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So of course this whole pregnancy, our whole family has been praying. All the time. We want this baby to stay IN and he is already showing signs that he is going to come whenever HE wants to come...so we are just praying hard and doing what we can.

And then things start happening. Like: My little sister calling me telling me she is booking her ticket to come and take care of me and my family for a week to help me on bed rest. Like: Two people bringing me meals, randomly, on the same day, which happen to be days that have been incredibly hard and where I have really needed the help. Like: My in-laws calling and saying "we're picking up the boys after school today and taking them for a few hours so you can rest..." and then when they bring the boys home they do the dishes for me! Like: My visiting teachers and one of my good friends bringing me magazines, soda and candy care packages to help me get through bed rest...WOW. These things don't just happen. And this is only a fraction of the service our family has recieved lately. But I am serious when I say, these things always happen when I need it the most. Yesterday was a really hard day, then today two meals and no kids. It's like they are all inspired to help me. And I am so eternally grateful. It is hard to ask for help. It is hard to recieve help even when I really need it. I feel like I could be doing more, or should be doing more. But then everyone that helps me does it with a smile and a kind heart, and kind words and everything. And I am overwhelmed! The Lord is watching over us and answering our prayers.

Now, on a totally different note...I cannot stop thinking about the movie Jane Eyre! Have you seen it yet?! Have you read the book? I admit, I had not read the book. So I had no idea what to expect. And it is not your typical old fashioned love story. There is so much more to it- and I rented it the other day and I just can't stop thinking about it. WOW. Go rent it!

And on yet another note, I have read a new book basically every 3 days for the past two weeks...so I am finally getting through my stack of books that I have had to read for a LONG time! I love it! Of course Mockinjay was totally disappointing, but I was going to read it no matter what and still love the series.

Another random note: have finished an entire book of crossword puzzles, totally makes me miss my Grandma. But an entire book in 2 weeks...that is a lot of crosswords!

I guess that's enough for now. Doesn't my life of reading, watching movies and having people wait on me hand and foot sound so exciting?!!! Well, this IS the kind of life every mother wants to have, except not being on bed rest and having contractions. It really quite STINKS but I am so grateful to do whatever I can to keep this baby in.

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!

Two amazing things happened today...the most important being that this little babykins does not have what Brayden has (aortic stenosis), which is a heart condition that will eventually require surgery... we are so relieved and grateful.

The second is the NEW Breaking Dawn trailer has come out...WOWWWWW. Cannot wait...so hope this baby cooperates so I can see it midnight showing ;)

Cannot wait, cannot wait, CANNOT WAIIIITTTTTTTTTT!

Body Image...and all that jazz

When I learned I was pregnant this time around, I must admit that I was sad about what was going to happen to my body. Don't get me wrong...pregnancy is a beautiful, amazing thing. And everything is worth it. Buuuut, as I have said before, I am not one of those women who just grows a baby in my belly. I fill out everywhere. And I do mean, EVERYWHERE. Even my feet get bigger! When I was pregnant with Brayden (boy #2), I worked out for the first few months. For me, didn't matter. I mean, sure, it helped keep up my energy and I am sure helped with toning. But I still gained the same amount of weight and still gained it everywhere and not just in my cute little tummy.

So as I was saying, when I learned I was pregnant with this little nugget, I went through some terrible body image issues. I had literally in the weekes before FINALLY hit my goal of where I wanted to be with my body. I was feeling so good about myself. I was confident. I was happy and content. And I knew that was all going to change. ESPECIALLY since I cannot work out with my current and last pregnancy. And especially because I had never worked so hard in my life to lose the weight I had lost. And I am going to have to do it again.

And of course, there is nothing wrong with being whatever size I am or whatever size anyone else is. Why do I have so much trouble when viewing myself when I could care less about whatever shape or size someone else is? I think all women, no matter shape, size, color, hair color, etc. are beautiful. Everything we go through makes us beautiful. If you are bigger, you are bigger. If you are smaller, you are smaller. I have always felt that if you are unhappy with yourself, you work on it and try your best. If you are doing that, accept yourself. Everyone is different and I have always embraced that and loved that about everyone...except myself. Why? I suppose for lots of reasons. But with pregnancy, I definetly need to get over it!

So with time, I have realized that it is out of my hands. No, I am not going to use pregnancy as an excuse to pig out as much as I want. I am still trying to be sensible. But, it really is out of my control how my body is going to grow babies. If I am going to gain weight everywhere, why go around feeling terrible about myself every time I look in the mirror? Is that honestly going to help me at all?

I must do the best with what I have and embrace my curves! ;) So up until now...I have not wanted to post pictures of myself. In fact, this whole pregnancy I have had issues with it...but why? What good is it doing me other than making me feel even worse?

We as women are blessed to be able to even carry babies (those of us who are able to)...we are lucky to experience pregnancy, childbirth and many other wonderful things. If that means gaining 45 pounds in 7 months (hopefully this time I can make it to 9 months!), then so be it. And if I have to go through all I go through to grow a miracle, then it is worth it!

There! I feel better! Sooooo...here is ME at 23 weeks along with baby boy #4

And you will pretty much always see me in flip flops. Just saying...

The latest Larson happenings...

So if any of my blog followers are on facebook, and I know most of you are, I was wondering how I was going to identify my kids backpack's for the teachers (because most of them ask you to write your cbild's name ON the backpack) WITHOUT writing their name on the outside of the backpack. I did not want strangers being able to read their names and call them. It was an easy solution- and thanks to all the advice on FB, and a link from my little sis with an idea, I made these cool name tags for the insides of their backpacks. The kids LOVE THEM!

Kyler, especially, is into SKULLS, so I used that as a theme. Of course, we use skulls in a friendly way, as friendly as they can be... :)

My camera has issues, so this was as close as I could get without them being too blurry...I think they turned out pretty good. But most of all, they get the job done and the kids love them!

Since school has started, we have been going to bed earlier and earlier. The kids get to read for 20 minutes in their beds, then I read them a story. But on the weekends, we do let them stay up late...especially Friday nights. Sometimes, however, that means they try and slumber together or they go into the hallway and sleep. Weird. But seriously, to come upstairs and see this was really cute. The lights were off, but I turned them on for the picture and they didn't even flich!

Is there really anything better than a cute sleeping face up close?!!!!

One of my bestest friends in the whole world came to visit for a day (she lives in Boise) and did some cleaning for me, helped my kids with their homework and we had a great time visiting!! My kids truly LOVE her and could not get enough of her IPAD or notebook or whatever you call it! It has so many games and cool things and she would patiently sit and show them how to play, etc. As you can see, they were ALL OVER HER!

Let's just say, when they woke up the next day and learned she wasn't there, they were sad...and so was I! We truly love her and she is such a sweet friend!

All in all, it was a good week. I FINALLY got to see MY doctor on Tuesday, who as I thought would, put me on medicine to stop my contractions. It is mostly working! I still have 1-2 contractions a day. But most are shorter than they were before..and quite frankly, as long as I know nothing is wrong, I can handle a few contractions here and there.

He told me to stay on moderate bed rest. I can still take kids to school, do some light things around the house here and there as long as I am taking it easy and laying down as much as I can in between. And of course, only if I am not contracting. If I am still contracting, I am DOWN. So far, it has been decent. I am finally to the point where I can read a book without falling asleep, so I am getting into some books I have had for a long time. I read a book in a day and a half and I don't know if I have ever done that before! It was an easy read, but still. I load and un load the dishwasher and wipe the counters down every day, but other than that, am mostly lounging around. I have felt much better knowing that I am back in my doctors hands and he is taking every thing I say seriously. So far, so good. This baby is still cooking and that is all that matters!

A special thanks to all my sweet neighbors! In one night, I had two different meals brought in randomly! It was so nice! Today alone we had two dinners to freeze brought in and 2 different sets of treats! WOOWWWW!!!

I have said it before and I will say it again. Living away from family is TOUGH. Especially when there are times like these where I know they would be helping me and I know I wouldn't feel bad letting them....because they are family! But if there is anywhere I can live away from family and get non-stop help it is HERE in this exact neighborhood. When we had Keaton, it was the same thing. Constant meals, people watching our kids non-stop so I could go to the NICU and everyone does it without a complaint- and they make me feel that they want to do it! it is amazing! It is hard to rely on others for help- it is hard to ask for help! It is hard to leave my kids in the hands of others, feeling helpless to spend time with them, but yet spend time with the new baby at the hospital, or on bed rest, etc. Being here I am overwhelmed at the constant service we are provided. As hard as it is to live away from family, and as much as I miss them so much, this is such a great place to live and get the help our family needs right now. So thank you friends and neighbors! You are all wonderful! And truly, we could not get through this without you!

Now onto another week of surviving...I finally have decided on some creative ideas for the baby's bedding and it is using a lot of what I already have and making a new quilt (which I do for each baby anyways) and maybe a few other things...but all in all, I am just excited to have found what I am looking for!! And I will post about it as soon as I get moving on it.

Keaton's Big Birthday!

I asked Keaton what kind of birthday party he wanted this year, and after listing off all the superheros and fun ideas I had, he kept going back to "spiderman"...so we had a spiderman party! It was just with family, since he is only 3, but it was so great. I did not go all out. I did not have it in me, but I made his favorite things...which are: CUPCAKES! Keaton loves cupcakes and asks for them all the time. So that made my job easier, rather than doing a cake. The store had tons of spiderman stuff, so I bought more than I made this year.

Here's the table all decorated...

Keaton getting ready to open presents...blowing through a leftover pvc pipe.
Getting a puppy dog pillow pet, which he LOVES!

I was really unsure what to get him because he is so easy going and happy with anything. But I found these lincoln logs at Ross and knew they were perfect! Especially since Keaton loves building things! I must admit, part of me was excited because I loved Lincoln logs as a kid...oh the memories!

He also got a spiderman tent that he plays in every single day, but the picture was too blurry since every one I took of him with the tent he wouldn't sit still ;)

Everyone singing to him, getting ready to eat cupcakes!

His brothers get some too!

Brayden would not be serious to save his life. That kid!

Cousin Norah...so cute! Loves her mini cupcake ;)

Keaton is such a great toddler that I feel so lucky! He is easy going, will do just about anything I ask him to do and is also independent in a good way. the things he really wants to do himself are things that couldn't make me more proud (at least most of them). He really has a sweet spirit, sweet presence in our home and I could not love him any more! He still is my little peanut, being only 24 pounds at 3 years, but he is steadily growing and getting taller! Love, love this little man~! And I cannot believe he is 3!

--Elizabeth

Somehow I will Survive

First of all, I am sorry all my stupid posts lately are about ME, MYSELF and I. Not about my beautiful kids, my sweet husband and all the wonderful things we have done lately.

I know, I KNOW! I have only been on bed rest a few days...and for all I know, everything will be fine in a few days and I can get up a little more. But for the current moment, I can vent. About ME!!! Ha! Because how does a person like me (clean freak, organizational junkie, on the go constantly) sit still while the house gets destroyed right in front of my very eyes while all I can do is lie around and watch it happen????? My boys will clean, and they do. But not to my standards! They can't wipe down counters and mop floors! Floors that are disgusting because mom isn't helping wipe up spills. Cort is great and helps out as much as he can while he is home. But he has had a boat-load of work lately AND is now making dinners and taking care of the kids on top of it. I am the kind of person that if I go to bed and my house is messy, I don't sleep well. And so usually, around 9pm, I do a run through of the whole house and clean up, pick up, do anything that needs to be done. And then I still don't sleep well because I have stinking insomnia with pregnancy- but at least I sleep much better than I do when the house is messy. So I have not been sleeping well. And I literally cringe as I am walking down the hallway to the bathroom (for the millionth time since I have been drinking extra water) and I see toys in the walkway, stains on the floor, etc. I have Kyler sweep the floor today...on a SUNDAY! I never make the boys clean on Sundays...and the sad truth is even though there were still crumbs everywhere after, it looked SO MUCH BETTER than it did before!

Oh boy. It is going to be a long bed rest if this is until I deliver this babykins. I am hoping it will be at least modified at one point to me being able to do light cleaning again. Obviously I will do whatever is best to keep this baby in. And I will grin and bear it! But I can whine in the meantime. I am a hormonal mess anyways. So why not, right? ;)

Whine, whine, whine, moan, moan, whine. I think that is enough for now. Back to bed for me, another crossword puzzle to do and more baby names to look up!

--Elizabeth

A New Day

Today was a new day. A wonderful new day. I woke up feeling SOOOOOOOOOO much better. I had three contractions total today. That is so completely different than yesterday- AND I woke up without the terrible stomach ache and back ache that has plagued me. I woke up thinking "maybe I did have a virus" because I don't think I could feel this much better without an antibiotic...unless it really was a virus. What a terrible stinking virus!

Anyways, the doc's office ended up calling me this afternoon to tell me that all my tests came back negative for anything. Then they told me the doctor is on call and at the hospital all weekend if my contractions do get worse or do feel like they are the beginnings of labor. I don't know, but it was what I needed to hear. All this time it seems like they disregarded my concerns for the contractions and didn't take them seriously. But I think after seeing me yesterday maybe they changed their tune? I don't know. But it was nice.

But what is even nicer is I think they are going away! I am still ordered to bed rest until they are completely gone. And since it's the weekend and Cort is here to help, that is exactly what I plan to do! I am already bored to tears. But I have spent a lot of time online looking up fun baby ideas, baby names and all that good stuff.

Speaking of baby...he is all over the place now. I love feeling all the movement all the time. He is one crazy little man already.

I will keep ya'all posted (that is if any of you actually read this because NO ONE leaves comments anymore~!). It's all good. I hardly ever comment on anyone elses. Just saying. ;)