Yikes!

So, another story to add to the mouse tale (or should I say tail...ha!), except this time it involves our gerbils. No mice. One gerbil to be exact. Oreo is the name. She is so named, because she was white when we got her. Now she is black and white. I don't know why, she just is.

As we were all coming down the stairs Tuesday morning, Mary commented that she saw a mouse in the piano room. I looked at Ben and Ben looked at me. Weird! We have never seen one in there. Mary said it was a big one. Oh man.

A while later, we are all sitting at the table eating a yummy Birthday breakfast for Ben. We were celebrating his Birthday and enjoying being together before the chaos of the day began. I was teaching preschool that morning and we were pulling together our costumes for the Ward Halloween Party.

It was all well worth the effort I must say. (see previous post for pictures) I still fall into a fit if laughter every time I look at that post, especially when looking at Ben. Oh, it was way too much fun! And yes, it was totally fine. The bishop, activities committee (of which I am a part of), and everyone else loved it and were just fine with it...as we knew they would be. We were cartoon characters. Cute, charming, dark, Spanish speaking, Dora and Diego. No harm in that. I am just glad Dora isn't really 6 ft 1in, muscular ;) , with a booming low voice and a 5:00 shadow. hahaha Oh, it was great! We did our best. Seriously, I am chuckling right now. I am glad I have a husband who makes me laugh my guts out and who goes along with my love of holidays.

We would do it again for Halloween, but it was a lot of work and a lot of make-up to get off. We will just let the kids have the dress up fun tomorrow night. They look adorable anyway. Ben and I will be good adults and do our duties as treat hand-out-ers and trick-or-treater supervisors. In the end, we will also be cashiers as our kids trade their candy for a fun toy. We are going to a fun party though (thanks to Adri), and we are excited to be with friends on a fun, spooky Halloween night. Party it up baby! There is always next year for costumes though, and we already have some ideas that make me laugh right out loud! ;)

O.K. back to the story. Holidays always get me side-tracked. Where was I, oh yes, the Birthday breakfast.

So, the dog was in the house, because it is FREEZING outside, and he doesn't have a dog house yet. I was just thinking about how the food wasn't tasting that great to me (pregnancy taste buds) when I looked over at the dog.

The very second I looked over at him, he lunged as quick as a flash and scooped up something HUGE in his mouth. I thought it was a giant rat. All I could see were four legs dangling out of his teeth. I immediately put my shirt up to my mouth and tried to keep myself from puking. I jumped from my chair, and my arm was flapping, for no real reason other than weird reaction.

Ben quickly opened the back door and let the dog run outside with its prey. I was still working on the gag reflex suppression, while Ben was commenting on how HUGE the mouse was and wondering where it came from. Mary's eyes were as big as saucers and she wasn't blinking, and Sam kept on saying, "that was a big one dad!"

Suddenly, I had a thought. I glanced over at the gerbil cage in horror and began counting...1 gerbil...2 gerbil..."um, guys, where is our other gerbil? I know we have three in there."

Mary began to cry, and I looked outside. The dog had his face in the snow, and the gerbil was running for its life. It was, in deed, a gerbil. I turned away right as the dog got it again. I yelled for Ben and told him it was a gerbil and for the moment, it was still alive.

Ben ran out into the snow in his bare feet and got the dog to drop the gerbil. The dog kept right by it though and continued to try to snatch it again. Poor Ben was dancing out there in the snow with shorts and bare feet, trying to keep the dog away and trying to catch a horrified gerbil speeding through the snow.

I called the dog and put him in the garage, and then got Ben a container to put the gerbil in so it wouldn't bite him out of fear. Mary was still crying and Sam had his face plastered to the window. I still had my shirt in my mouth in effort not to barf all over Ben's birthday breakfast.

Ben ran the gerbil inside and put it back in the cage. It was soaking wet and shaking all over. I couldn't tell if it was hurt or not.

Breakfast was over for me. I couldn't even take one more bite. Mary was working on ending the tears and worrying about the wet, cold, shaking gerbil. Sam was way too excited, and Ben just began eating again. He was the hero of the day! Hooray for Ben!

Three days later, the gerbil seems totally fine. Miracle I tell ya! It is back to it's dry, poofy, energized self. Every once in a while,the dog sits by the gerbil cage and stares at the gerbils. I am sure he is breathing threats to the poor things through the glass. As Ben says, the poor gerbil probably screams every time it sees him looking into the cage.

We don't know how Oreo escaped out of the cage, or how our dog happened to see it run across the floor, but we now have the cage covered and every time I walk by, I count the gerbils.


Oh, and by the way. After killing 18 mice in our house, it has been three days since I have seen a mouse in the house. Our house suddenly feels very clean. There may be an end in sight....just in time for grandma JoJo to visit!

A bit funny and a bit freaky..you decide.

Our annual ward Halloween party was tonight, and it was a BLAST! It was seriously so much fun. Both kids loved the trunk-or-treat and the games were great as well. The chili cook-off was everything I imagined and more. (major craving right now)

Ben and I decided to get "creative" with our costumes this year. The kids looked adorable, but we wanted to join in the fun as well.

So..without any further adieu, welcome the beautiful butterfly queen, the adorable green monster, Dora and Diego.

I love these kiddos so much. It made my heart happy to see their huge grins.



She looked so darn cute. Her hair took forever, because she has TONS of it. She has been excited for weeks to wear her wings.



Our adorable monster. It is Sam's first year understanding Halloween. It is so much fun to see he and Mary so excited.




Dora and Diego at the ward party. The adults were a bit afraid, and the kids loved it..until Dora spoke and her deep booming voice just didn't quite fit.



Dora the Explorer!





Diego...animal rescuer.





Mary and Sam at the trunk-or-treat. Mary ran to each and every car. Sam was shy for the first few and then began demanding suckers from everyone. Ha!

To My Hunny

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!

I love you lots and lots and lots.

You are hot.

You are my best friend and my eternal companion forever. I wouldn't have it any other way. I am the luckiest girl in the world.

Thanks for being you.

little bit of this...little bit of that

Tis' the season for LOTS of blog posts about parties, Birthday's, holidays, ect.
I LOVE this time of year, even with all of its craziness. In fact, I think that is why I like it. I like to be busy, and I like it even more when I am busy with fun stuff.

This weekend was very busy and very fun.

It started Friday with Ben's Birthday Party. His Birthday isn't until Tuesday, but he works that day, I teach preschool that day, and the Ward Party is that day. So, we moved his party up to this weekend. It was a lot of fun! It gave me a reason to deep clean the house and decorate for Ben's Birthday. It was a busy busy day. We got to see lots of good friends and eat lots of yummy food. Ben even got an awesome poster of Edward from Twilight. We are still debating on where to put it. ha! All in all, it was a success, and I fell asleep that night before my head hit the pillow.

The table FULL of "fall food." Yummy!

Some of the friends that came that night. Good times.

Saturday, Ben went skiing. It was his first time this season. He was excited, and I am really glad he was able to go. I think he had a great time. I took the kids to the gym and had a nice, long workout. I felt like a slug, but I did it, so I was proud. I even forced myself to get on the scale. So far, I have gained 2lbs. this pregnancy. I am 8 weeks along. But with the constant hunger that just started up, and all of the parties coming up, I will probably add ten more this week. Bring it.

Saturday afternoon, the kids and I headed to the Pumpkin Patch. Ben met up with us soon after. We also met up with our great friends and neighbors, Mike and Tyler.
We had a great time! Sam LOVED the tractor and the slides. He did the slides all by himself! Mary and Tyler loved going down the slide every way possible. It was so cute.


I LOVE this picture. They all look so cute. I even got Sam's adorable eyebrow wrinkle.


Mary and Sam going down the slide together.


"Big Boy" Sam going down the slide by himself.


Sam and I zooming down the slide.


Mary and Tyler, trying another new technique.


Ben and both kids. What a man. It was cute to see the kids light up when Ben got there. They love their daddy.




Once we got home, Ben and I were done for. The kids were still energized. They even provided a fashion show for us. We almost died laughing. Way too hilarious! Mary should be a fashion designer when she grows up. She is already helping Ben and I add "accessories" to our awesome costumes that are almost finished. I can't wait!



The headbands around the waist were my favorite part. And although Sam looks very upset, he was actually laughing his head off and running all over the house. I just told him to hold still for the picture and he took it very literally. He didn't move a muscle.

I guess I should add, that I am already getting all sorts of anxiety about our baby again. I am just very worried about it being so small. And, I am still not sick. I am very glad that I am not sick, but it worries me. 2 1/2 week small is pretty small. I know my dates weren't off because of when I got a positive preg. test. I actually got the positive earlier than I had though I would, so really, if anything, the baby should be bigger than we thought. I made a mistake and looked stuff up online. Bad decision. I am holding on to the fact that Dr. Weary didn't seem too concerned. He is going to be watching the size of the baby more closely, but I think he is waiting to see what this next ultrasound will tell us. My ultrasound is a week from this Tuesday, but I don't think it will come fast enough. I am worried. I wonder if the worry will ever go away.

Thankfully, it is another very fun, very busy week. Ward party, teaching preschool, Ben's 28th Birthday, Halloween, Ben's buddy Ryan coming to visit for the weekend, and all of the normal life stuff in between. I thrive on stuff like this. It is just in my blood I guess. Wahoo! LOVE IT!

Invasion of the Squeekers Part 4....seriously.

Before I begin the next saga, I will let you know how the last one ended up.
I waited for Ben to get home from work, and the noise from the mouse in the hole quieted down. And yes, I did go to Walmart, but it was a good thing, I FINALLY found a costume for Sam, and wigs for mine and Ben's rockin' awesome surprise costumes.
Ben got down on the floor with the ski pole, grabbed the trap with the pole and slid it toward him.
The kids and I were anxiously awaiting the result. I was biting the one nail I have left.
Well, the trap was empty! Yup, I am serious. The trap was empty. The only explanation I can come up with is that it was Eddie. There is no other way I can see the mouse getting it's foot out of that trap. Dang Eddie. We were all disappointed and a little grossed out.
And I am sure, he is in his little hideout, basking in his glory. "I never gave up. I drug that trap around both couches, past three walls, across the sliding door, past the sleeping dog monster, and into the hole. Not only that, but I was able to avoid the giant pole that was dragging me to my fate. I used my mighty mouse muscles to get my foot free, and here I am! (taking a bow) Feel free to come look at my foot. The bruise is amazing. Of course, I ate all the peanut butter on the trap during my journey. It was the best, most hard-earned peanut better I have ever had. I think it was creamy."


OK now it is time for last night's adventure.

Yesterday morning, as I was getting ready to get breakfast going, I noticed this.


What on earth!? Where was the foil that was supposed to covering ALL of the burners? I guessed it may have been mice, but we killed 5 of them the previous night, and figured we had ended our mouse problem. Just in case, I sanitized everything and then proceeded to cook breakfast. Still baffled about the tiny pieces of tin foil ALL over the counter.

Fast forward to yesterday evening.
We had just gotten home from the gym, and we were all just relaxing, when Mary said..."I just saw a mouse run into the kitchen!"
Ben and weren't sure if we should believe her or not, but we chose to believe her. We didn't do anything about it though.
10 minutes later, we heard a "crunch, crunch, crunch."
I got up off the couch, and silently followed the noise. It was coming from the stove! The mouse WAS eating the foil. I couldn't believe it!
I told Ben to come over, and when he did, we saw another mouse run across the counter and hide behind some bags. While we were busy watching that one...ANOTHER mouse ran across the counter and down into the oven burners.
Ben was shocked, and I think I made a different noise each time we saw a mouse. Anywhere from a squeal, to flapping my arms, to breathing really weird.
I pulled out the camera and Ben wiggled the bags, out ran the mouse, and I actually got a picture of the dang thing running as fast as it could back into the burners! I don't know how I got it, because I was doing a little dance at the time.


While Ben was out getting every mouse trap we own, the kids and I proceeded to see five more mice run across the counter and in and out of the stove. My weird noises only got worse and my dancing was pretty nuts. Somehow I caught this little guy in the act of hiding in the corner, right before he dashed into the oven. The picture is pretty crappy, but if you look closely, he is there, right in the corner. And yes, that is straw that the mice ripped off my poor little pumpkin scarecrow craft I had sitting there. gggrrrr


So, with not an ounce of mercy left in our systems, we set out every trap known to mankind. As my friend Heidi would say, "one of each!" Ben set all of them up right there on the counter. He was gracious enough to put paper towels under them. Peanut butter seems to be the food of choice, but we also put some cheese out as well.



It was 11:00pm by this time, and our whole family was wide eyed and wide awake. It took forever to get the kids to bed. Sam kept saying there was a mouse in his bed. He finally ended up in bed with us. Poor kid.

During scriptures we heard the first "snap!" It had only been 10 minutes since we set the trap. Both kids shrieked and I cringed. Ben went down the stairs, got rid of the dead mouse, and re-set the trap.

10 minutes later we heard the next two snaps. Ben went back downstairs. He came back up to report that the cheese was gone from the traps, but there were no mice in them. Smart little suckers! How do they do that? Ben re-set the traps, and we finally got the kids to sleep.
I am sure they were all having a little happy dance in the oven while handing out their hard earned cheese. "Hey Beau, thanks for that class on mouse trap 101, it literally saved our tails this time." "Hey Harry, put down that piece of burnt mac and cheese, and come get some swiss, it is to die for. hahaha, no pun intended."

And then there are the dare-devils in the burner in the dark corner, drawing straws (that they pulled from my scarecrow on the counter) to see who will do the next cheese run.
Eugine: "Few, not me this time. I am getting to old for this. Besides, I think that little lady gerbil over there is finally noticing me, it is not the best time to bite the dust, ya know."
Eddie: "Dang, it's not me. I have feet and guts of steel. Oh well, next time."
Jane: "It's me! I am going to try the duck and grab. Wish me luck."

Another "snap!" Ben went downstairs. He came back up chuckling. We had killed another mouse, but while he was picking up the trap to get rid of the mouse, he looked over to the toaster, just a few feet away. He saw a mouse sitting under it watching him, eating a piece of cheese we had put on the previous trap!
Can you hear it now, "Hey Bob, they got Bill. The human is getting rid of him now, may he rest in peace. Those humans think they are so smart. HELLO, did they not know the stove is a wonderland for us. That will teach em' to for changing the pantry. Can't get anything there anymore, just a mouthful of cleaner. Lay low for a few minutes. Dang, this cheese is good. Poor Bill."

Ben and I finally went to bed. Ben fell asleep in his usual 30 seconds, and as I lay there in my pregnancy insomnia state, I heard three more traps go off. I just shook my head, and continued making my late night list of to-do's for this weekend. One of which is to buy more sanitizer and disinfectant.

We have now caught 15 mice total, and have sanitized our house twice that much.
Someday, somehow, we will prevail. Those mice are going down. And Eddie, we are awaiting the glorious day of your capture. Until then...slow down on the reproducing and stay away from our gerbils.

I just really hope I don't cook burnt mouse and mac and cheese for lunch today. And I really hope I don't make myself toast, only to end up smelling burnt mouse.
Heaven forbid that makes part 5 of this mess.

For those of you attending Ben's Birthday party...I sure hope this isn't scaring you away. Believe me...we are cleaning our house SPOTLESS tomorrow and EVERYTHING will be disinfected to the max. I am dreading it, but it will be done...I promise.
If you didn't get an invitation to the party, it is because I don't have your email, or you live out-of state.
Here is the info. for anyone who didn't get it via email...which is a lot of people...oops!
Tomorrow night (Friday, October 23rd) 6:30pm. Open house. Children welcome. Come whenever, leave whenever. We were going to have cake and ice cream, but we changed it to a fall treat menu. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting, caramel apples, apple cider, apple crisp, candy, ect. There will be a movie for the kiddos playing upstairs along with toys and games. It will be a blast! Come one and all! We would love to see everyone there! EVERYONE is welcome...truly. (accept for the mice that is)

Roller Coaster

The past two days, I have been a complete nervous mess. I have had some killer lower back pain, and I have been so incredibly worried about the baby. There is also the concern that I am not sick yet. With EVERY pregnancy I have had, I am sick by this time.
Those two things, combined with our experience this summer, were enough to make me ill.

My appointment was this morning. I was 90% sure we had lost the baby. I was already planning in my head a way of dealing with it all. And I was already sad. Ben was really worried as well.

I felt like we waited in the ultrasound room forever. My hands were freezing, my heart was pounding, and my mind was racing.

Dr. Weary came in and I blurted out all of my worries. He just nodded his head, turned the screen away from me and began the ultrasound. The silence and the grim look on his face left no doubt in my mind anymore. Ben was studying the ground. I was holding back the tears when the Dr. said, "and there is the heartbeat!" while turning the screen toward me. He had a huge grin on his face and the relief was evident.

I felt my whole body relax and I realized that I hadn't been breathing that whole time. And there it was, our precious little jellybean, with a beating heart.

The baby is measuring 2 1/2 weeks small, which worries me a little, but Dr. Weary said that some dates just may be off. He is going to be watching that more closely though. That also may explain why I am not sick yet.
I did get a positive pregnancy test when I thought I would though. So the dates may not really be that off. We will see.

My new due date is now June 20th (I guess I need to change the puzzle on the top of the blog), which is also a very special date in my family for a few reasons. One of which, is the fact that it is my grandmother's Birthday. She passed suddenly and unexpectedly when I was 12. I was pretty close to her. We share our middle name, which happens to be "June"...the month the baby is due and the month we both have a Birthday. Pretty neat.

I have another ultrasound in 2 weeks, to measure the baby again, and to calm my fears that will most likely be pretty strong again.
I have a good doctor. He understands what this summer did to me and my mind. He doesn't make me feel silly for my worries. He actually helps me know that it is very normal and just fine.

I also have a wonderful husband, who is right by me every step of the way. He lets me talk late into the night about my fears and he is ready and willing to give me blessings when needed.

I am a very happy girl today. My spirit is soaring. My baby has a heartbeat.

Invasion of the Squeekers Part 3

So, I really never planned on having a part three, but the mice had other plans.

Yesterday, every time I walked past a certain room in our house, I almost threw up. The smell was horrid! Truly. So, I decided to start cleaning and try to find the problem.

And boy did I find it. There it was, trapped in a camping bucket. A nice, little, brown, dead mouse. Stinking its way up to high heaven.

I did a little freak out dance and made a few shrieks of my own before throwing out the entire bucket and its contents. BLAH! I am still cringing. I showered soon after, and disinfected everything for the 100th time, but I still felt dirty all day.

That was it for us. Out came the traps, yes, the original traps, the ones that made me feel so bad for the mice. Not any more...or so I thought.

We ended up catching five mice yesterday. Go us! Before we went to bed, we set a nice little trap full of peanut butter in between the gerbil cage and the fireplace. The fireplace seems to be the place of entrance.

We woke up this morning to this.



Yup. No trap, no mouse, and one long trail of gerbil bedding. I don't even want to think about why the gerbil bedding was out of the cage. Ben searched high and low before work this morning, but to no avail.

The kids and I searched this morning, nada.

And then we got home from gymnastics. And that my friends, is where the story really begins. I sure hope you haven't eaten any time soon. I know I won't be eating for a least a week, and it isn't over yet.

So, we were all tired. Mary had an especially exciting day at gymnastics. A girl in her class accidentally kicked the coach and broke her nose. Blood all over the place. It was nasty and really sad. Anyway, back to the story.

When we got home, I turned on a movie for the kids and decided to lay down myself. That is when we heard a terrible squeaking and flopping noise coming from the kitchen. I froze on the couch, Sam ran into the kitchen, and Mary ran for her flashlight. The dog went nuts.

We followed the wretched noise over to the sink. Under the sink is a nice square hole where the vent cover used to be. No mistake, the mouse was in there, and it was alive.

The mouse got from the fireplace, behind two couches, around the wall, past the sliding glass door, into the kitchen, under the cupboards, and into the hole; all with a trap stuck to it. It must be Eddie.



It took everything I had to lay down on the floor with the flashlight, and look into that dark hole. I couldn't help thinking that the only exit for the mouse was going to be up my arm and over my face. (insert shudder here)

I looked in the hole, and the mouse immediately freaked out. I jumped about a mile, dropped the flashlight and ran from the kitchen. Somehow though, I was able to see the trap in the hole, and a little mouse foot stuck in it. The mouse had fallen down another hole and was hanging from the trap. So disturbing.

The mouse was being so loud by this point, that I decided to try again. I went to the garage and got out Ben's ski pole. Mary held the flashlight this time while I stuck the pole in the hole. Without looking, I fished around for the mousetrap and got it. I started dragging it toward me, but the mouse freaked out again and tried to run for us. This time, I left the pole, the flashlight and the kids behind and ran up the stairs. I honestly had to use the bathroom this time.

Next I called Ben. I knew he couldn't come home and save the mouse or us, but I guess I just wanted to let him know. He told me not to let the mouse bite me. Believe me, I don't plan on it. I think I would be mentally ill for the rest of my life if that were to happen. I got some sympathy from him and then hung up.

Next, I called the "good neighbor" Mike. Maybe he would be willing to get the mouse out, take it outside and put it out of its misery. No luck, Mike wasn't home, but he sure thinks this is pretty comical/nasty.

So, it is down to me. I got brave one last time and forced myself to look in the hole. The mouse had moved into the corner of the hole and was quiet. I got the ski pole and hooked it onto the trap. I began to slowly drag the trap toward me. The mouse freaked out again. That's it, game over.

And here I am, after lying on the couch for ten minutes to get the blood back to my face and to get my ears to stop ringing.
The mouse is still squeaking, the dog is still going nuts, and I am not trying again. Ben gets home in 3 hours. I think we may just need to go to Walmart, I am sure I can find a reason to go. If anything, we need more flour and powdered sugar.

Invasion of the Squeekers Part 2

Let me just start out by saying that I had a VERY vivid dream last night. The gerbil cage was full of gerbils and mice. I couldn't figure out which was which...they had been breeding all night. I had to look at the ears for some reason to determine what was gerbil and what was mouse. Too weird! I woke up totally grossed out and had to look in the gerbil cage to make sure all was well.


So, after our fun episode with the first mouse trap, I ventured off to Walmart and found the solution.

Oh, I was so excited! It is guaranteed to kill. You don't have to see the mouse. It is guaranteed to kill the mouse instantly. Perfect!

It works as follows:
You put some peanut butter on the inside of the red "bait door" and you close the door.

You put the lever to "set."
You put the trap where you want it...the pantry in our case.
The mouse comes along and smells the peanut butter.
It crawls into the little hole and along a white teeter totter to get to the peanut butter.

When its weight gets to the other side of the teeter totter, it flips up, smashes the mouse upside down into some pieces of plastic jutting out one side of the trap.
The mouse stays in there, completely dead on the spot.
The lever turns to "mouse caught."


You then place the trap over the garbage, open the door, dump the mouse out, and start all over again.

Here is what really happens.
Put the peanut butter on the bait door, or in my case, you don't read the instructions and try to squeeze peanut butter through that little hole, making a huge mess.

Close the bait door, and then realize, "oh, that is why that is there. That would have been easier."

Set the lever to, well, "set." ha!

Place the trap in the pantry and give an evil laugh.

Go to bed.

The following takes place the next morning...

Ben goes downstairs and opens the pantry. He was given strict orders the night before to please take care of the mouse.

He checks the trap, the lever is on "mouse caught." Hooray!

He lifts up the trap. Yup, feels heavy, we must have a good one in there.

He pulls the garbage can over to him and holds the trap over the garbage.

He puts the lever down to release the dead mouse and dump it into the garbage.

The lever goes down, and out jumps the mouse...quick as a flash! It lands next to his feet and speeds away as fast as it possibly can.

Ben is scared spit-less and proceeds to snap his fingers as fast as he can. Don't know why this happens, but it was the reaction at the moment. He somehow held back a yell that would have woken everyone up in complete alarm. I for one, would have passed out, for sure.

He waits for his heart to start working again, and catches his breath.

Stupid trap.

Somehow the mouse was trapped upside-down all night long, being squished to death, and it survived.

I can see it now. All 27+ mice in the pantry yelling into the trap door.
"Hang on Eddie...you can do it...breath man, breathe. They can't get the better of us."
"Hey Eddie, did you reach the peanut butter? Hand some over will ya....oh, you're stuck huh, I'll come around the back and see if I can reach."
"Hey Bill..Eddie needs some milk. He says he thirsty. I think there is some powdered milk on the third shelf. I got some yesterday. Make sure and stay away from the yeast though, nasty stuff, had me bloated for a week."

"Hey Jean, I saw you talking with your gerbil friends a minute ago. Why don't you introduce me. The white one sure is a looker. Maybe I will bring her some cheese tomorrow night, ya know, reel her in slowly."

Eddie is probably king of the nest now. Telling his story over and over and over.
"And there I was, upside-down, trapped for hours, but they couldn't get me, I have guts of steel."

Hooray for Eddie.

I am pretty sure he won't be back for a while, but still. It is so disturbing.

Nice "guarantee" there people. Good thing the trap was $3.00.

We may just need to borrow one of these.

Who is this person, and what have you done with Becky!

I am not that far along, but I can already tell that this pregnancy may just be a little "different." I am far enough along to start up the major symptoms phase.

With my past three pregnancies, the symptoms were pretty much the same. Lots of nausea, lots of vomiting(with my first), metal/dog poop saliva taste (by far the worst symptom), VERY tired, and on and on. With all three, it tapered off around week 12 or 13. I also had mild cravings with all three, however the cravings were out of control with the last pregnancy, seriously. If I knew how to make a link to an earlier post, I would post the link to my "crazy cravings" post I did about 6 months ago. So out of control.

This time around, I am having two symptoms I have never experienced, a lot earlier than I have experienced anything in the past, and nothing else so far. Kind of throws you off, ya know.

#1 CRAZY dreams. Holy Smokes. These began about a week before I found out I was pregnant and have slowly gotten worse. I probably have 10 vivid dreams every night, and they are so weird, yet way too normal. No wonder I wake up tired. The interesting part is that I can't tell the next day what was a dream and what wasn't. It has made for some humorous situations.
One night I had a dream that I let the dog out, so when I woke up, I didn't bother to let him out of the garage. Poor thing almost pooped all over the garage when I finally noticed around noon that it was a dream, and that I hadn't really let him out. oops
A few nights ago I had a dream about going to a baby shower that was the next day. I was so sure that it had already happened and I almost missed it. Yikes!
I also had a dream that I went grocery shopping. Guess who truly thought the fridge would be full when it was time for breakfast. I was actually shocked and kind of bummed that I still had to go to the store.
I am constantly thinking "was it a dream or did.......happen" or "was it a dream, or did I tell Ben....."
Dang, I hope I don't dream that I get dressed and end up totally in my skivies somewhere!

#2. Weepy.
Now this one is completely out of control. I have never in my life been one to cry much. It takes a lot to make me cry (swine flu, for one, was worthy of tears). And when I do cry, I hate to cry in public. On the rare occasions I need a good cry, it is almost always in the closet or the shower. Weird, I guess. I really don't cry much though, especially for being a girl. I just don't get that reaction to things.
NOT ANY MORE!

If something is cute, happy, sad, weird, or basically anything that causes any sort of emotion, I get all sorts of choked up and teary eyed. I can't even begin to listen to Delilah, who I used to laugh my head off at. If my kids tell me they love me, I am done for. Checking my friends blogs always gets me going now. Especially all of the baby blogs. Friends having babies, friends with major baby complications, a family member who lost her baby a few weeks ago, and so forth. I always grab a Kleenex before I blog now. So pathetic.
I cried over Diego today when he rescued the baby Jaguar. I cried because a gift I found for someone was so cute. I cried because the laundry didn't get dry. I cried because Mary's outfit was so cute. I cried because I am so stinkin' lonely after TWO WEEKS of quarantine. I cried because my dad told me it snowed in Pocatello. I got all choked up thinking about a Christmas present I am making for someone. I almost fell apart when Ben was late from work. Church..well, lets not even go there.
I get all choked up just thinking about getting all choked up.

Maybe it is because my emotions about the pregnancy itself are a little more extreme than normal. I am extra excited, extra worried, extra grateful, extra aware of complications that could happen, extra happy for each day I have a living baby inside me, extra everything. But either way...

I am a blubbery, snot-dripping, puddle making mess, and it is SO AWKWARD!

Please tell me this won't last the whole time. PLEASE!


Usually, I have enough time after a pregnancy to go through the "forgetting." You know, forgetting how terrible morning (all-day) sickness really is, forgetting the labor process, forgetting those first few months of no sleep, and all that good stuff. Everyone must go through "the forgetting", why else would people have more than one kid.
But for me, I was just VERY sick with pregnancy symptoms less than four months ago. No "forgetting" phase for me. I remember full well how sick I was, and exactly what it was like. However, I have a different perspective this time. Nothing is taken for granted, no matter how terrible it is.
I really hope round two this year will be better though. Wish me luck!

p.s. I just got off the phone with Ben and I can't stop laughing. (not crying, hooray) The mouse saga continues. Stay tuned for tomorrows post "Invasion of the Squeekers Part 2. If you haven't read part 1, you may want to do so now.

Invasion of the squeekers

The "good neighbor" Mel told me a while back, that for every mouse you see, add nine more that your aren't seeing.
I saw three in our house yesterday. Yeah, you can do the math, I already did, and it makes me sick.


I swear those little creatures can squeeze through anything! We even saw one little mouse crawling up our fireplace screen, from the inside! So nasty. Next thing we know, he is peeling out across the wood floor and somehow made it under the stove.
Every time I turn on a light, I see some little germified creature skidding across the floor in a mad dash to get to who-knows-where. Ben and I think they must sit in the dark counting to three and getting their adrenaline up before the blast out of there and go into another hiding place. They go so fast!
Some nights, we will be watching a movie and hear a "crunch, crunch" coming from the pantry. I always tip-toe over there with our pro-mouser (the dog) and throw open the door. I never see a mouse, but I have had to throw away three bags of flour already and a bag of powdered sugar.
Aside from the food, our biggest fear is the sickening chance that they will make their way into the gerbil cage and mate. Can you imagine a gerbil-mouse. EEEWWW!

With the Swine Flu and the mouse infestation, I bet all of you think our house is this dirty, cluttered, germ ridden dump. But I promise you, we keep our house really clean. Truly! I should know, I am the clean fanatic.
We deep clean it every Saturday, and throughout the week, I am always cleaning something. This Saturday we disinfected every surface possible and then went back over it all with normal cleaner. Our house was in excellent condition when we got here, and it still is in awesome condition. We love this house.

Anyway, so yesterday I needed some flour and I went to the pantry and pulled out a bag. The flour dumped ALL OVER the floor. I turned it over only to find a nice little mouse hole in the bag. 5 minutes later, I grabbed the powdered sugar only to have it dump all over as well. Again, another hole! GGGRRRR Cleaning flour and powdered sugar is the worst.
The last straw was when the dog food dumped all over the laundry room when I was getting ready to feed Chamonix. RARRR!

So, we set out the mouse traps. You know, those things that you put food on, and they snap down on the neck of the mouse, killing it instantly. No blood, no pain. Quick and simple. YEAH RIGHT!

Growing up, we had these in one of our houses. I remember every detail of opening a door only to see a mouse flopping over the place. It's insides were its outsides, and somehow it would still be alive. It's eyes would be bugging out of its head and I swear the thing would be looking at me pleading for help. It would make me sick. Not to mention the times of playing hide-and-seek, only to hear a loud snap followed by my brother or my cousin screaming bloody murder and running out with the trap securely stuck on their finger or toe.
Several times I would go around dis-engaging the traps, just to put myself and the mouse out of any misery. ooops, I don't think I ever told anyone that. They all thought we just had really smart mice in our house.

Last night, we placed one trap in the pantry and one under the stove.
After everyone was asleep, and I was up facebooking (pregnancy insomnia), I heard a loud SNAP. I froze.
The snap was proceeded by a flopping sound. The mouse was going nuts and I could feel the vomit rising in my throat.
I woke Ben up and told him to go put the poor creature out of its misery. He never fully awoke. I just got a look like I was crazy, and he went back to sleep. So, I got back on the computer and tried to ignore the noise. Then there was snap #2. That was it! I couldn't stand it.
I went to bed literally ready to barf at any given moment. I put my pillow over my ears, and somehow fell asleep.

When I awoke this morning, I sent Mary down the stairs first. Just in case the mice had flopped their way into plain view. Such a bad mom! She didn't scream or come running back up the stairs, so I slowly made my way down. There was a note on the counter from Ben.
"I took care of the mouse. Call me soon. Love ya. Ben"
FEW!

I called Ben and learned that he woke up this morning and remembered that I said something to him about a mouse in the middle of the night. Right.
He decided to check the trap, and of course, there it was. I learned the the trap only smashed the mouses hip. It took a long time to die. The other trap was missing the peanut butter, but no mouse. Few.
I still haven't been able to eat breakfast.

NO MORE MOUSE TRAPS FOR US! Seriously, who invented those things. Is there not anything a little less morbid, maybe a little more humane for both mouse and human?
If there is, believe me, I will find it.

I know I wouldn't appreciate going to eat a nice big spoonful of peanut butter only to get 1/2 my body smashed by a big metal bar. There is just something so wrong with that picture.

Home Sweet Home

Today we all woke up to this.


A winter wonderland! Absolutely breathtaking.
It has not been warmer than 26 degrees the past two days, but wow, what a sight to behold. In fact, yesterday, the high was 22. bbbrrrr



Can you see our cute little frozen ghosts hanging from the tree? ;)



We had a rough and scary night with Sam. He was struggling to breathe for about 5 hours. I gave him cold medicine, and decided that if that didn't help him, we would take him to the E.R. A few hours later, his breathing was smooth, and he slept. Once we got Mary's fever under control, she slept well too. We all slept in. I slept in until 11:00 with Mary!

It was the perfect morning for something yummy, so we all ate some "warm, fuzzy, feel good food."



We spent the next few hours just being together and taking it easy. Aside from the kids being sick, it was really nice. Ben made a great train track for Sam. Chamonix was even into it. We changed our Halloween countdown and got all excited as well.



We couldn't attend church today, but it didn't stop us from having our own church here at home. It was actually really fun! Everyone had a good time. Mary perked up a lot, and Sam got off the couch long enough to participate for a while. He is having a rough time with this terrible Flu.

Sam helping Ben make their scripture story, or, Sam playing with playdough.


Ben telling us what he made. It was a great story of the sons of Moroni.


Mary is telling us about Noah and the Ark. She is making the "rain" fall.



Ben's creation. Can you tell he loved me taking a picture of him right now. ;)
He was a good sport and Mary was really into his story. It was cute.


Mine and Mary's finished product. Can you pick out the rainbow? How about the dove, or Noah? Yeah, I know, I missed out on Playdough 101.

After "church" we packed up our coats, put on our sweaters, turned up the heater, scraped the windows and went on a drive. It was really peaceful and fun. It was also so nice to get out.



Garden of the Gods was GORGEOUS! The camera doesn't even come close to doing it justice. It was amazing.


On our way through Garden of the Gods, we saw some Bighorn Sheep on the side of the road. We pulled over and Ben got out. He got really close to them. It was so cool. We had fun watching them for quite a while. They normally do not come this low down from the mountains.


After Garden of the Gods, we drove up through Woodland Park. It was green, warmer, and as always, pretty there. We drove right up out of the fog. I took this picture on our way back into the Springs. We drove right back into the fog, it was pretty cool looking.

Now we are awaiting my new meatloaf recipe to finish cooking. I am just about to go make some killer mint brownies too. ;) The kids are snuggled on the couches watching movies, and Ben and I are relaxing. I guess it isn't so bad being stuck at home. At least not on a day like today. It was a good day.

I have some things planned for the rest of the week, while we are lying low. I had to get creative, but I think we will have a good time.(when the medicine is working and the kids are up to doing things) Sometimes, being forced to slow down can be a good thing. Hopefully it will keep us all happy and sane. Wish us luck!