our weather has been just awful!  it was nice and warm a few weeks ago and then it got cold again.  we've been having a hard time getting warmer than 55 - 60 degrees.

in fact, many of our trees and flowers were tricked into budding and blooming early and then we had a frost that has done a number on fruit tree blossoms and other plants and because it's been cold the plants have been sluggish and can't do anything.

but I had a happy surprise the other day when I checked on my flowers around my house and found that one cluster of my irises had buds on them. 
yesterday I went out to check on them and they had opened!  I must have them in just the perfect spot.  tightly against the house on the south side so it's been protected from the wind we've had for the last few days.

Erica's hair

for a while now Erica has been considering a bit of a hair cut.  with many split ends and being uneven and just the fact that her hair is heavy and she says she's been getting headaches and thinks it's the weight of the hair causing them, last week she finally let me take 14 inches off.  

she only trusts me to do it since I used to have hair that long when I was her age and I know just how I felt when I decided to have mine cut.  She didn't want Amy to do it because she gives her a hard time about it..."you should let me cut your hair" and to Erica when Amy says that it means to her shoulders.
that is never going to happen.

I'm hoping even-ness of her hair will be helpful for her prom hair-do.  

and the winner is

kidney stones! yay

so yesterday was by far the most miserable day and it only got worse as the day went on. Tim and I spent the entire night in the emergency room. tests and more tests, waiting and more tests revealed that I have some small stones in both kidneys. it was so awful that I was painfully nauseous all day long. so I now have a pretty strong prescription for pain relief and an anti nausea medicine.

while we were there they checked on the baby. however, the ultrasound tech said that because of hospital policy she was not allowed to tell me anything about what she was seeing on the ultrasound, baby or kidneys, so I just looked at Tim who was watching the screen that I couldn't see. I made sure he could see the baby and a heartbeat and that's really all I wanted to know for sure anyway.

in a few hours we have a prenatal appointment anyway and so we will be going to follow up with my OB and hopefully get to hear the baby again. that would be wonderful and make so much of this discomfort worth it.

I've been doing a really poor job of keeping up with the blogging

but I do have a few good reasons.
the top ones to come to mind are

1st. I have been working on a blanket that a good friend of mine has hired me to make.

2nd. I am pregnant.
I know that seems like a really lame excuse, but seriously it is the best reason ever. it seems that the further I get through this pregnancy the worse I feel. I was feeling awesome in comparison to my other kids. I had the general nausea and getting tired a lot earlier than usual. but now, just when I should be feeling better for a few long months, I am feeling much sicker and wiped out.
I suppose it's because I'm old.

in other family news, Timothy and Erica are again on the B honor roll. I knew they had it in them!

Erica is planning on going to Prom in a couple of weeks. she's pretty excited about it. I will post pictures when I get them