Pregnancy, Soccer, Potty Training, and School

Oh my heck, I actually have a minute to sit down. It's crazy. We have a few announcements and updates to keep up with on here!

First of all, the biggest announcement. We are expecting!! Which right now, I don't think anyone doesn't know that. I'm a little over 4 months along right now. Due in September! It is just crazy to think that we're going to have 3 children. What an exciting, terrifying, exhilarating, and joyous experience we are going to have! I feel so blessed to have the ability to get pregnant as easily as I do and to welcome new little lives into this world. I hope that I can continue to be a better mother so that I can do what is right for my kids. I am so glad that they have the Father that they do, because without him, I would be drowning. He does so well with them and I am so grateful for that. He is such an example to me of what a great parent is. My kids are lucky.

Second bit of news, much much smaller than the first. A has just finished pre-school at BYU and he is now going to kindergarten this coming August. AHHH! I'm going to have a child in kindergarten! What is this? His teacher is sad to see him go. A loves school. He is a very pleasant student. Every time I've spoken with his teacher, he asks me, "Is he always this pleasant and happy at home?" And I can proudly say, that for the most part. Yeah he is. A is a very happy little boy. He loves to learn. He loves his brother-- most days. And he has a good, caring heart. I am lucky to have him around. He's playing soccer right now and during his last game he was such a trooper. It was windy and cold and a kid smashed their head into As ear, later in the game he got kicked close-range in the chest, and then he got hit one other time with the ball on his arm. If you've ever played soccer in the cold, you know it hurts when the ball hits you. It stings like crazy and he stayed in the game 2 of the 3 times and played it out. I was very proud of him.

Thirdly, E is finally FINALLY potty trained! Yeah yeah!!! I love my little spirited goober. He is so much fun. But... he does struggle with listening and it gets him in trouble. Potty training was one of those things he was not going to listen for. It wasn't that he didn't want to learn to go potty. He just didn't listen to the rules. MOST important rule. POOP in the toilet. Not in your undies. We told him I think at least a thousand times, along with spanked bottoms, pinched bottoms, timeouts, toys taken away, threats, bribes, before he finally realized that he needed to go poop in the toilet and not his undies. He got the peeing thing down pretty quick and now he has the pooing thing down too! I am still 100% convinced that potty training is worse than giving birth. I can honestly say I'm not all too thrilled about doing this all over again in a few years with baby #3.
     E just recently had a doctor's appointment for his ears. He had fluid in them and a double ear-infection, so we took him in to see if he needed surgery to put tubes in his ears. Luckily for him, and us, his ears were perfect! They did a hearing test for him and it also turns out that he does NOT have a hearing problem. Which makes me wonder why he acts like he is deaf when I'm talking to him. Hmmm... E you have some explaining to do, because son, you are not hard of hearing.

Last news, which is pretty exciting too. Daddy M is doing magnificently in school. He is the top in his audiology class and I am so proud and thrilled for him! He did so well this last semester that he is able to TA for his professor's class. It's going to keep him on his toes with all the new students asking him questions that he'll need to know. I am just so excited that he has found something that he really enjoys. I'm excited that we'll be done in 2013 with BYU. Then on to his doctorate! I have to say that I am crazy jealous of him. I wish I was in school learning the things I love, so I can DO the things I love. Someday it will be my turn.

Guess Who's Back.

I honestly thought it would be so much easier to keep up with my blogging than it has been! Work just kicks my butt!  At least the rest of my family got to enjoy a winter break. We tried to potty train E during that period of time off, but it was less than successful. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't an absolute disaster. He did go potty lots of times in his little toilet, but the little buggar would sit on that thing for 1/2 an hour and as soon as we felt like we'd tortured the kid long enough, we let him up and usually he'd just pee all over the floor. And then instead of enthusiasm about potty-training, it became hate for potty-training. So, instead of force him to pee in the potty, we're letting the idea simmer for a while. I think the source of his resistance comes from how high maintenance it is to pee in a toilet. :) Who would have thought that?

A started school again and he surprises me every day. Daddy M told me that A wants to take a shower every day now. Why? Because some of the kids in his class stank and he doesn't want to be one of those kids. Honestly didn't think a 4 year old was that self aware.

The boys also bore their testimonies in church this last Sunday. I'm sad I didn't get to be there for it, but from what I hear, they did great. A needed a little reminder of what he wanted to say and then once E saw his brother do it, he was all for it! No help whatsoever.

Daddy M is thriving in school! He's doing so well and I love it. I'm just excited that we have another semester behind us! So if this goes the way we plan, he'll be done with his University schooling in 2 years and then we'll be on to getting his doctorate!

I'm still working. Lots and lots of working. And more working. It's a little stressful. Sometimes I don't really feel like my personality is suited for office politics and annoying people. But I'm doing the best I can. Maybe one day I'll just be my own boss and then I won't have to worry about getting fired, because-- I'll be the boss. :) Or I'll just be a dynamite stay at home mom some day. It could happen!

Sorry about no photos. I'll make Daddy M take more pictures while I'm at work.

Family Pictures

I've shared these pics online already. But heck! Why not put them on here too.

Aren't we cute!!!

A little bit about us this time of year

My apologies for the lack of posts on here. Considering that I'm the only one that posts and my workweek is on average 70 hours, it's hard to find time to get on here. You can feel consoled in the fact that not posting on here means that I'm with my kids, or passed out asleep! 

Before I update about my immediate family, here's a little news about my little brother. He was admitted to the hospital about a week or two ago. At first he had a swollen knee, fever of 105, and was vomiting. His b/p went down, wouldn't come back up, so he was turfed to the PICU. Long story short. He has the same thing my dad had a year ago. . . Strep A. (It ate my dad's arm basically.) He's had 4-5 surgeries since on his leg, thigh, and ankle. His skin was so inflamed, the surgeons couldn't close his incisions. Tomorrow, he has his last surgery to close up the rest of his incisions and then he should be able to go home the next day! It's been tough for him to be in the hospital. He missed his homecoming dance, the homecoming game that he was supposed to play in, and he missed the one game they have against their rival high school. We just feel so blessed that he didn't have to lose all his skin on his leg and have grafts like my dad. We're also so grateful that the infection did not spread further up into groin. Let's hope he'll get to go home tomorrow!

On to my oldest little man!

A  boy is in school now. He's been for about a month. He loves it! His teacher says he's always happy and so helpful to the other students. I am so proud of him and who he is becoming. He has some pretty weird, crazy, and irrational parents and he still seems to be turning out alright. A's thing to do right now is sing impromptu songs about anything and everything that he sees. We love his songs. I hope that he continues to feel confident about himself, it's fantastic!

And my youngest little man!

E boy is growing so fast! He's a spitfire of energy. He's a tad bit more rough than his brother is. But maybe that's just his age. I can't remember if A was this rough at E's age, until he learned to not be, or if he's always been more laid back. We've been half-heartedly trying to potty train E. And he is just not at all interested. Joy. There's just nothing like changing a poopy diaper from an almost 3 year old. E's thing to do right now tell us "I don' love you," when he's angry with Daddy or I. Good times! I didn't know this kind of attitude began at this age! Can't wait to see what my little bundle has in store for me!

Daddy M has been keeping busy busy! He's going to school full-time and studying full-time too it would seem. Something I think we'll all be glad to be done with some day. Right now we're both just glad to be getting done! 

And I am working two full-time jobs at the moment. I just got hired on at the hospital and even though I was hired on as PRN. They train you for 3-months full-time. So, I have been pulling quite a few hours. My ultimate goal is to be full-time at the hospital and part-time at the care center. I am hoping that opportunity will come up sooner rather than later. 

For now our family feels like we're being pulling in 7 different directions, but we love being busy! Especially when it's for our future! Keep us in your prayers, we need all the help we can get. If not to finish early, at least not to kill each other on the journey there. :)

Soccer

I need to make a new goal. Here it is: Post a new blog at least... every two weeks. That might be possible. I am so busy now, that I do not get the chance to get on here. But I still feel it's important to write about my kids' lives and what we are doing.

This fall A started playing soccer. He is one of the youngest on his team, so he does struggle a bit more, but I think now that he's almost done with his season, the coach has found out where he belongs. A is all DEFENDER! He does such a great job at staying back and protecting the goal. Although this year, he has scored a few goals. Some in the wrong net, but he was still absolutely thrilled. :) His favorite part of the games could arguably be the treats he got after the game. There were moments when we caught him doing somersaults on the grass. Picking the flowers. Running behind his team, smiling at us and not paying attention at all to what was going on. He is very fun to watch.

First day of practice

Go A!!

We did have a moment where he had a little melt down. A is very serious about rules. We told him that he had to run --> this way for the goal and when the other team went <--- this way... he kind of lost it and started yelling at the kids on the field. So he got to have a nice little Daddy talk. Apparently, he was very sad as well because he wanted to score a goal so bad.

He finally cheered up, played with his team. AND scored a goal! In the wrong one.... but he was still SOOO happy. :) He's #2 below.

The fan club

Talking strategy

The coach was so nice. A was having a tough time this game and the coach let him do the kick off a few times so he could actually touch the ball. Remember, he's one of the youngest kids out there. The oldest are six. He hung in there with them though and next year he'll be more prepared!

Appendectomy Time

It was a cool summer evening when I went off to work and left hubby to fend for himself and take care of our kids. I was confident all would be well. And for a time, it was.

But of course, Daddy M likes attention. So around midnight, he called me to tell me he was puking and sleeping on the bathroom floor. I brushed this news off since he does get sick often. A few hours later he calls again and tells me his stomach is on fire. Still not surprised, I gave no real sympathy.

I finished my quiet shift at 6am and came home to sleep. I found Daddy M in our bed sprawled out. Perterbed, I made him move. A few hours later he was moaning in pain again. Still sleepy after working 16 hours, I told him to knock it off. Being the wonderful man that he his, he got up to do his moaning downstairs.

Around 10am, I woke up, came downstairs to get ready to see another client. He sat in our recliner, complaining of his stomach feeling like fire. I still was not concerned. He has liver disease and I attributed it to that or maybe kidney stones. Told him to call the doctor if he reall felt like it.

I came home around 11am. He was going to the instacare to see what was wrong. A few hours later I get a call. "The doctors are 90% positive that I have an appendicitis. We're driving to Am... Hospital now."

Grandma is freaking out.

I stay up with the kids. And scramble like heck to find someone to cover my shift that night so I can be with my husband. The people I work with aren't as nice as I thought they were. No offense, it's just fact, I really feel like if someone asked me to cover their shift because their husband was having an emergency appy. I would do it if I was not working at my other job. I had to scrounge and scrounge for someone to cover only 3 hours of my 8 hour shift. . . joy. It worked out in the end anyway.

I dropped off my kids with Grammie. Went to work. Finished. And drove right to the hospital. He was coming out of surgery as I was arriving.

See-- Things work themselves out very nicely. I didn't need to be there for the time I couldn't get covered.

I visited a while. Brought him his electronic toys. Laughed at his drugged stupor- he's actually very VERY nice when he's snowed. Not in a bad way. He was calling all the nurses and PCTs angels. I left, slept for what seemed like forever. Probably because I had about 3 hours of sleep in the last.... what? 48 hours?

All in all, things worked out. The boys got a weekend vacation with Grammie and Papa. Daddy M got to rest. I got to work and care for him and now we'll never have this issue again.

At least not with him.

Oh, no pictures for you! His belly looks like a yellow creature died on it from the bruises. That's all the visual-ness you're getting. :)

Lots of New Happenings!

You know those people that are addicted to cigarettes and if they don't get their fix they go a little crazy. I am having that with blogging right now. Maybe that's why my eyeball keeps twitching and I can't stop frothing at the mouth. (I hope you're not taking me seriously now, because that would be gross!) Luckily, I have finally found some time to sit down and catch up on what is happening in the Kunz house! 

First off! We moved!!! Again.... I know. I've just been telling everyone that we're the local nomads. I have some pictures of the boys helping us pack, BUT I have yet to find where our camera is hiding. I'll post their packing cuteness later.

While we were moving we had a friend of ours come visit us from France. He actually arrived about a week before we moved, so the lucky man traveled from clear across the world to slave away on both our houses. But seriously.... we took him around so he could see some really cool things here in Utah.

Bridal Veil Falls

Timpanogos Caves

lucky E

 I love this picture. I'm sad it's blurry. :(

 After a grueling hike, it was nice to get inside the 45 degree cave.

 E had a nice easy ride up the mountain on Daddy Ms back, walked a bit inside the cave and then decided he wanted to be carried the rest of the way. Lazy lazy little man!

 This part of the cave was very pretty. You can kind of see in the background what I was REALLY trying to get a picture of, but A just adds so much more dimension to this photo. I love it!

These photos just cannot do justice to how amazingly beautiful this cave was. The colors were fantastic, the designs and patterns that centuries of drips of water have created are just not appropriated displayed through these photos. If you ever come to Utah, this is a place you need to see!

Salt Lake City

 It was actually pretty fun to tour our own State. I've never been to the conference center, or ever had the desire to have a tour of it, but it was pretty amazing!

 This jar has the Tree of Life Story carved into it. Cool story behind it if you ever go the Conference Center and get a tour. 

 This is the Hall of the Prophets and I thought it was cool picture with little E man walking there.

 View from the top of the Conference Center.

Las Vegas

This one the boys and I did not go to. This was just for Daddy M and friend T. They went and saw Blue Man Group, Criss Angel, and some jousting tournament. Of course they also managed to find their way to a casino to play for a bit, sadly enough, the statement "The house always wins" rang true for these guys. No big bag of money came back with them.

 There you can see the giant M&M factory.

 Ocean's 11 anyone??

By the way.... while they were out playing, guess who was unpacking? That right, this girl. I'm not bitter or anything. Mostly because McKay came home with a designer purse for me. REAL one, not a knock off, in case anyone was wondering. I'm honestly not sure why he buys me purses, I'm not really into having a lot of them, but he has a good eye and they're all super pretty! So I still love them!

 T was the only one drinking while in Vegas and they all made him order this monster of a drink. The other guys you see in the photo are a few more people Daddy M knows. Each time T messed up on his English, they made him take a drink. Naturally the more he drank the more he messed up. Apparently it was good fun to torture the French guy. :)

 Supposedly, when Daddy M and I go to Vegas, this is the hotel we'll be staying. Pretty, no?

Vegas at night. Kind of reminds me of Times Square on a very small scale.

Zion's Park

 Such a pretty place to see! I'm sad that we didn't get to go. This was part of their trip after Vegas.

 Here's they're hiking the Narrows. Very fun trail to take if you ever want to go to Zions

 You can see how soaked they got from how dark his pants are now. Haha. I guess at one point the water was up to their chests. Hopefully it was a warm day!

All in all I think he had a pretty good vacation. He'll have to come back again, because there's just SO much to see in Utah.... AND the West Coast for that matter! We are thinking that in 2013 or 2014, that we just might have to go to France to visit him! We're saving starting now! 

Oh and if any of you live in Utah and want to try some cheese from France give us a holler. He brought some pretty crazy cheeses! They have a different cheese for every day of the year I guess. I can't even think of enough cheeses in America to count on one hand! We're sad he's gone, but it's always nice to get back in our routine. I'm sure the same goes for him.