Happy Birthday, Dev!

Yesterday Devin turned 28. A few years ago a psychic friend of Brenda's (my MIL) said that Devin will be successful at age 28. When she said this I was pregnant with Sam. She also predicted that Sam would be a girl. You win some you lose some I guess. I'd put money on the successful prediction though, because in my view he already is. Happy birthday, Deb!


Today I made the kids all-natural cookies. They love to eat the dough. Nothing makes me happier than to see them enjoying something that is actually good for them. My kids love treats, and so does their dad. Lets just say it is a constant battle in our house. I'm the mean mommy who says no and Devin is the fun dad who says yes. Sam and Mollie don't seem to notice that these eggless, sugarless, butter-less cookies aren't real cookies. It kind of makes my day.All the cookies have in them is dates, whole wheat flour, salt, baking soda, honey, peanut butter, vanilla, and oats.


I love these kids and I am so ready for #3 to make her appearance! We scheduled my C-section for July 20. T minus 43 days :)

Memorial Day and Baby Mama Drama

For Memorial Day this year we went out to breakfast. We went to The Place, which is a different location of another place, (also called The Place) that Devin and I fell in love with when we were courting in Flagstaff. As we were waiting for our table, I of course had to use the bathroom. I took Sam with me. We were making our way through the restaurant when I saw a man out of the corner of my eye reaching for me. I just thought, "Oh great," assuming it was unwanted affection for my pregnant belly. I stopped and made eye contact with the man. It took me a few seconds to realize it was non other than John Barry, my father-in-law. There at the table with him were Brenda and Brooklynn. We made it a party and got seated sooner and had company on our holiday breakfast. (For the record, John was just trying to get my attention. He's not the belly touching type- for that I am very grateful. I've had random men touch my pregnant belly before and it made me hate life).

After breakfast we headed home for nap time and then out to Mesa to our friends Ryan and Kara's house. Sam and Mollie loved the pool and I loved hanging out with Kara and two of her friends I had never met before. The two friends were also converts to the LDS church. It was fun to talk about the things that were hard for us to get used to in the Mormon way of life (i.e. not shopping on Sundays, wearing modest clothing, etc.). And I just love Kara more every time I see her. How can you not love someone who openly talks about SWASS?

Mollie looked so dang cute in her swimsuit and pigtails

Ryan had made everyone hamburgers at their get together. They looked so good but my stomach was feeling a little bit funny so I passed. When we got home that night my stomach was still feeling weird. Weird turned into sharp pains going from my stomach to my lower back. I went to bed hoping I would wake up feeling better.

At about 2 in the morning the sharp pains woke me up. Normally I would think of these pains as me maybe just needing to go poo or something (sorry but true). Then I remembered, "Oh yeah, I'm pregnant." When they started coming faster and nothing seemed to help I got a little bit nervous. At around 4 in the morning I woke Devin up to give me a priesthood blessing. The pain didn't seem to subside but I was able to go back to sleep.

When I woke up Tuesday morning, the pains were still coming and going. Devin stayed home from work so that I could take it easy. I left a message at my dr.'s office to let them know what was going on and to see what I should do. They said what I thought they would, telling me to drink as much water as possible and to go straight to the er if the pains are coming every 10 minutes. Devin and I started timing them. Some came after 15 minutes, some after 45 minutes, and some after 8 minutes. By 11:00 p.m. I hadn't had any pain for almost 3 hours, so I just went to bed.

When I woke up this morning and started making the kids breakfast, starting the laundry and so on, they started up again. Dangit. So I called Devin, he came home from work, and off to the ER I went.


After some tests and ultrasounds, I was told that all is well! Baby girl is healthy and strong, and I am not dilated whatsoever. This is very good news since I'm only 32 weeks as of tomorrow.

They told me my pain was most likely due to the heat and that I should be drinking a gallon of water per day. Holy cow.


I am so grateful that everything is ok and that God protected my sweet baby. I am grateful that I decided to go to the ER so that I can have peace of mind. I am grateful that my whole hospital visit only cost us $150. We are uninsured so I didn't know what to expect.


Speaking of being uninsured...

We got a letter in the mail today saying our application for AHCCCS was denied. This means that we will be paying for baby #3 out of pocket. I am really wishing right now that I didn't have to have C-sections.

I don't know how we're going to pay to have this baby, but I do know 2 things: 1) She's coming whether or not we have insurance, and 2) Heavenly Father will provide a way. He always has for us and he always will.

The Free Zoo and Whole Wheat Pizza

Devin worked on a tile job until the wee hours of the morning today. Knowing that he needed to sleep and that he couldn't do so if the kids were home (there is no keeping them quiet), I packed up the kids and left the house. I didn't know where to go or what to do, but I somehow ended up at Cabela's. My friend Tatum once coined this store as "The Free Zoo." If you have been there, you know that there are life-sized animals on display throughout the store. They are all dead, but my kids are little and didn't seem to care. Not only is it free to walk around and look at all the animals, but it is air conditioned! How heavenly on a day like today to do something inside.

Sam and Mollie seemed genuinely entertained. We were even able to leave with only 2 minor tragedies occurring; Mollie having a nasty diarrhea diaper and Sam losing his toy car.





For dinner tonight I made the best whole wheat pizza I have ever had. I got the recipe here. I was pretty impressed with myself. Even Sam ate it, and he's not even that big of a pizza fan.

30 Weeks

I have 2 months left in this pregnancy. 2 very hot months left. The countdown is on!

Not only am I thrilled to meet our newest Barry baby, I am thrilled to feel like the old Allison again. I'm excited to have the desire to play with my kids rather than sit them in front of a movie. I'm excited to want to go for walks and move my body! I am excited to stop crying. This pregnancy is an emotional one. It's a bit ridiculous. I know Devin is excited for the crying to end too.

I am still eating healthy, and I don't feel like I'm getting rapidly and uncontrollably huge as I felt with my first 2. I'm definitely in the chubby zone, but not in the obese zone yet. Speaking of obese, I recently watched the show, "Obese and Pregnant." It made me feel a lot better about my weight gain :)

Thanks to our tax return and credit card points I am now the proud owner of a new camera, so I'm more inspired to blog again.


I just love my sweet little kids.

I Can Do This Despite My Hormones!

I am feeling so much better since I have tried to regain control of my life. I have been eating healthy now for 13 days, and I haven't gained any more weight!!! I had been gaining 2 lbs. per week already. That is just ridiculous. My calories are now coming from things like avocados and nuts instead of taquitos and cereal. I am feeling good!


Since moving into a bigger house earlier this month, I have been so overwhelmed with how in the world to keep it clean. I have tried many, many times in my married life to execute a cleaning schedule, but it never happened until this week. I made a plan and I actually stuck to it. Here we are on Friday and my house is tidy! This is so unlike me!(Especially pregnant, might I add. Pregnant me does nothing).


Next week Mollie and I are going on a trip to Florida and Georgia to visit my parents and Whitney and to celebrate Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw's 80th birthdays. I am so excited for the break from the norm and to see my family. I wish I could take Sam with me, too. He asked me yesterday, "Can I come with you to see Maw-Maw on the airpwane?" Poor little buddy. If only 3 year-olds flew for free. But, I think the break will be good for us. I haven't been Sam's favorite person lately, so maybe longing will make his little heart grow fonder. Plus, a little one-on-one time for me and Mollie will be a good thing since she will no longer be the baby in 3 short months.

I love my sweet little kids. I can't believe there will be 3 of them soon. Scary.

Taking Control

Chubby Al, here. I am now 25 weeks pregnant and have gained just shy of 40 lbs.

Each time I am pregnant I feel control slipping away from me. It starts initially because I feel nauseated constantly and the only thing that sounds good or stays down are of course starchy, sugary carbohydrates. By the time I feel better, I am hooked and am getting plumper by the day.

I told myself it was going to be different this time, that I would exercise and keep up my healthy eating habits, yet, here I am again finding myself in the same situation; tired and hungry and feeding. Always. I started praying about it, asking for motivation to be restored to me, asking for some remnant of my normal-brained self to surface.

This past Saturday it happened. For some reason I woke up feeling like I wanted to eat healthy foods instead of the cereal I had been enjoying each morning. Easter came and I didn't even eat one piece of the kids' candy. Here we are at Thursday and I am still going strong. (In past pregnancies I have been motivated for one or two meals and that's it. This 5-day streak is a big deal).

I am not trying to lose weight. I know I am pregnant and I know that weight gain is inevitable. What I am trying to do is to keep it under control. I don't need to gain 70+ lbs. again this pregnancy.



I love that our Heavenly Father cares about the stuff we care about and is waiting to help. He's the best.

My Girl

Mollie turned 18 months old this week. Half birthdays are a big deal to me when kids are this small. 6 months makes a big difference.

Since I'm pregnant and do nothing now I didn't make her a video like I wanted to, but let me just say, Mollie is the sweetest thing. She is independent but at the same time loves to be held. A lot. She loves food and thankfully eats healthy things (unlike my picky boy Sam and his daddy). She's starting to stand up to Sam. Just this morning she stole a toy he was playing with and ran away as fast as her little legs could go until he finally caught her and stole it back.

I love my Mollie girl.

20 Weeks and Life Update

I am 20 weeks today! We are halfway there! I have already gained 27 lbs. Yes I said TWENTY-SEVEN. I am trying to take action and walk everyday and make sure I'm watching what I'm eating. We'll see if that helps.

Yesterday Selena and I took our kids to the park. It was chilly and windy, and even though I was wearing long-sleeves, I found myself shivering at the park. When we walked in we had noticed an abandoned coat just lying on one of the picnic benches. Selena said, "Why don't you just wear that?" So I did.

Time passed and we were pushing the kids on the swings, changing poopie diapers and feeding bottles when we noticed 2 boys also at the park. Selena whispered to me, "What if that's their jacket you're wearing?" I thought this was very funny and kept trying to see whether or not they were giving me weird looks.

As we were about to load up the kids to leave I decided I had better check with the boys to see if it was in fact one of their jackets. I asked them, and the answer (thankfully) was no. I could tell they thought I was weird, and it wasn't until I walked away that I remembered that not only did I have tape holding together my sunglasses (they broke last week), but I also had about 4 holes in the back of my pants, right in the rear-area. I'm sure they went home and told their mom they saw a homeless lady at the park who had holes in her pants and was picking up random clothing and wearing it.

photo courtesy of Selena




In other news, we are moving.

We found out a couple of weeks ago that the home we are renting is in foreclosure. Rather than sit and wait to be kicked out (not to mention keep giving money to a landlord who has been pocketing our money), we have found another home to rent. We are blessed to know the new landlords well enough to know they are trustworthy and won't stop paying their payments on the home. The best part is the house is just about a mile north of where we are living now, which means we get to stay in the same neighborhood and the same ward. I am sad to leave my amazing neighbor and friend, Shauna, but at least we will still be close!


That's about all the new stuff about us for now. I'm not into blogging lately because my camera is broken. Posts without pictures are lame.

I'm Cheapskate and I Know it

When my sisters and I were little, we were sometimes embarrassed by our mom's frugality. I can still hear my mom's southern voice asking the drive-thru person at McDonald's if they had "any of those little courtesy cups for children" so that we would could split one big drink rather than pay for separate ones. My sisters and I would cringe in our seats whenever we would go out to dinner as a family, because a coupon was always involved. If for some reason the waiter tried to say that the coupon was not applicable, you better believe my mom argued her case (and usually won).

Now that I am a mom myself I am noticing that I am the same way (maybe minus the coupon arguing). When I take the kids with me grocery shopping we always stop by the bakery for the free cookies they have set aside for kids. We know the 2 Phoenix McDonald's locations that give mini ice cream cones to kids for free (91st ave & Union Hills, loop 303 & Bell rd.) I was looking forward to getting my free dozen donuts from Krispy Kreme this year on my birthday, too, but when I drove up I found out they had closed down. That was depressing.

Thanks for teaching me the tricks of the trade, Don. Even though they are embarrassing, I'm getting over it :)

Princess Fiona

I am not a cute pregnant person. I basically hate the way I feel in my body from weeks 5-40 of pregnancy (and of course while trying to shed the pounds afterward). Even though my Selena is a professional photographer and has offered to take maternity pictures, my answer is always the same. No no NO!

Why?

Because I go from this:


To this:




I'm thinking of starting a pool to see how much I gain this pregnancy. Anyone interested?