The Holt Happenings: July 2013

Quickie Vegas Trip

Yesterday morning we were kind of lounging...avoiding all the things we needed to do and Nick says, let's run down to Vegas and do the early ultrasound and find out!!! Holy cow, I jumped all over that! I love road trips, avoiding the to do list and having fun with my sweet little family and to find out what we are having...the biggest bonus ever!

We had so much fun. We took the kids to Chuck-E-Cheese, Hunters first time. Then we grabbed cupcakes. Then we jetted to the ultrasound. Then we went to Babies-R-Us and bought a few things. Then we got yummy Cheesecake Factory and came back home. It was a pretty great day!!!

Any guesses on what #3's gonna be??

Craziest, Best News EVER

So many of you know that it takes us awhile to get pregnant...hence an 8 and 4 year old and no other babies. It's always been such a hard thing. Usually I try and joke about it and keep it light so it's not weird for other people when they ask me. But no lie...it stinks!!

We have struggled getting pregnant with each baby and have had to do fertility treatments with each, but this time has been the longest and hardest. We've been trying for 2.5 years and did a lot of fertility treatments, more than we've had to do with Reagan and Hunter. We decided in the winter after the last of the treatments that we were gonna go on a break, take some time and then re-access if we were going to do it all again. We also found out that my thyroid is weird. I wanted to take a break to try and get that figured out, but also to try and lose some weight. I've gained a ton this time with new fertility drugs that I haven't used in the past. We were out of money and I was really having a hard time--physically, emotionally, mentally and even spiritually. I have been trying to really "enjoy the journey" and instead of feeling jipped about the kids I didn't have, I tried to be really thankful and enjoy the kids I do have. So that's what I've tried to do! So, a few months after I really just let go....we got pregnant.....on our own!! This DOESN"T happen for us! I really couldn't believe it and ended up taking 10 tests over a few days!!! :) Crazy! Again, I know this is totally normal for most people, but for 10 years...this has NEVER happened for us. We will be married 11 years in a few weeks and I've only been on birth control for about 10 months in all that time. Crazy for all my fertile besties to even think about!!! :)

We told the family baptism weekend when they were at our house for Reag. We told the kids first then put a big brother shirt on Hunter and let him walk around with it. No one got it!!! Finally, we told him to go up to people and ask them to read it....they still didn't get it. We pretty much had to spell it out for each of them!! :) I'm sure it's just cause no one dares guess that with us since I'm sensitive to it!! :) Anyways, it's pretty awesome!!!! I'm due Jan 9, but we are hoping to have the baby in Dec for the tax help! :) Ha ha, we're old!! We figure maybe since Reag was 3 weeks early on her own and Hunter...well, he was 8 weeks early and it was all so scary, we just pray that doesn't all happen again. I'm technically high-risk because of that, so I'll be monitored extra so hopefully it really won't happen again! Now on to all the planning and shopping. We've actually gotten rid of almost everything at this point. Nick would be cleaning the garage or we'd be moving and he'd ask if we could get rid of something...like the crib or the car seat and stroller, even all the clothes!! Depending on the day, I'd either cry my guts out or if I was in a pissy, what the frick mood, then I'd say get rid of it all!! So pretty much, we're starting new...which is exciting and daunting at the same time!! :)

2 big helpers :)

Is this crazy??? :)

Love.....

One day, I'm really going to miss things like this.....

and this......

Nick teaching Reag how to hand sew

I Love Beaver

Ha ha!! No really, we love going to Beaver every summer for our family reunion. This year, we left early and stopped in Cedar for the parade. The kids had fun, but it got hot fast! When we got to Beaver, we stopped at my favorite spot...Mel's Drive In....Love it! It's tradition! Camping was great, but we did get rained on a few times and I didn't take hardly any pictures. I'm so sad about it!! Lots of fishing, canoeing, food and fun.