Happy Surprise Baby Shower for me!

This was the lovely game my mom had me play. I had to eat baby food and guess what kind it was!! Yuck!!!!!!!!!

This is my moms best friend from kindergarten Shelly Shepherd.

Stacie Hansen, my other sister, and me.

My Grandma and Mary my sister-in-law, she is always so supportive.

My sister-in-law Shauna. I was so glad she was here, she just moved back from Arizona a couple weeks ago.

Alisha, I was so glad she was here!

I love the cute things my mom made for the shower. Cute bottles and candies stuffed in sweet bags.

The lovely girls that made the night Ku'uipo, Kaili, Ki'Aja, Sasha, and not in the picture is Abbie. I cannot believe they were able to keep it a secret:)

This was the most sweet cake my mom made, It was beautiful and fun. It made me excited to have the baby because of all the pink.

This was the food table set up with the little handouts.

This is the scene that made me cry. I saw all the great stuff that went into planning for the party and the cute clothes line with sweet clothes for the lovely baby. Cry, cry, cry. What I hope everyone knows that it was such a happy day for me to see your support and love. I cannot believe that my mom kept it a secret!!--you usually never do, So= good job! Props to the mom!! I also have to thank Stacie Hansen for helping my mom, love ya. I got so many cute wonderful baby clothes. It was so exciting. I went to the shower with only a few outfits and left with a closet full of a beautiful wardrobe! Thanks to everyone it was such a surprise and made me so excited to have her!

6 1/2 months Prego!

I have had some requests to post a prego pic. My lovely mom took this for me on Friday. I am so happy to have popped out. I love the nights when the kids gather round and watch my belly bounce, and each of them giggle in amazement. Ke'Lao felt her move tonight and the excitement and awe in his eyes made it well worth the wait. I am a little over 28 weeks. Last weekends hospital stay I was told I am now 70% effaced but dilated the same. My true goal is to make it to 34 weeks, but my doctor gave me the beta methasone shot to help speed up the development of her lungs in case she does come too early. Every 2 weeks from here on out is a milestone. So I made it to 28 weeks now 30 weeks is the next step. Making it this far has given me a little peace and every day is critical, so what is the scripture?- line upon line, precept upon precept----Or One day at a time. I will keep you all posted. I also want to thank everyone for bringing us dinner and calling, or taking my kids for a while. It has been such a blessing to have such love and support!

Who is the farmer that planted that seed?

Well now that my belly is growing and the baby is starting to really show herself, a lot of questions have been sparked by the kids. Ke'Lao has been particularly interested in how this baby got put in my tummy. He asked me last week how did it get in there and what is sex. I was a little taken back and thought that this discussion should be with Ke'Lao, Kevin and I alone, not in the car with all the kids on the way home from school. But Ke'Lao would not stop so I gave him the short version, "Well you know how a farmer plants a seed and waters that seed and it grows, Mommy has a seed in her tummy that Daddy watered and now it is growing into a baby." That answer sufficed him enough to stop asking.....until tonight-

I am laying on the bed with the tummy exposed so the kiddies can see her wild kicks, when Keo very seriously says, "So Mommy who is the farmer that planted that seed in your tummy? I mean did he fly down and plant the seed? Who is this man?" I was trying so hard not to laugh! I also felt bad that for days he had been thinking some other man planted this baby in me. I decided that it was time to have "the talk" since Kevin was home and Keo really wanted to know. I also decided that he is only 5 so we had to keep it simple. Kevin said some things like well Mommy and I connected and I watered the seed and Heavenly Father allowed us to have a baby. Keo says, "so you kissed and the seed was planted and Mommy swallowed the water and the baby is growing?" Kevin and I are trying so hard to keep a straight face, and at the same time explain this in the simplest form.

After several other questions and many attempts to explain the process without actually explaining the "process" he seemed content with the answers. When he left the room Kevin and I knew that it would only be a matter of weeks before he wanted to know more. We are going to try and find a book that might help us in the endeavor. Keo is inquisitive, brilliant, and his brain is years ahead of his age. If any of you have any suggestions on the birds and the bees talk I would love to hear them. I do have to say that Kevin did not want to talk about it with him because of his age, but when Keo said so if I have more questions can I ask my teachers. That is when Kev realized that we need to answer his questions or else he is going to ask his teacher if she might know who the farmer is that flew down and got me pregnant! LOL. Well this was a lovely night where I grew as a parent and learned that every day is full of surprises!

Ki'Aja and her gorgeous new cut.

The backside. I love that you cannot even tell what she did.
Cute side view. This was even the worst side. Stacie Hanson made it so it is blended and you cannot even tell!

I just love it. I have to say it is a lot easier to do her hair, and I believe maybe it was a blessing in disguise. It takes stress off at a time when stress is high, so I guess here I am thanking Aja for taking matters into her own hands.

Love you Ki'Aja!

Haircut by a 3 year old!

Ki'Aja has been asking to have hair like Mommy, Short. I kept thinking I love her hair and the natural highlights, how thick it is etc. But she decided for us, she wanted her hair short and she was going to make it short.

Kevin let me take a nap while he played with the kids. Ki'Aja decided she would find some scissors and sneak off into the living room and chop, chop, chop. Kevin came in 45 minutes later, tapped me on the shoulder to wake me up and said, " We have a small problem" then he showed me a handful of hair, blond beautiful hair. I thought he was kidding. Then he brought Aja in and I could not believe it. I cried and sobbed and cried. I know people think I am so much of an over reactor, but I love my girls' hair. Read the previous post about Ku'uipo and her 8 inch cut. Then you will see. Anyways, I kept thinking of the baby coming and the wonderful family pictures that will be taken and all. I could not see her hair being "fixed" at all. I called a wonderful friend and asked her to come to save the day, and that she did. Love you Stace.

She was not sad at all. She was actually quite happy to have short hair!

I have to say that she can cut at a pretty good angle.

Right before the haircut given by the lifesaver Stacie Hanson. She was so wonderful to come by at 9:30PM to save my sanity and cut Aja's hair so I could sleep.


She was very good at chopping ALL her hair, every area had pieces chopped here and there. The worst part is on her left side where she cut a chunk of it up above her ear. I was hoping to find a way to save the length but that was impossible.
I will post pictures of the fix next. They would not download. Hopefully tomorrow you can see the all new Aja.

5 1/2 months pregnant!

I don't know what happened but I suddenly "popped" out! I kept waiting to show and here I am with baby #5!

Hahaha....

Haha Just kidding. My mom said it doesn't look like I have a baby in there so she made me stuff my shirt with a blanket. Hence, the first picture. This is the real me. I am starting to show. I even wore a maternity type shirt to try and look more pregnant. I cannot wait until I have the real belly I know everyone thinks oh you are so lucky, but really I want to show and waddle and all since this is my last baby I will be birthing. I know this might be news to a lot of people. Kev and I know we want more kids but we also know that I am not the vessel for them to get here. It really is hard on everyone, but each baby is such a blessing and we know they are meant to be here. Our prayers are answered and we know we are done or at least I am done having them.

I had a very eventful week. It is a long story, but I will post the jist of it. I had an appointment on Wednesday for Keo and his clavicle to see if he needed surgery....He does not! Yea! Then we had some free time after we went to lunch with my Dad so I went to the store. Here I had a bleeding episode that scared me pretty bad. I made it to the hospital where they did an ultrasound and several other tests. All the while sweet Ke'Lao was with me. Luckily the nurses took him out when appropriate. Dr. Draper admitted me for observation. It was just me and Keo. I was all stressed how I would get him home since Kevin was at work and my mom had back surgery, Brittnie was at work etc. Cami was visiting her grand baby Rielly and was just down the hall. I got ahold of her and she came right over and took Ke'Lao home to my grandma. She saved me and Keo for that matter. Thanks Cam!

Anyways, Kevin was able to get off work and come up to the hospital where we spent 2 lovely days. Turns out the doc thinks I had another possible placenta abruption, very small, but I lost quite a bit of blood. He waited until I was no longer bleeding and my hematocrit started to rise. I am home now taking it easy which is not fun, but I do not want to bleed like that again, so I will be careful. Plus I have Hitler family members who make sure I am careful! This pregnancy is a trial, but this baby is a true blessing. I cannot wait to have the newborn home safe with the family. I want to thank everyone for helping and caring! I love you all and I am so blessed to have you in my life. I also need Kevin to know that as much as he hates the hospital he made it not as boring for me and he even went searching for me some peanut M&M's while I was there. I love you babe!

Picture Tagged by Ku'uipo.

The tag is supposed to be the 6th picture in the 6th folder. Here is what I got--Sweet baby Ki'Aja at 2 months old. We put her in the flowers at Murray Park. I remember this day so well. She was so cute and perfect. Oh I cannot wait for another baby to take pictures of and put in a flower bed-LOL.

Baby update..Well not really.

So I went to the doc and nothing has changed which is good and bad. Good because I have not dilated more and I am not any more thinned. BAD because this babe likes to hide! I had another ultrasound and the tech said the baby is in a squatting position, which makes it very difficult to tell the sex of the baby. She did make a 60% guess after looking for a few minutes. I will not reveal what she said because I will announce it in a cute way IF I EVER FIND OUT! I want to do the nursery before the baby is here and if it is a girl I have the bedding and all the decor, so I will not have to do a lot, BUT if it is a boy we have a cute idea. The walls are already a dark deep barn red, soooo Kev and I want to do a Policeman fireman theme. We already have a lot of NYPD stuff from our trips to new York and with the red wall we will incorporate fireman stuff. So I am anxious to get started. My next ultrasound will be on February 11, so look for the post about what the baby is. I believe that I have decided if this next and FIFTH ultrasound we do not find out what we are having then I might as well be done and assume we are meant to be surprised!
I will also post a pregnancy pic by next week also. Right now it would be a waste since I am not showing. I think people do not believe I am pregnant and think that I am one of those psycho people who have told everyone they are having a baby but were never really pregnant, because when people at work or in my ward talk to me weekly they are constantly looking at my tummy. I can see they are searching for the "bump." Believe me I am too!
I am happy to say that I feel the babe move now and that has been a wonderful blessing. It has taken away anxiety and allowed Kevin to bond. It is so weird but when I try and nudge the baby to get it to move it never does, but when Kev lays his warm hand on my tummy it ALWAYS moves. He also has this tradition with every kid that I think is so hilarious. He puts his hand on my tummy and puts his mouth really close and shakes my tummy while asking, " Want a Cheeto? Huh, baby you want a cheeto???" Funny thing is I do not like cheetos and everyone of my kids and Kev do. There must be something to that...

My Ke'Lao and his broken collar bone.

Feeling the pain.

Luckily Power Rangers were on at the hospital and that kept his mind off the pain.

Keo in his cool hat from Nana and Papa and his nice sling signed by all!

Saturday morning Ke'Lao decided he would be our entertainment and yes he was. He was wearing oversized pajamas and he used them to his advantage. He stuck his arms through his waste band all the way down and out his ankles. He announced he was spider boy and began parading around in a crouched position. I was laughing so hard and so were all my kids and Kaili and Sasha. When the laughter died down he laid on his back and said he was a bat. Then he decided he would be a bat and spin in the air still in a crouched position and still with his hands through his pants. This is when I heard the snap. He spun around and had no hands to brace his fall, but his right shoulder hit right in the right spot to break his clavicle. I was not sure at the time it was broken but when he hid his face and could not stop crying I knew it was not good. I woke Kevin up and had him look at it. It was then that we noticed a small knot and his pain was getting worse. Kevin and I took him to the ER and it was there that they took an X-ray and announced that it was busted:(

He was so strong when the triage nurse checked him in he stopped crying and just tried to stay strong. When we got in our room he let the tears fall, then when he saw Power Rangers he was able to keep his mind off of it. I have had to remind him that it is OK to cry and it is OK to say something hurts. I cannot believe a 5 year old can try so hard to be brave and strong.

I just have to say the he did amazing for breaking his bone. It was an A-frame break and we find out tomorrow if he needs to have surgery. I really hope he does not need surgery. He has done amazing and tried his best not to complain or even ask for the medication, Kev and I have had to make sure he takes it and remind him why it hurts and that he has to be careful. I love him so much and only wish I would have had the video camera to show off his hilarious spider boy!

Bye, bye to 8 inches :(

Ku'uipo has had it in her mind that she wanted her hair to be short. I would not listen. It has been months that she wanted this and it has been months that I have not. I grew up always having long hair. I loved my long hair, not to mention my mom loved loved it. She always said she could never grow her hair that long and she wanted her girls to be able to have long hair. I did not chop it all off until 2 1/2 years ago. I decided that if Kevin was OK with it and Ku'uipo was positive she wanted to do it, then I would support her. I did warn her that I would cry and cry I did....
Her hair right before.

Hair after the wash. She was so excited. It was right after this that it was chopped off, and I could not even bring myself to take pictures. I could barely see through my eyes with all the tears and sniffles. I mean she is beautiful anyways but I love her hair and I love the way I could do it when it was long. Kevin just laughed and laughed at me. I smacked him a few times. He said it is like crying over spilled milk---Ya right, I can clean that up in 30 seconds but it takes years to grow your hair back!!


Here she is with a piece of the long hair chopped off. I was staying very composed until we walked out and Kevin looked at me and smiled and then the serious tears began to fall! I do not even know why, I had no clue I was so invested in her hair. It is not even my own!

The back. It is very silky and very thick.

This is it, I just quickly dried it and curled it out. It is very thick and bouncy. She keeps twirling around and loving it and I guess that is all that matters. I am happy that she is not so attached to her hair that she hides behind it. I think I did that for a long time and it did feel good to cut it. I am also happy she is not the one crying because that would be even harder to deal with!!!

Ku'uipo's Baptism.

Ku'uipo and Ku'uipo. This is my longest and most wonderful friend Ku'uipo. I named my Ku'uipo after her knowing what a wonderful example she would be to her. She supports us in everything even with her own busy family. We love both of you so much.

Ku'uipo and her sweet Nana.

Ku'uipo and her wonderful Papa.

Brother and sis. Kee'Onu gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and it was absolutely amazing and it too made me cry! Love you Kee'Onu

One of Ku'uipo's best friends Abbie and one of my best friends Stacie Hanson who was so nice to help with the food right after the baptism. Love her.

Glowing Ku'uipo and my honey Kevin

Me, Kevin and Ku'uipo right after she was baptized

Ku'uipo right before she was baptized.

This day was a lovely and spiritually uplifting day. I did not know that this day would be filled with the spirit as it was. I guess that I thought it would be really stressful and much too busy, but it was so perfect. Thanks to my mom, dad, Kevin's mom and dad and Stacie Hanson. I have a lot of people who support me and I just love them all so much.

Ku'uipo's baptism was at 9AM and amazingly enough we were early. Imagine that. Ku'uipo looked beautiful and sweet as ever in her all white dress. She was so happy and excited. Kevin baptized her and when she came out of the water she had a smile from ear to ear and just glowed. I went in the dressing room with her to help her change and she was so cute. She was all wet and I couldn't stop myself from hugging her and whispering in her ear that she was perfect! She said, "I know," with a huge grin. I just cannot believe how spiritual this day was for me as well as her. I just want her to know how proud I am of her and her decision. I am so thankful to have a valiant daughter of God, I thank my Heavenly Father for blessing me to have her in my life. We love you so much Ku'uipo!

My time to vent!

So Kevin swears that I am meant to enjoy this pregnancy but I have yet to do so. I mean the best part of the pregnancy is to be able to feel the baby move and share it with the kids and Kevin. Well that is not happening! I mean yes I have felt the baby move maybe a total of 6 times, but because my placenta is in the front it is just like the babe is kicking a pillow. So that is sad.

Now, I am happy that I am not vomiting everyday and I am only nauseated a few hours a day, however I am now anemic which comes with all its own symptoms that are so annoying at the time I should be having energy. I am tired, pale, and suffer from horrible headaches that can sometimes turn into migraines. Now when I say I am tired I don't mean--Oh I am just having a hard time getting out of bed, I mean I could sleep until 3PM everyday and then when I do get up I am fighting the urge to stay in bed.

Sweet Kevin went and got me the most disgusting tasting liquid iron you can imagine. Yuck Yuck. But it is supposed to work faster and better than the pill. He has also been very good at getting me to eat red meat like steak because that is what the doc told him would help. So love you Kev and I hope all this passes soon.

Sorry for the complaining but hey it might make me feel better.

Happy and Merry New Year!

Oh my goodness did we ever have a blessed new years eve party at my moms and dads. The wonderful night was supposed to as planned but as Murphy's law will have it it was not! I was getting ready to go to my parents for a lovely dinner and afterwards go on a ride-along with Kevin while my mom and dad and granny had a party for all the children.

It all began when I fell on my driveway and hit the ice like a ton of bricks. I lay there for a while because the ice actually felt pretty good under my bruised and injured body. Then the fear set in that I hit my belly where the baby is. Kevin got mad at me because I would not get up, but I did not want to get up because I knew I would fall right down again, hence Murphy's law. So big strong arming Kevin grabbed me under the arms and lifted me up as though I was light as a feather...Then the limping and cramping began. I got into my bed after changing out of my wet clothes and lay there, and worry, and lay there and think. About an hour later the cramping stopped and I thought all was well. I got up to play games with the family. I still was feeling weird and not well. Anyways the next day (New Years Eve) I had a lot to do for Ku'uipo's baptism so I bucked up and off we went. The cramping returned within an hour and I decided that I needed to get home and rest. I lay in bed for a bit and yet I never felt good. I started to think about how weird this pregnancy is I mean: I am still throwing up at nearly 18 weeks and that NEVER happens, I am still in all my pre-pregnancy clothes, Even jeans I have not fit in for a year (thanks to lovely nursing school), and most of all I am not feeling the baby move at all! This is my biggest worry. By now it is 4:30 and I have to be at my moms at 5 and still go to the store. I get up to go and realize I am bleeding and cramping and now I am crying.
I call my mom and Kev and the doc. All who say I must go to the ER. I am afraid to go because I do not want to find out bad news. but the doc says the fall could have caused this or the high dose of blood thinner that I am on and she wants me to be sure that the baby is alive. That is when the tears and the hyperventilating sets in. My dear dad comes to pick me and all the kids up and drop me off at the ER..(the hospital I work at). Kevin is working and in uniform, but he meets me there and "escorts" me inside. I have been crying and have the nice black stained tear stained mascara face. No words are said just sympathetic glances exchanged. The triage nurse takes my vitals while Kevin stands behind me. Believe it or not there is some humor here in this story......
After I am checked the nurse takes me back to a room with a glass view and doors that shut behind them. On the way there I see several fellow employees who look at me and then look at Kevin who is walking behind me. I think to myself that there is a weird vibe but maybe they feel sad for me because of my tear stained face. Anyways, the nurse tells me to change in the gown and leaves the room. Then Kevin tells me--"They put you in the psych unit room. That door right there is locked from the outside, you cannot get out unless they let you out." I think that is strange, but maybe they are full.

The nurse tries to use the dopple to find the heartbeat but cannot. The crying begins again! I am scared. I am quickly taken to ultrasound and it is there that she finds the baby and the heartbeat. ALL IS WELL WITH THE BABE. I do however get some unsettling news about my placenta. It is anterior, or in the front of my belly. This could be why I do not feel the baby growing, and also why I am not growing as quickly as normal, however I will find out on Friday if because of the placenta placement I may need to have hysterectomy with the delivery. Kevin says if that is the case then it is God's way of telling me I am done. I would rather God make the decision than any doctor in the world. So I will know how severe and serious this issue is later, but for now the BABE is FINE!!!

Once the ultrasound is done I am taken back to my room, some blood drawn and I tell the nurse I have a party to go to and I am leaving. She is good with that but has some funny news. She tells me that all the nurses and techs and even some doctors want to know what is going on with her patient in 12--That is me in 12. She said they all thought that I was escorted in by Kevin the OFFICER due to some mentally violent or disabling situation, and I was put into a psych room. They are all interested in why I am a psych patient and yet a fellow nurse. HOW EMBARRASSING! Kevin said he figured that but did not tell me because he knew how stressed out I was about the baby so decided to be quiet. I laughed and told her she had all my permission to tell every person out there that I am not a psych mental patient and that I was there for a pregnancy reason. She laughed and said she would. Now I wonder do I ever dare to go to work again.. I just may be known as the mental psych nurse----Watch out for her!

Next, the doc comes in and tells me I have strict orders of things that I cannot do for the next 3 days, which I hate because I have the baptism to get ready for but the babe is more important than a clean house......I guess!!

Once at my moms there is a lovely dinner of prime rib and all other sorts. After eating poor Ke'lao decides he is ill and vomits in his hand. He is trying with desperate eyes to know where to finish the vomit he started, as soon as I tell him it is OK he spews it all over the carpet--Nana's old yucky purple carpet so that was good. While my dad is cleaning it up the whiff I get causes me to gag and run to the bathroom. Once I am under control he is bathed and changed. Then he vomits again and again and again. It was so sad he was so sick. He was brave though and tried to have fun.

Ku'uipo has had this groin pain that flared up so bad at my moms that she could not walk and was in extreme pain. So she was on one side of me and Keo on the other. It was one lovely new years.

I do hope that last night is not a future reference for the 2009 to come. However, today everyone is doing much better and I just have to say that I love my family so much. I am so thankful for my blessings and the gospel. I have a very supportive and loving family. I am happy to be here and hope the year to come is filled with more happy memories and humorous times! Love you all!!!!

You're invitied!!!!!

Ku'uipo is being baptised on Saturday January 3, 2009. We would love to see you there!We will be having a brunch/dessert bar afterwards, so if you cannot make it to the baptism then please come to our house. Ku'uipo would love to see you here. She is very excited and cannot wait for her big day. Today we are going shopping for her white dress and new scriptures. I am so happy for her. It will be her special day and we hope to share it with you all.

Hettrick Family Christmas Party!

These are the family pictures we took. We love Our Santa. Kevin goes fishing with him in Alaska. He always tells the kids that he is lucky because he gets to fish with Santa! Brittnie did the party and it was very simple and fun. This was the week I started to feel better. It was nice to go to a party with all types of food and not throw up. I was happy. Ku'uipo had her dance performance so she has a lot of make-up on and don't get me wrong, she looks gorgeous but no more make-up for years!

Happy Late Birthday Mom!!!

November 25, was my mom's birthday and I just have not been up to parr, therefore this is her tribute, LATE, but not forgotten. My mom is my best friend. This past few years have been rough and a huge trial with her health, but regardless she is always striving to have a wonderful relationship with her grand kids and family. She recently had all the kids over to be "candy makers" and they all had aprons and hats and made taffy....Who cares that is was hard as a rock, they all loved it. She makes memories with the kids to last a lifetime. This week she is having them over to do a yearly tradition of making gingerbread houses. I love my mom because she accepts her trials as this is her life and she is going to truck through and make the best of it.

Mom I love you because....

You support Kevin and I in our decision to have a baby.

When you call and I don't answer you think I am dead!! LOL.

You cry when someone scares you.

You are dangerous with a rubber snake, hence Kevin's eye.

You tease my kids relentlessly.

You like to have fun.

Sometimes you are dumb and it makes us laugh.

You like to play jokes, Like when I am writing a check and you tell the cashier that you hope the check doesn't bounce like it did the last few times we went shopping (By the way I have NEVER bounced a check in my life!)....HOW EMBARRASSING!

Speaking of embarrassing.....You write a check to me and in the memo you write "Boob Job." Ya the bank guys always laugh at that one.

You are real and honest.

You are a good mediator when I want to scream at Kevin, too bad you always take his side.

I want all my friends to know you and love you.

You are a true Nana with love, support, and teaching for all the grand kids.

I love you Mom!!!