Summer...

Hello everyone, again the months have just flown by! We are alive and doing well. I thought I would eventually get better at posting but I guess not. haha I am finally starting to get in a routine and feel more confident getting out of the house with all three boys. So this will come too...sometime! My boys are doing great. Growing up and keeping me busy! Tanner will be starting 1st grade at the end of August. Hunter and Lincoln are discovering things everyday. I am trying to keep my house clean, getting my family fed, the laundry down to only one pile instead of 7 or 8, hopefully getting a workout in, and enjoying watching my kids grow. Mark is loving his job, enjoys golfing, and shooting with Tanner and his friends.

I have been taking pics but that will have to be for another day because it is my bedtime! Hope everyone is doing well. And I appreciate your dilligence in keeping your blogs updated so I know how you all are doing. I am hoping to get better. Bye Bye

WOW!

I can't believe it has been so long since I wrote last! Time just flies! Lincoln is now almost 6 months old, Hunter is 16 months old, and Tanner is 6! That is a lot of 6's haha. It is so crazy around this house that I barely have time to shower most days. And since it has been so long, I won't be posting many pics or going into great detail of what we have been doing.

December: Hunter had his first birthday and we had Christmas at home for the first time as a family then headed to the Nichols for the rest of the day.
January: We were all stuck at home because of the weather. I guess I should rephrase that because we were stuck at home most of the winter because of our little Lincoln.
Feb: Another lovely month at home. :) EXCEPT for a weekend over to Boise for one of my good friend's wedding! Just Lincoln and I while Mark stayed home with the kids.
March: I got a double stroller while down at my parents house...that was a hard purchase for me, but I have LOVED it ever since. MY BIRTHDAY! :) It was an awesome one at that! I remembered that the year before on my birthday I was throwing up all weekend and later to find out because I was pregnant haha.
April: Tanner turned 6 at the beginning of the month, he has started soccer, and has been able to play outside with the neighbors and on his new bike. (I ran over the old one conviently right before his birthday.)

Now we are onto May! Good grief!! We did get our family pics from Jenny and some pics of the boys from my sister's mother-in-law. I love them all!











Mark is loving his job at Melaleuca as a Buyer/Purchaser. I hang out at home with the kids and don't venture out much with all 3. Grocery shopping is done at night after the kids are in bed, cleaning is done while following Hunter around as he destroys everything he touches. There are lots of smiles and screams and whining and crying and hiding (I try at least) and laughing and talking and loving around this house. It is kinda crazy but I try to cherish every moment because they grow up too fast!

he is home...

Okay, so he has been home for one week now and we love it! Talk about adjustment, but it is totally worth it. My mom came up at the beginning of the week, mark has been off since Wednesday because of the holiday, and my parents and sibling came up Thanksgiving night and then left yesterday. I am grateful for having another adult here with me because frankly I am scared to be left alone! I am getting more comfortable since I am trying to work out a schedule, but when I am all alone all day long...SCARY! :) Bring it on? Haha

Anyway, we are doing great and Lincoln is doing awesome! I will post pictures later when I get longer than a minute to update. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Lincoln pics...finally

Lincoln William Nichols
5 lbs 15 oz and 19 1/2 inches long

cpap...had to wear over night


first time I got to hold him after he was born! Saturday afternoon

2 days old
3 days
4 days
was under a light for jaundice and had cute sunglasses
6 days old

got to move into a "big newborn" bed
8 days old
9 days old
I am sorry it has taken me so long to post these! I can't believe how crazy my life has been since Hunter came home, a week and a half ago. I barely have time to breathe somedays and I am lucky if I can return phone calls the same day, haha. And Lincoln isn't even home yet...wow! So sorry for the delay :) He is now 13 days old and we are hoping to bring him home soon!

He is here...

Lincoln William Nichols was born Nov. 6th at 8:06 pm! He weighed in at 5 lbs 15 oz and 19.5 inches long. He is doing great! I am now home but he will be in the hospital for a little longer. They took his oxygen off this morning so hopefully that will help him with eating because he was getting a lot of air bubbles, which would cause him to spit up. So we will see how he does today :) I am going to see him while Tanner is at school, hopefully I will still have good news at that point! He takes a bottle really well when he is not tired of course. He was born a week earlier than Hunter was, is doing better than Hunter did at this point and was bigger than Hunter was when he was born! So he has a lot going for him. I will keep ya posted. Tanner is home with me for school, Hunter will come home in a couple of days and then hopefully Lincoln will come home a couple of days after that! :) We have been truly blessed! I know I wouldn't have said this a couple of weeks ago, but all the weeks and weeks I was on bedrest was totally worth it! It actually doesn't even seem like it happened, especially when I hold my sweet baby in my arms! Thank you are all the thoughts and prayers for him, me and my family. I will post pics soon :)

Hunter at 10 months...

Hunter was able to come home this weekend and we LOVED it! He has gotten so big and gets into everything. He has started to stand on his own and will even take a step or two before falling to the ground and then crawling! I can't believe how much he has grown since we got to see him last. I can' wait to have him home with us for good!
He loves Tanner and will follow him all over the house! He doesn't take very good naps here because if he hears Tanner at all he wakes up. I think it would be safe to say that Tanner misses Hunter just as much as I do! But I at the same time Tanner has gotten use to being here by himself and can make tons of noise and not have to worry about Hunter. So that will have to be another adjustment when he comes back home.
While Tanner was off trick o' treating with some friends, Mark was taking Hunter's clothes off to put his jammies on and Hunter crawled away laughing! He loves not having clothes on! So he sat and played and laughed for a good 45 mins! Mark and I had a blast just watching our little (not so little anymore ha) guy!
He loves playing with my medicine bottle...
and he loves to blow spit and bubbles!

This was a couple of weeks ago...not quite 10 months old yet :)

karate kid...

Tanner in his Halloween costume :) (thanks to both grandma's for supplying it)

BLESSED...

Sorry for not expressing my thanks to my Heavenly Father in my earlier post! It was made known to me how negative I was by my dear dad. He has shown me great faith and love throughout this trial in my life. And he isn't the only one! We have been so blessed with this pregnancy...without all the prayers, fasting, service, faith and love we wouldn't have made it this far! It started getting scary in this pregnancy around 26 weeks, and I have made it this far. I admit, I am a closet cryer. So when I have to deal with something head on that I know will make me cry, I just avoid talking about it all together. Hence the reason why I didn't or haven't expressed my TRUE thanks, because it just makes me cry. I truly love my family (both sides), close friends, and my Heavenly Father! They have been a huge help in me making it this far without going totally insane. ha So please forgive me for sounding ungrateful!

dilated to a 4...

Wow yesterday was an emotional day! First it started off with waking up in the middle of the night almost having a panic attack because my contractions were so hard and I was reliving Tanner's labor and delivery (which was all natural...not by choice but because I went too fast). Now having a baby natural and one with an epidural, I DON'T want to go through the natural thing again...IT HURTS! So I went to my appointment not feeling great and expecting not to get great news. Well my doctor sent me to the hospital to have another "fetal fibronectin" test (preterm labor test) to see if I had another two weeks. No such luck. The test came back positive, which means we don't know anything AND I am dilated to a 4!! If it were negative, it gives me for sure 2 weeks before I would go into labor. The other two times I have had this test my results have been negative. So the doctor sent me home and told me to continue what I have been doing, especially make sure I take my medicine that helps my contractions not be so hard all the time. If I stopped taking that medicine the baby would be here for sure! I need to make it as close to 35 weeks as possible, but who knows, maybe I will go full term. ha

So right now I am in the "I don't know anything" phase and it drives me crazy! I don't know how long I can keep this baby in. I don't know why the doctor sent me home and didn't try to stop the contractions. I don't know what will happen with the baby if it comes earlier than 35 weeks. Meaning, I don't know how long the baby would be in the NICU or if there is a possibility that with the steriod shot the baby will be able to come home. I don't know why my body is doing preterm labor. I don't know what else I can do to keep the baby in. I don't know how I am still at home and dilated to a 4! I don't know if my water will break or if my contractions will just get harder and closer together even with the medicine. I don't know! So the information I have given you is all I really know, sorry.

I will keep you posted.

another...

Hello everyone! Well, I think that this weeks appointment was the most uneventful for a long time!! First, on Sunday we ended up going into the hospital because I thought my water broke and I was in tons of pain. Well come to find out that I just have another uti...so no worries there, just more medication I have to take. Second, today I found out that I am still dilated to a 3. Nothing has changed and because of the test I took last week I still have another week before I could go into labor. The baby is still measuring a week ahead, so more good news! The doctor told me that probably next week we will do the preterm labor test again to see if I have another two weeks and his goal now is to get me to 35 weeks. He says that if we can make it to that point then we most likely won't have to worry about the NICU and the HUGE BILLS that come with it! So pray for 3 more weeks!

Another fun thing that happened this week, Hunter is now 10 months old!! We miss him tons, but know that he is in great hands and is being loved and spoiled! When it is time for him to come home he may not like us because of the undivided attention he is getting now and want to go back! ha ha I am grateful for the care he is getting because I just can't do it right now. Thanks Mom and Dad Nichols!! Before I know it he will be back, I will have a newborn at home, and all will be CRAZY! :)

Thank you for all the prayers and fasting!! I know that has made the difference in keeping this baby in and helping my family through a trying time! Thanks again, we love and appreciate all of you!