Prior Family

Welcome Home Parker!

2012-01-21T17:42:00.000-08:00

My little man Parker got to come home a couple of days ago and he is just such a sweet boy and we are so thilled to be able to have him as part of our family!

Baby Daxton is still in the NICU but he will be home soon. We love both of our little boys with all of our hearts! I wouldn't choose anyone else to go on this journey with other than my amazing husband.

Thing 1 & Thing 2!

2012-01-12T22:41:00.000-08:00

Our boys are growing bigger and bigger everyday and Michael and I are such proud parents! Today Daxton weighed in 6 lbs 6 ounces and Parker weighed in at 5 lbs 3 ounces! They are both learning to eat so well! It is a bit challenging to balance trying to be at the hospital with our boys and trying to be at home with our 3 girls. We can't wait for these boys to come home and we feel so blessed that our family has grown by 4 more feet!

Daxton Ryker Nicholas Prior

Parker Eric Robert Prior

A dear friend from high school (who also had twins) gave me these onesies and they are absolutely adorable!!! All the nurses got a good laugh! :)

This is completely off topic but Natalie is such a sweet girl! She is always so eager to please and to be mommy's little helper. Everytime we go grocery shopping and return home, Natalie helps to bring the groceries upstairs and put them away in the fridge and the pantry. When we went to Target, Natalie begged with all her might for us to buy her a princess purse and I told her that she needed to earn it and thus began the chore/allowance process. This is the first dollar that she earned!

Proud parents of our 5 children,... (in birth order), Natalie, Delaney, Kherrington, Parker & Daxton!

To my 3 little girls from Daddy

2012-01-10T21:59:00.000-08:00

    I cannot even begin to tell you how much you three mean to me. I sit here tonight looking at pictures of the three you and can't even begin to comprehend how fast you are growing up. I thought about the future and what it will bring me. I thought about the day you three each get married. I shed a tear cause I know it will be the three hardest days of my life. You are my little disney princesses that will grow up to be real life princesses. I can't imagine what my life was before you three.
Natalie, you are my achiever. You learn things like no other. You amaze me every day. My first born. I know that you will achieve many great things in this life. you will become someone. I hope you know that I have loved you every single day of your life and will for the rest of your life. I remember the first time you ever crawled. I remember how that green binkie ingulfed your little face. I remember how you were always bigger than all the kids your age. How you used to love pureed carrots and squash. I remember how you used to crawl on one leg and gave us the popeye look. I also remember how you used to get the food everywhere but in your mouth. I remember the first time you went to the beach and did a face plant into the sand. you did not like that :( I remember how I used to dress you up in little costumes and tape videos of you. I remember the first time you met Delaney, which happened to be the same day you decided to start walking. I remember how you cried when you first sat next to Delaney cause you were no longer the only child. Natalie you have a gentle and caring heart. You are sensitive and care about what people think and care deeply if Mommy or Daddy is happy. Natalie I know I will cry the day I dance with you on your wedding day. I often think back to a movie called BiCentenial Man where a father danced with his daughter on that day and he realized that he was losing his daughter who was becoming a woman. I think of a song written by Stephan Curtis Chapman called, "Cinderella" Natalie, you are my Cinderella. I know you will be something great in life. I just know it. Don't let anything ever hold you back. Keep your faith and morals, and go out there and take over the world.
Delaney, you are my beauty queen and my cuddler. You do not know it yet, but the boys will be chasing you everywhere you go. As you get older, you only get more beautiful. I know you will have alot of success in life cause when you want something, you get it done. I know that you will never let anyone tell you that you can't do something. You will always be able to prove them wrong. Don't ever settle love. No one out there will ever be good enough for you. But I know that you will find your prince. I know that you are going to be our singer of the family. Often I will hear you in the other room just start singing, and you are so passionate about it. You two are my disney princess. You are my Belle. So beautiful and smart. I know that you will make a beast a princess. I can remember as a baby how you used to love to sit in your uncle Daniel's lap and just rock back and forth. I can remember how the only way to get you to sleep was putting you in the swing. I remember how I used to love taking pictures of you and I would even go as far as to put you in a mixer bowl to get a creative picture of you (it didn't turn out so well). I can remember your first steps walking from Mommy to Daddy. I can remember how you used to love me to throw you really high in the air and how that all changed just a year later. I remember how passionate you were when you played with your toys and how when your sister Kherrington came how you wanted to play with just her all the time. I wish you would never grow up and stay little forever. I remember how you would come up to our room every night cause you wanted to sleep in my arms. I loved it so much. I have never felt so closer to you than I did when you laid with me. You would snore so loud, but I didn't care cause I had my baby girl in my arms. I hope you always let me hug and hold you and are never embarrassed of me. One day you will feel the love I am talking about when you have a little one of your own. I love you so much Delaney!
  Kherrington, my baby girl. You are my delicate one. You have always been our smallest child. You have grown leeps and bounds. You suprise me all the time. I see you watch and trust your sisters so much and always follow their lead. Anytime two children are playing you are one of those playing with the other. You have learned to do everything so much quicker than the other two. I can only imagine who you are going to become. I can remeber your first christmas when I wrapped you in wrapping paper. I can remember how much you loved to put on Disney dresses. I can remember how you love to breastfeed and made it a whole entire year. I remember how much you used to love our little pool in the backyard. You are my Sleeping Beauty Kherrington. I love you so much Kherrington and I know I have so much to learn from the three of you and now you are blessed to have two brothers in your life. I know that we still have many years in front of us. I just know that soon I will never get to see you as babies anymore and will become my grown-up children. Please know that I love all three of you with all my heart and soul. I hope that you will always be a part of our lives even when you grow up and have a family of your own. You have made me the man that I am today. I would never ever ever change anything about my life. I got the best children I could have ever asked for. I love you three so much!!!!!
Love always,
   Daddy

Babies!

2012-01-08T19:25:00.000-08:00

Our boys are growing growing growing and baby Daxton is weighing in at 6 lbs 3 ounces and baby Parker is at 4 lbs and 14 ounces! They are working hard to grow big and strong and come home to be with their 3 big sisters!

My husband is the most AMAZING person I know. He is the perfect man to be on this journey with and I can't imagine my life without him. I'm not sure my life had even begun until the day that he became my husband and I became his wife! I love you Michael!

Look at what I made....

2012-01-03T00:28:00.000-08:00

This pregnancy has been ~~a dream~~, a real difficult one but finally our baby boys have made it into the world! Daxton and Parker Prior joined our family at 8:27pm on December 23rd. My goodness, looking back on this pregnancy, it just feels like it truely has been a long tough road and I am just so thankful that The Lord has given me the strength that was required to endure this pregnancy and that we recieved 2 beautiful baby boys as a result.

This picture was taken the morning that the boys were born. My uterus was measuring over 45 weeks and my goodness, I was feeling pretty uncomfortable. The pregnancy migranes were more intense than any pain I had ever felt previously. Never in my life had I ever had a migrane but these headaches were extremely painful. The room would begin to spin and next thing I knew, I was vomiting on the floor. This was by far the toughest year of my life. And after spending a total of a little over 9 weeks total in the hospital, I am thankful that I didn't go a little bonkers! HAHA! The Lord gives us strength to endure all things as long as we are faithful.

This picture was taken the morning of the day that our boys were born. To be honest, with all the many pregnancy complications, I'm surprised that I made it as far as I did. I was ordered to wear the Toco (conraction monitor) 24/7. I didn't mind wearing it but often times the nurse would wake me up because I would have contractions while I was sleeping.

When I was pregnant with Natalie, I couldn't do anything to get my self to go into labor. I felt as though I might be the only woman on the planet that would carry a full term baby and never deliver! HAHAHA!!!!! So, the fact that I had to fight so hard to keep these babies in was a bit of a surprise to me simply based on my past pregnancies. And the sheer size of my belly was astronomically

huge! All the sweet nurses that cared for me during my many weeks in the hospital, were more than sympathedic to my rather larger than life size! :)

After about 8 hours of contractions that were 3 to 5 mins apart, I knew it wouldn't be long before the nurses and doctors were going to come into my room and tell me that my time was up, so I called my husband and best friend Leah and they came rushing into the hospital. I was so sca red and having never had a c-section, I had no idea what may lay ahead of me but I knew that I was affraid. They rushed me into the operating room and Mike waited outside while I recieved a spinal block and then laid down on the opporating room table. When Mike came into the room, my nerves calmed down a lot and I didn't take my eyes off of him during the whole proceedure. He was so supportive and having him by my side granted me so much peace. I kept telling him how afraid I was that I would feel pain while on the operating room table that I didn't even realise that the doctor had already begun and moments later, we heard Daxton's first cry! I wanted so badly for Leah to be able to also be by my side. After 24 years of friendship, there is nothing greater than sharing in this sacred moment. Sadly because of the number of medical personnel that were in the operating room, Leah was not permited to attend this event. As Daxton was born, I understood the reasoning as to why I was not able to have my best friend in the room. There were so many people surrounding us that as both boys were delivered, I couldn't even catch a glimps of either of them.

At 8:28 pm, our darling baby Parker was born.

And born first and 8:27 pm was a handsome baby Daxton

My first time being able to hold both babies at the same time.

It has been just over a week since our little guys were born into the world and they are doing great! Understandibly due to their premature delivery, both boys are in the hospital NICU and will likely remain there until their due date (2/2/12). The boys only had to hooked up to the oxygen for the first 3 days (never intibated, only nasal canula) and have not had to have it since. The tube which you see in their nose is a NG tube and is how the boys recieve most of their feedings. Since the boys are technically not even supposed to be born for another 6 weeks, they can't be expected to know how to courdinate the eat, suck and swallow process. There is an 8 step process that they must master before being permitted to go home. Right now they are on step 1 but they can move up very quickly if they are tolerating their feeds well. I recently began nursing them 1 time a day. Daxton is an eating machine and already taking almost 2 ounces per feeding which is a huge feeding for a premature baby. It's very aparent that he is the larger baby (pictured on the right). Dax loves to nurse and is a very fast eater! Parker is a little smaller and therefore a little slower out of the starting gate. He tolerates his feedings well but is not as interested in nursing as his brother. He prefers to comfort suck. I can see that this is going to be a challenge.

We love our baby boys!

The longest pregnancy known to man

2011-12-13T17:30:00.000-08:00

Guess where I am right now.....yup back in the hospital...AGAIN. Blahhhh. This is really becoming my least favorite place on the planet. I have been back here at Sierra Vista Hospital for one week now and it has been a roller coaster ride. I was admitted on December 6th after I had a possitive Fetal Fibernectin test and then on Tuesday night I went into full blown labor. Dr Yin put me on Magnesium and steriod shots to stop the labor and mature the babie's lungs. Since then I have been taking an oral medication to slow the contractions down and it is given every 4 hours,...round the clock (which means that the nurses wake me up 2 times every night to take it). This has been a rough and rocky road to bring these 2 little boys into the world and I am just praying that The Lord will give me strength to continue on each day until they are born. The goal is to make it another 9 days at least. I am thankful for each and every day that I remain pregnant and our boys remain healthy.

Since I am going to be in the hospital over Christmas and my brithday, Mike decorated my room

Halloween, Kherrington's Birthday, etc.

2011-11-21T19:19:00.000-08:00

Since all 3 of our girls wanted to dress up as Disney Princesses, it was only fitting that I be the Disney Villian and my best friend Leah was also a princess, her son was a dragon and her husband Eric was the knight in shinning armor! I was pretty fun! Leah let me borrow her Maleficent costume and it was the only thing that was able to fit over my enormous belly!

Mike is pretty intense when it comes to holidays, especially when it comes to Halloween and Christmas. He bought this carving kit so that he could carve this creepy pumpkin. I HATE scary stuff so I was not a fan of this.

I stuck with the Disney theme and did a Minnie Mouse pumpkin which I think turned out rather cute!

We put our Christmas decorations up and it was a bit shocking to actually see all 7 stockings hanging together above the fireplace! 5 kids,....holy smokes! And we are stopping at 5 because we do not want 6! HAHA!!

I got some snuggle time with the birthday girl! Kherrington turned 2 years old on 11/18/11!

29 Weeks with Parker and Daxton

So on 11/19 we had a Grinch themed birthday party for Kherrington. Leah came up with the idea and she and Susan even made green deviled eggs and Christmas cookies. We had an amazing face painter, a pinata and lots and lots of food! We had a really great time and Kherrington did too!

Here she is! My happy little birthday girl! Kherrington is 2, Delaney is 3 and Natalie is 4,....and Parker and Daxton are do to be born with in the next month. I know that these babies are inside me but it is seriously still a shock to me that we are about to have 5 children. To be completely honest, when Michael and I got married, we talked about how many children we wanted to have. But I never would have dreamed that we would have 5 children and I would have bet 1 Million Dollars that I would not have had twins. The odds of having "spontanious" or natural twins is so greatly agenst you that I can't believe that it has happened to us. And being so blessed by having twin boys is just simply amazing!

Twin Baby Shower! Welcome Parker & Daxton

2011-10-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

On October 22nd at 11am, my best friend Leah threw me the greatest baby shower that I have ever had! We had a wonderful time preparing for Parker & Daxton to join our family! It was an amazing shower and my heart was so touched that Leah and Mother Susan put so much hard work into this twin baby shower. And I felt so humbled and so loved that so many of our incredible friends and family came to show their support! It was so great being able to see everyone since I have been at home on bedrest and the only people I have seen are my husband, kids, my best friend Leah and my mother. I haven't done anything to prepare for the arrival of our sons because I haven't been able to really go anywhere and we were so blessed to recieve so many clothes and other things that we will need to care for these twin boys.

I was so touched that so many people came to show their support and that Leah and her mother would go to such lengths as to throw me such a lovely baby shower, that I couldn't help but cry. Tears of joy! I am so extremely blessed!

The sweet little Reese Marie

Two of my very favorite ladies, Nori and Kathy!

Leah and Mother Susan made an entire luncheon to include 3 different types of sandwiches, and 5 gourmet deserts! The food was so good that I actually ate 12 sandwiches and tried all 5 deserts! No wonder I am huge! But the lunch was so good that I couldn't possible resist!

These are chocolate chip cheesecake cupcakes with blackberry buttercream frosting! AMAZING!!

And look at all these sweet treats! Personalized Hershey bars, white and blue chocolate bark, blue and dark chocolate bark, chocolate dipped marshmellows rolled in sprinkles and blue swirl lollipops!

Personalized Hershey Bars

Chocolate dipped marshmellows, rolled in sprinkles

My little Laney

Grandma Lynda

Nefew Alex

Madison & Kherrington

Leah and I. Got a best friend? Well, you can't have mine so you are gonna have to get your own! This one is mine and I honestly wouldn't trade her for ANYTHING in the entire world! Leah has blessed my life in a way that can not be expressed in words! She will be at the delivery of our twin boys and as the years pass us by, we grow closer and closer!

Mother Susan and Father Tom

The fabuous group gift! A double twin bassinet!

Super hero boys

I love these jammies from Nori!

My dear friend Kristen came all the way from San Diego!

My doctor told me that I have been gaining weight at an impressive rate. Translation....I'm getting fat,...and fast! HAHA! Well, I will work hard to loose it after the boys are born but until then, I am not gonna worry about it!

Leah and went to lunch today at our favorite resturante Sumo Sushi and then got pedicures! She is my favorite person and we ALWAYS have a great time together! I love you Leah!

Home Sweet Home

2011-10-07T15:03:00.000-07:00

So I was admitted to the hospital just over 5 weeks ago and for the most part, I was holding up pretty well. I finally hit my "emotional pitfall" Being alone for 23 out of 24 hours a day begins to get very lonely very fast. I was filled with the fear that something bad might happen to my husband or kids and I might never see them again. Although this may not be a rational fear, at the moment, it felt very real. Some of the PTSD symptoms began to surface and nightmares returned. I did all that I could to stay in touvh with reality and keep myself focused on the reasons that I am doing this (hospital bedrest). The nights began to get harder and harder and eventually I had a meltdown. A couple weeks ago, at about 11pm, my blood pressure dropped down pretty low. One minute I was chatting back and forth with Leah on the computer, and the next minute, my vision went blurry and I began to feel like I was spinning. I began to panic and freak out. I had a nurse who normally worked on a different floor and she was very unsure how to handle the situation (which only elevated my frears). Finally she discovered that I was severely dehydrated and she hung fluids but my anxiety continued to increase and all I could think about was my kids. After about 3 hours and it being about 2am, the nurse called the doctor and the doctor imediately said that shse wanted the nurse to sedate me. I was all for it! For the love of mankind, please just sedate me! HAHA! Once I was able to get some sleep, I felt better and a few hard days followed but I was finally able to pull out of it. One of my favorite nurses came into my room and snatched me by the seat of my pants and pushed me forward to overcome these emtional obsticles. She put me back in touch with reality and I felt a renewed sence of strength. My best friend Leah called and told be that General Confrence was on so I got onto the internet and watched and listened to words of our prophet and apostles. I felt the support and love of The Lord and I knew that He not only knew the desires of my heart but He had granted me with the gift of carrying these twins because He knew that I was strong enough to survive this pregnancy. The Lord heard my prayers and the pleading of my soul and he came to my rescue by allowing me to feel His love through the acts of kindness of others. Now that I was armed with emotional strength, I knew that I could push forward and I had an ultrasound a few days later (10/5). Dr. Nacasha did a trans-vaginal ultrasound and said not only did my cervix maintain but it grew thicker! It went from 26mm to 28mm. Even though it's still short, the important thing is now we know that it can be cured with bedrest. So after the ultrasound, the Dr. said that I could go home as long as I remained on strict bedrest. I was thrilled to be able to be home again and be near my husband and my kids! Now, it's all about staying in bed and growin these babies!

Crazy Days!!

2011-09-27T18:50:00.000-07:00

These past 48 hours or so have been a little crazy. The day before yesterday, I was so bored that I actually put make up on the girls (something I swore that I would NEVER do) and they loved it! Kherrington looked like such a little beauty!! Look at those super long lashes!

Delaney ALWAYS makes me laugh! (even if I happen to be yelling at the same time) She has such a fantastic sence of humor!!! She really is my pationate girl! So silly and so loving!

Mike borrowed Leah and Eric's truck so that he could empty out our storage unit and save the monthly cost. He had to have everything cleared out by a certain time so he packed the truck until it was practially busting open! He barely had enough room in the driver's seat. I called my best friend Leah to tell her what Mike had done! She and I had a good laugh!

Yestruday was a complicated day. I started having contractions and the nurses had to stop my labor by giving me a shot of trebunaline. It was susccessful but my goodness it was full of side effects. It made my hands shake and my heart was pounding. It was pretty intense. My blood pressure started to drop and got pretty low, so that was a bit scary as well. They put me on O2, which really helped me feel a lot better. I had some trouble staying hydrated so the doctor had an IV put in. This morning when I woke up, I looked at my feet and they were HUGE!! Welcome to the water retention phase of the pregnancy! I have pitting edema and I look like I have gumby legs. I have also gained A TON of weight!!! I'm not even kidding! A couple weeks ago I gained 5 lbs in a week and then I gaind 6 lbs this last week. I am going to talk to the doctor about it some more but I am a little scared to eat very much (not that I am concerned about what my body lookds like) but I am concerned about how that rapid weight gain will affect the twins. It is hard that there are so many things out of my control and it is a struggle being a mother and not being able to take care of my kids, but right now these twin boys need me most. It is often said that when something bad happens then you really know who your friends are. This statement is so completely true. There are so many people who really do care for me and my family and the support we have recieved is so humbling and makes me feel so loved! And my family is incredible! My mother watches the girls 3 days a week and Laura Ketchum watches them the other 2! I talk to Mike and Leah multiple times a day and they are the back bone of my support. I have a wonderful husband and Leah is "My Person". She understands better than anyone else ever could. She makes me feel like I am perfect, just the way I am and I never have to hide who I really am. And, she is an amazing cook (another great purk), and she makes the best chimichangas I have ever tasted!!!!

Growing bigger every day!

2011-09-24T18:39:00.000-07:00

I have been in the hospital for about 2 1/2 weeks and I am shocked at how fast these baby boys are growing. It seems like one day they are hardly moving and the next day I am being kicked in the rib cage. Parker and Daton are both measuring large for their gestational age and are thus far healthy and happy little boys. I had an ultrasound earily Thurday morning (9/22) and Dr. Nacasha said that both boys are now viable, meaning that if they absolutely had to be delivered, they would most likely live (but they would most likely had a tough struggle). Even so, it was good news. About being here for 2 weeks and on super strict bedrest, my cervix did still shorten a tiny bit but the process has drastically slowed down.

Here is my 21 week twin baby belly. I weigh as much now as I did when I delivered both Natalie and Delaney (175 lbs,...yikes) I can hardly imagine how big I am going to be when these boys are born.

Yesterday was my 1st emotionally challenging day. There were lots of tears and I missed my dear husband, children and best friend soooo much. Mike graduates next Friday and I wish that I could be there. Mike, his mother, and his 2 sisters will be taking the kids to Disney Land and it's so hard for me to let them go. The thought of them being so far away while I am in the hospital and completely helpless is so scary for me. As a mother, all the worst thoughts come flooding into my mind. What if they get into a car accident? What is my kids are overly tired or hungry. Even though I have the most amazing husband in the world, I can't help but worry. After all, I am a mother. Even though it is so extremely hard to let them go and knowing that I can't be there to see their little smiling faces,

they all deserve to go and have a good time. Letting go is humbling but not easy. Mike has worked hard and I want my kids to be happy, so they will be going to Disney Land next week and I will do everything in my power to not worry too much. So, yesterday was surprisingly challenging and sort of caught me off gaurd. I have been so strong since I was admitted to the hospital that I never really expected to have a bad day. Again, I think it is mostly related to knowing that next week my family will be so far away, but I never expected it to affect me so much. Today has been much better and I am praying for strength and peace and feeling much better.

Our sweet little baby boys

My friend Emily Kelly made this adorable meal for my husband and kids and they all loved it!!!! SOO cute!!!

Family time

2011-09-18T20:14:00.000-07:00

Mike brought this girls in this afternoon and they stayed for a few hours. Even though my room is small and the kids do at some point, run out of things to do, they played nicely and we all had a good time just being together! I can't believe in less than 6 months we are going to be a family of 7! Well, he's to a brand new week and another week of pregnancy!

10 Days , 20 Weeks and counting!

2011-09-18T17:57:00.000-07:00

I have been at Sierra Vista hospital for 10 days now and although I do have my moments of sadness and I do occationally get lonely, the days are begining to go by faster and faster I am 20 weeks pregnant and counting. I am keeping busy by watching tv shows and looking at magainzines, checking out crafts that I would like to try and registering for the baby shower. I get visitors everyday and I talk to Mike and Leah on the phone constantly!

Dane came to visit me! He's my favorite little man and I love him a ton!!! I can hardly believe that it is almost his birthday! He is going to be 1 in October and I can't wait to give him some play mates!

Gotta keep a good sence of humor!

I do my hair and makeup mostly every day so that I can feel a little more "normal" and to look good for my husband when he comes to see me!

The twins are getting bigger every day! Just this morning I felt some kicking right underneath my ribs. Parker moves the most out of the 2 boys and Daxton gets the hiccups a lot. The nurses put the babies on the fetal monitor 2 times a day and I love hearing their little hearts beating! My stomach just seems to get bigger every single day. I can hardly imagine what I am going to look like once the babies are full term. My current weight is what I weighed when I delivered Natalie and Delaney. It should be interesting to see how huge my tummy will be. The food here at the hospital does get old really fast and I have a hard time eating, especially since I am just laying here, so I am not burning many calories and therefore not very hungry. I tend to take a few bites of each meal and then I have to drink a protein shake 2 times a day. It will all be worth it in the end when our little boys arrive happy and healthy! I am looking forward to my babyshower! My best friend Leah is throwing it for me and I registered at Target for all the things that we are going to need not only for "boys" but also for twins and the baby shower is November 5th!

Staying possitive

2011-09-12T16:12:00.000-07:00

Today has acutally been a really great day! I woke up, pulled open the blinds and saw the sunshine. I had a great breakfast and took my first hospital shower and I even did my makeup. I straightened my hair and some wonderful friends stopped by for a visit. My friend from church Kylie stopped by for a surprise visit and she brought me some pretty pink flowers. Next my best friend Leah came over. (She's my favorite visitor and she visits me ever day) Leah brought me the BEST enchiladas! I have been dying to eat something other than hospital food. And Leah also brought me magazines and a movie. Leah even made some enchiladas for Mike and the girls. She is soooo great! Our friendship is above and beyond anything I could have ever hoped for from a bestfriend. Leah makes me want to be a better person, a better mother, a better wife and a better woman. Love her!
The day passed on after Leah and Dane left and even though Mike has a big test tomorrow, he made time to stop by with the girls so that I could see them for a few minutes. I know that with each day that I wake up I can count on Leah and Michael to come visit, even for a short while, and that is so comforting!

Here are a few pictures of my tiny but cozy hospital room. Eveyday I can count on breakfast, lunch and dinner and 3 snacks which always consist of Strawberries and whipped cream (my favorite)! Thus far I have had really great nurses and there is 1 OB Tech who comes in every nights and visits. He's an older man named John and he has the greatest english twang when he talks. He stops by every evening and we chat for about 20 mins. My night nurses usually have a little more free time than the day time nurses do so they also stop in for a chat. It's really nice to have people come in and spend time with me. I am really determined to not become anti-social thru this experiance. It would be so easy just sit here all day and refuse to see people, but it's not healthy and the days would go by soooo slowly. More than anything else, I want my husband and my children to see that although this is not my first choice and by no means easy, that I am going to keep my chin up and a smile on my face! Either way, I want our baby boys to live and for that to happen, I have to be willing to make the sacrifice of being here and obeying the doctors orders and not only that, but showing that I have faith in The Lord to give me the strength to endure such a long time on bedrest. I believe with all of my heart that Heavenly Father would have never blessed us with twins if he didn't know that I could handle it. He believes in me so I will believe in me too. My body may not be holding up like I want it to but my spirit is unbreakable! I am thankful for each and every day!

Major Changes

2011-09-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

Thursday September 8th, I went for a routine ultrasound to check on the twins and to check my cervix and make sure that my body is holding the babies the way it should. I had an ultrasound at Obstetrix with Dr. Nacasha about 2 weeks before (when we discovered the sex of the twins). At that time, she checked my cervix and warned me that it was short and that I needed to be on strict bedrest or I was putting myself and the twins at risk for preterm labor. I really tried to take it easy but we did just move into a new home last week and I found myself running around and unpacking boxes in order to get things settled. I knew that I was having a rough time but I thought that I was being a wimp and that it was just that my body was sore. Thursday came around and I went to my ultrasound at 9am. The Dr was not happy with me at all. My cervix went from being short, to practically nonexsistant. 2 weeks ago, my cervix was measuring at 33mm. This week it measured at 27mm. This length is dangerous and it's only a matter of time before I go into full blown labor with the twins and at 19 weeks of pregnancy, they have no chance of survival. The doctor imediately sent me to the hospital. I wasn't even allowed to go home to get a few of my things. So I went to Sierra Vista Hospital and was admitted to labor and delivery. I started out in room 306 and last night was moved to a long term room on the 3rd floor (room 310). My room is tiny but I do have a shower and I don't have a room mate.

I spoke with the Dr and she said that I would be up for re-evaluation in a few weeks but if they allowed me to go home, I would have to be on strict bedrest. If the Dr does let me go home, we have to deside if I will actually be able to do strict bedrest or not. So either way, these next 4 months are going to be tough. I am determined to have a good attitude, no matter what happens.

I really miss my girls so very much and this is really hard but the person who I miss most, is my husband!

What we are up to now!

2011-09-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

I came across these old pictures of the girls and I wasn't sure if I had ever posted them, but they sure have grown a lot since, so I figured that they must be pretty old.

Even though the girls look so similar, they have such different personalities and I love watching them grow. I am always on the edge of my seat with the next funny thing they are going to say!

Michael was shooting senior photos last year and I was helping him come up with posses. I looked at these pictures and thought "Was I ever that thin"? HAHA! Once I deliver these twins, it's back to the workout for me!

After an intense year of school, training, work and clinicals, Mike is finally graduating!!! I am sooo proud of him. It was been really tough. You can only miss 1 or 2 days a block is if you get injured, they kick you out. It has been a lot of sleepless nights filled with studying and long hours at school, work and clinicals but he graduates as a Pysch. Tech Nurse and can work in the state hopsital or county mental health. The next step is to finish the California State Nursing Program where he when then have his RN and his PT. Way to go baby! All 5 of us are so proud of you!

Well, guess what???????? You know those little things growing in my tummy that we swore were girls? Well, we were WRONG! They are BOTH BOYS!!! Leah and Mike came to the ultrasound and we were all speachless. Well, actually, Mike jumped about 2 feet out of his chair. I was in complete shock. Nothing in this pregnancy has gone as expected. I am THRILLED to be having not only 1 but 2 sons!!! And thank goodness because I really getting rather tired of pink. Michael and I feel so blessed that The Lord would bless us with both girls and boys and 2 boys in 1 shot! That being said, I am having problems with my cervix holding up. It is super short and the doctors are very concerned about preterm labor. I have to go in every week and having it checked. Dr. Yin assured me that she would try to keep me out of the hospital for as long as possible but eventually she believes that is where I am going to end up.

This is BABY A. (Mike's baby) He got to choose the name.

DAXTON RYKER NICHOLAS PRIOR

And BABY B (Sharla's baby)

PARKER ERIC ROBERT PRIOR

Leah came with me to the ultrasound and she and Mike will be the only people allowed in the opperating room! I had to bribe the Dr. because normally they will only let 1 person in the opperating room. But I said,... "No Leah, No baby"! HAHA!

Natalie (our first daughter) is also named after Leah. NATALIE NOEL LEAH PRIOR.

All of our children have 2 middle names and when naming our little boys, I wanted them to have a name that really means something to me. Leah and Eric have been our best friends for years and years and there is no one that I trust more with my children. We love them and want to honor them. Hence...

Parker ERIC (in honor of Eric Bodily) Robert (in honor of my father) Prior.

So the 2 babies named of the Bodilies;

Parker Eric Robert

Natalie Noel Leah

Leah and I have been doing freezer meals every week and we are having a blast!!! It's soooo much fun! We have made Poulet De Franch, Linguinni alla Anne, Chicken and Broccoli, Wild Rice and Chicken and Aztec Quiche! Both Leah and I bought an extra freezer to accomidate all of our extra cooking!

I told you this would be a long posting. So, while Mike was busy with school and clinicals, Leah and I got the bug to go house hunting. We went and looked at first home and we were not thrilled with it. I was pretty discouraged and was ready to call it quits but Leah insisted that we look at this other home. Thank goodness for her inspiration because we looked at it and we LOVED it! The owner was great, the house was cozy and it was in our budget. As we were looking at the home, 3 other people had shown up and were wanting to apply for it. The owner loved us and although we will have 5 children, she was willing to give it us above the other applicants. Leah was inspired, it's a great home and we love it! It's also only 1 mile from my parents home. My mother has taken on a huge task of helping me with the children while Mike finishes up schooling and I am gettting bigger and bigger with the twins. We are SO BLESSED BY THE LORD to be surrounded by so much love!

We moved in 5 days ago so not everything is where we would like it to be, but it feels like home and with time, we will get everything put where it belongs. Home sweet Home!

When all else fails...

2011-08-14T18:33:00.000-07:00

When all else fails, ...kick, scream and throw your body on the ground! It works for the kids! HAHA!

Summer!

2011-08-13T17:34:00.000-07:00

I came across these pictures of Natalie's gymnastics class at Performance Athletics! I ment to post them a long time ago but they got lost in the shuffle. Natalie did great and she even did a hand stand with mommy!

Already doing hand stands!

Waterslides! A family tradition!

Kelly and Rhonda

Everytime we go to the waterslides, I am pregnant! Here I am pregnant with Scarlett and Layla.

So, we spent the entire day at the waterslides with Shy and Elias, the kids, Kelly, Rhonda and Kristen and Gio. The next day we went to the Mid State Fair with our best friends Eric and Leah and Disney Dane. We always have so much fun with them!

FUNNEL CAKE!!!

We stopped by to check out the animals and Leah and I recalled our days in 4-H when we sold our lambs at the fair. Where do the years go?

We can hardly ever seem to get all 3 girls to look at the camera at the same time but at least this is a current photo. That's all for now!

Girls Girls Girls!

2011-07-29T16:16:00.000-07:00

I ordered 3 shirts from CafePress.com and this one is my favorite! It's a picture of 2 little fighting twins and I get compliments every singe time I wear it!So cute!

I had an ultrasound at a little over 12 weeks and it was first time that Michael actually got a chance to see the twins! It was so great to see them on the ultrasoud. They were moving and wiggling all over the place. Twins really are a miracle!

Michael has always hoped of having a son but he loves his baby girls more than anything in the world!

12 Weeks ultrasound with baby A and baby B looking right at eachother. Although it is a bit earily to be sure, technology is very advanced these days and as far as the Dr. could tell, it looks like we are having 2 more girls! HAHAHAHA!!!! I wish everyone could have seen the look on his face! There is still a small chance that 1 of the babies could be a boy and I believe that Mike is desperately clinging to that though but I honestly don't care. I really want 2 healthy babies and I know Mike does as well but a son would be an added bonus. It takes a special father to have 5 little girls under the age of 5 and I feel blessed to have such an amazing husband!

Baby A

Layla Brielle Marie Prior

Baby B

Scarlett Avaylee Mae Prior

My brother Dan and his wife Kacey celebrated their 15 year wedding anniversery and I wanted to do something special for them. I hand dipped these treats with the help of my awesome nieces Madison and Jordyn. We did marshmellows, peanut butter Oreos, pretzels and strawberries! We used both dark and white chocolate and I melted down some red chocolate as well. I am so blessed to have such a great brother and his wife Kacey is simply amazing! I had a great time making these treats and Madison and Jordyn were such a great help and we really had a lot of fun together!

Way too much fun

2011-07-18T13:56:00.000-07:00

I am having way too much fun looking through all of these funny maternity shirts!!! These crack me up!!! I wish I could order all of these.

Could not have said it better myself!

2011-07-18T09:48:00.000-07:00

I found these T-shirts online and I thought they were a crack up! There were tons more to choose from but I wanted to show just a few. I ordered 3 shirts and I can't wait to show them to Mike! He always gets such a kick out of these things!

Blog Inspired

2011-07-17T18:39:00.000-07:00

Today is my sister, Kacey's birthday and the whole family got together for cake. When we were at her house, my Niece Madison pulled out Kacey's blog book and she and I started looking through it. She has 4 kids and is very busy but she always seems to make time for the things that matter and she is great about updating her blog and then having it printed so that her kids are able to have it to look back on. It inspired me to be more consistant with my own blog and provide our children with documentation of their childhood. So in the spirit of graditude, ...Thank you Kacey for setting a good example for me! You are very loved! So,...here we go. Here are some recent photos....

I had an ultrasound this past week (although I do get them every 2 weeks now) and this is a picture at 11 weeks of pregnancy with the twins. Baby A is measuring about 3 days ahead of Baby B and Baby B is having a few developmental delays. Baby A looks great but Baby B's intestines have not moved down from the umbilical cord. Since it is still earily, this can be common but the Doctor would like to keep and eye on it and so I have an ultrasound again on Friday. At first I was freaked out but I have learned that certain things are completely out of my hands and in God's control and all the stress in the world is not going to change things. So, I let go and let God!

2 little gummy bears staring at each other!

Baby A (closest to the cervix)

Baby B (my little fighter)

Kherrington is such a diva!!

Someone got into the magic markers...again.

Favorite baby names and twin pregnancy update

2011-07-07T11:33:00.000-07:00

I am now 10 weeks pregnant with the twins. They are growing well and developing normally. I go to see Dr. Yin every 2 weeks and I also get an ultrasound every 2 weeks. My mother has been largely been my biggest support. She has come with me to every ultrasound and helps with watching Kherrington. Starting in a few weeks, my mother will be doing preschool and pre-k classes with both Natalie and Delaney for 3 days a week. This pregnancy with the twins has reallt been a bonding experiance and brought my mother and I closer. Going through this experiance has truely shown me the people in my life who I can really count on. I feel so blessed that my mother and father are SO supportive and loving. My mother makes me feel love and accepted. She loves my children and my husband and I feel so proud to be her daughter. I love you Mom! Regardless of who you are, everyone in life needs the support of people around them and as family, if we aren't here to love and support eachother, then we have failed. I want my children to see and learn about the bond between a mother and her daughter and know that no matter what happens in their life, I will ALWAYS be here to love and support them!
I have been thinking about baby names. Since we still do not know the sex of the babies, I have been looking at both boy and girls names. Here are the ones that are at the top of my list...

GIRLS:
-Scarlette
-Alexis
-Gwen
-Layla
-Charlotte
-Kinsly
-Aspen
-Leah
-Ainsley
-Everleigh
-Brielle

BOYS:
-Landon
-Daughlton
-Daniel
-Weston
-Elias
-Paxton
-Noah
-Sawyer
-Deacon

I'm pretty happy with the list of names that we have come up with. Now if these little monkies will cooperate when we have our ultrasound in a few weeks and then we can actually find out the sex of the babies. I must honestly say that if we have twin girls, I will fall over laughing!!!!! Poor Michael. That is an awfu lot of hormones in 1 home. But Michael is an incredible father so I am sure he will hang in there and be a trooper.
Thanks again to my best friend Leah, my mother and my amazing husband for all of your loving support!
UPDATE .....
I had another ultrasound today and both these monkies were moving all over the place!!!! They were dancing and flipping and kicking and it was pretty great!

Holy Smokes!! I could hardly believe it!

2011-06-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

So, who has seen an ultrasound before??? Ever seen one like this?? I sure haven't,...until it happened to me!!

After loosing the last pregnancy in December, I wondered if I even wanted to try for a 4th child. As time crept by, I did finally feel ready to try again, but Mike wasn't so sure. So,...we waited, and then waited and waited a little longer and finally May rolled around and Mike said that he was ready to try for our last child. Since we have 3 children and I have lost 2, then that would make this pregnancy our 6th. We concieved right away and I found out pretty early on that I was expecting. My Dr. ran some blood tests and said that my hormones were really high and everything looked good. Well as luck might have it, I started having some pain in my left side so I went into the emergency room to have it checked out. They did an ultrasound and lo and behold,......twins!!! I almost passed out from the shock. I actually didn't believe the Dr. at first and it took a lot of convincing and time to actually believe it. Why would there be 2? I have been pregnant 5 times and there has never been more than 1 baby in there. My skin got cold and clamy and I began to freak out a little bit. Mike wasn't even with me, he was at home with our 3 children. So I called him and told him the big news. Mike actually didn't believe me at first!!! I have been know to mess with him so he assumed that I was playing one of my many jokes on him, but no, I was serious. He was thrilled and I was freaked out!!! As I prayed for the safety of these 2 little souls, a comfort washed over me and I felt God's love. Regardless of the success of this pregnancy or not, this was part of His diving plan for our family and I was given a sacred calling. I was filled with gratitude that He would choose me for such an important mission such as this. I went home and called my mother. I was scared to tell anyone. I feared the judgement of others, especially our family as I knew how they felt about me having more children. Regardless, I knew I had to tell them. When I told my mother she burst into laughter!!! She said, " You know that your Grandmother is a twin?! " Ummm...no!!! I had no idea!!! Even still, if I had known, I don't think that I ever would have believed that it would happen to me. I had all singleton pregnancies so would never really be a reason to expect fraternal twins. But I felt comforted and relieved that she was so supportive and I felt that The Lord had softened her heart. Next was my brother,...this was not going to be fun. I was more afraid to tell him than anyone else, so I took a deep breath, said a prayer and gave him a call. As I asked him if he knew that twins ran in our family, he said no and I could tell that he didn't really know where I was headed with the conversation. So, out with it I came. He didn't have much to say, mainly because he was also in shock (as was I) and so he just absorbed all that I had to share. I knew that was concerned for me, expecially after the post pardom hemorage that had happened after delivering Kherrington. After we got off the phone he text messaged me and said that he loved me and The Lord would never give me more than I could handle. That is exactly what I needed to hear. I needed the support of my big brother. I have always looked up to him and so his support meant the world to me. Regardless of wiether he support this or not, he stood by me and that is priceless. We informed all of Michael's family and they were all very supportive as well. The Lord had softened the hearts of those we love to support us in this journey and I felt His love surrounding me. I took my mother with me to the 2nd ultrasound and she had a blast seeing the babies! It's still pretty earily but thus far, everything looks great! Our girls know that mommy has 2 babies in her belly and they are all very excited. I have gotton over the shock and I am doing everything in my power to show our little girls that although we are adding to our family, that they are still loved and appriciated as individuals and sisters. Mike continues to push forward through the Physch Tech program and I am doing my best to get through the morning sickness and choke down enough calories to help these babies grow. I feel blessed by the support system that we have in place. The most supportive person besides my husband and my mother has been my Best Friend Leah! I knew from the moment I told her that she would be there for me, as she has always been. And she had the best responce out of ANYONE!!!! I believe her first words were ..."Can I have one?" HAHA!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE her! People wish their whole lifetime for a friendship like ours! She has been a constant force for good in my life and she is honestly the most fun person that I know!

I am 8 weeks along with the twins (although if you took a look at my belly, you would probably think that I was more like 20 weeks), and the doctors are keeping a very close eye on me. As I enjoy every moment of this final pregnancy, I feel BLESSED!!!!

Natalie's Oral Surgery

2011-05-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago Natalie had oral surgery. Poor baby had a cavity in one of her molars. Since a 3 year old won't hold still while you stick anything in their mouth, she was put to sleep at the hospital and the dental work took place in the opperating room. While this was going on, I actually had an absessed tooth that was so badly infected that it couldn't be pulled right away. It took 2 rounds of antibiotics and a bunch of percocet to get my face to return normal again. Natalie did great as well. She was so brave and Grandpa Bob was even there for love and support. And I swear, we do actually brush our teeth! HAHA! Just a case of bad timing I guess. Thankfully we are all healthy now!

Happy 30th Birthday Michael

2011-04-16T14:27:00.000-07:00

Michael turned 30! And he had a magical birthday at our favorite place,...Disneyland!

Disney Girls

2011-04-04T14:52:00.000-07:00

After our most recent trip to Disneyland, Mike felt it was time for a tea party and took these pictures of the girls all dressed up in their Disney garb. Everytime we go to Disneyland, the kids pick out a new dress and wear it around the theme park all day long. Natalie has submitted multiple requests to sleep in her princess dresses, to which I continue to refuse! Ha Ha! But I have to hand it to her for persistance. This last trip was short. I surprised Mike early for his 30th birthday! I will be posting those photos later but for now, these pics are pretty entertaining!

Pierced Ears

2011-04-02T20:29:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Mike and I desided to get the girls ears pierced. They all did great! Natalie didn't even cry and Kherrington and Delaney did well too and they are all happy campers!

Its a bippity boppity birthday for Leah!

2011-03-05T08:50:00.000-08:00

Best Friends are supposed to do everything together right? Including getting older! Welcome to Club 29 Leah!

Kherrington has and always will love Eric. They have a special bond!

Not only was this Leah's actual birthday but it was also Disney Dane's first time to Disneyland! And to top it all off, the last time that Leah and I went to Disneyland together was when we were in the 6th grade! Good fun was about to be had!

Eric was such an awesome trooper that he watched both kids so that Leah and I could go on the Tower of Terror!

Kherra, always right at home in Eric's lap.

Ok, so when I wasn't looking, Lean and Eric got ahold of my camera. The funniest part, I didn't see these pictures until we had gotton home from the park and put then on my computer! Ha Ha Ha! I had no idea that they had taken these!

$6 corndog!

Disney Dane is amazing but at the end of the day, he was so tired that he had a bit of a Disney meltdown :(

Poor guy!

I had an awesome time! I love the Bodilys! Happy Birthday Leah!

Baby of mine

2011-02-16T14:06:00.000-08:00

Ok confession,...while I am thankful that my body is healing and that things seem to be getting back to "normal", I have found myself carried away in deap thought at certain times of the day. It does feel good to just be healthy and to have a break from pregnancy, I do still think about how we lost our baby. I am not torn apart inside like I was before, but I do still think of our child and I would have loved her and held her in my arms. And yes, I do say "her" because from the moment I got pregnant I felt asthough it would be another girl and given our track record, I am pretty sure that I would have been right. A couple of weeks ago I heard the song "Baby of mine" and I felt a tiny little piece of my heart sink down into my stomach. I held our girls close and I thanked The Lord for all that I had been blessed with and then asked if He could help me to find closure. I think that I was trying so hard to pretend that I had never been pregnant or hadn't lost the pregnancy that I didn't allow myself to accept it and get closure on our loss. So, what would grant me this closure???? I prayed and I got a strong impression to give our baby that left us too soon, a name. She was afterall still my child and just because I can't hold her here and now, I know that I will see her in Heaven someday and we will all be together as an eternal family. I had a miscarrage before I got pregnant with Natalie and although it wasn't easy, I didn't have a real emotional attachment to that pregnancy. But with this pregnancy, I did actually loose a baby, one that I seen moving and kicking around inside me from the ultrasound. I saw her sucking her thumb and I saw her tiny feet. So since I felt I knew her, it really was only fitting that I give her a name and that way I could have something to call her and so that I could remember her and so that she would someday know that she was wanted and loved. So I named her. I did it without Mike and I actually didn't talk to him about it until the other day even though I name her weeks ago. I named her Emily. Why Emily? I have no idea. It just came to me but I love it. Emily Avvalie Mae Prior. I guess by naming her, I feel that I haven't completely lost her and as her mother, I want to carry a little piece of her with me, everywhere I go. I want her to know how loved she would have been and how Natalie would come kiss my belly and say that she loved our baby. Emily, please know that mommy, daddy your sisters will ALWAYS remember you. We will never ever forget you and even though we are coming closer and closer to having closure, it doesn't mean that we are coming closer to forgetting you. We love you. I love you and I miss you. As hard as it is to write these feelings down, I want to remember you and to remember all that has happened in my life, not only for myself but for our children. To those who have comforted me during this hard time, please know how greatful I am. And to Emily,.....mommy loves you.

More Disneyland Pictures

2011-02-09T19:51:00.000-08:00

Disneyland Vacation

2011-02-06T22:49:00.000-08:00

Mike had a break in between blocks so we took our first family vacation which consisted of 5 straight days of Disneyland. I have to admit that at first I was completely intimidated at the thought of taking all 3 kids but I was also up to the challenge. We had an amazing time. Now due to the fact that I am overcome with exhaustion, I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Ok, so this next picture is actually of us on the Pirates of the Carribean ride and it actually broke down in the midst of a dark tunnel. Insted of freaking out,....Natalie, Delaney and Kherrington ALL fell asleep!!!!! My kids are awesome!

Happy 5 year anniversery to Michael and I!

Auntie Shy even came on the last day to help out with the kids! Awesome Sister!

This was the most fun that I can remember having on a family vacation! I am still in disbalief that the girls did as well as they did! I am already chomping at the bit to go back!!! Disneyland,...The happiest place on earth (Besides the Prior home)

On the road to recovery

2011-01-21T22:54:00.000-08:00

My goodness things have been hectic and crazy over this past month. In the past 30 days I have 3 operations, stayed in the hospital for 3 days and had 4 visits to the emergency room. Holy cow, my poor body is exhausted! After having 2 D&C surgeries from loosing our pregnancy, I returned home and resumed my motherly duties but was plagued with horrific back pain.I had only experienced pain like this one time in my life, when I was in labor with Natalie. The doctor assumed that this pain was associated with the normal Recovery from loosing the pregnancy and that it should go away soon. Weeks went by and the pain only got worse and worse until I could no longer take it and I called the doctor once again and she ran some more tests. The diagnosis was a full blown kidney infection so they treated it with antibiotics. That didn't help and the pain continued. I found myself being rushed to the emergency room to now rule out a kidney stone but I left pumped full of morphine and without answers. A few days later, I was back in the ER with more pain and again, they began to run more and more tests but finally we had some answers. After a CT scan and an ultrasound we discovered that not only did I in fact have a kidney stone but I also had 4 cysts on my right ovary (that were small in size) and 1 large cyst on my left ovary that actually began to bleed in on it's self. This cyst was hitting a nerve that was causing tremendous pain in my back and because it had disguised its self as a kidney infection, kidney stone and as possible pain related to the miscarriage, it had gone undiagnosed for so long. After spending 8 hours in the Emergency room on Sunday January 16th, they found the cyst and recommended that I stay in the hospital overnight but I wanted so badly to be at home with my husband and kids so I left and my doctor called me the next day and surgery was scheduled for the following morning, Tuesday January 18th. Dr. Yin went in laporscopically and removed the cyst and was able to spare my ovary! So I am now recovering from the surgery with 3 small incisions that are now closed by stitches. Recovery is painful but not at all as bad as before I had the surgery and its totally tolerable. I think that I have certainly had my fill of hospitals for a while.

Since I am beginning to feel much better, I promised the girls that we would bake cookies together. We had a blast but in the mayhem of it all, I didn't add enough flour and the cookies were flat as pancakes. I had to throw them all away but it was completely worth it. I will have to make another batch tomorrow but the girls were great helpers and we had so much simple fun just baking and being together as a family. Afterwards we all sat together and watched a movie. I am grateful to be recovering and to be able to have these wonderful moments with our children!

Getting to know you

2011-01-12T21:51:00.000-08:00

This has been an extremely long and rewarding day. I have spent hours upon hours straightening, cleaning, organizing, and mothering that it feels like my legs can hardly support the weight of my body. I wanted the house to be spotless for Mike. He has spent endless hours studying and working and interning and fathering and I wanted to show him how much I appreciated all that he has done so I have worked myself crazy to conquer every laundry pile and dirty dish in our home. Since today was a shorter day at home for me, I had less time to accomplish this task. I went with Natalie's class to see the Monarch Butterflies in Grover Beach. After enjoying our outing, I came home and went immediately to work. Kherrington didn't nap today so it was much more of a juggling act than I thought it would be. So I worked and worked, picked up the girls from school and spent a wonderful evening with them as I continued to pick up around them so as to not be derailed from my cleaning prodject. Now has come bed. It is 8:41pm and I have been trying for over an hour to get our 2 big girls Natalie and Delaney to sleep. I have run back and forth between rooms bringing water and shooshing cries. I am filled with exhaustion and becoming discouraged as my poor tired children continue to fight sleep. Natalie asked if I would "Snuggle me and tickle her back" and as I laid next to her and rubbed her back, she passed out. I spent an hour trying to all I could to satisfy her and Delaney and all it took was single moment of close and careful attention from Mommy to comfort her and give her the security she needed to drift off to sleep. I dragged my tired feet off to Delaney's room and put her back in bed for the hundreth time.I tried to lay with her. Nope, she didn't like that.I tried to tickle her back. Nope, didn't want to be touched.In fact at one point during all my efforts, Delaney actually looked at me and said "Momma, walk away". Finally something whispered to me and I moved over into Natalie's bed, reached out my hand and held Delaney's little hand in mine, 2 minutes later and she was fast asleep. Just then an overwhelming feeling love of motherly love shot from my heart and dowm my arm, straight into her tiny hand and directly to her sweet little heart. I was feeling the all encompasing love of a mother. The kind of love that flows strongly through your body and gives you such strength as to cause you to bench press a house!!!! My heart raced and I was flooded with thoughts of my own mother as she rocked and comforted me as a child. I love that each one our girls are so different in their needs and in their loving spunky personality. They each need to be comforted in a different way but still equally. It amazing how this kind of love makes your heart feel like is so full that it could burst. Children are a challenge, that is no lie. I can tell why some animals actually eat their own younge :) I have to say that each and every hardship that any my motherhood journey may require are so completely worth it and so satifying that I can't even begin to picture my life without the love of our daughters. At the end of this day as I miss Michael with all my heart and I wait for him to return home so that we can retire together, I feel that I am joining the ranks of the poineer mothers of old who spent countless hours baking and keeping house and caring for the children. What an honor it is to be a member of such a grand tradition and such an amazing calling as this. I think about Emma Smith and all that she had to endure as a wife and a mother and it makes me want to be a better person the next day, and the next. I thank God everday for my family and how everyday I am able to learn more and more about each of my daughters and to know then each as individuals. I believe that I have poured every last ounce of energy into recording these scattered thoughts and now I will await the arrival of Mike. Goodnight.
PS.The sole purpose I am continueing to blog is simply to have a journal for our children to look back on so although filled with poor grammer and completely scattered with no format and horrible spelling,....I will continue to blog away.

Gone too soon

2011-01-07T12:42:00.000-08:00

December 23rd I went into Dr. Yin for my OBGYN check up for our new little baby and found that our sweet little baby had left us. There was no longer a heartbeat. Our baby had a heartbeat just 3 weeks before and then at almost 10 weeks old, our baby died. So at 3 months along, we discovered this and just before Christmas so I was taken in that same day at Sierra Vista Hospital for a D&C surgery and was able to go home the same day. At that time, I don't think that it had all really sunk in. We still went out to breakfast for my birthday the next morning and life went on as usual. Christmas day was pretty rough. Michael had to work and I was feeling pretty lonely. The girls were wild with excitement and running all over and Michael had a very challenging day at work. I longed for him to be by my side so that he and I could be together with our beautiful girls as a family. As the day dragged on and I had brought the girls home to nap, I sat alone. It was tough but I felt comforted by The Lord. By the end of the day when Michael had arrived home from work, I was in a lot of pain and extremely tired but I wanted to put on a happy face for our children and the rest of our family. We went to dinner at my brother's house and didn't stay long. We came home and let the girls open up their mountain of gifts! Seeing the excitement on their sweet little faces was incredible! They are such angels! Natalie jumped up and down and screamed with excitement for her sisters! She is a great big sister and is always loving with Delaney and Kherrington. After we put the girls to bed, Michael and I opened our gifts to eachother and then passed out for the night. The next day, I was in a lot of pain. My tummy was cramping and my lower back hurt so badly. I felt like I was in labor and was bleading heavily. Michael drove me to the emergency room where they discovered that I had a blood clot in my uterus that needed to be removed immediately. They took me to the opporating room right away and I stayed in the hospital for 2 days afterwards to be observed. As my hormones have been dropping back off and returning to normal, I am experiancing all the typical symptoms that anyone who had just delivered a baby would,...night sweats, strange dreams and really large hormones swings. Lots and lots of tears and feelings of wondering and of loss. I find myself praying and reflecting a lot on what may have gone wronge. I know that all mothers who have lost a baby must wonder this and it is almost always something that could not be prevented. All things will happen in God's time and according to His plan. But I can't help but wonder. I find myself clinging to our children and hugging on the constantly, so thankful that they were born into our home and have filled our lives with such joy. I find myself feeling very lonesome, missing Michael as he puts in long days at school and work and feeling the ups and downs of loosing a baby. I feel misunderstood by many, who can't understand how I could possibly feel a void in my life when I have 3 children and a wonderful husband. This pregnancy came to us as a surprise and left us the same way. I found myself so sick with nausia and unable to do most of the daily activities that I had done before. I didn't know if I wanted to be pregnant again at that time as I knew with Michael so busy that it would extremely challenging and overwhelming for me. As we learned of our loss, I felt sad that I had been bitter about the pregnancy in the begining. Guilt and sadness washed over me and as the days have gone on, I find that the hormone swings often leave me in tears and not wanting to be near anyone who is pregnant. No one who has never lost a baby can begin to understand how it feels. And there are so many emotions that go along with that type of loss and helplessness. Soon after loosing this baby, I learned of one of my best friends who was 8 months pregnant, and lost her baby as well. I have been feeling so much sadness for her loss as well.She is one of the kindest people I know and to think that she was having to experiance such a loss as well has been emotional to say the least. Her strength and patience gives me strength. Her love makes me feel loved and her faith to our Father in Heaven teaches me and reminds me of my own faith. I think of the many mothers that have gone before us and have loved and lost their own children. My mind has been spinning with all the loss that has surrounded us this past year with the loss of Jared and and now our baby and the loved ones of our dearest friends. But I am reminded that life does go on and that God does love us and wants to comfort His children. When we are at times of helplessness we must turn to Him as we must do at all times, in all things and in all places. With all that we are going through, I am so thankful to have His comforting spirit beside me. Kherrington is crying now so I must return to my motherly duties but I am thankful for the chance to record my experiance to look back upon. I will love The Lord My God in all things I do and Praise Him. When I spoke with my girl friend who has just lost her baby and she told me that she had read a book called Gone too Soon, and that is exactly how I feel,...gone too soon.

The end of 2010, the begining of 2011 and everything in between

2011-01-07T12:09:00.000-08:00

Some time ago I had taken a photo from our wedding and given it to a local artist and he caputred the moment perfectly!

So this year for Christmas I had him paint a portrait of all 3 girls!

Michael's gift to me this year! A Christest! I love it!

Rachel Ray pots and pans!

Michael and I give eachother a gag gift every year that we open the evening of Christmas Eve. My gift this year,...a snuggie, with monkies! I gave him a bathroom reader book since he spends most of his time in there anyway! Ha Ha!

Mike is putting together play stuff for his girls. Such a good daddy!

We all took a trip out in our jammies! I got 2 new pairs of footed jammies for christmas and I was happy to wear them out and about.

Kherrington's Stats

2010-12-22T07:17:00.000-08:00

Kherrington's 1 year stats

Height 29 inches (15%)
Weight 18.9 pounds (o%)

Kherra is so small, our other girls. She is not even on the charts for her weight. I am constantly trying to stuff her with as many calories as possible to pack some weight on her tiny frame. She is such a sweet lille girl that is extremely sweet and loving. She is mellow and cuddly! I love to just lay with her as she puts her head on my shoulder. Sush a little angel!

Odds and Ends

2010-12-18T14:51:00.000-08:00

It has been raining cats and dogs and all 3 girls and I have been stuck in the house. Lets just say that there not a moment for boredom. This much needed rest has been good for Natalie, since she has been sick and home from school all week long. She has been on antibiotics for a ear infection and upper respitory infection. Thankfully she is feeling better. Now if I can keep the other 2 girls from getting sick!
Natalie isn'tthe only one feeling better,...Yup I have made it over the morning sickness!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It makes it extrmemly challenging to care for our girls while I am looking for a place to vomit. Now that I am feeling better, I am really enjoying the pregnancy!!!! Most everyone keeps asking about the sex of the baby, and I have an ultrasound on January 6th. The Doctor has been able to tell the sex of all our babies at 14 weeks so we might get lucky. (But I am fairly certain it's another girl)
Kherrington took her first steps (without being encouraged to do so) today. I looked over at her and there she went, walking across the livingroom floor! I hope so begins to do this on a more regular basis. She is surely a baby that prefers to crawl. Natalie walked at 13 months and Delaney walked at 11 months and Kherrington is 13 months today so she is fitting in like a little round peg!
Mike's schedule is extremely hectic. He is at work Monday, Wednesday and Saturday and has clinicals on Tuesday and Thursday and school Monday thru Friday. We don't get much time together but this sacrifice with be well worth it. I am hoping to make it through with my sanity intact! :)
Delaney and Natalie are OBSESSED with Dora the Explorer.I have seen every episode at least 3 times but Natalie counted from 1 to 5 in spanish the other day and I was cracking up!
So those are the various updates from the Prior family! Never a dull moment!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-13T19:02:00.000-08:00

My very talented husband took these pictures of the girls in their christmas dresses that Grandma and Grandpa Reynolds sent!

I'm Pregnant! Ta Da!!!!

2010-12-08T14:07:00.000-08:00

About 5 weeks ago, I was feeling pretty crummy,...mood swings, upset stomach, OVERLY sensitive. Diagnosis? Yup, pregnancy! It was a bit of a shock at first but now that the shock has subsisded, it has turned into joy and we are pleased to be adding to our wonderful family. Do I think it's a boy?? Not a chance. Sorry Mike! Ha Ha! Of course, if I am wrong then I will be giving our son an apology but I am fairly certain that we will be having girl#4. We don't care what we have, as long as we have a healthy baby. I recall hearing that many times from other mothers (before I had children) and I always thought.......LIER!! Surely she wants one sex over another. But now that it's mine turn to reproduce, it really is true and I certainly am so pleased to welcome any child that The Lord sees fit to bless us with. I am due July 13, 2011. I don't think that we could have asked for more. I feel so extremely blessed. (Not to bragg) but I pretty much got what I have always wanted. I will be 29 this month, and I have served my country, gotton married to my best friend, and before I am 30 I will have 4 amazing children. What an incredible journey life is. I am thankful everyday for all the joys that we recieve at The Lord's hands. I often feel undiserving of His endless love but none the less,...I am so glad to have Christ in our home!

Would you?

2010-11-06T16:45:00.000-07:00

I have recieved both support and backlash for my previous posting. To those who find me "kind of a mess" and you feel that I use my 3 beautiful children simply as an excuse,.....I say this....First of all, I have 3 children. It's a fact, not an excuse. They are beautiful and wild and all mine. They are not a mistake or an accident and NOT an excuse. Secondly, did you know that PTSD actually permanently alters the brain by shrinking the Hippocampus. Don't believe me? Google it! I did. Here is just one article I found.

It's Not Just Psychological

While such symptoms are commonly understood to be psychological problems, some or all of them may well be related to the physical effects of extreme stress on the brain.
Recent studies have shown that victims of childhood abuse and combat veterans actually experience physical changes to the hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in learning and memory, as well as in the handling of stress.(5) The hippocampus also works closely with the medial prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain that regulates our emotional response to fear and stress. PTSD sufferers often have impairments in one or both of these brain regions. Studies of children have found that these impairments can lead to problems with learning and academic achievement.
Other typical symptoms of PTSD in children, including fragmentation of memory, intrusive memories, flashbacks, dissociation (or the unconscious separation of some mental processes from the others, e.g., a mismatch between facial expression and thought or mood), and pathological ("sick") emotions, may also be related to impairment of the hippocampus.(6) Damage to the hippocampus, which processes memory, may explain why victims of childhood abuse often seem to have incomplete or delayed recall of their abusive experiences

So, here is my question.....If I came home missing an arm, a leg, a hand, or had half my face blown off, would you treat me differently? Would you cut me just a little more slack? Would you feel more sympathy? Let me assure you,...I am wounded. The only difference, is my war wounds are internal. Be not mistaken, just because you can't see it, doesn't mean that it isn't there. So, to those who find me to be an unfit mother/wife/friend/daughter/sister, please remember this.....I have deep scars just like those who were hit by the shrapnel. So, would you please be more understanding and cut me some slack? Because just as others have to go to physical therapy, I require a different kind of therapy and it really does involve the love and support of those around me.

Naked

2010-11-03T21:58:00.000-07:00

Who am I really? This thought has been weighing on my mind more and more everyday. And every time I sit down to write this,...I inevitably find a reason not to. Avoidance, that's my thing. If I am not ready to deal with it,...I simply avoid it. I have PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Surprised to find out? Many who know me aren't surprised at all. They know I have it, and why (I served in Iraq 2003 to 2004), but what no one really understands is how serious it is and just how much it effects my daily life. So, why don't people know the whole story? The TRUE story? I go to great lengths to hide it. Why? I feel embarrassed, exposed, judged, scrutinized,and well for lack of a better term, Naked. Even my family doesn't know the extent of my experiences and how they affect my day to day life. I am extremely selective with what I share and with whom. So, why share this now?? Perhaps journaling these things will not only give others a better understanding of what I have been through, but will also give me a sense of closure. OK, so with that being said, lets get on with it.

I got deployed at 21 years old. No kids, no husband, no apartment left behind. I prepared myself for the things that I was going to see, the split second choices I would have to make and guilt that I would have to live with.

Things didn't go as I imagined they would. Things seldom do, but from the moment I left home, my "war" began. I just wasn't prepared that the enemy that I would be fighting, would be wearing the same uniform as me. My fellow soldiers, higher ranking officers and non-commissioned officers Physically, Emotionally, Mentally and Sexually abused me. And enduring that type of constant abuse over an extended period of time leaves deep deep scars that manifest themselves in the form of nightmares, flashbacks, fear of male authoritarians and agoraphobia. Without going into grave detail I will say this,...yes, I am responsible for a death that occurred, yes, I have survivors guilt, and the question that seems to weigh on everybody mind,....Did I actually kill anyone?? Put any rounds down range?? Sorry, but that is not a question that I am willing to answer. But those are the things I was prepared for. I didn't expect my attack to come from "friendly fire", the people I was supposed to be able to trust. As an attempt to gain some closure from these pains I wrote a letter to one person in particular who really made my life miserable. Here it is....just to let you know, I sent it via facebook and he never responded back to it, but he did in fact delete his profile (an admission of guilt? Who knows...) I sent this sometime in September.

KO, I have thought long and hard about these things in which I am about to share with you. It has been 6 years since our return from Iraq, but sometimes it still seems like yesterday. My life and the woman I am are very different from the young girl that I once was, but I am still haunted by the malicious things that you put me through. It's no secret that you never liked me, even from the beginning. I knew you had it out for me from the moment we hit the ground at Bragg. I was a young private in the US Army and you were my NCO. I was counting on you to guide and teach me. Instead I got a cocky E5 looking for ANY reason to make an example out of me for whatever reason possible. The only thing that you ever taught me was to fear you. As an NCO, you should desire those soldiers under you to trust you and to look to you for guidance. I remember the night that you called Leandra and I downstairs in the hotel. Leandra and I were virtually being interrogated by you and even when we told you the truth, you yelled in my face and repeatedly asked me why I was lying to you. I wasn’t. I was telling you the truth. You then said “I don’t feel that you are prepared for this mission and I don’t want you on my team, so I have requested that you be sent back home”. Do you remember this? Leandra and I do. I knew then that if we were ever were to encounter the enemy, you would have no regard for my safety. You hated me and you made it very clear that my physical and emotionally well being were of no importance to you. You treated me inhumanely. I know that you felt that you were only doing your job, however I don’t feel that being a leader requires a “God complex”. You not only looked for any reason or excuse to “write me up”, but actually enjoyed doing so. And you clearly had a problem with woman being in the military. I feel that you see all woman as beneath you. I know that you love your wife, but you used to say (back when we were drilling in Santa Barbara) to the other soldiers “Oh, this place is so awesome. The girls here are hot. This county has the highest percentage of girls with eating disorders.” I am sorry, but that simply disgusts me. How could a man, who claims he loves The Lord, be so hateful and horrible to another human being? I was always too afraid to speak up to you. I allowed you to instill so much fear in me. I know that these things were intentionally meant to hurt me because there were countless soldiers who were drinking, fornicating and committing adultery and participating in other unauthorized behaviors and never once did you speak a word to them about it. You tried to show your leadership power over me and you used me by constantly riding me, to show how “powerful” you were. I know that Andrews chastised you for the way you were treating me. I am sharing these things with you, because for the past 6 years, this has affected my life negatively. The emotional trauma that you have caused has left deep scars. I only hope that you never treat another soldier the way you treated me. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about what you put me through. I was prepared to see death and I was prepared to take a life, should it be required of me, but I wasn’t prepared to be betrayed by my own “team leader”. My guess is that you were scared and trying figure out how to balance your power and didn’t intend to cause long term trauma, but the fact of the matter is,…you have. I am not looking for an apology or even a response. I need closure. I need you to know that you destroyed me inside and I hope that you never do it to another person ever again. I was so afraid of you, that there were times that I was hoping that I would fall victim to enemy fire, just to get away from you so you wouldn’t dump all over me. KO, you seem to be a good man deep down. I know there is good in you. There is good in all of us, and for the sake of the soldiers under you, please have a heart and teach them, don’t make them obey because they fear you. Make them obey because they trust you. I hurt everyday because of what you did to me, but it also taught me compassion for others. You made me feel cast out, inhuman, unworthy to fight for my country. You hurt me in a way that I have never been hurt before and I needed you to know that. This letter is not intended to hurt you, but is step in giving me closure. I have nightmares of being deployed with you again and it scares me. Due to all of this, I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder but I am determined to overcome it and being a good mother to my children and a good wife to my husband. Thank you for reading this and allowing me to have closure. ~Sharla Prior (Cohen)

Today I went to my therapy appointment and a man came busting into the waiting room and loudly slammed the door behind him. I must have made a sound since it startled me. He looked at me, gave me the stink eye and proceeded to shower me with obscenities and inform me that if I was so jumpy that I should go to another F*ing hospital because he was going to "say whatever the F* he wanted to and act in whatever F*ing that he felt fit to act. Then he turned and walked toward me, (this is the part where I practically wet my pants) and then turned and flopped down into a chair across the waiting room. I immediately burst into tears and was escorted to another room where I literally was in hysterics for a good 45mins. Perhaps someone who hasn't endured the things that I have may have reacted differently, but for me,....it was very traumatizing. Also my current therapist is no longer going to be seeing patients as she has moved onto other things, which leaves me having to start all over again,...at square 1 with a new therapist. I had been seeing Dr. Kelly Condon for the past 6 years and over that time, a lot of trust was built. She helped me to realise that I do have triggers, such as....the heat, Authoritative Male figures, any sort of controversy, and that I avoid and emotionally shut down when I get over whelmed. It's called fight or flight syndrome. Sometimes I just go numb and I don't feel happy, I don't feel sad, I just don't feel anything. Starting over with a new therapist makes me feel Naked. Writing this makes me feel me feel Naked. But my deepest hope is that it will help those who know me, to know me better and to understand me better. Because really we all need compassion and we all need to be understood.

Disney Dane

2010-10-27T13:11:00.000-07:00

My best friend is officially a mommy! Welcome to the club Leah! Leah delivered baby Dane and they officially became a family of 3. I must say, Dane is perfect! I love that little boy! I like to refer to him as "Disney Dane" and probably will continue to do so until he is old enough to tell me that he doesn't like it!

I had to steal some snuggle time for a moment. What a little angel! There is just something about being around a baby that is so fresh from heaven that just makes you want to melt.

Mike bought this vintage baby carraige and Leah and I covered in harvest garb. I think it came out pretty cute. Oh, by the way, these are not the actual "edited" photos. Mike is super busy with school but I was aching to post some.

So here we are,....I am about to be 29 (yikes) and we have been best friends for 23 long years. What else can I say, we are family, we are friends, and we are mothers! Congrats Leah & Eric. I am so happy for you both!

An earily Christmas Surprise!

2010-10-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

Ok so this is the kitchen that our girls have been playing with. Pretty sad huh? We found it sitting next to the dumpster in our apartment complex so we grabbed it and cleaned it up and the girls were happy to have it. We had been hoping to get the girls a much nicer kitchen for Christmas, when Grandpa Ken and Grandma Lana surprised us with this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ken and Lana made (yes, that's right,...I said made) this beautiful wooden kitchen by hand, out of an old entertainment center. It took weeks and weeks and then Grandpa Ken took the time to throw it in his truck and drive all the way from St. George, Utah and bring it for the girls. I wish we had taken pictures of the looks on their faces. Natalie and Delaney immediately dove into this kitchen. And Natalie (such a little hourder) said over and over "Laney need to go night night. I wanna play my kitchen!" Ha Ha! She never wants to share.

So, as you can see, there was A LOT of work that went into creating this kitchen. It was a dishwasher, an oven, stovetop, fridge, freezer and all the nobs turn and it even has a picture looking "outside", to appear as a window. It's all topped off with a super sweet valance and the girls and Michael and I could not feel more loved or more greatful!

Looking at the 2 kitchens side by side. I am so greatful for all of the hard work that was put into making this kitchen and the joy that it brings to my heart to watch all 3 girls as they play together! When big sisters Natalie and Delaney are at school all day, Kherrington loves to play in the kitchen too! We donated the other kitchen to another family at Natalie's school and they were pleased to have it as well!

Thank you Grandma Lana and Grandpa Ken for our new kitchen! We love it!

Unexpected Surprise

2010-09-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

This award was delivered to my door yesterday and after opening it, I broke into tears. It really feels good to be honored for my time in service, and we will be mounting this on our wall at home. And the best part? My wonderful husband is so proud of me!

Something new, Something different, Something edgy

2010-09-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

Flowers by Bloom N Grow Floral, Make up by Kelly Sterkel, Hair by Kim & Co. Salon and photos taken by my amazing Husband Michael of A Prior Memory Photography.

Mike and I were brainstorming and desided that I wanted to try some edgy bridal shots. This is going to be an on going process where we will be doing multiple photo shoots where we "Trash the Dress". We have had many inquires for those who wish to participate so we are really looking forward to working on this project together. I am hoping to jump into a pool in my dress which should effectively destroy what is left of my wedding gown. It's bitter-sweet to destroy my dress but to be truely honest my "real" wedding dress is the one I wore in the Temple, when Michael and I were sealed for Time and All Eternity.

Growing growing growing

2010-09-09T13:42:00.000-07:00

The days, weeks, months and even years seem to fly by faster than ever! Our girls have grown up so much! Natalie is potty trained, Delaney loves preschool and Kherrington is crawling all over the place and almost 1 year old. Does anyone know what that means? That means that we will have a 1, 2 & 3 year old. I think that it so cool and such an amazing blessing from Heavenly Father. I have married my best friend, Michael Prior, and we have brought 3 beautiful girls into this world. What can I say other than The Lord has blessed us.

Oh poop

2010-08-26T14:01:00.000-07:00

Last night Natalie really wanted candy. She kept asking for it over and over and over again. "Mama, I want candy". I told her that if she wanted candy that she would have to go pee pee in the potty. She ran to the bathroom and sat on the potty and tried and tried but no success. She got off the potty and cried. I told her not to worry and that she could try again in another 20 mins. Time passed by and we asked her "Natalie, you wanna try again to go on the potty and if you do, then you can have a treat"? She quickly responded "Yup" and ran to the bathroom. Moments later I heard a rather loud sound of someone "breaking wind" (for lack of a better term) and she screamed "I DID IT!!!" Houston...we have poo poo (in the potty)!!!!! And needless to say, Natalie did get her treat. I did not include photos in order to spare anyone's vomit reflex.

Our Boboli BBQ Pizza Party

2010-08-24T12:57:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome time grilling up pizzas courtesy of Boboli pizza and houseparty.com! They sent us a package with everything we needed to grill up a good time. We tried a few of their recipes and made up a few of our own. All in all it was a success and we had a great time. Thank you to all that attended and made our party a blast. After trying pizza on the grill, I'm not sure that I will ever go back and eat it the normal baked way again. Our favorite? We made our own recipe of chicken, garlic, onion and Alfredo. It was incredible!

Mommy got a boo boo

2010-08-20T16:32:00.000-07:00

So while Mike was at the gym (this morning), I got up and got ready to take a shower. As I got into the shower, I put Kherrington on the floor with some toys, so that she would be entertained. After I finished my shower, I got out and put on my bathrobe and grabbed a towel for my hair. Then, I flung my head forward to wrap it up in a towel and ...WHACK!!!! I immediately fell to the floor and felt discombobulated and confused. Then blood started to run down my face and onto the floor. I called Michael and and picked me up and took me to the emergency room at French Hospital. To spare all the time and minor details, the diagnosis was a concussion and I received 4 staples in my head, and one VERY bad head ache.

Showered with Love

2010-08-17T22:24:00.000-07:00

Nothing but the best for My Leah! Leah is 32 weeks pregnant with her son Dane. Doesn't she look amazing?!! With the help of many others to include her Mother Susan and Rhonda Evanoff, we threw her a lovely Garden Party Baby Shower. Leah and Eric got lots of cute things for baby Dane! I can't wait to meet this new little monkey.

We got an array of cupcakes from Amy Bakes Cupcakes owned by Amy O'Kane. They were delious! She was so great and even came and set them up for us. Some of the flavors we chose were Peppermint Twist, Banana Butterscotch, Strawberries & Cream, Pina Colada and Chocolate Blackberry with a mint sprig. Can you say Yummy???

Kherrington just loves Eric! He has a way with kids.He is going to be an awesome father!

Leah's Phil & Ted Stroller. It was a group gift and I couldn't resist the erdge to pack it full to the max with all sorts of goodies. I must admit that this stroller is so awesome that I am wishing that I had one. It's lightweight and you can add an extra seat on the back. It also has a lot of storage space.

I thought that writting Tax Deduction was just way too funny! Not sure if everyone shares in my humor or not but it was worth a shot.

Rhonda Evanoff made 4 of these amazing diaper cakes! She is so crafty! Rhonda is also almost 12 weeks pregnant herself and we are really hoping for a boy for her as well!

All in all, it was a wonderful time and I got to give my favorite person a fun party with lots of goodies. I tried to give a little speach about why I love Leah so much but I got all choked up and started to cry. 23 years of friendship,...enough said. I love you Leah!

Our beloved Jared Lee Nickerson

2010-07-28T01:09:00.000-07:00

Our beloved Jared left us on July 9th, 2010. Jared was and is such an important and huge part of our lives.

Jared was 1 of 7 children born to the Nickerson family. With a successful liver transplant at the age of 2 years old, Jared made headlines as the first infant survivor of a liver transplant. He led an amazing life. He was only expected to live 3 to 5 years, but Jared lived 28 wonderful years.

I sent the following letter to one of Jared's amazing sisters, Sarah

My dear Sarah, I am so sorry for your loss,...for our loss. I loved Jared very much. I met him in the single's ward and he was roommates with this really hot guy named Mike! Ha Ha! Well, we all hung out together on a daily basis and Mike and I fell inlove. In preperation for our marrage, I recieved my endowments at the Oakland Temple, and of course Jared came to show his support. When Michael and I were civilly married, Jared was a groomsman in our wedding party, and 1 year later when we were sealed, Jared was there at the Los Angeles Temple to be a witness of our sealing. He was then a part of the "circle" in assisting in the blessing of all 3 of our children. Everything wonderful that has happened in our lives, Jarred has been a part of. When he married Kristen, we were thrilled to pieces and I was so thankful and honored to be present at the delivery of Bryanna. To actually witness a life being born of two people I care for so dearly, ment so much to us. Then Jared and Kristen moved into the apartment next door to ours and life coudln't have been more fun! We had dinner together almost every night and would take turns babysitting and watch movies together. Jared used to come over to our apartment to stink up our bathroom and then leave and go back next door.! Ha Ha Ha! I don't feel that Mike and I have done anything that Jared or Kristen wouldn't have done for one of us. I loved him,...I love him now and I miss him but we will all see him again. Please know that Kristen is doing well. She talks about JAred a lot and wears his clothes all day long. Sometimes it's a bit funny, only because the clothes are huge on her but you can just feel the love she has for him. Since she has been here, she has been eating and laughing and going out and really begining to open up. She is so strong and I know that she will honor Jared's memory and teach Bryanna about the most amaing man she had ever known, her father, Jared. My love goes out to you as we all mourn together. I feel we are all connected now, through Jared and through Christ. With all my love. hugs and kisses ~Sharla

To honor the amazing life that Jared lived, Michael worked tirelessly on this slideshow. It's incredible and completely worth watching, so please take a few moments and honor a man who honored The Lord, his wife, his daughter his family and his friends.

2010-07-26T23:56:00.000-07:00

My Best Friend Leah sent this to me via email on Facebook and of course after reading it, I cried. I am have been a bit on the emotional side lately.

If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together, there is something you must always remember; you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. The most important thing is, even if we're apart, I'll always be with you.”~Winnie the pooh

Look at how beautiful she is! Pregnancy looks so good on Leah but then again, everything looks good on her. It's rather unfair. Anyway she's amazing and I think I actually love her a bit more and more everyday! Not to mention the little monkey growning within, Dane!

My 10 year High School Reunion MBHS

2010-07-26T01:46:00.000-07:00

Well, if it's possible to believe,....yup it has been 10 years since high school and Michael came along as my "Trophy husband"! We really had a blast and got to visit and catch up with old class mates. And lo and behold, there was a photo booth and I couldn't keep myself out of it! And goodtimes were had by all!

Me, and my Hubby

Leah and Sharla

Me and the Mrs. Jenny Bravo

Like I said, I was loving the photo booth!

I think that Michael and I were the only ones there that have 3 children! Ha Ha! Guess that makes us

"old" or maybe "young". Who knows, but we had a blast!

Crawling

2010-07-25T23:51:00.000-07:00

Kherrington starting crawling today! Dat's my girl!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-07-22T21:53:00.000-07:00

Strange food, hair cuts, check ups, eye patches and more!

2010-06-30T22:49:00.000-07:00

So, lately I have been in the mood to try new foods and experiment with new things. Somethings I have liked and others,...not so much. But hey, I am willing to almost anything a try. My first dare...pickled green tomatoes. And Mike even jumped on board with me! What an awesome husband!

Next new iteam on the "New Foods" list,...Balut.

What is balut? It is a delicacy in the Filipino culture. Balut is a popular Filipino street snack and is essentially a duck egg with a fetus inside, typically between seventeen to twenty days in gestation that has been hard boiled. Balut is very nutritious and chock-full of proteins. In the Philippines balut is so popular that it is equivalent to what the hot dog is in the U.S.

The Balut with the duck fetus

My Mom is awesome and totally tried it like a champ!

My turn! It wasn't bad tasting (once you get over the fact that you are eating a duck fetus) It mainly tasted like a hard boiled egg. My dear friend Amy even tried it a while ago and she is so tiny and delicate and I was surprised that she really enjoyed it as well!

Amy totally ate it like a champ! She is so open to trying new things that it makes me want to try new things too! The Lord gave us all cultural differences so that we can learn from one another and I have really enjoyed my new food adventures.

Next on the food challenge list,....Mike wanted to take the Franks Slider challenge. You have to eat 10 "mini hamburgers" or sliders with no time limit, and if you vomit, then you fail. If you finish, then you get your picture on the wall and a T-shirt. Mike would have no part in the Balut but he was all game to try this hamburger challenge. So here they are,...all then burgers. Good luck baby.

After 3 burgers he was already feeling sick...

And after 4, his tummy started to rumble

After 5 burgers he was ready to chuck. And the valiant effort had failed. But next time he is determined to succeed and I have faith that he will, although we might need a chuch bucket close by.

Happy Father's Day to my amazing husband and a wonderful father! I made him prime rib with all the fixing and we watched the movie "When in Rome". Had a wonderful time together. I also took my brother Dan, out to Sumo Sushi for lunch and we got a few different rolls that we hadn't tried before and I also tried octopus sushi and much to my surprise, I LIKED it! And I will be ordering it again! I thought it not only tasted Delicious but I liked the texture as well. And Since Mike isn't interested AT ALL in any sort of fish, or Balut for that matter, I made him prime rib.

Another new development is that Kherrington is 7 1/2 months old and is sitting up on her own! She is rolling all over the place and getting to crawl!

I'm a big girl now!

Natalie's 3 year old check up

Natalie is a beautiful girl but her long hair was getting out of control. There is always food in it and I can never get her to sit still long enough to get a brush through it. I snuck her into super cuts before daddy had a chance to say no, but personally I think her hair looks adorable.

I had to take Natalie to a child opthamologist specialist in Santa Barbara. Natalie has had a wandering eye and it has caused some vision problems for her. The Dr. said that we needed to patch her right eye for at least 2 hours everyday so that it will strengthen her left eye. It turns out that she LOVES her pretty eye "bandaids"!

What a cutie pie! I couldn't even get her to take it off!

Snuggle time with my brave little munchkin!

And then there is Laney-loo, always dramatic and very expressive of her emotions but man, she is a beautiful baby!

Look at those beautiful curls!

Snuggles for Grandma Lynda

We are a blessed family!

Ummmm, Yuck

2010-06-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

Woke up this morning feeling pretty good...stretched, yawned, said my morning prayers, kissed the husband goodbye for work and got up to get Delaney. Opened the door and......(drum roll please)...there she stood, half naked and covered in poop. Yup, poop. I stood there in silence and just looked at her and she stood (just as proud as she could be) and starred straight back at me. No words were spoken but I do seem to recall horror music playing. Picked her up, put her in the tub, changed the bedding,......and now am laughing!!!!!!

Talk about some progress.....

2010-06-03T23:32:00.000-07:00

Man, I am so proud of myself. Losing the baby weight has been an uphill battle for me. After having 3 babies in 3 years has truely taken it's toll on my body and while I know my body will never look the same, I am so proud to say that I am finally able to fit into my pre-pregnancy pants! Granted my belly will never look the same, but having our 3 girls was completely worth it. But I went from this.... weighing in at 200 lbs before delivering Kherrington.

To this...............

I am currently and happily weighing in at just over 130 lbs.!!! I couldn't be more proud of myself! Hooray!

Kherrington's 6 months stats

2010-06-03T23:20:00.000-07:00

Kherrington's 6 months stats...
Weight 15.5 lbs (10%)
Height 27inches (55%)

Memorial Day

2010-06-03T23:17:00.000-07:00

So for memorial day we spent the day together as a family and brought along the missionaries for fun! We had a blast. We went to Avila Valley Barn and fed the animals and had ice cream. We really had a blast! It has become a family tradition for us to go multiple times every summer.

Pucker up and give me a kiss!!!

Daisy the cow! I LOVE her and I want to bring her home and keep her but Mike keeps telling me "No"

That is some serious tonge! Ha Ha!

Daisy loved Elder Cook

Who wants to try Wasabi covered peanuts? WE DO!!!

Elder Cook, Me, Elder Whoosie-whats-it

Whoosie couldn't hang! Ha Ha!

A couple of kids in a candy shop

Downtown SLO

Ok, this one is for Leah! She and I used to eat these when we were kids. I wonder how much paper we actually ate along with the candy?

My love! We had an awesome day together as a family!

So many new and fun things....

2010-06-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

Our lives have been so busy that I can hardly keep up. Needless to say though it has been very fun and many fond memories made. So, to start things out, Mike bought me this book called "Hello Cupcake" and I love this book. I desided that I wanted to make the butterfly's that were pictured in the book for the girls double birthday party. I had so much fun! But then, while I was shopping at Costco, I saw that they had come out with a new book called "What's new Cupcake?". I bought it, brought it home and desided that I was going to bake my way through both books until I had tried them all. This may take me a long long time, but still I think it's a worthy challenge. And since one of the missionaries at our church had recently had a birthday, I thought this would be a good opportunity to try some new cupcakes. I wasn't as pleased with these ones as I was with the butterflies. All trial and error I guess.

This is my cupcake decorating asenal

For those who don't remember,...these are the butterfly cupcakes that I made for Natalie & Delaney's birthday party.

So here are the one's that I made for Elder Craner's birthday.

Elder Craner's Birthday

"Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me..."

He had no clue what he had coming!!!!!

BAAAAMMMMMM!

Gotcha!

Thankfully Elder Craner was a really great sport about. I have no idea why I love to silly string people on the birthday but it truely brings joy to my heart to completely catch someone off guard and cover them in it!!! I am sure Mike will have so some of payback for my birthday since I made the Missionaries silly string for his birthday as well. But it was all in good fun! And good times were had by all! The End.