And the winner is...

BYU-IDAHO! Woo-hoo!!!!

Which means: My brother Tim and his family will be moving just outside of Rexburg, ID in March after 4 years of residing in Manhattan, Kansas.

Which means: More family get-together's with all of our little ones running around and stuffing ourselves until we slip into a food coma.

And if none of this post is making sense, scroll down to: "My brother...the docta" and it will.

Congratulations, brother Tim. You have chosen wisely. :) I know all the students at BYU-IDAHO will love you and fight to get into your classes - even though I know teaching there goes against your very red nature as a die-hard Utes fan. Be strong.

My only advice to you: Resist becoming "fully invested" (which shouldn't be too hard based on their current football season).

Sorry, my BYU friends. It had to be said! :)

Proud Mama

It was discovered this past weekend that Toby can ride a bike! Grandma and Grandpa Sibert found a bike his size for only $3 at a yard sale and kindly donated it to us. As soon as Toby sat down, he was off. He is still working on how to stop and going uphill is a bit of a challenge, but the boy is a natural.

Way to go Toby-man!

"My brother...the docta!"

Well, not quite. But he is well on his way (by the way, the above quote is from the movie The Burbs - an awesome 80's flick I highly recommend watching this Halloween season).

Almost 2 years ago I blogged about visiting my brother Tim and his family in Manhattan, KS. At that time he was graduating with his masters in "Family Studies and Human Services." Now he is extremely close to getting his doctoral degree in "Life Span Human Development." Recently he received some exciting news. And since I promised some more upbeat posts I thought I would share and brag a little about my talented older brother. So here I go: Tim was offered a teaching position at BYU-Idaho as well as a counter offer for a permanent full-time teaching position from Kansas State - the University he is currently attending . Of course, I am rooting for BYU-Idaho because I would like him to be a 3 hour road trip away instead of a 3 hour plane ride away. But no pressure, Tim. You do what you feel is right...even if its costs you the love and respect from your favorite sister.

I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

No, I'm not. Choose BYU-Idaho, dang it!

I really am proud of him no matter what he decides. He was the first in our family to get his Bachelors (though my sister, Beckie, is soon the be the 2nd!). The guy has come a LONG way and definitely "took [the road] less traveled by." He is a father of 3, he teaches early morning seminary and 2 classes at K-State, and has taught both guitar and tennis lessons on the side to earn a little extra $. Oh and did I mention this was a guy that barely graduated High School? He is pretty much amazing and I'm extremely happy for him and his family.

And lets not forget his wonderful wife, Jodi, who has stood by his side through it all. HUGE standing ovation for her. :)

I'll give you an update when I find out which position he chooses.

Congrats to you Tim and Jodi!

A rollercoaster day

Today I had my 13 week appointment. Don't worry, my baby is A-OK. My doc found the heartbeat right away and stated that everything seemed to be fine with the little bean (now the size of a shrimp but that makes me sick thinking about a shrimp swimming around inside of me, so I still prefer to say bean).

Me, on the other hand, not so good. After testing my urine sample, he said I was severely dehydrated and that he was concerned about my weight loss: I have lost 16 lbs. since the beginning of my pregnancy. I was shocked! I knew I had lost a little weight but when I heard that I was completely freaked out. He asked me if Zofran was helping - I said yes and no. "Yes" in that it is keeping me from barfing 6-8 times a day. "No" in the sense that I still throw up about every other day and still not much of an appetite. I can eat a small breakfast, a couple bites for lunch, and pretty much no dinner (which is actually an improvement from a few weeks ago). My doc was really concerned and said that I needed to go over to the hospital right away to get set-up on some IV's. He also said that I needed to be in better touch with them about how I was feeling and make sure I am staying hydrated. He then added Pepcid AC to my Zofran and Fenegren (sp?) meds to see if that would help with all the acid in my tummy that is keeping me from eating. During the whole doctor visit, I kept my composure and even managed to fake a smile as I said goodbye to the nurse. But as soon as I got in my car, I burst into tears. I felt like such a failure of a mom and the little one hasn't even been born yet. The thing is, I really have tried hard to force myself to eat, even when I was had to gag the food down. And I've kept my fridge well stocked with Gatorades, Sprite, Ginger-ale...you name it, I've guzzled it. The only red flag I've seen was that the past few days I have definitely felt more dizzy, tired, and had quite a few headaches. But I chalked it all up to me being prego, not dehydrated. So while I was wiping the tears from my eyes, as well as avoiding looks from other drivers, I desperately tried to get a hold of Nick. No luck. I remembered when I left the house he was mowing the lawn with Toby and was probably weed-wacking as I called him and texted him in vain. While I waited for him to call back, I called my dad and luckily he happened to be in the area working at the Saratoga Springs clinic (he is a Physician Assistant) and said that he would come to the hospital with me. I immediately felt relieved that I would have someone there to keep me company and keep me from tearing myself apart. Just as I pulled into the hospital, Nick called. He assured me that everything was going to be OK, not to worry, the baby is fine...all the stuff I needed to hear. I also was able to talk to my my mom who reminded me about my friend, Deborah, who was on IV's through most of her pregnancy and still was able to have a full-term baby with no complications. After my IV, I felt A LOT better. I even felt pretty darn silly for my earlier break down. Crazy pregnancy hormones I guess.

And I am sure you guys are really tired of all my posts about me being sick and miserable (as am I) so I promise to have some more upbeat entries that have absolutely nothing to do with my bodily fluids (or lack of). Thanks for your comments, texts, phone calls, supportive smiles and kind words. It has truly helped me survive the past few months, more than you know. :)

A word of gratitude

This post is dedicated to the two wonderful men in my life: Nick and Toby. First let me elaborate on the awesomeness of Nick:

Since I have been a little busy growing a human inside of me and been bit under the weather, Nick has more than picked up the slack. If there are ever dishes in the sink or dishes to unload, he is on it. If there is a mound of laundry piling up in our hallway, he throws in a few loads AND puts them away. He has taken Toby to his parents house in Hyrum a few times just to give me a break and time for myself. And he hasn't complained once about me not making him dinner in the evenings because of my queasiness (let's be honest, he's not really missing out on any culinary masterpieces anyway). Oh and have I mentioned that he goes to school full-time and works full-time? Yeah, he pretty much rocks. And whenever I am tempted to feel guilty for all that he does, I just remember that I would do the same for him in a heartbeat if he was down and out for a few months.
OK, don't me get me wrong people, Nick and I have our issues, ugly moments, and definitely our disagreements so don't think I decided to get online tonight to brag about how perfect our marriage is. If you know us well, you know we are far from claiming perfection. I just wanted a moment to give a huge virtual hug to my husband and tell him how much I appreciate all he does. And now I am done.

Now for the Toby-meister. The boy who has a tender heart and raging spirit. Though we've had some rough times the past 12 weeks, I am shocked at how well he has coped and adjusted to a boring mommy. Not only that, but I am becoming less scared about him being an older brother. He has been such a strength to me. Here are just a few things he does ALL ON HIS OWN. And let me put in a disclaimer that I don't brainwash him or bribe him to do these things. He does them simply because he wants to (and I am suspecting the "Nick-isms" are coming out in him, which is not a bad thing):

- Not every morning, but at least a couple times a week he will get Kaya's food out of the pantry, scoop it up, and carefully pour it into her bowl. If any food gets on the floor, he will pick it up one by one until all the food is in the bowl. Then he will put the food away back in the pantry.

-Any wrappers or garbage on the floor he will immediately put in the trash can.

- When he has been outside playing in the sandbox, he will come inside, push a chair up to the sink, wash his hands, dry them off, and put the chair back under the table. I have never once asked him to do this. It's all Toby.

- One time I was so incredibly sick and on the verge of vomiting. I told Toby I wasn't feeling good. Without asking him to, he disappeared into the other room to retrieve my spit/throw-up bowl (it was clean, don't worry). WHAT?! My heart just melted.

- He will turn off the lights or the TV (if its on) when is done playing downstairs. I will admit I have major OCD tendencies with turning off lights when I leave a room....and apparently the T-man has picked up on that. :)

- My favorite thing would have to be though is when he grabs my face, brings it to his, and says "you're cute mommy." Even coming from a 2 1/2 year old, it totally boosts my self esteem. Especially since 90% of the time I have on no-makeup, I'm sportin' Nick's old t-shirts, and my hair is shoved up in a clip. Gosh, I love that boy.

Finally, the post of gloating and gushing has come to an end. Thanks for indulging me. :)