dinner. You are such a kind person and I am glad to have met you!

There are many others that I need to thank that I know don't really read this blog, but for journaling purposes I will quickly list them: My neighbor and friend Ashley for always being willing to help in any way I ever need; My neighbor and friend Stephanie for your sweetness towards me always; My friend Megan who constantly checks on me and helps in any way possible; My friend Marci for calling and checking on me even when you were sick yourself; My friend Erica for being there for me through the infertility and for being supportive through this tough time too; My friend Eilene for understanding that life is tough and just letting me talk about it.
I also want to thank everyone who left a comment on this blog, or who e-mailed, or called. I think the best thing to do for someone who goes through something hard like a miscarriage is to acknowledge them and thier sadness and pain. I appreciate all the thoughts and prayers in my and my families behalf. I am surrounded by amazing people! Thank you!

And please forgive me if I have forgotten someone. Trust me, in my mental state right now I am lucky to have remembered this many!

Reality Check

The kids and Brett were making Halloween sugar cookies and having a good time. Brett decided to ask a retorical question:

Brett: "Who has the best parents in the whole world who does fun things with them?"

It was quiet for a minute then after thinking about it Brynn says: "I don't know!"

Sometimes Life Really Stinks!

We went to our first doctor's appointment yesterday at 11 weeks pregnant. They did the first ultrasound and there was a placenta and an amniotic sac, however, there wasn't a baby. Apparently this is called a blighted ovum. The baby didn't develop properly and died off a couple of weeks ago. However, the placenta and sac kept growing and developing. My body still thinks it is pregnant and that is why I am still so sick and my belly is growing.

I am having a D and C on Thursday. I really just don't want to wait around for my body to miscarry it naturally. I don't think emotionally I could handle that.

Our kids are really sad, and so are Brett and I. Sometimes life just doesn't make any sense!

Why does this surprise me?

Something I never really thought I would have to teach another human being:

"Children it is not a good idea to put yogurt up your nose!"

Final Weigh In

Today we had our final weigh in for our biggest loser competition. Before I reveal the results I want to write down some of my thoughts.

We have been doing this weight loss competition for 10 weeks now. The first 5 weeks I really pushed myself beyond what I ever thought I could do. I was walking 12 miles a day! And though it was hard at first I really started to enjoy it. It made my body feel better and my moods feel better and I liked taking time out for just me. It was also a great experience to find myself becoming stronger and breathing easier and pushing myself further.

About 5 weeks into this I found out I was pregnant. I cut my workouts to 7 miles a day. A couple of weeks later I had to cut them to the 3 miles I do every morning. I also started slowing way down. I could tell I couldn't push myself quite as hard. That was actually a hard adjustment for me. It was hard to slow down.

I still have been losing weight even though I haven't been exercising so much. But I do think exercising that much pushed my body to be comfortable with losing weight because this is the first thing that has worked for me. The last few weeks I haven't been eating any sugar. This pregnancy is proving that sugary things taste, smell, and sound gross. I think that has contributed to my continuing to lose weight. It is kind of nice to be forced to eat good things.

I really want to keep active during this pregnancy, though my last two pregnancies have put me on bed rest. I just don't want to lose my momentum or these muscles I have gained in my calves! I am planning on still exercising in the morning and hopefully I can do it for awhile and stay healthy through this pregnancy.

I am grateful to the group of ladies who I did this competition with. We have become good friends and the help and support we have gained from each other means a lot to me. Some of us still plan to work out in the morning at a gym. It will be good to still motivate each other.

Anyway at my final weigh in I lost 3.5 pounds. Making it a grand total of 19.1 pounds! I am very happy about that! I also was the biggest loser and beat the next girl by 0.1%! Barely! I am grateful for this experience.

So I lost the weight just in time to gain it all back! (:

Canadian Thanksgiving

To try and pass on some of my awesome Canadian heritage I try and celebrate some of the Canadian Holidays. Usually every year I have a big Canadian Thanksgiving dinner at my house and invite as many siblings that can come. It has become a tradition. Because hey any excuse to have a turkey dinner is a good enough excuse for me!

This year I had to cancel Canadian Thanksgiving. It was heartbreaking, but puking every couple of hours and being so tired I hardly get out of bed had something to do with it. I did eat a turkey sandwich today just to make myself feel better.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends and family anyway!

The Cat's Out Of The Bag

I have just recently learned that if you want people to know something just tell your kids about it. They will quickly spread things you tell them. What is it now that my kids are letting everyone know about...

That is right...I am pregnant! We have actually been trying for this for a couple of years so we are very excited that it has finally happened!

I am due in May. My kids are very excited!

I am also very sick with morning (or 24/7) sickness. It seems to get worse with each child!

So that is our fun news. I thought I would share with those of you who don't live that close to us so our kids can't just tell you.

Friday Weigh in

We had our 9th weigh in for our biggest loser competition. I didn't post last week's weigh in. I gained a pound last week. This week I lost 1.7 pounds. I am up to 14.2 total. We have two more weeks left. I wanted to lose at least 20 pounds, we will see what happens.