Month of July Wrap-Up!

Dearest Castillo Children,

Well, the exciting new is...

 

 

The other, not so exciting new is, I've been ill. I dealt with the standard nausea (which is par for the course) but during the month of July I got thrown a curve ball. I started feeling SO exhausted. To the point where I would lay on my couch and cry because I couldn't physically get up. If I slept like 14 hours, and then got a nap that afternoon, I could function for the rest of the day. It was miserable. I cried so much and prayed for someone to come help. No one ever did, and I figured it was because I was more than capable in asking for help but I couldn't because of my pride. I had people bring a kid over every afternoon so I could rest while Nora and Annalise were distracted by someone other than me. It was miserable. It turned out my thyroid was low, which explained the way I was feeling. They started me out on a really low dose and I still felt horrible. I decided to up my dose myself and I started to feel so much better and began to function again. I keep having something else come up that makes me feel horrible, but that's just how it goes for me. My friend Kaylee told me about a woman who has a low blood platelet count but when she's pregnant they skyrocket and she feels wonderful while pregnant. I guess we all have different ways of physically dealing with pregnancy.

 

So! Let me do a quick catch up! July, of course, bring the 4th of July holiday. We were going to go up to Aunt Cheryl's party but I wasn't feeling up to it. So we stayed home and put up our flag out front.

 

 

 

I think Nora was singing.

 

A little sister love - doesn't Annalise look thrilled?

 

 

 Since Todd was home we decided to set up the slip and slide for some family time. We spent almost all of the 4th outside in our swimsuits.

 

 

They love the slip and slide!

 

I don't get it our a lot because I'm lazy. :)

 

 

 

The girls helping Daddy down the slip and slide

 

 

 

 

My Nora

 

 

AND my Annalise

 

Dancing in the puddles made from the spray (look how big my sunflowers got! I miss them)

 

 

 

Nora asking for one more turn on riding Daddy down the slip and slide.

 

 

Annalise's turn!

 

 

Hanging in the pool with a popsicle, what's more summer than that?

 

 

 

Then Daddy uses the slip and slide to crash the party!

 

 

It's better when Mommy joins in

 

Summer babies

 

 

That night my Mom drove down for dinner and we invited a few men from the ward who's wives spend the whole month of July in Utah. We ate some great pork that Todd cooked on the grill and then the men left and we watched fireworks from the casino from our backyard. Of course the girls got to play a little, too.

 



 

 

 

The rest of July was mostly sick Mommy, so there aren't a lot of pictures. But some highlights are as follows:

 

 

 

We played in our garden

 

 

We did art projects

 

 

More art projects...then Mommy threw away all the paint in the house...

 

 

Played with toys

 

 

Were heartbreakingly beautiful...

 

 

Spent the day at the U of A campus and at Burger King at the student center

 

 

Got lots of looks for having small children on campus

 

 

Went to the Science Center/ Planetarium

 

 

Played and then saw a presentation about stars, which Nora really liked. Anna got bored, but she's 2

 

 

We loved all the rain we got (it was in the 80s for like three weeks)

 

 

 

Nora letting you know that you need to stay awesome.

 

 

That's basically what happened in July. At the end of the month we drove up to Utah for week, but I'll do that blog post later. I'm hoping I'll catch back up now that I feel a little better. It seems as soon as one problem is solved this pregnancy another one pops up. I'm hoping for at least a few months without illness so I can teach pre-school and keep doing my voice lessons. (which I LOVE doing, especially with my 6 students I have)

 

 

Love you, my children. I know that all the difficulties and sacrifices we're going through together will be worth it when your new little brother or sister comes. I'm excited to grow our family, because I already adore you two so much.

 

 

With All My Love,

 

 

Your Mother