Too much to ask. . .

to have everyone all looking and the camera and un-goofy at the same time. :) We took some pictures thinking we could throw them in some thank you cards for our residency interviews. Our only option was a tripod and the self-timer. In the end, I think we picked the one with Truman's face looking kind of drugged. We figured people can understand a baby not cooperating. Surprisingly (or not) the majority of pictures were thrown out because of Guthrie. LOL He swears my mom told him to smile by "putting my top teeth in front of my bottom lip." Ummmm, thanks a lot, Mom.

Live from New York. . .

I guess I left my blog hanging there. Morning sickness tends to do that to me, though I really fooled myself into thinking it wouldn't happen this time. I read back through my blog from pregnancy with the other kids and saw that the nausea started right around 5 weeks. Kyle and I travelled to California for his Step 2 - CS exam right at my six-week mark. We unpacked in our hotel room and I distinctly remember commenting to him that I wondered if I would skip morning sickness this time. We rested for a while and I realized a short time later that I was pretty hungry. By the time we got to the restaurant for dinner, I was feeling completely sick. I ate some breadsticks and a little soup and recognized that awful 'I'm so hungry but don't want anything to eat and this soup tastes like poop' feeling. For the next 7 weeks the nausea was my constant companion. No one said anything specific, but I'm pretty sure I cried and whined a lot during this time. We took a short trip up to Taylor to see my uncle get married. On the way home a combination of morning sickness and motion sickness kept me throwing up the entire ride home. I would gag, then cry, and repeat for 3 hours. My poor husband and my poor kids. . .

Anyway, the sun seems to be shining lately because that feeling is nearly 100% gone! I actually really do love the 2nd trimester of pregnancy. I like being just a little round in the middle and feeling happy and energetic again. I like that I can pick up the house a little bit, instead of staring at it and wishing it would clean itself. I LOVE that I can finally cook again. Keeping everyone fed when you can't stand the smell of food is SO hard and only seems to get harder as the kids get older. Cheerios for dinner doesn't go over as well now as it did when they were toddlers. :p

I guess life still had to go on while I was whining on the couch. Our only girl turned 6 years old! She was in birthday heaven. For some reason she completely underestimates us and didn't believe that the Nintendo DS she opened for her present was REALLY for her. I think she was waiting for us to tell her she had to share it with someone or had to give it back after a week. "It's mine? I get to keep it?" Ummm, yes dear. It *is* your birthday! Really, though, that is one of my favorite things about her. She has no expectations and really appreciates every gift she gets. . .wait, I just remembered she was kind of a brat when she opened Grandma and Grandpa Hunter's presents on Christmas. I guess we do have some work to do. ;) I totally love her buns!


Then of course there was Christmas. Santa was very generous this year and gave us all what we really wanted. What a man! Adeline got her beautiful Barbie princess collection. Guthrie got his Hot Wheels track. Sullivan's gift is actually a funny story. He's spotted this dinosaur back in JULY when we took him to Walmart to run errands. We told him "maybe next time." For the next five months, he would periodically ask us if we could go to "Woll-mart" and get the "shooting dinosaur." Normally I would buy my kid the silly toy, but I kept putting him off. When November rolled around, we started the "maybe for Christmas" talk. He saw Santa a few times during the season and asked for "Creeeetcher" for Christmas. When he saw it on Christmas morning, he cuddled it like it was the softest, snuggliest teddy bear ever.








Perhaps the biggest change during my hiatus involves our move across the country. Sunday after Christmas, Grandma and Grandpa Hunter loaded Guthrie, Adeline and Sullivan into our Expedition (plus trailer) and started the incredibly long, whine-filled drive to Iowa. Kyle and I flew to Chicago the next day. We rented a car and spent the next 2.5 days driving, interviewing, having dinners and lunches with residency programs and sleeping in hotels. The kids and Kyle's parents met us on Wednesday night just outside of Chicago. We ate some GREAT deep dish pizza and slept in another hotel. I learned that the Hampton Inn is a pretty dependable, affordable hotel option if you have choices. We stayed in 3 different Hampton Inns that week and they all had comfortable beds, decent breakfast, and free hot chocolate, which the kids deemed fabulous. As a matter of fact, in a mini-breakdown moment the night we arrived at our apartment here in Kingston, I almost insisted we leave the house for the first night and go stay at the Hampton Inn I spotted as we drove into town. Kyle let me cry it out and helped pull the house enough together to allow us to sleep here that night.

Our first week here was not only snowy, but also absolutely freezing! I know now that I can handle anything 35 degrees or above. For every degree we fall below that, I have to add another layer of wool. :p At one point my feet were so cold, we went to a sporting goods store and I bought the hiking socks meant for 40-below temperatures. My feet still got cold in those a few times. :p

This week has been SO great. Yesterday was nearly 50! I think we're supposed to get rain this week too! I'm thinking I'll make it after all.

Kyle's schedule at the hospital has been great. We've spent a lot of time together. The kids LOVE their school. I love the fact that by sheer coincidence we rented the house (apt?) right on the corner of the bus stop. How lucky are we? Since the kids are happy, I know we're going to be just fine here for our short stay. Really, we only have a little over 4 months until we move again. (Who knows where?)

Kyle bought this car for $750 when he was here last fall. We had a generous friend willing to drive and store it while we were gone. It has amazingly not had a single problem since we purchased it and actually seems to be a pretty decent car.

These last few pictures are completely out of order, but deserve to be posted - Kyle took the 3 older kids to the cabin a few days before Christmas. I tried to pretend like it was mean of him to leave me home with Truman to finish Christmas all by myself, but I don't think anyone believed that I wasn't doing a secret dance inside.

They played in the snow, built their first snowman and went Christmas carrolling with Grandpa Hunter.

The kids had their "Winter Concert." My pictures are extremely lame - so this is basically what you get. Addie is the little blonde on the top row (always the top row for my tall kids).

Hmmmmm, no picture of his performance. Love the water bottles, though.

The pregnancy has hit a nice comfortable point. I actually don't feel all that pregnant at all - other than the super mushy midsection and the round bump down low on my stomach. I did see an OB for just a moment in Arizona. I haven't been to a doctor here in NY yet, but I'm working on finding one. Its a little strange, as we will be moved before I actually deliver - but I talked to a midwife in one of our potential towns and she said she would attend a homebirth as long as I have prenatal care, which I guess is reasonable, as she would want to know I was low risk for any complications. I think if we end up back in Phoenix, I would just deliver at Phoenix Baptist. They're one of the hospitals that will let you bring in a birth pool and the same midwives who delivered Sully at the birth center work there. A part of me would really mourn not being able to stay home :( but a homebirth would almost certainly cost money, where a hospital birth would be nearly free (to me, with insurance). Maybe I'll change my mind as the actual time draws near. We'll see.