Thankful for...

The past week and a half I have seen friends post what they are thankful for each day. Each time I see it, I wonder, "Could I make it through the month of November?" So I thought I would back track a little and start for November 1 and then keep posting what I am thankful for. Basically I'm going to write a gratitude journal here on my blog. You are welcome to read it, or ignore it, it doesn't matter because I'm just trying to get it down for prosperity.

Nov 1 - I am thankful for the fun times I get to have with my husband. We had a wonderful date that night.

Nov 2 - I am thankful for my husband that works so hard for us - even when it means leaving early in the morning and coming home late at night.

Nov 3 - I am thankful for my family who I spent all day with being lazy, eating good food, watching movies, and playing games.

Nov 4 - I am thankful for Day light Savings time, which helped me have some extra sleep and extra time to get ready for church today.

Nov 5 - I am grateful for my pump that allows me to make small or big changes to my diabetes, especially with my insulin needs changing so much in my third tri-mester.

Nov 6 - I am thankful for the right to vote AND for good people to get together with for a fun, light hearted election party.

Nov 7 - I am thankful for such great Young Women leaders in our ward who help guide and lead my daughter in a fun way. They had a Personal Progress Pageant tonight, with special guest starts - The Young Men who did a music video "That's What Makes You Beautiful!" It was a blast!

Nov 8 - I am thankful for Dave Ramsey in pushing us to set up a defense plan and get insurance for us. Brian had two exams/interviews for Life Insurance and Disability insurance. I was also reminded on how we increased our auto coverage just in time for our accident.

Nov 9 - I am thankful for my Dad and his knowledge in cars and the service he did the day before to go look at a van and proxy buy it for us.

Nov 10 - I am thankful for Jamie and Glen Gilson for 1) being such great neighbors, 2) wonderful friends, and 3) letting us borrow their second car so I can get to all the appointments I need to during the day while we have been without the Prius.

Nov 11 - I am thankful for the soldiers who fight and fought to protect our rights and liberties, and help others gain the same benefits that we have.

Nov 12 - I am thankful for laughter and how it helps change moments and relationships.

Wow, that wasn't hard at all. I don't think it will be too hard to get through the month.

Grieving for Stella

Last weekend we were in a car accident and today we found out our poor Stealthy Stella can not be saved. It's really sad and I have to be honest, though it seems silly and such a materialist thing, I don't know if it will ever be the same. Though we really want to buy another Prius, I don't know if I am ready to. I think I need some grieving time before we replace her. It was the perfect car! JBL speakers, Bluetooth connect ability, navagation, and we got it for the perfect price! When we first bought it, we didn't like the white color. Now as I see other priuses around I don't like any other color.

I have started looking to see if it is an option to buy another prius, but it's just so sad when I see stuff on the websites. This is pretty pathetic! It's just a car! But it felt like a member of the family.


Later edit: Brian came home today from Emptying it out. He was really sad too and we hugged each other for a long time. It was good to know that I wasn't the only one feeling this way.

Good bye Stella! It was way too short and you will be deeply missed!

A Post of pictures

Things have been happening quickly around here. I'll start from the beginning of September.

September 4 - Elijah's first day of school

(look at those glasses! doesn't he look handsome!?!)

Elijah is at Hamblen this year. He went to Kindergarten and first grade so he is excited to go back to "his roots" and see old friends and meet new. I have been so scared for him to go back to school because he had such a hard time getting a long with others (more like, he didn't like to be teased) when he was going to school, but the first day he came home and said, "Best day ever!" Since school has started there has been a few times when he has said when I tuck him in at night that school was the best part of the day. So then I say when he asks me what was the bets part of my day - "Hearing that school was the best party of your day" It is such a relief. I just hope it lasts. I know I shouldn't be, but I'm somewhat just waiting for the ball to drop, but he has a good teacher and I have let her know my concerns and we can stay in contact with each other if needed.

Elijah is now in the 5th grade which means he gets to be in orchestra or band. He has chosen to play the bass in orchestra. He is very excited.

Sept 13 - Quianna's first day at Bryant TEC

(The Enrichment Cooperative - for homeschoolers)

I know she doesn't look too excited, but she really was - she just wasn't excited for me to take her picture "in front" of everybody at school. So the look on her face is because she is humoring me.

Quianna is taking drama, sketching, and choir for her electives and World Mythology, Pre-Algebra, and Washington State History for her core classes at Bryant. She has already made friends there and (I think) likes it. At home she is doing Language Arts, Science (through Spokane Virtual Learning), and technology. She wants to learn some french so while I am looking and waiting to order some curriculum for her, she is googling how to say certain words. So far she has learned "I love you" and "Goodnight." I am very excited for her.

I am very fortunate to have the Gilsons across the street because they go to Bryant too (a 12-15 minute drive one way). Jamie takes them in the morning and I pick them up in the afternoon. We will might need to figure out something different once I have the baby, but for now it's working quite well. I told Jamie that when the baby is born, she can just hold my baby while I go in the afternoon so it doesn't have to go out in the cold. She liked that idea.

Sept 14 - 21 Week UltrasoundOur healthy baby ___(insert gender here)____. We still haven't found out the gender yet. I would like to keep it a surprise, but the kids are begging for me to find out. The doctor said we have a cooperative baby because it let us see all the different organs that we needed to check out and get all the right measurements. He also said it is doing well and the perfect size for how far along I am. He was thrilled to hear that my last A1c was 5.5. If I can keep that up, then I should be able to avoid problems with the rest of the pregnancy or baby.

I just noticed that I have a picture of all three of our kids on this post! How fun!

Lets see, what else do we have in the way of news. We finished dog training with Allie last week. She is a good dog, but very territorial (its the shepherd in her) and gets jealous easily. We are working on those traits so we can avoid problems when the baby is born. Allie has started sleeping with us and we only have a full bed. She only comes into bed if she is invited but Brian invites her every night so it has become routine. We enjoyed the cuddling for the first couple of nights, but now she is taking my space. After Brian noticed I ended up on the couch this morning (and I had said, "That was the best sleep I had in a week") he said, "Why don't you check around see how much a queen bed." We have been discussing getting a larger bed for when the baby comes but I think we are pushing up that date.

Brian and I are taking the Financial Peace University class from Dave Ramsey. We are in the mind frame of paying off all our debt no matter how long it takes. We have had one class so far and are very excited to become debt free and start building wealth. We would love to be able to go on a mission some day and are working towards that goal financially.

Ok, it is now 10am and I need to get started on my ToDo List.

The McCann 5!

We found out in May that we are expecting a little McCann in January. We heard the heart beat a couple of weeks ago. I am 14 weeks and feeling great. I have been very blessed to have such an easy first trimester. My diabetes has been somewhat of a challenge to keep in line, but I'm working on it with my doctor and it's nothin' I can't handle.

The kids are super excited. We told them by having a special dinner in the beginning of June. We had a dinner with baby red potatoes, baby spinach salad, baby pork bits, and baby muffins. The kids just thought it was funny that everything was "baby," they didn't think anything of it after that. We had our dinner and Brian kept saying, "how did you like the baby...?" The kids still didn't catch on. So then Brian said, "Well, we already told Quianna, but we thought we would tell you together. About a baby... we have decided... that we... are... not getting a baby dog." So then the kids were like, "ok..." So I said, "should we tell them what we are going to get?" and I handed them the ultrasound picture to see if they could figure it out. Before Quianna even saw what it was, she ran up and started hugging Brian, jumping up and down. Elijah was looking at the picture for a while trying to figure out what he was holding. I explained to them what it was. It was tons of fun!

To read more past stories from my pregnancy, go here. I don't know now that it's out if I'll keep posting there or here - so you'll just have to keep looking.

The weekend of the move

It finally happened. We are officially moved out of our old house and into the new. Well, working on moving into the new. Each room is still a wreck with either boxes or furniture to be stored or sold.

Tonight Brian is at a gig and I was going to spend the time unpacking and setting up our room, but instead I watch The Andy Griffith Show and folded laundry.

The last week and a half has been a whirlwind. It started with last Monday, me coming down with something - it was either the stomach flu or food poisoning. It put me completely out of commission until Wednesday; however, I wasn't feeling my best and got into full working mode until Friday morning/afternoon.

My friend, Jamie, came over to help me clean my house on Friday since I wasn't able to do much that week and then we moved on Saturday morning. Sunday, after church, we unpacked the living room. Brian started to not feel well after dinner. He ended up on the floor of the bathroom crying out in pain for a few hours. He wouldn't let me take him to the emergency room because he doesn't have insurance. (Ironically, we have been researching that the last month or so and plan to afford/obtain insurance in the next month or so.) I finally convinced him, through my tears, around 8:30 that Glen (Jamie's husband, and now our across the street neighbors) and Brother Thumstetter were coming over to give him a blessing and get him in the car so I could take him to the ER. Glen stayed with me to help him get checked in and to make sure I was going to be OK with him and then went home around 10:15pm. Brian had a CT scan (we are scared about getting the bill for that one), and we found out it was kidney stones. I told Brian in jest, that Heavenly Father wanted him to go through this so he knows what I will go through when I have a baby.

Anyway, we got home at 2:30am after going to Walgreen's and getting his pain prescription. Needless to say, I have been sleeping in the last couple of days to try and catch up from all of what has been happening in our life.

Because of the whirlwind, I have had a chance to count my blessings in my life. I am so grateful that the incident with Brian happened after we moved so I was able to rely on the Gilsons to watch the kids and keep me calm through out the night. It was easier to be in the ER knowing that Elijah was at Jamie's sleeping on the couch and that Quianna had someone to call if she needed anything while she was at home. My parents and Carrie came to help us with the move, and they were such a great help and support! Heavenly Father gave me the last week's trials to realize the wonderful people in my life he has blessed me with. (see the previous post for more details).