Prego With Chunks

Nash #6 is on it's way! (Look at that nose! Definitely a Nash haha!)

Jaws seem to drop at the mention of SIX kids and when I hear congratulations I know that they are really saying "Congratu-CRAZY" but honestly it doesn't seem like a lot to me. It kind of bums me out to think of this stage of my life being over. I have mastered the pregnancy/labor/ child birth/ newborn/nursing thing and the thought of all of that ending saddens me. Who knows, maybe I will be one of those ladies in their forties still poppin out babies. Don't get me wrong, my baby is four and the whole no diapers, being able to communicate, picking up and just leaving, independence thing was great! I knew that freedom and it was fabulous but it will always be there. The ability to create life, to feel it grow and develop inside of you, the exhilaration and accomplishment of child birth, and nursing a tiny infant is almost addictive. I crave it! I relish in it! Yet, it is so short lived and fleeting. You blink and they are grown.

We found out we were expecting on the first of April. We were living in the Vegas Motel and the kids and I were laying on the bed watching Princess Diaries and I was so moved by it...moved to tears...by the Princess Diaries (pretty pathetic!), that I knew I had to be pregnant. Moving three states away and dealing with an old house that could have been on an episode of Pet Hoarders, in extreme humid conditions all summer was not my ideal pregnancies conditions but I have never been the best at planning things, just making due. It has been an easy peasy pregnancy! I didn't even get in to see a doctor until I was about 25 weeks along. I do feel the aches and pains a bit more with this pregnancy. I don't know if it because I am chubby and all of the extra weight makes it more uncomfy or if it is my aging body. I am not getting any younger, that's for sure! All of the kids are super excited for another baby, unless you ask Ash. She just knows she will have to baby sit it ALL the time! Poor picked on oldest Ashley. You got to know her to find it funny but it cracks me up! We told them and our parents on Mother's Day. We sent a video of the kids reading a little poem with them all shouting in unison at the end "There's a baby on its way!"

We are due at the end of November and we are having either a boy or a girl. You will find out when we do. It is so exciting that way, I think. I am glad we just got new tires on the Excursion because I don't want the crazy North Dakota winter to deter us from getting to the hospital. Mike says that that I can just do my birthin' out in the barn if the weather gets too bad. I am a little concerned about the fact that we live about 45 minutes away from the nearest hospital and who will watch the kids if I go to the hospital in the middle of the night. This rural living has its draw backs. As for names, Mike and I are not good at compromising and he comes up with old people names like Virginia, Josephine, and Johnny. So do me a favor and give me your suggestions so I have an arsenal of options to veto his names with!

The Most Precious Things In Life

That is my grandpa. He is a musician, a writer, a master gardener, a giver, a poet, a yodeler, a story teller, a scriptorian, a man of God. He wrote that little song and pulled me aside to sing it to me when we were in Vernal and it melted my heart!

I think one of the most difficult things about moving halfway across the country is not being near grandparents and great grandparents, especially when age weakens their minds and cripples their bodies. It breaks my heart to think that my kids are missing out on precious, memories, wisdom, and limited time with their great grandparents and grandparents. I feel like I am ripping them off! I feel ripped off too! Even if my grandparents live until they are in their nineties, that means I only have fifteen years or so left with them. That is not enough time! There is so much wisdom and history that they haven't shared with me yet! I still haven't learned how to knit my Grandma Powell's slippers or mastered her salsa recipe. I haven't learned how to make my Grandma DeeLo's macaroni salad or learned about her grandparents and who are in all of those old family photos, and I haven't received one of my Grandpa Powell's scripture study journals or taken harmonica lessons from him yet! Someday all of the stories, recollections, dates about their parents, grandparents, wars, the great depression, their life lessons, will pass away with them and it will be my responsibility to pass on what I can remember of them. I am not ready for that mantel to be placed on my shoulders. Life is so fleeting and those really important things become all too precious when we realize how limited our time is with those we love most. I feel blessed that I still have four grandparents living, that I can learn from and since I don't have the luxury of living near them I will make the most of phone calls, letters, photos, and visits so that I will have many more lasting and cherished memories of them until we can resume our special relationships in the eternities.