A little late but oh well

Since I've been pregnant I have had no desire to do much of anything. Lately I've had more energy and have tried to be more organised but I haven't got round to making some of my crafts. Yesterday Kristy called to see whether I wanted to come over and craft with her and Arin which of course I said yes to. I had a few things to do, plus I thought I would make each of us a simple chick for Easter.

Even though I'm a little late getting it all done I finally have the 2 Easter things I wanted to make. I never got round to making the St Patricks ladder set I cut out but oh well, maybe next year right, hahaha!?

Working on my "to do" list

Last week I went to the Family Conference at BYU-Idaho with two of my best friends. It was a great day and nice to do something different and uplifting. We took one class about organisation which was really good, there was lots of handy tips. Once I got home I started making a HUGE list of LOTS of things I needed to do and get from the store. So, since then I've been working on getting everything done and am glad to say my list has lots of things crossed off. I have so many little projects that needed to be done and trust me there are still TONS more that need to get done. But we're getting there and today we were able to get a bunch of things done.

I had some vinyl that I got from my friend Janae ages ago, I think over a year ago, how sad is that!? Anyway I got TONS and have slowly been putting it up but had left the biggest one and now I can see why. It wasn't the best thing to do while pregnant but we got it done and I was SOOO glad (you'll have to excuse my broken blinds, I will never get them again)! We also put up the Temple picture I made before Christmas, it looks so nice.

Last night I went to Janae's craft group she just started. I could only stay for about 3o minutes but I got the paper and vinyl on so today I finished putting the embellishments on and I think they turned out cute. Everyone else had their vinyl say "welcome spring" but I have a few things with spring on already so I changed mine. Abit different but I think it looks nice.

This is some of the vinyl I got from Janae too over a year ago, hahaha! This is in Syd and Hadley's room, Syd helped me put it together, she loves them.

Here is the finally cleaned up craft room (I know it still looks abit manic, I wish I had a before picture and then you could really see the difference). There are still a few things that need to be put away and that need a home but atleast now we can actually walk in there. We have WAY too much stuff. One and half of the big plastic drawers are FULL of colouring books and one is full of new crayons and markers. Hopefully now we're able to get in there we can use some of the things we have. It feels so nice to have it done though, whew! We also put the white board up in there and put Maddie's cork board and frame up in her room. We have quite a few things left to do in poor Maddie's room, that is one of the next things on my to do list.


I'm just so glad I'm making some progress. The first few months of being pregnant I had no desire to do anything, plus I just felt crappy all the time. It's nice to be able to have some energy back and be able to get these things done. Now we just need to get some shelves in the garage so we can really start doing more organising. Hopefully our tax refund will come soon and poor Steve can be put to work :)

Yummy!

There's not really a cute story behind these pictures but they were too cute not to post. Hadley finds anything that gets left out or anything that isn't. Here's her latest discovery, Spencer's left over chocolate pudding. She thought it was delicious as you can tell.

My Part

For the past week or so I've been thinking that I really need to get myself and our family in order. Our family has been SOOO blessed lately yet we struggle to show how grateful we are for the blessings we receive. Steve got a new job at the end of last year which had a pay raise, I got pregnant, the kids are healthy and even though we've had to pay bills out for split open heads, lots of dentists appointments, doctors visits and also finishing the basement, we still have had sufficient for our needs.

Life is busy sometimes, well all the time but I find the time to do things "I want" or I think "I need" to do but don't find the time to do the things that will truly benefit our family and show are appreciation for the blessings we have. We always go through spurts of having FHE, reading the scriptures and saying prayers as a family. I'm terrible these days at my own personal study and prayers and I never write my journal anymore (that's one reason I love to write my blog, when I actually do it). There really isn't a lack of time for these things but it seems like when life is going great that I forget that it's still important to say thanks or ask for things I need. I also just miss the feeling of warmth and the spirit that it brings to me.

One of my friends has just starting spring cleaning her house which is something I REALLY need to be doing but instead I think I need to spring clean my life. I have so many excuses why I haven't been doing what I should but I really want to start doing the things that will help me become a better mother, wife and daughter of my Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for the gospel but really have been slacking lately when it comes to doing my part. I pray when I feel low or am scared which is great but those shouldn't be the only times I go to my Heavenly Father. So my goal is to really get myself in order and try and get back to having that spirit and strength with me all the time.

What's one more, right?

Yes it's true, I'm pregnant! I'm due August 15th but I'm hoping this little bundle of joy and poop will decide to come out the end of July or the beginning of August. I have wanted to tell everyone for ages but I get so worried about everything being ok. I didn't even tell my friends until I was 12 weeks, that was so hard! What made it harder was the fact that when I was 10 weeks I was helping throw a baby shower for my friend and right at the beginning I started to spot so I was freaking out but trying not to show it because no one knew. Luckily everything has been going well since but because I had such a late miscarriage before I had Hadley I wanted to get further along before I told everyone. I went to the doctors today for my 16 week appointment and everything is going well, I heard the heart beat so that put me more at ease.

I'm so excited to be pregnant and to have another baby. I'm sure adding number 5 to the madness will be quite crazy but I think I'm ready, think being the word. I don't know how ready I am to be HUGE during summer again but I can't complain. I'm just glad things are going well and the baby is healthy. My ultra sound is in 5 weeks which will be fun. When we had Hadley I didn't find out whether we were having a boy or a girl so I'm not sure whether to again this time. I'm leaning towards not finding out but it's so tempting, especially when everyone else I know is finding out. It would be fun to have another boy, well I don't know if fun is the right word. I love Spencer so much but he is a handful. I truly admire my friends who have lots of boys, GO YOU GUYS!!! Either way though really I would be happy. A healthy baby is all I ask for.

The other thing I'm trying to decide about is whether to try a v-back or not??? I would have totally done it after I had Spencer, he was breach so I had to get a c-section. Then Hadley was breach and she wouldn't turn so I had no choice again. My doctor said I can do it but it does worry me abit. I guess we'll see when the time comes and we'll have to pray about it. Knowing my luck this baby will be breach so I'll have to get a c-section. Not that c-sections are bad but to me I feel abit ripped off having a c-section. I love giving birth, I think it's the most amazing thing. Only time will tell I guess!

Anyway the secret is finally out and I'm so glad. I am still nervous but SOOO excited! I just hope the time will go fast, well for some things I do but at the same time I should really treasure the moments I have with my kids. I truly am blessed to live the life I have. I have an amazing husband who loves me and my children and helps me sooo much. I have 4 healthy children who can be cheeky but I wouldn't be without any of that cheekyness. Well we'll see how it goes having 5 kids, I have a little while still but it will be interesting. This may be the last little Pettingill to join our family, Steve definitely thinks that but that will also have to be something we pray about. For now we'll just see how life with 5 kids will be, I'm sure it will be PRETTY CRAZY!!!

Did I mention she's CHEEKY!!!

VERY cute but VERY cheeky

Hadley really is such a wonderful baby, I've been so blessed to have her, especially after my little man Spencer. Spencer is lovely but he's been a lot of work, I don't know how people think boys are easier??? Anyway Hadley is really getting more of her own little personality. She's very cheeky and sneaky which is quite funny but last week she really showed us how silly she is. Steve and I started to hear some splashing in the bathroom which really isn't anything unusual because my kids love to play in the sink and make lots of mess. We went in the bathroom to find out what had happened and this is what we found!

When we first found her she thought it was quite funny but as soon as she realised she couldn't get out she wasn't too impressed. All the kids thought it was hilarious and it was. I was mostly glad my other kids had flushed the toilet the last time they went because they are REALLY bad at that. That really would have been DISGUSTING!

She really is so lovely! Last night while we were having dinner she decided to pick the bowl up and shove it in her face. Then she started styling her hair, she looked wonderful!? She has the cheekiest smile and she just thinks everything is so funny. I love this little girl so much, she's the best. I've loved having another little girl, Maddie and Syd are getting so big so it's nice having a little girl again. My kids are the greatest, I'm so blessed!!!

More crazy sleeping!

These aren't the craziest places to fall asleep but it just amazes me how many times my kids can fall asleep in so may different places. The other night Spencer fell asleep under all the toys again, I don't know why but this happens quite often. This time though the bears weren't enough, he had to add some movies to the mix. I saw him gather them all up under the bears with him and the next thing I knew he was fast asleep, so funny!
Then today I came home from the store and I was downstairs for just a minute. I went back upstairs and couldn't hear Hadley so I went looking for her. She likes to lock herself in rooms so I thought maybe she had done that but I was wrong, I found her on the floor in my room. She had found a pile of her blankets I had just washed and folded and fell fast asleep. My crazy kids!!!

My handsome little man

My handsome little man turned 4 last week, I can't believe it! Time goes by so fast, I remember when I found out I was having a boy, I was so excited. I don't think Steve believed it until he was actually born though. He was so excited about having his birthday, he really wanted a party but I didn't want to do a friend one, he's still kind of small but we had lots of fun anyway.

We went to lunch with Steve's family, Spencer got to choose so we ended up going to McDonald's. After that we went bowling and of course I didn't take my camera. I ended up winning the first game but played pants the 2nd game but it was still fun. Going bowling reminded us of the day Spencer was born, we went bowling with Steve's family and some of our friends. After bowling just a couple of times I felt like I had peed myself. I went to check and I hadn't so I went back to bowl but it happened again, that's when I realised it was my water breaking. It was 3 weeks before his due date so I wasn't too ready but I was really excited. Not excited enough to leave, I sat there while everyone else bowled, crazy huh! It was a really different labour with Spencer, I didn't feel hardly any contractions which was very nice but when they would check me they would say his head felt different, that it wasn't in the right position. Finally after about 4 different people checking me, getting to 8cm and them trying to pop a second sack of water, I had an ultra sound and they realised he was breach. I ended up getting a c-section and he had a lovely little scratch on his head from where they tried to break the other sack of water, hmmm? A lovely adventure but all VERY worth it.

Anyway back to Spencer's birthday. After bowling we went to a couple of stores and then we went to dinner to the "tomato place" which for everyone else is Fazoli's. We got Spencer a lemon ice and ate lots of yummy food. Then it was off to Sub Zero, none of us had been there before. It was pretty cool, the kids loved the smoke and how cold it was. All in all it was a wonderful day and we finished it off by going home and opening presents. He had a great day and loved all his presents. Even Hadley loved the presents. She kept getting cars for Spencer to put in his new dump truck, it was pretty cute.

On Sunday we had cake and ice cream with Steve's family. He decided on an army cake which I was glad about because before that he talked about having a Mator and screaming banche ( I don't know how to spell that) cake. He had the funniest smiles when I took the pictures of him with his cake, it was so cute. He got even more lovely toys from Steve's family and some money from Gma and Gpa Johnson. They came after we had done the cake and presents so when they walked through the door Spencer told them they had missed all the fun. He's such a funny boy, also VERY nuts and CRAZY. He is definitely all boy and makes me quite tired but I love him so much. Everyone always told me boys were easier but I'm not sure I believe that. Hopefully when he gets bigger that will be true. Even if it's not I wouldn't trade him and all his craziness for the world. He really has me wrapped around his finger which is bad but he's just too cute for his own good. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH Spencer, your my handsome little man and you're my best Spencer in the whole world!

Families are Forever

Today when I was on facebook I was looking through my friends status's when I came across one that made me so sad. It was one of our friends from college. Steve worked with her husband while he went to Ricks. We weren't best friends but we saw them abit and did a few things with them. Anyway she had written that her little boy didn't make it through surgery. Of course this is something that would make you sad anyway but I remember finding her on facebook a while ago and finding out she had lost her 2nd little boy to SIDS. So after reading this morning that her new little son who was about 14 months had passed away, I just couldn't believe it. I guess he fell and hit his head and had bleeding on his brain so that had to do a really BIG surgery.

Just this morning I was thinking how glad I was that my girls were back in school, not that they were bad over Christmas break but I was glad to be able to have some time with Spencer and Hadley and get some cleaning etc... done. I'm not the most patient person as I've said many times and I know I get too stressed at my kids but I love them sooo much. I would never change the craziness I have in my life, it's all worth it because I'm blessed to have 4 healthy kids.

I don't really know what to write but I just wanted to remember how I felt after reading such sad news. I really am thankful for the gospel in my life. It doesn't make trials less hard but it makes us understand them more and know there are reasons to everything we go through. We may not always see those reasons but if we stay strong and remember that as long as we endure and do what is right we will be blessed beyond measure one day. We will be able to live with our families forever, what an amazing blessing, to know we are not just going to be with our loved ones in this life but FOREVER!!! I'm so grateful to my parents for joining the church so I could have this wonderful knowledge in my life. I'm grateful for my testimony and for the faith I have and I hope I can teach my children all the amazing things my parents taught me. I love my family so much and I'm grateful that I KNOW that FAMILIES ARE FOREVER!!!