Ok, so I called a few friends, and got the same answer/recommendation from each of them about this certain Doctor. So I then called his office, which is happily located here in town right next to the hospital (just 8 minutes from my house) and he IS accepting new OB patients! Oh Happy Day! I explained the situation to the nurse, she scheduled an appointment for me in January, and we are all set. And the nurse also said that my other OB used to work with this Dr. I am now going to start seeing, and she said he will have no problem working together with him to get all of my information and history transferred over so that we don’t have to do any of the testing and bloodwork over again. Again, Oh Happy Day! So even though I haven’t met my new Dr. yet, I feel like a great weight has been lifted and I am so relieved. He delivered the last 3 babies of my friend Allyson, and she was very high risk for each of them, so I’m sure I will be in excellent hands for this baby. I myself am not high risk, but it’s nice to know that if I was I would get the best care.

  So I went yesterday for my regular OB appointment and to see if we could determine the gender of our little baby with an ultrasound. I am 16 weeks along, and the Dr. assured me that we would have a 99% chance of seeing everything. So after a few minutes of measurements he took a look……and we still have no idea what we’re having. The baby refused to cooperate, was apparently in the middle of a complicated tap dance routine, and also thought it would be funny to tangle the umbilical cord and have it in just the right spot so that no matter what resolution or method the Dr. used, we couldn’t tell if it’s a boy or a girl. Maybe it’s because Craig and I decided not to find out our babies gender with three of my pregnancies, but I am not disapointed at all. I was so excited to see our little one moving and dancing around in there, I really don’t care that we didn’t get a definitive answer on gender. I’m supposed to return in another couple of weeks for a complete diagnostic ultrasound, but I may have to make some changes instead.

   While I really think my Dr. is fantastic, I am having a hard time with the long drive and then the long wait to see him. I know my Dr. is busy because he’s in high demand, it’s just not working out for me with all of the driving and waiting. I hate that I have to drive 50 minutes to his office, wait for 45 minutes or more to be seen, and then drive the whole long way back. I think once my appointments become more frequent and are every two weeks, and then weekly, it will be even worse. And I am becoming more and more unhappy with the idea of not delivering in my local hospital. I love the hospital here, it’s very patient oriented, and I get the most personalized and friendly care. I really loathe the thought of changing Dr.’s, but I think I need to do what’s best for my family as well as myself, and a change seems to be the right answer for all of those reasons. First I need to make some calls to some of my friends and get some recommendations, and then figure out if I want to do this or not.

   It’s been a busy week, but we managed to make it with M completely better and G feeling and looking better every day (she was so sick she looked really pale and had red rimmed eyes, it was really sad). I neglected my regular posting, but you all know how it is with holidays and sick babies, and I also wanted to make sure everyone got a chance to read about James and Cena’s exciting news. I know the next two posts are lengthy, but it couldn’t be helped. At least I am all caught up, and if you decide to plow on, you get to exercise your brain by reading all about it.

    Last year, H somehow ended up watching a production of the Nutcracker Ballet on TV, and ever since then has loved it. So when I saw that tickets for a local production of it were on sale, I hurried and made arrangements to go. I asked my Mom to go with me and Haven, and she thought it was a great idea since we both love the music, even though we aren’t usually big ballet fans. So on Saturday, we got dressed up and headed to the theatre. I wondered if the balcony seats we had would be any good, and I have to say, they were incredible. Our view was clear, unobstructed, and still close so that you didn’t miss a thing on stage. I would sit in those seats happily anytime, for any production, the theatre is the perfect size so that any seat is really a great one.

It was so fun to see so many other little girls there, and most of them were also decked out in their best dresses. There was a lot of velvet, tulle and sparkling satin, and even a few tiaras which I thought was so much fun. Haven was transfixed as soon as the curtain went up, and my Mom and I took turns quietly whispering to her what each scene was about so that the story made more sense. I loved the dance of the sugar plum fairies with the snow, and also the part with Mother Ginger. Haven loved it when Clara was made a princess and had all of the different dancers to celebrate the occasion. My Mom and I both were surprised at how fast it seemed to go, it never felt like 2 hours to either of us.

Afterwards, my Mom and I both agreed we would be doing this every year, and we can’t wait to go with Heidi and Korby and whichever kids will want to come with us the next year. I already have it planned to make it into a whole day, and I can’t wait to do this again. It was just so wonderful to be able to take my little girl, and be with my Mom and go to such a fun event together. I even teared up twice at just that thought, being that I was so happy just to be there with the two of them. And I’m not chalking that up to pregnant hormones, my Mom later told me that she teared up too for the same reason, we were both just so happy, and it was such a wonderful time for the three of us.

Afterwards we went to the store and I let Haven pick out a little red nutcracker of her own, and she was thrilled to have one. As soon as we got home Haven wanted a nightgown just like Clara had, and luckily I had one cut out and ready to sew from my project pile. So I put on the Barbie Nutcracker, sat her down and I went to work on a ruffled nighty for her to wear to bed that night. The pattern is a fast one, so I was done as soon as the movie ended, and she happily went off to bed in her Clara nighty and pantaloons holding onto her little nutcracker prince. Don’t be too surprised if you hear about me sewing a Clara dress next, I think it would be so fun to make her one, but I need to get a few other things done first.

So here’s to next year, and all of the fun we get to plan for, and I’m sure we will have. And I am hoping to convince C to go too, I think she would love it, and I was very sorry she didn’t come with us. She hated the last ballet she saw on a school field trip, so she really didn’t want to go with us since she thought this would be really boring too. This production of the Nutcracker was so lively, colorful and fun, I think she would have enjoyed herself though, and I hope she will give it a try when we go next year.

   Ususally, every other year we go and have Thanksgiving with Craig’s family, and his brother Matt and his Debi have been gracious enough to be the hosts most years. But with M and G both sick with Croup, all of a sudden we weren’t sure what to do. I thought about it a lot, and was finally able to talk Craig into going to the dinner on Thanksgiving day without me so that I could tend to the two little sick ones. He never gets to see his family as often as we would like, and since it was for only one day I felt it was more important for him to go. He took the four older kids with him and went to Pleasant Grove, and I stayed behind with the two little ones.

Craig and the kids had a lovely time, and he was happy to have been able to visit with some of his family, and the kids loved playing with thir cousins too. I had a quiet day, and had fun preparing a turkey dinner with all of the fixings since I love the leftovers, and I also wanted to have a dinner with the two little ones as well. I made a turkey w/ gravy, mashed potatoes (mashed with my new masher), stuffing, sweet potatoes, and 3 different pies. I made a pumpkin, a pecan and my favorite, a cranberry pecan that was simply incredible. Heidi gave me the recipe, we both made one, and she and I both loved it!

One of the things that was fun about making the turkey dinner was that as I prepared each dish, they each reminded me of someone I love, and it was fun to think about them throughout my day as I cooked. I thought of Heidi while I was preparing the turkey since I was cooking it like she has in the past. She makes a mean turkey breast! And of course I thought of my Mom as I made the stuffing, following her delicious recipe I grew up eating, and also while making the real mashed potatoes. I grew up watching my Mom mash potatoes with the same kind of masher I now happily own. And I thought of Korby as I made the sweet potatoes since I now only prepare them as she does, peeled, sliced, and baked with butter and brown sugar sprinkled on top of the slices. It’s heaven! And as I made the pies I thought of my Granny, and how much I have learned from her. I enjoyed myself immensely.

I’m running out of room, but I thought of a lot of other people in my family too, I just need to stop writing a novel, so if your not mentioned, I still though good things, I’m just getting carried away with the writing.  So M, G and I had a quiet little dinner, and Craig and the rest of the kids showed up shortly after we had cleared the dishes, just in time for pie. The day went so well I even got some sewing done earlier on, which was a huge bonus since I am trying to whittle down my project piles. So even though it might sound like a bad way to spend a Thanksgiving with our family split up, it really wasn’t and I am happy my husband was able to see his family. One of the things I have learned over the years is that you can make your own happy times on any given day, and you don’t need a set Holiday to do that. So we had a lovely turkey dinner Friday night together, so it all worked out in the end.

   In case you haven’t heard the incredibly fantastic and fun news, James, Cena and Hannah have a new addition in their family! They are the happy and proud new parents of a very handsome 11 year-old boy named Austin. They adopted Austin on Remembrance Day November 11, 2006, and the paperwork will become official in 3-6 months, so anytime after that they can have him sealed to them in the Temple. His full (and new) name is Austin Arthur Olaf Olson and his birthday is August 11. Austin and his brother Eldon were in foster care together with an LDS family in Lethbridge for about 2 1/2 years. James and Cena met Austin at church when he was 9, and James was his Cub Master at Scouts. Austin was baptized shortly after that and James also stood in his confirmation circle.

   Austin had been going to James and Cena’s house for the weekend sporadically for about 7 months, and then weekly for 3 months prior to his adoption. Austin didn’t know who was adopting him, but when one of the social workers asked Austin what he was going to miss the most by being adopted, he replied “I’m going to miss going to the Olson’s every weekend.” Austin found out that night that it was the Olson’s that were adopting him, so when James and Cena joined them all at the restaurant, Austin walked up to them, hugged them both and shyly said “Hi Mom and Dad.” Austin’s brother Eldon was also adopted by another family that very same day and both boys are each thrilled with their new families. They saw each other recently at an adoptive family’s meeting and they were both very happy. Austin is doing great at his new school, in his new town and has lots of new friends, and both James and Austin walk home for lunch everyday.

   So Austin is now a big brother to Hannah, and James and Cena are also happily expecting another baby in April sometime. The Olson family is growing by leaps and bounds! Congratulations James and Cena on the happy addtion of a wonderful new son, and to Hannah for getting a fun big brother! (If you would like to see the whole family in a bigger pic, go to my gallery!)

   Who ever would have though that Mark and Mel’s baby would arrive weighing in at 9 lbs. 13 oz.? Not me, that’s for sure, but we’re all just thrilled he’s here, and doing so well. He has the cutest fuzzy blond hair, the sweetest little face with little chubby cheeks, and is just beautiful. (And Auntie Patti is right, forget the banker, I think his name is better suited to the Oval Office kind of stuff. Hail to the Chief, President Wellington!) I was lucky enough to get a chance to go in and see him, and I was surprised at how much he looks like Mel when you see him in person. I still think his pictures look a lot like Mark, but once you see Mel’s baby pictures, you know who’s son he is. So welcome Wellington, we are so happy you’re here!

   My poor little M has Croup once again. When I talked to the Dr. on Friday, he said Mwill outgrow it eventually but that we will still have to deal with it this year and probably next, but he also felt that next year would most likely be our last. And now that we have the nebulizer, I know that we can deal with this with less stress and keep him comfotable at home instead of rushing him to the ER each time. The doctor also discussed his asthma with me, and I was thrilled that he was able to answer all of my questions, and it really made perfect sense. So we now have a better idea of what direction to go in, and also what the best treatments and course of action will be the most helpful for M. It’s such a relief.

Unfortunately, I woke up this morning to my little G coughing, and while it’s not the full-on Croup cough yet, I can hear it lurking in there, so I am going to have to watch her really carefully. We have two humidifiers for a reason, so we can keep both M and G comfortable in their own rooms if needs be. I hope she just has the bad cough that’s going around though, she’s such a tiny little girl still it would be really hard on her to be that sick. G has actually been pretty healthy so far, and hasn’t been sick very much at all, but this is her first winter since I weaned her, so I think that might change for us now.

Craig and I both feel like we’re prepared to handle it all though, and I can think of worse things to have to deal with. I just feel blessed to have that nebulizer at home, it really gives me the most peace of mind. It has already saved us from countless trips to the ER, all of which would have been after 2 am, so it’s a very good thing for us. I’m not complaining, I just wish that my little ones didn’t feel so lousy. Being sick is hard on their little bodies, and I prefer them healthy and into mischief than sick and feeling listless and out of sorts. We’ll have them back into monkey business in no time though. So many toilets to splash and play in, and so little time.

   I went to Wal-Mart last night to pick up a few things, and I ended up finding a potato masher like the one I grew up using. My Mom had one with a black handle and the metal end that was all wiggly, and it always worked great for us. When I tried to find one for my own kitchen, all I found were cheap plastic versions that were a really poor design, and weren’t up to the real job at hand. I have been wanting one like my Mom’s for some time now, and obviously I’m excited I found one since I have gone and taken pictures of it and wrote a post about it too. So now that my total and complete dork status has been confirmed, I think I’ll go and make some mashed potatoes for dinner tonight. That is, if I can get it away from G long enough to use it, she thinks it’s pretty neat too!

   I am 14 weeks and 2 days pregnant, and today was the first day I felt the baby kick! It’s so fun to feel the little flutterings and movement and know that there really is someone in there. No matter how many times I have been pregnant, feeling the baby move is still such an exciting thing. Of course it’s way to early for anyone else to feel any of the movement going on, but my kids can’t wait until they get to feel the kicking too. That is their favorite part, feeling the baby move when it’s still in Mom’s tummy. There is nothing cuter than their little hands on my belly, eagerly waiting for any nudge, kick, punch or bump from the little one inside. It’s all so exciting for them, and for me too. So whoever you are in there, I felt that! And I am looking forward to even more!