Happy Birthday Dad!

My dad's birthday was October 5th. We celebrated by going to Texas Roadhouse for dinner then back to my parent's house for cake, ice cream, and presents!  We also told my family we were pregnant by giving him a picture of his 3 (three!) grandchildren.

Happy 62nd Dad!

 

Bathtub fun, and... not so fun

Carter has gotten really into putting his letters up on the wall in the bathtub. He asks me what each individual letter and number is. Must be why he is so good with his letters and numbers... Anyway, one night he started crying out and acting scared. He had "surprised" himself with a little "surprise." I photo-shopped it in the second picture so that no one had to be grossed out, but you get the point. I don't mean to be a mean mom but it was kind of funny. Isn't his face so sad?

Picking out pumpkins

We had a lot of fun picking out pumpkins at our traditional spot. Carter went crazy when we got there saying, "Mom, look at this one. Oh, look at this one!" He loved it.

"Look at this one!"

Uncle Colby suggests the big round one...

"I will smile cute so that I can get on with my pumpkin picking."

Fun with friends

I can't believe it has been almost 6 months...

I can't believe it has been almost 6 months since we said hello and goodbye to our sweet little son. It seems like it was a long time ago, yet I can relive the experience at any moment like it happened yesterday. I think about Bridger every single day. Being pregnant has kept me out of the mood to update my blogs, but sometimes I just have to do something tangible to express my love for Bridger. So here is a post today to let him know I love him and am always thinking about him. 

I love you, and think about you always! :)

I usually just post stuff about Bridger on his blog because I don't want our family blog to be sad a lot of the time. But while typing up the post for Bridger it became rather informative on how our new pregnancy came about and I wanted it on our family blog too. 

Baby Jenkins #3's Story...

Immediately after we lost Bridger I knew I wanted and NEEDED to have another baby soon. I have always loved babies and kids and was so excited to have TWO kids of my own. What I had been planning on for months and months (and a lifetime really) was taken away from me in an instant. I needed that hope back. So, after waiting 3 LONG months (my doctor said I needed to wait that long to let my body recover) we were able to try again. During those 3 months I signed up for the EAGER study. The EAGER study is study for women who have had a pregnancy loss and want to get pregnant again. They are currently studying the effects of baby aspirin on reproduction. If you participate in the study they equip you with an ovulation predictor kit, pregnancy tests, folic acid, a free ultrasound, and money for time and travel. Everything that was included was all for our benefit. Using the ovulation kit we got pregnant in the first month we tried. At first I thought I wasn't pregnant and I was heartbroken. I got a (very) small taste of women who struggle getting pregnant and it was awful.

I found out I was pregnant on August 20, 2010. We were leaving for a camping trip that day. When we got to the campground Carter was collecting rocks. So, I got a sharpie and wrote on one of the rocks "Mommy is Pregnant" and put a smiley face on the other side. I told Carter to go show daddy his rock. Mark saw the smiley face and said, "That's nice!" while giving me a look like, Alison you are a dork. He then put the rock down and went back to what he was doing. Figures! (Last time when I told him I was pregnant with Bridger Carter was wearing a shirt that said I'm the Big Brother. I think he could have worn it all day and Mark wouldn't have noticed!) So, I had to tell him to check out the other side. Since I had thought I wasn't pregnant he kept asking me if I was serious. When I told him yes, and that I had just found out that day he started to cry. He said he missed Bridger - which is how we both felt. We hugged and started our new journey of hope. 

12 Weeks

Well, I have made it to 12 weeks. I had an appointment yesterday and everything is looking good. I know that most women are relieved once they hit 12 weeks and feel that they can stop worrying. That is how I used to be. Now, I know I won't be able to relax until our baby is safe in my arms. I am incredibly grateful that we are being blessed with another chance so quickly. However, I feel like I have been pregnant FOREVER, and I still have a long time to go. Maybe it won't be so bad once I start feeling better? I have been nauseous most of the day-every day, extremely tired, emotional, and have experienced most of the normal pregnancy symptoms. Plus, you can't sleep all day when you have a toddler to take care of! One of the things I didn't think about was dealing with some of my grief on top of being overly emotional. It hasn't been easy. I am sure my hormones have added to it but, woah! What an emotional year it has been!

Hopefully our rainbow baby (a baby after a loss) will add new light and hope to our family next year. What a blessing it will be to finally hold MY OWN baby in my arms again. I can't wait to watch Carter be a big brother. He is so cute around babies right now. He talks to them in a hight pitched cute voice and says, "Hi little baby..." then touches them softly or gets their binky for them (one of his own prized possessions). He still doesn't really know what is going on, but I'm sure when it gets closer and my belly gets bigger he will get the clue. Speaking of my belly... are you kidding me? I don't know if it is because I didn't have much time inbetween pregnancies (even though I did boot camp and worked out a ton), or if it's the fact that I am on baby number #3 but I feel like as soon as I was pregnant I was poking out like I was 5 months pregnant. It's fine, it's just faster than I have poked out in the past.

Anyway, that is the update. We should be able to find out what we are having in the next 4 weeks if the baby cooperates. What a long 4 weeks it is going to be...

Blessed.

Our rainbow baby is on its way!

Due May 2011

He's Home!

Ok, so he's actually been home for over a month now... 

On August 22nd we were happy to welcome home Elder Colby Mellies! He served a 2 year mission in Baltimore, Maryland for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and we are so proud of him! My parents flew out to pick him up and they traveled around to DC and a couple of other places before coming home (Lucky!) Since being home he has been trying to make the awkward adjustment (that I'm sure most missionaries can relate to), and he already has himself a sweet video production job at Weber State! He and Drew are also in Weber State's marching band so that has been keeping him busy, but at least he doesn't have to pay for most of his schooling (again, Lucky!).

We are so glad to have you home Colby!

 This was after Colby's Homecoming. He had bought Carter this suit/tux at a garage sale before he left for his mission. It fit him perfect so Carter surprised him by wearing it to his Homecoming!

What a good little model.. I think I am getting him trained.