Valentine Party

The whole family was able to attend Nicole's valentine party at school. Allyson was so excited! She love, love, loves going to school with "Sissy."

 Two tables of kids competed to unscramble valentine words. I risk sounding like one of "those" moms but I am telling you, Nicole and one or two others almost instantly knew the word and a couple of numb-skulls at her table would hold the letters...not knowing the answer but unwilling to part with a letter. I wanted to smack them.  We lost a lot. A big boy cried. There was a cat fight between two girls. I got in the middle of it. I didn't realize one of the girls' mother was there. Fortunately all turned out well and the game ended.

Part of the "team"

They went on to the fishing game. Fortunately this was not a team competition.

Happy sntienlaVe Day! 

(Unscramble the middle word - if you can - and not crying!)

Valentine Project

Here are the valentines Nicole passed out to her class. We got the idea from Family Fun magazine and tweaked it a little according to what we had on hand. She assembled most of them and I helped with making and stapling the card to the bag. Daddy thought they turned out pretty cute.

Valentine

 Nicole made this sweet Valentine's book for her teacher, Mrs. Tepe

 

To Mrs. Tepe
By Nicole

Mrs. Tepe is my teacher. She is nice and cool.

Also she is nice and funny and her laugh is cute . She is a rock star.

In Mrs. Tepe's class, she is a pleasure.

(Amy, Mrs. Tepe, Thomas, Nicole)

We really like her.

 

Her favorite color is yellow and she lives in an apartment.

She is moving to a regular home now.

Adios Amigos.

Happy Valentine's Day Mrs. Tepe

Joy and Loss

Haven't posted for a long while as I haven't quite known what to say. There don't seem to be adequate words. We had quite a surprise at the beginning of December when we learned we were expecting another baby! I don't think I will ever forget the look on Britt's face. He smiled and I could see the joy in his eyes at the thought of being a daddy again.

I was worried about telling Nicole as she had expressed many times she didn't want any more kids in the family. Two was just perfect. When we told her, though, I was so relieved. Her eyes grew wide and she got a big smile on her face and said with joy, "Yeah! I get another baby brother or sister." She drew pictures and notes telling her teacher about the baby in her mommy's tummy. It was very precious.

We just told those closest to us. My friend Michelle surprised me with a gift one night. A stuffed animal, some decaf coffee and a pregnancy magazine. It meant so much to me. I took the magazine on the airplane to California.

Britt flew to Sacramento the day before the girls and I flew to L.A. (We met in Coarsegold a few days later.) Just after he left I got a call from the doctor. My hormone levels weren't doubling as they should. They sent me for an ultrasound. I was so afraid and felt so alone. Trying to brace myself for the worst, I held my breath and fell apart crying when I saw this little tiny heartbeat on the screen. Our baby was alive and his or her little heart was beating inside of me! Relief and joy washed over me.

We decided to tell our family at Christmas. It was definitely a surprise.

We wanted to include the first grandchild (and only grandson) on the Davis side so we told Chase the news. We had a little bit of a problem getting Allyson to settle down so we could make the announcement! 

We framed an ultrasound picture for my parents to tell them the news.

A couple of days after we returned to Missouri I had my first OB appointment. Britt stayed home from work that day as Allyson was sick and we didn't want to take her to the office with all the pregnant people. Since it ended up just being a cold we decided to take the girls as Britt really wanted to be there. I am so glad.

In the waiting room I read an article that, after seeing your child's heartbeat, the risk of miscarriage is less than 2%. It was surprising as we had already lost another baby after seeing the heartbeat. We felt confident that everything was fine. When we finally got to see the doctor she did an ultrasound. We were laughing and talking and then I saw her face get a more serious look. She said the baby measured 6 weeks, 2 days. We knew then as I was supposed to be 8 weeks along.

It's impossible to explain the grief to someone who has never lost a baby before ever having the chance to hold it or even give it a name. I can only say we loved this precious child and wanted him or her to be part of our family so much. We look forward to having the chance to hold our baby in Heaven one day.