The Format's Back! Woo Hoo

O.K not exactly. But Nate is, and to me that amounts to pretty much the same thing. Some of you know that I dig a good concert. I love a good Killers concert, and Jimmy Eat World can always get me moving. but Format concerts are my favorite!

I was pretty sad when they split up. I could still listen to their music, but it just isn't the same thing. And knowing there would be no more new music was pretty depressing.

But I just found out that Nate (lead singer) has formed a group with two other guys. They start recording next month, and will release a new album later this year. I was able to listen to a demo, and I am impressed. Hopefully I will be hitting a fab concert right about the time I start losing this baby weight. Motivation, anyone?...

The Belly Hole and the Earth Quake

If any of you have been huge and pregnant at the beach, you may have figured out this little trick. I know I learned it from one of my sisters when I was pregnant with my first summer baby 10 years ago. you dig a hole in the sand roughly the size of your belly. Then you cover it with your beach blanket or towel, and voila, you can miraculously lay flat on your belly comfortably.

(Kindyl)(Mitchell and Connor digging what could be my belly hole, but isn't;)

So I am laying there in the sand, reading my book, feeling almost normal.(my niece Janee came up to me and said,"wow, Sherry, you look a lot skinnier when you lay in that hole." Thanks Janes;) I am thinking to myself, "why can't someone come up with a bed designed like this so pregnant women can sleep comfortably on their bellies?" While I am telling myself how impractical it would be to own a bed you can only use for a few months, it starts to feel like someone is shaking my bed. You know what I mean. Like you are in bed and one of your kids come up and bounces your bed a little bit. I lift my head up and look around a little bit, knowing darn well that no one could be shaking the ground a little bit.


(this is what I look like with my belly in the sand. wow, Janee is right! I look WAYYY skinnier that way!)

I lay back down and it happens again! I look around again and think to myself, "well we ARE in California. It could be an earthquake. If it was it would have to have been very far away." Then I think nothing more of it, go back to reading my book, and even fall asleep a little bit.

A while later my brother in law tells us there was an earthquake in L.A not long ago. Two of my sisters had felt it in their beach chairs. None of us felt anything strong enough to mention it to anyone else. But most of us, especially those in the water, didn't feel a darn thing.

It was the first substantial earthquake (5.4, not really huge)near a major city in CA since 1994.

SO my baby was in the ground during the earth quake. She may have felt it even more than any of the rest of us. Except she was surrounded by fat and amniotic fluid. O.K maybe not;)

Dislaimer: I know this is bugging you, so I will fess up. That picture is not really me. Which you would know if you have seen me recently. Like in the last 5 years or so. I'm pretty sure I didn't really have anyone fooled;)

Two Bugs, One Girl

Yes it gets better. I'm still having trouble with my throat,fever, etc(you're supposed to keep your fever below 100.4 when pregnant. Using Tylenol. I'm supposed to live in a cold bath, I think) and then last night I started seriously throwing up. You'd think I would be used to it, but this is different than pregnancy hurling. It is more...violent. And I can't keep my antibiotics down. Did I mention hurling past my swollen uvula is no fun?

Yeah, two bugs! How is this possible? Shouldn't they duke it out for the privilege of residing in my body, resulting in one clear winner? How many more can I get at one time? Why am I the only one in my family this is happening to?

Today: 3 open houses/meet the teachers for three kids in three different schools. And one husband in meetings all day.woo hoo!Oh yeah, and three kids wondering when the heck they are going school shopping. Hmm...

Germ House

Our house is not the healthiest place to be right now.

My swollen uvula is still intact making me have a constant gagging sensation at all times, accompanied by some serious head/throat/neck pain and a fever. Let's not forget that I caught this fun bug from Wendell who is still dealing with it and trying to work and take care of our sickly family. I can't figure out if I am just a way bigger wimp right now, or if regular bugs are seriously a lot worse when you are pregnant. Usually when Wendell gets sick it skips right past me. My immune system is always a little compromised when I am preg.

I have been on antibiotics for two days, and have seen no improvement. I'm afraid it must be darn virus. Shoot.

I am having a hard time keeping my hands off of the strong medication I have been prescribed for my migraines. Do normal people seriously take care of this kind of pain with just plain Tylenol? It's not cutting it for me. And ibuprofen is a no no.

Then, Monday night, Wendell and I wake up at 2:00 in the morning to Brenley puking and screaming. I am in no shape to deal with it, or even help. Usually when this happens, one of us will bathe the child while the other changes the bedding and starts the laundry. This time I lay in bed unable to really move my head while I listen to Wendell do it all. Then, at around 4:00, I listen to the whole thing again. Poor Wendell. Poor Brenley.

The next day (yesterday) Bren throws up a couple more times in the morning. Rachael complains she is nauseated in the afternoon, and I tell her she is just trying to get out of her work. Around five we get a call asking for Rachael to come babysit. As I look for her to ask if she is up to it, I hear retching. Great. Rachael is not a fun hurler.

Long story short, Rachael and Brenley are hurling, Mom can't move much and Dad is still sick. Kindyl and Mitchell are our slaves.

So, when are we going school shopping? When are we going to get the kids to the dentist? When are the girls going to get their before school haircuts. I don't know.

Can we postpone school for a week?;)

Bren's love affair with the dirt..er..sand!

( She would try to talk anyone she could into burying her. Those cute Dunyon boys often took pity on her)

Brenley has always been the least wimpy of my children. The beach is no exception. When Mitchell was her age, he was afraid of the sand. He spent one whole day just sitting on his beach chair. Wouldn't even get off and touch it. Bren is pretty much the opposite.

The child got very little sleep this trip. It was hard for her to sleep in the tent trailer without her own bed. Then she would wake during the night. Then wake up at the crack of dawn, announcing to the world, "Hey mom, get up! It's light outside! See? See mom? It's light!" Lovely.

(Babies in a hole with water at the bottom. This kept them entertained for hours!)

"light" tended to come too early for my huge pregnant body that was really only meant to sleep on my comfy bed at home.

(No she's not sleeping. Just kind of hugging the sand. Silly girl.)

Because Bren was getting a good three or four hours less sleep a day (no nap either) You would think she would either be asleep or a basket case after a few hours on the beach. Nope. She dug it. The whole time. She consistently spent 5-7 hours a day happily playing in the sand and the water. O.K, sometimes the water,mostly the sand. And often a combination of both.


Then when it was time to go, she happily showered off, got baby powdered down, and got dressed. None of my other kids did that! They would squirm and complain. But Brenley really does like to be clean. Which is funny when you see how much she really enjoys the sand. Silly baby.

She promptly falls asleep in the car on the way back to camp. Wakes up after 30 minutes to an hour, and is then cranky most of the evening. Leading some adults to think she is just the crankiest baby ever. Poor Bren gets a bad rap.

I promise I took pictures of the other kids too. Coming up!

Fun at the Campsite!

(the kids playing scrabble) ( Rach doing Brenley's hair)
These are some wild and crazy kids!

The kids love camping with their cousins. Do I love camping? Not so much. I used to. But it really entails a whole lot of work these days. A ton of laundry, because I don't like to do laundry while we are at the beach. What a waste of time. So Wendell and I and each of the kids have to have pj's, bathing suits, cover ups, and an outfit for 9 days. Church clothes for Sunday. And it all has to be clean before we go.



(they're not really moving;) (the littles "observing" the snails. Fun!)


And then everything that goes with living in the tent trailer for more than a week. packing up the kitchen, bedding, shampoo etc.,hair things, misc. toiletries. for everyone. and beach chairs, cabanas, umbrellas, beach towels. You get the picture.

(Kylee chillin' with the babies) (hangin'around the camp fire)

Anyhow, I have said before. This "vacation" involves a week of work before, a week of work during, and a week of work afterword. And all of the mental anguish involved when you try to get a very disorganized person to organize this whole vacation. By the time I get in the car to drive to CA, my feet are throbbing.And that is with Wendell doing all of the heavy lifting! BY the time I get into the car to drive home, my feet are throbbing.

(posin') (watchin' a vid in the tent trailer)


But, I love love love the beach. My parents are both from southern California, and always loved the beach. My mother used to take all 11 of us kids camping at the beach for three weeks with my dad flying in when he could. And all of the grand kids love it too. I think it may be genetic!There is something so magical about sitting in the sun with the wind in your face and a book in your hand. (pics on the beach tomorrow)

9 days without sweating: priceless.

Swollen Uvula? What!

Before you get too excited, your uvula is the little hanging thing in the back of your throat. You know, the one that you see vibrating when Disney charecters sing really loud. The word comes from the Latin word meaning "little grape", because apparently that is what they thought it looked like. Well that isn't what mine looks like right now!

So I woke up this morning unable to talk. Or really even breathe really well. SOmething is blocking my throat and it hurts like heck. I haven't had tonsils since I was 3, so I ask Wendell to take a look. My first thought is that my tonsils have mysteriously regrown themselves. Yes, it was that early in the morning;) It isn't my non existant tonsils. There is a perfectly good explanation.

My uvula is so swollen, it is blocking my throat. What the heck! How does this happen? So I googled swollen uvula. Apparently the most common cause is a long night of drinking and smoking, followed by dehydration and loud snoring. Sound like me?;)

The next is a bacterial or viral infection. Well, Wendell has been battling what he thought was another case of tonsilitis the whole time we were in CA. Fun. But he managed to transfer it to me around Friday. It started with a little sore throat. By Saturday night when we got home from CA, I had such a huge headache that I took some serious drugs. When those drugs wore off, I was left with a massive headcold. This is a ton of fun to deal with when trying to unpack and deal with everything left after a week of camping. Things to do, had to push through it.


Have you ever had a swollen uvula? Were you even familiar with the word? The only reason I even know it is because I have a sister who had major issues with it after she broke her nose. She couldn't even eat normally for a long time. If I remember correctly, she lost some stubborn weight. Somehow I don't think that will happen to me;)

So now I need to get over it. The kids start school in a week, and I refused to deal with it until after our CA trip. So now I have a ton of things to do! And I don't really function well on a good day lately. Hopefully it is something bacterial, and I can get some antibiotics.

Coming next, fun post about California! Woohoo!