Yesterday we had our ultrasound for baby number 8. I could hardly sleep the night before. We've had so many problems and so much medication, I had crazy dreams of a baby with three eyes and no legs. The likelihood of heart problems is far greater as well, and thoughts of Bekkah's first months of life kept seeping into my fitful night. The ultasound was a level 2 which means a doctor is present and it's much longer, about two hours. (I'm glad they didn't need me to drink a gallon of water beforehand--not that I would've kept it down anyway) Well I'm thrilled to say that the baby only has two eyes and both legs were accounted for! His/her heart looks good so far, although more tests will be performed throughout the rest of the pregnancy as fetal heart development is ongoing. My placenta ruptured with Bekkah, so they also checked for early warning signs of that and none were detected. I'm feeling a lot better now, though I know the next 4 months will still be a little tense. The fun part of the ultrasound came when the tech asked if we wanted to know the sex. I handed her an envelope with a card in it that had the words "boy" and "girl" with a box next to it she could check. We closed out eyes while she looked (we've had quite a few of these so I'm pretty sure we'd have figured it out). After the ultrasound Dan went to work and I went shopping! Mervyns has gift wrap so I found two identical outfits, one blue and one pink, and took them to customer service with my envelope. I instructed the clerk to open the envelope, wrap up the appropriate outfit along with the envelope and wrap it up in yellow paper. I told her to make sure she hid the other one under the counter so I wouldn't see it when I went up to pay and she just tossed the receipt. She was so excited, on my way out I heard her telling all the other clerks about it. We'll open the present Christmas morning, I can hardly wait! I really have no feeling on what it is. It would be convenient to have another girl, as we have all the clothes, and a she could share a room with the other two. Plus we'd have four of each. But I haven't had a boy in a long time, and I just love the cute little shoes they make. Truly though, it makes no differnce to me, I just want a healthy baby and uneventful pregnancy-well the rest of it anyway! Not too much to ask, right?!

FHE

Did you ever have a family home evening that was just great?

Let me give you some insight to our normal home evenings. We're always running behind schedule, dinner gets started late, dishes take to long, hubby's home late, whatever the reason, we NEVER start at 7:00. Then there's the fight as to what song to sing. The older children don't know the primary songs, and the younger ones don't know the hymns. The prayer fight follows, of course. (I really need a chart!) The lesson, often done by a not so enthusiastic teenager, drags a little, Bekkah throws things, Emily starts giggling, Ammon can't sit still to save his life and Zach is poking someone. If the spirit was felt at all, it is now gone. Then the fighting starts up again, what song and who's turn for prayer. 8:00 hits, there's no time for a game, and the crying begins.
Ok, maybe it's not always that bad, but it's not often that it's "great".

Last night was great! I didn't spend hours preparing like I should, and we still didn't start on time, but we felt the spirit. The object lesson, and talk on individual worth were fun and interesting (Thank you lds living! The lesson is automatically emailed to me on Monday mornings) Everyone, even Zach, was well behaved and took part when called upon. We had time to play Fruit Basket (a form of musical chairs) and everyone loved it. Even the songs were easily chosen (Popcorn Popping and Sunbeam, cause they love to watch Bekkah try and do it)
I'm grateful for the wise counsel given to us to hold FHE every week and for a family that supports me in following this counsel. And even though they are not always "great", I know that my family is closer because we take the time to make it happen.

6 year olds and politics

Yesterday Ammon had his 6 year old cousin Brandon over for a little while. They were playing in the front yard when Brandon noticed a stake sticking up out of the ground. He asked if he could pull it out, and Ammon said "no, it's for our prop 102 sign. Someone stole the poster that was attached to it!" Brandon asked what the sign was for. This is where my sweet little boy explained in detail to his cousin how we don't think boys should marry boys and girls should marry girls. He told him that Heavenly Father didn't want it that way and now we have to vote to make sure they don't make it a law. I couldn't decide if I was proud of him for his simple yet accurate description, or sad that a little boy lived in a world where he knew about these things.

Zachary Caleb Huston & Daniel Ray Huston III

I'm putting Tres and Zach together because they're really close and when I finish them I get my own blog!! So I'll start with Tres.

He LOVES to read and play video games! He's super smart and can tell you just about anything! I go to him with just about any homework question! He loves to fish, then eat the fish. His favorite show it Bizarre Foods, I have no clue why cause when I watch it it makes want to vomit!

Tres is an amazing person!

Zach likes video games and is always playing them! He also loves to do puzzles and is really smart! He has his Eagle rank in boy scouts. Zach is one of my favorite big brothers, what he doesn't know is that I really look up to him, and not because he's tall, because he is really fun and kind. I look up to both of these people a lot!

Zane Alexander Huston

Zane is a smart kid but sometimes he gets a big head about it. He is really funny and great with kids. He's an awesome scout and big brother. I personally think he's the lucky one in the family because he has it easy. The rest of us have 6 teachers a day!! Sure Ammon and Emily have only one too but they're in the easy grades! Zane is a great friend to all and fun to be with!

He loves to read and is doing it constantly! After he finishes a book he makes a game out if it and plays it with Ammon & Emily. He also has a great imagination, he loves to make up games and play them with siblings, friends, and sibling's friends.

Overall Zane is an awesome dude!

Half way there!!

I'm 20 weeks today!! How come it feels like I've been pregnant forever? I added up all of my pregnancies and realized I've been throwing up for over 5 and a half years of my life. That's a lot of time at the porcelain throne! Well they're worth every minute of it. I can hardly wait for number 8!

Ammon John Huston -by Mckenzie

OK well thus is the third of 7 1/2 kids. Ammon is one of the smartest 6-year-olds I know!!! He's in first grade at O'Connor Elemantry, and he is the only kid (so far) that hasn't been to our old school, Montessori! He would be doing really great there because they let you do work from other grades, and he could use that!! He's really smart. And when I say smart, he was doing 2nd grade math in kindergarten, and complained it was too easy!

I don't remember too much about first grade, but I do remember I learning to read, and THAT was a challenge! But not for this kid! In kindergarten he was reading at a 2nd grade level! He loves to read to his younger siblings and it's so cute watching him do it!

My mom and he went to meet the teacher this year and were looking at the work books. They skipped to the last page and had him do it, easy peasy! He was done in 5 minutes!!

He has a lot of friends, more than I have! If Ammon isn't inside playing video games he's outside making enough noise to wake up a bear! I have no clue what they play but it must be exciting! He is so caring! When they are playing outside if someone gets hurt or is thirsty, he runs in the house to get them what they need!! I love this kid. He is an awesome little dude. He is no ordinary six year old, he's Ammon John Huston!

Getting There

Today I got my PICC line removed, Hurray! It was kind of a forced removal, as my cellulitis was getting increasingly worse, and I was afraid I'd get another infection and end up back in the "H" word. I'm so tired of the hospital I'm seriously considering home birth. (Dan's not going for it though) It's amazing I didn't pull it out myself the way I was always getting tangled up in the tubing. But the end is in sight--almost to the halfway point. OK so I really have a long way to go, but it's important to think positive, right? Another few weeks and I ought to be functioning normally again. Does that mean I have to start cleaning again?!

RELEASES ARE HARD

Well it's finally happened, my counselors, secretary and I were all released on Sunday. I knew it was coming, but I just wasn't ready. Maybe you're never ready to leave a calling you love. I've loved serving in every calling I've had, but have never felt so sad and empty as I have this time. Maybe it's hormones. Being old and pregnant I'm sure doesn't help matters any.

I thought I'd go through and delete all the "stuff" that accumulated on my computer over the last three years. Maybe a little bit of closure will help. As I dragged and dropped files to the trash can, a flood of memories washed over me. With tears streaming down my face, I remembered the activity day when the children flicked chocolate covered marshmallows at the bishopric and the sunny Thanksgiving morning when they released 100 balloons into the air. There were several primary programs, and sharing time ideas. The template I used to make up the baptism program for 27 children. And pictures, so many pictures of softall and kickball, of activities and Halloweens, of Christmas programs and cubscouts. I have to admit, I couldn't delete the pictures, it was just too much!

Then I got to my email. Emails from Tami, Jodee and Michale about upcomming events and concerns with scouts or baptisms. I relied so heavily on their input, ideas and hard work. These three women are the reason primary ran so smoothly. Words can not express how grateful I am to them and how much I will always cherish the time we spent together seving in the Lord's Kingdom. There were years worth of emails to Brother Penrod, Brother Bogle and Brother Allen about callings and meetings. How grateful I am to them for their support. I'm sure I drove them crazy! There were reminders and invitations to special meetings from both Citrus Heights and Alta Mesa Stakes. Memories of day camps and Scouting for Food came rushing back. There were emails from Bishop Walker and Bishop Jarvis counseling me on how to work with struggling children, reminding me of the tender moments when these little ones would come to me with their fears and frustrations. Nearly 800 emails later my heart was aching as I hit the delete button over and over.

I need to stay busy and not think about it I decided. So yesterday I cleaned my kitchen top to bottom - even the baseboards. I sorted a stack of papers that had been piling up on the counter for a while - more primary stuff to throw out. I organized my little girls' room and bagged up outgrown clothes. There I found Emily's sunbeam packet, more primary stuff. I spot cleaned the carpet (Bekkah has decided her sippy cup can also double as an exciting drawing instument and has created quite a mural on my gray carpet-no more grape juice Bekkah!) and near the piano I found a misshapen CTR ring, another primary reminder. By noon I was tired and decided to lay down with the baby, after all I am still sick and I haven't slept well since the Bishop's visit last week. Sleep never came, just more tears. I got up and cleaned the garage while searching for the Halloween decorations. There were leftover water guns and plastic swimming pools from a summer primary activity day. Then when the kids came home from school we finished up homework and baked a couple pies. I spent some more time on our family home evening lesson and while on the computer ran across a few more things to delete. Everywhere I turn are reminders of a calling that was so much a part of my life. It was then I realized, blocking out the memories is not the answer. It can't be done, it was what I was for nearly three years.

Time will lesson the hurt and new callings will take away the empty feeling. Projects around the house and activities with my family will fill my time. But I will never forget these wonderful innocent children who filled my time, my prayers and my heart!