There's not much to report on. Anyone on instagram knows we've been sick. It all started with Greg Christmas morning and one by one we all got it and it just kept on going past New Years.

Brighton fell asleep in the hammock and I thought he looked too cute and sweet to not take a picture. My babies don't just fall asleep places. It's always in their cribs. He was really tired. Thankfully, he had it the easiest of all of us and only puked 2 or 3 times.

Scarlet and I definitely got it the worst. We don't know if we had the same thing as Greg. But Scarlet started puking one night and went all night long 'till the wee hours while watching Dora to distract, with Greg. Our whole house and whole bodies kept getting piled on with puke. It was the worst. We were both puked on, splashed on. It ended up all over the house, many different rooms as we moved to and fro. It stunk. It was the worst. We'd clean the bathroom and floors and yet the smell remained.

It was really sad. She got better within a few days and then bust out a high fever and looked like this for a day or so. Again, really sad.

Last was me. I started puking New Years Day, 5 am in the morning. The neighbor's were still lighting off fireworks. I remember, because I heard them on my way to the bathroom and I thought, 5am? Really? Why are you still awake and lighting fire into the sky! People here are crazy for fireworks, have I mentioned that before? Like I regularly hear fireworks just a couple streets down between the hours of 10pm and midnight. Every weekend, if not every other day. ALWAYS. They wake us up sometimes. It's annoying. Back to being sick . . .

I've never thrown up so much in my life. From 5am to 7pm, it was heaving with my face in the toilet every hour or two. It never ended. I remember lying in bed all day, never wanting to move, because it seemed everytime I did (like simply rolling over to the other side) it resulted in a mad dash to the bathroom.

I hate throwing up. I would rather do anything else. I literally crouch at the toilet and wait and I seriously get filled with fear. I just hate how it feels. It hurts so much! After the sixth time, the fear seemed to wear off and it just seemed sort of normal- like "Here we go again, let's get it done." But all the same, my back was SERIOUSLY SORE for 24 hours after that. It took me awhile to realize it was because my midsection was constantly flexing all day. 

I remember in the beginning I was starting to panic I was going to throw up blood or an organ or something. I'd just never thrown up so much. Usually it's a few heaves and I'm done. Every time it was a good minute or so. It sucked.

I basically didn't eat for 3 days and jumped on the scale to discover I was 132. I haven't been that thin since before I had BABIES. I don't know what I weighed before I got sick, but it definitely wasn't that low. Greg said he lost 4 pounds when he got sick. I slept so much the bed wasn't comfortable anymore. 

I think I took this picture because it had been at least 5 days since I took a shower. That is a record. I don't go that long even after I have a baby! 

Greg was pretty much Superman through all of this. He impressed me in endless ways and it made me love him all the more. The first day I had to tell him, "Um, you need to check on me so I don't die of thirst or hunger when I'm alone upstairs." Somehow he figured if I was upstairs, I was happily sleeping. After the first day, he was in full swing, taking care of all of us. Feeding us. Cleaning up the puke, making the food, even doing the dishes. He never complained! I felt so bad because when he was sick, on Christmas, I knew he couldn't help it, but I totally complained. I couldn't get the thought out of my head, "What! It's Christmas! And I just have to take care of everybody, like every other day." I was a whiner. But he did it for probably 5 days and never complained.

Well, the kids are still feverish and sickly, but I'm doing great! And they are doing much better. Pretty much playing all day, with some crabby spells. Some coughing, some high temps, but doing ok. I even made dinner today! Lo Mein! Cabbage, onions, peppers, garlic, and topped with toasted walnuts! I haven't made a good meal in so long! I took a pic, I was so happy, but am too lazy to load it up now.

Miracle. I was actually able to eat so much that I got full last night. And it happened again, today. Stuffed myself. It was such an unfamiliar feeling. I've been in a constant state of hunger, but too nauseas to eat enough for 2 months! It's been the worst. I haven't been hungry for too days. It's like I'm eating a little too much, just because I can. It feels so good! I like not being hungry! If I can eat like this everyday, wow- that will change my life for good. I've never felt so strange about being so skinny. Normally I see I'm thin and think, "Yes! I look skinny!" because I worked out, or controlled my eating and it's a major accomplishment. But the last 2 months I've been feeling like I'm withering away. Even if I HAD the energy to work out, I WOULDN'T because I don't have any fat left to lose. Or should I say ENOUGH fat to lose. Anyway, I'm hoping things are normal here on out. Eating would be a really nice thing to add back into my life. It's been a long time, and that's weird to say.

With all the chaos I've gone really laxed with the kids. Graham crackers and gold fish for lunch? Um . . . ok! That's happened too many times the last 2 months. But whatev- they got some calories and it took me about 2 seconds to put on the table and they were content. Never thought I'd get to that stage.

Man, number three on the way. It's been a wake up call to my life. Everything that is tiring and hard, is not going away anytime soon. I am SMACK in the middle of this messy clothes, messy house, sleep deprived, "eat your dinner or it's a time out!" life I'm living. I've been trying to "get over it", accept it, and focus on the GREATNESS of it all and just decide to not be upset about the stuff that is beyond hard and be happy. I need to accept that no matter how I parent, my kids are still gonna melt down and whine and do things that REALLY erk me. I need to just be ready for it, and used to it and not be so affected. I used to always pray that I'd be patient, but now I pray that I'll have the STRENGTH to be patient. I KNOW HOW to be patient. The problem is when I decide not to be. I always have the choice to be in control. So I don't feel like I can pray for something I know how to do and just choose not to. It seems to be helping.

I worked out today! I had my sitter come earlier than normal and I worked out. I'm embarrassed that I only made it 22 minutes on the treadmill WALKING!!! I was determined to get to 30 minutes but I just couldn't do it anymore. I am definitely out of shape. I kept wanting to run. It makes me wonder if I will later on. I like running so much better. It's harder, a little less boring. It seems weird to think of pregnancy and running, but a lot of people do it, and I'm a seriously slow runner and I'm not worried about overdoing it. That's something I don't do. We'll see if I do. First things first, I just need to be regularly doing SOMETHING to exercise.

My New Years Goal is to get up at 6am everyday. When I say everyday I mean the days Greg goes to work. If he has a day off, so do I. If I'm sick, or I was up all night because one of the kids was sick, I get a day off too. So, at our rate- who knows what will happen. I have a lot of things I want to take care of or improve in my life, right now- but one isn't more important than another. They are all important to me right now, but there's too many to put on a checklist. I will fail, if I make them ALL resolutions. But if I wake up at 6am everyday, then these things will all naturally improve. If the house needs tending to, a random project, working out, getting time alone so I don't lose my mind, reading my scriptures, working on my calling, whatever it is. If I can wake up before the kids, I can get SOMETHING done, that otherwise wouldn't. I feel really good about this. Also, I hate waking up with the kids. Lying in my warm bed, hearing someone cry, knowing I have to listen to them until I get up- is just a bad way to start the day. It makes me resent my kids just for waking up. I don't like that. If I'm already up, moving around, even if they wake up really early, it's not a big deal to go upstairs and get them up. Much better way to start the day. Brighton and Scarlet both go through weird schedules of 6:30am wake ups to 7:30am wake ups. It's really unpredictable, but they're always doing it together and seem to stick to one time for a month and then make their way to the other end. So some months I'll get 30 minutes to myself, other weeks closer to an hour. I can't bring myself to wake earlier than 6am, so I'll make do with what I get and as I said before, having any amount to myself is just gonna make my day go smoother and start a lot better- so that's good!

It has gotten very chilly the last week and a half. I think we're entering a more intense stage of winter.  We're having to wear sweaters and thick wool socks just to keep warm in the house! I might be putting on some long underwear tomorrow. Greg wore some to work today. We'll see. We'll also see how much colder it gets. It's still a mystery how winter will unfold.

We got the list of places we can bid on for our next post. It's pretty wild to think about where we might be living next. It's still far away, but it's exciting to think about.