The date is set!!

So my induction date for Emmalee's birth has been set. I know there are some out there who feel that inducing is just wrong or you should just wait. Honestly this is the first one that we have scheduled in advance, although both Kennedy and Livie were also induced. But with them I went in to the doctor the day before I turned 39 weeks and asked if the doctor would induce me the next day and they agreed.

This time I thought I would take a stab since I was seeing my favorite doctor and ask if he was on call on the 18th and if he would be willing to induce me that day. He checked and said he was and would get me on the list. He called right over to the hospital while in the room with me and got me on. He delivered both the boys and now he will be delivering our last.

We chose the 18th mainly for 2 reasons. First it is my father-in-law's birthday and it seems cool that with this being his last grandbaby, that she would be born on his birthday. Alex actually was due on his birthday and now Emmalee and Bob will share a birthday. Now that is considering that she doesn't decide to come early or that all the rooms on the maternity ward are full. If they are then I can't be induced on that day.

The second reason we wanted the 18th is that it is a Friday and with 3 kids having school, it seemed like it would be easier to only have to figure out how to get them to school 1 day. I still am not entirely sure what we are going to do with them. I am not sure if they will stay with grandparents on Thursday night or if I will head to the hospital att 6 in the morning and John will stay home and get the kids to school and drop off Livie at someone's house before heading up. I mean either would probably work. I would prefer to not have to worry about them Friday morning, but honestly although I show up at 6 in the morning, after getting checked in and everything, the doctor usually doesn't break my water until around 7 when he does his rounds before going to the office. And I highly doubt I will give birth within an hour and a half. Although it would be nice to have John there just incase contractions pick up fast with the pitocin and breaking of my water.

Now with the date set for Emmalee's birth I am trying to get everything ready for her arrival. I haven't been getting much done to prepare so the last part of last week I started. I have since recovered Emmalee's car seat, made her a carseat canopy, car seat snugglie, and finished her quilt front. Yesterday I started cleaning and organizing her room. I hope to work on that more today.

I am also wondering how different this experience might be then when I had the last 3 kids. With JJ, Kennedy, and Livie's pregnancies I hadn't stopped nursing the child before them until part way through my pregnancy. But I had a break between Livie being weaned and getting pregnant with Emmalee. So I am wondering if I will get all big and such when my milk comes in again like when I had Alex. With the other kids it didn't really ever happen, cause my milk never fully dried up.

Also I am wondering how it will be to have a child in the middle of a school year and having to basically jump right back into the swing of life after having Emmalee. With all the kids we got out of the hospital the day after having them, which I liked, but then we had to get the other kids right away. I never really got any time to settle in before being having all the other kids to take care of. That is not to say John didn't help, but it was different then I think some women exprience. They might have someone come stay, which I DO NOT WANT, but I would like to have maybe a couple hours or so before going right back into life fully.

And then there is the hustle and bustle of getting kids to school the following Tuesday, John will probably do Monday since he will be off Sunday night. And all my duties to do at the school to get ready for school board meetings and such. Will I be given some grace in that? I am sure I will by the other board members, but will I be easy on myself? Or will I expect myself to do it all?

Please be praying for me and my upcoming delivary day.

My vision of where I would be

I have not posted in quite a while. Life has been crazy with the holidays and all that goes into preparing for them. I have had many different post ideas run through my head, but never felt motivated when I was actually on the computer. But I had to stop and post this.

Today I decided today to try and sort through the mess that is to be Emmalee's room. It is not often we have a spare room in our house with no person residing in it, so I have used it to put crafts and such in when I am in a rush and dont want to put them fully away. Therefore this is a huge project. Not to mention I was pretty sure that somewhere in the hole of a closet I was pretty sure that all my newborn girl clothes was hiding. Now everytime I go through deep cleaning the room, I make sure to put everything in neatly and organize everything in the closet, but since Ryan was the last on to use the room and between him trying to hide stuff in there and me trying to get stuff out from time to time it was a mess.

Well while I was cleaning out the closet I came across the packet of english assignments that they gave me the last week of my senior year in high school. This packet had a variety of assignments dating back to 3rd grade. Now I don't know if every school system does this, but I love that my school did!!

So as I was looking through it I came across an essay that I am sure you all did in high school. One about where I thought I would be in 10 years. Boy how different my vision of where I would be is from my life now.

Now I say that not to say I am disappointed in my life at all. I just find it funny how our visions don't take in to account God's will for our lives or how our choices really do impact our lives.

I thought for sure John and I would be married, so I was totally right on that one. But I figured I would have gone to college and become a doctor or nurse, and maybe have a child or 2 by now. Now that is where I was way wrong.

I did go to some college but not for being a doctor or nurse. And I can say I am honestly greatful that I didn't. I think if I had gone through all that schooling, I would feel obligated to work and allow someone else to raise my children. I wouldn't feel that I had the option to stay at home with my children. And I definately never thought by this time I would have almost 5 children and our angel in heaven.

Now I sit there in Emmalee's room and thought about how different my life had been if I had made different choices. Every choice we make effects our lives, either in a big way or a small way. Say John and I had gone to college and held off on getting married, would have we stayed together? Would have we decided to have a large family? Would we still be in North Platte?

I don't know, but I can tell you that I praise God for my life! I love my husband, our kids, and our life. It is not always easy or perfect, but it is a good life. I enjoy it greatly. I don't need to have one of those tv show experiences where you go through experiencing your alternative life to appreciate that one you have, I appreciate mine because it is mine. Because through the grace of God, John and I have been blessed beyond our wildest dreams. Getting married at the age of 17 almost 18 and 20, we could have easily messed it all up and got a divorce. I am not even sure when we got married if we had any clue of marriage is really like. I know we didn't have a rose colored vision of it, but I don't know if we really understood the reality of it. But we were and still are both committed to our family and each other.

So I sit here thinking about how greatful I am that my essay didn't come true. I wouldn't want my life any different. Well I would like to have a maid, but I think every woman would like one of those. lol

Ever wonder what you would do if you couldnt use your kitchen sink for 5 days? Well I have found out. My sink started having issues with draining on Friday. Pretty sure draining the grease off the hamburger I was browning for our school fundraiser into the sink is what messed it up. Draining grease off a lbs here and there isn't such a big deal, but putting grease from 30 lbs of hamburger down it apparently wasn't a good idea.

So we tried draino to try and get it taken care of, along with pouring tons of boiling water down it. It helped some. Made it where I could do a few dishes, but had to wait FOREVER for the water to drain. So then I tried my brother's suggestion of trying to work it out with my toilet plunger. Well that did not work. In fact it made it worst.

So to get the majority of my dishes done in the first few days, and then all of them yesterday, I had to wash dishes in the bathtub. It made me really appreciate having a double sink to have dish water in one side and be able to rinse dishes in the other side. You can't do that when you are washing in the bathtub.

Another issue with washing dishes is that you have to be down on the floor. And when you are 34 weeks pregnant with hips and a back that are killing you this is torture!! So yesterday we decided after trying everything we could think of, to call a plumber. The guy came out and was able to unclog it with a snake. It was full of black, nasty stuff that was from years of soap scum build up and food particles from our garbage disposal.

This morning when I washed dishes in my very own kitchen sink I was so thankful to be able to do so. I never knew I would miss being able to wash dishes in my sink. lol

Well I haven't blogged in a while. I had every intention of doing the days of thanksgiving but alas I fell down on that goal. Oh well guess there is always next year.

The past couple weeks has been crazy. 2 weeks ago on Monday I started to come down with a cold. I didn't think too much of it, but by Thursday I was miserable. Don't remember a cold ever kicking my butt that hard. I think it had alot to do with the fact that I am pregnant and that I wasn't getting much help around home and was still trying to do it all because it all had to be done. Luckily John finally realized that I was really sick and took of Sunday and I was able to just lay around. The rest seemed to help because Monday I felt so much better. Was still weak but made it through the day.

JJ also got sick on Sunday and Monday, so we were sick buddies for a bit. Luckily he was able to go back to school on Wednesday(wasn't fever free for 24 on Tuesday so decided to keep him home to rest another day.) He acts like he is having some lingering sinus problems still though. I also have sinus issues still going on, so prayers would be appreciated.

This week involved getting all our ingrediants ordered for the huge burrito/enchilada making day yesterday. Also Alex, JJ, and Kennedy had their school Christmas program on Thursday. They all did very well and looked so cute in their new Christmas clothes. Unfortunately Livie refused to let us get a good picture of them all so we will try again at their church Christmas program.

Yesterday was the day of making breakfast burritos and beef enchiladas. Since I was the coordinator, it meant I was the first to show up and last to leave. Showed up right before 9am and left at 6pm. We ended up selling 127 dozen and ended up making 144 dozen and still had ingrediants left over. We had a bunch of hamburger and cheese which we froze, about 90 lbs of pototes which we are going to sell, and cheese sauce which we are taking back left. I am not sure of the exact amount that we made of this one day of hard work but I believe it will be between $1400-1500 for the school. This is awesome because our goal for a fundraiser to be one of our top 5 of the year is $1000 and this is our first year of really trying this one. Last time we did it on a very small scale and didn't sell much.

Of course being on my feet almost constantly for 9 hours, walking around and lifting stuff while 33 weeks pregnant left me in horrendous pain!! I would have never believed it would have affected me this much. My whole body hurts!! My shins, ankles, and calfs feel like they are being poked with needles, my wrist and shoulders are really sore, my back is stiff and killing me, and my hip joints can barely move and hurt horribly bad. Everytime I get up from sitting, I am stiff and sore and can barely move at all. Praying this goes away fast!!

So there is an update in my last couple of weeks.

Day 20 of Giving Thanks

On Day 20 of giving thanks, I am extremely thankful for pictures. I love that I can look at pictures of past events and it takes me back to that day. I love having pictures of our family around the house. Pictures of John and I when we started dating up on my fridge, silly pictures of the kids and their daddy, pictures of vacation, etc. I am so blessed to have these reminders!!

Day 19 of Giving Thanks

I am extremely thankful for God's grace and mercy in the past year. It was a very hard year for our family because from Sept 2011-Aug 2012 we had my cousin in our home as our foster son. He has alot of emotional issues and once his mom came back into the picture he had alot of issues with that. December last year was a horrible month and I am not sure how we got through it, except for the grace of God!

So yes I am thankful that through our dark days, God saw us through it all!!

My day of rest

So today instead of going to church, John took the kids by himself and covered the video system for me so I could stay home. Of course it would have been awesome to lounge around and do nothing, but since I never get time home alone to do a project, I started on the laundry room.

Our laundry room has gotten so bad that it started overflowing into our family room's furniture. I had tons of totes with outgrown clothes shoved in every available space because our sheds are full of, well frankly most of crap we don't need! I don't even know when the last time I was able to get to the back part of my sheds. I usually just open the doors and throw stuff in. So yeah, they are full of stuff we don't need.

So there was no place for all my totes. And then there was no place for totes, and with a huge piano in there, I then was just shoving outgrown clothes wherever I could. And then there was the laundry.

And yes you read right, I have a piano in my laundry room. Why you ask?! Well my dad gave us a piano, which was nice, but then we got a coach and recliner from my mom for our family room, which is where the piano was. So then there was no room for the piano. And since I couldn't find anyone who wanted it and I hated to throw it out and know it was destroyed and no local thrift stores want pianos, it was shoved into my laundry room.

I actually have a friend who says she wants it, but she has yet to come get it. And boy I have plans for the space when it is gone! I want to put a bench like area there with a basket for each kid under the bench(praying we have enough room for 5) for the kids hats, gloves, shoes, etc. And a hook for each one for their coats and backpacks. So then we have one place for them all. Oh, I pray I get this someday!!

Anyway so I started on my project. Which of course meant the rest of my house(which I picked up before hand) got trashed. At one point my living room, dining room, and red room was packed with piles of clothes, garbage bags of clothes, and totes. Luckily all the rooms are better, but still need work, so my project isn't completely done.

I was blessed to find Kennedy's 3T clothes for Livie and JJ a bunch of size 7 pants. I also was able to organize all the totes and store them nicely back into the laundry room for now. And since I was able to get to the shower stall in our laundry room(don't have a clue why it is in there) that we have NEVER used. I stored some totes in there. At least it is getting used for something. lol

I even went out to the shed and got some totes and went through them. I currently have all my baby boy clothes on my dining room table, sorted by sizes to give to a friend for her ministry. And while going through totes, I found various totes and bags with shoes in them. Not pairs of shoes, just random shoes. But I was able to mate a ton of them, set some aside for a friend, made a tote of mated shoes for when the kids need shoes we can look through and see if we have their size before buying more. Still have another tote full of mismatched shoes, so hopefully I come acroos more shoes. And I have a tote of shoes that are too small for my friends boys, so they are going to another friend and a ministry.

I was amazed by the number of baskets and other things I found with unmated socks in them. So now I have a huge project of mating socks. I actually am getting ready to watch a show and do that right now. Wish me luck!!

Day 18 of Giving Thanks

I am extremely thankful that my children always have clothes! I mean we are extremely blessed by my mom and my sister in this regard! My mom loves to find clothes for the kids, so she keeps them pretty decked out, which is extremely helpful with 5 kids. And since the boys are only 2 years apart and so are the girls, I am able to pack away clothes when Alex and Kennedy outgrow them and have them for JJ and Livie.

And then with my sister having a girl only 2 years older then Kennedy, she passes on Bianca's clothes to us. So we are extremely blessed that we don't have to buy clothes all the time. Usually our kids end up with so many clothes that we then weed them out. And then we can bless others with our hand me downs.

So I am thankful for the blessings of clothes for my children!

Day 17 of Giving Thanks

As I sit here on day 17 of giving thanks, enjoying the quiet of my house, I have to thank God for bedtime!! One thing John and I have been in agreement about was having a earlier bedtime. It started because John used to work midnights so our time together was the evenings. So we would put the kids to bed at around 8 on any nights we didn't have church or other events that kept them up later. That gave us our alone time, which we enjoy.

So even though John works evenings now and is only off 2 nights a week, I still put the kids down around 8. On some nights it is earlier(like tonight because they all are tired and whiny and complaining of their arms and legs hurting, meaning a growth spurt) and Alex sometimes gets to stay up until 9 since he is getting older.

But then that gives me MY time which I desperately need, especially on days when they are super crazy, like today.

So thank you Lord for blessing me with bedtime and the blessing of a quiet house. Now only if our neighbor's dog would stop barking!!

Day 16 of Giving Thanks

For day 16 I have to say thank you to God for giving my husband a good job with good benefits. With this good job, comes good pay. Which makes it possible on days when I am craving sweet potatoe fried from Burger King for my darling husband to go get me some!

It also makes it possible to put our children into Platte Valley Christian Academy. Praise God for that!!

We have been amazing blessed with John's job. He started off basically being a glorified janitor, cleaning locomative toilets and is now a foreman, a pretty good foreman if I do say so myself. It just so happens with every child John has been promoted around the birth or shortly after of each child. I keep joking with him that we are having another one, it is time to get promoted. lol.

With his job also come really good insurance, which is a huge blessing. It keeps the cost of all our medical bills down. Another huge praise!

So I want to give God a huge THANK YOU for blessing us with John's 11 years on the UP Railroad!!

Day 15 of Giving Thanks

Today, as for my 15th day of giving thanks(yes I am catching up ONCE again, lol) I would like to thank God for comfortable pj bottoms. ESPECIALLY when I am pregnant and the button from my jeans are causing irritation on the under side of my baby belly. (I wear my regular jeans during pregnancy, pregnancy pants never fit right)

Now I will not wear pj bottoms all day long(although some days I am tempted) because it is a huge pet peeve of mine. I don't even like to stay in my pj's all day when I am sick. Yes sometimes I wear them until about 10 on days I don't have to go somewhere, but I always get dressed for the day. But I love when it is an appropriate time of the evening that I can slide into my pj bottoms and feel comfty!! Thank you God for giving us comfortable pj bottoms!!

There are days!!!

Somedays I really would like to tell people this..........................................

Day 14 of Giving Thanks

I am extremely thankful for the blessing of my inlaws!! Some people don't like their inlaws but I LOVE my inlaws!! And not just John's parents, but his sister, who is like a sister to me, love that woman!! And her husband and all my nieces and nephews from that side, John's aunts and uncles, etc. They have all accepted me and I honestly love to spend time with them.

The Schimek family picture from about 5 years ago. There has been 3 more children since then, not including Emmalee

Day 13 of Giving Thanks

I am thankful for my brother, Casey and my sister Ashley. I am so blessed that we love each other and are there for each other, not all siblings are like that.  Brother and I are very close, he was my first best friend. And my sister and I have always been close, but being 3-4 years apart in school we never really had the connection Casey and I did. But since she got married and especially had her daughter, she and I have gotten much closer. I am thankful for my brother and sister.

Day 12 of Giving Thanks

I am very thankful for my mom and both dads, (my dad and my stepdad who I never think of as a "stepdad" but just my dad). They have helped to mold me into the person I am. I am thankful that both of my parents found someone to love and share their lives with.

I am thankful that my parents(all 3 of them) are great grandparents and love their grandchildren so much.

Day 11 of Giving Thanks

I am so, so thankful for our home. God has truly blessed us with it. I love our house. It might be messy and very lived in most of the time, but it shows that we truly "live" here. It has been the home we have brought our girls home to and we have grown into this house. When we bought this house 4 bedroom house 5 1/2 years ago we had a 2 year old and 5 month old. We didn't really need all the space but we were able to find this big house for a really good price. And now we have 4 going on 5 kids and the space is sooo nice.

So Lord thank you sooo much for our home. It has been an amazing home for our family!!

Day 10 of Giving Thanks

For day 10 of giving thanks this month I would like to thank God for giving me the gift of being able to do crafts. I seriously love how crafts give me a way to be creative and a way to destress. I have been blessed with the ability to do many crafts and love having a new project. I love seeing a project come to life. I have found that I am one that likes to try a new project so I have many started projects because I often move onto a new one before finishing the old one.

So thank you God for this gift. I pray that the way I use it is glorifying to you!!

Hats I am making to donate for Christmas baskets for children in our community.

Day 9 of Giving Thanks

Today I would like to thank God for the gift Platte Valley Christian Academy has been to our family. When we started Alex in the preschool 5 years ago, our plan was only to put our kids through the preschool and then transfer to public school. As that time drew near, we did alot of praying and seeking God's guidance and knew we were meant to stay with PVCA.

We love the school, we love the teachers, families, and students. We are so greatful for all the volunteers and for the fellow board members who work hard to make sure policy is upheld and the school runs smoothly.

I am so thankful that EVERY school day, our children learn more about our Lord and Savior. That they have teachers who love them and really come to know who each child is. I am thankful that God has blessed us with the finances to send our kids to the school and that He has placed this burden on our hearts for a Christian education. We are so thankful for PVCA!!!

Day 8 of Giving Thanks

For Thursday, I would like to thank God for our new we have yet to meet, Emmalee Jorja Kay. I haven't met her yet, but we are so excited. It is amazing how once you find out about a new life coming into our family, it seems like they have always been apart of our lives. Even our boys' teacher knows all about Emmalee because the boys talk about her alot. We are so excited to meet our newest(and last) blessing in January!!

Day 7 of Giving Thanks

For Wednesday(yes still playing catch up) I give thanks for our youngest child at the moment, Olivia Clara Paige. Livie has definately brought alot of life into our family. She is funny, headstrong, and definately independent. She knows what she wants and sets out to get her way. Praying that she will get better as she gets older.

Livie is extremely smart for an almost 2 1/2 year old. She talks in 4-5 word sentences and she for the most part knows her colors very well. Most of the time when you ask her what color is something, she will be correct.

She is a joy to have in our lives and I couldn't imagine our lives without her.

Day 6 of Giving Thanks

I know, I know I am behind so today I am catching up.

For Tuesday I am thankful for our first daughter Kennedy Jean Elizabeth. She has been such a joy to have in our lives. She is definately a princess!! She LOVES to wear dresses. And I don't mean just loves when she gets a chance to wear them. She loves dresses so much, that that is basically all she wears. She only wears pants or shorts about once or twice a week. She loves all girly things.

She is currently struggling with have a strong will and having to obey others and allow other to do things she wants to do. Praying she can learn how to control herself without too many more issues like she has been having.

I am so thankful that God has blessed us with the gift of Kennedy in our lives. Parenting girls is different than parenting boys that is for sure.

Day 5 of Giving Thanks

Today I want to give thanks to God for the blessing of our son Jeremiah James. He is such a little sweetheart. He has those huge brown eyes that can make you melt. One of his love languages is words of affirmation and is always telling people they are the best, beautiful, doing a good job, etc. He is also a huge charmer.

And it is a good thing he is so cute and such a sweetie, because he is also sooo ornery. He is always up to something and keeps life interesting.

I am so thankful for the gift of JJ in my life. I couldn't imagine life without our little Jet Plane!!

Day 4 of Giving Thanks

Today I am thankful for our first born son Alexander Michael. With the birth of Alex, John and I learned the joys of being parents.

I am so proud of Alex. He is growing up into an awesome young man! He is maturing right before my very eyes. I love that he isn't afraid to tell people about Jesus and his dying on the cross for everyone. He is smart, funny, and a joy to have as a son.  He is a good big brother and watches out of is brother and sisters.

I pray that God will give us guidance and wisdom while raising Alex and the rest of the kids.

Day 3 of Giving Thanks

Today I am thankful for the blessing of our angel Jacob. Jacob is our first baby who we lost at 15 weeks gestation. I am so thankful for the time we had and that we now have meeting our little boy to look forward to when we meet in heaven!

Losing Jacob was incrediably hard for John and me. We never imagined we could loose a baby, who goes into a first pregnancy with that thought.  So when we found out that he was gone and we had to make the decision of what to do, we felt like fish being asked to breath air. I am so thankful that God was there to carry us through that and show us mercy along the way. He even blessed us in finances, because when John's boss heard why John was off he refused to make John use his vacation for the delivary and funeral of his son and gave him bereavement pay.

The short life of Jacob gave us a deep love for our children. We know how short our time can be and we want to cherish every moment. We will never forget our sweet Jacob Robert. And now with the addition of Emmalee, I have my six babies I always wanted, 3 boys first and the 3 girls last. God is soooo good!!

Vacation part 2

So we are back from our vacation. We drove back on Tuesday and with all our pit stops an then stopping in Kearney to go to Target it took a really long time to get home. It was nice to get home and having the house pretty clean, so I was so thankful that I had cleaned it before we left. Of course the unpacking process made it messy for a bit and now it has that look that says, "there is an active family living here." lol

So to finish up the rundown of our vacation, Saturday we went to Britt's Pumpkin Patch. It was alot of fun. Of course Livie just wanted to stay in the jumpy house and JJ could have spent all day going down their slides. He loved it.

We picked up some pumpkins while at the Pumpkin Patch and went back to Uncle Casey's and carved them. We had a boys' pumpkin that Daddy carved and a girls' pumpkin that I carved and the girls' pumpkin kicked the boys' pumpkin's butt!!

Sunday we went to the zoo in Manhattan. It is a small zoo, but that was nice with the kids. Too big of a zoo would have been torture with not having taken a stroller. The kids enjoyed seeing all the animals and there was a snow leopard that was very entertaining!!

Then Monday Casey went to work and John, the kids, and I went to the mall. We enjoyed seeing what a real mall is like. lol. While there we ate at Hu Hot and I got some peanut sauced noodles. I have found a new restuarant to add to my list of favorites. Then we went to Hobby Lobby and I picked up some craft items.

So that is a rundown of our vacation. We all had a blast. But all of us girls came back sick with sinus stuff. We are still battling it. Praying it goes away soon.

Day 2 of Giving Thanks

I am so thankful for the blessing God has given me in my husband John. He is truly my best friend. He loves me for me. He makes me smile and brings joy to my life.

I am thankful that I didn't have to search for years to find my soul mate, but that God brought us together when we were teens.

I couldn't imagine my life without John. I love that man, dorkiness and all!!

Day 1 of Giving Thanks

Yes, I realize today is November 2nd, not the first, but yesterday I felt like poo and didn't get on here. So today I will cover 2 days. Honestly there might be times I have to make up days as I don't always get home to blog.

I think that taking 30 days to give thanks for what we have blessed with in life is a good thing to focus on. Honestly there are days I am more focused on what is going wrong in my day, then the blessings that surround me.

So here is my first thing I am thankful for. I am extremely thankful for my Heavenly Father. That He sees me, the true me, that He created me to be and is constantly molding me into that person. That God can take every situation in my life, the good and the bad and if I allow Him to, He uses it for good.

That He loves me so much, not because of who I am, but in spite of who I am, and desperately wants to have a deep intimate relationship with me. That because of that love, He sent His son to the cross to cover MY sins. That He sacrificed His perfect son for ME!

Greatful that God never leaves me. That He is with me every second of every day and whispers words of love into my ears, even when I can't hear Him.

Having fun at Uncle Casey's

Well here we are in Kansas visiting my brother. Today marks the mid-point of our trip. We are now on the down slope of our vacation time. It has been fun, crazy but fun. First off you have to get the vision of my brother's house. It is actually a very good size, especially for a single man. Heck, it is pretty much like the duplex we lived in when Alex was born. But for a family of six visiting and only one room to be in, it makes it crazy. There is actually 2 bedrooms, one being Casey's and one being his weight room and let me tell you, it is a good weight room! Then there is the bathroom, that is small for multiple little kids running around, and then one big open living room/kitchen combo with no table and chairs and only a futon to sit down on. Very single manish.

But when you have 4 kids running around and 3 adults, it gets nutty. Especially at dinner time when kids spill stuff constantly and there is only a small area for them to sit that isn't carpet. All the open space makes it good for bedtime though, because there is plenty of room for the futon(which I get all to myself) and then there is the boys' air mattress and the girls' air mattress and Daddy's air mattress, all queens.

The only thing is that bedtimes are TOTALLY screwed up. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night Daddy and Uncle Casey thought the best way to get the kids to sleep was to put on a movie, WRONG!! The kids all stayed up until it was over, always past 11. So tonight I have kicked the big boys' into Uncle Casey's room and turned off all lights and the tv and it is bedtime. All the kids are really tired and cranky and need to go to bed. Not to mention that they all have runny noses and have that sick look to them, like they all have colds, and voices sound really off, so I know they are fighting getting sick. But alas, needing sleep is not proving to mean kids fall right to sleep.

Anyway, we got here Wednesday, went right out to dinner, then back to Casey's. Thursday we drove into Kansas City with every intention of going to Chick fil A and then the Deanna Rose Farms, which is really fun for the family. Well while at Chick fil A(I love that place!!) we decided it was too cold and miserable to be outside most of the day, so we went to Hallmark's Kaleidocsope and Sea Life, both of which were very cool!! And with the Kaleidoscope being free and keeping the kids VERY entertained it was definately worth it!!

Friday we drove into Fort Riley, and went through a museum and a half, but didn't stay for long, cause the kids were not in the museum mood and we adults were tired of them rushing us through it all. We did however get to see the army bomb sniffing dogs at work. They were walking them through the museums to get them used to carrying on their jobs while amoungst distractions. Well the Schimek's are good for distractions and noise. lol After leaving the fort, we went to Ed's Dog House and picked up some amazing hot dogs!! They were sooo good.

Today we went to Britt's pumpkin patch today. It was alot of fun for the kids. We went last year too and had to go back this year. They have a corn maze, hayrack ride, fun jump for kids, petting zoo, pumpkin patch, and so much more. The kids LOVED it!!! We also bought pumpkins to carve tonight, we had the girls' pumpkin and the boys' pumpkin. I have to say the girls pumpkin, carved by me, kicked the boys' pumpkin's butt, carved by daddy. Daddy's guide fell off partway through an was too drenched in pumpkin juice to be of any help after that.

Annual road trip

For the last 2 years we have used John's 1 week vacation that he has to take as a whole week and gone to see my brother in Manhatten, KS. The first year we went in August and it was miserable!! Now part of the reason for that was the horrible heat and the fact that our van's a/c had just gone out and we had a new born to take with us. Needless to say it was not that fun of a drive.

Last year we went in October and it was great. Weather was perfect and we were able to go to a pumpkin patch while down there. This year we are going again in October. We actually leave on Wednesday.

We are all excited. It is one of the highlights of our year. It works out great because my brother and I are really close and John and Casey are best friends. Actually that is how John and I met. And the kids LOVE their uncle!! So we are all excited. It will be a great thing to get away for 7 days and just have fun. We were planning on making it a shorter trip, but were blessed with John getting a bunch of overtime on our last check, so much so that we were able to pay our house payment early so we had the money that would have gone towards that to also take on our trip, so we wont be so strapped for cash.
Considering that it takes 3-4 tanks of gas for the trip and our vehicle is not the best on mileage, and then you facter in food, cause we have to eat out at our favorite places there for some of our meals, it adds up. But as far as entertainment, that hasn't ran us too much in the past. We go to the army base close to there, which is free, then the pumpkin patch that isn't too bad in price for a day of fun, and then to the zoo, which will actually be free this year because it is part of our zoo pass we bought. So unless we decide to go into Kansas City, it shouldn't be too much.

I am now in the mode of cleaning our house so went we return it is clean and something to be greatful to return to, not something to stress me out. Wish me luck. I keep getting sidetracked and with you kids you know how it is. You clean up a section and they get stuff back down. lol

Fun Fest at PVCA

So today was Platte Valley Christian Academy's annual fun fest. It was a great success!! We were very blessed to recieve donations towards food and our silent auction.

The kids had a blast playing the games. Livie pretty much hung out at the duck pond just playing with the ducks. She just liked playing in the water. lol. Alex loved the strong man swing, trying to prove his manliness. lol. JJ just liked wondering around trying the different games. Kennedy was so proud that she after multiple attempts won a gold fish. We actually ended up coming home with 13 goldfish which puts us up to 15 goldfish. Hopefully we have better luck with our goldfish this year. Last year we started with 11 and only 2 survived. It is funny because now our 2 "grandpa" goldfish are WAY bigger than the new ones.

Talking about goldfish I have to tell you about the "Goldfish Massacre of 2012." A woman also on the fundraising committee was donating the fish again this year. She went and picked them up last night and the man put them in a bucket. He told her to have a stream of cold water flowing through the bucket to keep them alive. Well the cold water turned warm in the night and she woke up at 1 in the morning to find all but 1 fish dead and they had overflowed in the bucket to fill her tub and clog the drain. So she had to scoop them out of the drain with a spoon. I found it funny, she did not. So John went and bought more fish this morning and we were saved. lol

My favorite part of the day was the silent auction. I ended up taking the second shift so I could be in there at the end of the auction. I bid on many items and thankfully didn't win them all or I would have been BROKE!! As it was I walked away spending the most out of all the bidders, for a total of $202 that I alone spent on the silent auction. But I got some good stuff and won some items I REALLY wanted. I won a oil change, which I paid full price for, but I need one BAD and I figured giving the money to the school was a great cause. Also won a $25 gift certificate that will go towards another oil change, also needed for our other vehicle. I won a witness wear shirt for Kennedy, a HUGE tie dye bean bag chair for the kids(which I regret, because they keep fighting over it) and a $25 gift certificate for some flowers for the girls hair. And then there was our big purchase, that we wanted to win sooooo much. This was our top item and I would have gone higher if I had too. Are you excited to see what it is? Do I have you gripping your seat? It is 2 beautiful lovebirds! Actual, real life lovebirds!

 

I love them!! We have been holding onto them since Wednesday and I am so glad they were able to return. Their prior names were Romeo(the green) and Juliet(the blue) but they have been renamed. Their new names are Marshal and Lily or Marshmallow and Lilypad. Now some of you might have figured out the reason for the names but for those of you who don't know I will explain. We have come to really enjoy the show "How I Met Your Mother" (I know it is shameful, but I do really like it) and 2 of the main characters is a couple name, you guessed it, Lily and Marshal, so that is how our lovebirds got their names. Now we just hope that the dogs leave them alone and we can get them used to us so we can tame them.

I have to say that I completely love my kids' school!! It is totally a God thing that our kids are in Platte Valley Christian Academy! When we first started looking for a preschool for Alex 5 years ago, we actually had signed him up for another preschool. Then John said something about seeing if PVCA had preschool because he went there as a 7th and 8th grader. So I called and got Alex in.

Our plan was always to put the kids into public school for kindergarten on, but we were really praying about whether or not to put Alex in public school or keep him in PVCA the spring before he would have started kindergarten. Then right around the time we needed to turn in our letter of intent for the following year stating whether Alex would or would not remain in PVCA, we were praying that God would direct our path.

Then we recieved a call, asking if we would be willing to serve on the school board. It was our sign from God that we were to stay in the school. Now 3 years later, we have Alex who is in 2nd grade, JJ who is in kindergarten, and Kennedy in her first year of preschool. I couldn't imagine being anywhere else.

What I love about our school is that fact that it really does end up feeling like a family!! Parents can be more involved in our school with it being a parent ran school and you really end up knowing everyone, where you don't get that much in a public school. And my children are learning so much and I love that they are growing in their faith and I know that PVCA is a big part of that. Our school really is an extention of the home!!

Tomorrow is one of our big fundraisers of the year and one of our family's favorite events, our annual fun fest.  This event has carnival style games that the kids enjoy. And one of the games' prizes are goldfish, so hopefully we will have more fishes for our fish tank. Then there is the freewill donation meal of sloppy joes. Oh so yummy!! And my favorite, the silent auction. This year I specifically budgets a good amount for the auction because of all the awesome donations I have been recieving from local business for the auction. I am especially looking forward to bidding on the lovebirds!! They are currently in my house and I hope that they will be returning after the even tomorrow!! And then there are the kids' classroom baskets, which are always a huge hit. So we will be bidding on those, that is for sure!!

Please pray for our fundraiser, that we would be blessed with a successful event and that we would raise our goal. Or better yet exceed it!

15 years

Yesterday John and I celebrated 15 years of being together. Fifteen years!! I can't believe it!! I mean for being 28 and 30 that is pretty amazing and then to add to that 10 years of marriage and 4 children that bring joy to our lives, 1 angels we are excited to hold one day in heaven, and our precious baby girl due in January, I am amazed at how much God has blessed us.

Has it always been easy? Heck no! Has it always been joy and laughter? No, No, NO! There are days where I would just as soon run him over with my SUV(just kidding, or am I? lol) but then I am reminded why I love him. Yes, he might drive me nuts at times, but he is truly my soul mate! All of our trials, have made our relationship stronger!! I love him more today, than the day I married him!!

I am so thankful that I didn't have to search the world for the man I would marry. I praise God for bringing us together. It has been a crazy, amazing, and awesome 15 years!!

John and I probably in 1999 or 2000 

To use or not to use!

Tomorrow is John and my's 15 year annivesary of when we started "going out." FIFTEEN YEARS!! That is pretty amazing for a couple who are 28 and 30. Got to say I am pretty proud of our 15 years of being together and 10 years of marriage. In the day and age where relationship all seem to have a short shelve time, we have made it a long time. And we plan on going for the long haul!!

Anyway last week we exchanged gifts. Of course by exchanging gifts I mean that John went and picked up both of the presents. I did however tell him what to get himself and I picked it out all by myself. But since his was a xbox game and it needed to be purchased at the local Game Stop so I had him get it. Plus I think he secretly wanted to go look around.

I was blessed with a gift certificate for a  pregnancy massage. I am so thankful for it. My only problem is that last time I recieved a gift certificate for a massage from John, I held onto it for 6 months until it almost expired. Not because I didnt want to use it but because I am the type who looks forward to things like that. And the longer I hold onto it, the longer I have to look forward to it. Once I use it, then it is gone and I don't have it to look forward to when I am trying to get through a really tough week.

Now here I am in alot of back pain and just miserable and think I should go use it today. But my fear is that today I will feel good and maybe tomorrow, but the way I have been feeling, I will just have another day of back pain with nothing to look forward to. lol Oh the dilemia of a special treat to look forward too. To use or not use until a later day. That is the question. lol

Do you ever have those days were you feel like you are doing all the housework around the house for what?! I mean I wash dishes, pick up, vacuum, wash and put away clothes to just do it again. It feels like instead of making lasting progress, I am just trying to stay ahead of the mess.

Thankfully I am not someone who expects their house to be spotless. My house is VERY lived in. There are surfaces covered with papers from school, mail, and random stuff, clothes in baskets to be put away, etc. And I honestly don't care if my house looks very lived in. I don't have trash all over(well I pick up it all, with 4 kids and 2 dogs, I do find trash on the floor), I don't live in filth, and my kids have clean clothes to wear.

But I have to admit that this pregnancy has made my aleady laxed view on housework, even more laxed. I just honestly don't have the energy or desire at the end of the night to clean while the kids are in bed. There are some nights where I go to bed not long after the kids go to bed.

Maybe someday I will have one of those houses where people could walk into at anytime of the day and it would be pretty much perfect and clean, but until that day, I will be ok with it. Just be forewarned, if you are a person who expects everyone to keep their house sparkling, maybe you should not drop in for an unannounced visit or you might see how we live. lol

A great day

Today the kids' school pictures came in. They turned out so good. I am proud to put them up for everyone to see!

Alex- 2nd Grade

JJ- Kindergarten

Kennedy- Preschool
 

We were all looking forward to after school today. Today was the day we were going to pick out halloween costumes. We also decided to take the kids to the 2 pet stores we visited last week and look.

This morning I decided to run to the local Goodwill to see if I could find Kennedy a new backpack, but unfortunately I didn't find one. I did however find one for Alex. He has had his heart set on getting a computer like bag. We decided to have the kids' use their backpacks from last year instead of spending $15 a piece for new ones. I did find Alex a bag just like he was wanting and for the bargin price of $1.35.

Then I decided to look at the halloween costumes. No I am not one to look throw racks and racks of clothes and search sizes and styles for what I am wanting, but I decided to just take a chance. Right on one of the ends of the rack was a costume just like I saw in a magazine and wanted to get for Livie. It is one that she wears her normal clothes but it looks like she is riding a pink unicorn. It was only $3.25 so of course I had to buy it!!

Then I looked down the aisle and noticed a blue sparkly costume and took a chance that it was what I thought it was. And it was!! It was a blue cinderalla dress just like Kennedy wanted, also for $3.25, so with saving the money on her dress, I decided we could buy the tiara and shoes at Walmart to go with it.

So fast forward to after school when we picked up Alex. We were blessed with their amazing school pictures and then we were off. We hit the pet stores first. At the first one we purchased 3 snails for our fish tank which were christianed Sharky, Piggy, and Tiny by JJ. And of course the kids enjoyed looking at the snakes, gerbils, hamsters, birds, fishes, etc. Surprised we made it out without purchasing anything else.

Then we went to the other pet store and picked out 2 hermit crabs, christianed Sharktale by Alex and LaLa Loopsie by Kennedy. We of course had to buy the stuff to make a home for the hermit crabs. Alex really, really was hoping for a gecko and John wanted birds. We are hoping to get love birds soon.

Then we went to Walmart for the costumes. Alex picked a ninja costume, JJ will be captian america, Kennedy, Cinderalla, and Livie didn't get anything because we already had hers. We also picked up 2 games for the boys' classroom basket for the fun night silent auction.

So it was really a good eventful day. I enjoyed it greatly.

Finally!!!

So I realized that with being without my computer, I hadn't posted what the gender of the baby is. But I now have my computer back(that's right, I am whole again!!) so I decided to do that. But I am not going to just launch into it, I will lead up too it. Bear with me, I haven't been able to blog for a while. So I am going to tell you the story behind our children's names and lead up to the baby info.

Jacob Robert- When I was in younger, I went to school with a boy named Robert Jacob, but he went by Jake. I loved the way it sounded especially since 2 of my grandpas' names are Robert, but I preferred to switch the order of the name. So when we were picking names for our little boy who went to heaven before we were able to see his precious face, we thought of many names but none could compare with Jacob Robert, especially since Robert is also John's dad's name, so Jacob is named after 3 grandpas.

 

Alexander Michael- John is actually the one who picked out Alexander.     It is the main character of one of John's favorite movie "The Time Machine." I personally do not like the movie, but I really liked the name. Michael is John's middle name. And let me tell you Alex lives up to his name!! Alexander means defender of mankind and Alex is very much like his daddy! He takes pride in protecting his siblings and those that he cares for. He feels for those in pain and worries about things that most second graders don't. He truly has a tender spirit just like John!

 

Jeremiah James- JJ is the only child that is technically not named after someone in our family. Jeremiah is just a name John and I really, REALLY liked and James went with it really well. It wasn't until after we named him that I realized why we liked Jeremiah so much. On Jacob's tombstone we chose part of the verse Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew^[a] you" to be on it. We loved the reminder that even though we never got to know Jacob in the way that most parents know there children, that God knew him and chose us to blessed with being his parents. So in a way, JJ is named after his biggest brother and is a constant reminder that God knows us in a very intimate way before we were ever created.

Kennedy Jean Elizabeth- I am not ashamed to admit that I stoled the name Kennedy from another mom. Now she had picked this name for a child that was born years before Kennedy was born and turned out he was a boy and so I didn't want this beautiful name to go unused, so I HAD to use it. lol. And then it turns out that my great, great grandma's middle name on my dad's side was Kenneda, so I guess it was a good choice. Jean is my middle name and my mom's middle name and I hope that Kennedy passes it on to her first baby girl also. Elizabeth is just a name we always loved and so we picked it.

Olivia Clara Paige- Olivia is just a name that John and I really liked. Love the nickname Livie also, so it was a great choice! Clara is after John's grandma on his dad's side. He has some great memories of her and misses her alot. Paige again is a name that we really liked. Of course John's mom says that since it is a alternative form of her name Patricia, that technically Livie is named after her. There is no harm letting her hold on to that arguement. lol

 

So finally the big reveal of the baby's name. It was quite strange in the way the name came about. Usually when we are picking names we have a list of names that we really like and we have a hard time deciding which on to pick. But with this baby, we had names that we liked but none that jumped out at us. John and I had quite a few conversations about names and never really had the long list of ones that we were choosing between. There was a boy name and a girl name that we both liked and it just seemed like no matter how many different names we discussed we just kept coming back to those 2 names. It was kinda like the names were already decided by us before we ever started talking about it and that is why we had a totally different experience than normal.

 

I have to admit that I had in my mind what the baby was and I was quite shocked by what the ultrasound revealed. I was sure I was correct and had always thought of the baby as this gender that was in my mind. I was in denial for about a week until it sunk in and now I am soooo excited to announce that we are having another...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GIRL!!!

 

That's right, we will have 3 boys and 3 girls and our family will be complete. So now onto the name of our precious baby girl.

 

Emmalee Jorja Kay- Emmalee we picked after a young lady who was a former youth group member of ours. We have had the pleasure of knowing this young lady since she was like 10 and have watched her grow into an amazing young woman of God! She also happens to be our baby sitter when she is home from college and the kids love her. She spells her name this way and we love the uniqueness of it.  Jorja is after my grandma on my mom's side. She spells her name Georgia but we wanted something different than the normal. Funny thing is that Grandma didn't like that we were naming Emmalee after her until I told her the way we were are spelling it. Then she thought it was really cute. I love my Grandma!! And Kay is after John's mom, that way she really can say a granddaughter is named after her. lol

 

I can't wait to met my baby girl!! I love this picture of her even though you can't see her whole face. In it she was opening and closing her mouth like she was talking. And I love the little hand in it and how her wrist looks kinda chunky. I am so excited!!

 

 

 

 

How is this possible?!

I have been wondering how it is possible to have such conflicking feelings happening me all at once in regards to this pregnancy.

On one hand I am perfectly content to just be pregnant. Well aside from all the nasty morning/afternoon sickness that still plagues me from time to time. But knowing this is my last pregnancy, I am enjoying feeling the baby move around. I am in no rush to get this pregnancy over with, although I could do without all sickness that I have had with this pregnancy.

Then I am so excited to meet this baby that I can't wait until January so I can hold my little one. I am so excited to see her and kiss her little head. To hold my last baby and love on her.

And at the same time I go through times of "what the crap was I thinking" thoughts running through my head. I am enjoying having no babies in the house at the moment and not having to lug everything with us that babies need. I was looking forward to almost being out of diapers and having in 2 years having all the kids in school for a couple of mornings everyweek and being kid free for a bit. But now we are starting all over.

And finally I have times where I honestly forget that I am pregnant. Maybe it is because I have been pregnant so many months of my life that it must not be such a huge thing to remember. Like it is just normal and nothing out of the ordinary.

It is just strange that in the course of a day, I can have all these thoughts and feelings. Maybe I am developing multiple personalities. lol

Notice my lack of posts?!

So if anyone is wondering the reason for my lack of posts lately it is not because I have fallen off the face of the earth. And even though life has been crazy, that isn't even the reason. My darling husband broke MY computer screen and I am without a computer at home right now. It was truly an accident which is the only reason he is still breathing.(Just kidding....or am I?! lol)

No, in all seriousness he was walking while holding the laptop and trying to type it, WHILE on the phone. He tripped and the computer screen was no more. But praise God, after discussing the real need of the computer and if it was necessary to spend the almost $200 to fix the screen right now and making the decision the it in fact is not a need to have it fixed right now, more of a want and we were going to wait, I found our warranty we purchased on the computer when we bought it. And wouldn't you know it computer screens on laptops are covered. So thankful that we waited on repairing it, otherwise we would have paid for something that we can get for free.

Now I am just waiting for the box to come so I can ship off the computer and hopefully have it in 10 business days after the company recieves it. Until then, I only have a computer to use when I am at the church or in the school office on Mondays. And actually I am not minding it too much. We have our smart phones so we can do most of what we need on them, but unfortunately I haven't figured out how to blog on it yet. So until I can blog again, have a good day.

Gender pictures

Pictures that my friend took for our gender reveal after we find out tomorrow

 

Next week and a half

The next week and a half is going to be full of ups and downs. The last night Ryan is scheduled to actually be in our home as our foster child is on Sunday night. And with the way his visit with his mom is set up he will be home at 8 at night, so basically he will be coming home to bath and go to bed. Then I drop him off at school on Monday and he is with his mom the rest of the week.

Wednesday Kennedy turns 4. It is so hard to believe my little baby girl is turning into such a big girl. I love seeing my children grow up but it makes me sad how fast it goes. We will have her party on Thursday and she is already trying to plan an overnight with a friend. She is too young for overnights.

Also on Thursday we are have our appointment to go see the sex of the baby. This is kinda bitter sweet, because as excited as I am to find out the sex of the baby, this will be our last appointment ever of finding out the sex of one of our babies. Although I am totally at peace with this being our last, it is still kinda sad knowing this is the last time we will ever having the excitement waiting to find out the sex of a baby John and I created.

Then on Friday, Ryan is scheduled to be released into his mom's care. He will no longer be our foster son. Although it had been nice having him being with his mom more lately so that our kids can enjoy just being us for a bit, it is very sad. It is bringing an end to the year that we have had him. In that year, God has grown and stretched us in ways I never imagined. Sometimes it wasn't fun or enjoyable and other times it seemed so natural. It will just being sad not seeing Ryan on a regular basis. To not know what he did at school every day and how things are going. We are thinking of asking to still have him one a week or so, so that our relationship isn't lost and that he knows we still love and care for him. I have to admit, I don't have complete peace with him going home especially in light of some very troubling info I just found out, but I am trusting God and praying His will. As much as we love and care for Ryan, God loves him way more than I ever could. No matter what God will be with him through it all.

And then on the following Tuesday Alex starts 2nd grade and JJ starts Kindergarten and on Wednesday Kennedy starts preschool. My house be quieter during the days. Wonder if I will get more stuff done around the house. lol

So anyway this time will be full of smiles and probably some tears. But praise God that He never losses sight of us no matter where we are. He rejoices with us during our times of joy and feels our sorrow in times of sadness. And what more could I ask for from a loving God?!

LONG WEEK!!

It has been an extremely LONG week!! Last Friday I started to feel kinda off. By Saturday morning I figured I probably had a bladder infection. I don't ever remember having one, so I really didn't know what it was like. By that night I was in really bad pain in my lower stomach and couldn't sleep. So Monday I went into the my ob doctor and got some meds. The doctor was amazed that I put up with the pain that long and apparently my infection was pretty bad by that point.

Then later that night I started throwing up and having a fever and cold chills. Called the doctor Tuesday and got an appointment for later in the afternoon. When I went in to the doctor, they were concerned because of my new symptoms and the fact that I was having pain in my middle right back side, around where my kidney was. They were concerned that my bladder infection turned into kidney infection. There was talk of putting me in the hospital but after agreeing to getting a shot of strong antibiotics and watching my fever closely I was able to sent home.

Well that night and into the next morning I still had fevers and cold chills off and on, along with my back pain and my headache that I had thorough out all my sickness that wasn't too bad, turned into a full blown nightmare. The doctor sent me over to the hospital for more tests.

So after blood tests, many ultrasounds, urine tests and such, they were concerned that I had a kidney stone. I honestly was more concerned with my head at the moment that was so horrible, I couldn't focus on anything else. Anyway, long story short, I had surgery, which was really more of a procedure since I was not cut open, praise God!! They gave me a spinal instead of putting me fully out and I was able to see all they were doing on the monitors. Basically they put a tube up my urethra into my bladder and up to my kidney to see if there was a stone. They found not stone, thank God!! The consensus of the urologist was that between my bladder infection, which most likely had turned into a kidney infection, pregnancy(which apparently can cause you to mimic kidney problems), and the virus that they figured out had settled into my upper back and neck muscles causing my horrible headache, all these were the cause of my kidney pain.

I was able to return home and I do feel better. My head is still hurting alot, in fact today my headache was as horrible as it was before, my back around my kidney and bladder still hurts off and on, and I am extremely sore and tired, but I am better at least. Now just praying that it doesn't take me forever to recover from this week long illness!