Spring Break!

This year for spring break we decided to go to California again. The beach was calling my name! I am a little homesick and so I just had to go.

We rented the same beach house we stayed at in November. I love, love it! There is something amazing being able to wake up to the sound of the waves and watching dolphins while eating your breakfast!

My Yukon is no longer big enough to fit the whole family so we had to rent a 15 passenger van! Yeah baby, even bigger than the one we had before. But Zach brought two of his friends on the trip with us and I was worried about it being crowded with those big boys!

We even rent a uhaul to tow behind the car. Cause we bring so much crap and so we need the room! People were totally mocking me about the dang uhaul, but hey, I had the baby's swing, her exersaucer, her playpen, tons of luggage, kids toys etc. We brought all the comforts of home.So even though we were ridin ghetto it was awesome!

The boys were funny the whole ride there. They were having a dance off in the car. It was shakin like crazy! made me a little nervous. They kept everyone entertained and the drive went pretty quick.

We got to Cali early evening and stayed the night at mom's house since we couldn't check in till the afternoon the following day.

To kill time before leaving for the beach house Tony bet the boys some money if they would get in the pool! Idiots did it! FREEZING!!!!We had a good laugh over the girlish screams coming from them.Dumb and dumber right? Luckily they had the jacuzzi all heated and ready to go so they could warm up after and the little ones decided to get in with them!

The time finally came and we left and headed down to the house to check in! YEAH!!

I love everything about this place! Check out the view from the kitchen table! Does life get any better than this?

I could hardly wait to get my toes in the sand and pick up a good book. I swear I could feel the tension leave me as soon as we got there! Weird I know!

The vacation did not disappoint! I think it was the best vacation we've ever had!

I have lots more pics so I'll post more on it later.

man I miss California already!

Valentine's Day!

Once again we had our annual Valentine's Day breakfast! And once again it was a huge success! It is one of my kids favorite holidays. Mine too. I am not so much about the romance of the day, gifts from my husband, going out on a date. I don't know, it's just not me.I like the romance weekly, not just on a special day of the year! But I do really love doing our breakfast. It's a fun way to show my family how much I love them!

My mom would make pancakes in the shape of a heart. I suck at doing that so I bought a heart shaped waffle maker! She would put Cinnamon hearts on top of applesauce. I couldn't even find red hots this year so we just had the applesauce. Then to top the meal off she would make little individual cherry pies. My kids don't like those so we make little cheesecakes with strawberries on top! It's fun hearing how all of my siblings have carried on this tradition and have modified the menu a little for their family! They tease me cause I do go a little overboard, but hey, that's just how I do things!I have such fun memories from my childhood of my mom doing it for us and I love being able to pass that tradition on to my kids. Thanks mom for showing us how much you loved us and for giving us such great memories and great traditions we can pass on!!

Blog Posts From The Edge!

Remember that movie Postcards from the edge? That's a little how I am feeling! So close to the edge and it could go either way. It's been a weird, wild ride and I am thinking it's time to get off this roller coaster!

This pregnancy sucked. One of the worst. Hyperemesis. The Zofran pump, Trips to the hospital for IVs, Hospital stay, Placental abruptions, Bed rest,Polyhydramnios, Placental lake, biweekly NST's,biweekly bio physical profiles. Worrying about baby and what her health would be, house a mess, me a mess and the grand finale...a horrific labor. 23 hours! Sheesh!

And then I had her. This beautiful, perfect 5 lb 13 oz. sweetheart. Adelynn Marie Vidal. She is a angel. So good. What a relief to find that nothing is wrong with her. Nothing. What a blessing.

I am having a bit of hard time bouncing back, but it has only been three weeks and does seem to be getting better so I am hopeful. Postpartum depression nails me every time!

She had jaundice so we were having to get her blood tested daily. That finally resolved itself. And she stopped nursing. Completely for about a week so that involved so much time trying to get her to eat then feeding her a bottle then pumping. I was so tired just from feeding her. But with a nipple shield she is now nursing again.

Then I thought we were getting on track and I had this killer, I mean killer breast infection! What the heck? It kicked my trash. Felt like I was dying. And I found myself sitting in the shower, crying and praying asking are you kidding me? You REALLY thought I could handle another one? Is this your sense of humor? I think it felt a little like rock bottom. Sick, overwhelmed, things not improving but getting worse and feeling like a total sucky mom.

And yet today is another day. It feels much more hopeful. And instead of asking my Heavenly Father what the heck I find myself thanking him.Somehow things are getting better. It's a day by day thing.

My parents ordered me a bunch of Dream Dinners. And they sent some money for extra help around the house. I think they totally saved me!On Friday I had the cleaning girls here. And I was feeling better. Got a meal made early and sat down to a clean house, nice meal and all my little ones around me. And it felt a little like heaven. I thought you know when I have it together it is wonderful. Being a mom is what makes me happiest. Yes, crazy, but also so happy. It is who I am supposed to be.

Even my little Ethan who has been having such a hard time seemed to mellow that night! He helped me feed the baby, and when I got the camera out to take a picture of her he told me "Take a picture of me, take a picture of me! Cheese!" He NEVER lets me get a good picture of him. Never! So I even got this fabulous photo of my fun little guy.

So folks, even though I am on the edge and many, many times it felt like I was going over it, today I have faith that I will make it! Today it feels like I am actually enjoying the view at the edge!