I'm TIRED!!

So much to say but not enough energy to try!
I just want my baby to come home from the hospital!

Yes, I am still alive....

Holy cow! I can't believe it has been 4 months since I last posted something. Time has gone by so fast! The only reason that I am even writing though is because it is 12:50 am and I of course cannot sleep. Last night I read, the night before I prowled around on Facebook and so I decided to try something different tonight.
The reason for my sleepless nights?? My big fat belly! I can't seem to get comfortable. My hands go to sleep, my feet are usually achy and swollen and......my husband snores! (He has been laying on his back more often) I wish I could lay on my back because it used to help me a couple months ago but now I just feel like I am suffocating and the blood is all rushing to my head. Maybe this is all just good practice for when I have little Brody and he keeps me up all night. Speaking of him, I don't know when that little bugger ever gets any sleep. He is constantly kicking or doing what feels like somersaults in there.
I have about 5 1/2 weeks to go and then my doctor is going to induce me. We just have to wait and see how everything looks. That's if I even make it that long! That will be longer than I have ever carried a baby before. I had to start twice a week Non Stress Tests which are kind of a pain. They monitor the baby's heartbeat and any contractions for anywhere from 20 min to an hour. I have been having contractions and they have picked up on a few on the tests and have just told me to lay down more and drink lots of water.
I try to relax a little in the afternoons but we are still in the middle of football with all 3 boys and that won't end until sometime in November. It has been a very long 3 months for us. 3 boys...3 different practice times....3 games a week. Thank God Dennis has been home the last couple of weeks because all I felt like I did was climb in and out of the truck! It was "Mom's Shuttle Bus" from about 4:45 until 8:15 every week night. We don't even get to eat dinner until I get everyone rounded up, then I am rushing them so that they can go straight to bed. The good thing is that they are all having fun and I haven't heard one complaint from any of them. They are all doing so good and we are very proud of them.
I was really depressed for a while everytime I went shopping for baby stuff. The girl clothes are so dang cute and all the boy clothes have stupid fire trucks, puppy dogs and footballs on them. LAME! If I ever see another piece of clothing that says "Mommy's Little All Star" again I will scream! I have shopped every store around and I think I have found a few decent things though. I just need a room now! I have tried to nudge my Over-the-top Conservative, talk-radio listening, Fox News watching husband into finishing the room in the basement so we can juggle kids around and I might have him talked into doing it next weekend. All we need are some door knobs and some shelves so that Braxton can move in. Then Weston will be moving into Braxton's old room and Brody will get Weston's room. Simple enough right? Poor Garrett has to stay right where he is. He asked me yesterday why he had to have the room next to the baby because he would get woken up every time that he cried. All serious of course, I told him that it was because every time that Brody cried, he would need to get up and feed and change him and put him back to bed. He did not seem bothered by this and just simply said, "OK but I don't really want to change the poopy diapers. Can one of the other boys do that?" I told him, "No problem, just go and wake them up!" As he walked away he said, "I'm gonna be really tired at school." I thought it went so well that I didn't even bother telling him that I was just kidding.
I think Dennis is just putting it off because he doesn't want to have to put the crib together. When the crib got delivered at the house, he surveyed the box for a minute and said, "That's the crib? Do I have to put it together?" No of course not honey....I'm sure it comes fully assembled in that long flat box! Duh! I love that silly man to death but I think I might just go crazy if I have to ride with him in the pickup for any length of time and listen to his talk radio ever again. If it's not 'America Right' on XM then it is the Nascar Channel. There is one lady on Nascar that has a SERIOUS speech impedement and with how anal I am, it drives me so crazy I want to scream. I can't even focus on what she is saying because it stands out so bad. How can she even be on a talk radio show sounding like that! There is no music in this man's life... just talk. He is very well informed about everything going on in the world though, but don't ask him because it will turn into a very long and sometimes irrational conversation!
The boys all seem to be excited about their upcoming baby brother. Garrett and Weston have to kiss my stomach goodnight every day and they tell Brody that they can't wait to see him. Weston, bless his heart, has even volunteered to change all the diapers. What a good boy he is. I know they will really be alot of help. They are all so good with their baby cousins.
OK, I have approached the 2:00 a.m. mark where I go back to bed and try the sleep thing again. Hopefully I will be successful this time! It felt good to write a little update though. I hope it doesn't take me another 4 months to get around to doing it again!

Been a long time.....

Holy cow! I can't believe how long it's been since I last put a post on here. It is scary how fast time goes by. Now that summer is here it is going to fly by even faster! The boys are out of school now and are busy inviting all the neighborhood kids over to jump on the tramp, play on the slip-n-slide, and raid my deep freeze for popsicles. I have to admit it has been nice having them home the last couple days and the house not being so quiet. (I'm sure that won't last for long!!)
Big news for our household though.... I am 14 weeks pregnant now and have finally gotten some energy to do things other than lay on the bed and watch Grey's Anatomy reruns on DVD. (Glad I am feeling better too because I have watched all 4 seasons and don't have anymore to watch.) I haven't had morning sickness or anything, I have just been EXTREMELY tired and lazy! Everyone please cross your fingers for me that it will be a girl. I am not looking forward to the fat and awkward part of being pregnant though. Everyone around me is getting tan and thin for summer and I am growing by the minute. I still fit in all my clothes and hopefully I will for a little while longer. I hate this first stage though because I dont look pregnant yet, just pleasantly plump! It will definitely be a big change for us ... we will be starting all over again! I just want to hurry and find out what it is so that I can shop, shop, shop!
Other than that..... Den has been busy working and worrying about the hay that he planted in Caineville this year. He worked so hard that I hope he gets a good crop. The ground hasn't had water or been planted for about 10 years so it will take some time I'm sure.
We still want to move but have decided it would be better to hang out here until after the baby comes. The boys are excited and I know they will be a big help. I figure I can at least get a couple years of babysitting out of them until they start complaining and don't think it's fun anymore.
We planted a huge garden at my mom's this year which has mostly tomatoes...YUMMY. We figured that we would can some salsa and stewed tomoatoes this fall while the boys are in football. I can't wait to eat fresh tomatoes and cucumbers for dinner!
The boys are growing so fast it makes me sad. I was watching them over Memorial weekend on their motorcycles and I was scared to death the whole time but also amazed at how big and mature they have become. We went on a long trail ride with a bunch of other people and some of the places we went scared the crap out of me. They just kept plugging along and never complained or appeared to be upset. What I wouldn't give to be like that again. I hope they never lose their bravery and sense of adventure!

What a weekend!!

The past 4 days have been an absolute nightmare for us!! We left town at 3pm Friday afternoon and headed to Price to turn in a bid on a job. After that we headed over Indian Canyon to spend the weekend at my parents farm in Bridgeland. We had BIG plans for the weekend. We had brought our golf clubs and thought we might sneak over to Roosevelt on Saturday and golf a little. We also had a trailer with the boys' motorcycles. They were excited to ride all weekend with their cousins.
When we got to the top of Indian Canyon there was an older man standing on the side of the road waving his arms like crazy for us to stop. Den pulled the truck over and the guy said that his car had gotten stuck in the snow a couple miles up a different canyon and that his wife was still with the car and could we please come help them. I looked at Den and I could tell that he didn't really want to but he would never have said no. We had to drop the trailer at the side of the road and figured that we would be right back for it. YA RIGHT!!
The road was pretty snowy going in but we didnt have any problems until we saw the guy's car. Den got caught in a rut that we did not see under the snow and it pulled us off the side of the road into a big hole. Just great! It was about 5:30 when this all happened and we tried like heck to get the truck out but it started getting dark and so by 7 I called my Mom and asked her to find my Dad and let him know that we were in trouble and needed some help. My Dad called me at 8 and said that he was stuck too! He got himself dug out and got stuck a couple more times before he finally made it to us. I was starting to get worried because we didnt have any food or water for the kids. We had stopped in Helper and gotten them a treat and a drink about 4:30 but they had finished everything off by now. My Dad got our truck pulled out with no problem and then Den pulled out the German couple. We were all wanting to leave the canyon from the opposite direction we had come in because the snow was so bad. The German couple were driving a 4 runner and had made it clear in with very little problems until they had slid off in a rut when the snow got bad. They insisted on going out the way we had come in because it was only 3 miles versus the 30 that they had driven coming in from the other side. Den and my Dad were upset but finally gave in and got all the vehicles turned around and headed back to Indian Canyon. It was about 9:30 by this time and we knew we still had troubles ahead but were feeling pretty positive. Then it just seemed like we took turns getting stuck and pulling each other out for about half a mile. Den got stuck one last time and in the process of trying to get himself out, he blew out the front end in his truck and was now without 4 wheel drive. We threw our hands in the air and decided to try to get out in my Dad's truck and would come back the next day for Dennis' truck. The Germans were behind Den's truck and the road was so narrow that there was no way to pass so they chose to spend the night in their car. They said that they had plenty to keep them warm. We left the keys in our truck so they could get in there and keep warm if they were worried about running out of gas. For the next 2 hours we would drive a little then get stuck and have to dig out and throw dirt under the tires. We would get going again only to get stuck again. It was absolutely ridiculous! The boys were being so good but I knew they were tired and hungry. Finally at about midnight, we slid to the side of the road and got stuck with the truck leaning to the right in a very deep hole. This was the final straw because there is no way we could dig ourselves out of that one. We called a wrecker out of Price and they said they would be there in an hour. 1:00 came then 2:00 before we finally saw the headlights of the wrecker. We were so uncomfortable! The truck was leaning and I was on the downhill side so I had all 3 boys pushing against me. They had finally all fallen asleep which was good but it couldn't have been very restful.
We named the wrecker guys Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum right off the bat. They actually drove in there without chains so from 2:00 until about 3:30 we sat in the pickup and watched them attempt to chain up their truck. OMG what a joke they were. I swore that if I saw one more butt crack I was going to puke! Dennis had lost his patience by now and was getting very frustrated. My Dad was trying to be positive but was feeling like he should be doing something. I just wanted them to rest in the truck because they had worked so hard trying to get us out all night and had been completely frozen from the knees down. SO finally T Dee and T Dum finally hooked onto the truck at about 4:00 in the morning! We were not making any progress though because our truck was just pulling their truck down the hill. It took Dennis telling them to anchor their truck to the tree in front of them to make it work. (You'd think that if they spent every day doing this then they could have come up with that on their own!!) During this time, my brother had brought chains and other supplies and was waiting at the top to come in and get us if the idiots couldn't handle it. We finally got out and got back on the highway about 5:15 am. We were going to get the trailer we had dropped and head back to the farm for a couple hours until daylight. Dennis had told his friend to drop one of our work trucks at the mouth of the canyon on the bottom side so that he could use that to go in and pull his truck out in the morning. There was NO way that they were going to come in from the Indian Canyon side again even if it was a 30 mile drive to the truck instead of 3.
As if our night (and morning) hadn't been bad enough, when my brother stopped to hook onto our trailer we noticed that the straps had been undone and Weston's new motorcycle had been stolen!! He had just gotten it for his birthday in November and had only been able to ride it twice because of the winter and basketball season. I was soooo mad. I can't believe how horrible people are sometimes. It was obvious that it was a kid's bike. How can you feel good about stealing from a child! Didn't they realize that we must have had problems or the trailer wouldn't have been left there in the first place. Poor Weston just cried and cried. He kept asking me why someone would do that. What do you say to that? Dennis told him when we got home not to worry because whoever had stolen it had just bought themselves a one way ticket to hell! I only hope that they get what's coming to them someday!
We got back to the farm at 6am and the plan was for them to leave again at 7:30 in Dirk's truck and head back up to get our other truck that was waiting and hopefully get in and out with no problems. We had a little something to eat until 6:30 and then Dennis and my Dad tried to sleep for the hour they had left. It was horrible to watch them have to drag themselves up and back out the door. I felt so bad. I decided to "take one for the team" and not go to bed either because I felt so bad that they weren't getting to rest. We waited all day and did not see them until about 3:00 that afternoon but at least they were all home and so were all the pickups. Apparently, they didn't have any problems and had just put chains on the front tires of both trucks going in and then a set on the back tires of Den's truck that was stuck so that it could get out in 2 wheel drive. Den and my brother both reamed the Germans pretty bad and told them how STUPID they were for going on that road in the first place. Can you believe that they had actually had to open and close several private property gates to stay on that road. Wouldn't you get a clue and realize that you shouldn't be on that road and turn around? Geez...I don't know about some people.
That wasn't quite the end though....
Den locked the keys in the Dodge work truck which I had to drive home and he shattered the back window trying to break in.
Then.... we headed home about 2:30 Sunday afternoon and got completely shut down near Current Creek because a tanker had rolled over and the road was closed. The snow and the wind were so bad that the highway had just turned to a sheet of ice. Den was pulling the trailer with his now 2 wheel drive truck and I was behind him in the Dodge. When I hit the brakes to stop all I did was slide across the road. I was pretty freaked out that I would hit something. We decided that our weekend had been bad enough and that we didnt need any more problems so we were going to turn around and go back to the farm and come in Monday morning instead. My Mom was a little ways behind us so I called her and told her not to bother coming because we weren't getting through anyway. Den couldn't turn around with the trailer on the ice so he had to unhook from his truck and use the Dodge that I was driving just to get the trailer turned around and headed back to the farm.
We got back and cooked everyone a nice steak dinner and relaxed for the rest of the night.
We came in this morning and it was still snowy but nothing too bad.
Then to top off our weekend, we pull up to our house and 2/3 of our fence has blown down and is lying in pieces in our yard. I guess the winds were reported at nearly 80 mph in Lehi. We drove around the neighborhood and felt better when we realized that we weren't the only ones that had lost their fence.
OH....... what a wild weekend. I figure with the cost of the tow truck, the stolen motorcycle and the repair bill for the pickup, it was easily a $5000.00 to $6000.00 weekend for us. That doesn't even count having to replace the fence!
Can you believe all this happened to us just for trying to be Good Samaritans??

My cute new family pictures!!

We finally did it! Got the WHOLE family together for a picture. It was quite an ordeal but it turned out nice and I am happy to report that everyone was in a good mood!! It was a little cold outside so poor little Macie's nose was red and runny. It took us about 2 hours but at least we ended up with a few good ones to choose from. It was hard to get all those kids looking the same direction at the same time! After the picture we went to Texas Roadhouse for lunch. YUMMY
I can't believe how much we have grown!!

The Lierd's 2009


The WHOLE Black Family


The Parents and Siblings


My Cute Parents!


Daddy and his Girls

Too much testosterone

I wonder who invented the theory that every male needs to have a recliner and a tv remote. Is this true for others or a rare occurrence that only happens in my house? Maybe it is more prominent in my house because I have 4 boys and not enough recliners and tv's with satellite to go around! You'd think with 6 tv's in the house we could make everyone happy, but sadly... no. Only 3 out of the 6 have a satellite receiver connected to them. The 3 in the boys' rooms just have regular tv and they mostly use them to watch movies and play their video games. This used to be sufficient until they all turned into couch potatoes and insist upon having their own chair, tv and remote while they all watch the SAME CHANNEL!!! I walk through the house and hear Drake & Josh in stereo as it echoes from every tv. Insanity, I tell you!!
Dennis is in no way innocent either. He is the ring leader of the bunch. He is the only one allowed to have a drink and food in the living room (for obvious reasons) and he takes full advantage of it. His boots come off right in front of the recliner, the table next to his chair quickly fills with empty water bottles (or beer cans, whichever he is in the mood for) and an endless stack of candy and gogurt wrappers. Unless we are watching a movie, I can't stand to watch tv with him because he hates commercials and is always watching 2 or 3 shows at a time. Way too much for me to keep up with. That is when I retire to our room to watch Lifetime or read a book.
Speaking of the male species... I don't know how I am going to make it much longer. I'm pretty sure that I am going to have to ban my children from going to the neighborhood park. It was 2 months ago when Weston came home crying and had broken his wrist and today Garrett came home with half of his face purple and swollen! He walked in the door and tried to hide it from me.... like I really wouldn't notice. What was he thinking! He of course gave me some song and dance about how he had just slipped and fell against the picnic table, but I know better... the little shit was up on the tables jumping back and forth! Table tag, I believe they call it.
Would it really be considered child abuse if I chained my kids to their beds to save them from themselves??

Basketball

This year the boys all decided they would try their hands at basketball. We are in our 7th week now and are almost done. I love the boys to play sports but it is such a pain in the butt that we are tied to the house on the weekends. Garrett's games are on Thursday nights and Braxton and Weston both play on Saturday mornings. They are all doing a really good job, especially Weston with his broken arm. He had only played for a couple weeks when he broke his wrist sledding. He was so bummed that he might not be able to finish the season. Thankfully when the doctor casted it, he said that Weston could still play if he wanted to. Garrett is the most surprising though, they messed up and put him on a 3rd and 4th grade team when he is only a 2nd grader. He was having a fit the first day of course because the boys were all so much bigger than him, but he got in there and now is just as good as any of them. He is pretty aggressive and it is funny to watch him block kids twice his size... he has to work overtime!! Braxton's team is really good and it is fun to watch them. Some of the teams they play are very aggressive though. One kid last week was pushing, shoving and throwing elbows. Serves him right though because we beat them. I dont know what happened to my pictures of Braxton which I am just now figuring out that I dont have. I will have to take some more this weekend and add them to the slide.

Never take 3 boys to a pet store.....

Weston and Garrett have been bugging me to get something to "entertain" their frogs. (They are both down to 1 frog each by the way.) They seem to think that you can go to the pet store and get frog toys like you would with a dog or cat. I told them that maybe we could find a small rock or tree to put in their aquariums because they don't have a whole lot of room.
As soon as we walked in the door, they had both forgotten all about their frogs. They immediately began eeewwwing and aahhhing over all of the disgusting reptiles while I wandered around shopping for the stupid frogs. I found a couple small trees but couldn't get their attention long enough to even see if that is what they had wanted.
Of course they began begging and pleading for a new frog, a snake, a hamster, a cat, a lizard, some fish and all the while telling me how they would take care of it and clean up after it everyday!!! Now that's a funny story.. I have to remind them to feed and clean their frogs now.
After I refused to even look at the snakes, Garrett informed me that they were only "Big worms".... ya, like that is going to make me feel better! Just knowing that they were crawling around in a cage in my house would keep me awake at night. I don't know what it is, but if I even see a snake on TV I cringe and get sick to my stomach.
I can't wait until summer..... then my boys can be boys OUTSIDE!

Fun with Dad

Last Sunday we decided to bundle up the boys and take them over in the field across from our house for some tubing! Dennis went to the tire store and got some big tubes and then tied them together and pulled the boys around behind the 4 wheeler. They had such a good time. It was fun for me to watch them too. Everytime a boy fell off they would start screaming, "Man down! Man down!"
They kept it up until they had popped one of the tubes and severely mangled the other one. The kids were still game for more but Mom and Dad were too cold. We came back to the house and had a big spaghetti dinner together and then watched a movie. The perfect way to spend a Sunday!

Boys Boys Boys

Over New Years we had a little time to spend with the boys. It was so cold that we didn't want to stay out long but we did let them ride their motorcycles to the gun range in Hanksville so that they could shoot their .22's. They shot their guns and then played in their "fort" that they made there. We stayed for as long as we could stand it and then had to go home. The wind was sooooo cold!

Forts for my boys

My boys love to build forts in the living room and watch movies. They get so creative in how they make them. It takes me back to when I was young and did the same thing. Oh to be young again.....

Christmas

OK, to hell with it..... I finally got around to posting about my Christmas holiday and I just about get to the end of my VERY long post and I hit a stupid key (not sure which one) and it all disappears. I can't go through all that again!! What a nightmare. Ok the short of it is that we went to my parents on Christmas Eve, drove to Hanksville in time for dinner on Christmas day, went back to Hanksville for New Years..
Ok there you have it. Exciting I know. There were alot better details in my first story but I only have so much free time!!